Kemp improving, could be available tonight.

Matt Kemp‘s list of injuries seems to be growing by the day but, remarkably, the center fielder is a possibility to play off the bench tonight against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Kemp spoke briefly before the game, telling reporters that his knees were still his greatest source of pain. Dodgers manager Don Mattingly seemed to contradict that by saying it was Kemp’s left shoulder, not his knees, that were the slowest to recover from this crash into the center-field wall Tuesday night in Colorado:

Regardless, Kemp rode a stationary bike and ran in the outfield prior to the game, and could make an appearance later on.

“I made the lineup out thinking he might be able to play,” Mattingly said. “I’m sure he can catch a ball. It depends on the situation we’re in.”

“I’m just going to take it day by day,” Kemp said. “I’m trying to get the swelling to go down a little bit.”

More on Chris Reed.

Double-A Chattanooga starter Chris Reed was pulled after two innings Tuesday because his strict innings limit is becoming even more strict as his first full professional season draws to a close.

The left-hander was the closer at Stanford University a year ago and is slowly being converted to a starter in the Dodgers’ system. In his only three appearances last season at Single-A Rancho Cucamonga,all starts,Reed pitched a total of 7 innings.

In Double-A, Reed has never gone beyond four innings. He’s pitched four innings twice, three innings six times, and less than three innings three times. Yesterday’s outing was predetermined to last two innings. That’s no guarantee that Reed isn’t being talked about as trade bait –a possibility addressed here last night and something the Dodgers have been known to do lately — only that he was not pulled because of a potential trade.

Reed was the Dodgers’ first-round draft pick, 16th overall, in 2011. He is 0-3 with a 4.41 ERA in 32 2/3 innings (spanning 11 appearances and 10 starts) at Chattanooga this season.

On a personal note, I’m off to scout wedding locations for a couple days. The Dodgers and I return home Thursday.

Recent history not in Josh Beckett’s favor today.

If recent history is any indication, Josh Beckett could be in trouble today when he makes his Dodgers debut in Colorado.

Five times this season, Beckett has pitched on six or more days rest. In those starts, he is 1-2 with a 10.13 earned-run average. He’ll hope to buck that trend on seven days’ rest today. Beckett was scheduled to face the Kansas City Royals on Saturday before he was traded from the Boston Red Sox to the Dodgers.

The veteran right-hander pitched better on extra rest before this season (20-13 with a 3.19 ERA, well below his career ERA of 3.93), and Beckett offered some nuance to the numbers on Sunday morning.
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Around the minors: Reed, Gordon, Puig.

Chris Reed was pulled from his start for Double-A Chattanooga after just two innings Sunday. Reed pitched well, facing the minimum six batters, so unless there was an injury it’s hard to explain on the surface why he was pulled. I couldn’t find any reports out of Jackson (the Jackson Generals beat the Lookouts, 5-4) so I put in an email to the Lookouts to get the skinny.

Without knowing anything else, it’s tempting to believe that Reed is the next Dodgers prospect headed out in a blockbuster trade. A first-round draft pick (16th overall) out of Stanford last year, Reed was the Dodgers’ representative in the Futures Game this year.

But even if Reed was pulled because he’s involved in trade talks, that doesn’t mean he’s been traded. That was the case when Garrett Gould was scratched from a start in June. He ended up not going anywhere.
Continue reading “Around the minors: Reed, Gordon, Puig.” »