Daily Distractions: How a quirky, schedule-induced disabled list rule could affect the Dodgers’ Opening Day roster.

Dan Haren

New Dodgers pitcher Dan Haren might need to be wary of his SCL as Opening Day approaches. (Associated Press)

How can a player go on the 15-day disabled list and miss only five regular-season games?

If he plays for the Dodgers or Arizona Diamondbacks, of course.

Thanks to a quirky schedule that has the Dodgers and Diamondbacks starting their season in Sydney, Australia on March 22 — a week before any other club — both teams will be allowed to place players on the disabled list retroactive to March 19. For every other team, the earliest a retroactive DL stint can begin is March 21.

What does that mean?

For Matt Kemp, who has pledged not to rush back from an off-season ankle surgery that’s still healing, it means he can start the season on the disabled list and be eligible to play in the Dodgers’ home opener April 4. The Dodgers play five regular-season games before April 4: The two games in Sydney, and a three-game series in San Diego.

That’s good news for fans. The best news for the Dodgers might concern their starting rotation.

In theory, only three starting pitchers are needed for the Dodgers’ first five games of the season. The two pitchers who start in Sydney (say, Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke) would have more than one week’s rest before the first two games of the San Diego series, March 30 and April 1. The third starter could pitch April 2 against the Padres. Then the rotation can reset on regular rest — if manager Don Mattingly chooses — with Kershaw and Greinke starting the first two games of the opening homestand April 4 and 5.

If every pitcher stays on regular rest, the Dodgers won’t need a fourth starter until April 6 at the earliest. By then, the 15-day DL window will have expired. Let’s say the fourth starter is Dan Haren. Maybe Haren comes down with a nasty hangnail, a twinge in his pitching triceps, a strained SCL (something collateral ligament). He can start the season on the 15-day disabled list and the Dodgers can give that roster spot to an extra bench player or an extra reliever — maybe a swingman like Paul Maholm who could start in case of an unexpected injury (brawl?) involving one of the top three starters. Haren can come off the 15-day and start on schedule April 6.

It’s something to keep in mind when the Dodgers decide who’s playing in Sydney. More than a typical year, the disabled list could go a long way toward determining the Opening Day roster.

Some bullet points for an Inventors’ Day:
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Daily Distractions: How Dodger Stadium will turn into a hockey venue.

Dodger Stadium hockey game

Dodger Stadium’s transformation into a hockey venue began Monday. (Instagram)

Dodger Stadium opened its outfield gate Monday, and the transformation began.

A crew of about 200 local workers spent their day trudging on and off the field, carrying the components of a giant stage deck that was laid over the infield. Then came the plywood, then the 30-foot long aluminum pans holding enough refrigerant to cool a 2-inch thick sheet of ice to 22 degrees Farenheit.

Over the next 12 days, the transformation from baseball field to hockey venue will be complete. The Kings and Ducks are scheduled to play the first outdoor hockey game in Los Angeles on Saturday, Jan. 25 at 7 p.m. as part of the NHL’s “Stadium Series,” a slate of five outdoor games this winter.

The stories of the meticulous transformation, the man behind it, and the preposterousness of playing an outdoor hockey game in Southern California, will wait for another day. NHL ice-maker Dan Craig, Kings president Luc Robitaille, and Dodgers president Stan Kasten filled in some of the smaller blanks yesterday:

• Robitaille said that 50,000 tickets have been sold, and the venue will accommodate up to 54,000 for the game. That’s 2,000 less than Dodger Stadium’s baseball capacity. So where can’t you sit? Kasten said he wasn’t aware of any sections that will be blocked off. It could be that another 2,000 seats will be added if there’s enough demand.

• There will be no seats on the field.

• In order to level the playing field (literally), Craig’s team used a laser from the bottom deck of Dodger Stadium to measure the incline of the field. The pitcher’s mound has been leveled; that’s where the penalty boxes will go. The Kings’ and Ducks’ benches will be in the shallow outfield.

• Kasten got assurance from the NHL that the rink construction won’t interfere with the ongoing renovation projects outside the bullpen areas. “We’ll just have to direct people around some of the fenced-off areas,” he said.

• Craig’s crew will not work during the day. A tarp will be covering the rink area to shield the sunshine.

Some (more) bullet points for a Ratification Day:

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Daily Distractions: Outdoor hockey invades Dodger Stadium.

Stadium Series

Say hello to the “Stadium Series.”

That’s what the NHL is calling the first outdoor NHL game in Los Angeles, which today was formally announced and scheduled for Jan. 25, 2014 at Dodger Stadium (and reported here last month). What will you call it?

According to the league, it will be the first outdoor regular-season NHL game played in the U.S. west of the Mississippi River, the southern-most outdoor NHL game ever and the first ever in California.

Tickets aren’t available yet but it’s believed that Kings and Ducks season ticket holders will get first dibs, with details to be announced soon.

Onto the bullet points:
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Daily Distractions: The Dodgers’ pitching depth could be worse.

Ted Lilly

Ted Lilly makes his 2013 debut today against the New York Mets. (Getty Images)

When Ted Lilly starts tonight, the Dodgers will have used eight starters in their first 20 games of the season. SI recaps how the Dodgers got there.

The eight-starter experiment was basically a big game of “what if”: What if Chad Billingsley‘s elbow doesn’t hold up? What if Ted Lilly isn’t the same pitcher he was pre-surgery? What if the best pitcher in Korea can be one of the best pitchers in the United States? What if he can’t?

Here’s another “what if”: What if the Dodgers hadn’t gone out and acquired Josh Beckett, Zack Greinke and Hyun-Jin Ryu, and entered this season with the same collection of starters they had a year ago?

Now you’re looking at Nathan Eovaldi stepping into the fifth starter’s job to replace Billingsley. Oh, wait. Eovaldi hasn’t pitched since spring training because of a shoulder issue. He’s on the 60-day disabled list (currently the Miami Marlins’ problem). Come on down, Stephen Fife.

After Fife, you’re looking at Allen Webster (who made his first major league start three days ago), Rubby De La Rosa (9.31 ERA for Boston’s Triple-A affiliate), Fernando Nieve, John Ely and perhaps Sandy Koufax as the next in line to start a game for the Dodgers.

You can thank your lucky Guggenheims that isn’t the case.

Some more bullet points for a Wednesday morning:
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Stan Kasten wants you to know the Dodgers aren’t trying to buy a championship.

Here’s one quote that did not make any of the 10 blog posts or two stories I filed from Dodger Stadium yesterday. It’s from Stan Kasten.

“I want to stress … we continue to believe in the importance of building a foundation through scouting and player development,” Kasten said. “We won’t be what we want to be until we build the system of players.”

“The great advantage of this ownership is, we can do both at the same time.”

Sounds a little utopian, right? Let’s take a look at the hit the Dodgers’ farm system just absorbed.

In acquiring Adrian Gonzalez, Hanley Ramirez, Shane Victorino, Carl Crawford, Joe Blanton, Josh Beckett, Nick Punto, Randy Choate and Brandon League,here’s what the Dodgers sacrificed from their system:
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