Tag Archives: Juan Uribe

Justin Sellers is out, Juan Uribe in for series finale against Giants.

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Juan Uribe

Juan Uribe is making his first start for the Dodgers since Aug.14, 2012. (Associated Press)

One day after his two-error performance against the San Francisco Giants, Justin Sellers will sit and Luis Cruz will play shortstop in Wednesday’s series finale against Tim Lincecum.

Juan Uribe will play third base, making his first start since August 14 of last year. Cruz had played third base in the first two games of the season.

Sellers, a last-minute addition to the 25-man roster in spring training, had only made two errors in 29 career games at shortstop before Tuesday. In the seventh inning of the Dodgers’ 3-0 loss, he made a pair of throwing miscues that led to two unearned runs. It didn’t technically make the difference in the game — the Giants already led 1-0 — but benching Sellers one day after the blunders could be more than coincidence.

Of course, it could also be in response to the Dodgers’ almost total lack of offensive production in their first two games of the season against the Giants. They’re 9 for 59 (.153) in the two games.

While Uribe hasn’t been an offensive threat since he came to Los Angeles two years ago, he batted .333/.358/.451 in spring training — possibly saving his spot on the 40-man roster.

Today, Uribe gets his first shot to show that his spring was no fluke.

Uribe will bat seventh and Cruz sixth against Lincecum.

Dodgers 10, Angels 8: Postgame thoughts.

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Don Mattingly dropped a revealing opinion, perhaps unexpectedly, in his postgame chat today.

It appeared that, an hour earlier, Ted Lilly had done an OK job in two innings out of the bullpen in his first appearance of spring training. Keep in mind that Lilly hadn’t pitched in a competitive game since Aug. 16 of last year. The veteran lefty got Erick Aybar to fly out, got rocked by Howie Kendrick (who finished 3-for-3 with a single, double and home run) for a longball, then retired the next four Angel batters he faced. Day over.

“Teddy, he seems a lot more like Aaron (Harang) to me, from my point of view,” Mattingly said. “Taking longer to get loose, taking longer to warm up, all that kind of stuff.”

In other words, not a good bullpen candidate.

That would seem to make Chris Capuano, by default, the Dodgers’ preferred choice to move from the rotation to the bullpen at this point in time. This is a point in time when eight starters are healthy, so take that with a grain of salt. Things can change in the next four weeks.

At the very least Mattingly’s opinion offers a framework for what the Dodgers might be thinking — stash Capuano in the bullpen as a sixth starter, and if Billingsley ends up needing Tommy John surgery (or another starter goes down in spring), insert either Lilly or Harang into the fifth starter’s slot. Otherwise, try to move one or both pitchers. That would agree with what I’ve heard from knowledgeable people outside the organization; people inside the organization have no reason to tip their hand pre-flop.

Lilly had to feel good about his performance regardless of how the manager reacted to it. It’s been a long time coming.
Some more notes:

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Chicago White Sox 9, Dodgers 0: Postgame thoughts.

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The Dodgers’ first game of spring training served a valuable purpose for everyone who watched it unfold on a cold day at Camelback Ranch: It reminded us that in spring training, the whole is always less than the sum of its parts.

We hope you took the under on Dodgers runs scored; more than that, we hope you don’t bet on Cactus League games. The Dodgers had their chances to score, and their bats picked up after Juan Uribe ruined Chicago’s chance at a perfect game with a single in the third inning. That sentence may never be written again.

Here are a few takeaways:

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Dodgers spring training preview: Infielders.

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Adrian Gonzalez

First baseman Adrian Gonzalez is about as close as it gets to a sure thing here – on the field, in the community, in the clubhouse. Second baseman Mark Ellis is aging but consistent. Then the questions begin. Who will back him up? Can Hanley Ramirez’s glove be trusted at shortstop or at third base? What happens to Dee Gordon? What is Juan Uribe doing here?

Skip Schumaker and Jerry Hairston Jr., who can be expected to log some innings on the infield, were intentionally previewed with the outfielders. Upward and onward:

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Poll: Which Dodger will have the biggest bounceback in 2013?

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One of my favorite stats from 2012 was this: Eight major-league teams used 50 or more players last season. Most fell into the category of underachievers, or at least underdogs: Boston (56), Toronto (54), Chicago Cubs (53), San Diego (53), Baltimore (52), Houston (50), Oakland (50) …

… And then there were the Dodgers, clocking in at an even 50 players. It was a combination of trades and injuries that brought the Dodgers to 50, all of which factored into their falling short of the playoffs, and left several players hungry for a big bounceback in 2013.

Matt Kemp, Carl Crawford, Jerry Hairston Jr. and Ted Lilly are coming back from surgery. Chad Billingsley is coming back from an injury, at least the team hopes. Juan Uribe is Juan Uribe.

Who will rebound the most?

Dodgers acquire Hanley Ramirez from Marlins.

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The Dodgers have acquired infielder Hanley Ramirez and left-handed reliever Randy Choate from the Miami Marlins for pitcher Nathan Eovaldi and minor-league pitcher Scott McGough.

Ramirez, 28, was the National League Rookie of the Year in 2006, when he hit .292/.353/.480 (BA/OBP/SLG) with 17 homers and 59 RBIs. He hit a career-high 33 home runs in 2008 and won a batting title the next season, hitting a career-high .342.

Between injuries and poor play, however, Ramirez wore out his welcome in Miami. In 2011 Ramirez missed the final two months of the season with a shoulder injury; he also missed two weeks in June with a lower back strain. His stats suffered too: a .243 average, .333 on-base percentage, .379 slugging percentage, 10 home runs and 45 RBIs were all career lows. Ramirez’s stolen bases have also plummeted from 51 in 2006, to 20 in 2011, and 14 this year.

But he gives an immediate boost of power to a Dodgers team that ranks last in the majors in home runs (60). Ramirez’s 14 home runs and 47 RBIs both ranked second on the Marlins; only Matt Kemp has hit as many home runs and only Andre Ethier has more RBIs among the Dodgers. Ramirez is batting .246 this season, mostly out of the second or third spot in the order.

A shortstop in his first six major-league seasons, Ramirez switched to third base this season after the Marlins signed veteran shortstop Jose Reyes last winter. Ramirez’s eight errors are the ninth-fewest among everyday major-league third basemen.

Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports, quoting Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria, wrote on his Twitter account: “It’s no secret I love the kid. He needs to have a fresh beginning, a new beginning. This is a very painful moment for me. But we had to do something.”

Earlier Tuesday, USA Today reported that both the owner and Miami manager Ozzie Guillen wanted Ramirez traded.

Choate, 36, joins his fifth team in a 12-year major league career. He is tied for 19th in the National League in appearances (44) and has held left-handed hitters to a .150 batting average this season while not allowing a home run.
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Injury updates on Hairston, Sellers, Ellis, Kemp, Rivera, Uribe.

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Dodgers head athletic trainer Sue Falsone had a busy day Thursday — a day off for the team, but hardly a day off for the trainer with a disabled list of eight players.

Justin Sellers became the latest addition as he took the place of Jerry Hairston Jr. on Friday. Hairston was in the starting lineup and Sellers was reduced to performing core exercises after an MRI Thursday revealed a slipped disc as well as a stress fracture in his lower back.

The injury is related to the head-over-heels catch Sellers made May 14 –but not entirely.

“He had what’s called a spondylolysis, or a stress fracture, back in high school,” Falsone said. “A lot of younger athletes have it. A lot of older athletes have it. It’s no big deal — a little stress fracture in the back.”

Falsone went on to explain that the stress fracture created an area of weakness that was exacerbated when Sellers tumbled into the stands. At first he reported back pain, then numbness down his right leg from the hip to the toe.

Both Sellers and Falsone were optimistic that he would only need the minimum 15 days on the disabled list, but “if it doesn’t get better, we might have to remove part of the disc,” Sellers said.

The infielder is hitting .205 with three doubles and a home run in a reserve role.

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The latest on Kemp, Uribe, Herrera and Oeltjen.

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An MRI on Matt Kemp‘s left hamstring revealed a strain, and the Dodgers center fielder is day-to-day. Tony Gwynn Jr. is starting in center field and Kemp was listed as available if the Dodgers need him to pinch hit. Kemp has played 399 consecutive games, the longest streak in the major leagues.

Kemp did not take part in pregame activities Monday — the team stretched and took batting practice without him — which only reduces the likelihood of his appearing in tonight’s game.

However, the Dodgers might need him.

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White Sox 3, Dodgers 1.

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Aaron Harang threw six strong innings, but the White Sox (11-15) prevailed against the Dodgers (12-11-4) before an announced crowd of 5,091 at Camelback Ranch. [box score]

Harang allowed six hits — all singles — walked one, and struck out six in six innings. Three of those singles came in the fifth inning, allowing Chicago to score its only run against the 6-foot-7 right-hander. Harang threw 104 pitches, 66 for strikes, and left with the score tied 1-1. In his last two starts, spanning 11 innings, he has allowed two runs and 11 hits.

Reliever Josh Lindblom allowed a solo home run to Trayce Thompson in the seventh inning and Scott Rice served up an RBI single to Adam Dunn in the eighth.

The Dodgers got their only run when Josh Fields singled and came around to score on an A.J. Ellis sacrifice fly in the fifth inning.

Two days after bunting a ball into his groin, Juan Uribe went 2-for-3. Juan Rivera doubled and a single by Ellis accounted for the Dodgers’ fifth hit of the game.

A few more notes:

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Padres 6, Dodgers 5.

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Brad Davis’ walk-off double against Francisco Felix –a call-up from the Dodgers’ minor-league camp –scored Beamer Weems and Daniel Robertson and lifted the San Diego Padres to a 6-5 win in the bottom of the ninth inning before an announced crowd of 4,740 at Peoria Sports Complex. [box score]

If those names sound obscure, it’s because they are. The game featured plenty of minor-leaguers on both sides, including six for the Dodgers as a number of regulars got the day off. That included third baseman Juan Uribe, who became a late lineup scratch after a bunted ball hit him in the groin during a practice Tuesday morning.

Juan Rivera hit his team-leading fourth Cactus League home run, a solo shot in the fourth inning off Padres starter Casey Kelly. The Dodgers totaled 15 hits, including three from Rivera, two from A.J. Ellis, Dee Gordon and Andre Ethier.

All of the Dodgers’ projected starters got a day off, and no pitcher –including starter Jamey Wright — pitched more than an inning. Of those, only Wright (1) Ronald Belisario (2), Angel Sanchez (1) and Felix (2) allowed runs.
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