Dodgers farmhand Antonini tweets about elbow surgery.

Michael Antonini, who spent four days with the Dodgers this season without throwing a pitch, had surgery to remove a bone spur in his left (pitching) elbow Wednesday according to his Twitter feed:

The 27-year-old was recalled twice from Triple-A Albuquerque this season but didn’t get into a game. He was designated for assignment on July 31 and outrighted to Albuquerque on Aug. 3.

Antonini went on the minor league disabled list on Aug. 25 with left elbow irritation. For the year, he went 2-7 with a 5.71 earned-run average, splitting time between the Isotopes’ bullpen and starting rotation.

Shane Victorino is a Dodger.

Former Dodgers draft pick and longtime nemesis Shane Victorino is the Dodgers’ new left fielder and leadoff hitter.

The Dodgers traded right-handed reliever Josh Lindblom, minor league right-hander Ethan Martin and a player to be named later or cash considerations to the Phillies for Victorino on Monday, hours in advance on baseball’s 1 p.m. non-waiver trade deadline.

“We’re excited to add an All-Star caliber player with postseason experience,” general manager Ned Colletti said in a statement. “He plays the game with passion, gives us a top of the order bat from both sides of the plate, can steal bases and is solid defensively in the outfield.”

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Lilly to DL, will miss Tuesday’s start.

Ted Lilly was placed on the disabled list retroactive to May 24 with inflammation in his left shoulder Monday. The left-hander figures to miss at least two starts, including his next scheduled outing Tuesday against the Milwaukee Brewers.

Michael Antonini was recalled from Triple-A Albuquerque to take Lilly’s spot on the active roster, but he will only pitch if the Dodgers need a long reliever tonight. Right-hander Nate Eovaldi is expected to be recalled from Double-A Chattanooga to make his first major-league start of the season Tuesday.

Eovaldi pitched only one inning out of the bullpen Saturday for the Lookouts, which served as the best hint that the Dodgers would need him on short notice.

“Since he’s not in the building,” Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said, “I shouldn’t be talking about tomorrow’s starter.”

Lilly said he first noticed pain in the shoulder after his start against the St. Louis Cardinals on May 18. The 36-year-old made his next start five days later against the Arizona Diamondbacks and was shelled for eight runs in 3 1/3 innings as the Dodgers lost, 11-4.

“When I felt the most (pain) is when I came out of (that) game,” Lilly said.

The injury wasn’t serious enough to warrant an MRI, but Lilly said he had a non-steroidal cortisone injection after the team returned home.

In his second full season with the Dodgers, Lilly is 5-1 with a 3.14 ERA –it was under 2.00 before his last start –and 31 strikeouts in 48 2/3 innings this season. Lilly began the season on the disabled list with stiffness in his neck, but said this injury is unrelated.

“You get off to a good start and you have the expectations of trying to make the all-star team,” he said. “This definitely is going to make that a very difficult thing to do. I’m going to miss some time. I already missed one start early in the year. I don’t know what else I could’ve done differently to try and prevent it.”
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Eovaldi up, Antonini optioned, Guerra cleared.

On a day when the visiting team at Dodger Stadium had the biggest minor-league call-up of the day –if not the year, given the hype surrounding the 2010 No. 1 draft pick Bryce Harper — Nate Eovaldi’s recall made but a small ripple, if one at all.

Eovaldi found out Thursday morning that he was headed to Los Angeles for the first time this season and on Friday the Dodgers officially announced his recall from Double-A Chattanooga. Left-hander Michael Antonini, recalled Tuesday from Triple-A Albuquerque, was optioned back to the Isotopes.

“It was planned from the beginning,” manager Don Mattingly said. “With Atlanta lefty-heavy, we wanted an extra lefty.”

Both he and Eovaldi said the plan hasn’t changed for a pitcher who was tabbed the team’s “sixth starter” coming out of spring training. The 22-year-old had been used primarily as a starter the last two seasons in the minors, and started in six of his 10 appearances last season during an August/September call-up with the Dodgers.

But Eovaldi’s last two starts for the Lookouts lasted only one inning. After the first, he was pulled unexpectedly because of a potentially inhibiting groin injury to Dodgers starter Chad Billingsley. In the second (on Wednesday) he was told before the game that he would only be needed for an inning.

This time around, he’s being slotted as an extra arm out the bullpen, which shouldn’t pose a problem.

“My arm’s always been able to get warmed up easily,” Eovaldi said.

Continue reading “Eovaldi up, Antonini optioned, Guerra cleared.” »

Biggest spring competitions? Mattingly identifies two.

Don Mattingly was asked a fairly straightforward question today: What are the most important competitions in spring training? He identified two.

“The biggest thing we look at for us is, is there going to be a left-hander that pops up? Maybe there’s two. See what happens with some of the older guys out in the bullpen. See if anybody emerges out there. On the infield, position players, those are guys we want to see – (Alex) Castellanos, (Scott) Van Slyke … Matt Angle – basically seeing some guys who may end up fitting with us by the time the year’s over if we have an injury here or an injury there.”

Scott Elbert pitched in 47 games last season out of the bullpen but the two other incumbent lefty relievers, Hong-Chih Kuo and Dana Eveland, have moved on. The other left-handers in camp (other than starters Clayton Kershaw, Ted Lilly and Chris Capuano) are John Grabow, Scott Rice, Wilfredo Ledezma, Matt Chico, Alberto Castillo and Michael Antonini.

Rice, Chico, Grabow and Castillo are non-roster invitees. Ledezma, a nine-year veteran, pitched in five games out of the Toronto Blue Jays’ bullpen last year but spent most of the season in Triple-A. Rice, a Simi Valley native and Royal High grad, has 12 years of minor league experience but has never cracked the big leagues. Chico, Grabow and Castillo all have some major-league experience, while Antonini has five years of minor-league service, all as a starter, including last season with Double-A Chattanooga.
The starting infield positions are basically set: Juan Uribe at third base, Dee Gordon at shortstop, Mark Ellis at second base and James Loney at first. Adam Kennedy and Jerry Hairston Jr. are first in line as backups.

In other words, the opening-day roster is overwhelmingly set.