The Dodgers opened camp with three experienced right-handed relievers vying to make the team as non-roster invitees: Kevin Gregg, Peter Moylan and Mark Lowe.
They couldn’t all make the team. None still might, though the Dodgers have eventually given a roster spot to a non-roster camp invitee the last 11 years.
It won’t be Lowe, who was granted his release Sunday morning. Continue reading
Javy Guerra was optioned to the Dodgers’ minor-league camp Sunday, the first of many cuts expected in the coming days.
There are no ties in baseball. Except when it’s spring training.
Neither the Dodgers (0-1-1) or White Sox (1-0-1) were content to let the exhibition season end without needing three numbers to describe their record. Either that or Robin Ventura, the home manager, elected not to play after exactly three hours of baseball at Camelback Ranch on Sunday.
Dodgers reliever Peter Moylan surrendered a 2-run home run to White Sox slugger Adam Dunn in his first Cactus League inning. The Dodgers scored when Tim Federowicz doubled and Hanley Ramirez drove him home with a single in the third, and again on Luis Cruz‘s solo home run to left field in the sixth.
Here’s what we learned:
Kevin Gregg is trying to make the Dodgers as a non-roster invitee to spring training. (AP)
A year ago, the Dodgers’ bullpen lacked experience. Javy Guerra and Kenley Jansen, the primary ninth and eighth-inning pitchers, had little more than two years’ service time between them. Josh Lindblom and Scott Elbert had only become full-time major league pitchers the year before.
So the Dodgers kept Todd Coffey and Mike MacDougal on their Opening Day roster despite brutal springs and signed Jamey Wright, a 37-year-old non-roster invitee. (Wright worked out, MacDougal didn’t, and Coffey had season-ending elbow surgery in July.)
This year, it seems like the need for veteran help is not as great. Jansen and Guerra are a year older and the closer, Brandon League, made his major-league debut in 2004. So did Matt Guerrier. J.P. Howell debuted in 2005. Ronald Belisario turned 30 in December. They may be joined by graybeards Ted Lilly, Chris Capuano and/or Aaron Harang.
So what’s the need for a non-roster veteran like 34-year-old Kevin Gregg or Peter Moylan, who turns 28 in April?
“We’re still fairly young out there,” manager Don Mattingly said, “so it’s nice to have leadership out there in the ‘pen, guys who have been out there for a season and played on some championship-type teams. I’m not opposed to having experience out there for those guys. Brandon’s fairly young still at the closer role. Obviously the guys setting him up … are younger. There’s nothing wrong with a little bit of experience out there.”
Still, it seems like experience alone won’t get Gregg and Moylan onto the Opening Day roster — both will need a strong spring training.
Some odds and ends from Thursday at Camelback Ranch, the final day before the Dodgers’ position players are expected to report to spring training.
Continue reading
Today begins our daily countdown to pitchers and catchers reporting to Spring Training on Tuesday with a position-by-position breakdown of the Dodgers’ roster. We begin with the bullpen.
I didn’t include Aaron Harang, Chris Capuano or Ted Lilly on this list, even though one or more of them could wind up pitching out of the ‘pen. Even without them, this is a solid unit on paper with ample depth. The closer situation is fairly clear, but the Dodgers enter the season with more viable options for the ninth inning than they’ve had in recent seasons.
There are a few injury concerns facing this unit, but none are severe. With one exception, the Dodgers’ bullpen should start the season healthy, capable of becoming one of the best in the National League.
Here is the updated list of non-roster invitees to spring training, which is up to 17 as of now:
RHP Juan Abreu
LHP Kelvin De La Cruz
RHP Greg Infante
RHP Peter Moylan
RHP Matt Palmer
C Eliezer Alfonzo
C Wilkin Castillo
C Ramon Castro
C Jesus Flores
INF Alfredo Amezaga
INF Brian Barden
INF Nick Evans
INF Omar Luna
INF Ozzie Martinez
INF Dallas McPherson
OF Tony Gwynn Jr.
OF Jerome (Jeremy) Moore
Scott Elbert underwent a left elbow arthroscopy today in Los Angeles, leaving the Dodgers without one of their top left-handed relievers to start spring training.
He is not expected to be ready by opening day, according to a source.
The 40-minute procedure was performed by team physician Dr. Neal ElAttrache after a new area of cartilage damage was discovered and debrided. Elbert, who had a different elbow procedure Sept. 19 that ended his 2012 season, will start his physical therapy in three days and a throwing program in six weeks.
Elbert, 27, went 1-1 with a 2.20 ERA in 43 relief appearances last season. Right-handers hit .170 against him and lefties hit .271 – a strange split for a southpaw. He and J.P. Howell were expected to be the team’s top left-handed relievers.
In a crowded Dodgers bullpen, at least two players’ chances of making the opening day roster just improved.
Left-hander Paco Rodriguez allowed one run in 11 appearances over 6 2/3 innings as a rookie last year, though his control wavered against right-handers in a small sample size (two unintentional walks in 2 2/3 innings). Right-hander Shawn Tolleson had more success against right-handers out of the bullpen as a rookie (.152 batting average) but was atrocious against left-handers (.316). Non-roster invitee Peter Moylan, aiming to re-establish himself after a series of injuries cut short his time in Atlanta, could also grab a spot.
Eight Dodgers will participate in the World Baseball Classic, according to preliminary rosters announced today.
Mexico: 1B Adrian Gonzalez, 3B Luis Cruz, SS Alfredo Amezaga.
Venezuela: RP Ronald Belisario
Dominican Republic: SS Hanley Ramirez
Spain: RP Paco Rodriguez
Australia: RP Peter Moylan
Italy: INF Nick Punto
Moylan and Amezaga signed minor-league deals with an invitation to spring training. The other six players are currently on the 40-man roster.
Dodgers Spanish-language color commentator Fernando Valenzuela will be the pitching coach for Team Mexico, a Dodgers spokesperson confirmed, even though he isn’t listed on Mexico’s roster online.
Former Dodgers outfielder Karim Garcia is listed on Mexico’s roster. Former Dodger Andruw Jones, a native of Curaçao, is playing for The Netherlands. Adrian Gonzalez’s brother, who finished last season in Japan, is also playing for Team Mexico.
Rosters must be finalized on Feb. 20.
We don’t have confirmation yet, but if the Dodgers wind up signing Peter Moylan (as has been reported), the competition for the final spot out of the bullpen becomes interesting.
Update: Moylan confirmed that he’s joining the Dodgers via Twitter:
I’m also really looking forward to new opportunities with the @dodgers organization.
— Peter Moylan (@PeterMoylan) January 17, 2013