Matt Palmer will have surgery tomorrow in Arizona to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee. The team originally announced that he would miss six to eight weeks, but Palmer gave a more optimistic, more detailed timetable Monday.
“They say I can throw in two weeks, throw off a mound in three-and-a-half to four,” he said. “I could be back (in a game) by six weeks.”
Continue reading “Dodgers demote Matt Palmer, Steven Ames, Matt Magill.” »
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.
Continue reading “Spring training preview: Relief pitchers.” »
The Dodgers promoted Steven Ames and Matt Magill to the 40-man roster Tuesday, as teams line up to protect players from the Rule 5 draft to be held in December.
Ames, 24, pitched for Double-A Chattanooga of the Southern League and was 3-3 with 18 saves and a 1.56 ERA in 54 games. The reliever struck out 72 batters in 63.1 innings of work and held right-handed hitters to a .177 average (25-for-141). Ames was selected by the Dodgers in the 17th round of the 2007 draft.
Magill, a product of Royal High School in Simi Valley, was drafted in the 31st round of the 2008 First-Year Player Draft. The 23-year-old started 26 games for Chattanooga in 2012, posting an 11-8 record with a 3.75 ERA. The right-hander fanned 168 batters in his 146.1 innings, including four games with 10 or more strikeouts.
The Dodgers currently have 38 players on their major-league roster. Teams have until 8:59 (PST) tonight to add any Rule 5 draft-eligible players to their roster — players who were 18 or younger when signed and have accrued five years of minor-league service time, and players who were 19 when they signed and have at least four years of service in the minors.