Watch: New Miami Marlins manager Don Mattingly targets Tim Wallach as bench coach.

At his introductory press conference in Miami on Monday, former Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said he didn’t want to go into detail about who will comprise his coaching staff.

In the next breath, he said “I think Tim Wallach‘s going to come with me to be the bench coach.”

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Managing expectations, Day 7: Tim Wallach reportedly interviews with Padres; A.J. Hinch staying put.

It’s been seven days since Don Mattingly and the Dodgers mutually parted ways. The quest to find Mattingly’s successor is proceeding exactly as Andrew Friedman predicted last Thursday: cautiously.

Two nuggets from the last 24 hours: Bench coach Tim Wallach has an interview scheduled with the San Diego Padres, and current Houston Astros manager A.J. Hinch so far has no plans to leave.

“I am not a candidate,” Hinch told SiriusXM’s MLB Network Radio channel. “I’m an Astro. I’m proud to be here. Jeff Luhnow, the GM here, Jim Crane, our owner, have been terrific to me. I’ve got this second chance here, they hired me last offseason to do a job and I’m completely content being here. Obviously I have great friends throughout the industry — [Dodgers executive] Josh Byrnes, the one who started me off with this managerial track in Arizona — so I have great respect. They are going to hire a great guy. It’s not going to be me.”

Dodgers director of player development Gabe Kapler is the top candidate to replace Mattingly. Dodgers third base coach Ron Roenicke and Chicago Cubs bench coach Dave Martinez are also among the favorites. Formal interviews haven’t begun.

Chase Utley is playing third base for the Dodgers today. [video]

After playing 1,574 games in the major leagues — 1,474 at second base and 32 at first (he was a pinch hitter or designated hitter in the other games) — Chase Utley is starting at third base today for the first time in his career.

“Why not?” Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. “The fact that (Justin Turner) is down. A righty out there [Jhoulys Chacin is starting for the Arizona Diamondbacks]. We’ve been working toward this. Wally felt like last time was his best time out there. We don’t worry about him — he knows where to play, knows where to be. That type stuff. Seemed like tonight was the right night.”

Turner had an MRI on his sore left knee Monday and is down for a “couple days,” Mattingly said. The Dodgers’ second-best option at the position, Corey Seager, is starting at shortstop. Alex Guerrero, who’s started one game at third base the past six weeks, must wait to start another.

Despite his prowess at second base, Utley’s been taking ground balls at third practically since the moment he joined the Dodgers. The last time Utley played third base in a game, he was a 23-year-old in Triple-A in 2002. His teammates included Nick Punto and P.J. Forbes, who managed the Dodgers’ Single-A affiliate last year.

Bench coach Tim Wallach, who won three Gold Glove awards at third base, has been mentoring Utley periodically before games. They did so again today; see for yourself how it went:
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A brief note on Tim Wallach and no-hitters.

Tim Wallach

Dodgers bench coach Tim Wallach took part in seven no-hitters as a player, but that isn’t quite a record. (Keith Birmingham/Staff photographer)


Six days ago, Dodgers bench coach Tim Wallach reminisced about Hideo Nomo’s no-hitter in Denver. In that story, I wrote that Wallach took part in seven no-hitters as a player, which is true, though he remained on the bench for one of the seven games.

That left me wondering if that was a record. Nolan Ryan threw seven no-hitters as a pitcher, so Wallach could not hold the record outright.

Turns out the record is 11, held by former major league shortstop Bert Campaneris, who took part in the no-hitters with the A’s, Yankees, and Rangers between 1968 and 1983.

Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson was on the field for nine no-hitters and four other players took part in eight.

There could be other players who were on their team’s active roster for a no-hitter but did not appear in the game, like Wallach. Long story short, seven isn’t quite a record.

Thanks to Sean Forman of baseball-reference.com for doing the dirty work on this.

Daily Distractions: Which non-roster invitees have a chance at making the Dodgers’ Opening Day roster?

Clint Robinson

Who is non-roster invitee Clint Robinson, and does he have a chance of making the Dodgers’ Opening Day roster? (Answer: Not really) (Getty Images)

With the addition of Justin Turner on Wednesday, the Dodgers have extended spring training invitations to 17 non-roster players:

Infielders: Turner, Chone Figgins, Miguel Rojas, Brendan Harris, Clint Robinson
Outfielder: Joc Pederson
Catchers: JC Boscan, Griff Erickson, Chris O’Brien, Miguel Olivo
Pitchers: Sam Demel, Carlos Frias, Zach Lee, Daniel Moskos, Red Patterson, Chris Reed, Ross Stripling

Two years ago, Jamey Wright made the Dodgers’ Opening Day roster out of camp as an NRI. Last year, no non-roster invitees made the roster — though you figure Kevin Gregg was close. The Dodgers’ surplus of starting pitchers squeezed Gregg out of a job in Los Angeles, and he eventually became the Chicago Cubs’ closer.

So recent history says that the 17 NRIs are competing for one job at most. Not all have a realistic chance of making the team. In most cases, injuries will dictate the winner of the logjam. That’s particularly true for Pederson, the catchers and the pitchers.

The Dodgers are carrying four outfielders (Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier, Carl Crawford and Yasiel Puig) with large guaranteed contracts. The fifth is Scott Van Slyke, who has value as a corner outfielder/first baseman with power off the bench. Pederson, who turns 22 on April 21, can turn heads in camp if his .912 OPS in the Venezuelan Winter League was no fluke, but that might be all he can do. There’s no job for him without another significant injury hitting the outfield — and remember that Kemp still isn’t running on his surgically repaired ankle.

Among the catchers, all A.J. Ellis and Tim Federowicz need to do to reprise their 2013 Opening Day jobs is stay healthy. Olivo, who’s played in more than 1,100 major-league games since 2002, knew that when he signed with the Dodgers on Jan. 17. He’ll try to push Drew Butera for the primary catcher’s job at Triple-A Albuquerque.

The pitching staff is also surprisingly stacked with veterans who are difficult to displace. Lee, Stripling, Reed, Patterson and Frias are competing to make an impression and learn the ropes in their first camp, not land an Opening Day job. Demel and Moskos have major-league experience but are slotted for roles in the Albuquerque bullpen and rotation, respectively.

So that leaves us with the infielders. Second base is an open competition until Alex Guerrero learns the position defensively. Until we see him in camp, it’ll be hard to pin down Guerrero’s learning curve. Other than starting third baseman Juan Uribe, and light-hitting utilityman Justin Sellers, Dee Gordon is the only player on the Dodgers’ 40-man roster with experience at second base. He only learned the position last year. There’s a reasonably wide opening here.

Rojas will go as far as his bat will take him — historically, he’s struggled to hit at the Triple-A level.

The same goes for Figgins, whose 68 OPS+ the last three seasons isn’t enough to justify a 40-man roster spot. Figgins will have to prove in camp that his bat speed at age 36 is as major-league ready as his foot speed and defensive versatility — he’s played 647 career games at third base, 274 at second and 27 at shortstop. No other player in camp is quite as versatile, and the longtime leadoff hitter will help his cause if he can steal a base.

In some ways, the 33-year-old Harris is a slower version of Figgins. He’s able to play third base, shortstop and second base, and carries a light bat (.695 career OPS).

Robinson is a 28-year-old first baseman whose career consists of 3,337 at-bats in the minors and four in the majors. With at least two first basemen ahead of him on the depth chart in camp, Robinson’s chances of getting a major league at-bat this season range from slim to none.

Turner is an above-average fielding second baseman and has been for parts of five major-league seasons. What really makes him stand out in this group is his track record at the plate. Turner is the definition of an average hitter, as a 100 OPS+ and 0.9 oWAR last season attest. Baseball-reference.com’s version of oWAR rated Turner a 1.6 in 2011, his only full major-league season.

Dodgers manager Don Mattingly and general manager Ned Colletti have agreed that second base can be a defensive position in 2014. But if they want to give the second-base job on Opening Day to an above-average fielder and an average hitter, Turner might be the only man in camp who fits that description.

Some bullet points for a Ronald Reagan Day:
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