Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Blog Kiosk: 5/24/2016 - Dodgers Links - Urias, Calhoun and Clayton Kershaw


This is a tradition that I'm sure many are going to miss.  Featured above, via a pic by Jon SooHoo, are the umpires from last nights game tipping their caps to the Vin Scully.

For years umpires from throughout the league have honored the man behind the mic with this symbolic gesture before the start of a game, and it'll be strange to not see this ritual once he's gone.

As for the game... Well, Clayton Kershaw is the best.  Via Ken Gurnick at MLB.com:
"It speaks to Clayton. He knows where we're at, where our bullpen is at, how taxed they've been," said A.J. Ellis, who caught all 17 innings Sunday and was back in there Monday with Yasmani Grandal nursing a bruised foot. "For Clayton to meet that challenge and expectations every night, it seems like every time he's pitching it's coming off a tired bullpen. What he's done so far, giving those guys a blow, you should have seen the reception he got coming in from those guys. Expectations are off the charts, they seem unmeetable and he keeps meeting them. His consistency is mindblowing. Our expectations are unfair, what we expect him to do. Yet, he meets them.
"We all know how fortunate we are. I hope all of baseball realizes what they're watching right now. I know Los Angeles, with the ovation he gets going out there for the ninth inning, appreciates his work and completing his job. We don't take it for granted. We see what he puts into it. We are in awe with the consistency, and it's fair to say we all raise our game on the day he pitches."
Dodgers defeated the Reds 1-0.  The only run in the game scored on a double-play ball in the sixth inning.  Go here to check out some pics from the game via Jon SooHoo/LA Dodgers 2016.  Below are more links to check:
  • This Day in Dodgers History:  In 1973 Willie Davis recorded six hits in an 19 inning loss to the Mets.  BTW, both teams established a NL record for hitting into an combined nine double plays.
  • Happy Birthday, Brad Penny!
  • Video: Kershaw Paints Another Masterpiece: Clayton Kershaw goes one-on-one with Alanna Rizzo after completing his third straight shutout." (Link Here
  • Via Eric Stephen at True Blue LA, "Scott Van Slyke shifts rehab to Triple-A."
  • A Baseball America Prospect Report sent via email makes note of Dodgers second base prospect Willie Calhoun's fantastic month of May:
Have bat, Will Calhoun. That should be Calhoun’s motto, because all he does is hit. After a slow April, Calhoun has turned the corner in May. He’s 14-for-37 in the past 10 games, including 4-for-4 Monday with two doubles and a homer for Double-A Tulsa. Short and stocky, Calhoun may not look the ideal part, but he is a gifted lefthanded batter. He generates quick bat speed and keeps the barrel through the hitting zone to stay on plane with the ball for a long time. Defense is a concern, but if he hits, the Dodgers will find a place. 
“I got myself out of the Cal League, so that was a big thing to do with it,” he said. “That’s a hitters’ league and it’s tough to pitch there, but I’m not using it as an excuse. The big thing is having more of a clue in my second year as a pitcher — how to pitch, how to work batters and what mentally I should bring to the park every day. I can’t really pinpoint what has changed, but overall feel for the pitcher’s mound and pitching has just improved with experience.”
“There’s a lot to get excited about but I think everyone thought there was still things to work on. Did we think he was going to check all those boxes in 45 days? Not necessarily but it’s certainly impressive what he’s done down there.”

So – has what he’s done down there checked all those remaining boxes?

“Based on what he did in Triple-A last year and what we saw in spring training, he’s adjusted a lot of the things he needed to faster than we expected,” Zaidi said. “But it’s a continuing evaluation.”

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