Blog Kiosk: 3/15/19 - Dodgers Links - Some Odds and Ends

Yasiel Puig faced the Dodgers and Hyun-Jin Ryu for the first time yesterday afternoon. In his first at-bat he singled to right off Ryu. He then grounded out his next two at-bats.

Photo above via David Vassegh on twitter. Below are more links to check out:

• This Day in Dodgers History: In 1945 the Dodgers opened their spring camp at Bear Mountain State Park in upstate New York due to wartime travel restrictions. There were real worries that German U-boats would attack the eastern coast of America During WWII. This is the third straight year the Dodgers would practice here. In 1975 the Dodgers signed 37-year old former Giants and future Hall of Fame pitcher Juan Marichal to a free agent contract. He would retire from the game a little over a month later on April 17th. 
• Happy Birthday, Doc Casey, Ralph Miller, Rosy Ryan, Lou Fette, Dick Scott, Mickey Hatcher & Trayce Thompson!
• Please keep Bill Hefley, husband of Nancy Bea, in your thoughts. Per a tweet from Nancy:

Here we are at beautiful Carson Tahoe Hospital where Bill will call home for a couple of days. Doctor says he has pneumonia again. I will be kept company with my pit bulls. Happy to have them. All prayers accepted.

— Nancy Bea Hefley (@NancyBea) March 14, 2019

• Per Jon Taylor at Sports Illustrated; "The Tao of Yasiel Puig: The Reds' New Star Riffs on Bat Flips, Life and His Rocky End With the Dodgers."

“It’s their problem,” Puig says of the Dodgers’ decision to move him. “I don't know what they did with that trade, because they didn't get anyone who could help them the way I could. But that's business.”

• Per Ken Gurnick at MLB.com; "Lefty Cingrani (shoulder) to miss start of season."
• Via Jesse Pearce at Think Blue LA; "Jeter Downs is legit."
• Via Dustin Nosler at Dodgers Digest; "2019 Dodgers Top 100 Prospects: No. 10, SS/2B Omar Estevez."
• Via Rowan Kavner at Dodger Insider; "Dodgers’ top pitching prospects continue displaying their worthiness."
• Via Kenny Kelly at Beyond the Boxscore; "The Dodgers are keeping Julio Urías in a glass case: The hope is to limit his innings and have him ready for the second half and beyond."

Ideally, Urías would begin the year in the rotation and finally get a chance to show off what he can do in a full season. That’s not entirely realistic because of the injury concerns. Instead, they’ll limit Urías’ playing time to 70 to 100 innings. What this likely means is that he’ll begin the year in the bullpen. Having him begin the year in Triple-A might be appealing, but I’m sure that if the Dodgers are limiting his innings, they’ll want to him to throw most of those innings in the majors.

Obviously, Urías is overqualified to pitch out of the pen. In his limited time last year and this spring has shown that he’s fully capable of starting in a major league rotation. In the Cactus League, Urías has been topping out at 98 mph. Heck, he was a major league starter three years ago when he was 19.

• Per Mark Timmonson at LA Dodger Talk; "The Ron Porterfield Factor."

Porterfield refused to rush Urias and in fact, shut him down a couple of times. He flashed what he had last year at the end of the season and this year, is the talk of Dodger Camp as he is touching 98 MPH with his fastball and has impeccable command of four pitches. What do they call a pitcher has four killer pitches which he can command? An Ace! That’s what they call him.

The Dodgers were patient with Julio and were not tempted to trade for Corey Kluber because they had someone who just might be better. if he is injured, it won;t kill We don’t know how Clayton Kershaw will pitch this year. The Dodgers will be a better team IF he can stay healthy and put up his typical numbers, but it won’t kill the team if he is injured. The Dodgers are a class organization and they re-signed Clayton (actually for just 1 additional year) simply out of respect for his body of work for 10 years. Forget about the playoffs for once – the man has been the face of the organization for the past decade.

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