Dodgers Blue Heaven: Blog Kiosk: 2/26/2018 - Dodgers Links

Monday, March 26, 2018

Blog Kiosk: 2/26/2018 - Dodgers Links - Some Odds and Ends

Yasiel Puig lead from the batters box last night as he blasted a solo homer and a legged double to help the Dodgers defeat the Angels in Anaheim. Via Doug Padilla at MLB.com:

"Can I say right now that he is going to hit third every day? Absolutely not," manager Dave Roberts said of Puig after a 4-2 win in the Freeway Series opener at Angel Stadium. "But I think that I will give him a little bit of a runway to show that he deserves that opportunity."
...
"I think probably the more I thought about Yasiel and the presence he has in the box, him against right-handed pitching, and the at-bat quality last year, [he] has been very consistent," Roberts said. "So I think that right now, losing [Turner], it's an opportunity for [Puig] and gives us a chance to be considerably better with J.T. not in the lineup."

Photo of Puig above via Jon SooHoo/LA Dodgers 2018 at Dodger Insider. Below are more links to check out:

This Day in Dodgers History: In 1953 the St. Louis Browns returned pitcher Tommy Lasorda to the Dodgers after having just purchased him a month prior. In 1984 Jackie Robinson was awarded, posthumously, the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Ronald Reagan in a White House ceremony. Rachel Robinson accepted the award on her late husband's behalf. At the time Jackie was just the third ballplayer to be given the distinction (Moe Berg and Joe DiMaggio were the others). You can watch the presentation here. In 1991 the Dodgers free agent catcher and future Hall of Famer Gary Carter to a one-year $500,000 contract.
Happy Birthday, Jack McCarthy, Joe Klugmann, José Vizcaíno & Frank Lankford!
Jacob Gonzalez at AM570 LA Sports presents; "Dodgers Highlights: Best Moments Of 2017 (VIDEO)."
Audio: Alex Wood joined David Vassegh to chat about Mark Prior's Influence and Using Video To Hone Craft (audio link).
As Chad Moriyama notes at Dodgers Digest, the Dodgers pitching staff is effectively set (link here).
Per Ken Gurnick at MLB.com; "GOAT alert: Kershaw posts 0.00 ERA this spring."

Despite having his fastball velocity still stuck around 90 mph, Kershaw couldn't have been much more effective or efficient, in this start and all of the others this spring. He totaled 21 1/3 innings in six starts, allowed 12 hits while striking out 23 against four walks.

"Physically, I feel great, which is good," said Kershaw, who celebrated his 30th birthday on Monday. "Finishing [the World Series] on Nov. 1, you never know how those extra weeks will affect you. Ready to feel that little bit of adrenaline and get going. That's why I really don't like pitching in 'B' games, it's tough to get yourself going for that. I don't know if you can see it on a velocity chart or a pitchability thing, but just figuring out how to pitch with a little bit extra."

Giovanni Balistreri at When Topps Had (Base)Balls creates a fantasy card for former Dodger outfielder Joe Simpson using the 1977 Topps design.
This is fun; especially for gamers. Per Jason Reed at LA Sports Hub; "Dodgers: Every player rating in MLB The Show 18 and what it should be."
Per Matthew Moreno at Dodger Blue; "Dave Roberts Sees ‘A Lot To Like’ With Prospect Edwin Rios."

“Obviously, the makeup, the skill set on the offensive side, very good. The work ethic, great. Power is, I mean, he’s 70-75 power,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts recently said of Rios. “He’s really working on being mindful of being in the strike zone.”

You can now get that "Kenleyfornia" t-shirt, via a tweet from Kenley himself:

A lot of you have been asking about my #KenleyforniaLove tee. @represent is making it available for you guys to buy for a limited time. Kids sizes too. 🙌🏽link here ➡️➡️https://t.co/swNpbjujHY (also good for working out as you can see lol 💦😂) #OpeningDay #Dodgers pic.twitter.com/Hcpex3QdnB
— Kenley Jansen (@kenleyjansen74) March 24, 2018