Greinke made his final spring training start on Saturday against Angels and fared pretty well. It was just his second start in the last 29 days, so it's understandable if he's still a little rusty.
- Greinke's line: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 5 K, 81 pitches, 45 strikes
It was just 18 days ago we were concerned about Greinke's elbow. And while he had a poor first outing on Monday, his outing in Anaheim was just fine.
Greinke hit as high as 95 MPH on the radar gun (according to MLB Gameday) with his fastball and threw his other three pitches consistently.
Greinke makes his regular season Dodger debut on Friday against the Pirates. If anyone would like to donate about $200, I can be in attendance for that game as I'm heading to Southern California this weekend for a wedding (not mine). If not, I guess I'll just have to listen to it on the radio.
As long as he's healthy, Greinke is going to be great this season. He's the perfect complement to Clayton Kershaw.
Roster cuts made, 25-man almost finalized
In somewhat of a surprise, Alex Castellanos and Kevin Gregg were among 11 players reassigned to minor-league camp after Saturday night's game.
Alfredo Amezaga, Stephen Fife, Elian Herrera, Peter Moylan, Josh Wall and Matt Wallach were the others sent down immediately after the game. The rest of the names will be announced by tomorrow's 12 p.m. deadline.
It was also announced the Dodgers will have four players begin the season on the disabled list: Chad Billingsley (short-term stay), Scott Elbert, Ted Lilly and Hanley Ramirez.
The Dodgers, barring a trade, will have three lefties in the bullpen (J.P. Howell and Chris Capuano) to start the season. Rodriguez has shown the ability to get right-handers out just was well as left-handers. His fastball/slider/cutter combination is nasty.
Sellers, who I'm sure was on the chopping block after his Jan. 19 arrest in West Sacramento, made the team due to Ramirez's injury. While Sellers is a good defender, he isn't much with the bat -- like Luis Cruz, but worse.
There's chatter Sellers could play more shortstop than Cruz until Ramirez comes back, thus effectively benching Juan Uribe. If Sellers making this team means less Uribe, then I should be much happier.
The roster is at 28 players. There could be a trade tomorrow (Aaron Harang or Capuano) or some outright releases (Matt Guerrier). It remains to be seen.
Garcia takes the loss
Dodger reliever prospect Yimi Garcia pitched the bottom of the ninth inning tonight and, except for the walk-off home run he allowed to Angels' catcher Hank Conger, looked pretty good.
I have admittedly never seen him pitch, so it was a nice little treat.
Garcia featured a fastball that clocked in at 89-92 MPH, a changeup in the mid-80s and a slider at 79-81 MPH. He struck out the first two batters he faced (both swinging) -- Brendan Harris on a nice, sharp slider and an 89 MPH fastball to Kole Calhoun.
After a ball to Hank Conger, Garcia left an 89 MPH fastball out and over the plate and Conger deposited it into the right-center field seats, ending the game.
Garcia made it to High-A Rancho Cucamonga last year, and I suspect he'll begin the 2013 season there. If so, I should be able to see him in person.
Photo credits: Dustin Nosler, Feelin' Kinda Blue
Where in the LA area are you going to be? If you can't make it to the game, maybe we can arrange for a meet up to watch the game.
ReplyDeleteGonna be in the Whittier area. Probably won't have a lot of time because of the wedding (probably an all-day thing), but appreciate the offer. :)
DeleteDefinitely planning a trip this summer, though.