Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw tossed a 40-pitch bullpen session today and is slated to throw a 60-pitch simulated game against live hitters later this week, writes J.P. Hoornstra of the L.A. News Group. There was talk of Kershaw making a pair of rehab starts, manager Dave Roberts tells Hoornstra, but that number has been dropped to one. Kershaw could head out on a minor league rehab assignment in the next week or two, Hoornstra writes. Kershaw himself said that he felt comfortable between simulated innings — a positive step from where he was prior to his placement on the DL. Hoornstra’s piece includes a series of video clips of Kershaw discussing his health and rehab, for those who wish to hear a first-hand account of his progress.
More from the NL West…
- The Giants announced today that outfielder Gregor Blanco has been placed on the 15-day disabled list due to an impingement in his right shoulder. Blanco tells Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle that he initially injured his shoulder all the way back in May, but it’s become so painful that it’s even impacting his ability to run (links to Twitter). The second half of the season has been a tremendous struggle for Blanco, who is hitting just .130/.203/.148 in 59 plate appearances since the All-Star break.
- In his latest Rockies mailbag, Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post addresses the reasons behind the Rockies’ decision to hang onto trade candidates Boone Logan and Jorge De La Rosa. There was plenty of interest in Logan, per Saunders, but GM Jeff Bridich elected to hold onto the southpaw because the Rockies were still within arm’s reach of the playoffs and were playing quite well. Saunders adds that he heard very little in the way of interest in De La Rosa, who has performed admirably since returning to the rotation earlier this summer. The 35-year-old De La Rosa has a 3.56 ERA over his past 13 starts (78 1/3 innings) and, like Logan, is a free agent at season’s end. Both left-handers are logical trade candidates over the final eight days of the month, now that the Rockies are out of the playoff picture.
Rockies aren’t out of the picture quite yet look what the royals did
Yea the Rockies are gonna win the World Series.
Only one team is going to win the WS, but that doesn’t mean everyone else shouldn’t try.
I agree the Cubs have the best chance, but I think the Nats and Rangers are just behind them and the Dodgers just behind that.
Are the Rockies playing the Twins or Braves anytime soon??
A fair point considering that during the run they went on in the two weeks before the deadline (and part of why they decided not to sell) they had 9 straight games against Atlanta, TB, and Atlanta again. At the time I saw just one writer say they shouldn’t let those games trick them into thinking they were in it and I haven’t seen any writers bring it up since.
They also played the O’s, Mets, and Dodgers and went 7-3. Since the AS break they are 20-17, yes it’s not amazing but it’s a winning record
boone Logan would be a nice addition for the blue Jays….
Lets see the Rockies see 4-2 against the Cubs this year. Plus they have won there last two series they played the Nats and the Cubs
Unfortunately, small samples like that don’t reflect the position they are in.
For the Rockies, seven games out of the WC with well over a month to play is not great, but not exactly insurmountable either. I don’t really think the Rockies are going to make the playoffs, although I still have hope, but I think the experience of playing meaningful games in September would be a very good thing for them. Most Rockies have even been on a playoff team in Colorado, there is no one from the WS team in 2007 and down to just Jorge de la Rosa and Carlos Gonzalez from the 2009 team. I think it is very important for next year to at least play like they have a chance to do something in September, even at the cost of a minor prospect or two for Logan and/or JDLR.
Is it likely that the Rockies will grab a wild card? No. But they are historically a very streaky team. Who knows?