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Rich Hill To Begin Season On Injured List

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Dodgers lefty Rich Hill will open the season on the injured list with what the team has described to the media as a medial collateral ligament strain in his left knee (Twitter links via Ken Gurnick of MLB.com). The team also revealed that lefty Hyun-Jin Ryu will start Opening Day, with right-hander Ross Stripling is lined up to start the second game of the season.

Hill will join fellow southpaw Clayton Kershaw on the IL to open the season. Kershaw estimated Wedmesday that he’ll need 20 days to build up to game readiness after his latest throwing session (via Gurnick), while Hill will be out for at least a “couple weeks,” though the team hasn’t put forth a more specific timeline than that.

With Kershaw and Hill both out for the start of the season, the Dodgers will look to Ryu, Stripling, Walker Buehler and Kenta Maeda to start games in the early-going. It doesn’t appear as though the Dodgers have definitively determined who’ll open the year as the fifth starter, although Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register tweets that manager Dave Roberts acknowledged that Julio Urias might have to open the year as a starter rather than a reliever.

Brad Miller Opts Out Of Contract With Dodgers

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Infielder/outfielder Brad Miller has opted out of his minor-league deal with the Dodgers, per a club announcement. He’s heading back onto the open market.

Miller, 29, had joined the organization in hopes of being the latest infielder to resurrect his career in Los Angeles. While he showed well in spring action, he obviously wasn’t ticketed for a roster spot and decided to test his luck in free agency.

At times in the not-so-distant past, Miller has shown big power (30 home runs in 2016) and big patience (15.5% walk rate in 2017). Unfortunately, those two characteristics have yet to show up fully in the same season. In 254 plate appearances last year, Miller slashed .248/.311/.413 — a near match for his career-average line of .239/.313/.409, which itself equates to league-average productivity at the plate.

Teams that like what they saw out of Miller this spring, when he knocked eight base hits (two of them home runs) in 25 plate appearances, will have plenty of ways to make him fit on a major-league roster. Miller has plenty of experience in the middle infield and has spent some time at both corner infield and all three outfield spots. He hasn’t been trusted much recently at shortstop and hasn’t graded as a plus defender at any position, but still rates as a rather versatile player.

Giants Acquire Connor Joe, Designate Drew Ferguson

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The Giants have acquired utilityman Connor Joe from the Reds, per a club announcement. Righty Jordan Johnson and cash considerations are headed to Cincinnati in return. To open a 40-man roster spot, the Giants designated outfielder Drew Ferguson for assignment.

Both Joe and Ferguson were selected in last December’s Rule 5 draft. The former went to the Reds from the Dodgers, while the latter came from the Astros organization. Ferguson would be offered back to Houston if he clears waivers, but every other team in baseball will have a chance to step into his Rule 5 rights.

With a deal coming together at this late stage of camp, it seems likely that Joe has the inside track on a job in San Francisco — perhaps bumping out veteran Pablo Sandoval. New president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi is amply familiar with the former Dodger farmhand, having just come over from the L.A. organization. If Joe can make and stay on the MLB roster all year, his rights would move permanently.

Joe, 26, is a former first-round pick who had largely struggled until a breakout 2018 season. In 435 plate appearances in the upper minors, he turned in a robust .299/.408/.527 slash with a career-high 17 home runs and sixty walks to go with 88 strikeouts.

Ferguson is also 26 years of age. The former 19th-rounder put himself on the map with some strong offensive showings, including a .305/.436/.429 run in 292 Triple-A plate appearances last year. But he has struggled since in short stints in the Arizona Fall League, Puerto Rican Winter League, and Cactus League.

On the Cincinnati end of this swap, Johnson will give the organization another upper-minors arm to work with. He earned a call-up to the highest level of the minors after 15 solid starts at Double-A last year, but struggled thereafter. In 58 frames over 11 outings at Triple-A, Johnson managed only a 4.66 ERA with 37 strikeouts against 33 walks.

Kershaw To Open Season On Injured List

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It’s been a fait accompli for weeks now, but Dodgers skipper Dave Roberts made it official today that Clayton Kershaw will open the season on the injured list (link via Jorge Castillo of the L.A. Times). Kershaw has been slowed by inflammation in his left shoulder for much of the spring and has not been pitching in Cactus League games recently. He’ll face live hitters tomorrow, per Castillo. There’s no indication at present that Kershaw will miss a substantial portion of the upcoming season. Castillo, in fact, notes that Kershaw won’t pitch in the upcoming series of exhibition games against the Angels, beginning on Sunday, because withholding him will allow the Dodgers to back-date his IL placement by the maximum three days (thus creating the possibility of an earlier return). It’s been a month since Kershaw has thrown in a game setting, though, so there’s still some work to be done in terms of getting him back up to speed.

Dodgers Announce Front Office Promotions

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The Dodgers announced a series of promotions within the team’s front office, including the elevation of Brandon Gomes to the new title of Vice President and Assistant General Manager.  Gomes’ old role, the Dodgers’ director of player development, will now be filled by assistant farm director Will Rhymes.  The director of baseball operations position will be filled by Alex Slater, while Duncan Webb becomes director of baseball resources.

Gomes’ promotion represents the latest step in his rather quick shift from player to prominent front office executive.  Gomes was a member of the Rays’ bullpen from 2011-15, and also pitched for the Cubs’ Triple-A affiliate in 2016 before finally hanging up his glove.  Rhymes also played for the Rays in 2012, giving Andrew Friedman (the Dodgers’ president of baseball operations and formerly head of Tampa Bay’s front office) a pair of former players-turned-colleagues working under him in the Los Angeles baseball pyramid.

Gomes joins Jeffrey Kingston in the assistant general manager role, though the Dodgers still haven’t hired an official GM since Farhan Zaidi left to take over the Giants’ baseball ops department last fall.  At the time of Zaidi’s departure, reports indicated that Zaidi’s duties would be split between Gomes, Slater, and senior VP of baseball operations Josh Byrnes.  Since Friedman runs baseball operations anyway, it’s possible L.A. might not appoint a new general manager whatsoever.

Corey Seager To Play Opening Day

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  • Although Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager hasn’t appeared in a spring training game, he’ll be ready for Opening Day, manager Dave Roberts told Bob Nightengale of USA Today and other reporters Sunday. It’ll be a triumphant return for Seager, who starred in full seasons from 2016-17 before missing nearly all of the ’18 campaign on account of Tommy John surgery.

Clayton Kershaw "Unlikely" To Start Opening Day

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  • Clayton Kershaw has been the starter for the Dodgers’ last eight Opening Days, but it appears the superstar southpaw’s streak is on the verge of ending. Manager Dave Roberts said Friday (via ESPN.com) it’s “unlikely” Kershaw will take the ball for the Dodgers on March 28 in their season-opening game against the Diamondbacks. Kershaw has been battling shoulder inflammation throughout the spring, which has prevented the three-time NL Cy Young winner from making an appearance in the Cactus League and from throwing offspeed pitches during his rehab. Set to turn 31 on March 19, Kershaw’s entering the first season of a three-year, $93MM contract – a deal that’s off to an inauspicious start.

NL Roster/Health Notes: Taylor, Verdugo, Cecil, Romano, Kennedy

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The Nationals are suddenly facing a potential roster gap in the outfield, as Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com reports. Michael Taylor tweaked his knee today and is slated to be looked at more closely tomorrow. With Howie Kendrick also in limbo, both of the club’s right-handed-hitting reserve outfield pieces could be out of commission to open the season. Lefty hitter Andrew Stevenson is the only other 40-man outfielder. Perhaps there’s a chance that the Nats will look to the free agent market — Austin Jackson seems the closest match to Taylor as a right-handed-hitting center fielder — or consider claiming a late-spring roster casualty to boost their depth.

Here are a few more roster notes from around the game:

  • The Dodgers expect to carry Alex Verdugo on the MLB roster to open the year, manager Dave Roberts says (via Pedro Moura of The Athletic, on Twitter). After spending two seasons at Triple-A, where he owns a healthy .321/.389/.452 slash, Verdugo certainly deserves a shot. It remains to be seen how he and others will actually be utilized. As things stand, Joc Pederson and Cody Bellinger are also available as left-handed-hitting outfield options, though perhaps some roster tweaking could still occur.
  • Cardinals lefty Brett Cecil pitched in an instrasquad game today and threw more balls (15) than strikes (12) in his latest shaky outing, according to Ben Frederickson of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. This spring has been a trial for the veteran reliever, who’s still trying to find himself on the mound after losing a bunch of weight following a brutal 2018 season. Command and velocity are both problems at the moment, as Frederickson’s colleague Derrick Goold recently explored.
  • Right-hander Sal Romano, who has spent the vast majority of his career as a starter, will be converted into a relief role for the Reds moving forward, Bobby Nightengale Jr. of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports. He’ll still be stretched out to the point where he can be relied upon for two- and three-inning relief appearances if needed, though. Unlike some other Reds roster hopefuls, Romano has a minor league option remaining, so it’s possible he’ll continue to acclimate to his new role at the Triple-A level before getting a look the big league ’pen. Romano, who turned 25 this offseason, has long rated as one of the more intriguing arms in the Cincinnati system but hasn’t found MLB success yet. In 232 2/3 innings, he’s mustered just a 4.99 ERA with 6.9 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9 — including a 5.31 ERA in 145 2/3 innings of work last year. Making it into the Reds’ rotation would’ve been challenging anyhow, as offseason acquisitions Sonny Gray, Alex Wood and Tanner Roark are expected to join holdovers Luis Castillo and Anthony DeSclafani to round out the starting five.
  • Padres right-hander Brett Kennedy has been diagnosed with a lat strain, per James Clark of the East Village Times (Twitter link). The expectation is that he’ll be sidelined for about a month. Kennedy, 24, scuffled last year in his first six MLB appearances and wasn’t expected to command a big league job out of camp. But he posted impressive results in 2018 at Triple-A, with 89 1/3 innings of 2.72 ERA ball over 16 starts, and is certainly part of the depth picture in San Diego.

Tony Cingrani To Open Season On Injured List

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Dodgers southpaw Tony Cingrani will open the season on the injured list, MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick reports. He’s dealing with shoulder soreness of the same kind that bothered him in 2018.

It isn’t clear at this point just how long Cingrani will be sidelined. The club will shut him down for at least two weeks, over which time he’ll receive medical treatment. Presumably the next steps will be determined at that time.

Entering the offseason, some may have wondered whether Cingrani might be non-tendered. He was limited to 22 2/3 innings of 4.76 ERA pitching in the 2018 season.

The Dodgers obviously saw the upside in his powerful left arm, however, as they gave him a fully guaranteed $2.65MM arbitration contract in his final season of eligibility. Cingrani carried 14.3 K/9 against 2.4 BB/9 last year, generating a career-high 13.8% swinging-strike rate by increasing the usage (to 19.3%) of the slider that has typically taken a back seat to his 94+ mph four-seamer.

Thus far in camp, Gurnick says, Cingrani has shown reduced velocity. That was also the case when he returned late last season. It might have been hoped that a full winter of rest would allow Cingrani to get back to his customary mid-nineties heat, but it seems he’ll require further rehab work before giving it another go.

Dodgers Place Andrew Toles On Restricted List

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The Dodgers have placed outfielder Andrew Toles on the restricted list, Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register tweets. Toles has yet to report to spring camp owing to an undisclosed personal matter.

Details are lacking, though it seems that today’s move was not driven by any change in Toles’s situation. With no resolution in sight, though, the Dodgers will now have another 40-man roster spot to work with for the time being.

Still just 26 years old, Toles burst onto the MLB scene in 2016 but missed much of the ensuing season with an ACL tear. He ultimately received only a limited opportunity last year, struggling in just 32 plate appearances, but hit well (.306/.345/.461) in his 275 trips to the plate at Triple-A.

The expectation had been that the left-handed-hitting Toles would challenge for a part-time role in Spring Training. Just how things might have shaken out can’t be known given that he never made it into camp. Toles will remain under control of the Dodgers organization, which will ultimately need to decide whether to add him back to the 40-man roster if and when he is ready to resume playing.

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