The Dodgers placed starting pitcher Walker Buehler on the 10-day injured list for a second time with a right index finger blister on Thursday. They also activated reliever Joe Kelly from the injured list, and he will begin to serve his five-game suspension for throwing at Astros batters.
Buehler came off the injured list to start Tuesday night against the D-backs and flashed triple-digit heat, but shied away from throwing breaking balls, made it through only 2 2/3 innings and was charged with five runs, two earned.
Buehler, a preseason pick by some for a Cy Young Award, reported to Summer Camp behind the other starters because of the uncertainty of the opening of the regular season, he said, and he's been behind ever since.
He is 1-0 with a 3.86 ERA and 1.010 WHIP, but three of his seven starts have been shorter than five innings. His rates for home runs and walks allowed are up over last year, and strikeouts are down.
Kelly has been out since Aug. 9 with shoulder inflammation and showed his readiness this week with an impressive throwing session. Before rejoining the Dodgers bullpen, however, he must serve a suspension reduced on appeal from eight games to five for throwing at two Astros batters on July 28.
The Dodgers will be one man shorthanded during the five-game suspension. No surprise that Mookie Betts, who turned professional bowler after mastering Major League outfielder, would ask to play, say, second base. The surprise is that the Dodgers are letting him.
Maybe it was a side agreement during negotiations for his $365 million extension, but Betts started at second base in Thursday night's 5-2 loss to the D-backs, temporarily replacing rookie Gavin Lux, a couple weeks after Betts discussed the experiment with manager Dave Roberts. Betts was a middle infielder his first 3 1/2 seasons in Boston's Minor League system and last played one game there for the Red Sox in 2018. It was his 15th MLB start there, but his first since '14.
“He was drafted as a second baseman, he takes grounders every day in the infield and he came to me a couple weeks ago and we were talking about potential scenarios and how we move players around the diamond and if there ever was an opportunity in the postseason, when things sort of get crazy, he might find himself in the infield,” said Roberts.
“For me, nothing is off the table, especially when a player like Mookie is open to it. So, I just felt this was a good opportunity to log some innings, get the feel of it and see what he thinks. Right now, just gathering information. He wants to do it, he's excited about it. There's not a whole lot of downside. It's going to be fun."
Betts passed his first test as a Los Angeles second baseman, and he was busy. Unable to turn any of the first three grounders that he reached into outs (all ruled singles), he converted the next two. He also went 0-for-3 with two walks.
"I thought he played a clean game defensively," Roberts said. "Every play that he needed to make or should make, he did. There was a ball to his left he didn't have a chance on, and I thought he was very smart to hold it. There was another ball up the middle, a hit either way, a shift-buster ball. It was a very clean game at second base and good to see." Roberts said he would probably give Betts one more start at second base before the postseason, as well as move him from right field to second base in-game once. Roberts also conceded he probably wouldn't be doing this if the Dodgers were in a scramble for a postseason spot, but he defended it because of the “optionality” it presents going forward.
“I feel really good about it,” Roberts said. “You sometimes hit for guys early and a game could be in the balance in the third or fourth inning. As you're playing teams nowadays, we saw with the Brewers a couple years ago, starting to deploy bullpens and you just never know what can happen to potentially scratch a couple of runs across early that might prove beneficial later. You just never know how it can play out and this gives me more options.” One is Mike Trout, the best player of his generation with three American League Most Valuable Player Awards and four second-place finishes to prove it. In 10 seasons, the 29-year-old Angels center fielder's greatness has become the gold standard for every other player.
As for the other, that's Fernando Tatis Jr., a breathtakingly gifted 21-year-old who has taken his sport by storm in his second season while helping the Padres to the threshold of their first postseason appearance in 14 years.
Tatis and Trout represent Major League Baseball at its best in 2020, and they're atop MLB.com's NL and AL MVP polls. Tatis is a runaway leader, having gotten 28 of 30 first-place votes. Dodgers outfielder Mookie Betts got the other two NL first-place votes.
Trout is in a closer race, with five players getting first-place votes. He led the way with 13, but was followed closely by Indians ace Shane Bieber, who got 11. Nelson Cruz, Tim Anderson and José Abreu also got first-place votes.
There were 30 voters in total. Reporters were asked to rank their top five choices in each league, with five points awarded for a first-place vote, four for second, etc. 1) Mike Trout (13 first-place votes): He was tied with Cruz for the AL home run lead before hitting his MLB-leading 16th homer on Thursday and is second to Cruz in OPS+ (179) and OPS (1.045). Trout became the 11th-youngest player to join the 300-home run club last week. He has reached base in 34 of 40 games this season, and his 10 home runs in the Angels' first 25 games is a franchise record. 2) Shane Bieber (11): He has allowed zero runs in five of nine starts and given up three in his past five combined. He has an insane 373 ERA+ and is leading the Majors in ERA (1.25) and strikeouts per nine innings (14.7). The Indians are 8-1 in his nine starts and 18-16 when anyone else takes the ball. 3) Nelson Cruz (2): He has been a huge bright spot for a team that has been unable to repeat last season's offensive magic. Cruz is leading the AL in a string of offensive categories, including OPS (1.117), OPS+ (201) and slugging percentage (.685). In seven games this month, he's hitting .500 with a 1.363 OPS. 4) Tim Anderson (1): Batting .350 -- five points behind DJ LeMahieu -- he's attempting to become the 15th player to win back-to-back batting titles. He could be the first White Sox player to hit .350 or better since Hall of Famer Frank Thomas batted .353 in 1994. 5) José Abreu (3): He drove in 40 runs in his first 40 games this season, becoming the first White Sox player to do that since Jim Thome had 41 in 40 games in 2006. He was named AL Player of the Month for August by hitting .330 with eight doubles, 11 home runs and 29 RBIs. 1) Fernando Tatis Jr. (28 first-place votes): He's hitting .433 with runners in scoring position, which is one of several ways to explain how good he has been. He leads the NL with 27 extra-base hits and is third with eight stolen bases. He's tied for third in the NL with 16 multi-hit games. Clayton Kershaw struggled with his fastball command. Mookie Betts committed two errors on the same play. Closer Kenley Jansen was unavailable. And the winningest team in baseball still found a way to win.
For the second consecutive game, it took 10 innings, but the Dodgers pulled out a 6-4 victory over the D-backs on Wednesday night at Chase Field in Phoenix. The win ran their overtime record to 5-1, showing they've adapted nicely to this year's rule change that starts each extra inning with a runner on second base.
Corey Seager was that runner to open the 10th inning at second base. He advanced to third when Kevin Ginkel's first pitch bounced wildly and scored on Chris Taylor's single up the middle. After Max Muncy's one-out walk, AJ Pollock greeted Hector Rondón with a single to score Taylor with an insurance run. “Our offense did a good job scrapping late and our pitching did a great job putting up zeros just inning after inning,” Pollock said, noting that Dodgers relievers pitched five scoreless innings. That was necessary because Kershaw handled the first five, charged with four runs (three earned) and supported with homers by Betts and Enrique Hernández (wearing a No. 21 jersey on Roberto Clemente Day). Kershaw, though, was a victim of the baseball gods, with several soft hits and three errors behind him. He's also a traditionalist, so he's no fan of the extra-inning rule.
“It's not real baseball, but it's fine for this year, and I hope we never do it again,” said Kershaw.
Manager Dave Roberts said he was a proponent of the rule when it was announced and is a leading advocate after seeing how well his club exploits it.
“I didn't know how it was going to play out and how it was going to be received, but as we've had some runs with it, I really like it,” Roberts said. “I think it really shortens the game, it adds strategy for the fans, the managers, the players. I think it's playing out pretty well and our guys have done a really good job in the situation. I like it permanently. I don't like it for the postseason.”
Justin Turner could return to lineup this weekend
Despite the two-run lead, there was still bullpen drama for the Dodgers. Jansen, the National League Reliever of the Month for August, never warmed up for the bottom of the 10th. Jansen made 31 pitches as the winning pitcher Tuesday night, allowing a home run and double, and was down for the game.
“I just felt, [after] 31 pitches, we'll save him, give him a blow tonight and he'll be back ready to go tomorrow,” said Roberts.