Roger Arrieta
ARE WE THERE YET?: Just a week away from their Cactus League opener against the D-backs at Salt River Fields – Talking Stick, the Dodgers took to the fields at Camelback Ranch – Glendale for the sixth full-squad workout of 2014.
Another round of hitters faced live pitching today, as three groups of hitters encountered Dan Haren, Kenley Jansen, Chris Perez, Josh Beckett, Brian Wilson, J.P. Howell, Stephen Fife and non-roster invitee Chris Reed.
* Newcomer Dan Haren, who is a three-time All-Star, is 129-111 with a 3.74 ERA in 327 career games (316 starts) and has posted double-digit win totals in his last nine seasons, ranking among the Major League leaders in quality starts (194, 1st), innings (1927.2, 2nd), wins (123, 4th) and strikeouts (1661, 4th) since 2005. The right-hander is among the game’s best when it comes to limiting walks, ranking first among active pitchers with 1.87 walks-per-nine innings and his 4.08 strikeout-to-walk ratio ranks third all-time in the live-ball era (min. 1500 IP).
* Also a new face to the Dodgers is right-handed reliever Chris Perez, a 28-year-old who has notched 132 saves and posted a 3.41 ERA in six seasons with St. Louis (2008-09) and Cleveland (2009-13). The two-time American League All-Star has fared well against NL opponents, posting a 3.35 ERA (29 ER/78.0 IP) in 84 career appearances.
GETTING THEIR REPS IN: The Dodgers will play in two inter-squad games on Sunday, Feb. 23 and Monday, Feb. 24 on the backfields of Camelback Ranch – Glendale. Pitchers schedule to throw on Sunday include Matt Magill, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Chris Perez, Brian Wilson, Kenley Jansen and J.P. Howell. On Monday, Stephen Fife, Dan Haren, Chris Reed, Paco Rodriguez and Jamey Wright each will pitch.
A WARM WELCOME: There has been a steady stream of familiar faces to arrive at Camelback Ranch – Glendale in the last few days, including Sandy Koufax, Orel Hershiser, Tommy Davis and Eric Karros. Today, yet another person to arrive for the first time to 2014 camp was Dodger Owner Todd Boehly, who spent the morning visiting with players, coaches and Dodger alumni.
PING-PONG RALLY’S ON: The Dodgers’ second annual double-elimination doubles ping-pong tournament continues in the Dodger clubhouse. In a shocking revelation today, the dynamic duo of non-roster invitee Daniel Moskos and right-handed pitcher Chris Withrow defeated last year’s inaugural champion, Clayton Kershaw and his partner Chad Billingsley, to advance to the quarterfinal round. All hope is not lost for Team Kershaw to defend the title, as the once undisputed ping-pong champion of the Dodgers must win four games in a row to reclaim the title.
AN OFFICIAL PORTRAIT: Tomorrow, the Dodgers will hold their annual Photo Day starting at 7:00 a.m. with players, coaches and staff showing their pearly whites for a variety of media outlets, including SportsNet LA, MLB.com, USA Today, Baseball Digest, Topps and Getty.
ALL DODGERS, ALL THE TIME: We’re just six days away from the launch of SportsNet LA on February 25, the new 24-hour-a-day network of the Dodgers. SNLA will televise all of this year’s Dodger Cactus League games, with the exception of two split-squad games, giving fans more Spring Training coverage than ever before. In addition to airing games during Spring Training, SportsNet LA will also air a nightly show, “Access SportsNet: Dodgers,” at 7:00 p.m. PT.
* SNLA’s programming lineup will include shows “Backstage: Dodgers,” “Access SportsNet: Dodgers,” “Leadoff LA,” “Dodgers Clubhouse,” “Connected With,” “Talkin’ Blue,” “Dodgermentary,” “Timeless Dodgers” and “Dodgers Squeeze Play,” all set to air starting Feb. 25. For more information, please visit www.ineedmydodgers.com.
* Yesterday, SNLA began filming a series of long-form interviews for the “Connected With” program. During the next few days, Orel Hershiser, John Hartung and Alanna Rizzo will sit down for extended interviews with Don Mattingly, Clayton Kershaw, Brian Wilson and Adrian Gonzalez for the network.
AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE: This year, an early report date means an early exit from Arizona as the Dodgers will depart the Valley of the Sun on March 16 for Sydney, Australia. Once Down Under, Los Angeles will battle the D-backs on March 22-23 in Major League Baseball’s Opening Series, which will mark MLB’s first regular-season games ever to be staged in Australia. The Dodgers will return stateside and play three exhibitions against the Angels in the Freeway Series before opening the “North American” portion of their schedule March 30 at San Diego on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball.
