Younger Karros pitches two shutout innings; Angels win
ANAHEIM >> With the final game of the spring on the line, Dodgers prospect Jared Karros took the mound against the Angels with a keen observer watching from the television booth upstairs.
Former Dodgers star Eric Karros was doing color commentary for SportsNet Los Angeles when his son and former 16th-round draft pick in 2022 stepped on a mound in a major league stadium.
Never mind that it was an exhibition game, there were plenty of midseason nerves.
“So Howie Long, I work with him at FOX and we cross over in September with football and baseball,” Eric Karros said. “He had two kids play at the highest level (in the NFL).
“I remember talking to him about watching your kid and he said, `It's like when you played and get ready for a game and have all this adrenaline and then you can go release it out on the field. Watching your kid, you get all this adrenaline and you just have to sit and you can't let it loose. It eats you up inside.' And that's exactly what it is.”
The younger Karros walked the Angels' Matt Thaiss to open the inning before finding his stride. He got Zach Neto to fly out to left field, retired Jack Lopez on another fly ball to left and ended the seventh inning when Jo Adell was called out on strikes.
As the son walked off the mound, the picture of calm, dad stood up in the booth and applauded his approval.
Back out to pitch again in the eighth inning, Jared Karros gave up a hit but struck out the side by retiring three projected Angels regulars in Mickey Moniak, Taylor Ward and Nolan Schanuel.
Again the older Karros rose to his feet, letting out shouts of approval while thrusting his fist into the air.
As for that rule of never cheering in the press box?
“I told them they can take my press credential away,” Eric Karros said with a laugh.
Jared Karros pitched in 19 games (16 starts) at Single-A Rancho Cucamonga last season with a 3.95 ERA but has not yet learned of his minor league assignment for this season.
“To watch this, and especially to see him succeed and have the type of outing he did, it's something I'm always going to remember,” said Karros, who holds the Los Angeles Dodgers record of 270 home runs. “The gamut of emotion probably went from puking to crying to screaming. All over the map.”
While Jared Karros kept it close for the Dodgers, the Angels still won the game in the ninth against Dodgers' lefthander John Rooney, when Neto tripled with two outs and Lopez ended the game with a bloop RBI single to left.
It was the Angels that leaned into their offense first, getting a two-run double from Brandon Drury in the first inning and a towering home run from Miguel Sano to left field in the second inning for a 3-0 lead. All three runs came off Dodgers starter James Paxton.