Dodgers will be without Graterol for Korea games DODGERS GAME REPORT
GLENDALE, ARIZ. >> The Dodgers will be without one of their best relievers when they open the season in Korea on March 20.
Right-hander Brusdar Graterol has been nursing two issues — tightness in his left hip flexor and some shoulder discomfort that might or might not be related. Graterol has appeared in just one Cactus League game this spring and won't be on the active roster for the games in Korea.
Meanwhile, right-hander Blake Treinen had X-rays and a CT scan after being hit in the right side by a line drive during Saturday's game. The exam revealed no fractures but a bruised lung.
Treinen is expected to play catch on Tuesday then throw a bullpen session on Wednesday before the Dodgers leave for Korea. But he is expected to be on the Dodgers' active roster for the games in Korea.
“How the lung gets bruised with no fracture — it's a blessing,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
“He didn't dodge a baseball. But we dodged a bullet. How about that?”
Graterol said he has been “trying to work through” the discomfort in his hip but has been limited to plyo-ball work. The shoulder soreness has been “not a lot,” Graterol said, but he didn't want to risk making it worse.
“I felt some tightness with my hip and I wasn't able to land the way I wanted to,” he said through an interpreter.
“I'm just trying to prevent something major from happening.”
Graterol said he is “confident” he can work through both issues before the home opener on March 28. He could start a throwing program as early as Tuesday but won't be on the plane to Korea when the Dodgers can take 31 players. Twenty-six will be active for the games against the San Diego Padres.
Graterol tied for the team lead (with Caleb Ferguson) with 68 appearances last season, posting a 1.20 ERA and 0.97 WHIP and collecting seven saves
Veteran reliever Daniel Hudson is now likely to be on that active roster with Graterol sidelined.
“The quick look is obviously Hudson as someone who makes sense given how he's throwing the baseball and how he's feeling,” Roberts said. “But I don't know exactly yet how it's going to play out.”
Hudson re-signed with the Dodgers on a minor-league deal this winter after his past two seasons were cut short by knee injuries. He has a March 15 opt-out date if he is not going to make the Dodgers' roster.
Bauer on the bump
The 2020 National League Cy Young Award winner is now the Asian Breeze's new ace.
Pitching for a team made up of players hoping to hook on with an affiliated team against a group of Dodgers minor-leaguers, Bauer threw three scoreless innings on the back fields at Camelback Ranch in front of a crowd of 100 or so — a good chunk of them members of the media or his social media team.
He dismissed the idea that he was trying to “showcase” himself for an MLB comeback.
“I just wanted to come out and have some fun playing baseball. That's it,” said Bauer who spent last year pitching in Japan. “I don't think that anyone doubts that I'm still really good. No one doubts my stuff. Outside of three bad innings in Japan last year I had a 1.9 (ERA). I threw 130 innings in three months. I don't think anyone doubts my stuff. I added a splitter. I got four strikeouts on my splitter today. No one's seen that from me in the States because I added that pitch last year.
“I'm a better pitcher than I was the last time people here saw me. Hopefully today reminded them that I'm still an elite pitcher. If not, that's fine too.”
It was the first game action in the United States for the controversial Bauer since he pitched six innings for the Dodgers against the San Francisco Giants on June 28, his 17th and final start for the Dodgers after signing a threeyear, $102 million contract with them.
Shortly after, accusations of sexual assault became public and Bauer has not pitched in MLB since, serving a 194-game suspension and getting released by the Dodgers.
Since his season in Japan ended, Bauer has publicly campaigned for a return to MLB, offering to play for the major-league minimum. There have been no takers and no sign that any major-league team is willing to risk the bad publicity or
THE GAME:
FAMILY TIME:
UP NEXT: potential protests that Bauer might attract.
“I mean if you think about it, I should have the opportunity to sign with a big-league team,” Bauer said Sunday. “I'm just asking for the league minimum, so it's not a money thing. I've served my suspension twice over. I've been cleared of everything in the legal system. If you think about it logically, there's really no reason I shouldn't have a job. But I don't. So it is what it is. We'll see how it plays out. I don't want to predict the future. We'll see.”
Bauer said he was “just in joking-around, have-a-good-time mode – I wasn't super competitive” facing a Dodgers team that included three players from the 40-man roster (Hunter Feduccia, Andy Pages and Diego Cartaya) as well as their second-round pick from last year's draft (Jake Gelof). They loaded the bases in the first inning against Bauer thanks to a pop up that was misplayed but Bauer retired the final eight batters he faced in order.
While Bauer downplayed the significance of returning to the Dodgers' complex and insisted he was just there to “have fun playing baseball” and “entertain the fans which is what I always try to do,” his desire to return to MLB was
Freddie Freeman and Chris Taylor homered in a seven-run first inning for the Dodgers and then went on to beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 12-1 Sunday afternoon at Camelback Ranch. HITTING: The Dodgers had 14hits in the game, five for extra bases . ... Freeman's home run was a two-run shot, Taylor's a grand slam. Freeman also tripled in his four at-bats. Taylor was 2 for 3 with five RBIs. … Mookie Betts was 3for 3and scored twice. … Shohei Ohtani had a double and a walk in four times up. … Will Smith and Teoscar Hernandez each had two hits including a double for Smith. PITCHING: Gavin Stone started and threw four scoreless innings, allowing two hits while striking out five. Stone has made a strong case to open the season as the Dodgers' fifth starter. He has allowed just one run in 9 2/3 innings this spring. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts' son, Cole, was on the Diamondbacks' travel squad for Sunday's game. He exchanged lineup cards with his father before the game then grounded out in an at-bat later in the game. Dodgers (RHP Bobby Miller) vs. Guardians (RHP Tristan McKenzie), today at Goodyear Stadium, 1:05p.m., SportsNet LA — Bill Plunkett
obvious even though he acknowledged the likelihood of that happening is not high.
“I think anyone who was here could see that the stuff was elite,” he said. “Command is there. (Pitch) shapes are there. All that. If it did, it did, if it didn't, it didn't. It is what it is at this point.”
Bauer said he would continue to “stay ready” and try to entertain fans with his YouTube videos.
“And then see where it goes from there,” he said. “I don't know. I don't really plan at this point, because everything is out of my control. I just stay ready and maybe people somehow will remember that I'm still one of the best pitchers in the world. Maybe that makes a difference.”
Also
Shohei Ohtani is not scheduled to play today but is expected to be in the lineup for the Dodgers' final two Cactus League games on Tuesday and Wednesday. …
Right-hander Emmet Sheehan threw a bullpen session on Sunday. Sheehan was shut down for a week earlier in the spring with shoulder soreness and is expected to open the season on the Injured List. …
Infielder Miguel Rojas was scratched from Sunday's lineup with lower leg discomfort. It is not considered a serious problem.