Team won’t play on two Sundays next season
And, on Sunday, the team rested.
That is a sentence that is rarely heard in baseball. Sunday is a popular day for ballgames, and major league teams usually get their days off sprinkled in the middle of the week.
But, for the first time in recent memory, the Dodgers will get two Sundays off in 2020.
The Dodgers will not play on the first Sunday of the season, March 29, or July 12, the Sunday before the AllStar break.
When the 2020 schedule was announced in August, the Dodgers and San Francisco Giants were scheduled to open the season Thursday, March 26, at Dodger Stadium, take Friday off, and play there Saturday and Sunday.
However, after ESPN last week picked the Chicago Cubs-Milwaukee Brewers game as its “Sunday Night Baseball” selection for that first weekend of the season, the Dodgers shifted the Sunday date to Friday. The Dodgers preferred the Friday date all along, a team official said, but the league asked the team to let ESPN make its decision first.
The Dodgers’ average attendance last season for Friday games: 49,896; for Sunday games: 48,218.
The Dodgers host the AllStar game Tuesday, July 14. Normally, host teams play on the road through the Sunday before the game. But the Dodgers complete a five-game trip with two games at Angel Stadium on July 10-11. Their last home game before the All-Star break is Sunday, July 5, giving the organization a week to prepare for the All-Star game and leadup festivities.
According to the annual schedules posted on the team website, the last time the Dodgers did not play on Sunday was Sept. 16, 2001, as part of the league’s postponement of games after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Still no contract for Friedman
Nearly a month has passed since the World Series concluded and Andrew Friedman still is not under contract with the Dodgers for next season, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.
But the prospects of coming to terms have not changed.
Friedman, the club’s president of baseball operations since October 2014, is expected to finalize a deal this offseason. He is overseeing the Dodgers’ baseball operations as usual and attended the general managers meetings this month.
Friedman’s five-year contract expired at the end of the season.
The Dodgers have won seven National League West titles in a row, the last five under Friedman, and they advanced to the World Series in 2017 and 2018 under the 43-year-old executive’s watch.
When Friedman and the Dodgers do agree on a contract, the team likely won’t make an announcement. Team President Stan Kasten has a longstanding policy of not announcing the contracts of executives, dating to his tenures with the Atlanta Braves and Washington Nationals.
Hill undergoes arm surgery
If Rich Hill is going to extend his major league career with the Dodgers or another club, he will have to overcome another obstacle.
The left-handed pitcher underwent primary revision surgery last month for a tear in the ulnar collateral ligament in his left elbow and will not be ready for the start of next season, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.
Hill sat out nearly three months in 2019 after suffering a flexor tendon strain in June. He reinjured his left knee in his first start back from the injured list, but returned 12 days later and was put on the Dodgers’ postseason roster.
He pitched 81⁄3 innings across four starts between the regular season and playoffs after the forearm injury. He finished the regular season with a 2.45 earned-run average and 72 strikeouts to 18 walks in 13 starts.
Hill is a free agent after his three-year, $48-million contract expired. He turns 40 in March. As the season wound down, he insisted he wanted to continue his career. He said he would welcome a return to Los Angeles, where he spent the last 31⁄2 seasons.
Like Tommy John surgery, primary revision surgery is performed to fix a tear in the UCL. It is less intrusive and requires a shorter rehabilitation period, but Hill’s age and injury history, which includes Tommy John surgery in 2011, could shrink his market.
Hyun-Jin Ryu, another member of the Dodgers’ 2019 starting rotation, is also a free agent, leaving the Dodgers with two holes in the rotation.
They could fill them with in-house options — Julio Urias, Dustin May and Tony Gonsolin are among the candidates — or acquire help.
Right-handers Gerrit Cole and Stephen Strasburg, both Southern California natives, headline the free-agent class this offseason.
Zack Wheeler, another right-hander, is also a highend option.