GLENDALE -- Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig was on the cover of a recent ESPN The Magazine issue, and here is a behind-the-scenes look at the photo shoot for the magazine.
Puig has already been restricted in throwing, a day before position player workouts begin, as a precaution after experiencing some shoulder inflammation during voluntary workouts earlier in the week. Ken Gurnick of MLB.com has more details.
Dodgers manager Don Mattingly talked about Puig earlier on Thursday and what awaits the outfielder in his second major league season.
"The main challenges are going to be scouting reports, because once the computer starts chugging on you, starts to show the spots you don't hit, starts to show some tendencies, that's the adjustments we see from the baseball side," Mattingly said. What are they going to try to do, and is he going to make adjustments back?
"On the other side of that coin, he has the same material. He has a chance to be able to know what a pitcher's trying to do, see more video. It's just a matter of adjustments. That's the biggest thing an any sport. The guys who make adjustments are the better players. It's a constant game of cat and mouse."
Notes
- Jack McDowell was officially announced Thursday as the manager of rookie-level Ogden, his first professional coaching job, as reported last month. McDowell replaces Lee Tinsley, who was hired in December, but left to take a major league coaching job with the Reds.
- The Dodgers signed 18-year-old outfielder Carlos Mosquera out of Panama City, Panama. Luis Molina was the signing scout.
- The Dodgers are moving the retired numbers from under the pavilion overhang to the balcony on the left field club level, across the stadium from the championship banners displayed in right field.
- Reporters tried to convince Mattingly to join Twitter, as Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson did, but to no avail. Mattingly's son Preston, a former Dodgers prospect and active tweeter, said he has tried unsuccessfully to convince his dad to join as well. Some suggested @DonnieBaseball as a possible handle (currently a suspended account), while I suggested @PrestonsDad.
- Mattingly earlier in the week said the Dodgers would likely play a pair of intrasquad games on Feb. 23-24 as a way to get extra at-bats before Cactus League play begins on Feb. 26.
- Robin Thicke, son of "Growing Pains" and "Thicke of the Night" star Alan Thicke, will perform three songs - including "Blurred Lines" - before the Dodgers' second home game of the season, on April 5 against the Giants. The concert is free with a game ticket.