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The Dodgers made a personnel move this morning. They signed former New York Met catcher Travis d’Arnaud to a one-year contract and put him on the active roster. The 30-year old Long Beach native has played parts of the last seven series including ten games in 2019 with the Mets. He was released by the Mets on Friday.
D’Arnaud has not caught many games in the last two seasons. After starting 325 games at catcher for the Mets from 2014-2017, d’Arnaud had nine total starts at catcher from 2018 through this season.
#Mets signed Travis d'Arnaud to a $3.5m contract for 2019. Because he was released, #Dodgers are only on the hook for portion of that (likely pro-rated minor-league minimum)
— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) May 5, 2019
The Dodgers have 39 players on their 40-man roster and now have five catchers on their roster.
The corresponding move was optioning infielder Matt Beaty to Oklahoma City. Beaty was recalled on April 30th when the Dodgers put A.J. Pollock on the 10-day injured list.
The 26-year old Beaty had three pinch-hit appearances and he was 2-for-3. He singled in his first major-league at bat in San Francisco and his single on Saturday drove in his first RBI.
Bellinger out of lineup for second straight game
The Dodgers will go for a series sweep against the San Diego Padres this afternoon and it will be without Cody Bellinger in the starting lineup. This is the second straight game Bellinger has missed the start.
Prior to the game, Bellinger was out on the field doing exercises and playing catch.
Cody Bellinger did shoulder exercises with trainer Neal Rampe on the field and now playing catch with Jose Vizcaino testing right shoulder. #Dodgers
— David Vassegh (@THEREAL_DV) May 5, 2019
He later took some batting practice, which is somewhat rare on Sunday since it is not usually mandatory for players to take batting practice on Sundays.
Regardless of all of that, it appears the Dodgers decided to keep him on the bench at least to start the game.
Dodgers hope to continue recent run of success against the Padres
Since the 2011 season, the Dodgers are 101-51 against the Padres. They have won eight-straight season series and since the beginning of the 2017 season, the Dodgers are 29-11.
At Petco Park, the Dodgers are 48-26 during this period. The only National League team with a better record at Petco Park since 2011 are the Washington Nationals at 19-10.
As far as their other NL West division opponents, since 2011 the Dodgers are as follows:
- Against the Colorado Rockies - 89-65
- Against the Arizona Diamondbacks - 82-72
- Against the San Francisco Giants - 75-81
Dodgers to play nearly all of their games outside NL West until June 3rd
After today’s game against the Padres, the Dodgers will play 22 out of the next 24 games outside of the NL West. They will conclude their season series against the Cincinnati Reds and Pittsburgh Pirates. They will play their first series against the Atlanta Braves, Washington Nationals, New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies. And they will go to Tampa to play a two-game series against the Rays.
The only NL West team they will play during that stretch is a two-game series at Dodger Stadium against the Padres next week.
Also the Dodgers will have back-to-back weeks of a two-game series being played on Tuesday and Wednesday which means corresponding off-days on Mondays and Thursdays. With that in mind, there could be some adjusting to the rotation in order to keep the bullpen fresh.