Podcast episode 1917: Questions at the All-Star break

It’s the first week of July, a month that figures to bring lots of change to the Dodgers. They will get David Freese back from the injured list, followed soon after by the returns of Corey Seager and A.J. Pollock as well.

There will be consequences with each of those moves, especially the last two, and playing times crunches to sort out. July also features the trade deadline, so expect new Dodgers from the outside as well. We take a stab at sorting out the ramifications.

We also recount the seemingly endless series from Coors Field, which is back to being COORS FIELD again — Sam Miller at ESPN has the details in his deep dive on Denver baseball over the weekend.

Also this week on the podcast, which Dodgers did and didn’t make the All-Star team, and as usual check in on the still-astronomical pace by Cody Bellinger.

Dodgers rewind

Last week saw the 29th anniversary of Fernando Valenzuela’s no-hitter against St. Louis, the last hurrah of a Dodgers legend completing an improbable two no-nos in one day along with former Dodger Dave Stewart in Toronto, a first in MLB history, both on ESPN.

The final play of Valenzuela’s no-hitter was a ground ball double play by another former Dodger great, Pedro Guerrero. He grounded the ball to Juan Samuel, who touched second base and threw to first to complete Fernando’s gem.

Samuel, the subject of this week’s Dodgers rewind, was acquired before the 1990 season from the Mets for a pair of 1988 stalwarts in Mike Marshall and Alejandro Peña. He played with the Dodgers for parts of three seasons before getting released at the end of July 1992. The second baseman hit .258/.321/.377, a 97 OPS+, with 25 home runs and 63 stolen bases in 343 games with Los Angeles. It was one of seven major league stops for Samuel, who played 16 years in the big leagues.

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