Dodgers Opening Day in 2021 will be televised by ESPN

We haven’t even finished 2020 yet, so accept this news with all appropriate caveats. But we do have a tentative 2021 MLB schedule, and the Dodgers’ first game, on April 1 against the Rockies at Coors Field, will be televised by ESPN.

The 1 p.m. PT game is one of four Opening Day games televised by ESPN, along with Blue Jays at Yankees (10 a.m. PT), Mets at Nationals (4 p.m.), and Astros at A’s (7 p.m.). The Mets-Nationals is the only exclusive national broadcast, so presumably the Dodgers-Rockies opener will also be televised locally by SportsNet LA.

Opening Day is the start of a four-game series in Denver for the Dodgers, who start the 2021 season on a seven-game road trip. The home opener at Dodger Stadium is scheduled for Friday, April 9 against the Nationals.

International catch?

The Dodgers are reportedly close to signing 16-year-old Venezuelan catcher Jesus Galiz, per Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times. The transaction can’t be official until January 15, when the 2020-21 international signing period opens (the start date was moved from July 2, 2020 due to the pandemic), so we are in the “wink, wink, nudge, nudge” stage for now.

Galiz was ranked the seventh-best international prospect by MLB Pipeline, who tabbed him as the top catching prospect in this international class. “He still has the soft hands of a middle infielder, but now he uses them to receive and block pitches,” MLB Pipeline’s scouting report read. “The internal clock and quick release he used to throw runners out from shortstop now make him a threat behind the plate.”

Baseball America ranked their international prospects by likely signing bonus, with Galiz checking in at No. 25. The Dodgers’ total international signing bonus pool for the 2020-21 signing period is $5,348,100, per Jesse Sanchez at MLB.com.