Scott Servais responds to Trevor Bauer, Dodger Stadium might increase capacity soon

Well this seemed inevitable.

On Monday after Trevor Bauer allowed three home runs and five extra-base hits in a five-run fifth inning against the Mariners, he said, “In the fifth inning, I was throwing pitches. There really wasn’t any thought of sequencing or whatever. That’s not a really good mind frame to be in when you’re trying to get guys out. But I was just finishing off the night, trying to get my pitch count up.”

On Tuesday, Mariners manager Scott Servais had some fun in responding on a Zoom call with beat reporters.

“I just wanted everyone to know our guys weren’t trying in the first four innings. We decided to try in the fifth inning last night,” Servais said. “It worked out, our guys started trying.”

Shannon Drayer then expertly followed up by asking if the Mariners had both eyes open.

“No, our guys were hitting with one eye shut for the first four innings and trying to breathe through our eyelids as we’re focusing on different things that will help us throughout the year,” Servais quipped.

Increased capacity

With Los Angeles County currently in the red tier of California’s COVID-19’s plan of reopening, the Dodgers are allowed to have Dodger Stadium filled to no more than 20-percent capacity, roughly 11,000 fans. But on Tuesday, the LA County Department of Public Health announced improved numbers.

“If the County continues to maintain current levels or declines in the case rate and test positivity rate, it is possible in early April for the County to move into the orange tier,” said a statement from the Department of Public Health.

Moving to the orange tier would allow for 33-percent capacity, which translates to roughly 18,500 fans at Dodger Stadium. It’s unclear when exactly LA County could switch tiers, though current regulations state the county must first be in the red tier for three weeks. The Dodgers’ second homestand begins on April 22.

Links

• Bill Plunkett at the Orange County Register profiled Julio Urías and the changes he’s made to his repertoire.
• Jeff Miller at the Los Angeles Times has more about the Whole30 diet that Justin Turner and his wife Kourtney went on this offseason.
• In addition to the Dodgers having their alternate training site at Camelback Ranch, it looks like the Padres, D-backs, and Angels also plan to have alternate sites at their spring training facilities in Arizona, so the four teams can play games against one another if needed.