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The Dodgers had five players named to the National League All-Star team over the last four days. Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts, and J.D. Martinez were voted to start the July 11 game by fans, in results announced on Thursday. They will be joined by Clayton Kershaw and Will Smith, who were named to the roster on Sunday.
Pitching was poor and the offense wasn’t so hot the last two days in Kansas City, both losses to the Royals.
Tony Gonsolin talked about his rough day on the mound, captured in Bill Plunkett’s game recap at the Orange County Register.
More on the Dodgers bad day from Mike DiGiovanna at the Los Angeles Times.
As for whether Clayton Kershaw will make this scheduled start for the Dodgers on Monday against the Pirates, that will be decided on Monday. Dave Roberts told reporters after the game it’ll either be Kershaw on the mound or on the injured list, with Michael Grove starting in the case of the latter. From SportsNet LA:
"He just hasn't had his slider. Versus left, the split-change, he manages hitters and he's been fine. With right-handers, the equalizer has been his slider. And he just hasn't had it." Dave Roberts on Tony Gonsolin's outing and the plan for tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/JO5cNVbNXd
— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) July 2, 2023
Links
The Pirates activated outfielder Bryan Reynolds off the injured list on Sunday, before Pittsburgh has a four-game series against the Dodgers starting Monday. More info at Associated Press.
Rays outfielder Randy Arozarena was added to the Home Run Derby field on Saturday, as was Pete Alonso of the Mets. That makes known five known contestants for the July 10 derby in Seattle, along with Mookie Betts of the Dodgers, hometown star Julio Rodríguez, and Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr., with the full eight-player bracket announced Wednesday.
In his Sunday notes column at FanGraphs, David Laurila opined that error totals are low across MLB — 0.52 errors per team game in 2023 is the lowest in major league history, down 13 percent from 2019 and continuing a downward trend the last few years — because the league has pushed for most balls in play to be ruled hits to juice batting average and other offensive statistics.
“MLB has an official scoring problem. Moreover, it is unlikely that the men and women performing the task in press boxes are at fault,” Laurila wrote. “They are simply doing what they’re being asked to do, the absurdity of some rulings be damned.”
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