True Blue LA - March 1: Indians 8, Dodgers 7Where The Dodger Dogs Are Always Grilledhttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/49563/truebluela_fav.png2018-03-01T17:30:29-08:00http://www.truebluela.com/rss/stream/168377152018-03-01T17:30:29-08:002018-03-01T17:30:29-08:00Left field will be a group effort for Dodgers
<figure>
<img alt="Cleveland Indians v Los Angeles Dodgers" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/bWFPC-jXsCCMndi8PocQ-drAGe4=/0x0:5043x3362/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/58872403/926050096.jpg.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Photo by Jennifer Stewart/Getty Images</figcaption>
</figure>
<p id="ltwko5">PHOENIX — Thursday was only the 11th day of <a href="https://www.truebluela.com/">Dodgers</a> spring training camp for position players, though several were here before their required reporting date. Not much has changed in the battle of left field.</p>
<p id="y5Bx1K">“We knew we had some very good options, and that’s kind of the way it’s played out up to this point,” Roberts said.</p>
<p id="qKAGOW"><span>Matt Kemp</span> made his fourth start in left field on Thursday, and has played every other day through the first week of games. Kemp singled in three at-bats against Cleveland, but the Dodgers are more concerned with how he looks in the field, after struggling the last three seasons. Kemp played six innings in left field Thursday, and he leads the team with 21 defensive innings played at the position this spring.</p>
<p id="rMV8zE">“We’re too early to make any kind of judgment right now,” Roberts said. “But he is moving considerably better than I recall the last couple years.”</p>
<p id="VRvOfh"><span>Andrew Toles</span> has <a href="https://www.truebluela.com/2018/2/28/17064488/andrew-toles-home-run-rehab-opening-day-dodgers-wilmer-font-good-henry-owens-wild">looked healthy after rehabbing from his torn ACL</a>, and has played 13 innings in left field this spring. <span>Kike Hernandez</span>, who plays everywhere, has yet to play in the outfield this spring, playing second base and shortstop in his three games. He was among <a href="https://www.truebluela.com/2018/3/1/17051856/dodgers-unkown-illness-cody-bellinger-corey-seager-ross-stripling-biodefense-systems-wtf">the group knocked out a few days with the illness spreading through the Dodgers clubhouse</a>.</p>
<p id="taLEZn">The Dodgers <a href="https://www.truebluela.com/2018/2/16/17020702/corey-seager-elbow-throwing-program-reduced-workload-spring-training-dodgers">taking things slow with Corey Seager‘s elbow</a> has opened up playing time at shortstop, <a href="https://www.truebluela.com/2018/2/26/17053858/chris-taylor-shortstop-kenley-jansen-bullpen-dodgers-rangers-surprise">where Chris Taylor has played 15 innings</a>. That made time in center field for <span>Joc Pederson</span> to get the bulk of his playing time in with 23 innings to date.</p>
<p id="qcDLHc"><span>Trayce Thompson</span> is out of options but in the mix, and has played five innings in left field and 10 innings in right field. He has been out the last two days as well. <span>Alex Verdugo</span> is in the conversation at least and has played all over the outfield, with six innings in left field, nine in center and seven innings in right.</p>
<p id="UxdVKB">No matter how it shakes out, there figures to be multiple contributors in left field once the regular season begins.</p>
<p id="ZL8I8m">“I wouldn’t say a strict platoon, but I do see the playing time broken up. It’s just our philosophy of keeping guys involved and keeping guys current,” Roberts said. “If you’re looking at a position where the talent is pretty similar across the board and how you can utilize those guys the best and the most, that’s what we believe.”</p>
<p id="7eFxmq">In 2017 the Dodgers used 16 different players in left field, including six players making at least 12 starts at the position.</p>
<h3 id="kBERCZ">Unfit to be tied</h3>
<p id="FXYv0i">The <a href="https://www.letsgotribe.com/">Indians</a> rallied for six runs in the eighth inning to erase a 7-1 deficit on Thursday, then scored the go-ahead run in the ninth. In the bottom of the inning <span>Travis Taijeron</span> walked and with two outs Keibert Ruiz singled to left off the glove of third baseman <span>Giovanny Urshela</span>.</p>
<p id="peMhE5">Third base coach <span>Chris Woodward</span> sent Taijeron home only to see him thrown out with relative ease. The valiant effort to secure another tie was thwarted, with Cleveland prevailing 8-7.</p>
<h3 id="bBL0Qp">Up next</h3>
<p id="fkAiKo"><span>Clayton Kershaw</span> is back on the hill for the Dodgers on Friday afternoon, making his second start of the spring, this time against the <a href="https://www.southsidesox.com/">White Sox</a> at Camelback Ranch. The Dodgers are the road team in his contest, the second of four games against their spring co-tenants in the Cactus League.</p>
<p id="Mlr11b">The 12:05 p.m. PT game will be televised by SportsNet LA, the first of three straight games simulcast on both television and 570 AM, with Charley Steiner and Rick Monday on the call.</p>
https://www.truebluela.com/2018/3/1/17067670/dodgers-left-field-playing-timeEric Stephen2018-03-01T10:03:54-08:002018-03-01T10:03:54-08:00More than a dozen Dodgers still out sick
<figure>
<img alt="MLB: Spring Training-Los Angeles Dodgers at Kansas City Royals" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/oFJDSjgtkVpeQdwimFr2GaeJVAc=/0x53:3531x2407/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/58866391/usa_today_10651815.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
</figure>
<p id="HHaJhi">PHOENIX — The stomach bug that has taken hold of the <a href="https://www.truebluela.com/">Dodgers</a> clubhouse is on its second day, with several players still away from camp.</p>
<p id="123hOV">More than a dozen players are out for a second day, including <span>Corey Seager</span>, <span>Cody Bellinger</span>, <span>Chase Utley</span>, <span>Austin Barnes</span>, <span>Kiké Hernandez</span> and <span>Kyle Farmer</span>. a More than 25 players were sent home on Wednesday with an illness that isn’t yet known.</p>
<p id="EEJH2D">“It’s kind of the same symptoms,” manager <span>Dave Roberts</span> said. “Guys getting chills, fatigued. But we don’t know the cause of it.”</p>
<p id="FErgy9">Hyun-jin Ryu is back in camp on Thursday one day after getting scratched from what would have been his first start of spring. That affects his schedule of getting stretched out in preparation for the regular season. <span>Kenta Maeda</span> started Tuesday but has been out the last two days, missing a scheduled bullpen session on Thursday which could affect his next start and subsequent schedule.</p>
<div class="c-float-right"><div id="bwvu5u"><div data-anthem-component="table:916099"></div></div></div>
<p id="1Bmni9">“It’s a minor setback,” Roberts said. “When you look at a pitcher getting built up, it’s so specific to starting pitchers, but I’m sure we still have time to recoup that time.”</p>
<p id="b2NDLz">Some of the players who missed Wednesday are back today, like <span>Josh Fields</span> and <span>Donovan Solano</span>, and they will go workouts with the plan of easing players back in.</p>
<p id="y8fJgX">“Any guy we get back we’ll kind of run through the day before getting them back in a game,” Roberts said.</p>
<p id="VzT55O"><span>Ross Stripling</span>, who pitched an inning in his spring debut Saturday, was one of the Dodgers affected, scratched from his scheduled start. Instead, non-roster pitcher <span>Manny Banuelos</span> will take the hill against the <a href="https://www.letsgotribe.com/">Indians</a> at Camelback Ranch. Banuelos will probably pitch two innings on Thursday though his ultimate role with the club is likely in relief.</p>
<p id="CAfTRs">“For us we see him out of the pen,” Roberts said. “A lot of our guys out of the pen are one-plus guys and if he can do that, that’s obviously valuable.”</p>
<p id="wNPug9"><span>Dennis Santana</span> is also scheduled to pitch for the Dodgers on Thursday, in what will be his Cactus League debut. “One inning is probably a safe bet for him,” Roberts said.</p>
<p id="Tr1je5">Old friend <span>Stephen Fife</span>, a non-roster invite with the Indians, starts on the mound for Cleveland, with a lineup that also includes former Dodgers minor leaguer <span>Drew Maggi</span>, who hit .281/.363/.391 the last two years between Triple-A Oklahoma City and Double-A Tulsa. Maggi starts at second base on Thursday.</p>
<h3 id="MO3ZyJ">Game info</h3>
<p id="4h4ezV">Time: 12:05 p.m. PT</p>
<p id="2XiY5s">Location: Camelback Ranch</p>
<p id="xN3kzk">TV: none</p>
<p id="yKMZBB">Radio: none</p>
https://www.truebluela.com/2018/3/1/17051856/dodgers-unkown-illness-cody-bellinger-corey-seager-ross-stripling-biodefense-systems-wtfEric Stephen