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Another Grande Highlight From Chico Plus More From Tuesday’s Summer Camp

DodgersTailgate Contributor
DodgersTailgate Contributor
4 min.read

Just about everyone’s shown up to camp—even those who were thought to be considering opting out. With the Dodgers favored to win it all in 2020 with their depth in talent, thank goodness everyone’s in camp, healthy and ready to kick off the season.

  • Although it was revealed that relief pitcher Pedro Baez was seen at Dodger Stadium through MLB Network’s “Ballpark Cam” on Monday, nothing was officially announced. On Tuesday, the Dodgers activated Baez from the ten day injured list. No reason was given as to why he was on the IL, but it undoubtedly revolves around COVID-19 since HIPAA laws prevent disclosing information without the player’s permission. He is expected to face hitters in the coming days.
  • Relief pitcher Scott Alexander reported to camp on Monday. He also threw a 15- 20 pitch bullpen session that same day. There was a palpable amount of speculation on whether Alexander would play in 2020 due to him being a type-1 diabetic. Because his disease places him in the high risk category, he would’ve been paid the full prorated amount regardless of his decision to opt out or not.

Alexander, 31, was acquired by the Dodgers in a three team trade with the White Sox and Royals at the beginning of 2018. His first year with the Dodgers went fairly well, putting up a 3.57 FIP (89 FIP-) while inducing groundballs a little over seventy percent of the time. Those two stats were satisfactory considering his purpose in the bullpen. In 2019, those same statistics went in the wrong direction, which likely was attributed to forearm issues that ended his season near the middle of June.

  • Outfielder AJ Pollock reported to camp on Tuesday. He was in a batting cage session and available for the intrasquad game but didn’t take any at bats. Pollock was another player rumored to consider opting out of the season due to health concerns involving his family. His daughter was born three months prematurely in May. Suffice to say, exposure to the virus could lead to dire circumstances. With the shutdown, Pollock has been able to spend time focusing on supporting his wife and newborn daughter. He’s been able to stay in shape exercising but will likely need some time to get his game legs under him. Roberts says he’ll face live pitching in the next few days and then hopefully will play in an intrasquad game in which there are only three left.
  • Infielder Max Muncy faced live pitching in Tuesday’s intrasquad game, although he didn’t get any reps defensively. Roberts still expects him to be the Dodgers opening night first baseman.
  • An MLB Umpire was used in Tuesday’s intrasquad game. They’ll be used in the remaining scrimmages, so no more Bob Geren as home plate ump.
  • Catching prospect Keibert Ruiz was said to be the only remaining player that hasn’t reported to camp for reasons undisclosed. But in Diego Cartaya’s (another Dodgers catching prospect) Instagram story, a photo can be seen with him and Ruiz in a batting cage. If this photo were recent, he’d likely be in camp sooner than later.
  • Starting pitcher Walker Buehler has been slowly progressing through camp. He admitted earlier in camp that he’s usually taken his time getting into season form. Dave Roberts, on Tuesday, said it has nothing to do with any injury and that he’ll be ready to contribute in a short outing capacity to start the season with a long reliever to back him up.
  • Infield prospect Kody Hoese is reportedly being added to the 60 man pool. Hoese, 23, was the very first selection by the Dodgers in the 2019 MLB draft. He slashed .299/.380/.483 in 171 plate appearances across the Dodgers minor league rookie levels and A-ball affiliate in 2019.
  • Corey Seager took questions during a Zoom press conference on Tuesday. Here are the highlights:
  1. This offseason was the first time in his career he was able to hit the weight room. He continued weight lifting workouts during the shutdown. He feels he’s ahead than he’s ever been during any offseason.
  2. He never considered opting out of the shortened season, but he understands other player’s decisions not to play.
  3. He’s made some slight adjustments to his workouts as a precaution for his elbow that needed Tommy John surgery in the early part of the 2018 season.
  4. Seager doesn’t feel winning the World Series should be revered less than any other year.
  5. Seager is trying not to rely on film so much and leaning more on feel since the news rules (vague rules) restricting the use of replay video during the game.
  6. Seager feels more comfortable with artificial crowd noise.
  • Closer Kenley Jansen made an appearance in last night’s intrasquad game.

Should go without saying that getting one of, if not, the hottest bat, Corey Seager, out on three pitches was very encouraging to see.

  • Francisco “Chico” Hernandez has received a generous amount of attention recently and deservingly so. Earlier on Tuesday, he was on MLB Networks “Intentional Talk,” where they discussed his history with the team.

A few days ago, Roberts said Chico wouldn’t be used in an intrasquad game anymore during training camp. Sunday, he was briefly used in a scrimmage game, but then yesterday, Chico started in left field and produced another for the Summer Camp highlight reels.

Maybe the players vocally petitioned for Chico or Roberts had a change of heart. Whatever it was, there’s a potential of three more games with Chico starting.

  • The Dodgers announced that they are using cutouts of fans to be placed in the stands. The sale to purchase the cutouts began today at 10 am.

Oskar is a writer for Dodgers-Lowdown. Follow him on Twitter @2Rawsko94. Graphic credit: Alberto Amezola, Jr.

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