Saturday, March 15, 2014

Add Crawford to the "not going" list for Australia

The list of stars not going to Australia is starting to pile up for the Dodgers.  In addition to Matt Kemp (ankle), Zack Greinke (calf), and Dan Haren (not being used), Carl Crawford becomes the latest member to join the growing list.

The reason Crawford is staying back isn't because of injury, it's actually a good one: he's about to become a father for the third time.  His fiance Evelyn Lozada is due any day now.  Congratulations to the both of them on their birth of their first child (Crawford already has two).

For this two-game set, the rosters aren't the typical 25-man one used during the regular season back home.  Instead, both the Dodgers and Diamondbacks are allowed to carry a few extra players (I believe up to 30, though I'm not positive on that).  Those "reserve" players can only appear via an injury to someone on the "regular" roster, and that injury must result in a DL stint... I think. 

Forgive me, the rules seem pretty confusing, but I'm fairly certain this is what I've read over the past few weeks.

When it's all said and done, it's looking like the other outfielder with Yasiel Puig and Andre Ethier will be Scott Van Slyke.  As Mark Saxon of ESPNLosAngeles.com points out, that will also mean the Dodgers will bring a couple of extra outfielders, such as Mike Baxter, Joc Pederson, or Nick Buss.

I think it will be interesting to see if Don Mattingly gives the start to the lefty Pederson in the second game against right-handed Trevor Cahill of the DBacks.  With the way the outfielders get hurt, and with the tremendous talent of Pederson, it could be a glimpse into the future if they go that route.  We will see.

No comments: