Short stay in LA: d'Arnaud goes to Rays
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LOS ANGELES -- The Dodgers were busy tinkering around the edges of the roster on Friday.
They traded catcher Travis d'Arnaud to the Rays and Minor League outfielder Paulo Orlando to the White Sox, both for cash.
The Dodgers recalled catcher Rocky Gale from Triple-A Oklahoma City to replace d’Arnaud on the big league roster, at least until Matt Beaty clears his 10-day minimum option stay at Triple-A Oklahoma City on May 15 (or another player is acquired).
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said management concluded d’Arnaud wouldn’t get much playing time, a decision made five days and one at-bat -- a pinch-hit groundout Thursday -- after management signed d’Arnaud to provide a right-handed bat off the bench. He had been released by the Mets.
There even was a one-day experiment hitting ground balls to d’Arnaud at first base and talk of trying him in the outfield, all because the Dodgers’ farm system, as talented as it might be on the lower levels, has no highly regarded position players Major League ready on the higher levels now that Alex Verdugo has graduated to the big league lineup.
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Seager a late scratch
The Dodgers scratched shortstop Corey Seager from the starting lineup 25 minutes before their game Friday night against the Nationals. After the game, Roberts said Seager had a personal issue to attend to and returned to the dugout by midgame.
Enrique Hernandez replaced Seager in the batting order, starting at second base. Chris Taylor, already in the lineup at second base, was moved to start at shortstop.
Seager has struggled coming off elbow and hip operations last year. He is hitting .230 with two homers, 12 RBIs and a .675 OPS. He came into the season with a .302 career average and .866 OPS.
Plenty of rest ahead
The schedule gives the Dodgers four days off in an 11-day span from May 13-23. Because of that, Roberts said his five-man starting rotation is likely to be tweaked.
“With the off days to kind of keep things in line, there’s a cost as far as rest and that stuff,” said Roberts. “We’ll do what’s best for each individual pitcher. There might be some rest involved. It’s a long season. You’ve got to protect the pitchers. If something’s going on, you’ve got to get ahead of it.”