Dodgers sign veteran IF Miller to Minors deal

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- The Dodgers signed free-agent infielder Brad Miller to a Minor League contract Thursday, but Andrew Friedman made Miller sound like a Major Leaguer with a legit shot at making the club.

“He’s a guy that we’ve admired from afar for a while,” said the president of baseball operations. “We’ve got guys that have a history with him. [Assistant general manager Jeff Kingston came from Seattle.] Lot of pop from the left side, got versatility, depending how things play out, adds a player of depth, a very quality Major League player.”

As a left-handed hitter, Miller could fill the role of platoon second baseman against right-handed pitching that Chase Utley held until he retired after last season and joined the front office. Right-handed-hitting second-base candidates include Chris Taylor and Enrique Hernandez.

Miller played parts of six seasons with Seattle, Tampa Bay and Milwaukee, but in recent seasons has been plagued by injuries. He peaked in 2016 with 30 homers and 81 RBIs, but in 2017 experienced groin and core muscle injuries that resulted in offseason surgery.

He began 2018 with Tampa Bay, was traded in June to Milwaukee and released at the end of July. Instead of looking for work, he underwent an overdue repair of torn labrum and microfracture surgery in his right hip, which he said is fully healed.

Worth noting

• Blanca Jarrin, wife of Hall of Fame Dodgers broadcaster Jaime Jarrin, passed away Thursday morning in Flagstaff, Ariz. Jarrin, 85, suffered a heart attack while the family was visiting Flagstaff.

The Jarrins had been married 65 years. Funeral services are pending.

• Rich Hill was busy on Thursday, throwing 2 1/3 innings in a 7-7 tie against the Rockies after he and wife Caitlin donated $575,000 to Massachusetts General Hospital’s Field of Genes in the name of their late son, Brooks, in recognition of International Rare Disease Day.

Hill said donations will be earmarked for his son’s doctor, Dr. David Sweetser, to fund testing and help support families stricken with rare genetic diseases.

“Hopefully we can help out a bit,” said Hill. “Dr. Sweetser never gave up and we didn’t find an answer until a couple years after our son passed. There are families out there still waiting for answers. Genetic testing is rapidly increasing and answers are being found, but support is difficult to gain because of the rarity of the diseases.”

• Cody Bellinger, after working all winter to regain his Rookie of the Year form from 2017, homered in his fourth spring at-bat in the fifth inning on Thursday.

“It’s nice to get one out of the way, but at this point, it’s just nice to be healthy and feel good at the plate and translating into a game what you’ve been working on,” said Bellinger, whose homers dropped from an NL rookie record 39 in 2017 to 25 last year.

Bellinger echoed many of his teammates saying he’s happy working with hitting coaches Robert Van Scoyoc and Brant Brown.

“I have more of an understanding of what I want to do,” said Bellinger, who has opened his stance so he can be more consistent with his swing.

Bellinger has some work to do to catch Justin Turner. In three games, Turner has an .833 batting average and 2.708 OPS.

• The Dodgers finally took the wraps off relievers Joe Kelly, Tony Cingrani and Josh Fields for their first game appearances of the spring, slightly later than usual by design to stave off usage injuries later.

“It’s a feeling that there’s a certain amount of outings that they might need and as we work backwards, to feel like we have to get pitchers that have been around the big leagues for a while, to get them in games, we just don’t think that’s necessary,” said manager Dave Roberts.

Up next

The Dodgers play Friday night split-squad games, hosting San Diego at Camelback Ranch-Glendale and visiting the Indians in Goodyear. Hyun-Jin Ryu will start the home game, Ross Stripling the road game. It will be Stripling’s first start of the spring. Pedro Baez, Scott Alexander, Kevin Quackenbush, Tony Gonsolin and Stetson Allie are scheduled to follow Ryu; Dylan Floro, Caleb Ferguson, Dennis Santana and Mitchell White are on the travel list to follow Stripling. Both games will air live on MLB.TV at 5:05 p.m. PT.