In a surprising turn of events on Wednesday, the Dodgers recalled catcher Rocky Gale from Triple-A Oklahoma City after placing Russell Martin on the injured list.
According to an announcement made by the team, Martin has been diagnosed with inflammation in his lower-back.
The 36-year-old Martin returned to the Dodgers after being traded from the Toronto Blue Jays on January 11th. He was originally drafted by Los Angeles in the 17thround of the 2002 draft out of Chipola College in Florida. Martin has played in six games this season, hitting .333 (5-for-15) with one homer and two RBI. In his 14-year professional career, Martin has recorded .250 batting average with 186 homers and 753 RBI in 1616 games.
Gale, 31, enters his second season with the Dodger organization after beginning his professional career in the San Diego Padres system. He has appeared in 17 big league games, recording a homer and two RBI in 22 plate appearances. This year with Oklahoma City, Gale was hitting .333 (2-for-6) with three runs scored and a double.
Tuesday’s lineup vs. righty Jack Flaherty, Cardinals:
- Pederson LF
- Seager SS
- Turner 3B
- Bellinger 1B
- Muncy 2B
- Verdugo RF
- Taylor CF
- Barnes C
- Maeda P
(Juan Dorado furnished some of the information provided in this report)
Think Blue Planning Committee 
Well I just read that. Gale dependable receiver behind the dish and had a decent spring. Barnes has been nails so far. I know Pollock needs a blow, he has been slumping the last few games. But Taylor has not hit for beans. This is one case where I play Kike in CF over Taylor who couldn’t hit a zombie right now.
LikeLike
How about Verdugo please just start him and all would be very happy. He is the real deal
LikeLike
And why not wait a day and play Verdugo in center. He deserves the ab’s over Taylor. Especially against a righty. Don’t get it.
LikeLike
I understand bringing Gale up if you only planto start him once or twice the next ten days knowing Martin will be back but at the same time why not bring Will Smith up instead and let him get 3-4 starts under his belt so he gets a feel what it’s like?
LikeLike
They are employing a mostly LH hitting lineup. All the lefty’s on the roster are playing. With Muncy moving to second, Belli comes in to play first and Verdugo goes to RF. Now I would play Kike over Taylor especially the way Taylor is not hitting. As for Smith, they obviously feel that Gale is the better option at this point. Smith has gotten off to a slow start at AAA and Gale has had some success so far. They also do not want to slow Smith’s development, and since he would most likely ride the pine in the bigs, the move makes sense.
LikeLike
Let’s just hope Barnesy stays healthy. If not, it will be a bit of a mess behind the plate.
LikeLike
Smith would not get those 3-4 starts….Gale will get maybe 2 or 3 in the time he is up with the big club.
LikeLike
Two weeks ago, who would have thought that Dennis Santana and Rocky Gale would be on the big league roster by April 10?
LikeLiked by 1 person
I expected injuries. I mean, why would this year be any different than the last few? We get the bargains,and with it comes risk. We extend a $30 million pitcher with a recent history of injuries, we can’t be surprised by another one. We don’t trade for Realmuto, we don’t sign the free agent stars, this is how Friedman works. The weird thing is, it does work.
Gale will fill in like the replacement player he is. Santana is good, and getting experience is good for him. Pollock will do what he does, but I’m betting he too will be on the IL eventually. The bullpen will get ironed out. We will be ok, but this team, over the long haul, doesn’t appear to be a juggernaut.
LikeLike
Not any of us that’s for sure.
LikeLike
Maeda – 5 innings, 5 earned.
And so it goes.
LikeLike
Now we know just how bad the NL West is! Too bad we have to play the other teams in the NL!
LikeLike
I would like to point out that so far Austin Barnes is far superior to JT Realmuto this season.
LikeLike
Once the Dodgers have 20 games under their belts, I will put together a thorough analysis of their performance. I’ll call it “The Schlossman Report.” 😮
LikeLike
Will you be releasing the entire report or will you have to redact most of it?
LikeLike
Friedman will review the report first. Upon his recommendations, I will then determine what is released. I will consult Von Scoyoc and Honeycutt for possible redactions.
LikeLike
Once you release the report, would you be willing to testify here as to any questions we might have? You may bring an attorney.
LikeLike
Will you find any collusion?!!!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m looking very thoroughly into this whole crawfish barbecue incident, that much is for sure.
LikeLike
Russ Martin. Was he or was he not seen with a bag of crawfish the other night? Another BBQ back injury? Special prosecutor Dennis Schlossman will get to the bottom of this mystery
LikeLike
Chargois back to OKC. Jaime Schultz will be his replacement. I’m assuming this does not have anything to do with who will start Saturday’s game, but we now know it won’t be May since he pitched last night.
I think it’s time we started speaking about CT3 and the fact that he has continued his pretty horrific slump. I don’t see how they can give him too much longer before seriously considering a trip to OKC to hopefully help him get his batting eye back. He is certainly an asset on defense but he’s becoming a black hole on offense. The ideal situation (if they send Taylor out) would be to replace him with another right handed hitter. Problem is, no one comes immediately to mind, so they might just decide to go with Rios or Beaty or one of the no name outfielders they had with them in ST who bat right handed.
LikeLike
You’re right Jeff, there are no good options. We don’t need another lefty hitter and there are no good right handedboptions who can play outfield. Peters isn’t ready and can’t say anyone at OKC is better or more versatile than Taylor. If Taylor doesn’t turn this around then Dodgers will look for right handed bat st deadline. Castellanos?
LikeLike
If they decide to wait until the deadline, how Joc and Verdugo are doing will factor heavily into any possible trade. If they are still doing well enough that they would want one or the other (or both) to start against righties, it wouldn’t make any sense to go after Castellanos just to platoon him. If Taylor continues to hit this way, I don’t see how they can wait until July. If he doesn’t show any signs of improvement, there will be someone else here by May 1st. Since there aren’t any obvious outfield choices in the system, they could consider moving Kike to the outfield against southpaws and bringing up an infielder to play second on those days. Hopefully none of this will be necessary and Taylor will get back on track.
LikeLike
So that’s our ace! From the penthouse to the outhouse in 4 days. So much for our great April start!
LikeLike
10-7 St Loo in the 6th. Pitching has been abysmal in this series and was really nothing to write home about in Colorado. Add to that Corey Seager pulled from the game with a leg injury. Hot start was needed just to keep them even so far. They had better fix the staff fast.
LikeLike
A tale of 2 different bullpens. One was very good and the other was, well our bullpen!
LikeLike