You know who will never stop being awesome and still doesn’t seem to get enough credit for it outside of Dodger circles? A.J. Ellis.
Today, that error has been rectified in some small way by Tyler Kepner of the New York Times, who checks in with a feature about Ellis’ long road to success. It’s mostly story that we know already, though this section stands out:
For the Dodgers, a team with eight legitimate starting pitchers, no bauble seems too excessive. That is why Ellis worried last winter, just for a moment, when he saw a report that the team had interest in the veteran catcher A. J. Pierzynski, a free agent.
“But that night I got a text message from Ned Colletti,” Ellis said, referring to the Dodgers’ general manager. “Just sent me a basic text: ‘Just want you to know, you’re my catcher, you’re my guy.’ That was awesome, to have that reassurance to know that I was part of their plan.”
That’s a classy move by Colletti, though a better move might have been to never have had interest in Pierzynski in the first place (if that report was even true) and especially to not have buried Ellis behind the execrable Dioner Navarro.
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Dodgers
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Rangers
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CF
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Amezaga
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2B
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Kinsler
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3B
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Punto
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LF
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Murphy
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1B
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Hairston
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DH
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Berkman
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RF
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Puig
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3B
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Beltre
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2B
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Schumaker
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1B
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Baker
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LF
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Castellanos
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RF
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Adduci
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C
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Wallach
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C
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Soto
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SS
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Gordon
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CF
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Martin
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P
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Kershaw
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SS
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Sardinas
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On to today’s entry in the never ending march of spring baseball, Ellis is not in the lineup and neither is Tim Federowicz, giving Matt Wallach a rare start with the main team. He’ll be catching Clayton Kershaw, who could go up to six innings today, and if he stays behind the plate, he’ll see Javy Guerra, J.P. Howell, & Brandon League.
I think it says a lot about Yasiel Puig that when you look at the lineup he’s the name that actually sticks out as far as excitement purposes over Kershaw, but you’ll only get to see him if you have access to Fox Sports Southwest, because this is a Rangers-only broadcast. (Update: it appears the Rangers are not broadcasting this game.)
In quick injury news:
– Zack Greinke played catch today “with no discomfort” and should get in a bullpen session tomorrow, says Ken Gurnick. Carl Crawford is tentatively scheduled to make his debut at designated hitter tomorrow against the Brewers, in a game to be started by Hyun-Jin Ryu, and Justin Sellers is still down for the day with a sprained ankle.
