Spring Training- Weekend Roundup

If you have missed any of the news and notes this week from Camelback Ranch, we have compiled a rundown of the top stories from pitching and catching workouts this week.

-After feeling slight back tightness on Wednesday, Clayton Kershaw had to postpone his bullpen session planned for that day. Yesterday he threw 36 pitches to Matt Treanor, and said he felt fine. Don Mattingly also officially announced that Kersh will be the Dodgers’ Opening Day starter. Clayton is slated to make his first Spring start on Friday, March 9th.

–Mike MacDougal also had to postpone his workouts due to a minor back injury, but he was able to pitch yesterday.

–Ted Lilly showed up late to Spring Training, because him and his wife Natasha have just welcomed a new baby daughter Nora Grace into their family. When he arrived in Arizona yesterday, Lilly was sporting a black eye. The injury was supposedly from being hit by his brother’s elbow in a basketball game played Thursday.

-The Dodgers placed pitcher Rubby De La Rosa on the 60-day DL to make room for Matt Angle. Angle is an outfielder which the Dodgers claimed off waivers from the Orioles this past Thursday. Rubby’s recovery from Tommy John Surgery is progressing very well, and he hopes to return to the Dodgers sometime after the All-Star break.

–Ronald Belisario, back with the team and raring to go, told reporters that he missed last season due to a positive drug test for cocaine. He maintains that it was “a one-time thing,” and “I don’t have a problem with any drugs — that’s all behind me.” Belisario wants to prove the doubters wrong, and hopes to be part of the team after he serves his mandatory 25-game suspension.

–Blake Hawksworth will start the season on the disabled list after suffering an infection in his elbow he had surgery on this winter. He subsequently had to undergo a second procedure. That means his bullpen spot is up for grabs.

-Pitching coach Rick Honeycutt is working with Chad Billingsley on his mechanics and leg-kick. Mattingly and company feel he can have a better season than his inconsistent showing last year.

-The Dodgers have brought back left-handed pitcher Brent Leach who pitched in Japan last year without much success. Jose Ascanio, a right-handed non-roster invitee pitcher, was waived after failing to pass his physical.

–Juan Uribe will not be arriving on time to Camelback Ranch, because he must appear in San Francisco Court. Uribe is being sued by his former landlord for $145,000 in damages stemming from a kitchen fire he allegedly started back in 2010.

Stay tuned for more Spring Training coverage next week when the full squad begins to arrive and workout on Tuesday and Wednesday.