DODGERS NOTEBOOK: THROWING THE UNKNOWN AT D'BACKS.Byline: Tony Jackson
Anthony (Antonio) Jackson, best known as Tony Jackson Staff Writer SAN FRANCISCO San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden - Left-hander Derek Thompson Derek Thompson (born on April 4, 1948) is a Belfast, Northern Ireland-born British television actor, most notable for playing Charlie Fairhead in the long running series Casualty. will be recalled from the Dodgers' Double-A Jacksonville affiliate and start Saturday night's game at Arizona. Thompson got the nod over other minor-league candidates such as Edwin Jackson Edwin Jackson (born September 9, 1983 in Neu-Ulm, Bavaria, West Germany) is a Major League Baseball pitcher who played for the Los Angeles Dodgers and currently plays for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. because the Diamondbacks' lineup is stacked with dangerous left-handed hitters to whom Thompson largely will be an unknown quantity. Thompson was in major-league spring training with the Dodgers, making two appearances in which he allowed only an unearned run on three hits over a total of four innings before being optioned to minor-league camp March 14. ``We were intrigued by what we saw in spring training,'' Dodgers manager Jim Tracy
Thompson presently is on the seven-day disabled list at Jacksonville with a strained calf, but is ready to be activated. He has made eight starts, going 0-2 with a 3.89 ERA, and has walked 19 batters in 41 2/3 innings. Originally drafted by Cleveland as a first-round sandwich pick In baseball, a Sandwich Pick is when a first or second-round draft pick signs with a different team as a free agent, and the former team had offered the player arbitration, then the player's former team is entitled to a draft pick during the "sandwich round" of next year's draft. in 2000, Thompson was taken by the Chicago Cubs in the 2002 Rule 5 draft and traded later that same day to the Dodgers. He missed the following season with an elbow injury, which is how the Dodgers got around the Rule 5 issue and how Thompson accrued a year of big-league service time. A corresponding roster move has not been made. Thompson is expected to join the club today in Phoenix, but won't be officially recalled and placed on the 25-man roster until just before game time Saturday. It isn't clear how long Thompson will stick around. He is taking the fifth spot in the rotation, which was vacated when veteran Scott Erickson Erickson began his professional career in 1989 when he was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 4th round of the amateur draft. was demoted to the bullpen. That spot comes up again on Thursday against Milwaukee. But club officials are hopeful Odalis Perez (left shoulder soreness) will be ready to come off the 15-day disabled list for that game. Meanwhile, Tracy said Alvarez will start in Perez's spot for the second time Monday against the Chicago Cubs, despite the fact Alvarez was torched for six runs in three innings in Wednesday's loss to San Francisco. ``Beyond that, I really don't want to get that far out,'' Tracy said. ``I don't think that's really a wise thing to do.'' Tracy did say Monday's start will be Alvarez's last before going back to the bullpen. --Also: Reliever Elmer Dessens Elmer Dessens Jusaino [deh-SENZ] (born January 13, 1971 in Hermosillo, Mexico) is a pitcher on the Colorado Rockies. He bats and throws right handed. He is 5 feet, 11 inches tall and weighs 200 pounds. His 2007 salary is $1.7 million. His pitching speed can reach 90-93 mph. (shoulder) will throw batting practice for the first time Saturday and the second time Tuesday. After that, the right-hander expects to begin a rehabilitation assignment at Triple-A Las Vegas. ... Tracy moved J.D. Drew in the lineup for the third time in four days Wednesday, this time dropping the slumping right fielder to sixth. |
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