Kuzul

When Zack Greinke broke his collarbone in a collision with a very angry Carlos Quentin last month, the word was that the Los Angeles Dodgers would have to make do without their $147 million right-hander for eight weeks.So much for that. Greinke's going to be back a lot sooner, and not a moment too soon as far as the Dodgers are concerned. They could use a good pick-me-up.If you haven't heard, well, here are the Dodgers:Greinke last started on April 11 and had surgery a few days later, so an eight-week stay on the DL has turned into a five-week stay. A pleasant surprise if there ever was one.I thought about entertaining the notion that Greinke's return could be what the Dodgers need to get them back toward the top of the NL West, but only for about, oh, five seconds. The Dodgers have been a mess in the month of May, ...

The Los Angeles Dodgers have been without starting pitcher Zack Greinke for over a month with a broken collarbone, but the 29-year-old ace will return to the mound on Wednesday against the Washington Nationals. The team's official Twitter account confirmed the news on Tuesday afternoon:Greinke hasn't pitched since April 11, when he and San Diego Padres outfielder Carlos Quentin grabbed headlines in the sixth inning. Pitching to Quentin on a 3-2 count, Greinke plunked Quentin in the right shoulder, and the outfielder charged the mound in what led to a bench-clearing brawl between the two clubs. Greinke broke his collarbone in the process, taking on the charging Quentin with his left (non-throwing) shoulder. The news couldn't come at a better time for Dodgers fans.   L.A. was 6-3 at the completion of the April 11 win over San Diego, but since then injuries and poor play have started to mount. The Dodgers are just 9-19 since ...

Mothers are always right.Fighting solves nothing and unfortunately for the Los Angeles Dodgers, they are learning that the hard way. Although Carlos Quentin is already slated to return to the San Diego Padres lineup following his suspension for charging Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke, the Dodgers are still reeling from the affects.  Greinke broke his collarbone in a collision with Quentin and is currently on the 15-day disabled list.As if the loss of Greinke wasn't bad enough, fellow starter Chris Capuano was placed on the 15-day disabled list on Wednesday, and Major League Baseball reported that his injuries were also a result of the bench-clearing brawl with the Dads.Apparently things really do happen in threes...hours ago, news broke that Dodgers starter Chad Billingsley will require Tommy John surgery and miss the rest of the season.However, Dodgers fans should not be cancelling October quite yet.  Although it is true that April has been ...

Matt Kemp's sluggish start is suddenly the least of the Los Angeles Dodgers' concerns.That's because Zack Greinke fractured his collarbone in a donnybrook that was triggered when Carlos Quentin charged the mound after being plunked in the shoulder by a fastball. You might've heard, as the incident's getting a bit of media coverage.Whether the injury occurred in the initial collision between the two or at the bottom of the pile of humanity that formed on top of them is immaterial. Even a shameless Dodger basher must admit the San Diego Padres' slugger owns the blame for both and rightfully so. But the larger media reaction—more or less summarized by this gem—has been incredible from one angle and predictable from another.It's been incredible because there seems to be a groundswell behind the idea that Quentin deserved a longer suspension than the eight games he got and is appealing (a similar suspension to those ...

Joe Garagiola Jr., senior vice president of standards and on-field operations for Major League Baseball, announced the punishments for both Carlos Quentin and Jerry Hairston Jr. today for their participation in Thursday night's bench-clearing brawl in San Diego that left Dodger co-ace Zack Greinke with a broken collarbone. Quentin, who initiated the fight, will receive an eight-game suspension and fine, while Hairston Jr. will receive a one-day suspension and fine for their roles in the incident.  Both players are looking to appeal their suspensions; however, both could realistically play in a three-game series between the Padres and Dodgers starting this Monday in Los Angeles.Don Mattingly, Matt Kemp, Jerry Hairston Jr. and the entire Dodger organization have every right in the world to be mad at the outcome of brawl, but did Quentin's punishment fit the crime?Look, it's never easy losing a player to injury, especially when the player is your newly acquired staff ...

Carlos Quentin won't be suspended as long as Dodgers manager Don Mattingly had hoped, but Major League Baseball will reportedly be handing down a stiff punishment for the San Diego Padres outfielder. UPDATE: Friday, April 12, at 9:53 p.m. ET by Ian HanfordAccording to MLB's Public Relations department, Quentin's eight-game suspension is official although he does plan to appeal: ---End of update--- According to Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports, Quentin will be suspended eight games for charging at Zack Greinke on Thursday night:Quentin's suspension stems from a bench-clearing brawl in the Padres' 3-2 loss to their division rivals. Standing at the plate with the count in his favor, Quentin was pegged by a Greinke fastball. Quentin subsequently charged the mound on the Dodgers ace, leading to Greinke suffering a fractured left collarbone after trying to brace his body against the charging outfielder. After the game, the entire Dodgers organization made their thoughts clear about ...

Friday night was the much-anticipated debut of Zack Greinke in Dodger blue, and it went very well.  He pitched 6.1 strong innings, striking out six and allowing just two hits without conceding any walks. Greinke dominated a Pittsburgh Pirates lineup that has some high-end talent in it, led by last year’s third-place finisher in the NL MVP race, Andrew McCutchen, who was held to just one hit. There was some trepidation on the part of the Dodgers heading into the outing because Greinke had been struggling with some elbow inflammation during spring training.  Indeed, he made only 92 pitches, despite the fact that he was cruising through the game. He was as sharp as can be expected in his first start, locating his fastball well and generally staying around the strike zone.  He began the game with his fastball velocity hovering around 91 or 92 and mixed in his mid-70s ...

If there's a team in Major League Baseball that's well-equipped to deal with an injury to a starting pitcher, it's the Los Angeles Dodgers.But that doesn't mean they should have no worries about the news regarding Zack Greinke. They have big plans for 2013, and he's a big part of said plans. Now it sounds like he may be a faulty part.Though Greinke recently had to leave camp to get his right elbow checked out by the club's physician, the word on Monday was that the damage wasn't serious. Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times reported that the diagnosis was mere inflammation and that Greinke was treated accordingly.But that was then. This is now, and the word now is much less encouraging.Here's Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times:Dodgers manager Don Mattingly had told Shaikin that he expected Greinke to be ready for an April 2 assignment against the San Francisco ...

The Dodgers' signing of Zack Greinke to a six-year, $147 million deal was one of the offseason's biggest moves, but it almost didn't happen.It seems the Rangers had a real chance to sign Greinke, as he gave them a chance to beat the Dodgers' offer, but the team inevitably turned down his proposal (h/t Jon Heyman of CBSSports). The biggest sticking point appears to have been the Rangers' unwillingness to give Greinke a three-year opt out clause, coupled with his preference to play in the National League.While it is all speculation at this point, here is a look at how the offseason could have played out had the Rangers been the ones who signed Greinke. 1. Dodgers acquire James Shields from Rays for Andre EthierBack in late October, the Dodgers identified Rays right-hander James Shields as their No. 1 target with the offseason kicking off (h/t Mark Saxon of ESPN).The two sides ...

People will always love baseball, but thanks to Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander Zack Greinke, it is now clear that any sense of loyalty in the game is dead.Speaking to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports, Greinke admitted that the sole reason he signed with the Dodgers was money. He explained his reasoning:It's obviously the No. 1 thing. I could play for the worst team if they paid the most. ... If the last-place team offers $200 million and the first-place team offers $10, I'm going to go for the $200-million no matter what team it was.It's hard to argue with Greinke, who went 15-5 with a 3.48 ERA, a 1.20 WHIP and threw 200 strikeouts for the Milwaukee Brewers and Los Angeles Angels last season and ended up signing a six-year, $147 million deal with the Dodgers in December.After all, money talks.But the fact that he was so ...