Advertisement

Hanley Ramirez’s shoulder is improving; Dodgers say he’s day-to-day

Share

Get Adobe Flash player

Hanley Ramirez’s injured right shoulder continued to improve Tuesday and the shortstop’s status was “pretty much day to day,” Dodgers Manager Don Mattingly said.
“As long as he keeps going forward like this” in his recovery, “there won’t be an MRI” exam needed, Mattingly said, adding that could change “if he stalls and all of a sudden he’s not getting better.”

“We’re basing a lot of this off of, obviously, the way he’s feeling, the way he’s moving his arm,” Mattingly said. “His range of motion, all that has gotten better.”

Ramirez hurt the shoulder when he fell into the stands while catching a foul ball Sunday at Wrigley Field.

Advertisement

Ramirez told reporters Monday night the shoulder was “jammed in” when he landed but it was improving. “It’s way better than yesterday, so that’s the good news,” he said.

Dispute causes TV blackout

An estimated 1.7 million Time Warner Cable households in the Los Angeles area could not watch the Dodgers’ game on TV Tuesday night because of a contract dispute between the cable company and CBS.

The game was supposed to be aired on KCAL-TV Channel 9, which along with KCBS-TV Channel 2 is owned by CBS. Both were not being carried by Time Warner Cable because of the dispute.

Matt Balvanz, vice president of analytics at Navigate Marketing, a company that tracks media viewership, said the total number of TV households in the Los Angeles market that subscribe to Time Warner Cable and were unable to watch the Dodgers was 1.7 million.

“We regret that Dodgers fans cannot watch our game tonight on KCAL 9 due to the dispute between CBS and Time Warner Cable,” the Dodgers said of the cable company’s customers. “We hope there is a resolution soon.”

Advertisement

Puig teacher leaves club

After spending a couple of months as Yasiel Puig’s around-the-clock companion, Tim Bravo returned to work as a special education teacher in New Mexico.

Bravo was enlisted by the Dodgers to be Puig’s English teacher, but he took on a larger role, living with the 22-year-old Cuban refugee and helping him become accustomed to life in the United States.

A former college teammate of Dodgers scouting director Logan White, Bravo once worked as the Dodgers’ part-time director of cultural assimilation.

Puig’s first assigned caretaker, former big league pitcher Eddie Oropesa, butted heads with the outfielder and lasted only a month.

Puig’s demeanor was said to improve after Bravo joined him, and Bravo thinks Puig will be fine without him. The task of watching over Puig has now fallen to Roman Barinas, the Dodgers’ manager of international scouting.

“He needs guidance, but he’s a smart kid,” Bravo said of Puig. “He’s going to be OK.”

james.peltz@latimes.com

dylan.hernandez@latimes.com

Peltz reported from St. Louis and Hernandez from Los Angeles. Times staff writer Diane Pucin contributed to this report.

Advertisement
Advertisement