Dodgers’ Ronald Belisario put on restricted list for personal reasons
The Dodgers placed reliever Ronald Belisario on the restricted list for the second time this season Wednesday, this time for “personal reasons,” but the team would not elaborate and Manager Joe Torre said he didn’t know why the move was needed.
Torre said he was alerted by General Manager Ned Coletti after Tuesday night’s game that there would be “something involving” Belisario to be announced but “that was it.”
“I had no hint of this and thus had no conversation regarding this with” Belisario, Torre said before Wednesday’s game with the Florida Marlins at Dodger Stadium. Coletti declined comment.
Belisario pitched shutout ball over the final three innings in the Dodgers’ 6-5 loss to the Marlins on Monday night, and he warmed up in the bullpen during Tuesday night’s game.
It was another twist for the hard-throwing Venezuelan, who was five weeks late to spring training this season after his visa application was complicated by his being charged with driving under the influence in an incident a year ago in Pasadena.
The charge this spring was reduced to a non-alcohol-related reckless-driving charge and Belisario, 27, was fined $1,000, his lawyer said at the time.
When he finally arrived at camp, Belisario also went on the restricted list, meaning he could be removed from the team’s 40-man roster. The Chicago Cubs’ Carlos Zambrano went on the restricted list after an angry dugout confrontation with a teammate June 25.
Since Belisaro rejoined the Dodgers on April 21, “he hasn’t been an issue, no disciplinary stuff that’s gone on,” Torre said. “I haven’t had a problem with him.” Asked when he might be able to speak to Belisario, Torre replied: “I have no clue.”
The Dodgers also reinstated reliever Carlos Monasterios from the 15-day disabled list as expected Wednesday, but Torre acknowledged that Belisario’s loss “takes a big chunk out” of his bullpen.
Reliever Travis Schlichting probably was headed back to triple-A Albuquerque to make room for Monasterios, but now “hopefully Schlichting can pick up some of the slack,” Torre said.
A workhorse for the Dodgers last year, Belisario so far this season had a 3.79 earned-run average in 35 2/3 innings.
Padilla’s pitch
It’s not quite the loopy “eephus pitch” made famous by Rip Sewell in the 1940s, but Vicente Padilla has an oh-so-slow breaking ball that he’s increasingly using effectively.
Such was the case Tuesday night when the Dodgers starter held the Marlins to two runs in 6 2/3 innings while striking out a season-high nine batters and improving his record to 3-2 in the Dodgers’ 7-3 win.
The right-handed Nicaraguan said through an interpreter that he’s long thrown the slow curve, which travels only 50 to 55 mph, “but I’m throwing it a lot more, I have practiced it more.”
“It’s really hard for the hitter to adjust to the speed change,” Padilla said. “If you’re throwing a fastball in the 90s and now you have a curveball that’s less than 60 mph, that’s going to throw off the hitters.”
And finally
After the Dodgers tagged Marlins starter Chris Volstad for five earned runs in three innings and dropped the right-hander’s record to 4-8 on Tuesday, Volstad was sent down to the club’s triple-A affiliate.
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