Upon arriving at Camelback Ranch this year for the start of Spring Training, Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Andre Ethier reiterated his desire to start on a daily basis. Ethier largely fell out of favor during the second half last year once Yasiel Puig took over in center field, and Matt Kemp in right.
Ethier called the 2014 season the most humbling of his career. Heading into this season, the only spot for Ethier to potentially start on a regular basis was in center field. However, he’d have to beat out talented rookie Joc Pederson.
That didn’t happen, but Ethier still received plenty of playing time due to Puig battling hamstring injuries throughout the season. Ethier put together a renaissance campaign, hitting .294/.366/.486 with 14 home runs, 53 RBIs, a .366 wOBA and 137 wRC+.
However, his resurgence was part of another Dodgers season that fell short of winning, or reaching, the World Series. “[Not reaching the World Series] definitely gets old,” said Ethier after the Dodgers’ Game 5 home loss to the New York Mets in the National League Division Series.
“It doesn’t get old being in this position and having the opportunity to do it. I really did have a feeling we had a good chance to go far.”
The Dodgers fell behind in the first inning, but answered back to take the lead in the bottom half. They had the opportunity to score more than two runs in the first frame, but Jacob deGrom limited the damage.
“He out-pitched us. That’s the bottom line,” Ethier said of deGrom. “We scored some runs there right away, but we couldn’t do anything and he did a great job of coming back and executing his pitches. You can see why he’s one of the best pitchers in the game this year.”
While the Dodgers going 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position drew attention, Ethier yelling at Dodgers manager Don Mattingly in the dugout after lining out in the third inning was a pressing topic of discussion.
“There was nothing there other than he was mad about the ump’s call that he missed the call in there, and I was trying to settle him down,” Mattingly said. “I didn’t want him thrown out of the game, and Andre’s pretty emotional. It was nothing more than trying to settle him down.”
Ethier also downplayed the exchange, saying, “we weren’t arguing. We were just arguing a call on the field, not something between me and him. It wasn’t like we were going at each other. I’m pretty sure it looked worse than it was. We were talking about it the next inning.”
When pressed further, Ethier was more dismissive of the incident. “The point is we lost the game. Don’t dwell on things that didn’t have a difference in the game, on whether we won or lost that game,” he said. “Me and Donnie didn’t make it out to be anything, so you don’t.”
Of the Dodgers who spoke following the elimination loss, Ethier by far held court for the longest period of time, standing in front of his locker for at least 15 minutes as players filed out of the clubhouse. A clubhouse that figures to look different come the 2016 season.
