For those of you who noticed Hanley Ramirez trying to loosen up his right shoulder after his great diving stop to his left the led to a 6-4-3 double play in the 8th inning of Tuesday night’s game against the Rockies, you can put your concerns to rest.

Like many, I noticed Ramirez rotating his right arm and shoulder immediately after the play as if attempting to loosen it, which immediately made me wonder if perhaps he had re-injured his surgically repaired right shoulder.

Prior to Wednesday evening’s series finale against the Rockies, I caught up with Ramirez in the Dodgers clubhouse and asked him if he had injured his shoulder on the play.

“Not really, I was trying to protect my hand and I just landed on my shoulder, that’s it,” Ramirez said.

Hanley Ramirez insists that he did not injure his right shoulder while making a diving play on Tuesday night. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

As you might expect, the shoulder stretching did not go unnoticed by Dodger manager Don Mattingly after the play.

“I was a little concerned too,” said Mattingly. “We were concerned when he does that because more than anything, I know that if my thumb was hurt I would not want to land on it so I end up landing on something else and maybe awkwardly, so that’s what I was thinking… but nothing happened.”

Good news indeed.

While Hanley’s defense may be a concern, there is absolutely nothing wrong with his offense. Ramirez picked up his second multi-hit game in as many days on Wednesday night, including this double to leadoff the bottom of the first. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

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Other Dodger Notes:

• In his nine at bats since returning from the DL, Hanley Ramirez has 5 hits (.556) including two doubles and a home run. He has scored twice, has one RBI and one stolen base. Ya… the Dodgers missed him.
• When asked how exciting it was for him to hit a home run on his bobble head night Hanley Ramirez said “I think it was more exciting for the fans. I wasn’t trying to hit a homer, I was just trying to hit it hard somewhere. I made a good swing and the ball carried out.”
• Dodger manager Don Mattingly recently had a conversation with Nick Punto’s father, who is a high school coach. When Mattingly asked him about Nick’s head-first slides into first base, his father quickly answered “I didn’t teach him that.”
• Mattingly said that he is surprised with how well Hyun-jin Ryu is hitting because his hitting was awful during the first part of spring training (I can attest to that). Mattingly added that this season they decided to spend more time working with their pitchers on hitting during spring training and that their hard work is paying off. Mattingly added that hitting coach Mark McGwire deserves all of the credit.
• Mattingly said that he will make a decision before Friday’s game against the Giants in San Francisco whether or not to put Mark Ellis (strained quad) and/or Carl Crawford (tight hamstring) on the 15-day DL so that he will have a full roster for the three-game series. If he elects to do so, Ellis would be back dated to April 26 and Crawford to April 29.
• Although it is unknown who the Dodgers might call up if Ellis and/or Crawford are placed on the 15-day DL, it will be difficult for the Dodgers to overlook Tim Federowicz and/or Scott Van Slyke, who are currently hitting .529 and .411 respectively for the Isotopes. Alfredo Amezaga is another option with his .474 batting average. FedEx is currently on the 40-man roster but Van Slyke and Amezaga are not. That said, a roster spot could be created by moving Chad Billingsley from the 15-day DL to the 60-day DL; likewise with Ted Lilly.
• When asked who would start Saturday’s game against the Giants, Mattingly did a tap dance and would not come right out and say that Ted Lilly is out. He did say, however, that if Ted cannot make the start that Matt Magill would. Mattingly added that Lilly would have to throw a scheduled bullpen session between now and then, but seeing as how he hasn’t yet resumed throwing yet, it is a no-brainer that Magill will get the start.
• Left-hander Chris Capuano completed a successful re-hab assignment with the Isotopes on Wednesday evening and if there are no setbacks, he will most likely be reactivated from the DL on Monday, May 6. Capuano pitched 5.1 innings, allowed 2 runs on 7 hits while walking one and striking out 4.