Left fielder Carl Crawford apparently will not be with the Los Angeles Dodgers when they travel to Australia on Sunday for their season-opening, two-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Crawford will remain in the United States on paternity leave to be with his fiancee, former reality TV star Evelyn Lozada, for the birth of their child, Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said Saturday.
“As of right now, it looks like Carl is staying back,” Mattingly said. “The way I understand it, Carl’s not going.”
If the baby is not born before Sunday night and Crawford stays home, Scott Van Slyke is expected to start the opener against Diamondbacks left-hander Patrick Corbin.
“It depends who’s pitching. We’ll look at the matchups,” Mattingly said. “Scott would be one of the guys, against the lefty.”
Dodgers pitcher Dan Haren said earlier in the week that he will skip the trip and pitch in Arizona while his teammates are Down Under. Clayton Kershaw and Hyun-jin Ryu are the expected starting pitchers for the Dodgers against the Diamondbacks.
With Crawford unavailable and outfielder Matt Kemp on the disabled list, the Dodgers likely will take outfielder Mike Baxter and either Nick Buss or Joc Pederson.
“Haren as of right now won’t be on the plane,” Mattingly said. “Danny knows that, but he also knows that anything can happen in the next two days.”
Lozada was previously married to former NFL wide receiver Chad Ochocinco.