Logan and Kiké are not answering their questions in the affirmative
The biggest question the Dodgers had to answer this season when the season started was how much the injury to Justin Turner was going to affect the team.
The answer on April 16th. Quite a bit.
The two players on the hot seat because of the Turner injury are Logan Forsythe and Kiké Hernandez and both have been black holes in the anemic Dodger offense. You can look at other suspects like Puig, but Puig has simply hit into bad luck smoking many outs. Corey Seager has also been missing but unlike Logan and Kiké, Corey has nothing to prove.
Logan and Kiké both had big post seasons and you could have easily made a case that the Dodgers would miss Turner, but not much. Not like this.
Kiké was supposed to use this time to prove he was more than a utility player, someone who could hit right hand pitching enough to warrant consideration for more playing time. Instead, Kiké looks like he did in 2016 when it was hard to quantify his place on the roster. He is not hitting left-handers. He is not hitting right-handers. This was his moment to shine, instead, he has been nothing but cloud cover.
Logan Forsythe was supposed to prove that his down 2017 season was due to injuries and he would bounce back big in 2018. Instead, he’s been horrible and now is back on the DL due to shoulder problems. Was his anemic hitting due to his shoulder issues? How long has he had the shoulder issues?
Either way, when Justin Turner comes back, the Dodgers may get their 3rd base problem solved but do they have a viable second baseman? If Forsythe or Hernandez can’t cut it, they could always move Chris Taylor back to 2nd base and shift Joc back to CF. Or bring up Alex Verdugo to play CF.
They do have options, but what they don’t have is the luxury of running away with the NL West as they have done in previous years. The Diamondbacks may not be as good as their current record, but they don’t need to be, to keep the Dodgers on their toes.
Anyway, good thing they resigned Chase Utley isn’t it? He with the OPS+ of 154
Name PA BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+ Chris Taylor 64 .230 .250 .443 .693 88 Corey Seager* 61 .200 .279 .255 .533 50 Yasiel Puig 60 .222 .283 .296 .580 62 Cody Bellinger* 57 .309 .333 .455 .788 117 Logan Forsythe 49 .174 .224 .283 .507 40 Yasmani Grandal# 45 .359 .444 .564 1.009 179 Matt Kemp 44 .300 .364 .450 .814 125 Enrique Hernandez 43 .167 .256 .306 .561 56 Chase Utley* 36 .333 .417 .500 .917 154 Joc Pederson* 29 .154 .241 .231 .472 33 Austin Barnes 25 .250 .400 .300 .700 99 Kyle Farmer 15 .286 .333 .357 .690 93 Breyvic Valera# 1 1.000 Rank in 15 NL teams 5 10 13 12 Non-Pitcher Totals 529 .246 .312 .374 .686 90
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 4/16/2018.
- Posted in: 2018 Dodgers ♦ Uncategorized
Dodgers, Yesterday and Today 
We can hope that Taylor jumps back into the line-up and picks up right where he left off.
It might take some time for this to happen though. Turner’s swing looks simple, but it is a “high maintenance” swing. The swing involves a lot of timing and a lot of reps to stay on top of it. Gotta have the feel and it starts with the hands …
Hernandez looks like a hitter who does well against LHP.
He needs to just stick with this.
Attempting to re-tune his swing to hit RHP has his program all discombobulated.
Forsythe looks done. He said in this morning’s OC Register that the throw from 3B requires more extension of his throwing arm and this is the cause of his sore shoulder.
No more 3B for you!
Puig??? Is it really as simple as BABIP?
We will find out soon enough.
Seager entered Spring Training and the Regular season with the seed of doubt surrounding the health of his right elbow. If this is not the cause of his present troubles we can only hope the culprit is identified and corrected asap!
At least Bellinger is showing good signs lately.
The Dodgers find themselves in last place in the NL West this morning.
Nobody saw this coming leaving Spring Training.
LikeLike