Pederson slams Padres
Looks like the last time a Dodger hit a grand slam on opening day was 4/3/2000 by Eric Karros. No one else on the list below hit a grand slam but they did all hit at least one home run and drive in at least four runs. Lopes and Monday in the same game.
Player Date Opp Rslt PA H HR RBI Rick Monday 1978-04-07 ATL W 13-4 5 4 1 4 Davey Lopes 1978-04-07 ATL W 13-4 5 1 1 4 Pedro Guerrero 1983-04-05 HOU W 16-7 5 3 1 5 Raul Mondesi 1995-04-25 FLA W 8-7 5 3 2 4 Raul Mondesi 1999-04-05 ARI W 8-6 6 4 2 6 Eric Karros 2000-04-03 MON W 10-4 5 1 1 4
Blake 5th wheel Parker
The much traveled 31-year-old Blake Parker made the Angel opening day roster. If you watched any of the freeway series and were unfamiliar with Blake Parker (as I was) his strikeouts of every Dodger he faced might have left you wondering who this guy was. Joe Davis said he had struck out 17 straight hitters in spring training. 17 STRAIGHT
That is crazy, as Orel said, you can’t even do that in Little League.
Hey it is just spring and he’s never had much success before so this might be fleeting and he knows it. He knows it so much that he’s not having getting a place to stay, instead, he bought a recreational vehicle and is going to live in that for the time being.
The 31-year-old journeyman reliever purchased a so-called fifth wheel last week in Phoenix, towed it to California when the Angels broke camp and kept it parked at Angel Stadium until he found out where to go. He scouted several locations across Orange County that have WiFi and pool access for his wife and stepson to enjoy.
I love guys like this, so I hope he is able to continue his crazy spring success and became the talk of the Angel 2017 bullpen.
Opening day memories
I’ve been to many opening days but four really stick out in my memory.
April 7th, 1977 – Don Sutton gave up a lead off home run to Gary Thomansson and deflated many of the 51, 000 fans in attendance. Not to fear the HOF didn’t give up a run the rest of the game, only three other hits, and cruised to a 4 – 1 victory. It would be the first of many victories for the 1977 team as they went on to win 98 games and were as good a team as any LAD in history. They didn’t win a World Championship but they could have if not for Craig Nettles and his magic glove.
April 1st 2013 – Clayton Kershaw gave one of the great opening day performances in LAD history. Matching up against Matt Cain both pitchers threw zeros for six innings. Clayton shut out the Giants in the 7th, and Cain was replaced by George Kontos to start the 7th. Cain had struck out the last two Dodgers on 3rd call strikes but all that got him was a seat in the dugout. With the score 0 – 0 in the bottom of the 7th the Dodgers let Kershaw hit, and he crushed a home run to center field to give the Dodgers a 1 – 0 lead. For me the Dodgers won that game 1 – 0 but history shows they scored three more times and won 4 – 0. Fuck history, I like my memory better.
April 12th 2005 – The Dodgers opened on the road for six games so they didn’t have their home opener until the 7th game on April 12. The Giants scored five runs in the 1st inning as Jeff Weaver was knocked around. It was a strange first inning as the Giants scored those five runs without the benefit of an extra-base hit. They collected six singles, five in a row at one point. Imagine going through all the trouble to get to opening day only to be down 5 – 0 in the first inning. Not to fear, the powerful Jason Repko blasted a two-run home run off of Kirk Rueter and the Dodgers were back in the game. In the second the googled Jason Philips drove in Norihiro Nakamura (I bet you forgot those names) to cut the lead to 5 – 3. Jeff Weaver decided the game was too close and gave up three more runs in the 4th putting the Dodgers in an 8 – 3 hole in only the 4th inning. The Dodgers scored two more runs in the sixth when Tomato Olmedo Saenz hit a double to RF putting runners on 2nd / 3rd. The aforementioned Nakamura and Philips stranded both runners so the score now stood at 8 – 5. The Dodger bullpen was excellent on this day, not giving the Giants another run after relieving Weaver in the 4th. The Giants big time closer Armando Benitez was brought in to close the door in the 9th but things got crazy. Jason Ellison was brought in to play LF for defensive purposes. Philips grounds out. Rickey Ledee pinch hit a double and Izzy followed that with a single putting runners at 2nd / 3rd. Jose Valentin pinch hits, and pops up. Two outs, two on, down three runs. JD Drew drew a walk bringing up Jeff Kent as the go ahead run. Kent walks, and the score is now 8 -6 with the bases still loaded and Milton Bradley up. Milton hit a single to LF and Ellison in a hurry to pick up the ball and try to make a play at home on the tying run let the ball go right through his legs and everyone scampered home and the Dodgers won 9 – 8. All this happened right in front of me because my seats were in Loge next to Dodger bullpen in LF. The crowd went crazy.
April 5th, 2004 – The game itself was no big deal but this was a big day for me as a Dodger fan. As a fan I’d never been in the position to have season tickets but when Frank McCourt bought the team in 2004 and brought in Paul DePodesta to be the GM I wanted to be a part of the experience. I talked to my brothers and we decided to take advantage of the new buy two get two free Loge seats. When I arrived for the game we got their extra early and as I walked around the stadium with her hand in my hand, I was just beaming at the idea that I was now a season ticket holder in the greatest baseball stadium in baseball. I can’t describe the feeling but the smile it put on my face couldn’t be erased by a mere loss on opening day.
Dodgers traded for a middle of the order bat
Opening day is just a few hours away and the Dodgers have changed up the lineup, moving Andrew Toles into the lead off role, and Logan Forsythe to the five hole. The Dodgers spent 98% of the spring using Forsythe as the lead off hitter but they decided to change things up this past week and use this lineup:
- Toles
- Seager
- Turner
- Gonzalez
- Forsythe
- Pederson
- Grandal
- Puig
- Kershaw
Toles will add some speed to the top of the lineup though not necessarily a stolen base threat. I have a hard time believing Forsythe is a better hitter than Grandal, Pederson, or even Puig against RHP but we shall see what the number people have up their sleeve.
Forsythe has a lifetime OPS of .688 batting from the five hole. Last year he did not bat one time in the five hole. Last year he hit leadoff for every game he started.
Opening series Padre preview
Not many general managers get the second chance that A.J. Preller got. Preller went for it all in 2015 trading some incredible assets in an effort to compete in the NL West with the big boys. It went all for naught but the price he paid was a dear one.
He traded Yazmani Grandal, Jesse Hahn, Trea Turner, Max Fried, Mallex Smith, Seth Smith, Cameron Maybin, and Matt Wisler.
Receiving Matt Kemp, Derek Norris, Wil Myers, Justin Upton, Craig Kimbrel, and Melvin Upton.
The team was horrible and Preller pivoted the next winter and tried to replenish the farm with someone’s else’s prospects. He was somewhat successful.
- He moved Kimbrel for several prospects, the key one being Manuel Margot who is now the Padre starting center fielder.
- Traded Yonder Alonso to the A’s and received Drew Pomeranz who would figure in a big trade the following summer.
- Traded James Shields to the White Sox for Fernando Tatis Junior
- Somehow was able to trade Drew Pomeranz to the Boston Red Sox for Anderson Espinoza
- Flipped Andrew Cashner to the Marlin for a broken Carter Capps
- Traded Matt Kemp to the Braves for Hector Olivera
The only player from the wild trading spree of the winter of 2015 is Wil Myers. Wil Myers is a fine player but he’s moved from CF to 1st base and as a first baseman he loses some value. So my main beef with Preller is that it would appear at this time that they completely misvalued Trea Turner. If you can’t properly value the best prospect in your system I wouldn’t be handing out a second chance but Preller got one. Instead of a dynamic shortstop just starting his career they have a good first baseman. Meh
Just imagine if Trea Turner was still with the Padres the NL West shortstops would be Seager, Story, Crawford, and Turner. Chris Owings would certainly be the outlier here.
On the plus side for Preller was that he was able to turn Drew Pomeranz into possibly the top pitching prospect in baseball in Anderson Espinoza. So I guess, he did deserve that second chance.
Now onto the 2017 Padres. This team will lose 100 games not only because the starting pitching is a bunch of bad retreads but because they will be playing in a very tough NL West.
The rotation looks like this:
Jhoulys Chacin (R) – Getting out of Colorado didn’t help him any. Maybe pitching at Petco will mask his skill set but he’s a fifth starter on a bad team, and on this team he’s their opening day starter. He was released by the Rockies and Indians in 2015.
Clayton Richard (L) – was released last summer by the Cubs. Someone with his BB/9 along with his K/9 ratio shouldn’t be pitching in a rotation.
Trevor Cahill (R) – released by the Braves in 2015. He has started four games in the last two years. The Cubs used him in relief last summer and he had some success. So naturally the Padres are going to take him out of the role he had success and make him a starter again where he’s been abysmal since 2012.
Jered Weaver (R) – Jered unlike the other pieces of the rotation has never been released. This will be the first team for Weaver to pitch for other than the team that drafted him. Weaver made 322 starts and won 150 games for the Angels since being the 12th pick of the 2004 MLB draft. Weaver was donezo in 2014, I’m having a hard time imagining a scenario where he’s still pitching in July.
Luis Perdomo (R) – A rule five pick in Dec 2015, Perdomo had to stick on the Padres all year and he did that. Steep learning curve for the kid, I have little idea if he’s going to make it. His peripherals weren’t impressive, but he’s the best the Padres have.
That is the Padre rotation and they don’t really have reinforcements. Guys on the Dl are Christian Friedrich, Robbie Erlin, and Colin Rea. None of them are cavalry types.
What they do have are some sweet pitching prospects but they aren’t close. Espinoza is only 19, Cal Quantrill was just drafted last year and has to build his arm back up.
That is why 2017 is going to be tough on the Padres, they could put out the Yankee 1927 lineup and I don’t think they could win 81 games.
The lineup is young and should be fun to watch.
1st base – Wil Myers – He’s a nice 1st baseman, at this point at age 26 he’s not great, but he might become great. The one time 2013 ROY has plenty of talent, but it seems a waste at 1st base. His speed would be unique for his position if not for Paul Goldschmidt. In this century only two first baseman have stolen at least 25 bases and they both did it in 2016. Goldy hit 24 home runs and stole 32 bases. Myers hit 28 home runs and stole 28 bases.
2nd base – Yangervis Solarte – last year Solarte was the 3rd baseman but 1/2 way through spring training they decided to move Solarte to 2nd and Ryan Schimpf to 3rd base. Maybe that will help the defense. I have no idea, but I do know that Solarte can hit. If his bat played at 3rd, it will really play at 2nd. He’s the unique switch hitter that can actually hit from either side of the plate. In this day of swing and miss, Solarte is a contact hitter who struck out only sixty-three times in 443 plate appearances.
Shortstop – oh come on, this is like looking at the rotation. They had nobody so they went out and signed Erick Aybar. Like his ex-teammate, Aybar has been done since 2014. I might be over selling Chris Taylor or Charlie Culberson but I think either of them could do the same job that Erick Aybar is going to do. Heck Darnell Sweeney might even be able to give him a run for his money. This is the weak spot in the lineup, and they don’t have any reinforcements in the system to help them out.
3rd Base – one of last year’s biggest surprises, Ryan Schimpf will be the 3rd baseman after beating out Corey Spangenberg. Schimpf hit 20 home runs last year in only 330 plate appearances. At age 28. In his first major league season. He also struck out 105 times and walked 42 times. Doing the math Schimpf had 42 XBA, 105 strikeouts, and 42 walks in 330 PA. He had only 18 singles. Just in case you were skimming he had 18 singles and 20 home runs. He had 18 singles and 17 doubles. Yeah, he’s unique.
Catcher – Austin Hedges was a highly regarded receiver who didn’t have much of a hit tool. That may have changed in 2016 as he tore up El Paso and posted a .951 OPS at age 23. Whatever he does it has to be better than the putrid season that Derek Norris put up in 2016 (.583 OPS).
Right Field – Anyone who follows the Dodgers might remember what Hunter Renfroe did last September. The highly regarded outfield prospect drove in 11 runs with three home runs including a mammoth shot on Sept 27 & Sept 28th leading the Padres to two victories. Hunter should be fun to watch
Center Field – Manual Margot – The Padre top prospect will be playing CF and showing off his speed/power combination.
Left Field – was supposed to be Alex Dickerson but he’s hurt so the speedy Travis Jankowski gets the nod. His only real asset would appear to be breathtaking speed, and it might be hard to get a ball in between Margot and Jankowski but it shouldn’t be hard for pitchers to get a ball past him. Jankowski struck out 100 times while hitting only 2 home runs. Ugh
Hey the lineup is young and fun. They have some real prospects with starting gigs in Margot/Renfroe. Real veteran bats in Myers and Solarte. And Schimpf might be the greatest player to watch in all of baseball. There should be a drinking game involving his at-bats.
The bench is thin. When Alex Dickerson gets healthy they will have a good fourth outfielder. Luis Sardinas is their utility infielder. Meh
The bullpen could be solid. Brandon Maurer has the stuff to be a quality closer, and if he fails they can hand the gig off to Carter Capps who is back after missing a year so he can tap dance on the mound once again. Brad Hand is a quality left-handed setup man. Jose Torres made the team and is still a bit of an unknown at this point.
And then we have Christian Bethancourt the Padre answer to Kenley Jansen. Just last year Bethancourt was the Padre catcher 41 times but this winter he converted to a relief pitcher. Unlike Jansen, he’s doing it at the major league level. Woo wee. How fun.
Let us revisit the rotation guesses
Back on Feb 17th we did a little exercise to see if could figure out how many starts would be accumulated by the many potential candidates for the rotation. I put out three scenarios and scenario three is looking pretty good right now:)
Meh, that looks too safe. I want to go out on a limb and predict that Ryu is gonna change everything.
Starter | EstGamesStarted | Left Kershaw | 31 | 131 Maeda | 25 | 106 Ryu | 25 | 81 Hill | 25 | 56 McCarthy | 22 | 34 Urias | 12 | 22 Alex Wood | 10 | 12 Stewart | 8 | 4 Ross Stripling | 4 | 0 Scott Kazmir | 0 | 0
I like how optimistic I went on Ryu/McCarthy but I don’t’ want to imagine a scenario where Urias only gets 12 starts.
What are your guesses now that the rotation is set and we know who is healthy?
Keep in mind that the Dodgers used 15 different starters in 2016 and 16 different starters in 2015.
Since 2010 these are the numbers:
- 2000 – 10
- 2001 – 12
- 2002 – 9
- 2003 – 10
- 2004 – 9
- 2005 10
- 2006 – 11
- 2007 – 11
- 2008 – 11
- 2009 – 12
- 2010 – 10
- 2011 – 9
- 2012 – 9
- 2013 – 11
- 2014 – 12
- 2015 – 16
- 2016 – 15
Since 2000
- Five times they have used nine different starters
- Three times they have used ten different starters
- Four times they have used eleven different starters
- Three times they have used twelve different starters
Can anyone name the 15 different starters in 2016?
I’ll start you off easy
- Kenta – 32
- Kazmir – 26
- Kershaw = 21
- Urias – 15
- Stripling – 14
- Wood – 10
Now the rest is upto you.
Rickey Nolasco opening day starter and he deserves it
When Nolasco was announced yesterday as the Angel opening day pitcher it seemed to be met with a touch of ridicule.
Maybe we should look back at the summer of 2016 and see who made the better decision. The Dodger front office or the Angel front office?
The Dodgers dipped into the deep farm system and traded not one, not two, but three top 20 prospects for Rich Hill and the zero in Right Field.
The Angels traded a nobody and Hector Santiago for Nolasco. Nolasco didn’t come with a blister and made every start the Angels asked him to. Much like Rich Hill, he started out rocky but at least he did it on the mound. Nolasco would end the season with a flourish and will enter 2017 with a 21 innings scoreless streak. Not even included in that was an actual shutout on August 31st. Imagine that, a pitcher getting 27 outs without giving up an earned run. Has something changed for Rickey Nolasco? He says his success at the end of the year with the Angels was because he changed his pitch selection.
Nolasco attributes his success with the Angels last season (3.21 ERA) to leaning on his two-seam fastball. Two-seamers usually sacrifice a mile or two per hour in velocity in exchange for added movement.
Those who ridicule Nolasco because of his mediocre history but pant about Rich Hill seem to be ignoring the glorious history of Rich Hill. If one pitcher can change his spots, why can’t two pitchers? Hill became successful when he learned to use his curve since that was his most effective pitch, but even a successful renaissance like Hill comes with a caveat. That caveat is durability and until Hill proves at age 37 he can make even 20 starts in a season he’s just as big a question mark for me as Rickey Nolasco.
For me the odds are just as high that Nolasco is the same Nolasco as he’s always been, and the same holds true for Rich Hill. Both have a lot to prove in 2017 but at least one of them has been pitching every year in the major leagues since he showed up and didn’t spend most of his career bouncing around from hill to hill.
Julio Urias optioned to Oklahoma
The 20-year-old phenom will have to bide his time as he saves his golden arm for summer and fall. Even without a full rotation, it was doubtful that Urias was going to start the year in the rotation. Not when you have to manage his innings, and we hope those innings will be needed more in October than in April.
Last year Urias shredded AAA and forced the Dodgers to call him up in late May. This year he’s simply on call as the current rotation of Kershaw / Maeda / Hill / McCarthy / Ryu try to prove they can remain healthy and productive. If those five do that, I’m not sure what the plan will be, because while Urias is special he’s only 20. I expect great things from Urias but I don’t think it is a slam dunk that his 20-year-old season will be better than the best that McCarthy or Ryu can give you. The caveat being that McCarthy and Ryu will need to be at their best to keep the kid at bay once the Dodgers want to put his arm into play.
This will be one of the more interesting story lines of 2017. Which pitcher falters first to give Urias his opening, or if none of them do, do the Dodgers make a trade to open a spot for him?
Thompson and Taylor headed for Oklahoma
All the spring battles were decided yesterday with more players being optioned to AAA to play for Oklahoma.
Most of the players who didn’t make the Dodger opening day roster besides the prospects are basically bench players except for one.
Trayce Thompson – Thompson started spring late due to his lingering injury from last year, but eventually, he got it all sorted out and was able to prove to everyone he is healthy. I’m not sure the Dodgers would have signed Gutierrez if they had a crystal ball that would have told them that Trayce was going to be 100% healthy by the start of the year. I think Thompson can do everything that Gutierrez can do while also playing a better defensive outfield, including CF. He’ll bide his time in AAA while the current outfield answers some questions:
- Can Joc hit LHP well enough to play against them on a full-time basis?
- Does Guiterrez have another year left of elite hitting against LHP while not killing you in LF with his lack of mobility?
- Can Puig stop the regression and show he’s an everyday RF whose hammy’s won’t always be barking.
If these questions get answered on a positive note, Trayce may have a hard time finding a spot on the 2017 Dodgers.
Chris Taylor – one of my favorite acquisitions last summer, Chris Taylor is a better infield option than Enrique Hernandez, but alas he can’t play CF as Hernandez can. With Thompson in AAA, the Dodgers have no one else who can play CF. It was clear that even though Toles had played CF in the minors the Dodgers only consider him a corner outfielder as he got very little burn there in spring training. I really like Chris Taylor and it speaks to the Dodger depth that he’ll be joining Charlie Culberson at AAA. I have no idea where they are going to play all of Culberson / Taylor / Dickerson / Segedin assuming Calhoun is playing 2nd base. Not only are you going to have a grumpy bunch of players who didn’t make the Dodger roster, but some of them won’t even be playing every game.
Bobby Wilson – Austin Barnes deservedly won the backup job and Bobby Wilson will ply his trade for Oklahoma. I’d have been very disappointed in the Dodger FO if they had given the job to Wilson based on spring training. At this point in his career, all of baseball knows what Bobby Wilson is. He’s a nice backup catcher, probably better than AJ Ellis in that role but that is the extent of his credentials. Why his agent put him in the Dodger system instead of someplace like say the White Sox or Angels says that he didn’t have many options, or that if he did, they didn’t choose wisely. I found it interesting while looking at his career earnings on baseball reference they don’t even have a salary for the 2016 season. Poor Bobby has bounced around in the majors for eight years but still has less than 800 at-bats and has never made more than $700,000 in a season. He’s a future coach waiting to happen who has an opt our on May 1st. Hopefully, he’ll stay in the system and provide the depth the Dodgers might need if Grandal has his yearly injury. Oh, maybe that is why he signed with the Dodgers.
Dodgers start the year with eight straight games
Which I thought was a little strange because my memory says they normally have at least one day off the first week of the year. To see how my memory is working I went to work.
In 2016 they had an off day between games 7 and 8
In 2015 they had an off day between games 3 and 4
In 2014 they had an off day between games 3 and 4 even after the delayed start in Australia where they played games 1 and 2 and had six days off until game 3.
In 2013 they had an off day between games 3 and 4
In 2012 they had an off day between games 4 and 5
In 2011 they had an off day between games 4 and 5
In 2010 they had an off day between games 1 and 2
Yup, this is different but maybe it is the new normal since this is the second year in a row that they play at least seven straight games.
How about others in the division.
- The Giants are off between game one and game two.
- The Diamondbacks are off between game one and game two.
- The Dodgers start with the Padres for four so it makes sense that the Padres don’t have any off days as they takes you to the weekend.
- Yikes, the Rockies start the season with fourteen straight games.
Dodgers, Yesterday and Today 