Dodgers hitters blast off in March
With at least ten plate appearances, eleven players have an OPS+ > 300 as we enter April and three of them are Los Angeles Dodgers. 2018 MVP Christian Yelich continues to destroy the NL, but right behind him is Austin Barnes and Joc Pederson. Two guys the Dodgers tried to replace this winter with Realmuto and Harper.
Cody Bellinger is currently tied with Yelich for the NL home run and RBI lead with four and eight respectively. In a normal week, Joc or Bellinger would be vying for NL Player of the Week, but Yelich had an even better week so I expect the reigning MVP to get the nod.
Player OPS+ PA Tm HR RBI BB BA OBP SLG OPS Pos Christian Yelich 445 18 MIL 4 8 6 .500 .667 1.583 2.250 /*9 Austin Barnes 418 10 LAD 2 3 2 .625 .700 1.375 2.075 /*2H Joc Pederson 339 21 LAD 3 5 4 .467 .619 1.133 1.752 /*7H Tim Beckham 327 27 SEA 3 6 4 .435 .519 .913 1.432 /*6 Asdrubal Cabrera 323 13 TEX 2 5 1 .455 .462 1.091 1.552 /*5 Kolten Wong 322 15 STL 2 4 1 .571 .600 1.071 1.671 /*4 Maikel Franco 317 12 PHI 2 7 3 .444 .583 1.111 1.694 /*5 Rhys Hoskins 316 12 PHI 1 5 5 .333 .667 1.000 1.667 /*3 Bryce Harper 303 13 PHI 2 2 4 .333 .538 1.111 1.650 /*9 Cody Bellinger 303 21 LAD 4 8 1 .500 .524 1.100 1.624 /*93 Jose Abreu 301 13 CHW 2 4 2 .364 .462 .909 1.371 /*3D
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 4/1/2019.
Early season numbers are always fun, but you can’t deny the approach by Joc has simply been outstanding.
2019 Preview of Dodger Rotation Pieces
The Dodgers will start the year with two of their five starting pitchers on the injured list. One of those on the injured list is a three-time Cy Young Award winner and seven-time all-star. The other is Rich Hill, and for most teams that would mean using journeyman pitchers or prospects too soon, for the Dodgers it just means they will plug in a 2018 All-Star and one of the best young pitchers in baseball.
Just in case you missed this from my Spring Training post on the pitchers:
The rotation pieces Ryu/Stripling/Kenta Maeda/Julio Urias ended the spring with eight walks and fifty-five strikeouts. If you want to add Rich Hill that reads eight walks and sixty-six strikeouts.
Last year the Dodgers had six starters throw between 120 and 165 innings. This year I expect they will have seven that throw between 100 and 150 innings. I didn’t do the math to back this statement up.
Let’s do this by the Dodger rotation to start the year:
Starter One – Hyun-Jin Ryu gets the opening day start with Clayton Kershaw unable to make it. This was the first spring in years that Ryu came in without any question marks and he pitched fantastic. I thought it was a done deal that Ryu would be gone as a free agent but he accepted the Dodgers qualifying offer and is back for at least one more season. In 2018 Ryu posted a sub 2.00 ERA and was lights out when he was able to take the mound. Ryu joined the Dodgers in 2013 but has only pitched over 150 innings twice in those six years. I expect he will do it for the third time in 2019 and receive another qualifying offer at the end of the season.
Starter Two – 2018 All-Star Ross Stripling will get the ball for game two. Ross is really the sixth starter for the Dodgers but until Kershaw/Hill are back he’s in the rotation. Ross was brilliant last year when he stepped into the rotation on April 30th, and continued that brilliance all the way through the All-Star game break. He only had one good start after the break and due to injuries and the return of injured pitchers didn’t make another start after August 9th. Ross has his supporters, the most vocal being Paul Sporer of Fangraphs. As a starting pitcher, he walked only sixteen hitters against 117 strikeouts making his SO/BB rate the best on the team and just about the best in baseball.
You can see how that ranks with some of the best pitchers in baseball last year. As you can see the big issue with Ross is that when they make contact they make good contact as he has the second highest OPS+ against on the list. He needs to limit his walks and he did so when he started.
Player SO IP SO/W ERA FIP K% BB% ERA+ OPS+ Justin Verlander 290 214.0 7.84 2.52 2.78 34.8% 4.4% 159 65 Robbie Erlin 88 109.0 7.33 4.21 3.31 20.1% 2.7% 91 96 Chris Sale 237 158.0 6.97 2.11 1.98 38.4% 5.5% 207 43 Corey Kluber 222 215.0 6.53 2.89 3.12 26.4% 4.0% 151 66 Ross Stripling 136 122.0 6.18 3.02 3.42 27.0% 4.4% 128 100 Max Scherzer 300 220.2 5.88 2.53 2.65 34.6% 5.9% 168 56 Jacob deGrom 269 217.0 5.85 1.70 1.99 32.2% 5.5% 216 52 Carlos Carrasco 231 192.0 5.37 3.38 2.94 29.5% 5.5% 129 79 Clayton Kershaw 155 161.1 5.34 2.73 3.19 23.9% 4.5% 142 74 Patrick Corbin 246 200.0 5.13 3.15 2.47 30.8% 6.0% 137 63 Shane Bieber 118 114.2 5.13 4.55 3.23 24.3% 4.7% 96 109 Nathan Eovaldi 101 111.0 5.05 3.81 3.60 22.2% 4.4% 112 85 Miles Mikolas 146 200.2 5.03 2.83 3.28 18.1% 3.6% 137 75
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 3/27/2019.
Ross may never make another All-Star but for most teams, he’d be a big part of their rotation, for the Dodgers he’s simply insurance.
Starter Three – Kenta Maeda has seen his innings drop from 175 to 134 to 125 during his three seasons as a Dodger. He hasn’t made a postseason start since 2016 which tells you where he falls in the Dodger rotation pecking order. His stats say that when he starts he’s been very good. Kenta isn’t exciting but he’s better than most starters while being a good bet to not be part of the rotation when the season ends.
Starter Four – Walker Buehler was the bulldog in the postseason that the Dodgers had been seeking winning key game five in the NLCS and starting the only game the Dodgers won in the World Series. Walker didn’t make his first start in 2018 until April 23rd and was never allowed to throw over 100 pitches for his first eleven starts. On his twelve start, he threw 105 pitches and lost 1 – 0 to the Brewers. The gloves were off and he would throw over 100 pitches five times in his last eleven starts of the regular season. His ERA was 3.92 on July 25th after his eleventh start. He would drop his ERA to 2.62 and put the league on notice that the Dodgers had another ace in the making.
His rookie season earned 3.4 bWAR which was good for 8th among Dodger rookie pitchers but he did that with only 137 innings pitched.
Player WAR IP ERA+ Year Age GS ERA K% BB% OPS+ Fernando Valenzuela (RoY-1st) 4.8 192.1 135 1981 20 25 2.48 23.8% 8.1% 62 Hideo Nomo (RoY-1st) 4.7 191.1 149 1995 26 28 2.54 30.3% 10.0% 56 Orel Hershiser (RoY-3rd) 4.3 189.2 133 1984 25 20 2.66 19.5% 6.5% 69 Ismael Valdez (RoY-7th) 3.7 197.2 124 1995 21 27 3.05 18.7% 6.3% 74 Rick Sutcliffe (RoY-1st) 3.5 242.0 105 1979 23 30 3.46 11.5% 9.6% 83 Bill Singer 3.5 204.1 117 1967 23 29 2.64 19.8% 7.1% 84 Don Sutton 3.5 225.2 110 1966 21 35 2.99 22.8% 5.7% 79 Walker Buehler (RoY-3rd) 3.4 137.1 148 2018 23 23 2.62 27.9% 6.8% 56 Hyun-Jin Ryu (RoY-4th) 3.4 192.0 119 2013 26 30 3.00 19.7% 6.3% 90 Bob Welch 3.4 111.1 174 1978 21 13 2.02 15.0% 5.9% 71 Pedro Martinez (RoY-9th) 3.0 107.0 146 1993 21 2 2.61 26.8% 12.8% 70
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 3/27/2019.
Walker Buehler could be the new ace of the Dodgers. I can tell you right now if I had to name someone to start a game for the Dodgers his name would be Walker Buehler not Clayton Kershaw. This may not age well.
Starter Five – Julio Urias has just about arrived. It took longer than expected, the surgery detour putting a damper on the excitement we felt when he made his first start at the age of nineteen. They say he’s not ready for a full workload yet, but just like Walker Buehler in 2018, I expect Julio Urias to be pitching meaningful games in September and being a boss about it when he does. Julio Urias is the guy who I expect to open the most eyes this year and by the end of 2019, it will be open to debate as to who is the best young pitcher on the Dodgers, Julio or Walker.
Starter Six – Rich Hill should make it back sooner than Clayton Kershaw so he gets listed sixth. Rich is fun to watch and for the most part very good. He’s become a bit of a twitter hero as Dick Mountain and unlike Brandon McCarthy/Scott Kazmir proved to be an excellent free agent signing. This should be the last season Rich Hill is a Dodger, I hope he makes it a special one. Rich is 39 and has had two of the best five seasons by a Dodger starter aged 37 and up. That is cool and all but I’d kind of prefer Julio Urias in 2019 and I think the Dodgers will eventually feel the same way.
Player WAR IP ERA+ Year Age OPS+ Kevin Brown 4.5 211.0 169 2003 38 67 Rich Hill 2.2 135.2 125 2017 37 74 Tom Candiotti 2.0 135.0 108 1997 39 103 Rich Hill 1.5 132.2 106 2018 38 91 Tom Candiotti 1.3 190.1 108 1995 37 96
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 3/27/2019.
Starter Seven: Just your run of the mill three-time Cy Young Award winner. Clayton has a lot to prove in 2019 and it got off to an auspicious start when he had to shut himself down very early in spring training. As Dodger nation held their collective breath, he was able to get in mound work without any pain (so he says) and is now on a normal path that should see him get back in the rotation sometime in April. I can’t doubt Clayton Kershaw until he gives me a reason to doubt him. Noted MLB writer Mike Petriello doesn’t think Clayton is in the conversation anymore as a top pitcher and he might be right. I wouldn’t bet on him being right, I’d bet on Clayton. I won’t post any Clayton stats, he owns all of the second decade of the 21st century, and most of the 21st century as well. He may not be the “greatest” pitcher but he is certainly the greatest lefty of the 21st century so far, and one of the greatest of all time.
2019 Dodger Spring Training Stats – The Pitchers
The 2019 spring training games are over so for fun, let’s take a look at the spring training stats for pitchers.
The tables below were provided by the data from Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 3/27/2019.
The two pitchers replacing Kershaw and Hill pitched the most innings. If Ross and Julio can replicate their spring success it will be interesting how Dave Roberts handles the rotation.
The rotation pieces Ryu/Stripling/Kenta Maeda/Julio Urias ended the spring with eight walks and fifty-five strikeouts. If you want to add Rich Hill that reads eight walks and sixty-six strikeouts.
The outstanding spring for a prospect has to belong to Tony Gonsolin who was unscored upon in his nine innings. Right behind him was Dustin May. Not sure where Dennis Santana is anymore in the pecking order but he might have fallen behind those two. Given how much we saw of May and Gonsolin and how impressive they are, the Dodgers might have to huddle to decide who would get a start between the three of them if they need one during this summer.
Speaking of Dennis Santana, he led the spring pitchers with a 14.5 K/9 albeit it in only seven innings. Dennis is still an outstanding prospect and just being healthy this spring was a big step toward him pitching at the major league level in 2019.
Yimi Garcia may have been the pitcher who pitched himself onto the roster with his impressive spring.
Pedro Baez continues to look good.
Best hair was between Stetson Allie and Dustin May. Stetson showed off his big fastball but doesn’t appear to have the command to be a major league pitcher.
| Name | Age | ERA | IP | BB | SO | WHIP |
| Stripling, Ross | 29 | 2.76 | 16.1 | 4 | 11 | 1.224 |
| Urias, Julio* | 22 | 1.72 | 15.2 | 3 | 15 | 0.511 |
| Ryu, Hyun-Jin* | 32 | 3 | 15 | 0 | 12 | 0.933 |
| Maeda, Kenta | 31 | 4.15 | 13 | 1 | 17 | 0.769 |
| May, Dustin | 21 | 1.46 | 12.1 | 4 | 9 | 1.216 |
| Hill, Rich* | 39 | 3.27 | 11 | 0 | 11 | 1.182 |
| Quackenbush, Kevin | 30 | 4.5 | 10 | 2 | 5 | 1.5 |
| Allie, Stetson | 28 | 3.72 | 9.2 | 7 | 14 | 1.034 |
| Garcia, Yimi | 28 | 0.93 | 9.2 | 2 | 12 | 1.034 |
| Gonsolin, Tony | 25 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 6 | 0.889 |
| Ferguson, Caleb* | 22 | 9.35 | 8.2 | 3 | 12 | 1.846 |
| Santana, Dennis | 23 | 8.31 | 8.2 | 6 | 14 | 1.5 |
| Curry, Parker | 25 | 7.56 | 8.1 | 2 | 8 | 1.68 |
| Floro, Dylan | 28 | 6.48 | 8.1 | 3 | 5 | 2.16 |
| Schultz, Jaime | 28 | 4.7 | 7.2 | 4 | 5 | 1.043 |
| Alexander, Scott* | 29 | 1.23 | 7.1 | 1 | 6 | 0.545 |
| Baez, Pedro | 31 | 2.45 | 7.1 | 3 | 11 | 1.227 |
| Kelly, Joe | 31 | 1.29 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 1.143 |
| Chargois, JT | 28 | 5.4 | 6.2 | 2 | 6 | 0.9 |
| Vasquez, Luis | 33 | 4.05 | 6.2 | 5 | 9 | 1.2 |
| Jansen, Kenley | 31 | 2.84 | 6.1 | 1 | 7 | 1.105 |
| Stewart, Brock | 27 | 2.84 | 6.1 | 5 | 4 | 2.053 |
| Moseley, Ryan | 24 | 1.59 | 5.2 | 2 | 5 | 0.529 |
| Cabrera, Yordy | 28 | 6.75 | 5.1 | 4 | 8 | 1.5 |
| Somsen, Layne | 30 | 1.69 | 5.1 | 0 | 7 | 0.563 |
============================================================================
| Name | Age | H9 | HR9 | BB9 | SO9 | SO/W |
| Stripling, Ross | 29 | 8.8 | 0 | 2.2 | 6.1 | 2.75 |
| Urias, Julio* | 22 | 2.9 | 1.1 | 1.7 | 8.6 | 5 |
| Ryu, Hyun-Jin* | 32 | 8.4 | 0.6 | 0 | 7.2 | |
| Maeda, Kenta | 31 | 6.2 | 1.4 | 0.7 | 11.8 | 17 |
| May, Dustin | 21 | 8 | 0 | 2.9 | 6.6 | 2.25 |
| Hill, Rich* | 39 | 10.6 | 0 | 0 | 9 | |
| Quackenbush, Kevin | 30 | 11.7 | 0 | 1.8 | 4.5 | 2.5 |
| Allie, Stetson | 28 | 2.8 | 0 | 6.5 | 13 | 2 |
| Garcia, Yimi | 28 | 7.4 | 0 | 1.9 | 11.2 | 6 |
| Gonsolin, Tony | 25 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 3 |
| Ferguson, Caleb* | 22 | 13.5 | 2.1 | 3.1 | 12.5 | 4 |
| Santana, Dennis | 23 | 7.3 | 3.1 | 6.2 | 14.5 | 2.33 |
| Curry, Parker | 25 | 13 | 1.1 | 2.2 | 8.6 | 4 |
| Floro, Dylan | 28 | 16.2 | 2.2 | 3.2 | 5.4 | 1.67 |
| Schultz, Jaime | 28 | 4.7 | 0 | 4.7 | 5.9 | 1.25 |
| Alexander, Scott* | 29 | 3.7 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 7.4 | 6 |
| Baez, Pedro | 31 | 7.4 | 2.5 | 3.7 | 13.5 | 3.67 |
| Kelly, Joe | 31 | 6.4 | 0 | 3.9 | 7.7 | 2 |
| Chargois, JT | 28 | 5.4 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 8.1 | 3 |
| Vasquez, Luis | 33 | 4.1 | 0 | 6.8 | 12.2 | 1.8 |
| Jansen, Kenley | 31 | 8.5 | 0 | 1.4 | 9.9 | 7 |
| Stewart, Brock | 27 | 11.4 | 2.8 | 7.1 | 5.7 | 0.8 |
| Moseley, Ryan | 24 | 1.6 | 0 | 3.2 | 7.9 | 2.5 |
| Cabrera, Yordy | 28 | 6.8 | 1.7 | 6.8 | 13.5 | 2 |
| Somsen, Layne | 30 | 5.1 | 0 | 0 | 11.8 |
Opening Day is just a day away
The Dodgers had about as boring a spring as you can have and with the season opener just a day away everything is basically what Ken Gurnick expected back in Feb with a few minor exceptions.
Ken felt that Chris Taylor was going to be the Dodgers starting second baseman. I didn’t agree but felt he had better info. Turns out he did not.
I’ll defer to the beat writer who should have some inside information on who the Dodgers are leaning toward but it would not surprise me in the least if Hernandez wins the 2nd base gig and Taylor is the super utility guy.
That could easily change but for now, Kiké is the starting second baseman which leaves Chris Taylor to patrol left field against left-hand pitching, and possibly spell everyone except the catcher and 1st baseman.
It took Corey Seager a while to get in playing shape but he does appear ready to handle a full season load at Shortstop. None of the position players were injured so the Dodgers enter the season with a full squad of position players. Andrew Toles took himself out of the running for a bench spot when he was unable to appear this spring due to personal issues that we hope he is able to successfully navigate.
The only real battle besides second base was between Brad Miller and Alex Verdugo for the last spot on the bench. I felt Brad Miller would be more useful but the Dodgers opted for Alex Verdugo.
The pitching side had a few hiccups and one big painful cough when Clayton Kershaw had to be shut down, but he is back on the mound and should rejoin the team sometime in April. It is a shame that Clayton will not start the opener since he has been the opening day starter every year since 2011 but all things eventually come to an end. The good news is that Clayton appears to be pitching pain-free and just needs to get stretched out. This might have been more of a big deal if the expectations for Clayton in 2019 hadn’t been more muted than in seasons past when he was simply expected to pick up his CYA at the end of the year.
The other hiccups belonged to Walker Buehler and Rich Hill. Walker took his time in getting ready this spring but is now ready for the season to start. Rich Hill was in line to make the opening day start but got hurt last week and will join Clayton Kershaw on the injured list to start the season.
Replacing Kershaw and Hill will be Julio Urias and Ross Stripling. Julio Urias reminded everyone why he was a teenage phenom before his surgery by having a fantastic spring. It has only been nine months but I think many Dodger fans have already forgotten that Ross Stripling was an All-Star last summer after being their best pitcher in April/May/June. Ross still has a big fan in Paul Sporer from Fangraphs who made him part of his bold predictions for 2019.
Ross Stripling is a top 15 SP
Stripling only threw 122 innings last year, but the 29-year old isn’t incapable of handling a full season workload. A 1.5x increase of last year’s total would yield 183 innings, which is more than enough to put up a top 15 season with a strong enough performance. In fact, these days you can go 150-160 great innings and still land in the top 15. An incredible first half (2.08 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 24% K-BB in 95.3 IP) earned Stripling an All-Star bid, but back and toe issues mired a poor second half that limited him to just 26.7 uninspiring innings (6.41 ERA, 1.58 WHIP, 17% K-BB). He’s already in the rotation with some spring injuries hitting the Dodgers rotation and if he performs, there’s no reason he won’t stick.
Suffice to say no team in baseball could replace two pitchers in their rotation with the upside of Urias and Stripling.
The biggest surprise to me this spring was the outright release of Josh Fields who had been a solid part of the bullpen since being acquired for top 100 prospect Yordan Alvarez back in the summer of 2016. It must be a good sign for the bullpen that the Dodgers felt that they had better arms than Fields.
Oh look, an actual roster battle is happening
As usual, the final position spot on the Dodgers 25 man roster has created a bit of controversy. In the end, none of it will probably matter but as fans debate whether they would rather have top outfield prospect, Alex Verdugo make the team or journeyman infielder Brad Miller, keep in mind that last April Max Muncy didn’t make the team out of spring training. Neither did Walker Buehler. Logan Forsythe was the starting 2nd baseman. Corey Seager was the starting shortstop even with a bad wing. Wilmer Font was the surprise pick on the 25 man roster.
As roster building goes, with the current Dodger roster, it would seem to make more sense in carrying the left hand hitting infielder Brad Miller over the left-handed hitting outfielder Alex Verdugo for these reasons:
- Corey Seager has yet to even play in a major league spring training game. They say he will be ready when the season starts, but to expect Seager to be a nine-inning shortstop from the get-go seems a tad unrealistic. Which means that he’ll need a caddy, and that means one of the two current 2nd basemen, will need to play shortstop.
- The Dodgers have two right-handed hitting second baseman, one of which will be the starter, and the other will be playing left field against right-hand pitching.
- You don’t lose Alex Verdugo if you choose the Brad Miller insurance policy, but you do lose the Brad Miller insurance policy if you choose Alex Verdugo.
- Alex Verdugo was not able to beat out Joc Pederson for the starting gig in left field against right-hand pitchers. He may not have anything to prove by starting every day in AAA, but what value does he give the team on the bench? He won’t be needed as a defensive replacement since Cody/A.J./Joc won’t need defensive help. His speed is mediocre so he doesn’t add a speed dimension.
- Also, who can’t help but wonder if Brad Miller could be the next in the line after Justin Turner, Chris Taylor and Max Muncy turned around their middling careers after joining the Dodgers? Heck, Taylor and Miller were once doing a job sharing of the shortstop gig for the Mariners.
Anyway, Jon Weisman asked his followers what they thought. Enjoy the thread.
For #Dodgers fans: If the final Opening Day roster spot came down to Brad Miller vs. Alex Verdugo, would you rather keep Verdugo and risk Miller opting out of his contract, or sent Verdugo to minors and keep Miller?
— Jon Weisman (@jonweisman) March 20, 2019
The argument for Alex Verdugo is that his contact bat may play better off the bench. He might learn something about makeup if he’s around major league players and coaches like Chase Utley.
I don’t care either way, after a month, whatever decision they make today probably won’t be standing by May. Things happen, I don’t know what will happen, but I’ll always bet on something happening.
Max Muncy could fail miserably and thus make Cody Bellinger the 1st baseman again with Verdugo becoming the right fielder
Pollock could have yet another fluke injury
Joc could regress back to 2017
Seager could prove to be a brittle shortstop
Hernandez could fail at being a starting 2nd baseman, or Chris Taylor could fail at being a starting 2nd baseman.
MLB regulates away the Marlon Anderson and Ronnie Belliard’s of the world.
While my two favorite new rules don’t go into effect until 2020, in 2019 MLB will put into effect a rule change with huge ramifications. It may not seem like much but having only one true trade deadline means that teams have to make up their minds thirty games before they are used to do doing so.
In the past, the Dodgers have made good use of the 2nd trading deadline that involved a player being put on waivers after the July 31st trade deadline. These players included the second greatest LAD Dodger season ever for a player with at least 50 plate appearances. The infamous Marlon Anderson who was acquired on August 31st, 2006 for Jhonny Nunez. You had to be there to appreciate what Marlon Anderson did in 2006. Manny Ramirez sits on the top of the list after being acquired in 2008, but Manny is a HOF level hitter so him hitting is no surprise. Marlon Anderon, on the other hand, had a career OPS+ of 84 and would be completely out of baseball in just three years. You could make a case that Marlon’s month of Sept is one of the flukiest months in the history of modern baseball.
Rk Player PA OPS+ Year BA OBP SLG OPS Pos 1 Manny Ramirez 229 221 2008 .396 .489 .743 1.232 *7 2 Marlon Anderson 73 208 2006 .375 .431 .813 1.243 *7H/49 3 Rick Monday 156 194 1981 .315 .423 .608 1.031 *9H/7 4 Mike Kinkade 60 194 2002 .380 .483 .600 1.083 *H3/7 5 Hanley Ramirez 336 189 2013 .345 .402 .638 1.040 *6/HD 6 Mike Piazza 633 185 1997 .362 .431 .638 1.070 *2/DH 7 Pedro Guerrero 581 182 1985 .320 .422 .577 .999 *7538/H9 8 Manny Mota 50 178 1977 .395 .521 .500 1.021 *H/7 9 Gary Sheffield 612 176 2000 .325 .438 .643 1.081 *7/D 10 Ronnie Belliard 83 174 2009 .351 .398 .636 1.034 45/H 18 Justin Ruggiano 60 165 2015 .291 .350 .618 .968 *7/H9
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 3/14/2019.
Number ten on this list is Ronnie Belliard who was acquired on Sept 2, 2009 from the Nationals for Victor Garate. At the time, longtime Dodger writer Chad Moriyama called Belliard a “shitty hitter”. Ronnie would put up a 174 OPS+ and helped lead the Dodgers to the 2009 Western Division Title. Joe Torre would bench the regular starting 2nd baseman Orlando Hudson and use Belliard. Ronnie proved so important to the team that when he missed the games from Monday – Friday the Dodgers lost every game.
On Sept 26th the Dodgers beat the Pirates behind three hits from Belliard and were six games in front of the Rockies. On Sept 27th, Belliard got hurt and the Dodgers lost the game. Belliard would not play again until Oct 3rd. They lost every game from Sept 28th thru Oct 2nd and the one-time six-game lead had been shaved to only one game. The Rockies beat them on Oct 2nd. Nothing was going right for the Dodgers headed into that game on Saturday Night except, for one thing, they had 21-year-old Clayton Kershaw on the mound. This was long before Clayton would establish himself as the premier pitcher in baseball, but on this night he gave a glimpse of what he would become. Against the hottest team in baseball, he shut them out for six innings. The problem, however, was that the Dodgers had also been shutout for six innings. Entering the bottom of the 7th the score was tied 0 – 0. Casey Blake led off with single, and James Loney put down the sacrifice bunt. Joe Torre then made one of his greatest managerial moves as a Dodger. He pinch-hit Ronny Belliard for Orlando Hudson. Ronny hadn’t had an at-bat since the previous Sunday but the Rockie pitcher was Franklin Morales a lefty. Belliard came through with a seeing-eye single between 1st and 2nd and drove in Casey Blake. The Dodgers erupt for five runs that innings and clinched the Division title but it was Belliard who put them on the board.
I was at the game with a TrueBlueLA Dodger get together. We celebrated with 20 – 30 of our favorite Dodger fans and that game is one of those that I’ll always remember as one of my favorite games.
Ronnie put up a 174 OPS+ for the Dodgers in 2009 compared to his career OPS+ of 96. He would be out of baseball just one year later.
Justin Ruggiano has the 18th best OPS+ for a LAD with at least 50 plate appearances. Justin was acquired in 2015 from the Seattle Mariners on August 31st. Justin tore it up as a Dodger putting up an OPS of .968, 290 OPS points higher as a Dodger than he did as a Mariner that season. Justin gave the Dodgers 55 amazing at-bats, he would only get 84 more at-bats before his career was over.
You won’t be seeing any more stories like this, that era has come to an end, but for those of us who saw Marlon Anderson, Ronnie Belliard, and Justin Ruggiano put on their magic show in Sept, it was something we won’t’ forget.
MLB is about to get better
The owners and players have agreed to make some changes to how the game of major league baseball is played and I for one heartily cheer several of the new rules. I’ve read numerous accounts of the changes but buried in the lede of just about all of them is a change I’ve advocated for since I started writing about baseball. As a kid, I loved Sept baseball and the chance to watch the prospects, as an adult I’ve been appalled at how baseball simply played the game by different rules in the most important month of the season.
Starting in 2020 that will no longer be the case.
The 2020 provisions are likely to have a far greater impact on the field. In addition to the three-batter minimum, regular-season rosters will expand from 25 to 26 players while September rosters will contract to a maximum of 28.
No longer will teams play games in Sept with 15 – 20 pitchers available, and pinch-runners up the wazoo available to them.
Woo Hoo
For years I’ve been told I was crazy for wanting Sept baseball played like the rest of the year. Well, call me crazy, because baseball has finally come to their senses.
The other rule is that a pitcher must face a minimum of three batters. No more Tony LaRussa innings where it would take four pitchers to get three outs. This is the rule that baseball needed most. It may not make for shorter games, but it will eliminate dead time as managers visit the mound, replace the pitcher, warm-ups, and do it all over again for the next hitter. If a pitcher can’t pitch to at least three hitters, he shouldn’t be in the major leagues. I was advocating for at least one out, or hopefully three, but I’ll take this.
There are changes that take place in 2019. July 31st will be the only trade deadline, no more waiver shenanigans after July 31st. Some of the Dodgers most important in-season acquisitions have come after July 31st so this could have a major impact on how teams approach the one and only trade deadline.
I only understand one change to the All-Star festivities. A one million dollar prize will be awarded to the winner. This is supposed to get the best hitters to participate. Maybe it will, maybe it won’t. There are other changes but I don’t quite understand them yet.
Some may grumble about these changes, but I find them to be a breath of fresh air compared to the silly time clock rules they have tried to implement.
Plus not one mention of bringing the DH to the NL.
Dodgers, Yesterday and Today 