Dodgers land 10 prospects in Rotowire updated top 250
The rotowire propsect top 250 which is the prospect bible for fantasy baseball players was updated several days ago to reflect mid-season changes. Remember these ranking aren’t about real baseball, but how a player will do in the basic 5/5 roto categories
Offense – BA/HR/RBI/RUNS/SB
Pitching – Wins/Saves/K/WHIP/ERA
Edwin Rios makes his 1st appearance, while Alex Verdugo keeps moving up the board. They don’t rank Brock Stewart but I think they are missing the boat there. Diaz and Montas have both been hurt and haven’t been able to make much of a case. Yadier Alvarez just showed up in a full season league so still sitting under the radar.
If we were to check back in a year from now I would make these predictions:
- Urias, DeLeon, Montas, Stewart will have all graduated into the show and not be eligible.
- Verdugo will be a top 10. Diaz, Calhoun, Bellinger will all be in the top 50.
- Buehler, Lux, Will Smith, Mitch Hansen will show up between 100 – 250.
- Dark horses might be Imani Abdullah or Chase De Jong or Johan Mieses or Andrew Sopko or Ariel Sandoval or ….
I have zero ideas how many of these current prospects in the top 250 will be in the Dodger organization one year from now or even 10 days from now.
| Player | | | Ranking | | | Date |
| Julio Urias | | | 6 | | | 7/22/2016 |
| Alex Verdugo | | | 26 | | | 7/24/2016 |
| Jose Deleon | | | 45 | | | 7/23/2016 |
| Willie Calhoun | | | 71 | | | 7/25/2016 |
| Cody Bellinger | | | 72 | | | 7/26/2016 |
| Grant Holmes | | | 77 | | | 7/27/2016 |
| Yadier Alvarez | | | 106 | | | 7/31/2016 |
| Frankie Montas | | | 110 | | | 8/1/2016 |
| Yusniel Diaz | | | 127 | | | 7/30/2016 |
| Edwin Rios | | | 171 | | | 7/29/2016 |
| Brock Stewart | | | NR | | | 7/28/2016 |
Battle for POTW taking place in Saint Louis this weekend
However, the participants are not who you would expect.
In one corner wearing Dodger blue is Justin Turner who is at a disadvantage because he has only played three games and was facing Stephen Strasburg on Thursday. Turner has five hits in twelve at-bats, with three XBH, including two home runs and five RBI.
Shockingly the man wearing red in the other corner is Jedd Gyroko who got four starts against the Padres earlier this week. Jedd simply dismantled his ex-teammates going eight for fourteen with four home runs, and seven RBI.
Both these players started out slow this year, but we all know how hot Justin Turner has been. Gyorko on the other hand just has his games this week to show for much of his season. Gyroko’s OPS rose from .695 to .806 in just four games, and that is a guy with 174 at-bats. Overall Gyroko does have 11 home runs, which is the one thing that Gyroko has always been able to do.
Most people don’t know this but Gyroko has hit the 5th most home runs for 2nd baseman since he started playing in 2013.
| Player | HR | From | To | PA | OPS |
| Brian Dozier | 85 | 2013 | 2016 | 2422 | 0.752 |
| Robinson Cano | 84 | 2013 | 2016 | 2442 | 0.848 |
| Neil Walker | 71 | 2013 | 2016 | 2070 | 0.768 |
| Ian Kinsler | 61 | 2013 | 2016 | 2434 | 0.77 |
| Jedd Gyorko | 60 | 2013 | 2016 | 1615 | 0.702 |
| Daniel Murphy | 54 | 2013 | 2016 | 2253 | 0.786 |
Cardinal preview 07/22/16 If i were a Carpenter
The best part of this preview is that I don’t have to write about Matt Carpenter who is on the DL and was in the midst of a top five MVP season. The worse part is that I don’t get to write about what an incredible season Matt Carpenter is having.
Last year the Cardinals won 100 games, going 38 games over .500. This year has been more of a struggle, the team is currently 51 – 44 only seven games over .500. At this time last year, they were 59 – 34. After stumbling to 12 – 13 in June, the Cardinals are now 11 – 6 in July.
The Dodgers don’t usually have great timing when they hit the Cardinals after the all-star break but it looks like they are catching a break this time. Because of a rain out on Tuesday, they will miss the Cardinals best pitcher Carlos Martinez. They also are going to miss the resurgent, Adam Wainwright. Which is too bad because I wanted to write about Adam and how he’s turned his season around after a very tough start. Eric Stephen at TBLA did a breakdown of the starting pitchers for this series.
Cardinals are also missing Brandon Moss who was doing his best impersonation of a normal historical Cardinal slugger. Combined the Cardinals have nine players on the DL.
The DL table below is courtesy of Rotowire:
| Carpenter, Matt | 3B | Oblique | 15-Day DL | 8/1/2016 |
| Cooney, Tim | P | Shoulder | 7-Day DL | 8/1/2016 |
| Harris, Mitch | P | Elbow | 60-Day DL | 7/1/2017 |
| Lynn, Lance | P | Elbow | 60-Day DL | 9/10/2016 |
| Moss, Brandon | OF | Ankle | 15-Day DL | 7/24/2016 |
| Pena, Brayan | C | Knee | 15-Day DL | 8/2/2016 |
| Peralta, Jhonny | SS | Thumb | 15-Day DL | 8/3/2016 |
| Plummer, Nick | OF | Wrist | 7-Day DL | 8/17/2016 |
| Walden, Jordan | P | Shoulder | 15-Day DL | 8/1/2016 |
1st Base – With Brandon Moss out until 7/24 Matt Adams is getting the bulk of time at 1st base, and Matt is a far cry from the Adams who crushed the Dodgers chances in the 2014 NLCS. Overall Adams is having a fine year but he is really struggling in July hitting only .158 with one home run.
2nd Base – Kolten Wong is getting all the at bats against RHP, but Jedd Gyorko is eating up the at-bats against left-hand pitching. Gyorko is vying for player of the week honors against Justin Turner after destroying his old team earlier this week. Gyorko slugged four home runs against the Padres in four games including three in one day. Gyroko is hitting so well he might start seeing at-bats against right hand pitching.
3rd Base – With Matt Carpenter and Peralta on the DL, Greg Garcia is getting some play here. In typical Cardinal fashion, Garcia is doing great work with season OPS+ of 140 but has slowed down in July.
SS- The Cardinals have their own version of Cory Seager, in Cuban rookie Aledmys Diaz. Diaz is not slowing down and while Dodger fans feel that Corey should be a slam dunk ROY, Diaz is making his own case. Diaz has a higher BA, higher OBP, and higher Slug%. They are neck in neck in OPS+ with Diaz at 143 and Seager at 140. Right now Seager owns the defensive metrics over Diaz but I wouldn’t be handing the ROY over to Corey just yet.
C – Yadier Molina is Yadier Molina.
LF – Matt Holliday is hurting so not sure of his status this weekend. The 36-year-old Holliday is having his least productive season since his rookie season in 2004, and as the season wears on, even more so as his OPS has dropped each month.
CF – Cardinals expected much of Randal Grichuk this season after putting up a robust 138 OPS+ in 2015, but what they got was so much scuffle he was sent down to AAA to get straightened out. It may have worked because Grichuk has looked more like the player from last year since he returned from AAA on July 5th. Grichuk has four home runs and a .964 OPS since returning.
RF – Stephen Piscotty the 2012 number one pick for the Cardinals has lived up to the expectations that Piscotty was one of the best college hitters to come out of the 2012 draft. Piscotty has been the best hitting right fielder in the NL in 2016 and is not slowing down in July.
Cardinal July Stats via fangraphs:
| Name | wRC+ | PA | HR | R | RBI |
| Aledmys Diaz | 174 | 74 | 3 | 11 | 11 |
| Stephen Piscotty | 169 | 67 | 5 | 12 | 16 |
| Matt Holliday | 88 | 55 | 2 | 4 | 8 |
| Tommy Pham | 156 | 52 | 3 | 8 | 5 |
| Yadier Molina | 111 | 52 | 2 | 7 | 3 |
| Randal Grichuk | 155 | 48 | 4 | 6 | 8 |
| Jedd Gyorko | 212 | 41 | 4 | 9 | 10 |
| Matt Adams | 39 | 40 | 1 | 5 | 5 |
| Greg Garcia | 101 | 39 | 0 | 8 | 2 |
| Kolten Wong | 102 | 39 | 0 | 5 | 3 |
| Name | AVG | OBP | SLG | wOBA |
| Aledmys Diaz | 0.328 | 0.438 | 0.574 | 0.43 |
| Stephen Piscotty | 0.333 | 0.373 | 0.635 | 0.422 |
| Matt Holliday | 0.208 | 0.309 | 0.375 | 0.303 |
| Tommy Pham | 0.298 | 0.365 | 0.596 | 0.403 |
| Yadier Molina | 0.277 | 0.346 | 0.426 | 0.337 |
| Randal Grichuk | 0.304 | 0.333 | 0.63 | 0.402 |
| Jedd Gyorko | 0.395 | 0.439 | 0.737 | 0.487 |
| Matt Adams | 0.158 | 0.2 | 0.342 | 0.231 |
| Greg Garcia | 0.25 | 0.385 | 0.344 | 0.322 |
| Kolten Wong | 0.242 | 0.359 | 0.394 | 0.323 |
Justin Turner is Beyonce hot
Los Angeles Dodgers’ Justin Turner walks off the field during practice for the upcoming NLDS playoff baseball series against the New York Mets, Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2015, in Los Angeles. Their NLDS best of five playoff series begins Friday, Oct. 9, at Dodger Stadium. (AP Photo/Danny Moloshok)
You’d be hard pressed to call Justin Turner an attractive man but right now he’s as beautiful as Beyonce to Dodger fans. You wouldn’t think that the smallish Justin Turner would be big enough to carry the Dodger offense but we’d be wrong. Hot streaks are fun to watch and even more fun when they follow a cold streak that has fans wondering if said player shouldn’t be replaced. No one has bounced higher than Justin Turner. Let’s check it out:
- On May 19th after 153 plate appearances, Justin Turner had a triple stat line of .233/.320/.316 with ONE home run. His BABIP was .270. He had nine RBI batting from the 3rd spot. Everyone wanted an upgrade. Most everyone anyway.
- From May 20th to July 21st Justin Turner has had 221 plate appearances. In that time Justin has slugged sixteen home runs, driven in forty-six runs, and put up a triple stat line of .290 / .362 / .596 with a BABIP of only .278. Imagine a slugging percentage at almost .600 from Justin Turner in 220 plate appearances.
- Combining the cold and the hot you get on July 21st one heck of an offensive 3rd baseman. Justin Turner now has a triple stat line of .267/.345/.482 with seventeen home runs and fifty five RBI.
- For his Dodger career Justin now has an OPS+ of 138 with a triple stat line of .298 / .371 / .488.
- That OPS+ 138 as a Dodger 3rd baseman is the best in LAD history with at least 200 games at 3rd base. Hell it is the best Dodger history. And nobody is close. Granted Turner has only played 326 games compared to Cey with 1481 games, or Beltre with 966 but it is what it is.
Imani Abdullah continues to make strides
As Imani Abdullah continues to make progress, Baseball America is taking notice:
An 11th-round pick a year ago, the San Diego product has caught the Dodgers’ attention for his advanced feel. He pitched five shutout innings Thursday for low Class A Great Lakes in a 2-0 win over Kane County (Diamondbacks). Abdullah has struck out 43 and walked just five in 50 innings. He’s still filling out his 6-foot-4 frame, but Abdullah’s already got the fastball up to 94 mph and his curveball has shown great improvement.
Other notables games from prospects:
- Brock Stewart didn’t dazzle but did pitch six solid innings, giving up two runs on six hits, with one walk and five strikeouts.
- On the downside, Grant Holmes was crushed giving up seven runs in only five innings of work.
- On the plus side Yaisel Sierra cleaned up what Holmes started and had one of his best professional outings with a very clean two innings. One hit, no runs, and more importantly no walks.
Dodger prospect of the day – you pick it because I can’t
It is a good thing for a farm system when you have multiple top prospects all having such good days that it is hard to make a choice between them.
Yadier Alveraz struck out ten in his full-season debut
Jose DeLeon matched Yadier with ten punchouts, but also threw eight scoreless innings
Willie Calhoun clubbed his 20th home run, and third in two days
Edwin Rios hit his 14th home run and 8th in just 150 at-bats
I’d probably go with Jose DeLeon because of the potential impact. Jose went eight scoreless innings in the PCL, which could do two things. It could make the Dodgers waver about trading him as he shows he’s ready for the big show, or it could increase his trade value. Tough decisions await the Dodger front office which we will take a look at after Julio Urias pitches today.
Willie Calhoun and the historical 21st century AA LAD affiliate Home Run Leaderboard
Willie Calhoun slugged his 2oth home run last night so I thought it would be a good time to take a look at all the LAD AA affiliate home run leaders in the 21st century. It is only July 20th, and Willie looks like a good bet to at least end up the 2nd highest AA home run hitter for a LAD affiliate in the 21st century. He might catch Scott Schebler but I doubt it. For two reasons, he could simply be moved to AAA or, be traded in a few days.
I’ve included the age just so you can see if these were journeyman minor leaguers or actual prospects. The top name on this list is Joc Pederson, and Calhoun is just two home runs away from matching Joc with 22 home runs. You will notice that both Joc and Willie are/were both 21 while playing in AA. Long time Dodger prospect people will recognize Joel Guzman in 2005. At age 19 Joel made his mark by excelling in AA and entered the 2005 season as one of the top prospects in all of baseball. He even got a nickname JtD on Dodger Thoughts after appearing in the futures game and displaying “light tower power” according to one scout. JtD stood for Joel the Destroyer, but sadly he never lived up to his nickname, though he did destroy many a Dodger prospect hound heart. Particularly my heart since we shared birthdays. He didn’t set the world on fire in 2005 and basically peaked as a prospect at age 20. The 6’6 SS simply disappeared off the prospect map much like Brandon Wood who was also setting the prospect world on fire in 2005. Sometimes you should trust crazy K rates in the high minors even if they are 20 years old.
6 March 2006: Joel Guzman, infielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers, prior to a Spring Training game against the Washington Nationals. The Nationals and Dodgers played to a scoreless tie at Holeman Stadium, in Vero Beach Florida. Mandatory Photo Credit: Ed Wolfstein.
Calhoun however, is far from having a crazy K rate. The big butt 2nd baseman has one of the best K rate to home run power in the minor leagues and while we may never see him putting on a laser show at the Ravine, it is a good bet he’s going to be hitting lasers somewhere.
| Player | Year | HR | Age |
| Willie Calhoun (Top Prospect) | 2016 | 20 | 21 |
| Lar Anderson | 2015 | 14 | 27 |
| Scott Schebler (Prospect) | 2014 | 28 | 23 |
| Joc Pederson (Top Prospect) | 2013 | 22 | 21 |
| Blake Smith (Fringe Prospect) | 2012 | 13 | 24 |
| Scott Van Slyke (Prospect) | 2011 | 20 | 24 |
| Jerry Sands (Prospect) | 2010 | 22 | 22 |
| Russ Mitchell | 2009 | 13 | 24 |
| Russ Mitchell | 2008 | 16 | 23 |
| Anthoni Raglini | 2007 | 21 | 24 |
| Craig Brazill | 2006 | 21 | 26 |
| Joel Guzman (Top Prospect) | 2005 | 16 | 20 |
| Delwyn Young | 2005 | 16 | 23 |
| Shane Victorino (Fringe Prospect) | 2004 | 16 | 23 |
| Reggie Abercrombie | 2003 | 15 | 22 |
| Koyie Hill (Prospect) | 2002 | 11 | 23 |
| Glen Davis | 2001 | 20 | 25 |
| Geronimo Gil | 2000 | 11 | 24 |
Yadier Alvarez fans ten in full season league debut
20-year-old Cuban bonus baby Yadier Alvarez finally gave Great Lake Loon fans something to cheer about with a stunning debut. Alvarez who had been fine tuning his game in Arizona this spring and summer showed everyone what all the hoopla was about striking out ten of the fifteen outs. Great Lake fans can only hope he sticks around all summer so they can get a good long look at one of the Dodgers top pitching prospects.
The Dodgers had been handing out big money to Cuban refugees for a few years with little to show for it but maybe they have something they can hang their hats on this time. Unlike these Cubans, Erisbel Arruebarrena, Alexander Guerrero, Héctor Olivera, and Yasiel Sierra who were all established Cuban professionals, Alvarez is still a project and just turned twenty this past spring. We had been hearing since he signed that he could hit 100 MP and was an elite arm, so it is nice to finally see the arm in action in full league baseball. I say full league baseball because time has taught me not to pay any attention to anything that happens until the prospects graduate from the rookie leagues to the full season leagues. It took a while, but it finally sank in.
The Dodgers put Alvarez in the perfect situation to succeed. The MidWest League is a pitchers league, and now that warm weather has hit the midwest, more amenable to someone used to pitching in Cuba’s tepid weather. Hopefully this first game is just a sign of things to come for someone with huge expectations on his shoulders.
The Tulsa Trio does a one step as Willie Calhoun blasts two home runs
On any given day this summer, someone in the Tulsa Trio be it Alex Verdugo, Cody Bellinger, or Willie Calhoun usually does something to write about. Many times it has been two of the three and even three of the three.
Last night, however, it was only Willie Calhoun who stepped out and made a name winning the Prospect player of the day. Willie slugged two home runs, with one of the home runs nearly leaving the park. Casey Goldman has the call.
@Dodgers prospect @11WillieCalhoun blasted his 18th HR of the season, and it was nearly out of the park. #Dodgers pic.twitter.com/7jHu6dR8WK
— Tulsa Drillers (@TulsaDrillers) July 20, 2016
The 21-year-old Calhoun is now 2nd in the Texas league with 19 round trippers, trailing only 23-year-old Matt Chapman. More impressively Calhoun has struck out only 48 times while displaying such impressive power.
The problem for Calhoun is that he’s a 2nd baseman but not a very good one. It doesn’t take much imagination to see Willie getting moved to the AL this summer because it sure looks like that bat will play. Somewhere.
The doghouse boys, Grandal, Kendrick, and Turner dominate NL July offensive leaderboards
On July 20th, the Dodgers offensive charge is being led by three players who were in the Dodger fans doghouse back in May. Everyone wanted to trade Grandal for LuCroy, Turner for anyone who could play 3rd base, and the choice to play Howie in LF was being lambasted by a certain blogger (me).
Sometimes good things come to those with patience, and for the Dodgers, that patience has paid off.
Grandal leads all of MLB in wRC+ in July with an astounding 225. Grandal leads the NL in home runs in July with 6. Howie Kendrick leads all of MLB in batting average at .418 and is 3rd in OBP at .492. Justin Turner has listened to people clamor for Evan Longoria while slugging .608 for the month and being the main cog in the LAD offensive machine.
This link will take you to the fangraphs table for qualified hitters in July for the NL:
| Name | wRC+ | HR | RBI |
| Yasmani Grandal | 225 | 6 | 9 |
| Jake Lamb | 216 | 4 | 10 |
| Ryan Schimpf | 209 | 5 | 9 |
| Howie Kendrick | 202 | 1 | 7 |
| Joey Votto | 198 | 1 | 5 |
| Daniel Murphy | 195 | 4 | 15 |
| Yangervis Solarte | 193 | 5 | 15 |
| Stephen Piscotty | 185 | 4 | 13 |
| Giancarlo Stanton | 183 | 5 | 12 |
| Aledmys Diaz | 178 | 3 | 9 |
| Justin Turner | 172 | 4 | 11 |
| Kris Bryant | 164 | 3 | 5 |
| Jordy Mercer | 163 | 2 | 5 |
| Buster Posey | 161 | 3 | 5 |
| Curtis Granderson | 161 | 3 | 7 |
Dodgers, Yesterday and Today 