Dodger offense destroys childhood dreams
Dodger offense did good work facing two of the better teams in the NL. Both teams had to send a pitcher to the mound for their major league debut, always an exciting assignment for fans of both teams. Contrary to the often stated belief that they struggle against those types of pitchers, the Dodger offense made short work of both of them. Reynaldo Lopez and Mike Mayers won’t be able to look back at their major league debut with any fondness for the rest of their lives. Not everyone gets to be Ross Stripling.
- Justin Turner was clearly the Dodgers best hitter this week providing power/average/rbi.
- Howie Kendrick didn’t just hit in every game this past week, but also provided some opposite power going to RF twice.
- Corey hit a bunch of singles after throwing up his guts earlier in the week.
- Grandal got on base via the walk four times almost pushing his OBP to .400.
- Even Adrian got into the act with two big home runs after word surfaced that he’d become Mark Grace.
- Andrew Toles had a nice weekend filling in for Puig, and gave fans an exciting view of his speed when he went all Jackie Robinson on the bases, forcing the porous Cardinal defense into making another mistake resulting in a run.
Past seven days via fangraphs:
| Name | AVG | OBP | SLG | wOBA | wRC+ |
| Justin Turner | 0.393 | 0.433 | 0.821 | 0.518 | 236 |
| Howie Kendrick | 0.308 | 0.379 | 0.615 | 0.417 | 168 |
| Corey Seager | 0.438 | 0.438 | 0.438 | 0.384 | 145 |
| Yasmani Grandal | 0.222 | 0.391 | 0.389 | 0.354 | 124 |
| Andrew Toles | 0.385 | 0.467 | 0.462 | 0.409 | 162 |
| Chase Utley | 0.269 | 0.296 | 0.423 | 0.309 | 94 |
| Adrian Gonzalez | 0.259 | 0.286 | 0.519 | 0.339 | 114 |
| Name | PA | HR | R | RBI |
| Justin Turner | 30 | 3 | 7 | 8 |
| Howie Kendrick | 29 | 2 | 6 | 3 |
| Corey Seager | 16 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Yasmani Grandal | 23 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Andrew Toles | 15 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Chase Utley | 28 | 1 | 4 | 3 |
| Adrian Gonzalez | 28 | 2 | 5 | 7 |
Justin Turner blows through Saint Louis
On Friday, we chronicled how hot Justin Turner had been with this little ditty.
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.
Justin continued that hot streak this weekend in Saint Louis matching the heat/humidity by helping the Dodgers take two of three from the Cardinals giving the Dodgers a rare road series victory against the Cardinals.
Justin collected two hits in each game, going six for sixteen, hitting two doubles, and one home run, and driving in three more runs.
Updating his numbers for the hot streak:
- 238 Plate Appearances, 62 hits, 21 walks
- 30 XBH, 13 doubles and 17 home runs
- 33 runs scored, 49 runs batted in
- Triple stat line of .297 / .366 / .603
- Those 17 home runs hit during the streak are more than his previous CAREER high for a season of 16.
On Friday I imagined a slug% of almost .600. On Monday morning that is a reality in 238 plate appearances. Many Dodgers have ripped off impressive power streaks over the years from Ron Cey to Pedro Guerrero to Mike Piazza to Shawn Green but in every case, each of those hitters was a known slugger. Justin Turner was not a known slugger, as we said his career-high in home runs was sixteen, his career high slug% was .491.
Enjoy this, we may never see it again.
Willie Calhoun ties Pederson and Sands with his 22nd home run for Tulsa
Willie Calhoun continued his power onslaught on Sunday with another home run giving him twenty-two for the year. Those twenty-two home runs ties Joc Pederson and Jerry Sands for 2nd most home runs this century for a AA LAD player. Willie has now hit eight home runs in July and five in his last seven games.
| Player | Year | HR | Age |
| Willie Calhoun (Top Prospect) | 2016 | 22 | 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 |
Eighteen years ago I thought I’d be getting on a flight to NY
and head to Cooperstown right about now for the first time in my life. I could have gone when Don Sutton was inducted, but to be honest, Don never stirred my spirit. Don did pitch a 1 – 0 shutout against the Pirates in the first game I ever saw, and pitched many a brilliant game along with being one of the great compilers, but his effect on me wasn’t going to get me on a plane to NY.
Many Dodger fans who saw Steve Garvey in the 1970’s kind of expected Steve Garvey to end up at Cooperstown, but Steve saw his career plateau at age thirty-one and to make the HOF, you better be great after thirty-one or lose your eye. Plus, even if Garvey had continued to mash for more years, he was never my go-to guy on those teams, it was Ron Cey.
Mike Piazza on the other hand connected with me from the first day I started reading about him tearing up the minor leagues. The name, the ridiculous place he was drafted, no one seemed to believe in him. When he finally arrived in 1993 he was like a comic book baseball star.
I don’t remember the first game I ever saw him play at Dodger Stadium but I’ll never forget the sound the ball made when he made contact. I wish they had exit velocity back then because it was a sound I’d never heard. Maybe Dick Allen back in 1971. Maybe.
It was not like I hadn’t seen the likes of Allen, Robinson, Grabarkewitz, Sudakis, Garvey, Cey, Smith, Baker, Wynn, Gibson, Marshall, and Pedro, I had, but I honestly couldn’t recall any of them hitting the ball harder than Piazza.
All of his games lump into one faded memory except one. His rookie season in 1993, he dismantled the Giants in the last game of the year, hitting two home runs and breaking Giant fans hearts.
As Piazza’s career went on, it was clear he was headed to the HOF, by 1998 he had re-written the record books for catchers. I told my wife that when he went into the HOF, we would make our first trip to Cooperstown. A trip I should be making today, but I won’t be because in 1998 the Dodgers and Mike Piazza parted company. Eric Stephen at TBLA wrote a great article about Piazza’s accomplishments and details of the trade so I have nothing to add. It was a great baseball trade for the Dodgers, the return they got was easily value for value, but I personally lost my favorite player, and he was replaced by my least favorite player. Over time it was easy to appreciate the skills of Gary Sheffield but he had one thing always going against him. He wasn’t Mike Piazza.
I’ve been a Dodger fan for 50 years, and I’ve had favorites, but I think Mike Piazza was always my favorite Dodger. I still followed his career, enjoyed his success with Mets, wish he had tried to kick Roger Clemens ass, wish the Dodgers and his relationship had not been so acrimonious after he left.
I understand Piazza wearing a Met hat at his HOF ceremony, and it might seem silly that the fact he’s not wearing a Dodger hat is keeping me in Los Angeles, but it is what it is.
I blame all of this on Peter O Malley, he did all of Los Angeles a disservice by selling the team to a corporation like Fox. Peter at the time said that single ownership simply wasn’t the future and that most teams would end up being owned by corporations. He sure read that tea leaf wrong.
Now I have to hope I’m still alive when Clayton gets inducted.
Prospect of the day – Chase De Jong
Another day, another day of fine performances by the prospects, but ultimately Chase De Jong takes the daily title by virtue of his complete game victory. De Jong only had to go seven innings to get his complete game because Tulsa was playing a double header. In those seven innings, De Jong twirled a no-hitter for six before giving up a leadoff single in the seventh. De Jong ended up the game with a two-hitter, one earned run, two walks, and seven strikeouts.
Other notable performances:
- Cody Bellinger scored three times in the first game and blasted his 12th home run in the nightcap.
- Willie Calhoun hit his 21st home run while collecting three hits in the first game
- Andrew Sopko piggybacked off of a Yimi Garcia rehab game to pitch six great innings, giving up just one run, zero walks, and striking out nine.
- Speaking of Yimi, he started his rehab game and pitched two innings giving up one run, and striking out four of the six batters he faced
- 2015 13th round pick Michael Boyle pitched six innings of two-hit scoreless ball with zero walks, and five strikeouts to pick up a win for the Great Lake Loons
- I’m going to vary from my practice about not writing about short season players because DJ Peters is simply doing too much for me to ignore. DJ reached base 11 straight times over a two game span, and went 9 for 12, and five walks over a three-game span. Odgen is Odgen but this is awesome even for Ogden.
POTW battle explodes between Justin Turner and Jedd Gyroko
Tonight Justin Turner thought he’d KO’s Gyroko when he slammed an Oh pitch over the CF wall giving the Dodgers a 3 – 2 lead in the 9th inning. Gyorko however, was able to stay on his feet and came out swinging, hitting a laser off of Jansen into the left field seats tying the game in the bottom of the 9th. It was Gyroko’s fifth home run this week and came against a tough RHP which is something Gyroko is not known for doing.
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.
Dodgers, Yesterday and Today 