It takes a lot to score a LAD catcher
AJ Ellis has now gone 74 at-bats without scoring a run. I was wondering how that places him historically so I ran the numbers this morning and to no one’s surprise the leaderboard is filthy with catchers.
Doug Camilli sits on top of the scoreless leaderboard with 105 at bats over 36 games. He basically didn’t score all year. His scoreless streak started in May and ended in Sept.
The top ten names:
- Camilli – 105 at bats / 18 hits / 6 walks
- Mike Scioscia – 96 at bats / 20 hits / 8 walks
- Len Gabrielson -95 at bats / 20 hits / 4 walks
- Steve Yeager-86 at bat / 17 hits / 3 walks
- John Hale-80 at bats / 10 hits / 12 walks
- Wally Moon-78 at bats / 15 hits / 3 walks
- A.J. Ellis – 74 at bats / 13 hits / 10 walks
- Jeff Torborg-73 at bats / 10 hits / 7 walks
- Juan Samuel– 73 at bats / 19 hits / 2 walks
- Don LeJohn – 72 at bats / 18 hits / 4 walks
Camilli / Scoscia / Yeager / Torborg and AJ are all catchers. All five were well known for being the slowest players on the team. Yet Yeager would hit the occasional home run so I was surprised to see him on the list.
I know nothing about Doug Camilli
Mike Scoscia needs no introduction.
The two biggest surprises are my old friend Len Gabrielson, and speedster extraordinaire Juan Samuel. Len did the feat in 1969, just one year after leading the Dodgers in home runs in 1968 with his measly 10. Len only hit one home run in 1969 and couldn’t help his own cause. Len was on base 24 times and no one could bring him home. Juan Samuel is even stranger. Juan hit the ball well with 19 hits, had the highest BA of any of the top ten scoreless folk, and more than that, was extremely fast. Juan was only 31 at the time, so granted he may have lost some speed but it seems inconceivable that someone with his speed could get on base 21 times and never get knocked in one time.
Steve Yeager should need no introduction.
John Hale was one of my favorite prospect busts. Hale came up in Sept of 1974 at the age of 20 and proceeded to go 4 for 4. The 1974 team was loaded so he didn’t get much burn that Sept. That would be as good as it got for Hale. He had a pretty horrible career, but maybe was a player before his time. The one thing Hale could do was take walk. He had a career OBP of .307 which was astonishing given his career BA was .201. 100 point OB spreads between BA and OBP are celebrated these days.
Wally Moon was known for his Moon shots over the left field wall at the Coliseum but by 1964 his career was in the final moon phase and he had just a sliver of talent left.
Torborg is famous for catching the last perfect game by any LAD, and his managing. He was the Roseboro backup for much of his career, and a horrible hitter.
I got nothing on Don LaJohn.
We will keep an eye on AJ Ellis, and hope he can find his way to home plate before too long. This is not a list that he wants to move up on.
This is not a list that he wants to move up on.
[update] I first wrote this on July 7th, at which point AJ Ellis was 10th. He got two more at bats without scoring on July 7th, moving up from 10th to 7th.
–
Wild Card race – Pirates don’t know if they are coming or going
The Dodger lead in the wild card race is starting to dwindle, and the main culprit is the Pittsburgh Pirates. Just a few weeks ago the Pirates were being declared dead, and silly rumors of them trading off pieces were surfacing. No one is more Jekyll and hyde than the Pirates, and right now they are streaking upward with seven straight wins. More importantly for the Pirates, the latest wins all came at the expense of the Cardinals which allowed the Pirates to jump over the Cardinals into 2nd place in the NL Central.
With eighty-five games played, the Pirates already have winning streaks of seven, six, and five games. They also have two losing streaks of five games and two losing streaks of four game. Just two weeks ago they were five games under .500. Now they are three games over .500.
The Dodgers still have the best wild card record, but the Mets are now only 1/2 a game back, while the Pirates have moved to within 3 games. Miami is also only 3 games back, and though the Cardinals have lost three in a row to the Pirates, they are just 3.5 games back.
The Dodgers end the first half with a four-game home set against the last place Padres. It would behoove them to make some hay in these four games because right after the break, they embark on a nine game, three city road trip. As of now, they are ten games over .500 at home, but one game under .500 on the road.
Can the Frankenstein rotation hold it together for that road trip? Will anyone be alive in the bullpen when it is over? Someone has to pitch at least seven innings once. The last pitcher not named Clayton Kershaw to go at least seven innings was Scott Kazmir way back on May 14th. I can guarantee one thing. It won’t be tonight as Ryu makes his first start since the 2014 Postseason, and he’ll be lucky to even get 15 outs.
Chase Utley’s six hits – by the numbers
Chase Utley collected six hits in yesterday’s loss to the Orioles, the most he has ever collected. Six hits is a special number in baseball, a feat accomplished only 103 times in the history of baseball.
- Chase Utley was the 3rd oldest player to collect at least six hits in a game. The oldest were Cal Ripken and Ty Cobb. Here is the complete list sorted by age.
- This was the 3rd time in 2016 that someone had collected six hits. CJ Cron and Wilmer Flores did it earlier this year. No one did it in 2015, and only one player did it in 2014, Charlie Blackmon
- Four players have collected six hits for the LAD, Wilie Davis on May24, 1973, Paul LoDuca on May 28th, 2001, Shawn Green on May 23rd, 2002, and now Chase Utley
- Chase collected six hits but didn’t drive in anyone. Willie Davis didn’t fare much better other than collecting six hits. Paul LoDuca had a huge day, six hits, a home run, and four runs driven in. Shawn Green still stands alone, six hits, four home runs, one double, seven runs driven in. Unless someone does something quite spectacular Shawn Green will always own the greatest single game by a LAD.
- Chase and Willie would both lose their six-hit games.
- LoDuca would win his six-hit game 11 – 10 and even score the winning run in the bottom of the 10th.
- Everyone but Shawn Green got their sixth hit via extra innings. LoDuca got his sixth hit in the 10th inning. Chase got his sixth hit in the bottom of the 13th. Willie Davis got his sixth hit in the bottom of the 14th in a game that lasted 19 innings.
- Chase Utley had previously had only one five-hit game in his career and that came nine years ago on April 25th, 2007.
Frankenstein five rotation makes run into All-Star break
A ligament here, a shoulder there, a new brain, can it all add up to extended success?
This will be the rotation headed into the all-star game:
Bud Norris, coming off of two brilliant games, including his first one as a Dodger. He’ll be facing his ex-teammates the Baltimore Orioles. You can excuse the Orioles if they don’t recognize this Bud Norris, since the last time they saw Norris he was putting up one of the worst pitching seasons of the 21st century for the Orioles. Only three pitchers for the Orioles in this century have managed to make at least ten starts and put up an ERA+ < 60. Bud Norris, Rich Hill, and Brian Matusz. This is a different Bud Norris. This is not the Bud Norris that was released by the Orioles on Aug 8th, 2015 because of incompetence. This Bud is no longer Abby normal. He’s been fixed.
Hyun-jin Ryu will make his first start in two years on Thursday. His last start was Sept 12, 2014. For two years Ryu was a steady part of the Dodger rotation, slotting in nicely after the dynamic duo of Kershaw / Grienke. Not having Ryu in the postseason for 2014 and 2015 is a big reason why the Dodgers did not play deep into Oct. It has been a tough road back for Ryu, and given how many times he had to stop his rehab, I’m surprised he has even made it back. Labrum recovery is tough, successful returnees are a rare breed so expectations have to be tempered. The new shoulder will have to face the fire.
Scott Kazmir has been here all year and sometimes pops in with dynamite games, mixed in with duds. A pitcher who career was buried, but resurrected ………….I got nothing.
Brandon McCarthy had as great a return from TJ surgery in his 2016 debut as anyone could have hoped for. That new ligament looked better than ever.
Kenta Maeda is unlike the others on this list. While Bud, Scott, Brandon all pitched the best games of 2016 in their last start, Kenta went the other way and pitched his worst game of 2016. Hopefully just an aberration. He’s just part of the Frankenstein five by association.
No more teenage rookies. No more three level leaping rookies. No more Bolsingers. No more Ross Striplings. No more journeyman Tepesch.
At least not until one of the Frankenstein five go down
Corey Seager – anatomy of an eighteen game hitting streak
All-Star Corey Seager tied Bill Sudakis for the second best hitting streak among LAD rookies when he collected a hit in his eighteenth straight game. Seager took all the suspense out of the hitting streak when he doubled in his first at-bat.
While I like to say all hitting streaks aren’t created equal, this one was interesting to compare. Sudakis slammed seven home runs, but only had 23 hits. Corey only hit two home runs but collected 30 hits. Sudakis was an RBI machine driving in 17 runs in 18 games. Corey only drove in five runs. Yet, the OPS is almost an identical match.
At this point in his career Bill Sudakis was living up to the hype that he had created with his great Sept in 1968. This streak would be the highlight of the LAD Bill Sudakis career.
| Player | PA | Hits | DBL | HR | ||||
| Bill Sudakis | | | 77 | | | 23 | | | 2 | | | 7 |
| Corey Seager | | | 80 | | | 30 | | | 9 | | | 2 |
| Player | Runs-RBI | TSL | OPS | ||
| Bill Sudakis | 13-17 | | | .343 / .416 / .716 | | | 1.132 |
| Corey Seager | 16-5 | | | .405/ .450 / .662 | | | 1.112 |
Just to highlight how this hitting was the ultimate pinnacle of his career, those seven home runs in eighteen games were more than he hit in three of his eight years in the major leagues.Sudakis provided more home runs and in fact hit 50% of his home runs for the season during that 18 game streak. Sudakis would only hit fourteen home runs in 1969, and he clubbed seven during the streak.
Other notable hitting streak notes:
- 806 PA, 30 hits, 16 runs scored,9 doubles, 2 triples, 2 home runs
- Nine multi-hit games, seven times he’s had two hits, one time he’s had three hits, one time he’s had four hits
- Triple slash line during the streak of .405 / .450 / .662 with a robust OPS of 1.112
- Now holds the longest major league hitting streak of 2016 passing Ozuna and Zobrist
- Tied with Bill Sudakis for 2nd longest streak for a LAD rookie, just two behind Tommy Davis at 20
- The streak started on June 16th, at the time Seager had a triple slash line of .275 / .337 / . 504 with an OPS of 841. His triple slash line is now .304 / .362 / .530 with an OPS of 901
Manny Machado might just be the best player in baseball
At 23 years old Manny Machado can do it all. The five tool player is in the hunt for the AL MVP this year, and it is easy to see why. At 22, Manny finally put together all the promise he showed at age 20 and had a brilliant season in 2015. In 2016 he is having an even better season with an OPS of 150, a fWAR of 4.0, and is leading his Orioles to 1st place in the tough AL East. Machado had to move from his 3rd base position to SS this year when JJ Hardy got hurt and while he wasn’t Ozzie Vizquel with the glove he did well enough. He’s improved enough that he’s finally in the conversation for best young player in baseball.
“He’s awfully good,” Cleveland Indians manager Terry Francona says. “He can take over a game with his bat, he makes great plays on defense and he just has a great feel for the game for someone so young. He’s one of those rare players who can beat you all by himself.”
Starting at age 19 Machado has seen his OPS rise every year:
.739 – .746 – .755 – .861 – .964
Machado didn’t start as fully formed as Mike Trout did, but they are now almost comparable players. Historically Machado ranks right up there with the best of the best at his given age and position.
3rd baseman or Shortstops through age 23:
| Player | HR | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| Eddie Mathews | 153 | 0.281 | 0.391 | 0.57 | 0.961 |
| Alex Rodriguez | 148 | 0.308 | 0.363 | 0.551 | 0.914 |
| Bob Horner | 106 | 0.284 | 0.327 | 0.525 | 0.853 |
| Manny Machado | 86 | 0.288 | 0.337 | 0.477 | 0.814 |
| Cal Ripken | 82 | 0.293 | 0.351 | 0.494 | 0.845 |
| Troy Glaus | 77 | 0.256 | 0.358 | 0.497 | 0.855 |
| Adrian Beltre | 76 | 0.267 | 0.327 | 0.429 | 0.756 |
| Ron Santo | 74 | 0.266 | 0.33 | 0.434 | 0.765 |
| Eric Chavez | 71 | 0.275 | 0.343 | 0.494 | 0.837 |
| David Wright | 67 | 0.306 | 0.375 | 0.527 | 0.902 |
| Hank Blalock | 64 | 0.279 | 0.347 | 0.49 | 0.837 |
| Evan Longoria | 60 | 0.277 | 0.355 | 0.528 | 0.883 |
| Ryan Zimmerman | 58 | 0.282 | 0.341 | 0.462 | 0.803 |
| Scott Rolen | 56 | 0.283 | 0.378 | 0.491 | 0.87 |
| Vern Stephens | 56 | 0.292 | 0.354 | 0.458 | 0.813 |
| Gary Sheffield | 54 | 0.283 | 0.341 | 0.444 | 0.785 |
| Jim Ray Hart | 54 | 0.291 | 0.346 | 0.489 | 0.834 |
| Ken Keltner | 54 | 0.286 | 0.34 | 0.469 | 0.809 |
| Harmon Killebrew | 53 | 0.236 | 0.334 | 0.473 | 0.807 |
| Travis Fryman | 50 | 0.268 | 0.318 | 0.436 | 0.755 |
Baseball notes -Dull is the new shiny toy for Oakland
Ryan Dull of the Oakland Athletics stranded two more runners on Monday and has now stranded 36 runners in a row. Susan Slusser tweeted that was most runners stranded in a row since 1961.
Dull’s 36-for-36 is the longest at ANY point in a season since at least 1961, topping Frank Francisco’s mark of 35 for 35 in 2007.
— Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) July 4, 2016
In his last fifteen games, Kendry Morales of the World Champion Royals has hit eight home runs, driven in 22 runs, and has a 1.623 OPS. Since June 16th, Morales has raised his OPS from .603 to .800.
Corey Seager is not the only hot hitting SS in baseball. Since May 25th, Danny Espinosa has hit 15 home runs, and a TSL of .289 / .383 / .702 in 142 plate appearances. That slug % is not a misprint. Espinosa has raised his OPS from .592 on May 24th to the current .818. In the past week, he has had two games where he has hit two home runs and driven in 6 and 7 runs. Espinosa was the first SS to have a game with at least two home runs and six runs batted in since Arod in 2000. They are the only two shortstops in history to do it in the same year twice.
Corey Seager – anatomy of a seventeen game hitting streak
Corey Seager extended his streak to 17 games last night in style with a single and triple. Both hits came in key moments and helped propel the Dodgers to their fifth win in a row.
In his first two at-bats, Seager had a pop up and strikeout. In his 3rd at-bat with the Dodgers down 5 – 3, and Van Slyke on 3rd base, Seager slapped a single to LF to move the Dodgers closer at 5 – 4. With the score tied in the bottom of the 7th, Seager slammed a shot down the right field line, and when the ball hugged the corner, he turned on the Seager jets and slid into 3rd with a triple. From there it was a simple sacrifice fly by Justin Turner to put the Dodgers ahead for good 6 – 5.
- 76 PA, 29 hits, 15 runs scored, 8 doubles, 2 triples, 2 home runs
- Nine multi-hit games, seven times he’s had two hits, one time he’s had three hits, one time he’s had four hits
- Triple slash line during the streak of .414 / .461 / .671 with a robust OPS of 1.132
- Now holds the longest major league hitting streak of 2016 passing Ozuna and Zobrist
- 3rd longest streak for a LAD rookie, just one behind Bill Sudakis at 18, and three behind Tommy Davis at 20
- The streak started on June 16th, at the time Seager had a triple slash line of .275 / .337 / . 504 with an OPS of 841. His triple slash line is now .305 / .363 / .540 with an OPS of 903
The more things change the more things stay the same
Even with all the changes the Dodgers made over the winter, their record this year is 47 – 37, the exact same mark they had in 2015, and 2014.
This year it took a four-game winning, a nine-game winning streak at home, and winners of fourteen of their last nineteen to get to the same stage as the previous year.
In 2015 the Dodgers clobbered the Phillies 10 – 7 on July 5th, to get to 47 – 37.
In 2014 the Dodgers and Clayton Kershaw shut out the Cardinals 6 – 0 on June 29th to get to 47-37.
In each of the past three years, the Dodgers won into their 47th win against 37 losses.
This year the big difference is that while the Dodgers are doing the exact same work the Giants are not. In 2014 that record got you within half a game of the Giants, In 2015 that record got you a five-game lead. In 2016 that record gets you five games back.
Bash brothers – Machado / Davis / Trumbo invade the Ravine
The Orioles are in first place because they bomb the hell out of the baseball. Halfway through the season they already have five players with at least thirteen home runs. They just broke the major league home run record for the month of June, blasting 56 home runs.
Jonathan Schoop has 13, career high is 16
Adam Jones has 16, career high is 33
Manny Machado has 18, career high is 35
Chris Davis has 21, career high is 53
Mark Trumbo has 24, career high is 34
Pedro Alvarez has been placed on the bereavement list, and since he was the DH, the Dodgers weren’t going to see him anyway.
This is a very healthy team, the only one on the DL is Darren O’Day and he’s due back tomorrow. The Orioles starting pitching won’t scare anyone but the offense sure well.
Manny Machado should receive some MVP votes if the season ended today. He’d slot in second in my vote behind the incomparable Big Papi. His wRC+ is fifth in the AL at 154, he’s a whiz at 3rd base, and he helped out at SS when JJ Hardy went on the DL. You could say Altuve deserves it, and I would not argue but I’m sticking with Machado.
Mark Trumbo finally found his home run stroke after it went awol when he left the Angels. Trumbo currently leads the major leagues in home runs with his 24.
Chris Davis is on his way to his third season of 40 plus home runs. Davis has 227 home runs at the age of 30. That sounds like a lot, let us see if it is. Hmm, not as good as I expected. That 227 home runs by the age of 30 is good enough for 36th place. However if Chris can hit another 20 home runs this year he can climb to 25th place, passing the original Yaz, and fitting in just below Roger Maris and Hall of Famers Hank Greenberg and Al Kaline.
I’m excited about watching this team, I’ve never seen Machado play in person so I hope to see him in person on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Earl Weaver would love this team.
I wish Urias the best of luck tonight, he is going to need it.
Dodgers, Yesterday and Today 