Brock Stewart has little use for the prospect ladder
When Brock Stewart makes his debut tonight he can be excused for being light headed after climbing the prospect ladder so fast. This will be the last time someone can only reference the baseball reference minor league Brock Stewart page. Tomorrow at this time he will have joined the big boys and have his own Brock Stewart baseball reference major league page.
His head must be spinning:
- Brock started the year in the California League, the Dodgers High A affiliate. He lasted two games before getting promoted to AA on April 18th
- Brock made nine starts for the Tulsa Drillers, the Dodgers AA affiliate. On June 13th Brock was promoted to AAA
- Brock made three starts for the Oklahoma Dodgers, the Dodgers Dodgers AAA affiliate. On June 29th, Brock Stewart was promoted to the Los Angeles Dodgers
The best part of the Brock Stewart pie is that as he has gotten promoted he has actually pitched better at each level. His final two starts for the Oklahoma Dodgers is why he is going to be starting for the LAD tonight. The Strike out / Walk ratio is nuts at AAA. 27 to 2. Pumping strikes in the PCL. Yeah baby.
These are his pitching logs this year:
| Date | Lev | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | GSc |
| 4/8/2016 | A+-CALL | 5 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 65 |
| 4/13/2016 | A+-CALL | 6 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 68 |
| 2016-04-18 (2) | AA-TL | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 67 |
| 4/24/2016 | AA-TL | 6 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 59 |
| 5/1/2016 | AA-TL | 6 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 53 |
| 5/6/2016 | AA-TL | 6 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 70 |
| 5/11/2016 | AA-TL | 7 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 79 |
| 5/20/2016 | AA-TL | 6 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 66 |
| 5/27/2016 | AA-TL | 7.1 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 71 |
| 6/1/2016 | AA-TL | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 77 |
| 6/7/2016 | AA-TL | 7 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 61 |
| 6/13/2016 | AAA-PCL | 5.2 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 53 |
| 6/19/2016 | AAA-PCL | 7 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 73 |
| 6/24/2016 | AAA-PCL | 6 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 63 |
Brock is the opposite of Julio Urias, he’s already twenty-four, has made only thirty-four minor league starts, and was never mentioned in any baseball prospect top 100 or even 200 list. No one took notice of Brock Stewart headed into 2016.
Tonight, the baseball world will take notice.
Julio Urias wins the first of many
It took Julio Urias seven starts to notch his first victory, but that will probably be the longest stretch between wins in his career going forward. Eric Stephen broke down all the first time achievements for Julio , and I must admit I’m having a hard time picking my favorite.
Was it the first major league hit for a nineteen-year-old pitcher since one-time phenom Rick Ankiel did it in 1999?
Was it the first RBI for a nineteen-year-old pitcher since one-time phenom Dwight Gooden did it in 1984?
Was it the six walks, and still managing to go six innings for the first time?
Was it the ability to navigate multiple baserunners while still only giving up two runs on one swing of the bat?
Was it the fact Urias ended up with thirty-eight strikeouts in the month of June?
All these are cool, but the coolest fact to me is that Julio Urias in seven starts and only thirty-three innings has picked off four baserunners. Eric describes what he did to poor Villar yesterday to start the game:
After Jonathan Villar walked to open the first inning, Urias threw over twice, then on the third try picked Villar off. But the Brewers challenged the call, and on replay review the call was overturned. But before even throwing another pitch, Urias threw over a fourth time and picked off Villar for good this time.
That was the fourth straight game with a pickoff for Urias, who is tied for the major league lead on the season despite making only seven starts. Dating back to Triple-A, Urias has nine pickoffs in his last 11 starts.
If this is his last start in an effort to control his inning count and be able to use him later in the year, he went out the way a teenage prodigy should go out.
In style.
Cole Figueroa adds to Dodger AAA infield depth and brain power
Light hitting, good defensive infielder, future engineer Cole Figueroa was added to the Dodgers 40 man roster today. Cole had been released by the Pirates just a few days ago.
Figueroa, 28, has appeared in 48 Major League games in three seasons with the Rays (2014), Yankees (2015) and Pirates (2016), batting .208 with nine RBI, and has a .291 career batting average with a .374 on-base percentage, 81 steals, 31 homers and 380 RBI in 815 minor league games since his selection in the sixth round of the 2008 First-Year Player Draft.
Figueroa is known for being one of the smarter baseball players as this article by Travis Sawchik can testify.
He found calculus and physics fascinating in high school and at the University of Florida. Earlier this spring, he recited Pi out to fifty digits to a reporter. His Twitter bio declares he is “Specializing in the process of decision making in .400 milliseconds,” or the amount of time in which a hitter has to decide whether to swing at a pitch.
Maybe when his playing days are done, and they do look to be numbered, he can become part of the Dodger front office.
It is both a failure and triumph that the LAD have 3 rookies pitching the next three games
Is it a failure of the LAD front office that the Dodgers have to use a nineteen-year-old, and a pitcher who started out in A ball to start games back to back in June?
or
Is it a triumph of the LAD front office that they have the best pitching prospect in all of baseball, along with the fastest-rising pitching prospect in all of baseball starting games back to back in June?
Has to be a bit of both. Even though the front office did the work required to have depth before the season started, that depth dissipated so fast that they have been forced to use pitchers no one ever expected to see the LAD mound in the early going of 2016.
- They knew Ryu was a risk, they just didn’t expect he’d be out until July.
- They knew Brett Anderson was a risk, they just didn’t expect him to blow out his back so quickly.
- They knew McCarthy would not be able to help until July.
- They were counting on Montas, what they got was rib surgery
Even with all that they headed into the season with Kershaw/Maeda/Kazmir/Wood, needing to fill one spot with a plethora of options.
- They hoped Beachy had something left – he didn’t.
- They hoped Bolsinger could help out – he eventually did, but not well, and not in April.
- They thought Frias might help in an emergency – he couldn’t.
Eventually, they turned to Ross Stripling who was no one’s choice to be in the rotation in April, and Ross did more than what was expected. He was adequate. But that didn’t last long. Alex Wood got hurt, Ross hit his inning pitch limit, and the team was forced to try options.
The first cavalry charge hit some bumps:
- Montas looked just about ready to get a shot at the rotation when he suffered yet another rib injury and is probably out for most of the year.
- Ryu has been shut down several times, but finally looks to be on track to join the rotation after the all-star game.
- McCarthy might be ready right about the same time as Ryu
Because of that, the team had to turn to someone like Tepesch who predictably made one start and is now off the roster.
Which left them with what to do about this Wednesdays’ game. The first cavalry had no answer yet, they could have done something to get Frias back up (would require a DL move) but decided to instead go with the hottest pitcher in the organization. Brock Stewart. This might be desperation, but it is cool desperation because Brock Stewart is a cool baseball story.
Even as the team needs to replace Urias, they should get that replacement from Ryu or McCarthy. How Brock Stewart does on Tuesday night could decide his major league future.
Even though the first cavalry charge took some bumps eventually Ryu/McCarthy should be able to join the rotation, and once they do that the second cavalry will be starting their rehabbing.
- Alex Wood will start to gear up
- Brett Anderson should be standing up soon
- Jose DeLeon whose minor league pedigree far outshone Brock Stewart before the season started should be well on his way to being stretched out.
It may look like failure right now, but when the options are Urias and Stewart, and the future has arms like Ryu/McCarthy/Wood/Anderson/Deleon I can’t help but think that overall this front office has to feel good about the second half of the year.
Good enough that they don’t trigger a trade for a bonafide number two starter? That is another question, because while the Dodgers may eventually fill the rotation, they might want a bit more upside for 2016.
Milwaukee Brewer series preview – 06/28/16
Coming into the game tonight the Dodgers are 0 -6 in the first game of the second series on the road, and tonight is such a game. Julio Urias will be called upon to break that bizarre little stat, a lot to ask of a nineteen-year-old making his last start for a while.
The Dodgers will play a three-game set with the Brewers, with the conclusion being a getaway day game on Thursday.
Dave Roberts has said this will be the last start for Urias for a while. Urias has had much better results pitching at home compared to on the road, but hopefully, he can make his last start a memorable one.
The Brewers are 34 – 41, and after being swept by the Dodgers last week, have gone 3 – 2, taking two of three from the Nationals in their last series.
The pitching matchups are going to be interesting on the Dodger side, as they will be throwing all rookies at the Brewers.
Nineteen-year-old Urias gets the call in game one on Tuesday night.
The fastest riser I can remember from A ball to AA ball to AAA ball to the major leagues in a matter of ten weeks, Brock Stewart will be going on Wednesday night.
Maeda gets the call for the getaway game on Thursday
Now for the Brewer breakdown:
1st Base – Chris Carter is doing what he’s always done. Hit a lot of home runs (19), strike out a ton (95), and put up a low batting average. If Carter continues to get full time at bats for the rest of the year he could challenge many career highs. His HR high was 37, and he’s ahead of that pace but barely. His RBI high was 88 and with 47 he also on pace to beat that. He may strike out 200 times but probably won’t challenge his career high of 212. Those 212 strikeouts in 2013 are the 3rd most in baseball history.
2nd base – Scooter Gennett appeared destined to be a platoon player but has now settled in nicely as the everyday 2nd baseman. Scooter is finally hitting left-hand pitching which has earned him more at-bats against them. He has a career OPS against left-hand pitching of only .426 but has more than doubled that in 2016 with a sterling .926 mark.
SS – Jonathan Villar might be the best trade of the previous winter. Villar was acquired from Houston because of the emergence of Carlos Correa. The Brewers got him for a song and the twenty-five-year-old has broken out with the Brewers. He was only supposed to be a bridge to uber-prospect Orlando Arcia but Villar has impressed so much he might end up being the 3rd or 2nd baseman of the future for the Brewers. Coming into 2016, Villar was mostly known for his stolen base ability but this year he has a triple stat line of .298 / .380 / .434. All those marks are about 50 points above his career averages. Throw in his league-leading stolen bases (29) from the leadoff spot and you have a dynamic offensive player. The defensive stats are not kind to Villar so maybe a move off of SS is exactly what he needs.
3rd base – Aaron Hill has had another resurgence in a very spotty career of ups and downs. Hill was mostly written off at age 34 following two down years that followed two very good years. He’s had such a strange career, either above average or way below. Look at these OPS+ marks since 2009 – 114/78/77/133/124/81/72. In 2016 however we are getting a solid average season with an OPS+ of 105. Hernan Perez fills in at 2nd/3rd when needed and is somewhat adequate. I expect that Aaron Hill will get moved, Orlando Arcia will come up to play SS, and Villar will move to 3rd.
Catcher – Jonathan Lucroy has bounced back so well from an injury-marred 2015 campaign that many feel he’ll be the main trading chip at the deadline. Many teams could use an offensive catcher such as LuCroy including the Dodgers so it will be interesting to see what the Brewers can fetch for him if they deal him. Right now he’s the second best hitting catcher in the National League, and if you want to use career stats is probably the best. However he’s 30, and he’s a catcher, and as recently as 2015 he had a down year because of injury.
Left Field – Ryan Braun is once again the leading offensive producer for the Brewers, and one of the top hitting left fielders in the NL. Can the Brewers trade him and his contract this year? At 32 years old he’s still owed at least 80 Million through 2021, his age 37 season. His bat is money, his glove not so much.
Center Field – Kirk Nieuwenhuis is somehow the Brewers starting center fielder against right-hand pitching. He can’t hit but he can sure take a walk. Twenty-eight walks in only 198 plate appearances get him a solid .332 OBP even though his batting average sits at .218.
Right Field – Ramon Flores is the right fielder for now. Domingo Santana is on the DL for the second time so they have had to use their backups in starting roles. Flores is not hitting and is the weakest link in this lineup.
This is a solid lineup but I expect by Sept it will look quite different as the Brewers look to the future and try to unload current starters such as LuCroy, Hill, Carter, and Braun.
LAD are winless in 1st game of second series on the road in 2016
As the Dodgers fly to Milwaukee, they have to be wary of their winless record in the 1st game of the second series of all six road trips this year.
| Team | Score |
| SF | 2 – 3 |
| Col | 5 – 7 |
| Tor | 1 -5 |
| SD | 6 – 7 |
| Cubs | 0 – 2 |
| Ari | 2 – 3 |
I thought I once saw a stat that showed how the Dodgers struggle in the 1st game of road trips but as I looked through the schedule, the problem this year is the 1st game of the second series, not the first game of a road trip. The Dodgers are a respectable 3 – 4 in the first game of the road trip.
So far this year the Dodgers have not done a three team road trip. Seven road trips and only two teams each time. Following the all-star game, the Dodgers will embark on their 1st three game road trip playing Arizona / Washington / Cardinals.
Dodger Left fielders, by the numbers
I’ll let the numbers speak for themselves. Evidently Dave Roberts has the stats on mute.
These stats are the stats only when the player is playing left field.
| Split | PA | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| Howie Kendrick | 86 | 0.169 | 0.256 | 0.234 | 0.490 |
| Trayce Thompson | 59 | 0.296 | 0.356 | 0.556 | 0.911 |
| Enrique Hernandez | 77 | 0.174 | 0.260 | 0.362 | 0.622 |
| Scott Van Slyke | 19 | 0.278 | 0.316 | 0.444 | 0.760 |
| Carl Crawford | 68 | 0.175 | 0.235 | 0.238 | 0.473 |
and counting stats:
| Split | PA | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB |
| Howie Kendrick | 86 | 9 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 9 |
| Trayce Thompson | 59 | 11 | 16 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 15 | 5 |
| Enrique Hernandez | 77 | 6 | 12 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 8 |
| Scott Van Slyke | 19 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Carl Crawford | 68 | 6 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 4 |
I’m no mathematician but I think Howie Kendrick is averaging one run batted in every eighty-six plate appearances. Howie has yet to drive in a run while playing left field that was not himself in almost 100 plate appearance. I don’t think that is good but I could be wrong.
NL All-Star Shortstops, no shortage of viable candidates, but one stands taller
Most Dodger fans feel that Corey Seager was getting shortchanged in the all-star balloting but a late push has Corey in 3rd place after barely making a dent in the previous ballot updates.
MLB columnist Anthony Castrovince feels that Seager should be the choice, but the position is not lacking in talent this year. When you peruse the list of shortstops who wouldn’t embarrass the game by getting selected this is what I find.
NL Shortstops with minimum 100 at-bats sorted by OPS+
| Player | Age | wRC+ | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| Corey Seager | 22 | 139 | 0.298 | 0.356 | 0.528 | 0.884 |
| Aledmys Diaz | 25 | 135 | 0.312 | 0.371 | 0.514 | 0.885 |
| Jonathan Villar | 25 | 117 | 0.298 | 0.38 | 0.434 | 0.814 |
| Trevor Story | 23 | 119 | 0.271 | 0.339 | 0.559 | 0.898 |
| Zack Cozart | 30 | 107 | 0.273 | 0.316 | 0.486 | 0.803 |
| Brandon Crawford | 29 | 100 | 0.262 | 0.336 | 0.4 | 0.736 |
| Player | R | H | 2B | HR | RBI | SB |
| Corey Seager | 50 | 89 | 19 | 16 | 38 | 1 |
| Aledmys Diaz | 49 | 79 | 19 | 10 | 40 | 2 |
| Jonathan Villar | 38 | 81 | 17 | 6 | 30 | 26 |
| Trevor Story | 47 | 78 | 18 | 19 | 50 | 5 |
| Zack Cozart | 41 | 69 | 19 | 11 | 31 | 1 |
| Brandon Crawford | 29 | 68 | 12 | 6 | 44 | 3 |
Even with the historical start by Trevor Story, the offense at SS is being led by Seager and Aledmys Diaz. Diaz is also being ignored by the voters.
One name you won’t find on the offensive leaderboard is current top vote receiver, Addison Russell. That is because his offense has been less than adequate and he’s only going to be an all-star in 2016 because Cub fans have stuffed the ballot. Which is too bad, because multiple shortstops deserve an all-star appearance this year, and if Addison wins, someone is going get left off that deserves to go.
Brandon Crawford is not having the offensive year that others on the list are having but he’s such a defensive dynamo I’d have little problem if Crawford made the team.
My preference would be a trio of Seager / Story / Crawford and would have no problem if Diaz snuck in. Villar is having a career season but his offense still isn’t quite up to par with Seager/Diaz, and his defense has always been sub par at short.
Either way, if Seager does not overtake Addison Russell in the voting, I think he’s a shoo-in to be selected for the team. Seager should be the only LAD on the all-star team besides Clayton Kershaw. If you want to make a case for Kenley Jansen, that would also work but I’m not going to make that case.
Howie Kendrick, clean up hitter
Lineup construction may only exist to amuse us, and if so, Dave Roberts is proving to be very amusing. Roberts sat Adrian Gonzalez yesterday, and instead of doing what he normally does, which is put Adrian’s replacement as the clean-up hitter, he put Scott Van Slyke eighth in the order. The amusing part was Dave using Howie Kendrick as his clean hitter.
I’ve been noticing Howie’s lack of ability to drive in runs in 2016 but Dave must think Howie is due to have that big hit. Kind of like that Scott Van Slyke three-run home the other day.
I decided to look a little deeper. Six players in 2016 have garnered over 200 at-bats and failed to drive in at least 15 runs in the major leagues this year.
| Player | AB | RBI | Year | OPS |
| Billy Burns | 252 | 10 | 2016 | 0.577 |
| Nori Aoki | 249 | 11 | 2016 | 0.636 |
| Brett Gardner | 237 | 15 | 2016 | 0.727 |
| Ketel Marte | 234 | 15 | 2016 | 0.668 |
| Joey Rickard | 221 | 15 | 2016 | 0.704 |
| Howie Kendrick | 202 | 13 | 2016 | 0.625 |
Of those six players, only Howie has been used as a clean up hitter. This group consists of lead off or 8/9 hole hitters. Except one. Dave Roberts pet project for 2016, Howie Kendrick. Howie has now had eight games as a cleanup hitter, and in those eight game, collected seven hits, and driven in two runs. In the month of June, Howie has fifty-nine at-bats, and all of three runs batted in.
If it seems that Howie fails in the clutch this year, it is because he does.
Six Foot Eight Dodger nemesis J.R. Richard stood in the Dodgers way of history
The 2015 Dodgers hit a home run in fourteen consecutive games but were unable to tie the 1977 team with home runs in fifteen consecutive games. The 1977 NL Champions boasted four players with at least thirty home runs. When the Dodgers did that in 1977, it was the first time in history that had been accomplished.
But it wasn’t easy. Going into the final game on October 2nd, 1977, the Dodgers were hosting the Houston Astros, and on the mound was the nastiest pitcher in baseball at the time, J.R. Richard. Steve Garvey had his 33 home runs. Reggie Smith had blasted 32. Ron Cey had topped out at 30. Dusty Baker was still one short, and for Dusty to join the triplets, and make them a quartet he would need to do something he’d never done. Hit a home run off of J.R. Richard. Heck, he could barely get a hit off of J.R. much less a home run.
The last time the LAD faced J.R. he had beaten them 2- 1 by pitching 10 innings, striking out 12. Things didn’t look much different this time. Headed into the bottom of the sixth inning, Houston was leading 2 – 0, and J.R. had already punched out nine Dodgers. Maybe J.R. lost his focus but in the bottom of the sixth, the Dodgers would hit three home runs. Thirty-nine-year-old Manny Mota would lead off with a pinch-hit home run. It would be the last home run that Manny Mota would ever hit. Two outs later Dusty Baker was up, still searching for his 30th home run. On a 1 – 2 count Dusty would a launch a J.R. fastball into the pavilion giving him 30 home runs on the year and the LAD the first team in history with four players with thirty home runs. Even stranger, Glenn Burke would hit the final home run of the inning. Glenn Burke only hit two home runs in his entire career.
Little note Glenn Burke, in 2011 he was nominated for entry into the Baseball Reliquary, not so much for anything he did on the baseball field but for being a pioneer in another area altogether.
Glenn Burke (1952‒1995)—A stylish, speedy outfielder whose career was undermined by raging homophobia, Glenn Burke spent parts of four seasons patrolling the pasture for the Dodgers and A’s in the late 1970s. Remembered as MLB’s first openly gay player, Burke had the great misfortune to debut under the aegis of Tommy Lasorda, no friend to gay men, and was treated as a pariah by many of his teammates. He is widely-cited as the originator of the “high five” hand slap, a form of salutation and congratulations that quickly spread throughout the world. He died from AIDS-related illness at the absurdly young age of 42.
The Dodgers would go on to lose the game 6 – 3, J.R. would pitch a complete game victory, his only blemish those three solo home runs in the sixth inning. This game didn’t matter, the Dodgers had clinched the NL Western division long before.
Dusty Baker would end his career with a .157 batting average against J.R. Richard in 70 at bats.
If you don’t know anything about J.R. Richard I suggest giving this a read. He had quite a life, reaching the heights of the baseball world, being felled by a stroke near his prime, becoming homeless, and once again finding recognition.
He had the greatest stuff I have ever seen and it still gives
me goosebumps to think of what he might have become”
Joe Morgan, Hall of Famer
Dodgers, Yesterday and Today 