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
LAD – By the numbers 06/25/16
Dodgers six-game winning streak was snapped, but with Puig’s home run, the Dodgers have now homered in fourteen consecutive games. The last time the Dodgers hit fourteen consecutive home runs was in June of 2001. In June of 1977, the team hit home runs in fifteen consecutive games. That was the team that had four players hit thirty home runs (Garvey, Smith, Cey, Baker) in a season.
The Dodgers .352 average is tied with the Royals for the highest in baseball since June 14.
Cory Seager now boasts an eight-game hitting streak, and not a light one either. Over those eight games, Cory has eighteen hits, including five doubles, and one home run. Cory leads the team in just about every possible offensive category. The last rookie to lead his team in Hits, Home Runs, Doubles, and Runs was HOF shoo-in Albert Pujols in 2001. Hey, before that you have to go back to 1947 and Jackie Robinson.
Kenta Maeda is undefeated in his six starts on the road this year. Maeda is 4-0 with a 2.14 ERA. No June swoon for Kenta. Maeda is 2-1 with a 1.82 ERA in his four June starts.
Dodgers are now seven games back of the Giants after the Giants scored four runs in the bottom of the 7th to wipe out a two-run deficit. Luckily the Dodgers have a 1/2 game lead over the Mets for the first of two wild card spots.
Brock Stewart and Imani Abdullah both fan 10 in minor league starts
While Nick Tepesch was proving why he was a one start nonsolution for the major league club, Brock Stewart was making sure they pay attention to him the next time they might need someone to fill the void in the rotation. Brock struck out ten for the second game in a row for the Oklahoma City Dodgers, but this time, he walked one. In his last two games at AAA, Brock has struck out 20, walked 1, and given up 3 runs in 13 innings. By my count, Brock has recorded 39 outs, and struck out over 1/2 of them, while walking just one. In the short period of three months, Brock has pitched at three levels, dominating each level before moving up. Is his next start going to mean another promotion?
Imani Abdullah does his work at the lower levels of the minor league system. The 19–year-old Imani pitches for the Great Lakes Loons in the A level midwest league. Imani struck out 10, walked none, gave up two runs in five innings. This was by far the best outing of the 2015 11th round draft pick.
Can anyone play LF against RHP?
The Dodgers have turned their season around with six straight wins, eight out of nine, and homered in thirteen straight games, but they still have a few issues that need to be addressed.
- They need to rectify that .500 road record
- Having to use a Nick Tepesch doesn’t signal that the starting pitching depth has worked out.
- Adrian Gonzalez has reached the 75th game with only six home runs
Plus the bugago about who is going to play left field when a right-hander is on the mound. If a left-hander takes the mound Doc Roberts has a plethora of options, and they are all good. Conversely, when a right-hander takes the mound he has four options and none of them appear to be satisfactory.
Howie Kendrick has become the defacto starter in left field against RHP since May 25h, and the results are not satisfying. Dodger notes point out that Howie has has hit safely in eight of his last nine games, batting .400 (10-for-25) with two doubles, a homer and two RBI since June 13. Yet as a starting left fielder, Howie is not getting it done. His overall OPS as a left fielder is a measly .509. He has been better of late but not enough to say he has earned the job. Since May 25th, as a starter in LF, Howie has a triple stat line of .186 / .263 / .302. Defensively I’ll grudgingly admit he has looked better you can’t convince he’s better out there than any of the other three options.
Trayce Thompson lit up the stat board in May and early June, so he looked to be the heir apparent to LF once Puig came back from the disabled list. Unfortunately as sometimes happens, when exposed to everyday pitching, the hot streak has turned cold as ice. Thompson has gone seven for forty-three over the past fourteen days turning his lock on a starting job into something much more nebulous.
Scott Van Slyke can certainly hit left-hand pitching, and he can certainly play a good defensive left field. He’s never answered the question about can he hit right hand pitching enough to be a full-time player. The splits say to me that at the least he could hit as much as Howie, and possibly even better.
Kiké Hernández is basically in the same boat as SVS. Someone who can torch left-hand pitching but hasn’t been able to put up much of a struggle against RHP. I personally think the Dodgers are doing him a disservice and that he’d be better served to get full time at bats in AAA. He’s great to have on the bench to face left-hand pitching, and filling in at both the infield / outfield spots. But with a team that also has Howie/Trayce/SVS it seems that Herandez is superfluous whose utility could be replaced by the recently acquired Chris Taylor while Kike works on his game in AAA.
As noted none of these four are good options, but I find it hard to imagine that Howie is the best choice. I’m not a big Scott Van Slyke fan, but if Doc Roberts isn’t going to ride out Thompson’s slump, he’d be my choice.
But Doc is the manager for a reason, so maybe his gut will prove correct with Howie leading the Dodgers to a victory tonight.
Oh look, Howie back in LF
Doc Roberts just loves his Howie Kendrick. Lots of interesting things with the Dodger/Pirates lineup tonight.
Howie Kendrick gets the nod in LF over Trayce Thompson. Of course he does. Not only does Howie get to start in LF he gets to bat fifth. Not bad for a guy who has hit .186 as the starting left fielder since May 25th. I do have to admit that Howie’s defense in LF has seemed to be getting better. Wednesday’s hero Puig finds himself batting eighth.
Gregory Polanco is going to sit this one out for the Pirates. Starling Marte is back in the starting lineup. Josh Harrison also takes a seat. Replacing Polanco will be Matt Joyce who enjoys hitting against right-hand pitchers. Sean Rodriquez will replace Josh Harrison at 2nd base.
Interesting pitching matchup with one of the Pirates top two prospects James Taillon taking the mound against journeyman Nick Tepesch
Dodgers, Yesterday and Today 