Dave Doc Roberts brings the Duck out of retirement
I really thought the Duck was going to stay retired, after all hardly anything has happened in the last three years that got his wings in a flutter. Yet, here I find myself writing a Duck Talk article because Dave Doc Roberts needs to answer some questions.
For those unfamiliar with the Duck, you can check out the archived Duck Talk Section at TrueBlueLA. We ask the questions we want to ask and try to see through the clichéd responses we normally get. Don’t get confused, this is a complete fabrication based on interviews within my troubled mind.
As usual the Dodger PR Folk are very kind in getting these interviews lined up.
Duck: Hi Dave, thanks for doing this interview, I know your busy trying to figure out how to get Howie into the lineup, but this should only take a few a minutes.
Doc Roberts: No one told me during the manager interviews I had to agree to be interviewed by a duck, but here I am
Duck: Well, not like I want to be here either. I’d rather be enjoying a Dodger team in 1st place, not one fighting for a play in-game by June. We are here because you’re a rookie manager, and to be honest you made some perplexing moves, that I hope to find out the thinking behind.
Doc Roberts: Great, a second guessing fowl. Fine quack away.
Duck: OK, let’s start by talking about Howie Kendrick and your affinity for him. Howie helped the team out, back in April by playing some LF when the team found itself without Andre or SVS. As expected Howie was merely a fill in LF, starting five games in left field in April, and overall only seven games in LF until May 24th. For some reason on May 24th you decided that Howie was going to be your everyday left fielder and has started 12 games in LF since that point. Why is that?
Doc Roberts: We needed someone to play LF, and I felt that Howie was the player who gave us the best opportunity to win?
Duck: Yes, but why? He’s a lifetime infielder playing left field, and his defense looks exactly like a life time infielder playing left field.
Doc Roberts: Yes, but Howie can hit, and at that time Kiké Hernández couldn’t hit a lick so I felt I needed some offense in LF.
Duck: OK, but on May 24th Howie had an OPS of .587, and in the twelve starts that Howie got in left field since May 24th he garnered a .176 BA in 34 at bats with a total of two extra base hits. So not only did you put out a sub par defensive left fielder on a regular basis but he hit like a bad hitting pitcher in a premium offensive position.
Doc Roberts: Hind site is easy.
Duck: You weren’t happy with Kiké Hernández playing left field. I can kind of understand that. Yet on June 3rd, Scott Van Slyke came off the disabled list and you continued to use Howie in left field. Scott Van Slyke can play defense and hit a bit but even with the huge hole in left field, you basically used Scotty as a pinch hitter.
Doc Roberts: Come on, Scotty can’t hit right hand pitching. Are you suggesting that I should have been using Scotty against right hand pitching instead of Howie?
Duck: No one will argue Scotty can’t hit right hand pitching as well as left hand pitching, but given that Howie didn’t hit a lick while playing bad left field defense, I’m not sure that argument holds up. I’m pretty sure that Scotty as a left fielder would out hit Howie the infielder if given the same number of at bats while providing above average defense. You do know that Scotty is an above average defensive outfielder, right? I’m sure your front office has pointed that out, or does the front office have different defensive metrics not available to the public that say something different? Either way, the few times you did play Scotty, did you notice how he didn’t shy from the fence and handled those ball like a professional left fielder? while Howie plays the wall like a life time infielder playing left field. Maybe defense doesn’t matter as much with you or the front office that we would have expected, but I’d think the combination of bad defense and bad offense would entice you to use the alernative options that exist on your bench.
Doc Roberts: Howie was the best I had and that is what I went with. Which is why the front office acquired my old friend Will Venable to play the outfield against right hand pitching.
Duck: Oh Right, Will Venable. He’s the answer. The team surely needed a left-handed bat, and they went out and got the best one available. Dodger fans are sure that the fact no one else in baseball wanted to give him a major league contract means nothing. His AAA stats this year would have gotten him released from any club if he didn’t have his prior major league pedigree to hang his hat on. Luckily for Will, he found a club that was familair with his good work in San Diego in years gone by.
Doc Roberts: Puig will be back soon, and we won’t need to worry about Howie playing left field anymore. This is old news, is this all you got?
Duck: Yeah, pretty much. The only other thing left is this annoying thing you did when you pinch ran the franchise the other night in the ninth inning, as the tying run on 2nd base. Was your stomach doing flips when you realized what you had done?
Doc Roberts: I had no other options, to score that run, Clayton was my best option on the bench.
Duck: I’m going to somewhat politely disagree with this statement. At no point should Clayton Kershaw ever be put in that position with a regular season game at stake in June. You best option if your only option is Clayton is to let AJ Ellis stay at 2nd base.
Doc Roberts: Bullshit, Clayton is a ball player, just because he’s pinch running at second doesn’t mean he’s going to get hurt. We had a game to win, and he gave us the best chance to tie the score and force extra innings.
Duck: At no point in Clayton’s long storied career has he ever been asked to be a pinch runner in the 9th inning at 2nd base (he did pinch run once in the 8th inning at 1st base). You basically made this call, knowing that if a single was hit to the outfield that AJ Ellis could not score on, you were counting on competitive Clayton to run balls out from 2nd, hit 3rd as fast as he’s ever hit 3rd, and more than likely slide into home to score that run. Now 99 times out of 100 all might go well, but honestly Dave, if Clayton hits 3rd wrong, slides wrong into home, pulls a muscle running balls out after being in the dugout the whole game, you’d be wearing that the rest of your short-lived managerial career. Because Clayton is the Franchise, and he’s only the franchise if he takes the ball at least 32 times in 2016. But luckily for you, a strike out ended the game, and we never got to see Clayton scamper home to tie a game you already had few options left to win in extra innings anyway. Cy Young award winners are pinch run for, not used as pinch runners. Isn’t that Baseball Managing 101? Like the 1st paragraph?
Doc Roberts: I never read that book and I stand by my decision. A manager has to make choices with his gut, not be all practical or a robot could do it.
Duck: Well good luck, I know being a rookie manager has growing pains, and this year has been trying what with all the injuries, trying to navigate a 19 year prodigy in the rotation, poor offensive showing by anyone over 25. Hey I bet your happy that all those folk who told you to bench Justin Turner are going to have to find something else to bitch about, like why is Adrian Gonzalez still batting clean up when he has as much power these days as Marwin Gonzalez
Someone tell Dave Roberts that Clayton Kershaw is the franchise
Something happened last night that still bugs me. It bewildered Vin Scully and it bewildered me. Dave Roberts has done a plethora of strange things as the Dodger rookie manager, but he took the cake last night.
In case y’all missed it, the Dodgers were in a tight game in the bottom of the 9th. With the team down by two runs, and two outs, they staged a mini rally. Justin Turner singled, AJ Ellis singled, and then Chase was hit by a pitch which moved AJ Ellis to 2nd base making him the tying run.
Now we all know just how slow AJ Ellis is, and using a pinch runner probably seemed like a good idea, but Dave Roberts decided to use Clayton Kershaw as his pinch runner.
And yeah, I had all sorts of problems with this:
As Vinny noted, Clayton is a competitor and if he needs to score on a base hit he will do everything he can to score. Last thing I want is Clayton Kershaw the franchise player for the LAD sliding into home plate on a close play that would tie the game.
Think about it, the only reason Clayton is running is because he has a better chance to score on a single to the outfield compared to AJ Ellis. But that means that for Clayton to score he will need to run balls out from second to home and probably slide into home plate. Yes, Clayton is an athlete, a ballplayer, so was AJ Pollock the Diamondback CF who will miss the season when he was hurt sliding into home. If Clayton has an easy time scoring, so would have AJ Ellis or one of the other ten pitchers that Dave could have used.
At no point has Clayton ever been on base in the ninth inning representing the tying run. Because if Clayton had gotten a hit to get on base in the 9th (and very doubtful he would have been allowed to bat in the 9th inning), he would have been pinch run for.
Just to see if this was true, let us see how many at bats Clayton has had in the 9th inning in his career. One at bat. One
Putting the franchise in a position he’s never been in before, made zero sense. Or maybe I simply don’t understand this game anymore.
Warriors / Cavaliers – Hard to pick a favorite
I was hoping for a competitive NBA finals and I got what I hoped for. I’m a fan of both teams so it has been hard to figure out who to root for but once I did the my breakdown I came up with my favorite.
- Would love for LeBron to bring Cleveland the Championship – points Cavaliers
- Big fan of Steph Curry and own shares in United Armour instead of Nike – points Warriors
- Hate watching Irving knowing that if Baron Davis doesn’t get traded that could be a Clipper I’m watching – points Warriors
- Never liked Love after he left UCLA without really helping the program – points Warriors
- Klay had Dodger blood running in his veins – points Warriors
- I really really dislike Draymond Green – points Cavaliers
- I really dislike Marreese Speights for all the damage he used to do to the Clippers – points Cavaliers
- Shaun Livingston has a great story – points Warriors
- Iman Shumpert has a bad ass haircut – points Cavaliers
- Richard Jefferson – are you kidding me – points Cavaliers
Still looks like a toss-up, but even before I started this exercise I knew I was going for the Cav’s, because anyone who can come back three games to one, without home court advantage, gets my vote.
Chad Billingsley may have to hang em up
A recent story out of ROBESONIA, Pa suggests that Chad Billingsley may have to retire as the rest suggested by his doctors is simply not working.
“I can throw a baseball at 50 to 60 percent, but when I ramp it up it starts hurting,” the former Bulldog said.
Rest is the only hope at getting back to where he once was.
“I talked to the doctors at the end of last season and they said don’t do anything for seven months,” Billingsley explained. “They said don’t stress it.”
The seven-month time frame has arrived, but the rest continues. No other remedy is in sight.
“The elbow can’t stand when I throw with intensity, where I want to be,” Billingsley said.
It is a shame if indeed it is true. Before Clayton Kershaw, Chad Billingsley was the LAD pitching gem. I’m not suggesting that Chad was Kershaw, but you will find Chad’s name in every single LAD pitching leaderboard for pitchers twenty-four and under who were primarily starters. When you look at the top ten, you will usually find him right smack in the middle of the great LAD names. Or maybe just a tad below right smack in the middle. Usually 7th.
All table information below was derived from baseball reference
Sorted by ERA+
| Player | ERA+ | FIP | From | To | Age | IP |
| Clayton Kershaw | 138 | 3.01 | 2008 | 2012 | 20-24 | 944 |
| Fernando Valenzuela | 121 | 2.88 | 1980 | 1985 | 19-24 | 1285.1 |
| Ismael Valdez | 120 | 3.64 | 1994 | 1998 | 20-24 | 821.2 |
| Pedro Astacio | 120 | 3.48 | 1992 | 1993 | 23-24 | 268.1 |
| Don Drysdale | 119 | 3.42 | 1958 | 1961 | 21-24 | 995.1 |
| Chad Billingsley | 119 | 3.87 | 2006 | 2009 | 21-24 | 634 |
| Stan Williams | 114 | 3.81 | 1958 | 1961 | 21-24 | 686.1 |
| Bob Welch | 111 | 3.32 | 1978 | 1981 | 21-24 | 547.2 |
| Chan Ho Park | 109 | 4.16 | 1994 | 1997 | 21-24 | 308.2 |
Sorted by strikeout:
| Player | From | To | Age | IP | SO |
| Fernando Valenzuela | 1980 | 1985 | 19-24 | 1285.1 | 1032 |
| Clayton Kershaw | 2008 | 2012 | 20-24 | 944 | 974 |
| Don Drysdale | 1958 | 1961 | 21-24 | 995.1 | 801 |
| Don Sutton | 1966 | 1969 | 21-24 | 959.1 | 757 |
| Ismael Valdez | 1994 | 1998 | 20-24 | 821.2 | 613 |
| Ramon Martinez | 1988 | 1992 | 20-24 | 739.2 | 586 |
| Chad Billingsley | 2006 | 2009 | 21-24 | 634 | 580 |
| Stan Williams | 1958 | 1961 | 21-24 | 686.1 | 549 |
| Sandy Koufax | 1958 | 1960 | 22-24 | 487 | 501 |
| Bill Singer | 1964 | 1968 | 20-24 | 479.2 | 404 |
The only pitcher to completely blow out his arm on these lists is Chad Billingsley. So many pitchers come back from TJ surgery that it is still surprising when some don’t make it back at all. Chad did pitch again, but would never pitch effectively again.
He gave the LAD fans many great memories. Out of 190 starts for the LAD, Chad would toe the mound and put up a game score greater than or equal to seventy in thirty six of them. His high water mark was on April 12th, 2012 with a game score of 87. I thought one of his best games was this one on Sept 26, 2010 where he struck out thirteen in only seven innings. The bullpen ultimately blew the game.
He started out his postseason starting gig with an excellent start to beat the Cubs in the 2008 NLDS in game two. Yet he will probably be remembered by many for not throwing inside at the Phillies in the NLCS of 2008, and losing his last three post season starts to the Phillies.
Chad would never be as good as I had hoped for, but during his time with the LAD he gave the fans plenty to cheer about even if most of those cheers stopped in October.
Scott Van Slyke finally contributes to the 2016 Dodgers
SVS has had a rough start to the 2016 season. When Andre Ethier went down it was expected that SVS would take up the slack and possibly get full-time at bats but after just a few appearances, a back injury would sideline Scott until June.
Once activated in June, Scott sat on the bench and watched Howie Kendrick take most of the at bats in left field. Even when the Dodgers released Carl Crawford, Scott was finding it hard to get at bats. When he did get the few at bats he did nothing with them. He was even batting eighth behind several players in extended season long slumps.
Luckily for him, a left hander was finally on the mound for the game on Wednesday, and this time SVS did what he’s known for at Chase field. Pounding left handers. His three run blast was the difference in the game as the Dodgers won behind Clayton Kershaw 3 – 2.
During his career at Chase field SVS now has four home runs, second most in a ball park in his career. When I started this I actually thought Scott would have more than four home runs because of the damage he used to inflict upon Wade Miley but that was not the case. Only four home runs.
It was big blast that Kershaw and the Dodgers needed. Will Dave Roberts give SVS a shot against some RHP until Puig is ready? Probably not, but at least for one game, SVS clearly was the difference maker.
Dodgers have nine prospects on Rotowire updated top 200
Rotowire is a baseball fantasy site, so these ranking do not reflect their possible future major league production, but it does give an idea of how well stocked the Dodgers are in the farm system.
This particular top 200 was recently updated to reflect the influx of the 2016 draft class, which added twenty-six draftees’ to the top 200.
I feel a notable prospect that was missing is Brock Stewart. Frankie Montas is a tough rank until they find out if he can remain a starter or not. Alvarez is ranked even though no one has even seen him pitch in North America in a professional game. Once they see him, he could move fast.
Any way this is simply for information purposes only and my opinions on these prospects are not reflected in the rotowire top 200 list.
- Julio Urias – 4
- Alex Verdugo – 34
- Jose De Leon – 42
- Willie Calhoun – 67
- Grant Holmes – 70
- Cody Bellinger – 90
- Frankie Montas – 99
- Yusniel Diaz – 102
- Yadier Alveraz – 115
Ron Cey does Penguin walk
Very few baseball players were defined by their nickname as Ron Cey was. He really did resemble a Penguin when he walked, but when he played the game he resembled the greatest third baseman in LAD history, and it is not even close.
The stats speak for themselves:
- Most hits
- Most home runs
- Most doubles
- Most runs batted in
- Most runs scored
- Most walks
- Most everything
| Name | G | PA | R | H | 2B | HR | RBI | BB | IBB |
| Ron Cey | 1481 | 6108 | 715 | 1378 | 223 | 228 | 842 | 765 | 85 |
| Adrian Beltre | 966 | 3818 | 456 | 949 | 176 | 147 | 510 | 286 | 32 |
| Casey Blake | 406 | 1608 | 197 | 366 | 75 | 49 | 192 | 153 | 17 |
| Tim Wallach | 388 | 1525 | 148 | 346 | 65 | 48 | 200 | 117 | 8 |
| Todd Zeile | 200 | 842 | 111 | 194 | 23 | 38 | 117 | 95 | 7 |
| Bill Sudakis | 291 | 1016 | 108 | 219 | 35 | 34 | 116 | 102 | 12 |
| Jim Gilliam | 1210 | 4894 | 630 | 1084 | 176 | 31 | 323 | 631 | 20 |
| Juan Uribe | 407 | 1391 | 125 | 334 | 68 | 28 | 155 | 80 | 7 |
| Justin Turner | 296 | 1000 | 124 | 258 | 57 | 28 | 125 | 85 | 3 |
| Jeff Hamilton | 416 | 1273 | 111 | 282 | 61 | 24 | 124 | 43 | 9 |
| Wilson Betemit | 139 | 385 | 41 | 78 | 15 | 19 | 50 | 49 | 3 |
| Ken McMullen | 234 | 549 | 34 | 119 | 16 | 16 | 74 | 38 | 4 |
| Bill Madlock | 166 | 618 | 63 | 158 | 22 | 15 | 82 | 46 | 4 |
| Bob Bailey | 221 | 737 | 45 | 146 | 17 | 12 | 67 | 78 | 8 |
Cumulatively he’s the best. But would you pick Ron Cey for a season over Todd Zeile? Adrian Beltre? Even Justin Turner? Maybe, but that is another article.
| Name | From | To | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | Pos |
| Ron Cey | 1971 | 1982 | 0.264 | 0.359 | 0.445 | 0.804 | *5/H |
| Adrian Beltre | 1998 | 2004 | 0.274 | 0.332 | 0.463 | 0.794 | *5/H6 |
| Casey Blake | 2008 | 2011 | 0.26 | 0.338 | 0.431 | 0.768 | *5/H374 |
| Tim Wallach | 1993 | 1996 | 0.251 | 0.312 | 0.409 | 0.721 | *5/H39 |
| Todd Zeile | 1997 | 1998 | 0.265 | 0.352 | 0.454 | 0.806 | *5/H3 |
| Bill Sudakis | 1968 | 1971 | 0.243 | 0.321 | 0.411 | 0.732 | *5/H2739 |
| Jim Gilliam | 1958 | 1966 | 0.261 | 0.358 | 0.338 | 0.696 | *54H7/938 |
| Juan Uribe | 2011 | 2015 | 0.26 | 0.306 | 0.381 | 0.687 | *5/H463 |
| Justin Turner | 2014 | 2016 | 0.293 | 0.367 | 0.459 | 0.827 | *5/H463D |
| Jeff Hamilton | 1986 | 1991 | 0.234 | 0.263 | 0.349 | 0.612 | *5/H6413 |
| Wilson Betemit | 2006 | 2007 | 0.236 | 0.332 | 0.455 | 0.787 | *5/H649 |
| Ken McMullen | 1962 | 1975 | 0.237 | 0.291 | 0.369 | 0.66 | *5H/3479 |
| Bill Madlock | 1985 | 1987 | 0.285 | 0.346 | 0.406 | 0.752 | *5/H3 |
| Bob Bailey | 1967 | 1968 | 0.227 | 0.309 | 0.325 | 0.633 | *5/H736 |
This table tells you that Ron Cey had a long and storied career, tallying up stat after stat. What it doesn’t tell you is why Ron Cey is dear to the heart of many a Dodger fan growing up in the 1970’s.
Clutch more or may not exist, but when one of your stars actually delivers in the clutch, that is a whole hell of a lot better than having to say “small sample size” when they fail.
The Penguin led the Dodgers every time they were in the NLCS, delivering an OPS far above his career norms. The LAD went to the post season four times during his career. Each time the Dodgers made the World Series, the first three times it was very much because of Ron Cey who delivered the following OPS numbers in the NLCS.
- 1974 – 1.109
- 1977 – 1.015
- 1978 – .951
Cey however, failed to put up big numbers in the World Series until 1981. Strangely in 1981, Cey had a poor NLCS, but made up for it by winning the World Series MVP along with Steve Yeager and Pedro Guerrero.
My favorite Ron Cey moment during his long career was the game winning home run he hit during my favorite regular season series. But that is also another article.
Bill Sudakis – always in my heart
Bill Sudakis was a power bat switch hitting 3rd baseman who arrived in Sept of 1968 with great fanfare. The 1968 Dodgers had an anemic offense, so anemic that Len Gabrielson would lead the team in home runs with a mere 10. That is not a typo, that has been one of the best baseball bar bets over the past fifty years.
Sudakis showed up and smashed three home runs in the month of Sept in just over one hundred plate appearances. That may not seem like a big deal, but it was as many or more home runs than the 1968 Dodger starting 1st baseman, 2nd baseman, and SS. It was only one less than the starting right fielder. In order that was Wes Parker, Paul Popovich, Zoilo Versalles, and Ron Fairly.
Sudakis had been a breath of fresh air to a moribund franchise, and fans looked forward to what Sudakis would do in his first full rookie season of 1969. Sudakis would set the franchise record for home runs by a LAD rookie infielder with fourteen, but for the most part his rookie season fell far short of expectations. His defense was also so bad at 3rd base he was converted to a catcher, and never would be a full-time player again.
His rookie season he amassed 507 plate appearances, after that, 311 would be his plate appearance high water mark. He would have some successful offensive seasons as a part-time player, putting up an OPS+ of 121 in 1970 and 132 in 1973 with Texas. Sudakis could hit home runs when given the opportunity, and though he only hit 59 home runs in his career he would hit a home run every 29 plate appearances. I always felt the Sudakis was never given a fair shake after his rookie season failures. In his two best years he displayed solid power and plate discipline. The reality might be if given more at bats he probably would not have been successful. It would seem that early in his career he was a man without a position but the DH did come early enough for him and while he played some DH, no one would ever make him their full-time DH.
Sudakis always remained one of my favorite players because he was the very first prospect I ever followed. He hit the first home run on TV I ever saw while watching the Dodgers on the game of the week in 1969. He was part of the Dodgers Mod Squad of 1969 – 1972 but he wasn’t around for the success that Bill Russell and Willie Crawford saw with the team as they became a juggernaut starting in 1974.
Corey Seager keeping pace with Piazza
The LAD offense continued to sputter last night but not Corey Seager who launched a massive home run to right center against ex – Dodger Grienke. Legend has it that Grienke was pleased when the Dodgers drafted Seager, to bad he didn’t stick around to pitch with him behind him.
Seager’s 15th home run moved him up the LAD rookie leaderboard, passing Bill Sudakis and Johnny Roseboro. You can read a little about Bill Sudakis here.
Seager is now tied with one of the LAD all time greats in Ron Cey. The Dodgers have not always had a good 3rd baseman but from 1973 – 1981 they had a great one in Roy Cey. It took Ron Cey in 1973 almost 600 plate appearances to hit those fifteen home runs. James Loney also hit fifteen home runs his rookie season, and it only took James 375 plate appearances for his fifteen. Loney’s power surge his rookie season is what ended up frustrating so many Dodger fans as he never approached those home run per at bat numbers again. In Loney’s rookie year he averaged a home run every twenty-five plate appearances. For the rest of his career it was one home run every fifty-six plate appearances. On a minor note, James Loney hit his 100th home run the other day. For a moment in time it did not look like Loney would get to that milestone as he had been released by Tampa, and was playing for the Padre AAA club when the Mets came calling.
Which made me wonder how many plate appearances did the leaderboard leader Mike Piazza need for his fifteen – 254 is the answer, so surprisingly Seager is almost on pace with Piazza. Piazza had just finished a hot stretch with three home runs in three games. He would not hit his 16th home run until July 5th. Corey has more plate appearances right now than Mike did at the point they hit their 15th home runs, but Corey did it on June 14th, Mike didn’t do it until June 21st. So in a way, Corey is actually a head of the pace of Piazza if you go by the schedule but behind if you go by plate appearances.
Next up for Seager are Jayson Werth and Raul Mondesi with 16. Good chance he ties them tonight.
| Player | HR | Year | Age | PA | OPS | Pos |
| Mike Piazza (RoY-1st) | 35 | 1993 | 24 | 602 | 0.932 | C |
| Joc Pederson | 26 | 2015 | 23 | 585 | 0.763 | CF |
| Frank Howard (RoY-1st) | 23 | 1960 | 23 | 487 | 0.784 | OF |
| Eric Karros (RoY-1st) | 20 | 1992 | 24 | 589 | 0.73 | 1B |
| Greg Brock (RoY-7th) | 20 | 1983 | 26 | 543 | 0.738 | 1B |
| Yasiel Puig (RoY-2nd) | 19 | 2013 | 22 | 432 | 0.925 | OF |
| Don Demeter | 18 | 1959 | 24 | 401 | 0.731 | OF |
| Billy Grabarkewitz | 17 | 1970 | 24 | 640 | 0.852 | SS/3B |
| Jayson Werth | 16 | 2004 | 25 | 326 | 0.825 | OF |
| Raul Mondesi (RoY-1st) | 16 | 1994 | 23 | 454 | 0.849 | OF |
| James Loney (RoY-6th) | 15 | 2007 | 23 | 375 | 0.919 | 1B |
| Ron Cey (RoY-6th) | 15 | 1973 | 25 | 595 | 0.723 | 3B |
| Corey Seager | 15 | 2016 | 22 | 278 | 0.864 | SS |
| Bill Sudakis | 14 | 1969 | 23 | 507 | 0.678 | 3B |
| John Roseboro | 14 | 1958 | 25 | 431 | 0.788 | C |
| Matt Luke | 12 | 1998 | 27 | 257 | 0.736 | OF |
| Todd Hollandsworth (RoY-1st) | 12 | 1996 | 23 | 526 | 0.785 | OF |
| Jim Lefebvre (RoY-1st) | 12 | 1965 | 23 | 631 | 0.706 | 2B |
| Willie Davis | 12 | 1961 | 21 | 380 | 0.767 | OF |
| Alex Guerrero | 11 | 2015 | 28 | 230 | 0.695 | OF |
| Andre Ethier (RoY-5th) | 11 | 2006 | 24 | 441 | 0.842 | OF |
| Tommy Davis (RoY-5th) | 11 | 1960 | 21 | 374 | 0.728 | OF |
| Russell Martin (RoY-9th) | 10 | 2006 | 23 | 468 | 0.792 | C |
| David Ross | 10 | 2003 | 26 | 140 | 0.892 | C |
Arizona Diamondback Preview 06/13/2016
The Diamondbacks went all in this winter much as the Padres did last year, and the results have been pretty much the same. Padres were out of the race by the all-star game in 2015, and unless things change dramatically for the Diamondbacks that will be the same story in 2016 for them.
Much of the blame for the Diamondback collapse has been placed on the shoulders of Shelby Miller. Arizona traded a boatload for a barely above average pitcher but instead of at least getting that, they got the second worst pitcher of 2016.
| Player | ERA+ | GS | ERA | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | FIP |
| Alfredo Simon | 45 | 11 | 9.11 | 52.1 | 76 | 53 | 27 | 37 | 7.18 |
| Shelby Miller | 61 | 10 | 7.09 | 45.2 | 56 | 36 | 29 | 30 | 6.62 |
| Wily Peralta | 62 | 13 | 6.68 | 66 | 97 | 49 | 27 | 42 | 5.57 |
| Jake Peavy | 67 | 13 | 5.83 | 66.1 | 78 | 43 | 21 | 51 | 4.14 |
| Jeff Locke | 74 | 12 | 5.38 | 72 | 76 | 43 | 27 | 37 | 5.24 |
| Juan Nicasio | 74 | 11 | 5.34 | 59 | 60 | 35 | 25 | 60 | 4.38 |
| Matt Cain | 76 | 10 | 5.2 | 53.2 | 64 | 31 | 13 | 38 | 4.47 |
| Adam Wainwright | 78 | 13 | 5.21 | 77.2 | 85 | 45 | 19 | 55 | 3.92 |
| Chad Bettis | 84 | 13 | 5.85 | 72.1 | 88 | 47 | 19 | 53 | 4.76 |
And yet, for some bizarre reason, I feel Shelby Miller is going to bounce back from his recent DL spell and pitch some of the best baseball of his career going forward.
Here in a nutshell is why the Diamondbacks are 28 – 37 instead of 38 – 28.
- They lost AJ Pollock before he ever got to play in 2016 when he decided to slid into home plate head first. It was not the first time he had made that mistake, and once again it cost him and teammates dearly.
- His outfield roommate David Peralta missed twenty-five games. Upon his June 6th return he’s hit like he’s still on the DL.
- Rubby De La Rosa who had shown growth, hurt his elbow and is out until August
- Grienke/Miller/Corbin were expected to give Arizona a solid big three but none of them have come close to expectations. Grienke was supposed to be the big ace but overall he’s simply been good. Miller as noted, has been the second worst pitcher in baseball (Alfredo Simon is number one) who has been allowed to make at least ten starts. Corbin is barely pitching like a fifth starter instead of someone who is part of a big three.
- Even Goldy can take some blame. The only offensive categories he’s leading the league in are walks, games, plate appearances. The slug% is starting to trend back up, but still sits well below his career slug% of .531 at .488. For context, last year at this time, Goldy’s slug% was an astronomical .662. For Arizona to be a contender they really need that Goldy to make up for the loss of Pollock.
This is what the Dodgers will be seeing over the next three games:
1st – Paul Goldschmidt – nine of his eleven home runs have come at home this year. We all know he loves to hit home runs against the Dodgers. Expect Goldy to hit at least two home runs this series. Not having his best season to date, but still the best 1st baseman in the NL.
2nd – Jean Segura was crushing it in April with an .885 OPS, fell back to .708 in May, and has now dropped off the face of the diamond with a June OPS of .578. Segura has yet to garner an XBH yet in June of 2016. He’s not just cold, he’s frigid.
SS – Nick Ahmed – at least Segura can boost of having been hot once. Ahmed may be one of the best defensive shortstops around, but he also can’t hit a lick. Gazing upon his .597 OPS, I wondered how he ranks among futility hitters of the 21st century. . Here is what I found. Not as bad as I thought he’d be. He’s bad (about 22nd worst), but he’s not close to being the worst hitter of the 21st century. That must be a relief for him.
3rd – Jake Lamb is quietly having an excellent season. Lamb has an OPS+ of 125. For context the great Nolan Arenado is at 134 and our Justin Turner is at 83. His eleven home runs ranks 4th among NL 3rd baseman.
C – Wellington Castillo had that bizarre year in 2015. In 2016 that honor goes to Chris Herrmann. Herrmann has a current OPS of .916. His career OPS is .614, with most of that being done while a backup for the Twins. Come on, where did this come from? The Diamondback catchers have the following OPS+ numbers, 104 and 138. Contrasting nicely with the excellent bat work being done by the Dodger catchers who tally in at 83 and 57.
RF – belongs once again to David Peralta. Peralta was the Arizona clean up hitter until he got hurt. He missed over 20 games, but is now back in the lineup . Cept he stopped hitting and is doing little clean up these days. He’s only been back for six days and I’m sure he’ll got that sweet left-handed bat going but since he’s been back he has four hits and zero walks in eighteen plate appearances. Rusty he be.
CF – infielder Chris Owings gave it a shot but he’s now on the DL, so Atlanta Brave reject Michael Bourn is getting the gig. I’ll say this about Bourn. He couldn’t make the roster of the worst team in baseball. And now he’s starting in CF for the Diamondbacks. BUT, because baseball is baseball, it would not surprise me if Bourn outhits Ender Inciarte this season. He’s doing it right now, that is how bad Inciarte has been for the Braves.
RF – Yasmani Tomas – Much like the Dodgers Yazmani Grandal, neither have earned the right to use the nickname of Yaz. Tomas was supposed to have some power, but has rarely showed it. Good bet that he’ll end up losing this gig to Peter O’Brien in the not to distant future. Tomas can hit a little, but not enough to justify giving him full-time at bats.
All Around Bench Guy – Brandon Drury has played RF,LF, 2b, and 3b so far this year. He’s hit when he’s played. A valuable bench player.
Prospect to Watch – Peter O’Brien – man without a position. Has power but no place to play. His natural position was catcher but he’s not a catcher. 1st base is taken. He might be able to handle the outfield, but he’s probably a DH. But so is Tomas so what do you do?
Dodgers, Yesterday and Today 