Dodger History – One year ago Clayton blanked the Phillies, making the Dodger run 42 – 8
The 2013 Dodgers started the streak on June 22nd, their record at the time was 30 – 42, 9.5 games back of 1st place, firmly entrenched in last place. In one of the greatest runs in baseball history the Dodgers climbed over four teams in just twenty-five games, and would never look back winning the 2013 Western Division by 11 games.
Clayton Kershaw shutout the Phillies 5-0, moving the Dodgers to 42 – 8 over their last 50 games. It also gave the Dodgers a 1o game winning streak, their first double-digit winning streak since 2006. Per Eric Stephen The Los Angeles Dodgers now have eight double digit winning streaks in their history. The 42 – 8 equals the 1941 Yankees and 1942 Cardinals for the best record for that span of games since 1900.
Taking a look back at that run a year later it is still mind boggling that a team with 42 losses after 72 games, could win 42 games in only fifty games. Who does that?
Nobody
Jose De Leon, 21 year old 2012 24th round draft pick makes the Baseball America Hot Sheet
Not be to confused with slugging 18 year old Julian Leon, Jose De Leon tries to make his own name.
https://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/prospect-hot-sheet-aug-15/
0. Jose De Leon, rhp, Dodgers
The Scoop: With a young pitcher, a tweak here or there, or a new pitch can often make a dramatic difference. A year ago, De Leon, a 24th-round pick out of Southern in 2013, was way over his head in the Pioneer League. But over the offseason, he got in better shape, and the Dodgers moved him from the third base side to the middle of the rubber, which allowed him to be more direct to the plate with his cross-fire delivery. Pair that with a jump in his velocity (he now pitches at 92-96 mph) and De Leon is a force to be reckoned with. He’s allowed four earned runs in his last 37 2/3 innings and dominated in his Midwest League debut, allowing one run on three hits while striking out seven in six innings.
Dodger History – August 15th, 2006 – Dodgers blank Marlins for sixth straight win, and 17th win in 18 games – Fueled by two Dodger rookies
On July 26th the 2006 Dodgers had a 47 – 55 record, were in 5th place, and 7.5 games back of 1st place. They would go on a historic run winning 17 of their next 18 games, culminating with a 4-0 whitewash of the Marlins on August 15th.
The run would come to an end on August 16th but by then the Dodgers had done what they needed to do to climb over four teams into first place with a 3.5 game lead that they would hold until the final weekend of the regular season. Chad Billingsley would win the first game of the run on July 28th, and he would win the last game of the run on August 15th.
Chad made four stats from July 28th – August 15 and won every game. 24 IP, 13 hits allowed, 24 K’s, ERA of 1.13. It was no wonder that Dodger fans expected Chad to be a mainstay of the rotation for years to come, as Chad had only turned 22 just one day after starting the streak on July 28th.
Offensively the run was fueled by another rookie, Andre Ethier who had a triple stat line of .338 / .361 / .618 with 10 extra base hits in only sixty eight at bats. At the end of the run Andre was hitting a robust .343 and Dodgers fans were wondering if he could win the batting title he could simply garner enough at bats.
Eight years later those two rookies are having little to zero effect on the current Dodger world champion aspirations. Chad never pitched this year, and it looks like he never will pitch for the Dodgers again. Andre is a fourth outfielder who has done little this year except earn money. Yet, between 2006 – 2013 these two rookies gave Dodger fans plenty to cheer about.
Discounted traded acquisitions continue to pay dividends
A week ago I asked if the acquisitions of Roberto Hernandez and Kevin Correia were a disaster waiting to happen, but so far, you could say they have been exactly what the Ned ordered.
On Friday August 8th, even though the Dodgers lost 9 – 3, Roberto Hernandez pitched six strong innings, giving up only two runs while walking zero, with five punchouts. That strikeout total was as many as he had accumulated in his previous three starts with the Phillies.
Kevin Correia followed that up Monday with what was supposed to be a spot start with another charming outing, earning a victory with six innings of one run ball. He only walked one, and also struck out five.
Today, Roberto Hernandez pitching another six innings (notice a trend), this time notching his first Dodger victory even though Brian Wilson tried to give his game away. Roberto struck out another five, but this time walked four, more in line with his history.
In the three games that these two have started here are the highlights and trends:
- Dodgers are 2 – 1
- Each pitcher has gone exactly six innings per start
- Each pitcher has struck out exactly five per start
- In Roberto’s two games the pitchers who followed him other than Kenley Jansen have given up twelve runs in five innings
“Mighty” Max Steinberg memoralized at the Saban Theatre last night
Max’s family have had a whirlwind of memorials for their fallen son in the past few weeks. The first was an impromptu social media gathering at a local park in West Hills on Sunday Night when news spread like wildfire of his death in Gaza. The second was in Israel when he was buried with honors as 30,000 Israel’s paid tribute to the Lone Soldier from Woodland Hills. Upon returning from Israel the Steinberg family had a smaller memorial for families and friends. Last night the Los Angeles Jewish community honored Max and his family with a stirring tribute at the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills.
My wife was lucky enough to have taught Max as a fourth grader at Woodlake Elementary School in Woodland Hills. She would later teach his siblings Jake and Paige when they reached fourth grade, so we had more than the casual parent/teacher relationship. Evie and Stuart were the kind of parents you dream of as teachers, completely supportive, and doing what they could to make sure their children could reach their potential. As such we had been invited several times to their house for various Jewish celebrations. We are Gentiles, but it was always an honor to be included in their celebrations.
When we learned that Max had joined the IDF after a life-changing visit to Israel with his sibling via the birthright initiative, I found it fascinating that a local kid would make such a commitment but never dreamed that his decision would end up having such an impact on our local community and Israel. It was not an easy journey for Max to become the soldier he became. Verdell stayed in touch with him via Facebook, and one particular night in Nov of 2012 they spent hours chatting on Facebook as missiles were being tossed from Hamas. It was an eye-opening chat when Verdell showed it to me the next day. From that moment on, we had Max in our thoughts. When we found out Max was headed into Gaza after the brutal kidnapping and murder of the Israel teenagers followed by relentless shelling upon the Israel citizens we both knew he would be in harm’s way.
Some things will remain with you forever, but the pain of Verdell’s face, when she was notified by a mutual friend that Max had died in Gaza, will be one of them.
Last night Max’s friends all told stories. I only have one, so I thought I’d share it here.
I was lucky enough to be working from home the year that Verdell taught Max so I may have spent more time in her classroom helping out that year than any other year. Max stood out despite his diminutive stature because of his dynamic personality that would allow him to make many friends throughout his life. Max would eventually top out at 5’3 with the heart of all boys/men who have to fight for everything that those of normal height take for granted. I’m a baseball guy, and so my wife pointed out to me who the baseball players were in class. She said that even though Max was the smallest child in her class, he was the best athlete, and most competitive.
One day I took the class out to play kickball, and while my memory is vague on the details I think I may have erroneously divided the teams into boys and girls, and planted myself on the girls thinking that would make a difference. It did not. Our team was being slaughtered by the other team and the main culprit was Max who seemed to kick a home run every time up. When he did it for about the fourth time I decided enough was enough and as he headed toward 3rd base I simply scooped him up and put him over my shoulders so he couldn’t run until the ball had been retrieved back into the infield. I don’t know how he felt about that. He was competitive but on the other hand, I was his teacher’s husband so he couldn’t go off on me. As I put him down he smiled his big smile but I think behind that smile was “I’ll get you”. When he came up again he kicked another ball far into the outfield, as he rounded second he looked right at me knowing I was going to attempt to scoop him up again, but this time he used his quickness and agility to evade my futile attempt to keep him from scoring. It may have been my imagination but I’ve felt he enjoyed that much more than simply running around the bases without any impediments.
And that was my only physical interaction with Mighty Max, but I’ll always remember it. To me, he’ll always be the nine-year-old diminutive boy who lit up his fourth-grade class with his clowning, and his smile. I did not personally witness this more than a few times, but I can remember Verdell coming home just about every night with a story about her class, and Max was usually in the middle of it somehow. She enjoyed the free spirited children with a sense of humor and intelligence about them. Max fit that to a tee.
Last night was an amazing experience. Noted Jewish dignitaries from Los Angeles spoke, friends spoke, IDF soldiers spoke, the family spoke.
I’ll take several things away from that memorial.
“A lone soldier is never alone”
Two weeks ago I did not know what a “Lone Soldier” was.
Israel’s Lone Soldiers are those whose families live abroad and who chose to leave their countries of origin to serve the State of Israel. These soldiers know that as the Jewish State, Israel is their home and thus theirs to protect. Many choose to serve in combat positions, enduring grueling training, exercises, missions and operations, all to ensure it remains safe.
One of the soldiers who trained with Max explained the Golani’s 13th Battalion symbol which is a tree. He talked about the roots and how all of Israel is connected via these roots. Wiki explained it like thus
The symbol of the brigade is a green olive tree with its roots on a yellow background. It was drawn by the 12th Battalion’s intelligence officer, who came from kibbutz Beit Keshet, home to numerous olive trees.[57] However, other sources claim it’s an oak located in Yavne’el.[58] The colors green and yellow symbolize the green hills of the Galilee, where the brigade was stationed at the time of its creation and the olive tree is known for its strong roots that penetrate and firmly hold the land, reflecting the brigade’s connection with the State of Israel’s heritage. The yellow background on which the tree stands reflects the brigade’s role in the south of the country in the war of 1948, when it captured Umm-Rashrash, now Eilat, Israel’s southernmost city.[
Recently a movie called Guardians of the Galaxy has taken the world by storm. One of the stars of the movie is a tree called Groot whose only line is “I am Groot”. Until the end when he uses his ability to grow his roots to protect his new-found friends. At that moment he declares “We are Groot”
Last night was very much about “We are Israel”, how every Jew needs to do what they can to protect their homeland, how the roots run 10,000 miles deep.
When Max started his birthright journey he may have been saying “I am Max”
when he concluded his Journey last night I felt like saying
“We are Max”
“We are Groot”
“We are Israel’
Dodger teen-age phenom prospect Julio Urias turned 18 today – what Los Angeles Dodgers debuted as teen-agers?
The Future
Arguably the best pitching prospect in the Dodger system turned 18 years old today. Julio Urias raised eyebrows all over baseball when he was pitching in Low A ball at the tender age of 16. He has spent all of this summer pitching in High A ball as a 17-year-old, but that all changed today. The Dodgers have fast tracked Urias like no other prospect in their history. Even as great as Kershaw was, he was still pitching in rookie ball as an 18-year-old, two levels below where Urias sits right now.
Given how fast tracked Urias has been, the expectation would be AA next year, and a possible Sept promotion as a 19-year-old and maybe just maybe a rotation spot in 2016. Inconceivable? Maybe
How have other Los Angeles Dodger teenagers fared?
Carl Crawford was an early 1960’s bonus baby before the draft existed out of Los Angeles, and played on the 1964 team as a 17-year-old outfielder. He followed that up with a little time in 1965 becoming the only LA Dodger to play for the team as a 17 or 18-year-old. When it comes to 19, many players make the cut. Subtracting out the four pitchers from below, you have eight different 19-year-old Dodgers. As you can see Bucker, Valentine, Griffith, and Crawford barely sniffed an at bat as 19 year olds leaving Beltre, Reyes, Karim Garica, and Fairly. Ron Fairly out produced Beltre but in only 53 at bats. Beltre is the only 19 year old who was part of the regular lineup. But was Beltre really during his time in the lineup? Indeed he was, and would not turn 20 until April 7th, 1999.
Player PA Year Age AB H HR BA OBP SLG Adrian Beltre 214 1998 19 195 42 7 .215 .278 .369 Bill Buckner 1 1969 19 1 0 0 .000 .000 .000 Bobby Valentine 0 1969 19 0 0 0 Derrell Griffith 2 1963 19 2 0 0 .000 .000 .000 Gil Reyes 32 1983 19 31 5 0 .161 .188 .226 Karim Garcia 20 1995 19 20 4 0 .200 .200 .200 Ron Fairly 60 1958 19 53 15 2 .283 .350 .415 Willie Crawford 0 1966 19 0 0 0 Willie Crawford 17 1964 17 16 5 0 .313 .353 .375 Willie Crawford 29 1965 18 27 4 0 .148 .207 .148
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Generated 8/12/2014. Four pitchers have pitched for the Dodgers as teenagers, all at 19. No one has pitched for the Los Angeles Dodgers before the age of 19.
Player IP Year Age G GS W L BB SO ERA FIP ERA+ Joe Moeller 85.2 1962 19 19 15 6 5 58 46 5.25 5.09 69 Dick Calmus 44.0 1963 19 21 1 3 1 16 25 2.66 3.32 114 Edwin Jackson 22.0 2003 19 4 3 2 1 11 19 2.45 4.12 167 Fernando Valenzuela 17.2 1980 19 10 0 2 0 5 16 0.00 1.79
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 8/12/2014.
One of the least known pitchers in Dodger history, Joe Moeller was actually in the Dodger rotation to start the 1962 season and made his debut April 12th. I can just imagine the expectations of a 19-year-old pitching for the Dodgers at their new park, with the likes of Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax. It must have reached a fever pitch when he pitched a complete game, one earned run in just his third start. He followed that up with seven innings of one run ball. There would be more highlights but in the end Joe Moeller simply did not have the right stuff.
Dick Calmus was a relief pitcher who made his debut on April 22nd, 1963. As you can see he pitched in 21 games. Calmus would not surface again until 1967 for the Cubs and only pitch in one more major league game.
You might have heard of Fernando, and the legend of his relief work in Sept of 1980. I was lucky enough to watch it, and yeah, it was fucking awesome.
Edwin Jackson easily had the best 19 year debut, maybe the best in history when he defeated Randy Johnson on his 20th birthday in 2003. I was going insane watching that game, but the reality for us is that Edwin Jackson was really 20 years old even if Baseball Reference calls him 19 for 2003.
Adrian Beltre is clearly the greatest teenager to ever adorn a Los Angeles Dodger uniform. Can Urias in the next two years change that? I can’t wait to find out
Atlanta Braves series preview – Hot, muggy, and buggy
The Braves are currently 60 – 57, flaying around for a post season spot. They entered August and promptly lost their first five games, before righting the ship and taking two of three from the Nationals. Since their hot 17 – 8 April start, the Braves are just 43 – 49, hardly the stuff of a post season contender. Right now they sit 3.5 games back of the Nationals for the Division, and two game back of the wild card. Actually the current record is what you would have expected of a team who lost 2 /5 of the rotation before the season even started.
Kris Medlen – TJ (his second)
Brian Beachy – TJ (his second)
To their credit, the Braves signed Erwin Santana to fill one void, and plucked Aaron Harang out of thin air to fill the second. They also had signed Gavin Floyd during the winter but he would not join them until later in the summer. So a rotation that was supposed to look like:
Medlen / Beachy/ Minor / Tehran / Wood – until Floyd was ready
ended up being
Santana / Harang / Minor / Tehran / Wood – Until Floyd was ready
and that group is the group that got them off to that 17 – 8 start that wowed the league. Eventually Floyd was ready, moved Wood to the bullpen, but as FLoyd does, he broke down again, and thus Wood is once again part of the rotation.
1st Base – Freddie Freeman signed a huge extension this past winter and is earning his money with a solid followup to his break out 2013 season. Freeman is unique to the Braves. At just 24 he has already played in 588 games, doubling the games played of his nearest competitor Earl Torgeson with 262 games by age 24. for 1st baseman. His career OPS+ of 126 is second this century for 1st baseman 24 years old and younger with at least 200 games.
Player OPS+ G From To Age PA BA OBP SLG OPS Prince Fielder 131 513 2005 2008 21-24 2085 .278 .370 .533 .903 Freddie Freeman 126 588 2010 2014 20-24 2426 .286 .362 .469 .831 Brandon Belt 117 208 2011 2012 23-24 681 .259 .344 .418 .762 James Loney 116 305 2006 2008 22-24 1137 .303 .353 .480 .833 Anthony Rizzo 112 410 2011 2014 21-24 1718 .250 .341 .437 .778
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 8/11/2014.
2nd Base – Tommy La Stella replaced Dan Uggla and is basically the opposite of Uggla. La Stella is a contact hitter with no power whatsoever. He also doesn’t have much speed for a middle infielder. His contact skills/on base skills have produced a triple stat line so far of .285 / .367 / 362.
Shortstop – Andrelton Simmons calling card has been his defensive glove. The metrics say he’s the greatest glove who ever lived accumulating 9.9 dWAR in only three years of play. The next closest from 2012 – 2014 is Manny Machado at 6.2. Offensively he doesn’t strike out much compared to hitters of his era, and that is about the only kind thing I can say.
3rd Base – who knew that Chris Johnson would actually end up better than P:rado all by himself? At least he was last year, as he almost won the NL batting title with his .321 mark. This year Chris is doing what he normally does with a triple stat line of .273 / .298 /.380 which is very much in line with the rest of his career if we throw out 2013.
Catcher – Can’t say the Braves are missing the 2014 version of Brian McCann. The big horse Evan Gattis when he is healthy is doing exactly what Brian McCann did when he was healthy. Blasting mammoth home runs and making sure the game is played “right”. Gattis has 17 home runs in only 307 plate appearances. When Gattis can’t go, Gerald Laird handles the staff in a very Butera fashion.
RF – Jason Heyward has not become the super star that many envisioned when he broke in as the full-time right fielder at the age of 20, but he is a productive right fielder. I think I’m going to write the same sentence about their left fielder in a moment.
LF – Justin Upton has not become the super star that many envisioned when he broke in as the full-time right fielder at the age of 20 for the Diamondbacks, but he has become an above average offensive left fielder. The Diamondbacks really shit the bed when they boggled his trade. They have nothing left of the deal except a minor league catcher from the Yankee’s while the Braves still have a left fielder about to enter his prime, and a 3rd baseman. An inexplicably bad trade that should have gotten the GM fired, and eventually that is exactly what has happened. Here is how Justin Upton stacks up home run wise for players 26 and younger in the 21st century.
Rk Player HR From To Age PA BA OBP SLG OPS 1 Albert Pujols 250 2001 2006 21-26 4062 .332 .419 .629 1.047 2 Miguel Cabrera 209 2003 2009 20-26 4441 .311 .383 .542 .925 3 Adam Dunn 198 2001 2006 21-26 3466 .245 .380 .513 .892 4 Prince Fielder 192 2005 2010 21-26 3518 .279 .385 .535 .919 5 Jay Bruce 164 2008 2013 21-26 3406 .257 .330 .482 .812 6 Justin Upton 156 2007 2014 19-26 4139 .276 .356 .477 .833 7 Giancarlo Stanton 146 2010 2014 20-24 2512 .270 .361 .539 .900 8 David Wright 140 2004 2009 21-26 3666 .309 .389 .518 .907 9 Mark Teixeira 140 2003 2006 23-26 2671 .282 .364 .534 .898 10 Evan Longoria 130 2008 2012 22-26 2726 .276 .361 .516 .877 11 Grady Sizemore 129 2004 2009 21-26 3612 .275 .367 .485 .851 12 Matt Kemp 128 2006 2011 21-26 3158 .294 .350 .496 .846 13 Ryan Zimmerman 128 2005 2011 20-26 3669 .288 .355 .479 .834 14 Ryan Braun 128 2007 2010 23-26 2548 .307 .364 .554 .918 15 Hanley Ramirez 124 2005 2010 21-26 3372 .313 .385 .520 .905
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 8/11/2014.
CF – BJ Upton has not become that super star that many envisioned when he broke in as the full-time center fielder at the age of 21 for the Rays. At the age of 22, BJ Upton put up an OPS+ of 136. At the age of 28 his OPS+ was 54. This year at the age of 29 it is 69. It is horrible. Just horrible.
Matt Kemp thirteen game run
Matty did not have the weekend that Adrian Gonzalez had, but he did enough to keep this thread going with at least one hit in every game. Matt now has a modest six game hitting streak, however Sunday was the first time during the streak he had more than one hit.
Headed into July 29th, Matt Kemp had eight home runs, thirty-eight runs scored, and forty runs batted in with a slug % of .432 in ninety-five games
Today Matt Kemp has fourteen home runs, forty-eight runs scored, and fifty-two runs batted in, and has eight multiple hit games out of his last nineteen.
For most of this streak Donny inexplicably continued to bat Kemp behind Carl Crawford thus reducing his RBI opportunities and at bats.
Here is a an at-bat by at-bat break down of this streak
Game One – home run, single, out, home run
Game Two – single, home run, ground out,single
Game Three – walk, strikeout (first K in 22 PA) , flyball to CF – Only three at bats in the game
Game Four – fly-ball, strikeout, fly-ball – Carl Crawford batting in front of Kemp made the last out of the game, and made the last out three times that game.
Game Five – Batting cleanup – strikeout, home run, ground out, fly-ball, ground out
Game Six – back to fifth but a head of Andre’s rare start – ground out, single, home run, strike out
Angels
Game Seven – now batting fifth in front of Crawford – walk, strikeout, strikeout, strikeout
Game Eight – single, line-out, E5, strikeout – this was the game he got on via E5, stole 2nd, advanced to 3rd on Error, scored key run
Game Nine – home run, strikeout, line-out, ground out
Game Ten – single, sacrifice fly, walk (scored), walk, strikeout
Brewers:
Game Eleven – fly-out, ground-out, double, line drive double play
Game Twelve – strike-out, ground-out, single, ground-out
Game Thirteen – Batting cleanup – single, ground-out(rocket one hop to 2nd), single (put Dodgers a head 2 – 1), ground -out, ground-out – though I think he beat that out if Adrian is not forced at second
Depth or Disaster? You be the judge
The Dodgers have acquired Roberto Hernandez and Kevin Correia over the last five days to help with their starting pitching depth problems. When I think of the worst starting pitcher of the last four years Kevin Correia comes to mind so I thought I’d check to see if this had any validity.
Going quick and dirty with Baseball-Reference I looked for any starter with at least eighty starts over the last four years with an ERA+ below 100. I got 38 hits so I thought I’d narrow it to below 90 for a more manageable fifteen seasons.
As I suspect Kevin was on the list, but to my surprise so was Roberto Hernandez. In fact you could make an argument that Roberto Hernandez not Correia has been the worst starting pitcher who keeps getting the ball game after game for the last four years.
Player ERA+ GS From To W L W-L% IP H ER BB SO ERA FIP OPS+ Ubaldo Jimenez 90 114 2011 2014 36 47 .434 653.1 638 324 316 610 4.46 4.15 109 John Lackey 89 80 2011 2014 34 33 .507 498.2 539 254 130 392 4.58 4.12 108 Francisco Liriano 89 98 2011 2014 34 38 .472 560.1 492 269 275 556 4.32 3.86 95 Joe Saunders 89 101 2011 2014 32 47 .405 609.1 699 300 187 349 4.43 4.65 124 Phil Hughes 89 98 2011 2014 36 40 .474 555.1 615 285 129 460 4.62 4.06 110 Edwin Jackson 89 117 2011 2014 36 50 .419 696.1 744 348 235 568 4.50 3.81 112 Erik Bedard 88 89 2011 2014 20 41 .328 481.2 480 239 208 445 4.47 4.10 109 John Danks 88 81 2011 2014 24 37 .393 503.0 542 266 151 353 4.76 4.68 113 Kevin Correia 86 108 2011 2014 38 48 .442 639.2 726 319 162 328 4.49 4.51 117 Ricky Nolasco 86 115 2011 2014 40 43 .482 700.0 793 352 165 510 4.53 3.73 112 Tim Lincecum 85 121 2011 2014 42 50 .457 735.0 666 332 303 727 4.07 3.71 107 Jake Westbrook 85 80 2011 2013 32 28 .533 474.2 531 232 175 254 4.40 4.18 115 J.A. Happ 84 87 2011 2014 29 39 .426 497.0 500 264 223 444 4.78 4.30 114 Roberto Hernandez 80 80 2011 2014 19 39 .328 481.0 497 258 156 304 4.83 4.64 115 Edinson Volquez 76 106 2011 2014 34 37 .479 595.1 580 316 296 510 4.78 4.41 118
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 8/10/2014.
Milwaukee Brewers series positional preview – NL best record at stake
To the surprise of many, the Brewers have the second best record in the NL with 63 wins, compared to the Dodgers leading 66 wins. The Brewers came out of the gates fast, but have cooled off considerably since June, posting a 12 – 19 record since the end of June.
It is not surprising that the team can score runs, any team with Braun / Gomez / A Ramirez should be able to score some runs. What is surprising is that the bona-fide MVP candidate is none of those three but catcher Jonathan Lucroy. The offense is loaded with six different position players posting an OPS+ north of 110 with LuCroy leading the way at 140.
1st Base – Mark Reynolds and Lyle Overbay are an interesting platoon. Reynolds is doing exactly what he’s always done, hit home runs and nothing else. Overbay on the other hand is an offensive drag every time he’s in the lineup with a .330 slug% from a 1st baseman. It did not have to be like this. The Brewers had Juan Francisco to do the Overbay part but inexplicably released him where he was grabbed by the BlueJays to be their left-handed platoon guy. Mark Reynolds has hit 19 home runs. Francisco for the Blue Jays has hit 16 home runs. Between that could have been 30 bombs from the first base slot, but instead the Brewers went with old and bad.
2nd Base – Scooter Gennett is named appropriately for his gig as the starting second baseman for the Brewers. He took over the job last year when Richie Weeks went into one of his patented prolonged slumps but never came out of. Scooter did solid work last year, but has stepped it up another gear this year with an OPS+ of 127 which puts him on the top of the OPS+ leader-board for NL second baseman. Weeks gets plenty of at bats against LHP and has done decent work this year after his horrible 2013.
SS – Jean Segura is having a tough sophomore season after a scintillating two months in 2013. His power is gone, his average is gone, and worst of all, he lost a child during the season. I was not sold on Segura last year, I felt he had probably the best two months he will have in his career, for him it just happened at the start of his career. I had this comment about Jean Segura back in March. If any listened to me they should be thankful.
Buyer Beware
Player A ROY, age 24, 649 plate appearances , 29/6/1 = 36 xba, .290 / .352 / . 349 , OPS+ of 99, 54 stolen bases, Brewer SS
The spring of 1993, this player was the cats meow in fantasy drafts. Player A never saw 400 at bats again, and was out of baseball by age 29. Leg injuries killed his career.Player B First Full Season age 23, 623 at bats, 20 /10 / 12 = 42 xba, 294 /.329 / .423, OPS+ of 103, 44 stolen bases, Brewer SS
Player B is going in the fourth round of NFBC drafts. Every projection has him as a top 10 SS, some top 5.
Don’t draft Jean Segura, spend the extra money on Ian Desmond
Jean Segura has been the worst offensive SS in the NL. Granted Ian Desmond has not been blockbusters but at least he has not been an anchor on the roto team.
3rd Base – Aramis Ramirez is old but still a potent offensive force. Hard to quantify without doing lots of work, but ex teammate after ex teammate talk about how Aramis hits the good pitchers. We shall see how he handles Grienke and Kershaw:) Aramis has the most hits by a 3rd baseman in the 21st century with 2007. For context only nine 3rd baseman in history have had at least 2000 hits.
C – Jonathan LuCroy – a real contender for the MVP award. He has been the Brewers best hitter, he is the best hitting catcher in the NL with over 100 games played, and he’s will probably set a double mark that has stood the test of time. With 38 doubles he could become the first catcher to ever lead the league in doubles. Goldy has 39, but is lost for the year so here is his competition:
Player 2B G OPS Paul Goldschmidt 39 109 .938 Jonathan Lucroy 38 107 .867 Andrew McCutchen 32 109 .947 Daniel Murphy 32 111 .789 Yasiel Puig 31 106 .940 Anthony Rendon 31 109 .797 Starlin Castro 30 113 .757 Freddie Freeman 30 114 .842 Denard Span 30 104 .755
Provided by <a href=”http://www.sports-reference.com/sharing.shtml?utm_source=direct&utm_medium=Share&utm_campaign=ShareTool”>Baseball-Reference.com</a>: <a href=”http://www.baseball-reference.com/play-index/season_finder.cgi?utm_source=direct&utm_medium=Share&utm_campaign=ShareTool”>View Play Index Tool Used</a><br>Generated 8/8/2014.
RF – Ryan Braun moved from LF to RF this year without a hitch. A non PED Braun is still a potent offensive force but no longer even the best player on his team
CF – Carlos Gomez – the brilliant CF has really come into his own the past few years. After the Twins traded him to the Brewers for JJ Hardy, Carlos has increased his OPS+ every single year while performing gold glove caliber work in CF. His OPS+ trend – 76, 82, 101, 129, 134
RF – Khris Davis with a K is having a better season the Chris Davis with a C. Still relatively unknown to casual fans, Davis has 18 bombs, and a solid 115 OPS+ for his first full time season.
Dodgers, Yesterday and Today 