Andrew Toles hits and waits
The Dodgers are so loaded in the outfield that their top position prospect Alex Verdugo can’t crack the roster and the same holds true for Andrew Toles who was the opening day starting left fielder in 2017.
The only thing either of them can do is keep knocking on the door and eventually, the Dodgers or another organization will give these two a chance at the major league level.
Andrew Toles has already done enough at the major league level to prove he belongs, what he hasn’t been able to do, is stay healthy. Toles missed almost two months of 2018 after missing almost all of 2017 for different injuries. I’m not sure if there is a hotter hitter right now than Andrew Toles who has had six straight multi-hit games. In those six games, Toles has fourteen hits including home runs in the last two games. Over his last ten games, Toles is hitting .400 and now has his AAA triple stat line sitting at .353 / .395 / .534.
I don’t know much about Connor Joe but it is time to find out who he is. The 25-year-old 3rd baseman tore up AA and earned a promotion to AAA, and has continued to scorch the earth. Connor Joe has a 1.253 OPS in 30 AAA at-bats so far. He was a 2014 first round pick by the Pirates so why is he in the Dodger organization? Turns out the Dodgers acquired him from the Braves who had acquired him from the Pirates with the price simply being international signing money.
John Sickels gives us more on Connor Joe.
It’s little to go on, but Connor Joe has valuable prospect history. He was a first-round pick and has already overcome an injury as well as two trades. The Dodgers may have bought great low value here and added another piece to their National League pennant winning organization.
Manny Banuelos has been the Dodgers best pitcher at AAA all season but will probably never see the mound for the Dodgers until Sept if he is still in the organization at that point.
Brock Stewart had the best game of the season for him yesterday, throwing six shutout innings.
On the downside, Mitch White just can’t get it going and is dropping as fast as Yadier Alvarez in the Dodger prospect ranking. Two years ago these guys were two of the jewels, but have been bypassed this year as they struggle in AA.
Will Smith the AA catcher sharing time with Keibert Ruiz had a power surge the week before hitting four home runs in four games, and this past week went on a base on balls binge, walking six times in his past three games.
Rylan Bannon is the name to watch for the A Plus Rancho Cucamonga Quakes. Bannon has nineteen home runs and sports a 1.000 OPS. Over his last ten games he is hitting .447 along with eight walks. The 8th round pick from 2017 has blossomed quickly and might be the steal of the Dodger draft. They needed a steal because number one pick Jeren Kendall continues to struggle in the same league, and 2nd round pick Morgan Cooper has yet to throw one professional inning. Bannon leads the California League in home runs with 19, RBI with 54, 2nd with runs scored with 50, 2nd in OBP at .405, 2nd in OPS at 1.000. A massive season for Bannon.
Max Muncy is now in Manny Ramirez territory
Most Dodger fans can remember the impact that Manny Ramirez had on the Dodger franchise in the summer of 2008. Manny had the greatest run of any Dodger in history, putting up a 1.232 OPS after he was acquired dirt cheap in the summer of 2008.
Max Muncy is now one of seven Dodgers to have an OBP > .400 and a Slug% > .600 with at least 200 plate appearances. The big difference is that these were the final season stats for the other six but for Muncy, the season is still going on, and there is no way in hell he can keep up this pace.
Or can he?
Player OPS OBP SLG PA Year Age Manny Ramirez 1.232 .489 .743 229 2008 36 Babe Herman 1.132 .455 .678 699 1930 27 Gary Sheffield 1.081 .438 .643 612 2000 31 Duke Snider 1.071 .423 .647 679 1954 27 Mike Piazza 1.070 .431 .638 633 1997 28 Babe Herman 1.047 .436 .612 637 1929 26 Duke Snider 1.046 .418 .628 653 1955 28 Duke Snider 1.046 .419 .627 680 1953 26 Hanley Ramirez 1.040 .402 .638 336 2013 29 Max Muncy 1.024 .416 .608 221 2018 27 Mike Piazza 1.006 .400 .606 475 1995 26
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 7/2/2018.
Joc Pederson joins the top five Dodger Slug% for a given month
Joc didn’t finish the month with a Slug% > .900 but his June .867 Slug% still ended up being the fifth best in the history of the Dodger franchise with at least fifty plate appearances.
Player Split Year SLG PA 2B 3B HR Andre Ethier May 2010 .906 58 9 0 5 Matt Kemp April/March 2012 .893 98 4 0 12 Ron Cey April/March 1977 .890 94 5 1 9 Wally Moon April/March 1961 .883 70 4 0 8 Joc Pederson June 2018 .867 67 5 0 10 Pedro Guerrero June 1985 .860 110 3 0 15 Frank Howard July 1962 .856 108 8 1 12 Rick Monday Sept/Oct 1981 .830 61 1 1 6 Duke Snider August 1959 .824 85 3 1 8 Johnny Frederick May 1929 .823 88 11 1 6 Marlon Anderson Sept/Oct 2006 .813 73 3 2 7 Duke Snider June 1954 .809 129 9 5 9 Gary Sheffield June 2000 .798 125 5 0 12
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 7/2/2018.
Gotta love the Duke Snider line in June of 1954. Duke had nine doubles, five triples, and nine home runs. Five triples in a month seems like a lot. Let’s find out if it was.
It was not. There are so many with more than five I can’t even list them. Triples weren’t so rare before integration. If we reduce the selection to post-integration we get a more compact leaderboard. Yes, I was surprised that Bill Russell hit six triples in a month but then I saw the year was 1970 and that was when Bill Russell was only 21 year old. Bill Russell would hit nine triples in 1970 but not hit one single home run.
Player Split Year 3B PA Jim Gilliam August 1953 6 152 Bill Russell August 1970 6 131 Willie Davis July 1962 5 117 Duke Snider June 1954 5 129 Yasiel Puig July 2014 5 87 Willie Davis August 1970 5 112 Maury Wills July 1969 5 142 Dee Gordon June 2014 5 109 Willie Davis May 1970 5 123 Spider Jorgensen July 1947 5 136
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 7/2/2018.
Dodger Monthly Home Run Leaderboard
Last week I erroneously wrote a post saying that the most home runs in a month by a left handed Dodger was 10 which was wrong. I’m not sure what went wrong with my baseball reference play index search but it sure didn’t work right and I should have re-checked the data because it didn’t sound right.
Below is the leaderboard for most home runs by a left-handed Dodger in any given month. Duke Snider sits on top with 15 in 1953. The most by any Los Angeles Dodger is Cody Bellinger who did it last June.
Player Split Year HR PA Duke Snider August 1953 15 141 Cody Bellinger June 2017 13 119 Duke Snider June 1955 12 119 Shawn Green August 2001 12 122 Duke Snider August 1956 12 127 Shawn Green June 2002 12 108 Duke Snider July 1955 11 126 Duke Snider July 1957 11 113 Shawn Green July 2001 10 117 Shawn Green May 2002 10 120 Dolph Camilli August 1940 10 132 Shawn Green August 2002 10 122 Max Muncy June 2018 10 101 Joc Pederson June 2018 10 67
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 7/2/2018.
Below is the home run leaderboard for right-handed Dodger hitters in any given month.
Player Split Year HR PA AB Pedro Guerrero June 1985 15 110 93 Adrian Beltre August 2004 13 128 116 Eric Karros July 1999 12 116 105 Roy Campanella May 1953 12 114 95 Gary Sheffield Sept/Oct 1999 12 113 84 Matt Kemp April/March 2012 12 98 84 Steve Garvey June 1977 12 125 110 Gary Sheffield June 2000 12 125 99 Frank Howard July 1962 12 108 97 Mike Marshall Sept/Oct 1985 11 152 141 Gil Hodges July 1953 11 134 122
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 7/2/2018.
And finally the combined list.
Player Split Year HR PA Pedro Guerrero June 1985 15 110 Duke Snider August 1953 15 141 Cody Bellinger June 2017 13 119 Adrian Beltre August 2004 13 128 Frank Howard July 1962 12 108 Duke Snider June 1955 12 119 Steve Garvey June 1977 12 125 Eric Karros July 1999 12 116 Duke Snider August 1956 12 127 Shawn Green August 2001 12 122 Gary Sheffield Sept/Oct 1999 12 113 Roy Campanella May 1953 12 114 Matt Kemp April/March 2012 12 98 Shawn Green June 2002 12 108 Gary Sheffield June 2000 12 125 Mike Marshall Sept/Oct 1985 11 152 Gil Hodges July 1953 11 134 Duke Snider July 1955 11 126 Duke Snider July 1957 11 113
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 7/2/2018.
June Boom
Late to the party but time to put the Dodger June explosion into proper context. Last year the Dodgers set the monthly home run record for the franchise with 53 home runs in June. This June they broke that record monthly record with 55 home runs. Before last June the previous high mark for the Los Angeles Dodger franchise was only 45, set in 2004 when Adrian Beltre unleashed his assault on National League pitching.
Team Split Year HR PA LAD June 2018 55 995 LAD June 2017 53 1097 BRO July 1953 49 1226 BRO August 1953 49 1246 LAD July 2004 45 1080 BRO June 1950 45 1054 BRO July 1955 43 1241 LAD May 1979 43 1094 BRO June 1954 43 1147 LAD August 2004 42 1111 BRO Sept/Oct 1950 41 1303 LAD April/March 2000 41 966 LAD August 1979 41 1084 LAD June 2001 41 1070 BRO July 1950 41 1176 LAD June 2000 40 1099 LAD June 1977 39 1119
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 7/2/2018.
Now let’s compare the big boppers of this June with last year. Starting at the top, Cody Bellinger loves June. In June of 2017, Cody hit 13 of his 39 home runs in June. This year he has 8 of his 16 home runs in June. In his brief career, Cody has hit 21 of his 55 home runs in the month of June.
Joc Pederson also loves June. Last year Joc only hit 11 home runs, and six of them came in June. This year Joc has also hit eleven home runs, and ten of them came in June. His home run ratio per at bat is ridiculous in the past two months of June. Joc has hit 16 home runs in only 116 at-bats the past two months of June.
Max Muncy is the new kid on the block with his ten home runs in June, and he did it with only 76 at-bats.
Matt Kemp hit six early home runs this past June, so even with his June slump he still managed a power June.
When Corey Seager went down Chris Taylor took over SS and hit like Corey Seager. When Chris Taylor went down, Kiké took over SS and also hit like Corey Seager.
| Player | 2018 Home Runs/At-Bats | 2017 Home Runs/At-Bats |
| Cody Bellinger | 8/85 | 13/105 |
| Joc Pederson | 10/60 | 6/56 |
| Max Muncy | 10/76 | 0/0 |
| Kiké Hernandez | 7/79 | 4/64 |
| Matt Kemp | 6/82 | 0/0 |
| Yasiel Puig | 4/89 | 6/84 |
| Justin Turner | 4/71 | 5/65 |
| Corey Seager | 0/0 | 5/80 |
On this date 06/20/2016 Kenley Jansen broke the Dodger save record (161).
And two years later he is targeting save number 250 sometime this week.
Player SV From To G IP ERA FIP Kenley Jansen 248 2010 2018 506 510.2 2.10 1.94 Eric Gagne 161 1999 2006 298 545.1 3.27 3.40 Jeff Shaw 129 1998 2001 235 235.1 3.37 4.06 Todd Worrell 127 1993 1997 269 268.0 3.93 3.59 Jim Brewer 126 1964 1975 474 822.0 2.62 2.94 Ron Perranoski 100 1961 1972 457 766.2 2.56 3.02
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 6/20/2018.
Overall Kenley is now 36th but if he continues his current pace of 40 plus saves a year he could be pushing toward the top ten by the end of the 2020 season.
On this date June 19th, 1973 Willie Davis got his 2000th hit as a Dodger with a home run
And remains the only Los Angeles Dodger with at least 2,000 hits. Willie did this in 1973 which was his last year as Los Angeles Dodger. The Dodgers won that game 3 – 0 with Tommy John and Pete Richart combining on the shutout.
Player H From To Age PA Willie Davis 2091 1960 1973 20-33 8035 Steve Garvey 1968 1969 1982 20-33 7027 Bill Russell 1926 1969 1986 20-37 8021 Maury Wills 1732 1959 1972 26-39 6745 Eric Karros 1608 1991 2002 23-34 6624
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 6/19/2018.
First big trade chip goes to the Nationals
Last year the Nationals made their pitch to end their postseason drought by making an early trade on July 16th for Sean Doolittle and Ryan Madson. That trade bolstered the Nationals bullpen but did not help them get past the Cubs in the 2017 NLDS though Doolittle and Madson did their part by limiting the Cubs to one run in seven innings.
This year the Nationals struck even earlier, acquiring Kelvin Herrera from the Royals to once again fortify the bullpen. Herrera was a key piece for the 2015 World Champion Royals setting up Wade Davis and would become the Royals closer when Wade Davis was traded to the Cubs. Kelvin was having a fine season as the Royals closer in 2018 but will probably setup Sean Doolittle who has been outstanding.
This is a great trade for the Nationals and Herrera should help them as they try to catch Atlanta and move on in the postseason. Herrera would have been a nice addition to the Dodger bullpen moving from Royal blue to Dodger blue. I don’t have much of a handle on the three pieces that went to the Royals in the deal but from what I have read none of the three were in the top ten of National prospects so the Royals went with quantity over quality.
The trade deadline is still six weeks away but maybe with the Nationals striking first, it will start an early trade market. MLB Trade Rumors lists the top 50 likely trade candidates and to their credit, Kelvin Herrera was number two on that list.
Players from that list that might make the Dodgers a better team?
1. Manny Machado, SS, Orioles: Der
8. Brad Hand, RP, Padres; I wanted Brad Hand last year, he would make a great addition to the Dodger bullpen but the price will be high as he has a great contract.
13. Craig Stammen, RHP, Padres: Stammen could help but the price probably would not be worth it.
14. Scooter Gennett, 2B, Reds: The Dodgers have one hole and that is 2nd base. Scooter has raked long enough now that his breakout season last year does not appear to be flukish.
50. Whit Merrifield, 2B, Royals: This guy might look good in Royal blue. From the MLB Rumors report:
Speaking of players with four years of control, Merrifield has emerged as a late-blooming star in Kansas City. He’s hitting .284/.363/.411 with elite baserunning, a bit of pop and intriguing defensive versatility. Merrifield plays an excellent second base and has also lined up on the outfield grass, including in center. The remaining club control and the fact that he won’t even be arb-eligible until the 2019-20 offseason are compelling reasons to keep him, but Merrifield is also already 29 and the Royals don’t expect to contend for years. Second base hasn’t been an in-demand position in recent years, but Merrifield is the type of player that should fetch a package featuring multiple prospects and/or near-MLB-ready assets.
You know who is not on that list? Jacob Degrom.
When it comes to trade chips, the Dodgers have one of the best in Alex Verdugo. When you think about the Dodger outfield you have Puig/Joc/Kemp with Kiké and Cody at the major league level.
At the highest minor league level, you have Alex Verdugo and Andrew Toles. Toles has already proven he is a major league outfielder when healthy, so what Toles has to prove now, is that he can play the game without constantly getting hurt. Alex Verdugo has done everything at the minor league level and now needs to prove he’scan produce enough to be a major league outfielder.
Dropping down one level you have Yusniel Diaz who might not be at the same level as Verdugo or Toles but appears to have the skills to be a major league outfielder. DJ Peters has more power than all of them put together but has to prove he can make enough contact to be a productive major league outfielder.
Even if Max Muncy becomes a pumpkin and you move Cody back to 1st base you still have Chris Taylor moving either back to the outfield in 2019 or to 2nd base when Corey Seager comes back. If Muncy does not become a pumpkin is a 1st or 2nd baseman? He has also played the outfield. It is clear the Dodgers have an abundance of outfielders and by July 31st, one of the folk listed above will be gone.
Do the Dodgers really want to part ways with Puig with a year and a half of control remaining on a very team friendly contract? Some say yes emphatically. L.A. has Andrew Toles, Alex Verdugo, DJ Peters and Yusniel Diaz in the minors, and they’ll have to find room in their outfield at some point. Puig’s value right now may be the highest it’s going to be, and there’s no denying they’re in need of pitching reinforcements.
My answer is, of course, no, and for the reasons that Stacie outlined on why Puig is such a valuable Dodger. You could make a case that Joc Pederson would be a great trade chip right now. He is smoking hot and is left handed as are Cody, Verdugo, and Toles. If you trade Puig you lose one of the potent right-hand bats in the lineup, if you trade Joc, his bat seems replaceable.
I do differ with Stacie in that she said the Dodgers are in need of pitching reinforcements. That would have been an accurate statement a week ago but I’m not sure it holds water today. The reinforcements were on the DL and every day one of them comes back. Kenta came back last week. Rich Hill comes back today. Clayton Kershaw seems to be on schedule to return as early as this weekend. In the blink of an eye, the rotation just picked up three key rotation pieces with the big guy being the biggest key. In about two or three weeks Walker Buehler will be back and guess what? By hitting the Dl for a month, Walker may not have very much of an innings restriction as the season progresses. Ryu is still on track for a return after the all-star game. That actually leaves the Dodgers with a surplus because the best pitcher on the team is now Ross Stripling.
The rotation on August 1st which is just six weeks away could be much stronger than it was on April 1st if Clayton can keep his health together. Finding Ross Stripling was much like the Mets finding Jacob DeGrom in 2014 at the age of 26. He was a fringe prospect who blew up when given a chance.
I would not hesitate to add Jacob Degrom to the Dodgers but that needs a bigger space and I’m at the end of mine right now.
One last blurb on Alex Verdugo
The three-hit performance, already Verdugo’s fourth of June, pushed his season-long slash line to .350/.392/.522 through 44 Triple-A games. He has five doubles in his last three games, and his slugging percentage has jumped 70 points since Friday.
Dodger / Cubs chasing 1st place
The two teams who met in the 2017 NLCS will square off for the first time in 2018 with both teams in strange positions for them. The Dodgers are in 2nd place chasing the Diamondbacks, while the Cubs are in second place chasing the surprising Brewers.
Both teams appear to have enough talent to eventually bring down the upstarts who lead their respective divisions but first off they will need to deal with each other since they play each other seven times in the next ten games.
The Dodgers won the 2017 NLCS on the strength of an offense that included massive contributions from Charlie Culberson and Kiké, along with the pitching of Clayton, Yu Darvish, and Rich Hill. Charlie Culberson is gone, and plying his trade with the Braves. Yu Darvish signed with the Cubs and has been either hurt or ineffective so far. Clayton is on the disabled list leaving only Rich Hill and Kiké from the main group of players who brought down the Cubs last fall. Rich Hill will make his first start May 19th a start that never really happened since he never took the mound and threw a pitch even though it does show up in game logs as a start.
In this series, the Dodgers are almost back to full-strength with only Clayton Kershaw missing from the original rotation. Walker Buehler is also out so you could say the Cubs will get to play the Dodgers without having to face their two best pitchers. We can only hope that if we face off in October, that Clayton and Walker will be healthy enough to be part of that postseason matchup.
The Cubs are somewhat healthy. Yu Darvish is the only player of note on the disabled list. Javier Baez was removed from the game Sunday Night after being hit on the hand so I’m not sure what his status will be for this series.
Just like the Dodgers, the Cubs had been hot until Sunday. The Dodger offense was limited to one run on Sunday, the Cubs were shutout.
Just a few Cub Notes:
- Kris Byrant has an overall 2018 slug% of .483, but in June has only one double and one home run for a June slug% of .340. Over the last 28 days, he has a slug% of .319. Yikes
- No one on the Cubs is red-hot though Addison Russell does have a June OPS of .883. That is the best the Cubs have in June. The Dodgers, on the other hand, have five players with an OPS over .999 in the month of June.
- Brandon Morrow has been outstanding as the Cub closer giving them exactly what they paid for.
- The Dodgers will face two left-handers so Kiké will get his opportunity to get reacquainted with Cub fans who have been throwing darts at him all winter after one of the greatest offensive NLCS games in history.
The chasm between us
My Fathers Day may have gone the way of many my age, as the ability to communicate with my father is limited due to age and geographic proximity. He is going to turn 90 this year, he lives 350 miles away, and the ability to talk with him via the phone has zero rewards. Forget Skype, he simply can’t articulate a conversation and is in full-blown dementia. The chasm between him and I seems too wide to navigate unless I’m in his presence hence the reason I’ll be doing the 350 drive very soon.
The chasm bothers me but there is nothing I can do about it, however, the chasm that has developed between myself and 40% of the American Population is more troubling. The 40% that feel, President Trump is doing a good job. I guarantee you that my Dad would have considered Trump and his campaign associates traitors. I would so much like to talk to him about our current political situation. With the man who was a West Point graduate in 1950, who was serving in Korea when I was born, who gave me many a stimulated political conversation as I grew up and into a man. Oh man, that is what I miss right now.
This little column was going to be about my father, but I think all of us should be thinking about the fathers who just made a long risk-filled journey to seek political asylum for their families and instead of being treated with the dignity that asylum seekers should receive from this country, had found their children being taken from them as they await their hearings. I don’t have children, so I can’t imagine for you who do, what that would feel like, but as this information gained light, I could hear the collective moan of empathetic parents throughout North America. The Trump admin may have finally crossed a line, a line they may not have thought existed but even the evangelicals who have supported him unwaveringly finally wavered when the soulless White House mongrel Steven Miller admitted that the policy was put in place to be a deterrent so that future political asylum seekers would think twice about leaving their country for a better life in the United States.
As deterrents go, you would think this one will probably work, as what family would take the chance of losing their children? Maybe the Berduo family would, given the other choice is possibly death if they stayed in their own country? That is not quite Sofie’s choice is it? Death or separation of a family?
I’m pretty sure the lady in NY harbor has her own view on this policy.
This is the policy right now. It is complicated and the issue of separating families who have been charged with a crime was in place before the Trump admin, so what has changed? This
There is no law that requires immigrant families to be separated. The decision to charge everyone crossing the border with illegal entry — and the decision to charge asylum seekers in criminal court rather than waiting to see if they qualify for asylum — are both decisions the Trump administration has made.
This new policy seems short-sided. They will create enemies of this country from both the children separated and from the parents they ripped those children from. Especially if they are never united again which has been documented as happening. If you want to create terrorists this is the way to go about it.
The asylum seekers are now being accused of a misdemeanor crime and thus are legally having their children removed from them as they await trail. If you are no longer going to recognize asylum seekers without charging them with a crime, tear down the Statue of Liberty because you can’t advertise something you can’t deliver. I understand the need to vet those who come calling at our borders. I fail to understand why we can’t treat them with respect.
We are a wealthy country and some forget or don’t care that we are here simply by the luck of the draw. I was born a white man in California, the lottery of luck when it comes to being born but why should someone not so lucky, someone born into poverty and a dead end not seek the opportunity for their family that beckons for them in the United States?
Many will say because we don’t have room. I don’t have an answer to that, but I do know that any policy that relies on something such as child separation for deterrent purposes is a policy that should not stand for long.
Just imagine how bad your life is for you and your family that you make the choice to leave everything you and your family ever knew, to make a long arduous journey to a place you hope can be your families salvation only to arrive and have them forcefully take your children? Or tell you that the children need to be bathed and take them away never to see them again without any communication from the authorities? Imagine that shit? One man killed himself and you could understand why? He had failed his three-year-old son and wife based on a policy put in place by a man of extreme privilege who never felt a hunger pang in his life but has made it is his life’s duty to punish those who seek a better life.
Will we let him?
While I was reading Infamy:The Shocking Story of the Japanese-American internment several years ago I wondered what I would have done if I had been around during that time. I concluded I would have done nothing, that I would have believed the Government rhetoric that our citizens were a danger to our democracy during the time of war but I also know that I would have tried to make sure they were taken care as best they could be while being interned. A pathetic response to be sure, maybe I’d done more as many did but I don’t think so.
Dodgers, Yesterday and Today 