Old men keeping Dodgers afloat
Baseball is a young man’s game but right now, but when you sort by descending age you find the best hitters at the top of the list. Logan Forsythe gets in the way but Chase, Matt, and Yaz are three of the four oldest position Dodgers and they are the top three hitters on the team as of April 18th.
Name Age PA HR RBI BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+ Chase Utley* 39 42 1 6 .333 .452 .485 .937 166 Matt Kemp 33 50 3 10 .333 .380 .600 .980 173 Logan Forsythe (10-day dl) 31 49 1 4 .174 .224 .283 .507 43 Yasmani Grandal# 29 56 3 12 .347 .429 .612 1.041 191 Austin Barnes 28 26 0 1 .238 .385 .286 .670 94 Chris Taylor 27 75 3 8 .211 .240 .394 .634 76 Yasiel Puig 27 71 0 4 .206 .282 .270 .552 57 Kyle Farmer 27 25 0 3 .273 .360 .364 .724 106 Max Muncy* 27 1 0 0 1.000 1.000 1.000 2.000 469 Enrique Hernandez 26 50 1 7 .190 .280 .333 .613 73 Joc Pederson* 26 32 0 3 .148 .281 .222 .503 45 Breyvic Valera# (40-man) 26 2 0 0 .000 .500 .000 .500 56 Corey Seager* 24 72 1 4 .212 .278 .273 .551 57 Cody Bellinger* 22 68 2 4 .297 .338 .453 .791 122
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 4/18/2018.
Dodger catchers crushing home runs up and down the system
Starting on Saturday, the Dodger catching prospects and now the Dodger catcher have been on a home run tear mashing seven home runs in just five games.
It all started innocently enough when Connor Wong hit a home run on Friday the 13th. Connor is the starting catcher for the Rancho Cucamonga in A+ ball. Will Smith blasted a home run on Saturday Night. Will shares time with Keibert Ruiz in AA. On Sunday, Connor Wong blasted two more home runs. It culminated today and tonight with Keibert Ruiz hitting two home runs for Tulsa. These were the first two home runs of the year for Keibert who had been in a one for twenty slump before the blasts. Yazmani Grandal capped it off with a grand slam tonight against the Padres.
It isn’t all about home runs.
Will Smith is hitting .364 while splitting time between catching and DH. His OBP is .476. There is a reason why some pundits feel he is the best catching prospect in the system.
With his two home run today, Keibert Ruiz will try to get back on the hot streak he was having before the start of last week. Keibert started last week hitting .385 and ended the week hitting .200 as he went 2 for 22.
Keibert Ruiz is showing off his 💪 for @TulsaDrillers. The #Dodgers No. 3 prospect is 2-for-3 with two homers and four RBIs through five innings.
Here’s how all @Dodgers‘ prospects are performing today: https://t.co/Yjo3eyBFMN pic.twitter.com/tWj8Us5jKv
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) April 16, 2018
Of course, Keibert had this great game right after I tweeted this in the morning.
Actually, Keibert got a hit on Sunday so make that 2 for 22 for the week with zero walks. He has zero walks in 2018. I’m not sure why he is in AA and It is possible the Dodgers rushed him. I’d be curious why they felt a 19-year-old needed to be in AA. What’s the hurry?
— Phil Gurnee (@meercatjohn) April 16, 2018
Connor Wong leads the California League in home runs with five and has a slug% of .825. Wong at this point last year was still playing college ball. Connor was named the catcher on the MLB Pipeline prospect team of the week.
C: Connor Wong, Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (Class A Advanced)
(Dodgers’ No. 15 prospect)
.361/.439/.889, 9 G ,13 R, 13 H, 4 2B, 5 HR, 11 RBI, 4 BB, 17 K, 2 SB, 1 CSIt took Wong just nine games to match his home run total from 2017, his pro debut. He homered in each of his first two games and twice on Sunday, when he showed off his athleticism and versatility by playing second base. Wong is tied with Colton Welker (see below) for the Minor League lead in runs, and he sits atop the California League in homers, extra-base hits (nine), totals bases (32), slugging percentage and RBIs.
Yazmani Grandal is letting them all know, the big league gig is his, and he plans on keeping it.
Alex Verdugo has a weekend
Sometimes how many hits you get is not nearly as important as when you get those hits. Alex Verdugo made the most of his hits this weekend as he wins the Farm Factory Prospect of the Week on the virtue of his weekend home run heroics.
Heading into 2018 the only real knock on his hitting tool was his power. In his first 35 at-bats of 2018, Verdugo had yet to hit a home run. That changed dramatically.
On his 36th at-bat in the bottom of the 8th on April 14th, he slugged a two-run home run to tie a game his team would win in the bottom of the 10th.
On his 37th at-bat in the bottom of the 10th with his team down by one run, he would pinch hit a three-run home run to win the game.
Your Play of the Game presented by @FollowSNU is Alex Verdugo’s walk-off home run in extra innings!
Step up to the plate with SNU at https://t.co/ZJHqckmahb. pic.twitter.com/jGxdeDOac6
— OKC Dodgers (@okc_dodgers) April 16, 2018
Now that is a flair for the dramatic. If Verdugo can keep this up when he hits the majors they just might name a thorofare in Glendale in his honor.
His fellow outfielder Henry Ramos thinks he was robbed of the weekly award. All Henry Ramos did this week was:
- Drive in three runs without a hit on April 10th
- Hit a grand slam on April 13th
- Hit another grand slam on April 15th
- Drive in 12 runs for the week. He had zero RBI before the week started.
Now that is a week.
On the opposite side of having a great week, Keibert Ruiz went 2 for 22, with zero walks and has yet to walk in 2018. I’m not sure why Keibert is in AA right now. It is not like the Dodgers need to rush him.
It might even make sense to switch him with Connor Wong who destroyed California League pitching this weekend. Wong went seven for twelve with two walks and three home runs. Wong currently leads the California League in home runs with five.
Logan and Kiké are not answering their questions in the affirmative
The biggest question the Dodgers had to answer this season when the season started was how much the injury to Justin Turner was going to affect the team.
The answer on April 16th. Quite a bit.
The two players on the hot seat because of the Turner injury are Logan Forsythe and Kiké Hernandez and both have been black holes in the anemic Dodger offense. You can look at other suspects like Puig, but Puig has simply hit into bad luck smoking many outs. Corey Seager has also been missing but unlike Logan and Kiké, Corey has nothing to prove.
Logan and Kiké both had big post seasons and you could have easily made a case that the Dodgers would miss Turner, but not much. Not like this.
Kiké was supposed to use this time to prove he was more than a utility player, someone who could hit right hand pitching enough to warrant consideration for more playing time. Instead, Kiké looks like he did in 2016 when it was hard to quantify his place on the roster. He is not hitting left-handers. He is not hitting right-handers. This was his moment to shine, instead, he has been nothing but cloud cover.
Logan Forsythe was supposed to prove that his down 2017 season was due to injuries and he would bounce back big in 2018. Instead, he’s been horrible and now is back on the DL due to shoulder problems. Was his anemic hitting due to his shoulder issues? How long has he had the shoulder issues?
Either way, when Justin Turner comes back, the Dodgers may get their 3rd base problem solved but do they have a viable second baseman? If Forsythe or Hernandez can’t cut it, they could always move Chris Taylor back to 2nd base and shift Joc back to CF. Or bring up Alex Verdugo to play CF.
They do have options, but what they don’t have is the luxury of running away with the NL West as they have done in previous years. The Diamondbacks may not be as good as their current record, but they don’t need to be, to keep the Dodgers on their toes.
Anyway, good thing they resigned Chase Utley isn’t it? He with the OPS+ of 154
Name PA BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+ Chris Taylor 64 .230 .250 .443 .693 88 Corey Seager* 61 .200 .279 .255 .533 50 Yasiel Puig 60 .222 .283 .296 .580 62 Cody Bellinger* 57 .309 .333 .455 .788 117 Logan Forsythe 49 .174 .224 .283 .507 40 Yasmani Grandal# 45 .359 .444 .564 1.009 179 Matt Kemp 44 .300 .364 .450 .814 125 Enrique Hernandez 43 .167 .256 .306 .561 56 Chase Utley* 36 .333 .417 .500 .917 154 Joc Pederson* 29 .154 .241 .231 .472 33 Austin Barnes 25 .250 .400 .300 .700 99 Kyle Farmer 15 .286 .333 .357 .690 93 Breyvic Valera# 1 1.000 Rank in 15 NL teams 5 10 13 12 Non-Pitcher Totals 529 .246 .312 .374 .686 90
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 4/16/2018.
Just another game score of 81 for Brother in Arms, Clayton Kershaw
Usually, when a pitcher puts up a game score of 81 it is one of the best games of his career. For Clayton Kershaw is was just another brilliant game.
If you want to read more about Clayton Kershaw, past the simple numbers I’m about to show you below, I suggest you quickly connect to Amazon or your favorite bookseller and pick up Brother in Arms by Jon Weisman. If you go soon enough you will see this on the page:
#1 New Release in Western U.S. Biographies
He has had five game scores of at least 80, five times since the start of the 2017 season.
Date Rslt IP H ER BB SO GSc 2018-04-15 W 7-2 7.0 2 1 0 12 81 2017-07-09 W 5-2 9.0 6 2 0 13 80 2017-07-04 W 4-3 7.0 2 0 2 11 82 2017-06-02 W 2-1 7.0 2 1 1 14 82 2017-05-23 W 2-1 9.0 3 1 0 10 87
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 4/16/2018.
He has had forty-two game scores of at least 80 since the start of his career. As I wrote this line I just realized that Clayton Kershaw picked up the 42nd game score of at least 80 in his career on the day all of baseball was wearing the number 42.
Jon Weisman reminds us that we had seen this all before on Jackie Robinson day.
In 2009, on a Jackie Robinson Day start April 15 against the Giants,
the world first glimpsed a truly dominant Kershaw. In seven innings, he
allowed a second-inning Bengie Molina home run, a fifth-inning Rich
Brothers_in_Arms_final.indd 349 1/11/18 9:27 AM
350 brothers in arms
Aurilia walk, and nothing else, all while striking out 13, making him the
youngest to do so since Koufax was a rookie in 1955.
And yours truly wrote about the same game in one of my most personal columns.
We were headed to the 7th in a 2 – 1 game with history being made. Little did I know how much history was about to be made. Did I mention I was loving this game?
Date Rslt IP H ER BB SO GSc IR 2014-06-18 W 8-0 9.0 0 0 0 15 102 2015-09-29 W 8-0 9.0 1 0 1 13 97 2016-05-01 W 1-0 9.0 3 0 0 14 95 2011-06-20 W 4-0 9.0 2 0 1 11 93 2016-05-12 W 5-0 9.0 3 0 1 13 93 2011-05-29 W 8-0 9.0 2 0 1 10 92 2015-07-23 W 3-0 9.0 3 0 0 11 92 2015-07-18 W 4-2 8.0 3 0 0 14 90 2015-06-06 W 2-0 8.0 1 0 2 11 89 2016-05-23 W 1-0 9.0 2 0 1 7 89 2011-07-20 W 1-0 8.0 3 0 1 12 87 2013-07-02 W 8-0 9.0 4 0 0 8 87 2014-07-10 W 2-1 9.0 3 1 1 11 87 2014-07-26 W 5-0 9.0 3 0 1 7 87 2017-05-23 W 2-1 9.0 3 1 0 10 87 2013-04-01 W 4-0 9.0 4 0 0 7 86 2013-04-28 W 2-0 8.0 4 0 0 12 86 2014-07-04 W 9-0 8.0 2 0 1 8 85 2015-08-28 W 4-1 8.0 3 1 1 14 85 2015-09-02 W 2-1 9.0 6 1 1 15 85 2010-05-09 W 2-0 8.0 2 0 3 9 84 2013-05-14 W 2-0 8.2 5 0 1 11 84 2015-07-08 W 5-0 9.0 8 0 0 13 84 2015-08-01 W 3-1 8.0 2 0 1 7 84 2015-08-12 W 3-0 8.0 3 0 0 8 84 2009-04-15 W 5-4 7.0 1 1 1 13 83 2010-09-14 W 1-0 9.0 4 0 0 4 83 2012-07-29 W 4-0 9.0 5 0 1 7 83 2013-08-17 W 5-0 8.0 3 0 1 8 83 2016-04-04 W 15-0 7.0 1 0 1 9 83 2009-08-08 L 1-2 7.0 2 0 1 10 82 2011-09-09 W 2-1 8.0 3 0 1 9 82 2017-06-02 W 2-1 7.0 2 1 1 14 82 2017-07-04 W 4-3 7.0 2 0 2 11 82 2013-04-06 W 1-0 7.0 2 0 1 9 81 2013-05-20 W 3-1 9.0 3 1 1 5 81 2016-05-17 W 5-1 8.0 4 1 0 11 81 2018-04-15 W 7-2 7.0 2 1 0 12 81 2011-05-13 W 4-3 7.0 3 0 2 11 80 2012-09-28 W 8-0 8.0 5 0 2 10 80 2014-08-21 W 2-1 8.0 3 1 2 10 80 2017-07-09 W 5-2 9.0 6 2 0 13 80
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 4/16/2018.
He has struck out at least twelve hitters four times since the start of 2017 season.
He has struck out at least twelve hitters twenty times since the start of his career.
For some perspective on these accomplishments.
Other Dodgers pitchers since the start of 2017 with a game score of at least 80? Four, one by Alex Wood, two by Rich Hill, and one by Yu Darvish.
Other Dodger pitchers with a game score of at least 80 since Clayton Kershaw did his first one on April 15th, 2009? 26 times.
Player Date Rslt IP H ER BB SO GSc Alex Wood 2015-09-16 W 2-0 8.0 1 0 0 5 85 Alex Wood 2018-03-30 L 0-1 8.0 1 0 0 5 85 Chad Billingsley 2011-05-14 L 0-1 8.0 1 0 2 8 84 Chad Billingsley 2011-04-17 W 2-1 8.0 3 0 2 11 85 Chad Billingsley 2012-04-06 W 6-0 8.1 3 0 1 11 87 Chris Capuano 2012-08-12 W 5-0 8.0 2 0 3 10 85 Eric Stults 2009-05-09 W 8-0 9.0 4 0 0 5 84 Hiroki Kuroda 2010-08-30 W 3-0 7.2 1 0 2 7 82 Hyun-Jin Ryu 2013-05-28 W 3-0 9.0 2 0 0 7 90 Hyun-Jin Ryu 2014-04-11 W 6-0 7.0 2 0 1 8 80 Hyun-Jin Ryu 2017-08-06 W 8-0 7.0 1 0 0 8 83 Josh Beckett 2014-05-25 W 6-0 9.0 0 0 3 6 90 Kenta Maeda 2016-07-10 W 3-1 7.0 2 1 0 13 82 Mike Bolsinger 2015-05-23 W 2-0 8.0 1 0 0 8 88 Rich Hill 2016-09-10 W 5-0 7.0 0 0 0 9 86 Rich Hill 2017-08-23 L 0-1 9.0 1 1 0 10 91 Rich Hill 2017-09-27 W 10-0 7.0 2 0 2 10 81 Ricky Nolasco 2013-08-23 W 2-0 8.0 2 0 0 6 84 Ricky Nolasco 2013-08-28 W 4-0 8.0 3 0 1 11 86 Ted Lilly 2010-08-19 W 2-0 9.0 2 0 2 11 92 Vicente Padilla 2010-07-11 W 7-0 8.0 2 0 1 6 83 Vicente Padilla 2010-08-04 W 9-0 9.0 2 0 2 9 90 Yu Darvish 2017-08-04 W 6-0 7.0 3 0 1 10 80 Zack Greinke 2015-07-09 W 6-0 8.0 1 0 0 8 88 Zack Greinke 2015-09-13 W 4-3 8.0 3 0 2 8 82 Zack Greinke 2013-07-13 W 1-0 9.0 2 0 1 9 91 Zack Greinke 2015-07-19 W 5-0 8.0 3 0 1 11 86 Zack Greinke 2014-07-30 W 3-2 8.0 5 1 1 13 80
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 4/16/2018.
Hyun-Jin Ryu game score of 77 was fifth best in his LAD history
Baseball fans forget that when Hyun-Jin Ryu is healthy he is one of the top left handers in the National league, and last night he reminded us of that by twirling one of the best games of his career. Using game score as the criteria, his game score of 77 was the fifth best in his career tying it with a game he threw almost five years ago.
This was only the second time since 2014 that Ryu was able to crack a game score above 76, the last coming in August of 2017.
Date Opp Rslt IP H ER BB SO GSc 2013-05-28 LAA W 3-0 9.0 2 0 0 7 90 2017-08-06 NYM W 8-0 7.0 1 0 0 8 83 2014-04-11 ARI W 6-0 7.0 2 0 1 8 80 2014-07-13 SDP W 1-0 6.0 2 0 0 10 78 2018-04-10 OAK W 4-0 6.0 1 0 1 8 77 2013-07-27 CIN W 4-1 7.0 2 1 1 9 77
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 4/11/2018.
I went to the game last night with a Met fan, who is also a baseball fan. He kept telling me all night that the Diamondback rotation was the best in the NL West. It is a good rotation, no doubt, but they don’t have Clayton Kershaw and last night Ryu show how deep the Dodger rotation is.
Matt Kemp LAD Home Run leaderboard
If some fans are wondering why so many Dodger fan have embraced the return of Matt Kemp they may simply need to look toward the LAD Home Run Leaderboard. Matt Kemp has hit more home runs than any LAD outfielder in history. With his home run last night he homered for the first time at Dodger stadium since September of 2014. Andre Ethier was here for three extra years from 2014 – 2017 but only managed to hit seventeen home runs and thus remained behind Mondesi, Guerrero, and the leader Matt Kemp.
Player HR From To PA AB Matt Kemp 183 2006 2018 4525 4095 Pedro Guerrero 171 1978 1988 4089 3602 Raul Mondesi 163 1993 1999 3765 3487 Andre Ethier 162 2006 2017 5425 4800 Shawn Green 162 2000 2004 3462 3012 Willie Davis 154 1960 1973 8035 7495 Dusty Baker 144 1976 1983 4552 4073 Mike Marshall 137 1981 1989 3546 3249 Gary Sheffield 129 1998 2001 2276 1866 Frank Howard 123 1958 1964 2321 2108
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 4/11/2018.
Matt Kemp has a shot at hitting 200 home runs as a LAD, only three players have ever accomplished that feat, Eric Karros (270), Ron Cey (228), and Steve Garvey (211).
Player HR From To PA AB Eric Karros 270 1991 2002 6624 6002 Ron Cey 228 1971 1982 6108 5216 Steve Garvey 211 1969 1982 7027 6543 Matt Kemp 183 2006 2018 4525 4095 Mike Piazza 177 1992 1998 3017 2707 Pedro Guerrero 171 1978 1988 4089 3602 Raul Mondesi 163 1993 1999 3765 3487 Andre Ethier 162 2006 2017 5425 4800 Shawn Green 162 2000 2004 3462 3012 Willie Davis 154 1960 1973 8035 7495
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 4/11/2018.
Matt looks old, but it may just take a pennant race to re-invigorate his broken down body and give him one last hurrah at the stadium he once rocked with his incredible athletic prowness.
Whew!!!!!!!!!!!
Dodger fans leaned in with each pitch that Kenley Jansen threw yesterday and as the cutter velocity and break increased they let out a collective sigh. For one game, Kenley Jansen looked close enough to vintage Jansen that they could breathe again, and have hope that the 2018 season was about to turn around. The biggest fear I had was that Jansen was hiding an injury and I’m not over that fear yet, but at least for one game, he was able to look like he could be our Jansen.
That turnaround hope should be tempered because unless the bats get going it won’t matter how good the pitching is. Nine games into the season the Dodgers have yet to show anything with the bat. No power, no on-base skills, no baserunning skills. No nothing. Out of 15 teams, they are last in OB which has been their calling card during their unprecedented NL West Division championship run. They are 14th in home runs. In a league that includes the San Diego Padres. They have hit four home runs. Ohtani in part-time DH duty has hit three. They have only two players with at least two doubles. They have stolen all of three bases and two of them are by Chase Utley. They don’t have one home run by any outfielder. Not one.
Chase Utley leads the team in OPS at .891.
It is only nine games and it would only take a few good offensive games to change all of these numbers.
Is it even reasonable to be worried about the offense?
I think so given that Matt Kemp is in LF with Joc Pederson as his backup. Neither hit the ball from June until October. Chris Taylor came out of nowhere to be the biggest surprise in major league baseball in 2017. Cody Bellinger did things in 2017 that no one expected. Corey Seager has a bum elbow, is that 100% or is it giving him issues? That elbow started hurting late last year and we all know how he struggled in the postseason with the sore elbow. Logan Forsythe has yet to prove he’s a full-time player. Same with Hernandez. So yes, I think Dodger fans can be legitimately worried about the offense but I also think most of those questions will end up with positive results as the season progresses.
Given the Oakland pitching staff is coming into town, now would be a good time for the outfield to start contributing to the offense. Oh, and also the infield.
Name PA H HR BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+ Yasiel Puig 43 8 0 .205 .256 .256 .512 44 Chris Taylor 41 8 0 .205 .220 .282 .502 39 Corey Seager* 39 7 0 .206 .308 .206 .514 47 Cody Bellinger* 35 9 1 .273 .314 .394 .708 96 Logan Forsythe 35 5 1 .156 .229 .250 .479 34 Yasmani Grandal# 32 9 1 .321 .406 .464 .871 143 Enrique Hernandez 29 3 0 .130 .276 .217 .493 40 Matt Kemp 25 6 0 .273 .360 .318 .678 91 Chase Utley* 23 6 1 .300 .391 .500 .891 147 Joc Pederson* 17 2 0 .133 .235 .200 .435 23 Austin Barnes 14 3 0 .250 .357 .333 .690 94 Kyle Farmer 12 2 0 .182 .250 .273 .523 46 Rank in 15 NL teams 12 14 15 15 14 15 Non-Pitcher Totals 345 68 4 .221 .296 .305 .601 68
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 4/9/2018.
The pitching has been great. It looks like JT Chargois is the newest find by the front office. The only blemish besides the bizarre start by Jansen has been Scott Alexander who looks nothing like the pitcher who was so good with the Royals last year. Five pitchers have yet to give up an earned run this year.
Pitching:
Name ERA G IP H BB SO ERA+ FIP WHIP H9 BB9 SO9 SO/W Clayton Kershaw* 1.89 3 19.0 18 3 19 203 3.56 1.105 8.5 1.4 9.0 6.33 Alex Wood* 1.93 2 14.0 7 0 10 201 1.60 0.500 4.5 0.0 6.4 Rich Hill* 2.70 2 10.0 10 5 11 145 3.63 1.500 9.0 4.5 9.9 2.20 Ross Stripling 0.00 4 6.2 6 0 6 1.23 0.900 8.1 0.0 8.1 Kenta Maeda 0.00 2 6.0 7 1 12 -0.47 1.333 10.5 1.5 18.0 12.00 Wilmer Font 8.44 3 5.1 9 1 4 48 4.53 1.875 15.2 1.7 6.8 4.00 Josh Fields 0.00 5 5.0 2 0 5 1.03 0.400 3.6 0.0 9.0 Pedro Baez 2.08 4 4.1 3 2 3 198 3.03 1.154 6.2 4.2 6.2 1.50 Kenley Jansen 9.00 4 4.0 5 2 4 46 9.03 1.750 11.3 4.5 9.0 2.00 Hyun-Jin Ryu* 7.36 1 3.2 5 5 2 57 6.03 2.727 12.3 12.3 4.9 0.40 Tony Cingrani* 0.00 5 3.2 1 0 5 0.30 0.273 2.5 0.0 12.3 JT Chargois 0.00 4 3.1 2 1 3 2.13 0.900 5.4 2.7 8.1 3.00 Scott Alexander* 8.10 4 3.1 2 5 3 52 5.73 2.100 5.4 13.5 8.1 0.60 Team Totals 2.72 9 89.1 79 25 87 147 3.08 1.164 8.0 2.5 8.8 3.48 Rank in 15 NL teams 3 4 11 1 5
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 4/9/2018.
Ty Blach continues to Jamie Moyer the Dodgers
It is not quite Larry Jaster, but the way in which Ty Blach dominates the Dodgers with a K rate bordering on non-existent is something else. When I started writing this I thought Ty Blach was much worse against everyone else than he actually is.
Since 2016, Ty Blach has made six starts against the Dodgers and has never given up more than two runs in any of those starts. He has also given up fewer than two runs in nine other starts against other teams so he’s not what I thought he was, a punching bag that only the Dodgers can’t punch. Ty has only started 29 major league games, and in fifteen of those starts he has given up two runs or less. He does this with a career K/9 rate of 4.1.
Date Rslt IP H ER BB SO GSc 2016-10-01 W 3-0 8.0 3 0 1 6 81 2017-05-16 W 2-1 7.0 5 1 2 4 65 2018-03-29 W 1-0 5.0 3 0 3 3 61 2018-04-08 L 1-2 6.0 4 1 3 1 58 2017-07-29 L 1-2 7.0 8 2 2 3 54 2017-04-25 L 1-2 5.0 4 2 1 2 52
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 4/9/2018.
FFA – Week ending 4/8/18 – Angelo Mora and Brock Stewart
I had no idea who Angelo Mora was, but he was playing shortstop and batting fourth for the Tulsa Drillers, and by the end of the week he had sewn up the first Farm Factory Award of 2018 by going eight for twelve with five extra-base hits. Looking towards google we found a write up on him by Eric Stephen back in Dec when he was claimed in the minor league portion of the Rule Five draft.
Signed by the Phillies out of Loma de Cabrera in the Dominican Republic in February 2011, Mora has primarily played the middle infield in his minor league career. In 2017 Mora started 47 games at at second base, 24 games at shortstop, 21 games at third base, and one game each in left field and right field.
In 2017 Mora hit .303/.344/.496 as a right-handed batter and .287/.330/.409 as a lefty.
Mora won the Larry Rojas Award in 2016, given annually to the prospect who has “a love and respect for the game of baseball, an outstanding work ethic and pride in being a member of the Phillies organization.”
The pitcher of the week is a known commodity. Brock Stewart is a major league pitcher pitching in AAA until a spot opens up for him. Brock will be competing with Walker Buehler for that spot and while they both pitched well, it was Brock who had the best game this week. Brock got seventeen outs, gave up only two hits, zero runs, two walks, and struck out six.
Other Notables:
- DJ Peters slugged two solo home runs on Sunday
- Walker Buehler got twelve outs, gave up three hits, one run, one walk, and struck out five.
- The Dodgers are alternating Keibert Ruiz and Will Smith between catching and designated hitter. The 19-year-old Ruiz didn’t find AA pitching any problem in his first week collecting five hits in just thirteen at-bats.
- Dennis Santana got fourteen outs, gave up just four hits, one earned run, walked zero, and struck out seven. If not for Broc Stewart, Dennis Santana would have gotten FFA pitcher of the week. Dennis became one of my favorite prospects last year and looks primed to have another great season.
- Brian Moran pitching in relief in AAA has struck out four of the five batters he has faced so far.
- One prospect I liked but no one else seemed to was Omar Estevez. Omar is repeating A+ ball this year but is still just twenty. He has gotten off to a hot start with seven hits in seventeen at-bats including three doubles.
- Cristian Santana had exactly the same numbers as Omar Estevez playing for the same team. The only difference was that Cristian only had one double instead of three.
- Connor Wong has blasted off with Rancho, hitting two doubles and two home runs in his first twelve at-bats, on his way to a robust 1.700 OPS.
- Aneurys Zabala pitching in relief for the Great Lake Loons struck out six of the seven batters he faced on April 5th.
Dodgers, Yesterday and Today 