Bellinger crushes age 21 lists
Quite a few players made their marks on the LAD record books but no one made their mark like Cody Bellinger. Let’s get started:
Cody Bellinger hit the most home runs by a Dodger 1st baseman since Eric Karros hit 31 in the year 2000. Cody hit 39 home runs overall, but only 30 as a 1st baseman.
Player HR Year Age PA OPS Pos Eric Karros 34 1999 31 639 .912 *3/H Eric Karros 34 1996 28 670 .795 *3 Steve Garvey 33 1977 28 696 .834 *3/H Eric Karros 32 1995 27 620 .905 *3 Eric Karros 31 2000 32 663 .780 *3/HD Eric Karros 31 1997 29 700 .787 *3 Cody Bellinger 30 2017 21 364 .933 *37/9H8D
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 10/2/2017.
Highest OPS by a Dodger 1st baseman since Eddie Murray put up a .934 OPS in 1990. Cody crushed as a 1st baseman. His 1.049 OPS is the best ever for a LAD. His slug% of .667 is the best ever for a LAD 1st baseman.
Player OPS PA Year Age BA OBP SLG Pos Cody Bellinger 1.049 364 2017 21 .299 .382 .667 *37/9H8D Eddie Murray .934 645 1990 34 .330 .414 .520 *3/H James Loney .919 375 2007 23 .331 .381 .538 *3/H9 Eric Karros .912 639 1999 31 .304 .362 .550 *3/H Eric Karros .905 620 1995 27 .298 .369 .535 *3
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 10/2/2017.
Let’s go to historical age comparisons now.
Only seven National League players 21 years or less since integration in 1947 have put up an OPS+ of at least 140. Cody Bellinger is one of them.
Player OPS+ Year Age Tm PA HR OPS Pos Eddie Mathews 171 1953 21 MLN 681 47 1.033 *5 Cesar Cedeno 162 1972 21 HOU 625 22 .921 *8/H Albert Pujols 157 2001 21 STL 676 37 1.013 5379/HD Frank Robinson 143 1956 20 CIN 667 38 .936 *7/8H Cody Bellinger 142 2017 21 LAD 548 39 .933 *37/9H8D Giancarlo Stanton 141 2011 21 FLA 601 34 .893 *9/H8D Hank Aaron 141 1955 21 MLN 665 27 .906 *974/H
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 10/2/2017.
That list includes three HOF, the all-time major league home run hitter not named Barry Bonds, the greatest young hitter in baseball in Eddie Mathews, the greatest home run hitter of our era in Stanton. The only player who is either not in the HOF or is not on a HOF arc is Cesar Cedeno, and let me tell you, if you had seen Cesar Cedeno play, you would have sworn he was headed for the HOF.
Oh, and none of them were primarily a 1st baseman. Pujols did play 1st base in 2001 but back then he was primarily a 3rd baseman. Much like Bellinger they used him everywhere also playing Left and Right field.
If you want to see the greatest 1st baseman in baseball history who played at least 50% of their games at 1st base while being 21 years or younger, it looks like this:
Player OPS+ Year Age Tm Lg PA OPS Pos Jimmie Foxx 173 1929 21 PHA AL 638 1.088 *3/5 Hal Trosky 150 1934 21 CLE AL 685 .987 *3 Dick Hoblitzell 143 1909 20 CIN NL 592 .782 *3 Cody Bellinger 142 2017 21 LAD NL 548 .933 *37/9H8D
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 10/2/2017.
How about Dodgers, and we will lower the playing component to 350 PA, and any position.
Only two Dodgers have ever had an OPS+ > 120 age 21 or younger with at least 350 PA.
Player OPS+ PA Year Age Tm AB OPS Pos Cody Bellinger 142 548 2017 21 LAD 480 .933 *37/9H8D Adrian Beltre 114 575 2000 21 LAD 510 .835 *5/H6 Adrian Beltre 102 614 1999 20 LAD 538 .780 *5/H
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 10/2/2017.
Cody Bellinger is the greatest 21-year-old in Dodger history.
Cody Bellinger is the greatest National League 21-year-old since Albert Pujols
Cody Bellinger is the greatest National League 21-year-old left hand hitter since Eddie Mathews.
Cody Bellinger is the bomb
Locastro gets to say hi
The LAD front office continued their generous ways by bringing up Tim Locastro for a taste of the major leagues in this final weekend. There isn’t any need for the minor league middle infielder given the Dodgers have Seager, Forsythe, Chase, Barnes, Hernandez, Taylor, and Culberson who can play either 2nd or SS but maybe he’s not here for middle infield backup of the backups of the backups.
When we broke down the Dodger postseason roster we did notice a very glaring lack of speed which is one reason why I picked Joc Pederson for the last spot. Joc is not exactly a speed merchant, and neither is Locastro but he does have above average speed.
Maybe this isn’t just a weekend stint?
I also didn’t realize until I read the fine print of the Dodger press release that he had spent so much time in the outfield this year.
He has split time between the infield and the outfield this season, playing in a combined 47 games in center field, 46 games at second base, 31 games at shortstop, nine games in left field and two games in right field.
Maybe he’ll be the Dodger left fielder against LHP in October:)
I saw Locastro last fall in the AFL where he played 2nd base. At the time he seemed like a team soldier and you won’t find him on any prospect lists. Locastro had a middling season for AA but really found his batting stroke in AAA where he put up a .987 OPS in thirty-one games. He also had twelve stolen bases in those 31 games.
To make room for Locastro they put O’Koyea Dickson on the disabled list. Dickson now gets 60 days of pay as a major leaguer. That is a nice bonus.
I wonder what Brett Eibner did that he was just jettisoned while O’Koyea gets the treatment?
Adrian Gonzalez stuck on seven
With the news, last night that Adrian Gonzalez will be shut down for the rest of the season after his back tightened the chances of him being on a postseason roster are just about nil.
Which is too bad in that Adrian Gonzalez has hit seven postseason home runs putting him in 2nd place behind the LAD leader Steve Garvey who had hit ten postseason home runs. One of the reasons the LAD did not stall in the NLCS during the reign of the longest playing infield in history was that the infield combined to hit over 20 postseason home runs.
Garvey, Lopes, Cey, Baker, Yeager, Smith combined for 36 home runs.
Below are the key NLCS/NLDS home runs by this group to get them to the World Series:
1974 NLCS – Ron Cey pops a home run leading the Dodgers to a 3 – 0 victory in game one. In game four after being shut out in game three, Steve Garvey hits two two-run home runs driving in Jimmy Wynn both times and cementing the Dodger victory as they crushed the Pirates in game 4 and headed for the 1974 World Series.
1977 NLCS – Ron Cey hits a dramatic game one grand slam against National League Cy Young Award winner Steve Carlton to tie the game at 5 – 5. But alas they did lose game one 7 – 5. Still hitting a grand slam in the postseason against the best pitcher in baseball at the time was something I only thought happened to the Dodgers. Dusty Baker hit his own grand slam in game two with the score tied giving the Dodgers a win in game two. Dusty Baker would be the difference maker in game four hitting a key two-run home run off of Steve Carlton as Tommy John made it hold up with a 4 – 1 victory, and another trip the World Series.
1978 NLCS – Game one, Steve Garvey hits two home runs again and is helped by Davey Lopes and Steve Yeager as the Dodgers hit four home runs to win game one. Davey Lopes hits his second home run of the NLCS in game two helping the Dodgers win game two. In game three Steve launches his 3rd home run of the NLCS, and this one came against Steve Carlton but it would not be enough as the Dodgers lost game three. Game four found the Dodgers down 2 – 1 when Ron Cey tied the score at 2 with a home run. In the 6th inning, Steve Garvey hit his fourth home run of the NLCS to put the Dodgers in front 3-2 as they eventually won 4 – 3 and again headed to the World Series.
1981 NLDS – Once again that guy Steve Garvey did his magic hitting a home run in game one against Nolan Ryan to tie the game at 1 – 1. The Dodgers would lose the game 3 – 1. The Dodgers would lose game two 1 – 0 and were one game from elimination without any victories. They would need to win three games in a row. Not to be deterred Steve Garvey hit another home run in game three, a two-run shot in the first inning to get the Dodgers started on 6 – 1 victory. Game four found Pedro Guerrero hitting his first postseason home run putting the Dodgers in front 1 – 0. The Dodgers would win a nail-biter 2 – 1 and tie up the series at two games apiece. They didn’t hit any home runs in the game but won the game 4 – 0 behind the key hitting of Steve Garvey and Rick Monday.
1981 NLCS – In game one with the Dodgers holding onto a 2 – 0 lead, Pedro Guerrero hit a two-run blast, which was followed by Mike Scioscia’s first career postseason home run giving the Dodgers a commanding 5 – 1 lead. It would not be the most important home run of Mike Scioscia’s career but it was a nice start. Pedro Guerrero was starting to show Dodger fans a taste of what was to come in the 1981 World Series and the rest of his Dodger career. Montreal was a great team in 1981 and they were not going to go down easy. They shut out the Dodgers in game two behind Ray Burris. Steve Rodgers would handle the Dodgers easily in game three winning 4 – 1. Once again the Dodgers were one game away from elimination, once again they would rally behind home runs and once again Steve Garvey would be the man. In game four with the score tied 1 – 1, Steve Garvey hit a two-run home run in the 8th inning to break open the game. Game five was all about Rick Monday who hit the most famous postseason home run in LAD history until Kirk Gibson showed up. But to get their Fernando gutted out eight innings of one-run ball giving Rick Monday his chance to hit his 9th inning tiebreaking home run. Fernando got two outs in the 9th, and Bob Welch got the final out.
And that was the home run, run of several of the greatest teams in LAD history. You can see why Steve Garvey may not have been HOF material but was something of a folk hero for the Dodger fans of that era. He didn’t shirk, he delivered.
This group of Dodgers who have won four straight division championships hit 25 home runs while never advancing beyond the NLCS. The most memorable being the Juan Uribe home run that put the Dodgers into the 2013 NLCS though it was Carl Crawford and his two solo home runs that put the Dodgers even in the position to win that game.
Other memorable postseason home runs from 2013 – 2016:
2014 NLDS – Game two Matt Kemp hit a tiebreaking home run in the bottom of the eighth inning giving the Dodgers a 3 – 2 victory. It would be the only victory in the 2014 NLDS.
2016 NLDS – Game one, Corey Seager hits a home run off of Max Scherzer to give the Dodgers a quick 1 – 0 lead. Justin Turner hits a two-run home run off of Scherzer giving the Dodgers a 3 – 0 lead as they eventually win 4 – 3.
2016 NLDS – Game five, with the Dodgers down 1 – 0 to Max Scherzer, Joc Pederson gets the Dodgers off the mat with a home run to tie the game. The Dodgers would eventually score four runs that inning and win the climactic game five for the right to lose to the Cubs in the 2016 NLCS.
2017 NLCS – Game Two, Adrian Gonzalez launches his 7th postseason home run as a Dodger to win the game 1 – 0 and tie the series at one apiece.
The current team that will enter the postseason without Adrian, has hit a total of ten postseason home runs lead by the key 2017 pinch hitter Andre Ethier with four.
It would behoove them to double that number by the time the NLCS ends. With Cody, Corey, Grandal, Turner, Puig, and Granderson, it could happen.
The list below is courtesy of Baseball Reference. I modified it to only show anyone with at least two Los Angeles Dodger postseason home runs.
| Player | HomeRuns |
| Steve Garvey | 10 |
| Adrian Gonzalez | 7 |
| Davey Lopes | 6 |
| Ron Cey | 6 |
| Manny Ramirez | 5 |
| Dusty Baker | 5 |
| Steve Yeager | 5 |
| Carl Crawford | 4 |
| Andre Ethier | 4 |
| Reggie Smith | 4 |
| Pedro Guerrero | 4 |
| Mike Marshall | 3 |
| Kirk Gibson | 3 |
| Bill Madlock | 3 |
| James Loney | 3 |
| Shawn Green | 3 |
| Matt Kemp | 3 |
| Ron Fairly | 2 |
| Juan Uribe | 2 |
| A.J. Ellis | 2 |
| Chuck Essegian | 2 |
| Lou Johnson | 2 |
| Charlie Neal | 2 |
| Justin Turner | 2 |
| Mike Scioscia | 2 |
| Jayson Werth | 2 |
| Corey Seager | 2 |
| Mickey Hatcher | 2 |
| Eric Karros | 2 |
Is Cody Bellinger going to be wasted as a 1st baseman?
Few if any major league center fielders could make the throws that Cody Bellinger made last night in helping to preserve the Dodger victory.
In case you didn’t know, @Cody_Bellinger can do a lot more than hit.
This sizzling 98.9-mph throw to the plate saves the @Dodgers a run! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/PLmPvk36Sk
— #Statcast (@statcast) September 27, 2017
I know his defense at 1st baseman has been a thing of beauty this year, but a great fielding 1st baseman isn’t an anomaly. A center fielder who can put up a .900 plus OPS or a 140wRC+ you can count on one hand even when using both leagues as your playing pool.
The Dodgers have three young players who can play center field in Chris Taylor, Joc Pederson, and Cody Bellinger. Four if you count Alex Verdugo. None of them have the offensive upside of Cody Bellinger, and to be honest I’m not sure any of them can play CF any better than Cody Bellinger if he was given 120 games out there.
What a weapon the Dodgers have developed. How will they utilize his skill set to best fit the team of the future? Or well they use it in the present?
Adrian Gonzalez showed some pop last night for the first time since coming back from the DL, well he play the rest of the week on a regular basis against RHP to see what he’s got left? If Adrian shows anything, I’d replace Joc with him in a heartbeat just as Gary suggested in the comments yesterday.
Rookie mashers
I should probably wait until the end of the year but I’m just blown away by the number of magnificent rookie home run hitters this year. It looked for a while that Aaron Judge had no chance to catch Mark McGwire’s historic rookie record of 49 home runs but Judge has gone crazy and blew by Big Mac.
Hoskins doesn’t even show up on my list because I set the criteria for 20 and he has only eighteen. Hoskins hasn’t hit a home run since Sept 14th and thus you stopped hearing of his daily most home runs in fewest games ever played. That has been taken up by Matt Olson who already has twenty-four home runs in just 216 plate appearances.
I’ll do more on Olson at the end of the year but the number of players in baseball history who have hit at least twenty home runs in less than 250 plate appearances is a very very very small list.
oh heck, let’s do it now. Below is the list of every single major league baseball player who has hit at least 20 home runs who ended the year with less than 250 plate appearances.
Player HR PA Year Age OPS Pos Matt Olson 24 216 2017 23 1.003 *39/H Gary Sanchez 20 229 2016 23 1.032 *2D
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 9/27/2017.
Told you is was a very small list. It should not be a surprise that each of them were rookies as the only way you could be on this list is if you were brought up late in the season, or started off hot and broke.
Below is the list of every single rookie in 2017 who has hit at least 20 home runs.
Player HR Age Tm PA OPS Pos Aaron Judge 50 25 NYY 661 1.040 *9/DH Cody Bellinger 39 21 LAD 531 .948 *37/9H8D Matt Davidson 26 26 CHW 432 .721 *D53H Hunter Renfroe 25 25 SDP 463 .758 *9/HD Paul DeJong 24 23 STL 425 .843 *64/H Josh Bell 24 24 PIT 599 .790 *3H/D Trey Mancini 24 25 BAL 571 .829 *73D/H9 Matt Olson 24 23 OAK 216 1.003 *39/H Ian Happ 22 22 CHC 397 .832 847H9/5 Andrew Benintendi 20 22 BOS 642 .790 *78/H
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 9/27/2017.
I feel I know most of the baseball players who are going to impact a season and I had little idea that Paul DeJong, Trey Mancini, or Matt Olson would be having any impact much less the major impacts they have had on the season.
For context here is the list for 2016:
One seems different than the other.
Player HR PA Age OPS Pos Trevor Story (RoY-4th) 27 415 23 .909 *6/H Corey Seager (RoY-1st) 26 687 22 .877 *6/H Tommy Joseph 21 347 24 .813 *3H Nomar Mazara (RoY-5th) 20 568 21 .739 *97H/D Gary Sanchez (RoY-2nd) 20 229 23 1.032 *2D Ryan Schimpf 20 330 28 .869 *45/H7
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 9/27/2017.
How about 2015?
Player HR PA Age OPS Pos Kris Bryant (RoY-1st) 26 650 23 .858 *5/789HD3 Joc Pederson (RoY-6th) 26 585 23 .763 *8H Justin Bour (RoY-5th) 23 446 27 .800 *3H/D Carlos Correa (RoY-1st) 22 432 20 .857 *6
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 9/27/2017.
One thing is the same. The Dodgers have had at least one rookie hit at least 20 home runs in each of the last three years.
Pitching roster for NLDS
With the positional players done, let’s move on to what will be more important. Who will make up the pitching portion of the NLDS?
Below are the splits for the pitching in Sept. This is more to get an idea of who is being used the most from the bullpen and how effective they have been lately.
Player G ERA IP WHIP SO9 SO/W OPS Tony Cingrani 10 1.04 8.2 0.923 12.5 4.00 .422 Tony Watson 10 1.08 8.1 0.960 8.6 2.67 .457 Brandon Morrow 10 2.08 8.2 1.269 14.5 7.00 .587 Ross Stripling 9 9.00 8.0 1.625 7.9 2.33 .996 Pedro Baez 9 14.21 6.1 3.158 11.4 1.14 1.330 Luis Avilan 8 3.86 7.0 1.286 7.7 1.20 .523 Josh Fields 8 4.50 8.0 1.000 9.0 8.00 .711 Kenley Jansen 7 2.35 7.2 1.174 14.1 12.00 .724 Walker Buehler 6 8.53 6.1 2.053 12.8 1.80 .913 Yu Darvish 5 3.71 26.2 1.050 10.8 5.33 .625 Clayton Kershaw 5 3.03 29.2 1.146 9.7 5.33 .682 Alex Wood 4 4.30 23.0 1.217 9.0 3.29 .734 Edward Paredes 4 13.50 2.0 3.000 13.5 1.364 Rich Hill 4 2.45 22.0 0.818 12.3 5.00 .514 Brock Stewart 4 4.32 8.1 1.680 10.8 1.43 .758 Kenta Maeda 4 5.25 12.0 1.333 12.0 5.33 .835 Hyun-Jin Ryu 3 1.38 13.0 1.231 9.0 1.86 .552 Wilmer Font 3 17.18 3.2 3.000 7.4 0.75 1.389 Brandon McCarthy 1 3.00 3.0 0.667 6.0 .364
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 9/26/2017.
My first four starters would be Kershaw/Darvish/Hill/Wood
My first four relief pitchers would be Jansen/Morrow/Cingrani/Watson
That is eight pitchers, we have three to go. I’m going to carry eleven pitchers, not twelve because you don’t have a fifth starter, and Kershaw and Yu are at least six inning pitchers, with plenty of rest in the postseason for the bullpen.
The candidates:
Hyun-Jin Ryu – if he’s healthy I think he should be in the bullpen but maybe not more so than Avilan. Also can’t really consider him a candidate since Roberts refused to use him in the bullpen as he said he would to get the starters not making the postseason rotation acclimated to the bullpen.
Kenta Maeda – He is in for me, just in case Rich Hill has one of those games like he had last year in Washington.
Brandon McCarthy – The next week could be the decider for him but for me he is out though I would have no problem picking him over Josh Fields/Stripling or Walker Buehler.
Josh Fields – I could easily see him being the Pedro Baez of 2017 if they let him
Ross Stripling – not feeling it for Ross, I think he loses his spot to Kenta. At least he does for me.
Brock Stewart – does not appear to be on the radar for the postseason
Pedro Baez – sorry Pedro, not this year
Luis Avilan – It is close but I’ll take him over Ryu giving the Dodgers three solid left hand options in the bullpen.
Walker Buehler – I know the Dodgers really want him on the postseason roster. I don’t.
Edwardo Paredes – No, I don’t really consider him a candidate
With Kenta and Avilan in, that leaves one spot left. For me it comes down to Josh Fields/ Ross Stripling/Walker Buehler. I hope none of the three would need to pitch in a high leverage situation but if so, I’m closing my eyes and going with Josh Fields.
To be clear on this I would have chosen Ryu over Fields but since the Dodgers have refused to try Ryu in relief I can’t consider him a candidate for the bullpen and I fully expect Wood to win the 4th starter gig leaving Ryu without a spot.
| Pos | Player |
| SP1 | Clayton Kershaw |
| SP2 | Yu Darvish |
| SP3 | Rich Hill |
| SP4 | Alex Wood |
| Closer | Kenley Jansen |
| Setup1 | Brandon Morrow |
| Setup2 | Tony Cingrani |
| Setup3 | Tony Watson |
| Setup4 | Kenta Maeda |
| Setup5 | Luis Avilan |
| Setup6 | Josh Fields |
Remember this is my own exercise, I fully expect the Dodgers to go with only thirteen position players and twelve pitchers and that Walker Buehler will be on the roster, but this is what I’d do.
My positional roster for NLDS
Andrew Friedman was discussing the twenty-five roster last night on the telecast with Joe and Orel. The Dodgers only have four questions as they finish up the last week of the season.
- Can they end the season with the best record in baseball?
- Can they end the season with the best record in the NL and hold home-field advantage throughout the postseason if they advance?
- Who will be on the 25-man roster?
- Who will be the fourth starter?
That is about it.
This is the roster I would take into October, not what I expect them to do. To help with this exercise here at the position players who have had at-bats in Sept.
Player PA BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS Cody Bellinger 99 12 25 .276 .364 .563 .927 Chris Taylor 99 6 24 .207 .253 .359 .611 Justin Turner 78 7 11 .288 .385 .561 .945 Yasiel Puig 77 4 13 .264 .299 .444 .743 Corey Seager 71 4 18 .172 .239 .250 .489 Curtis Granderson 69 8 16 .150 .261 .267 .528 Logan Forsythe 66 7 9 .241 .333 .448 .782 Yasmani Grandal 66 10 24 .130 .258 .333 .591 Austin Barnes 50 9 8 .231 .400 .436 .836 Chase Utley 42 2 9 .200 .238 .400 .638 Enrique Hernandez 36 4 8 .219 .306 .313 .618 Andre Ethier 29 2 9 .296 .345 .556 .900 Joc Pederson 21 5 5 .125 .333 .125 .458 Alex Verdugo 21 2 4 .158 .238 .316 .554 Adrian Gonzalez 16 1 1 .200 .250 .267 .517 Rob Segedin 12 0 5 .250 .250 .417 .667 Charlie Culberson 11 0 4 .182 .182 .273 .455 OKoyea Dickson 8 2 2 .167 .375 .167 .542
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 9/26/2017.
Besides the obvious eleven players of Bellinger, Forsythe, Utley, Seager, Turner, Barnes, Grandal, Puig, Taylor, Granderson, and Hernandez, this is what I would fill the bench with.
You don’t even see Kyle Farmer on the list above because my cut off was five plate appearances and he didn’t make the cut. So based on usage it would seem doubtful that Kyle Farmer would make the postseason and even though the Dodgers have yet to let Farmer catch I think he needs to be on the team so that they can utilize the flexibility of having Austin Barnes on the team. Plus Farmer has his own flexibility in that he can play 3rd/1st in a pinch.
Andre Ethier has earned the spot as the key left-handed pinch hitter. Joc simply hasn’t looked like he could hit anything at the major league level right now, much less the elite bullpen arms of the teams in the postseason.
I’m at thirteen position players and I want fourteen but the pickings are slim for that last spot.
I find it hard to believe that Adrian Gonzalez doesn’t have a spot on this roster but I can’t see carrying a one-dimensional player like him right now. He can only play 1st base and the Dodgers have that covered with Cody Bellinger. He can pinch hit, but he can’t pinch run in any capacity. If his bat was worth it, he would still make the roster but it does not appear to be worth it.
Based on the 13 man roster we only have Bellinger as a true 1st baseman, with Farmer being a backup. Forsythe can also play 1st base, as could Chase. I can live with that.
At 2nd it would appear that everyone on the roster can play the position. Forsythe, Chase, Barnes, Hernandez, and even Turner.
Shortstop we have Seager and either Taylor or Hernandez
3rd base has Turner/Forsythe/Hernandez
Catchers would be Grandal / Barnes / Farmer
RF would be Puig/Granderson/Andre/Bellinger
CF would be Taylor/Hernandez/Bellinger/Granderson
LF would be Granderson/Ethier/Hernandez/Taylor
So we have plenty of positional coverage so I would be looking for the best bench player. Someone who can not only pinch hit but pinch run.
The candidates;
Adrian Gonzalez – only plays 1st base, can’t hit LHP, may not be able to hit RHP anymore, turtle speed. Veteran presence.
Rob Segedin – can play 1st/3rd/OF. not a proven major league hitter but has always looked comfortable to be with a bat his hands. Not someone you’d want to pinch run but could do so in a pinch if Grandal was the winning run on 3rd with < than 2 outs.
Alex Verdugo – can play all the outfield spots, can run a little, probably would not use him against LHP.
Joc Pederson – sometimes the fall is hard. He can do everything that Alex Verdugo can do and has a proven track record that is scratched right now.
I think we need another left hand hitter on the bench, but someone who can run a little. I’m going to go with Joc Pederson.
So this is it:
| Pos | Player | |||
| 1st | Cody Belligner | |||
| 2nd | Logan Forsythe | |||
| 2nd | Chase Utley | |||
| SS | Corey Seager | |||
| 3rd | Justin Turner | |||
| C | Yasmani Grandal | |||
| C | Austin Barnes | |||
| RF | Yasiel Puig | |||
| CF | Chris Taylor | |||
| LF | Curtis Granderson | |||
| Utility | Kike Hernandez | |||
| Utility | Andre Ethier | |||
| Utility | Kyle Farmer | |||
| Utility | Joc Pederson | |||
| Lineup RH Starter: | Lineup LH Starter | |||
| 1st | Cody Bellinger | 1st | Cody Bellinger | |
| 2nd | Chase Utley | 2nd | Logan Forsythe | |
| SS | Corey Seager | SS | Corey Seager | |
| 3rd | Justin Turner | 3rd | Justin Turner | |
| C | Yasmani Grandal | C | Austin Barnes | |
| RF | Yasiel Puig | RF | Yasiel Puig | |
| CF | Chris Taylor | CF | Chris Taylor | |
| LF | Curtis Granderson | LF | Kike Hernandez | |
| Bench | Austin Barnes | Bench | Yazmani Grandal | |
| Bench | Andre Ethier | Bench | Andre Ethier | |
| Bench | Kike Hernandez | Bench | Curtis Granderson | |
| Bench | Kyle Farmer | Bench | Kyle Farmer | |
| Bench | Joc Pederson | Bench | Joc Pederson | |
Depending on the starter I might even let Austin Barnes get a start or two against the right-hand pitching unless Grandal shows his bat is ready for a full-time role.
Dodgers batter Padres for 100th win
Even though it took much longer than expected the Dodgers finally won their 100th game. The pace to win 115, 110, or even 105 was derailed but there were enough Padre tracks left in the season to get to the century mark.
This is only the 3rd time since moving to Los Angeles that the Dodgers have hit the century mark and the first time since 1974. The 1962 team didn’t even make the World Series, losing to the Giants in a best of three game series which is why they played 165 regular season games.
By the end of the season, hopefully, the 2017 version of the LAD will have the most wins in the Los Angeles Dodger franchise history.
Of the LAD eleven teams to win at least 95 games, only two champions emerged, the 1963 and 1965 teams which were, of course, how the legend of Sandy Koufax became bigger than life.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, these Los Angeles Dodgers will not win a World Series unless their own version of Sandy Koufax pitches like a legend in October.
The tables below were manipulated using the data from the Dodgers Franchise Baseball Reference page:
| Year | G | W | L | Finish | Playoffs |
| 1974 | 162 | 102 | 60 | 1st of 6 | Lost WS (4-1) |
| 1962 | 165 | 102 | 63 | 2nd of 10 | |
| 2017 | 157 | 100 | 57 | 1st of 5 | |
| 1963 | 163 | 99 | 63 | 1st of 10 | Won WS (4-0) |
| 1977 | 162 | 98 | 64 | 1st of 6 | Lost WS (4-2) |
| 1965 | 162 | 97 | 65 | 1st of 10 | Won WS (4-3) |
| 2009 | 162 | 95 | 67 | 1st of 5 | Lost NLCS (4-1) |
| 1985 | 162 | 95 | 67 | 1st of 6 | Lost NLCS (4-2) |
| 1978 | 162 | 95 | 67 | 1st of 6 | Lost WS (4-2) |
| 1973 | 162 | 95 | 66 | 2nd of 6 | |
| 1966 | 162 | 95 | 67 | 1st of 10 | Lost WS (4-0) |
I’ve always said that Jimmy Wynn was the MVP of the 1974 Dodgers not Steve Garvey. I lived it and the stats prove me true.
Pedro Guerrero was really something
Dave Roberts and Joe Torre are the only other LAD managers here with 95 wins or more besides the HOF duo of Alston and Lasorda.
Curiously none of the teams that had the run of rookie of the years from 1992 – 1996 ever won at least 95 games. The best they could do was 90 wins. Have to look into that.
| Year | R | RA | Top Player | Managers |
| 1974 | 798 | 561 | J.Wynn (7.7) | W.Alston (102-60) |
| 1962 | 842 | 697 | M.Wills (6.0) | W.Alston (102-63) |
| 2017 | 739 | 563 | J.Turner (5.5) | D.Roberts (100-57) |
| 1963 | 640 | 550 | S.Koufax (9.9) | W.Alston (99-63) |
| 1977 | 769 | 582 | R.Smith (6.1) | T.Lasorda (98-64) |
| 1965 | 608 | 521 | S.Koufax (8.6) | W.Alston (97-65) |
| 2009 | 780 | 611 | M.Kemp (4.9) | J.Torre (95-67) |
| 1985 | 682 | 579 | P.Guerrero (7.9) | T.Lasorda (95-67) |
| 1978 | 727 | 573 | R.Cey (5.3) | T.Lasorda (95-67) |
| 1973 | 675 | 565 | D.Sutton (5.3) | W.Alston (95-66) |
| 1966 | 606 | 490 | S.Koufax (9.8) | W.Alston (95-67) |
Take a knee
You can’t equivocate on this issue, our country has tried to sweep it under the carpet ever since the Black Panthers stopped having a voice, but instead of black Americans getting hanged they have simply been shot at an alarming percentage compared to their Caucasian brothers.
I was disappointed last year when Colin Kaepernick took a knee but did so by himself. Where was the Pee Wee Reese moment where his Caucasian teammate would kneel next to him? A year later the movement has spread as President Trump galvanized the players by making a typically anti-constitutional comment. It must drive him crazy that he is not a monarch and that our country has a whole series of checks and balances that he still trying to figure out ways to dodge.
Just as he dodged the draft, he has never served anything but himself, so when the blowhard tweeted that people should be fired for protesting, just proves once again, that President Trump has no idea what this country is supposed to be about.
His henchman Mike Huckaby had this to say:
The former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee said on Fox News, “I wish that some of these players who get on one knee would get on both knees and thank God they live in the United States.”
Seeming to ignore the entire history of the African American world. The world in which they were kidnapped from their country to work as slaves in our country. The country which continued to hang them for a myriad of reasons, most of which were simply because they were black.
Most of my life I’ve felt the people who died in the Civil War is the price this country paid for slavery
Roughly 2% of the population, an estimated 620,000 men, lost their lives in the line of duty. Taken as a percentage of today’s population, the toll would have risen as high as 6 million souls.
and that should have closed the book on the Caucasian guilt of what they did to the people of color but the book never closes. Whatever lessons we should have learned we did not as we progressively moved through each segment of the color chart of the human experience, Native American, Japanese, Chinese, Mexican, South American. You name a color the United States has smeared that color rather than embrace it. First, we brought you here to do the worst jobs we had and then hated you for doing them. Almost a psychopathic display of non-Christian attitudes.
The ongoing protest is now about the percentage of people of color who are being murdered by the police force of the United States but it could just as easily be about all of the inequity of our system. I’ll even admit that for most of my life I assumed every shooting was for just cause, but seventeen years ago the Los Angeles Police Department shot a black American at a Halloween Party and the reason behind it did not hold water. Ever since that incident, I have had an open eye to the victim of a police shooting.
I won’t pretend to understand the pressures a police person goes through to do their job, but I do know that if you are going to take the job as a police person you can’t simply kill the people you have been hired to protect every time you feel you are in danger. It is obvious that major training needs to happen, and that some of the police people involved in shooting unarmed people of color need to be held more accountable for their crime than simply losing their jobs.
Should an athlete who has made it thank God they live in the United States? He should thank his athletic skills because without those skills he would have had a 10% chance of being incarcerated in this great country of ours.
I can understand a Caucasian person taking a knee and thanking God if they happen to believe in God for being born in the United States, I don’t believe that holds true for people of color, and until it does, taking a knee during the National Anthem is a very pacifistic way of protesting the gross inequities of this nation between people of color and us white folk.
Last year after Colin Kaepernick took his knee I was at a Clipper game, I really wanted to take a knee but didn’t. I lost a little bit of respect for myself that night.
Jeff Passan of Yahoo sports explains why Bruce Maxwell took a knee.
The 2000 Census counted 14,128 people living in Cullman, Alabama, a city in the northern part of the state, halfway between Huntsville and Birmingham. Forty-eight of those residents were black. Baseball took Bruce Maxwell an hour down the road to Cullman that year for a tournament. He was just shy of 10 years old, mature enough to understand that almost nobody there looked like him, innocent enough to believe it didn’t matter. His father was African-American. His mother was white. He couldn’t control who he was.
“We won the tournament,” Maxwell said, “and a man stood up in the stands. And he threatened to hang me and my dad.”
Thank you
Dodgers, Yesterday and Today 