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
1992 ROY Eric Karros was more than just great hair
When Eric Karros won the 1992 Rookie of the Year award he was the first and only LAD first baseman to win the award. The only other rookie LAD 1st baseman to ever get any votes were Greg Brock in 1983 and James Loney in 2007. Brock came in 7th place and James Loney came in 6th place.
Cody Bellinger will be changing that dynamic in a few weeks when he wins the 2017 National League Rookie of the Year award.
I remember Eric bashing home runs in the minor leagues but not getting much respect from the prospect touting world. Much like Mike Piazza in 1993 he would have to prove he deserved to be a starting major league player. Pre 1990 he was ranked 84th, and was dropped to 94th in pre-1991, and had dropped off the lists by 1992.
Dodger Historian Mark Langill gives us the scoop on how Eric Karros won the starting job in 1992.
On May 23, the Dodgers trailed the Pirates 4–1 in the bottom of the ninth when Benzinger started a rally with a leadoff single. After a wild pitch, an RBI single by Mike Scioscia made it 4–2. Karros eventually came off the bench to face Pittsburgh closer Stan Belinda with one out and runners on second and third. When Karros hit a three-run home run into the Left Field Pavilion, it touched off more than a celebration after the 5–4 victory.
Lasorda returned Karros to the starting lineup and moved Benzinger to right field. Daniels, the Opening Day starter at first base, hit .231 in 35 games before he was traded to the Chicago Cubs on June 27. Benzinger spent only one season with the Dodgers, batting .239 in 121 games with four home runs and 31 RBI.
When you review the vote in 1992 it does not look like Karros deserved to win the Rookie of the Year award. Eric won easily but Moises Alou and Reggie Sanders had much better seasons. Eric won because he hit 20 home runs and drove in 88 runs. The baseball card stats won the day for Karros.
Voti Voti Voti Name Tm Vote Pts 1st Place Share WAR Eric Karros LAD 116.0 22.0 97% 0.4 Moises Alou MON 30.0 0.0 25% 2.5 Tim Wakefield PIT 29.0 2.0 24% 2.1 Reggie Sanders CIN 23.0 0.0 19% 2.5 Donovan Osborne STL 12.0 0.0 10% -0.2 Mike Perez STL 2.0 0.0 2% 2.2 Ben Rivera TOT 1.0 0.0 1% 2.6 Frank Seminara SDP 1.0 0.0 1% 0.2 Brian Williams HOU 1.0 0.0 1% 0.3 Mark Wohlers ATL 1.0 0.0 1% 0.6
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 9/19/2017.
While Karros may not have deserved the ROY in 1992 he ended up having a very lengthy Dodger career and currently holds the record for most home runs. Only three LAD have hit at least 200 home runs.
Player HR From To Age PA OPS Eric Karros 270 1991 2002 23-34 6624 .782 Ron Cey 228 1971 1982 23-34 6108 .804 Steve Garvey 211 1969 1982 20-33 7027 .796
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 9/19/2017.
He is also 2nd in runs batted in.
Player RBI From To Age PA OPS Steve Garvey 992 1969 1982 20-33 7027 .796 Eric Karros 976 1991 2002 23-34 6624 .782 Willie Davis 849 1960 1973 20-33 8035 .725 Ron Cey 842 1971 1982 23-34 6108 .804
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 9/19/2017.
Karros was also 4th in doubles in 302, and fifth in hits with 1608, and sixth in runs scored with 752. Yup, Eric Karros dominates the LAD cumulative leaderboards in the baseball card categories.
He does not fare so well in modern bWAR. His 11.4 bWAR ranks 39th all-time for the LAD.
Rk Player WAR/pos From To Age PA 1 Willie Davis 54.4 1960 1973 20-33 8035 2 Ron Cey 47.5 1971 1982 23-34 6108 3 Steve Garvey 36.4 1969 1982 20-33 7027 4 Pedro Guerrero 32.8 1978 1988 22-32 4089 5 Davey Lopes 32.1 1972 1981 27-36 5308 6 Mike Piazza 31.9 1992 1998 23-29 3017 7 Maury Wills 31.9 1959 1972 26-39 6745 8 Bill Russell 31.5 1969 1986 20-37 8021 9 Mike Scioscia 26.2 1980 1992 21-33 5057 10 Adrian Beltre 23.4 1998 2004 19-25 3818 11 Jim Gilliam 23.4 1958 1966 29-37 4894 12 Wes Parker 22.9 1964 1972 24-32 4835 13 John Roseboro 22.3 1958 1967 25-34 4505 14 Andre Ethier 21.8 2006 2017 24-35 5409 15 Raul Mondesi 21.4 1993 1999 22-28 3765 16 Matt Kemp 21.1 2006 2014 21-29 4496 17 Shawn Green 20.8 2000 2004 27-31 3462 18 Dusty Baker 19.9 1976 1983 27-34 4552 19 Willie Crawford 19.9 1964 1975 17-28 3199 20 Reggie Smith 19.3 1976 1981 31-36 2055 21 Justin Turner 18.6 2014 2017 29-32 1898 22 Steve Yeager 17.8 1972 1985 23-36 3869 23 Jim Lefebvre 17.2 1965 1972 23-30 3417 24 Gary Sheffield 17.1 1998 2001 29-32 2276 25 Yasiel Puig 16.3 2013 2017 22-26 2291 26 Tommy Davis 16.3 1959 1966 20-27 3216 27 Russell Martin 15.9 2006 2010 23-27 2713 28 Steve Sax 15.9 1981 1988 21-28 4745 29 Rafael Furcal 15.4 2006 2011 28-33 2803 30 Brett Butler 15.0 1991 1997 34-40 3342 31 Joe Ferguson 14.2 1970 1981 23-34 2525 32 Paul Lo Duca 13.8 1998 2004 26-32 2361 33 Adrian Gonzalez 13.1 2012 2017 30-35 2980 34 Corey Seager 12.9 2015 2017 21-23 1368 35 Ron Fairly 12.9 1958 1969 19-30 4529 36 Wally Moon 12.7 1959 1965 29-35 2657 37 Jim Wynn 12.4 1974 1975 32-33 1185 38 Manny Mota 11.6 1969 1982 31-44 2187 39 Eric Karros 11.4 1991 2002 23-34 6624 40 Frank Howard 10.8 1958 1964 21-27 2321 41 Tom Haller 10.2 1968 1971 31-34 1637 42 Mike Marshall 10.1 1981 1989 21-29 3546
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 9/19/2017.
Ryu makes case for postseason
by pitching another scoreless game on Sunday Night TV. Granted he only got 14 outs, and he needed help from Ross Stripling to get out of a jam in the 5th, but he looked good during the time he was on the mound.
As much as I’d like a Dodger like Orel to hold the scoreless streak I did think it was bullshit that an error was not called on the play by Michael Taylor and that run should have been unearned. It hit the heal of his glove, the heal, that is a big deal.
Walker Buehler continues to flash his great stuff but also continues to get hit and has now given up at least one run in each of his last three appearances after the brilliant two-inning debut.
Dave Roberts keeps saying that whoever is not going to be part of the postseason rotation will start to pitch out of the bullpen to get them ready for that role. With two weeks left in the season isn’t it time he starts putting that plan into action?
I actually think Ryu can be just as effective as Wood out of the bullpen so I would not automatically put Wood in the bullpen just because he’s done it before. I don’t trust Wood as much as I trust Ryu for an October game so I’d probably go with Ryu. It will be interesting what they decide.
Bellinger should leave Philadelphia with at least forty home runs.
It was nice to hear the ESPN crew fawning over the defense of Puig. He deserves it.
The Dodgers could have left Segedin/Dickson/Culberson off the Sept roster and no one would have noticed.
I’m just as uneasy about the middle relief in 2017 headed into October as I’ve been each of the past four seasons but I’m very comfortable with Morrow / KJ for the 8th and 9th. I’m almost there with Cingrani.
Dennis Santana can’t do it all
The Tulsa Drillers lost postseason games in a row and the championship but you can’t blame Dennis Santana who threw six innings, giving up just one unearned run as the Drillers lost 1 – 0. This game capped an outstanding season by Santana who came into the season as a sleeper prospect but completely outpitched the number one prospect Yadier Alvarez at both levels all season long. Yadier wilted in the postseason, Santana excelled.
League MVP Matt Beaty had three hits but no one could bring him home. DJ Peters and Keibert Ruiz were brought up from Rancho to help the offense but the two combined to go hitless in six at-bats.
Craig Minami has the breakdown of the final day of minor league play for Dodgers affiliates.
2017 has been the year of the rookie 1st baseman
Dodger fans know all about Cody Bellinger hitting 38 home runs and tying the NL rookie record for home runs but there have been a plethora of 1st baseman in 2017 who are hitting home runs at a staggering pace.
Rhys Hoskins is much like Cody Bellinger in that he’s a 1st baseman who has played a lot of outfield in 2017. He is also hitting a home run every 8.83 plate appearances. That would extrapolate to 63 home runs if he kept up the pace for a whole year. Cody was on his own crazy pace of a home run every ten plate appearances but as the season wears on adjustments happen and he now sits at 13.05. I would expect the same to happen to Hoskins if was to get 500 plate appearances.
The one name that has really popped up in the last month is Matt Olson. The A’s traded Yonder Alonso and Olson stepped right into the breach and seems to be hitting a home run every night. Matt has only 192 plate appearances but already has 21 home runs. Oakland 1st baseman have hit 44 home runs this year, Alonso with 25 and Olson with 18, not sure who hit the other home run but not going to research it because it is not important.
In a normal year, Josh Bell would be a rookie of the year candidate, as he has been the starting 1st baseman for the Pirates all year long and has produced all year long.
Trey Mancini is another rookie who goes under the radar but has put up solid to great numbers all year for the Orioles.
| Player | Age | Year | HR | PA | HR/PA | OPS | Tm |
| Cody Bellinger | 21 | 2017 | 38 | 496 | 13.05 | 0.962 | LAD |
| Josh Bell | 24 | 2017 | 24 | 576 | 24.00 | 0.806 | PIT |
| Trey Mancini | 25 | 2017 | 24 | 535 | 22.29 | 0.841 | BAL |
| Matt Olson | 23 | 2017 | 21 | 192 | 9.14 | 1.005 | OAK |
| Rhys Hoskins | 24 | 2017 | 18 | 159 | 8.83 | 1.152 | PHI |
| Yuli Gurriel | 33 | 2017 | 17 | 520 | 30.59 | 0.801 | HOU |
| Jesus Aguilar | 27 | 2017 | 14 | 293 | 20.93 | 0.829 | MIL |
| Jose Martinez | 28 | 2017 | 13 | 274 | 21.08 | 0.9 | STL |
In 2017 eight rookie 1st basemen hit 169 home runs who played at least 10% of their games at 1st base.
In 2016 only four players using the same criteria hit more than 10 home runs totaling only 62 home runs.
Player HR Year Age Tm PA OPS Pos Tommy Joseph 21 2016 24 PHI 347 .813 *3H Jefry Marte 15 2016 25 LAA 284 .790 375H/D Dae-ho Lee 14 2016 34 SEA 317 .740 *3H/D ByungHo Park 12 2016 29 MIN 244 .684 *D3/H
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 9/18/2017.
In 2015 it was 84.
Dodgers, Yesterday and Today 