Wood gets Shellacked
That is all, just been wanting to use that line and it appeared I’d never get a shot at it.
Dodgers all over the triple crown leaderboards on July 21st, 2017
Batting average and RBI may be old news these days but home runs still get everyone excited. I’ve also noticed that batting average seems to get more play when your player is leading the league in hitting.
Now that Justin Turner has finally qualified let’s see what the leaderboards look like.
First up will be Batting Average. Justin Turner is of course on the top. Also above .300 right now are Chris Taylor and Corey Seager.
Player BA PA H BB OBP SLG OPS Pos Justin Turner .369 301 92 37 .467 .574 1.041 *5/HD Bryce Harper .337 389 110 61 .442 .632 1.074 *9/H Daniel Murphy .337 377 116 29 .390 .576 .966 *4/H Charlie Blackmon .329 434 129 31 .383 .615 .998 *8/H Buster Posey .324 344 97 35 .404 .502 .906 *23/HD Ryan Zimmerman .323 345 102 24 .368 .582 .950 *3/HD Zack Cozart .321 305 85 36 .400 .566 .966 *6/HD David Peralta .320 330 97 21 .370 .485 .855 *9H/7D Anthony Rendon .318 364 97 54 .423 .593 1.017 *5 Marcell Ozuna .315 397 114 34 .373 .555 .928 *7/8DH9 DJ LeMahieu .311 402 113 31 .368 .394 .761 *4/H Paul Goldschmidt .311 410 106 62 .427 .569 .996 *3/HD Chris Taylor .310 303 84 32 .383 .524 .907 748H/56 Nolan Arenado .309 411 116 27 .356 .584 .940 *5/H Ender Inciarte .307 435 123 30 .353 .416 .769 *8/H Joey Votto .307 413 103 69 .424 .601 1.025 *3 Eduardo Nunez .300 294 84 11 .324 .411 .735 *576/9H J.T. Realmuto .300 324 89 24 .358 .451 .809 *2/HD3 Corey Seager .300 376 97 50 .396 .514 .910 *6/H
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 7/21/2017.
Next, we will turn to RBI. Cody Bellinger has dropped to 15th. This list is loaded with the best players in the game. Arenado and Murphy also lead the league in doubles. Charlie Blackmon also leads the league in Triples. Stanton leads the league in Home runs. Harper leads the league in slugging and OPS. The only leaders not in this list is the BA/OBP leader which happens to be Justin Turner at .369/.467. But OBP is not a triple crown category so he will have to wait until the next column.
Player RBI PA 2B 3B HR BA OBP SLG OPS Nolan Arenado 80 411 30 5 21 .309 .356 .584 .940 Jake Lamb 76 394 19 4 22 .274 .368 .547 .915 Bryce Harper 73 389 22 1 24 .337 .442 .632 1.074 Paul Goldschmidt 72 410 21 2 21 .311 .427 .569 .996 Daniel Murphy 71 377 30 2 16 .337 .390 .576 .966 Marcell Ozuna 70 397 18 0 23 .315 .373 .555 .928 Travis Shaw 69 361 23 1 21 .295 .363 .566 .929 Joey Votto 68 413 19 1 26 .307 .424 .601 1.025 Charlie Blackmon 67 434 19 12 23 .329 .383 .615 .998 Mark Reynolds 66 380 13 1 20 .282 .374 .509 .883 Ryan Zimmerman 65 345 22 0 20 .323 .368 .582 .950 Giancarlo Stanton 64 394 19 0 30 .275 .360 .590 .950 Anthony Rendon 64 364 22 1 20 .318 .423 .593 1.017 Adam Duvall 64 387 28 2 20 .272 .318 .531 .849 Cody Bellinger 63 317 16 2 26 .270 .353 .622 .976 Justin Bour 63 326 14 0 21 .285 .365 .552 .917 Jay Bruce 63 383 19 0 24 .266 .332 .529 .860 Anthony Rizzo 60 415 17 1 23 .254 .378 .510 .889
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 7/21/2017.
Finally, the one triple crown leaderboard that anyone cares about anymore.
Home Runs. Cody Bellinger is 2nd on this list. Four 3rd baseman have hit at least 20 home runs. 8 1st baseman have hit at least 20 home runs. The rest are outfielders. No 2nd baseman, Shortstops, or Catchers.
Player HR PA 2B 3B RBI BB OPS Giancarlo Stanton 30 394 19 0 64 43 .950 Cody Bellinger 26 317 16 2 63 37 .976 Joey Votto 26 413 19 1 68 69 1.025 Bryce Harper 24 389 22 1 73 61 1.074 Jay Bruce 24 383 19 0 63 34 .860 Marcell Ozuna 23 397 18 0 70 34 .928 Eric Thames 23 356 17 1 44 53 .916 Charlie Blackmon 23 434 19 12 67 31 .998 Anthony Rizzo 23 415 17 1 60 55 .889 Jake Lamb 22 394 19 4 76 51 .915 Scott Schebler 22 355 15 0 44 27 .812 Travis Shaw 21 361 23 1 69 32 .929 Nolan Arenado 21 411 30 5 80 27 .940 Paul Goldschmidt 21 410 21 2 72 62 .996 Justin Bour 21 326 14 0 63 36 .917 Mark Reynolds 20 380 13 1 66 48 .883 Anthony Rendon 20 364 22 1 64 54 1.017 Adam Duvall 20 387 28 2 64 22 .849 Ryan Zimmerman 20 345 22 0 65 24 .950
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 7/21/2017.
Minor League Notes 07/21/17
A lot of activity at the minor league level for the Dodgers with some ramifications.
Walker Buhler was promoted to AAA and made his first start last night. The number one pitching prospect for the Dodgers did not get out of the first inning, Walker faced five batters, giving up three walks and two hits and was done without recording an out. If this was his audition for helping the Dodgers in Sept or as trade bait he failed miserably. It was just one start and who knows what variables were at play and hopefully he’s healthy and bounces back quickly. For some recent context, Julio Urias made his AAA debut on Aug 31st, 2015 and his debut was just as bad. His line was 1 IP, 3 R, 4 BB, 2 H, 44 Pitches. Of course, Urias had just turned 19:)
Mitch White finished his rehab and was promoted to AA.
Yadier Alvarez and Dennis Santana were also promoted to AA. Tulsa went from having the least inspiring prospect rotation in the system to having the most interesting in one day. So much for Keibert Ruiz getting to work with the best pitching prospects in the Dodger system while with Rancho.
18-year-old Oneil Cruz collected five hits yesterday and has now homered in back to back games playing for the Loons.
2017 number one pick Jeren Kendall was assigned to the Odgen team in the Pioneer League, and has collected six hits in eight at-bats. Jeren should hit well for Ogden so hard to make much of what he does there. He is 21-years old and really should be playing for the Loons in short order. Scouts can get a good luck at both Jeren and Starling Heredia as they both man the outfield for the Pioneers and both are loaded with athletic skills. Heredia, however, is only 18 and won’t turn 19 until January.
2017 number three pick Conner Wong was assigned to the Loons and should be the primary catcher.
2017 eighth round pick Rylan Bannon was assigned to the Odgen team in the Pioneer League and is playing 3rd base. At 21 years old he should also hit well in that league. Basically, everyone hits well in the Pioneer League which doesn’t mean much if you are over 20. But if you don’t hit in the Pioneer League, that is a real red flag as I can’t think of one prospect who had trouble there and still ended up having a major league career.
28 year old outfielder Todd Cunningham was acquired from the Cardinals and has been starting in RF for the Oklahoma AAA club.
3rd baseman Edwin Rios had been promoted to AAA but has only been playing LF and 1st base. Rios destroyed AA pitching but has found AAA much tougher.
Dialed in 4 – 3 – 2 Chris Taylor
The Dodger base was shocked last night that the Dodgers actually lost a game bringing to an end the eleven game winning streak. If they were going to lose a game this one made the most sense, flying in from Chicago, arriving at 03:30 AM the day of the game, having their least effective starting pitcher on the mound going against the best pitcher the Braves had to offer.
Chris Taylor was unaffected by all this. Taylor collected two more hits last night and over the last three games has collected four hits, three hits, and two hits respectively. Chris Taylor has been a hit machine all year, twenty-four times Chris Taylor has had two or more hits in a game.
With that in mind, I’ve created two tables for Taylor. The first list is every multi-hit game he has had this year sorting by most hits down. I’ve included the position he played because while Chris is now the primary left fielder this list gives you an idea of how versatile and important he has been to this team. He not only has filled in at 2nd/SS/CF/LF he has done at a near MVP level.
Rk Date Opp Rslt PA R H RBI BB Pos
1 Jul 6 ARI W5-4 5 0 4 1 0 LF
2 Jul 18 CHW W1-0 5 1 4 0 0 LF
3 May 8 PIT W12-1 5 3 3 4 1 2B SS
4 May 15 SFG L4-8 4 1 3 1 0 2B 3B
5 May 19 MIA W7-2 4 1 3 1 0 2B
6 May 25 STL W7-3 4 1 3 1 0 CF
7 Jun 3 MIL W10-8 5 3 3 4 1 CF
8 Jul 19 CHW W9-1 4 3 3 2 0 LF
9 Apr 19 COL W4-2 3 1 2 0 0 2B
10 Apr 22 ARI L5-11 5 0 2 1 1 2B
11 May 5 SDP W8-2 2 1 2 1 0 PH 2B
12 May 16 SFG L1-2 4 1 2 1 1 2B
13 May 30 STL W9-4 5 3 2 0 1 CF
14 Jun 9 CIN W7-2 5 2 2 0 1 CF
15 Jun 14 CLE W6-4 4 1 2 2 0 LF
16 Jun 15 CLE L5-12 5 1 2 2 1 LF SS
17 Jun 19 NYM W10-6 5 1 2 1 0 LF
18 Jun 30 SDP W10-4 6 0 2 1 1 LF
19 Jul 1 SDP W8-0 5 2 2 4 1 LF 3B
20 Jul 4 ARI W4-3 4 2 2 0 0 LF
21 Jul 14 MIA W6-4 4 0 2 0 1 LF
22 Jul 15 MIA W7-1 5 1 2 0 0 LF
23 Jul 20 ATL L3-6 4 1 2 0 0 LF
The 2nd list is what he has accomplished in July so far. Except for the two games just before the All-Star break, Taylor has had a hit in every game in July. Nine out of fifteen games he has had multiple hits. Six doubles, two triples, two home runs, this is a full suite of production.
Rk Date Rslt PA R H 2B 3B HR RBI 1 Jul 20 L3-6 4 1 2 1 0 0 0 2 Jul 19 W9-1 4 3 3 1 0 1 2 3 Jul 18 W1-0 5 1 4 1 0 0 0 4 Jul 16 W3-2 4 1 1 0 1 0 0 5 Jul 15 W7-1 5 1 2 0 1 0 0 6 Jul 14 W6-4 4 0 2 0 0 0 0 7 Jul 9 W5-2 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 Jul 8 W5-4 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 Jul 7 W4-1 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 10 Jul 6 W5-4 5 0 4 2 0 0 1 11 Jul 5 W1-0 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 12 Jul 4 W4-3 4 2 2 1 0 0 0 13 Jul 2 L3-5 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 14 Jul 1 W8-0 5 2 2 0 0 1 4 15 Jun 30 W10-4 6 0 2 0 0 0 1
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 7/21/2017.
Oh hell, here is one final list. The best Left Fielder in 2017 using Fangraphs is Chris Taylor
| Name | Team | WAR | wRC+ | ISO | wOBA |
| Chris Taylor | Dodgers | 3.1 | 141 | 0.214 | 0.385 |
| Marcell Ozuna | Marlins | 3 | 140 | 0.24 | 0.389 |
| Corey Dickerson | Rays | 2.8 | 136 | 0.226 | 0.37 |
| Justin Upton | Tigers | 2.8 | 130 | 0.22 | 0.366 |
| Michael Conforto | Mets | 2.6 | 149 | 0.262 | 0.398 |
| Brett Gardner | Yankees | 2.3 | 113 | 0.196 | 0.342 |
| Josh Reddick | Astros | 2.1 | 127 | 0.193 | 0.358 |
| Adam Duvall | Reds | 1.9 | 114 | 0.258 | 0.353 |
| Ben Gamel | Mariners | 1.7 | 124 | 0.127 | 0.351 |
| Aaron Altherr | Phillies | 1.4 | 132 | 0.251 | 0.376 |
| Trey Mancini | Orioles | 1.3 | 131 | 0.225 | 0.371 |
| Khris Davis | Athletics | 1.2 | 130 | 0.281 | 0.36 |
| Andrew Benintendi | Red Sox | 1.2 | 101 | 0.156 | 0.33 |
| Cameron Maybin | Angels | 1.2 | 99 | 0.13 | 0.314 |
| Michael Brantley | Indians | 1.1 | 112 | 0.128 | 0.342 |
| Hernan Perez | Brewers | 0.9 | 88 | 0.181 | 0.315 |
| Nomar Mazara | Rangers | 0.8 | 95 | 0.179 | 0.32 |
| Gregory Polanco | Pirates | 0.8 | 95 | 0.157 | 0.317 |
| Eddie Rosario | Twins | 0.7 | 105 | 0.172 | 0.331 |
| Melky Cabrera | White Sox | 0.4 | 101 | 0.139 | 0.324 |
| Kyle Schwarber | Cubs | 0.2 | 83 | 0.22 | 0.302 |
| Matt Kemp | Braves | 0.2 | 110 | 0.188 | 0.344 |
| Alex Gordon | Royals | -0.1 | 56 | 0.101 | 0.261 |
What is great about this list is
Everything
Corey Seager leads TB Leaderboard against Braves at DS
Corey Seager is already making his mark on the LAD record books. Earlier this week Corey hit his 45th home run, giving him the most home runs by a LAD shortstop.
As the Dodgers prepare to play host to the Braves, Corey Seager is already on top of the total base leaderboard by a LAD against the Braves at home. This was the first time Corey Seager hit three home runs in a game but as we would soon learn, it would not be the last.
Good ole bonus baby Willie Crawford had a great day against the Braves back in 1973 when the Braves were still in the NL Western Division. Future HOF Adrian Beltre had his great game back in 2004.
I was kind of hoping to see Matt Kemp on this list against his current teammates.
Player Date Opp Rslt PA H 2B HR TB Corey Seager 2016-06-03 ATL W 4-2 4 3 0 3 12 Adrian Beltre 2004-08-20 ATL W 3-2 5 3 1 2 10 Willie Crawford 1973-09-20 ATL W 5-3 5 3 1 2 10
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 7/20/2017.
On the flip side Felipe Alou is the only Brave to ever tally at least 10 total bases. No Chipper Jones, Freddie Freeman, Andru Jones, Javy Lopez, Eddie Mathews, Hank Aaron, Brian McCann, Bob Horner, Dale Murphy, Darrell Evans, Dan Uggla.
Player Date Tm Opp Rslt PA H 2B HR TB Felipe Alou 1966-07-09 ATL LAD W 5-2 5 3 1 2 10
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 7/20/2017.
So……………I decided to go down to eight total bases just to seen all those names I mentioned above. My favorite name on the list. Lew Burdette the 1957 WOrld Series MVP hurler who went 3 – 0 with 3 complete games in the World Series. Lew hit 12 major league home runs
Anyone remember what Tony Tarasco was famous for?
Player Date Tm Opp PA H 2B 3B HR TB Andruw Jones 2005-05-14 ATL LAD 4 2 0 0 2 8 Bob Horner 1980-06-01 ATL LAD 4 2 0 0 2 8 Brian Jordan 1999-08-15 ATL LAD 5 3 0 0 2 9 Brian McCann 2008-07-08 ATL LAD 5 2 0 0 2 8 Chipper Jones 1999-08-13 ATL LAD 5 2 0 0 2 8 Chipper Jones 2007-07-05 ATL LAD 5 2 0 0 2 8 Clete Boyer 1970-05-23 ATL LAD 4 2 0 0 2 8 Dale Murphy 1989-08-09 ATL LAD 4 2 0 0 2 8 Dale Murphy 1987-08-08 ATL LAD 5 3 0 0 2 9 Dan Uggla 2013-06-09 ATL LAD 4 2 0 0 2 8 Darrell Evans 1971-09-18 ATL LAD 5 3 0 0 2 9 Earl Williams 1971-07-23 ATL LAD 5 2 0 0 2 8 Eddie Mathews 1961-05-15 MLN LAD 5 2 0 0 2 8 Felipe Alou 1966-07-09 ATL LAD 5 3 1 0 2 10 Gary Matthews 1980-05-30 ATL LAD 4 2 0 0 2 8 Hank Aaron 1959-05-16 MLN LAD 5 2 0 0 2 8 Hank Aaron 1972-06-24(2) ATL LAD 5 4 1 0 1 8 Javy Lopez 1999-04-21 ATL LAD 6 3 0 0 2 9 Jeff Burroughs 1979-06-30 ATL LAD 5 2 0 0 2 8 Joe Adcock 1961-06-18 MLN LAD 5 2 0 0 2 8 Joe Adcock 1961-08-09 MLN LAD 4 2 0 0 2 8 Johnny Estrada 2004-08-19 ATL LAD 4 4 1 0 1 8 Lew Burdette 1958-07-10 MLN LAD 5 2 0 0 2 8 Mike Lum 1971-09-17 ATL LAD 5 3 0 0 2 9 Orlando Cepeda 1970-05-21 ATL LAD 4 3 0 0 2 9 Terry Pendleton 1994-04-08 ATL LAD 4 3 1 1 1 9 Tony Tarasco 1994-04-10 ATL LAD 4 3 2 0 1 8
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 7/20/2017.
What did Keibert Ruiz accomplish before turning 19 today?
Just about everything you could have asked for.
At age 16 Ruiz played one year in the Dodger Dominican Summer League putting up an OPS of 726
At age 17 Ruiz was brought over to the states to play in the Arizona Summer League but lasted only eight games because he was clearly heads and tails better than the competition. In a very SSS, Ruiz had an OPS of 1.179.
Still 17, Ruiz was promoted to the Pioneer League. For the rest of the summer, Ruiz showed advanced contact skills striking out only 23 times in 206 plate appearances. He put up an OPS of .896. By the end of summer, Ruiz had turned 18 and was now on the prospect map.
Entering his age 18 season, the Dodgers moved Ruiz to the tough Midwest League where many a Dodger prospect has found the league an obstacle to success. Ruiz originally faltered putting up an OPS of just .568 in April. He also struck out 13 times in just 64 plate appearances in April. He was pulling a Carlos Santana, but just like Carlos Santana as the weather warmed in Michigan so did his bat. In May he improved his OPS to .824 and reduced his strikeouts to only ten in 90 plate appearances. Ruiz was just getting warmed up. In June Ruiz had a robust .926 OPS. The real key is his plate discipline and power. In June Ruiz struck out only four times with ten walks in seventy plate appearances. While the older 2016 number one pick Gavin Lux was still trying to figure out the Midwest league, Keibert Ruiz had mastered it so there was only one thing left to do.
The Dodgers promoted the 18-year-old catcher to the California League. Ruiz was now being asked to handle the most promising pitchers in the Dodger system. Yadier Alveraz, Dennis Santana, Caleb Ferguson. Would he be up to the task? His bat has been. Since joining Rancho, Ruiz has been the toast of the town with his bat leading the way. It has only been six games, but he has been on base in every game. How is he handling the pitching staff? I don’t know yet but the scouting reports on his catching game say he’s advanced with the only negative being an average throwing arm.
Keibert is a switch-hitter and in 2017 is showing a disturbing split when hitting right handed against left handed pitching. In 2016 that split was not as large but in 2017 it is a chasm of almost four hundred OPS points. I’ve always found switch-hitters who can’t hit a lick from one side of the plate to be useless as a switch hitter. At just 19, he has plenty of time at the minor league level to find out if he can hit left hand pitching. He has
He has alot on his plate. Trying to learn to hit from both sides of the plate, managing a rotation loaded with legitimate major league prospects, continuing to learn the nuances of the most demanding position in baseball, and making the adjustments on the fly as his body continues to mature into a man.
Keibert has one more year as a teen-ager, what will he accomplish in the next year?
The sky might be the limit.
Braves face Dodgers with old and new
The Braves have a strange little team. They are kind of in a rebuild but in an effort to bring fans to their new park they added a slew of veterans who might or might not be around by August 1st.
Bartolo Colon is gone, and strange enough the Dodgers will face him Monday Night in what could be the last start of his illustrious career.
Brandon Phillips, Matt Kemp, Jamie Garcia, and RA Dickey are the veterans keeping the seats warm for the next phase of Brave prospects named Ozzie, Acuna, Allard, Soroka, and Wright.
The Dodgers will face the young and old of the rotation with the young in Mike Foltynewicz starting in game one, followed by Jamie Garcia, Julio Teheran, and Sean Newcomb.
Foltynewicz has shown enough that he’ll probably be part of the next Atlanta rotation. Jamie Garcia is probably just waving his way through Atlanta. Julio Teheran has been the Brave ace for years but that isn’t saying much. Sean Newcomb has yet to establish if he’ll be part of the future or not. Plenty of young arms will be nipping at the heels of Newcomb. The Braves currently have five pitchers ranked in the revised Baseball America top 100.
The biggest change the Braves made this summer was adding Dodger nemesis, Matt Adams, when MVP candidate Freeman went down with an injury. Matt Adams was so impressive during his trial run, that when Freeman came back they made him a 3rd baseman. So much for the old adage, you can’t learn how to play 3rd base at the major league level.
The normal line up of Adams, Philips, Swanson, Freeman, Flowers, Kemp, Inciarte, Markakis is not bad. They got reinforcements this week when super utility player Sean Rodriquez finally joined the team.
So far in July however, that group ranks 12th out 15 teams in the NL in offense. The prime culprits for the low wRC+ in July are Matt Kemp (49), Dansby Swanson (12), and Flowers (7). On June 1st, Matt Kemp had been one of the best hitting outfielders in the NL but he has hit the skids big time since that point. Swanson started off slow, picked it up a little and is back to being the worse hitting starting shortstop in baseball. Maybe Dave Stewart knew something after all.
Johan Camargo has a wRC+ of 144 in July. Yeah, I had never heard of him either. Camargo is a utility player who has played 2nd, SS, and 3rd. He would lead the team if not for super journeyman catcher Kurt Suzuki. Suzuki has gotten hot while Flowers got cold so expect to see him catch a few games.
Matt Adams had a good run subbing in for the injured Freeman but has cooled off recently with a wRC+ of 94 in July. They say they aren’t going to trade him, but they probably should. Freeman is their 1st baseman, not Matt Adams.
Brandon Philips has done everything they could have asked of him. Brandon is currently ranked as the 4th best NL second baseman by Fangraphs. He’s keeping the seat warm for Ozzie Albiers who is kind of like the last Brave prospect Jose Peraza.
Speaking of Jose Peraza, the Braves have absolutely nothing left of the Alex Wood trade. Nothing. Damn, that was a bad bad trade for the Braves.
All-Star center fielder Ender Inciarte is why the Diamondbacks had to trade for JD Martinez this past week. I guess Dave Stewart didn’t know what he was doing.
Nick Markakis might be the most boring player in baseball. Hard to believe this guy once put up a fWAR of 6 at the age of 25. He has combined for six fWAR over his last six seasons.
Matt Kemp – whatever will be will be
The Braves finished a six game home stand yesterday by losing the last three games against the Cubs. They then flew to Los Angeles without an off-day to take on the hottest team in baseball history. They will be facing Wood and Kershaw whose team has not lost a game the duo have started since May 1st.
This will not end well for the Braves, if they win just one game, they should consider it a success.
Kershaw and Wood have been unbeatable
Per the Dodger media notes, was the little tidbit that the Dodgers have won Clayton Kershaw’s last fourteen starts. They have also won the last eleven starts by Alex Wood. The Dodgers have not lost a game started by either Kershaw or Wood since May 1st.
The Kershaw victory last night was his 141st which put him into a tie with Fernando Valenzuela for fifth place among LAD pitchers for wins.
Player W From To GS W-L% Don Sutton 233 1966 1988 533 .563 Don Drysdale 187 1958 1969 424 .552 Sandy Koufax 156 1958 1966 286 .670 Claude Osteen 147 1965 1973 335 .538 Clayton Kershaw 141 2008 2017 283 .695 Fernando Valenzuela 141 1980 1990 320 .549 Orel Hershiser 135 1983 2000 309 .558 Ramon Martinez 123 1988 1998 262 .615 Bob Welch 115 1978 1987 267 .572 Burt Hooton 112 1975 1984 265 .571
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 7/19/2017.
Jon Weisman passed on the note that the Dodger duo both have an ERA+ above 200. Not since 1907 have two starting pitchers on the same team had an ERA+ above 200. That 1907 Cub team, won the World Series.
Here are all the starting pitchers who have had an ERA+ above 200. Not very many given we are going back to 1901.
Player SO ERA+ Year Tm W L W-L% IP Max Scherzer 183 216 2017 WSN 11 5 .688 134.1 Clayton Kershaw 166 201 2017 LAD 15 2 .882 139.1 Jake Arrieta 236 215 2015 CHC 22 6 .786 229.0 Zack Greinke 200 222 2015 LAD 19 3 .864 222.2 Zack Greinke 242 205 2009 KCR 16 8 .667 229.1 Roger Clemens 185 226 2005 HOU 13 8 .619 211.1 Pedro Martinez 206 211 2003 BOS 14 4 .778 186.2 Pedro Martinez 239 202 2002 BOS 20 4 .833 199.1 Pedro Martinez 284 291 2000 BOS 18 6 .750 217.0 Pedro Martinez 313 243 1999 BOS 23 4 .852 213.1 Pedro Martinez 305 219 1997 MON 17 8 .680 241.1 Roger Clemens 292 222 1997 TOR 21 7 .750 264.0 Kevin Brown 159 215 1996 FLA 17 11 .607 233.0 Greg Maddux 181 260 1995 ATL 19 2 .905 209.2 Greg Maddux 156 271 1994 ATL 16 6 .727 202.0 Roger Clemens 209 211 1990 BOS 21 6 .778 228.1 Dwight Gooden 268 229 1985 NYM 24 4 .857 276.2 Ron Guidry 248 208 1978 NYY 25 3 .893 273.2 Bob Gibson 268 258 1968 STL 22 9 .710 304.2 Dean Chance 207 200 1964 LAA 20 9 .690 278.1 Lefty Grove 175 217 1931 PHA 31 4 .886 288.2 Dolf Luque 151 201 1923 CIN 27 8 .771 322.0 Walter Johnson 147 215 1919 WSH 20 14 .588 290.1 Walter Johnson 162 214 1918 WSH 23 13 .639 326.0 Pete Alexander 241 225 1915 PHI 31 10 .756 376.1 Dutch Leonard 176 279 1914 BOS 19 5 .792 224.2 Walter Johnson 243 259 1913 WSH 36 7 .837 346.0 Walter Johnson 303 243 1912 WSH 33 12 .733 369.0 Christy Mathewson 149 222 1909 NYG 25 6 .806 275.1 Addie Joss 130 204 1908 CLE 24 11 .686 325.0 Jack Pfiester 90 216 1907 CHC 14 9 .609 195.0 Carl Lundgren 84 213 1907 CHC 18 7 .720 207.0 Mordecai Brown 144 253 1906 CHC 26 6 .813 277.1 Christy Mathewson 206 230 1905 NYG 31 9 .775 338.2 Ed Reulbach 152 209 1905 CHC 18 14 .563 291.2 Jack Taylor 88 206 1902 CHC 23 11 .676 333.2 Cy Young 158 219 1901 BOS 33 10 .767 371.1
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 7/19/2017.
Scratch JD Martinez off the list
Evidently, the Dodgers didn’t want JD Martinez after all. The slugging outfielder was traded to NL West rival Arizona Diamondbacks, in what looks to be a very light package for one of the best hitting outfielders in baseball.
The Dodgers could easily have surpassed the offer from the Diamondbacks, so we have to assume he was never on their list. I’ll further extrapolate, that if JD Martinez was not on the Dodgers list, they aren’t interested in upgrading the outfield.
They might really be sold on Chris Taylor or the option of Bellinger if/when Adrian Gonzalez comes back. I don’t think we should be undervaluing what a healthy Adrian might bring to the table.
And of course, there is always Andre Ethier who evidently is only going play every Sept from now on.
The outfield depth chart looks like:
Right Field – Puig, Hernandez, Thompson, Eibner, SVS, Bellinger, (Andre)
Center Field – Pederson, Hernandez, Thompson, Eibner, Bellinger, Alex Verdugo
Left Field – Taylor, Bellinger, Hernandez, Thompson, SVS, Eibner, Alex Verdugo, (Andre)
Though I’m tending to believe that Alex Verdugo is probably in front of the Thompson, Eibner, SVS trio. I’m putting Bellinger here for the days that Dave Roberts gets creative and wants to get Chase Utley in the lineup, moving Forsythe or Chase to 1st base.
Would McCutcheon be a better fit for a World Championship run? Might check in on that later.
Willie Calhoun makes MLB Pipeline Prospect Team of the Week
This is the fourth week in a row that at least one Dodger prospect has made the MLB Prospect Team of the Week. Prior winners had been Yusniel Diaz, Keibert Ruiz, and DJ Peters.
Willie only played in four games last week because of the PCL All-Star game. Was hoping for some mention of his glove in the tidbit below but nada.
2B: Willie Calhoun, Oklahoma City Dodgers (Triple-A)
(Dodgers’ No. 3 prospect/MLB No. 69)
4 G, .545/.688/.818, 2 R, 6 H, 3 2B, 5 RBI, 5 BB, 1 SOCalhoun topped all Minor Leaguers with his .688 on-base percentage last week while reaching in 11 of his 16 plate appearances. (That doesn’t count his 2-for-3 performance with two doubles in Wednesday’s Triple-A All-Star Game.) He’s now hitting .310/.358/.584 with 19 homers in 86 games, placing second in the Pacific Coast League in extra-base hits (47) and total bases (192) and fourth in homers and slugging.
Dodgers, Yesterday and Today 