LAD offensive July snapshot on July 24th, 2017
How about those catchers? More on that later today.
Quick July offensive notes:
- Two players with an OPS over 1.000. The T & T boys
- Five players with an OPS over .900
- Six starters with an OPS over .850
- Puig and Pederson holding back the offense
- Four players with an OBP over .400
- Trayce Thompson is not doing a good job in trying to keep his job.
Player PA 2B 3B HR RBI BA OBP SLG OPS Corey Seager 71 5 0 4 11 .292 .352 .554 .906 Chris Taylor 70 6 3 3 10 .426 .443 .735 1.178 Cody Bellinger 69 2 1 3 8 .276 .391 .500 .891 Justin Turner 67 3 0 5 10 .275 .418 .627 1.045 Logan Forsythe 65 5 0 1 7 .288 .415 .442 .858 Yasiel Puig 54 1 0 3 6 .220 .278 .420 .698 Yasmani Grandal 46 5 0 3 10 .318 .348 .636 .984 Joc Pederson 43 3 0 1 2 .237 .326 .395 .720 Enrique Hernandez 41 0 1 2 3 .188 .366 .438 .803 Chase Utley 32 2 0 1 2 .207 .281 .379 .661 Austin Barnes 31 0 0 2 5 .333 .419 .556 .975 Trayce Thompson 25 1 1 0 1 .087 .160 .217 .377
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 7/24/2017.
FFA Winner for Week of July 17th – July 23rd
The contenders are……
Wilmer Font – OKC – The starting pitcher in the PCL All-Star game twirled a gem last week going seven innings, giving up seven hits, two earned runs, one walk, and eleven strikeouts. In his last ten starts Font has only walked more than two hitters once as he has displayed an excellent ability to limit the free pass while leading the PCL in strikeouts.
Oneil Cruz – Great Lake Loons – Cruz had the game of his professional career collecting five hits. Over three games Cruz had two home runs and eight hits. A week, however, is seven days and over the final three games of the week, he went 1 for 12 with six strikeouts. Still, it was good to see the 18-year-old put the wood on the ball for a few games. He is on pace for a 30 error season as he splits time between SS and 3rd base.
Keibert Ruiz – Rancho – What more could you ask of a prospect? Keibert turned 19 last week and celebrated with his biggest offensive week of the season. Ruiz hit two three run home runs including a walk off blast. Keibert only started four games but had a hit in every game, collecting seven hits overall. He drove in an astounding nine runs with those seven hits while only striking out twice in seventeen plate appearances. The only negative was the zero walks last week. In nine games with Rancho, Keibert now has a 1.199 OPS.
Jeren Kendell – Ogden – Kendall started his professional career last week and got off to a rousing start. He only played four games but made the most of it. Jeren had seven hits in seventeen at-bats and stole four bases. Zero walks stand out but he did strike out only three times, and strike outs were his big problem in college. Jeren is already 21 so if he doesn’t have his way in the Pioneer League something is amiss.
Starling Heredia – Ogden – Starling started out the week strong but faltered on the back end. He collected six hits in first three games but only one over his last two. Though he did walk three times in the last two games.
You knew where this was going as soon as you saw Keibert Ruiz on the contender list.
The Farm Factory Award Winner for the week of July 17th – July 23rd is once again Keibert Ruiz.
Several hours after I wrote this, Fangraphs weighed in with a quick update on Keibert.
Keibert Ruiz, C, Dodgers: The Dodgers boast a system that has three or four catching prospects that should play at the big league level. If I’m a team doing a deal with the Dodgers at the trade deadline, I’m asking for Ruiz. He’s done nothing but hit as a pro and, as a 19 year old, had a line of .317/.372/.423 through 63 games in low-A. That earned him a recent promotion to high-A ball where he’s produced another 12 hits — and six extra base knocks — in just eight games. Ruiz is also a switch-hitter who shows solid skills from both sides. He has a chance to be an impact hitter at the catcher’s position and his defence will be average or better at the big league level.
68 – 31, right on track after 4 – 2 week
Last Monday I ran a little exercise to see what it would take to get the Dodgers to 110 wins. I conservatively got them to 108 wins, and by going 4 – 2 this past week they are right on schedule.
We didn’t get there the same way but nonetheless ended up 4-2. I expected a split with the White Sox and three of four from the Braves. In actuality, they swept the White Sox but only took two of four from the Braves. I hadn’t counted on the meltdown by Alex Wood but I did expect them to lose the first game to the Braves after the long flight home from the Chicago series.
Course now we get to do this without Clayton Kershaw, though hopefully, it will only be one missed start. I’ve got us winning two of three from the Twins and Giants next week.
By the next Sunday, we might have found out if the Dodgers had stayed pat, went all in, or did a tweak or two. Or we may have to wait until next Monday.
Oh look, Keibert Ruiz just hit another three run home run.
Just another LAD July Triple leaderboard
When Chris Taylor hit his triple last night, that gave him three in the month of July. Which gave me an excuse to see who has hit the most LAD triples in the month of July.
No surprise that the 3-Dog is tied at the top with Maury Wills. Who can forget triple fever with Puig in July of 2014?
I never saw Charlie Neal play or John Roseboro as a Dodger only as a Senator. John Roseboro is on this list twice. Very impressive for a catcher. Johnny only had forty-four triples but he did have 39 by the age of 30. I’ll show you just how impressive that is for a LAD, especially for a catcher.
The biggest surprise on this list has to be Casey Blake. Casey only hit 18 triples in his whole career which spanned 5091 plate appearances so for him to hit three in one month in only 106 plate appearances is quite the anomaly.
Player Split Year 3B PA Willie Davis July 1962 5 117 Yasiel Puig July 2014 5 87 Maury Wills July 1969 5 142 Charlie Neal July 1959 4 120 Brett Butler July 1993 4 124 John Roseboro July 1962 4 90 Casey Blake July 2009 3 106 Willie Davis July 1970 3 115 Cesar Izturis July 2004 3 129 John Roseboro July 1961 3 93 Reggie Smith July 1976 3 96 Chris Taylor July 2017 3 65 Willie Davis July 1968 3 108 Rafael Furcal July 2009 3 119 Davey Lopes July 1976 3 112 Wes Parker July 1970 3 116 Maury Wills July 1965 3 131 Willie Crawford July 1971 3 91 Willie Davis July 1969 3 104 Pedro Guerrero July 1983 3 118 Raul Mondesi July 1998 3 111 Bill Russell July 1977 3 114
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 7/23/2017.
So, because John Roseboro showed up on this list twice we have to see who has the most LAD triples as a catcher.
Okay, this is crazy. No one is even close to John Roseboro. No one. Also, John Roseboro never hit another triple after leaving the Dodgers the in 1967.
Player 3B From To PA John Roseboro 44 1958 1967 4505 Steve Yeager 16 1972 1985 3869 Tom Haller 14 1968 1971 1637 Mike Scioscia 12 1980 1992 5057
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 7/23/2017.
Chasing Piazza/Green/McGwire on July 23rd
With Cody Bellinger blasting his 27th home run of the year he surpasses the rookie totals of Corey Seager and Joc Pederson and continues to chase down the rookie record of 35 home runs by Mike Piazza.
Cody has fallen far off the pace of the all time home run rookie record of 49 by Mark McGwire but is still on the same pace of 49 home runs by Shawn Green which was the all time Dodger home run record. McGwire had a blistering July but slowed down in August and Sept, while Shawn Green was just getting started.
On July 23rd, Shawn Green was in the middle of a stretch where he would hit seven home runs in eight games and by July 28th, would have 30 so Cody has his work cut out for him.
| Player | Year | PA | HR | HR/PA | Total HR Thru July 23rd | Total |
| Mike Piazza | 1993 | 482 | 27 | 17.85 | 20 | 35 |
| Shawn Green | 2001 | 435 | 27 | 16.11 | 26 | 49 |
| Mark McGwire | 1987 | 276 | 27 | 10.22 | 36 | 49 |
| Cody Bellinger | 2017 | 328 | 27 | 12.15 | 27 | ??? |
Age 26 revisited with Chris Taylor and Ian Kinsler
Before the season started I mentioned how many Dodgers had their break out seasons as a twenty-six-year-old. I was focused on Yasiel Puig but maybe I should have focused on Chris Taylor.
Watching Chris Taylor club another home run and triple last I heard that Ian Kinsler was being made available by the Tigers and the Brewers might be interested in him. It was at that time I thought about the similarities between Taylor and Kinsler.
I opened up Baseball Reference and had to laugh. Age 26 – right on the fucking button.
Taylor is really a second baseman playing left field so as far as I’m concerned in this article he’s a second baseman.
So here we go.
- They are both 2nd baseman
- Both right hand hitters
- Both have above average power and speed for a second baseman
- They both kicked ass at age 26
Age Twenty-Six for Taylor and Kinsler:
| Plahyer | Year | Age | Tm | OPS+ | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| Chris Taylor | 2017 | 26 | LAD | 138 | 0.310 | 0.382 | 0.538 | 0.920 |
| Ian Kinsler | 2008 | 26 | TEX | 134 | 0.319 | 0.375 | 0.517 | 0.892 |
The downside is that was the most productive season for Kinsler in his career. The plus side is that he has been an above average second baseman for over a decade.
If the Dodgers have really fallen into an Ian Kinsler type second baseman for the next five years, they have indeed hit gold while mining for copper.
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
Dodgers, Yesterday and Today 