LAD first half leaderboards – Batting Average
With so many Dodgers having amazing first halves, we will be displaying the historical significance of those performances.
Justin Turner and Cody Bellinger will populate these boards, but will anyone else show up?
Justin fell from .380 but not only walks away with the best first half batting average, good bet he will be on top for first half OBP and OPS. Mike Piazza was known for his power but even more impressive for Mike was his batting average for a slow catcher. Most of us can remember first half that Nomar had, but can anyone remember the first half that Manny Mota had? I made the cutoff 200 plate appearances which is how Mota got on the list. Nice to see Willie and Tommy Davis join us. The 1962 year for Tommy Davis was normally regarded as the greatest LAD season ever until Mike Piazza showed up.
Player Split Year BA PA H OBP SLG OPS Justin Turner 1st Half 2017 .377 274 86 .473 .583 1.056 Mike Piazza 1st Half 1996 .363 336 109 .432 .623 1.055 Nomar Garciaparra 1st Half 2006 .358 303 96 .426 .578 1.004 Mike Piazza 1st Half 1997 .357 342 107 .424 .580 1.004 Tommy Davis 1st Half 1962 .353 380 126 .384 .566 .949 Manny Mota 1st Half 1973 .351 234 73 .402 .404 .806 Willie Davis 1st Half 1971 .350 376 126 .363 .489 .852
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 7/10/2017.
LAD 1st half leaderboard – Wins
The 2017 LAD have their 3rd best win total at the all-star break. I was surprised to find out that 61 wins only gets you the 3rd spot as this has seemed to be the hottest 1st half team I could remember. I guess we have to remember that they were 10 – 12 at one point in 2017.
The 1973 also started out slow with a record of 9 – 11 on April 28th, 1973. They would play and win a doubleheader on April 29th, and end up going 54 – 26 over their next 80 games. The 1974 team started out hot and was 16 – 5 on April 28th. I guess that is why I remember the 1974 start more than the 1973 start. That, and the fact the 1974 team kept it up all year, while the 1973 team faltered significantly in the second half and failed to make the post-season.
Below 60 wins, I also included all the teams that got to the World Series just to see how they stacked up. I’ve always felt the 1974, 1977, and 1978 teams were the best teams the Los Angeles Dodgers ever had in my era which began in earnest in 1968.
Team Split Year W L W-L% LAD 1st Half 1973 63 37 .630 LAD 1st Half 1974 63 34 .649
LAD 1st Half 2017 61 29 .648
LAD 1st Half 1977 59 33 .641 LAD 1st Half 1962 58 31 .652 LAD 1st Half 1965 51 38 .573 LAD 1st Half 1963 50 33 .602 LAD 1st Half 1978 50 36 .581 LAD 1st Half 1988 48 36 .571 LAD 1st Half 1959 47 37 .560 LAD 1st Half 1966 47 36 .566 LAD 1st Half 1981 36 21 .632
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 7/10/2017.
Dodgers ho hum their way to another sweep
With another Dodger victory, this is getting ridiculous
- 61 wins at the all-star break
- 10 series sweeps
- 18 of last 19 at home
- Three hot teams have come to Dodger Stadium and three teams have left with their confidence shaken. Rockies/Diamondbacks/Royals are 0 – 9 against the best team in baseball. I guess the Dodgers can beat the good teams.
- Clayton Kershaw with another double-digit strikeout game. His 7th of the season and the 59th time in his career. Also the 21st time he has had double-digit strikeouts without issuing a walk.
- More Kershaw, he becomes the 1st pitcher to strike out at least 13 hitters in a complete game with few than 100 pitches. He cut it close by tossing 99 pitches.
- Justin Turner with another multiple hit game. Twenty-eight times this year.
- A Dodger catcher hit another home run. Barnes and Grandal have combined for sixteen home runs this year.
LAD FFA July 3rd – July 9th
Some noteworthy contenders by two real prospects, by a pitcher who I don’t have a read on, and a minor league free agent who got some burn in major league camp this past spring.
DJ Peters has been hot for a while and he kept it going last week picking up ten more hits, including three more home runs. He has now hit six home runs in his last seven games. Making it even sweeter two of his home runs came against Madison Bumgarner on a rehab start. Over his last ten games, a DJ Peters is now hitting .410.
Cristian Santana finally went a game without a hit but it was only the first time as a Loon that is has happened. Overall for the week, he had eleven hits, including his first home run as a Loon. The only downside for Santana right now is that after exhibiting patience early in the season with Ogden he has yet to take a walk as a Loon in nine games.
Devin Smeltzer pitched a gem on July 4th for the Loons. Smeltzer went six innings, gave up just four hits, one earned runs, zero walks, and eight strikeouts.
Henry Ramos is in the midst of his hottest professional stretch. Ramos collected three hits in all four games that he played last week. Hard to get excited however about a twenty-five-year-old in AA, but a tip of the hat to him for his excellent week. I knew nothing about Henry Ramos so I had to turn to google to help me out and this excellent overview by Dennis Schlossman did the trick.
For those unfamiliar with Ramos, the switch-hitting prospect was signed by the Dodgers as a minor league free agent last November. Originally drafted by the Red Sox in the fifth round of the 2010 draft, he had ties to current Dodgers vice president of international and amateur scouting David Finley, as Finley was in Boston’s scouting and player personnel departments at the time that Ramos was selected. At one point last year, he was ranked as high as No. 16 on the Red Sox Top 30 Prospects list, but ultimately fell out of high regards when his vital stats gradually fizzled by season’s end.
And the winner is ………………….Henry Ramos with DJ Peters a close second. Normally I’d give this to Peters since he’s a real prospect but this may be the only time Henry Ramos ever gets a mention here, and he did earn it with four three-hit games in one week.
A season of WTF
Besides the Dodgers doing their best imitation of the 1927 Yankees this year has been full of bizarre offensive seasons from players either long given up or simply far exceeding expectations from what had been their previous norms.
This is like the 2004 Beltre season but from a baker’s dozen. It won’t include players like Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger simply because they had no track record so while their amazing success is WTF worthy, maybe that is who they are destined to be.
Using wRC+ I’ve included every player this season who at this point I think is a WTF player for 2017. The table includes their previous best wRC+ with at least 300 plate appearances. For that reason, players like Trey Mancini didn’t make the cut even though his 137 wRC+ no one saw coming. I’m keeping Chris Taylor on the list even though he never had at least 300 PA in a season before. Why? Because it is my list and I want Chris Taylor on it.
| Name | wRC+ | PreviousBest | wOBA | PA | HR |
| Marwin Gonzalez | 161 | 110 | 0.41 | 248 | 15 |
| Scooter Gennett | 149 | 104 | 0.405 | 218 | 14 |
| Yonder Alonso | 148 | 110 | 0.389 | 289 | 19 |
| Lonnie Chisenhall | 147 | 117 | 0.396 | 211 | 12 |
| Logan Morrison | 147 | 116 | 0.389 | 338 | 24 |
| Justin Smoak | 144 | 112 | 0.39 | 325 | 23 |
| Aaron Hicks | 143 | 96 | 0.388 | 242 | 10 |
| Zack Cozart | 142 | 91 | 0.395 | 279 | 9 |
| Eric Thames | 138 | 107 | 0.391 | 320 | 23 |
| Travis Shaw | 134 | 87 | 0.385 | 323 | 18 |
| Chris Taylor | 134 | 103 | 0.373 | 269 | 10 |
| Steven Souza Jr. | 134 | 102 | 0.369 | 353 | 17 |
| Tyler Flowers | 131 | 110 | 0.374 | 220 | 6 |
Now that I’ve done the list and carved it done, it isn’t nearly as shocking as I thought it would be.
Hey, I told you about Marwin Gonzalez last fall when he was on my list as someone to target. Never expected this though.
Scooter Gennett was released this year by the first place Brewers.
The three slugging 1st baseman for the American League. Logan Morrison, Yonder Alonso, and Justin Smoak. All had shown promise as prospects but they have had years of suckitude before breaking out this year.
Travis Shaw had some success as a ppart-timeplayer for the Red Sox but when given full season at-bats he’d failed miserably. Brewers took a chance and he’s their clean up hitter.
Future’s game Dodger style
The game will be played on Sunday, July 9th in Miami. If you want to know who the best prospects in the game are, this is the game to watch.
With the promotion of Cody Bellinger, Alex Verdugo is arguably the best position prospect in the Dodger system.
Yadier Alvarez was considered the best pitching prospect in the Dodger system entering the 2017 season but he has not exactly pitched like a top pitching prospect and it is possible that Walker Buehler has by-passed him on the prospect ranking chart.
Here is what Baseball America had to say about them.
Yadier Alvarez:
Dodgers (High Class A Rancho Cucamonga)
Age: 21. HT.: 6-3. WT.: 175. B-T: R-R.
Source: Cuba.
Career Transactions: Signed as international free agent by Dodgers, July 2, 2015.
Background: Alvarez left Cuba and landed in the Dominican Republic in 2015, and scouts flocked to the island to try and sign the flamethrower who touches 100 mph with stunning ease.
What To Watch For: Alvarez has been one of the game’s hardest throwers since landing with the Dodgers, routinely sitting 96-99 mph and hitting 101. As far as electric arms go, Alvarez is the cream of the crop.
Read more at http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/2017-futures-game-world-rosters-and-scouting-reports/#e68PF07cQMAtGbEP.99
Alex Verdugo:
Dodgers (Triple-A Oklahoma City)
Age: 21. HT.: 6-0. WT.: 205. B-T: L-L.
Source: Mexico (drafted out of high school in Tucson).
Career Transactions: Selected by Dodgers in second round of 2014 draft.
Background: Verdugo was born and raised in Arizona but has long embraced his Mexican heritage, including suiting up for Team Mexico in the 2017 World Baseball Classic.
What To Watch For: Verdugo’s hitting polish is almost second-to-none in the minors with a smooth lefthanded stroke geared for line drives. He complements his hitting ability with a rocket arm and excellent defensive instincts, setting him up to join the Dodgers outfield shortly
Read more at http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/2017-futures-game-world-rosters-and-scouting-reports/#e68PF07cQMAtGbEP.99
One prospect going who is not representing the Dodgers will be Yordan Alvarez. He will instead be representing the Houston Astros, because he was the high price for Josh Fields. Yeah, Josh Fields, the guy who comes and goes between AAA and the Dodgers every few weeks.
At just 20 years old, Yordan will be one of the youngest participants.
Astros (High Class A Buies Creek)
Age: 20. HT.: 6-5. WT.: 225. B-T: L-L.
Source: Cuba.
Career Transactions: Signed as international free agent by Dodgers, June 15, 2016 … Traded by Dodgers to Astros for RHP Josh Fields, Aug. 1, 2016.
Background: The Dodgers signed Alvarez after he emigrated from Cuba, but he never played a game in their system before being traded to the Astros. He made his U.S. debut in 2017 and promptly hit .360 at his first assignment.
What To Watch For: Alvarez looks like an up-and-comer at first base thanks to his textbook lefthanded swing, power production, sound batting eye and the large target he presents on defense.
Read more at http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/2017-futures-game-world-rosters-and-scouting-reports/#e68PF07cQMAtGbEP.99
I fully expect Keibert Ruiz to be representing the Dodgers next year in the 2018 Future’s game.
Hill/Wood/Kershaw have three things in common
Two are obvious. They are all left handed. They are all Dodgers.
But did you know that over the last fourteen days they are also the three best pitchers in the NL?
Fangraphs tells us, this is so: (this snapshot only worked if viewed on July 7th, 2017)
Before the snapshot changes, this is what the NL starting pitching leaderboard looks like for the split of the past fourteen days when run on July 7th, 2017
| Name | Team | WAR | GS | IP | K/9 | BB/9 |
| Clayton Kershaw | Dodgers | 1.2 | 3 | 20 | 13.95 | 2.25 |
| Rich Hill | Dodgers | 0.9 | 3 | 21 | 11.57 | 1.29 |
| Alex Wood | Dodgers | 0.9 | 3 | 19 | 11.84 | 3.32 |
| Michael Wacha | Cardinals | 0.8 | 3 | 17.2 | 11.72 | 2.04 |
| Max Scherzer | Nationals | 0.8 | 2 | 13 | 12.46 | 1.38 |
| Adam Wainwright | Cardinals | 0.7 | 3 | 18.1 | 10.31 | 1.96 |
| Patrick Corbin | Diamondbacks | 0.6 | 3 | 17.1 | 9.87 | 2.6 |
| Jacob deGrom | Mets | 0.6 | 2 | 15 | 11.4 | 1.2 |
| Jimmy Nelson | Brewers | 0.6 | 3 | 19 | 12.79 | 1.89 |
Isn’t that beautiful?
Rich Hill puts another win on the Dodger wall
Rich Hill and Logan Forsythe were two of the last holdouts this year in the summer of the Blue, but both have joined the fray, and the team looks unstoppable.
For the 3rd straight start, Rich Hill worked seven innings and now has twenty-seven strikeouts to only three walks over his last three starts. That is ace like work. I’m still not convinced that giving the injury-prone thirty-seven year old a three-year deal was the best move but right now, it looks great.
I don’t do recaps unless the game is special since everybody else does them but this game fell under that special category.
You had the possibility of sweeping the Diamondbacks at home, breaking a little of that same spirit they broke with the Rockies two weeks ago.
Robbie Ray proved why he is an all-star. He doesn’t quite make up for the Diamondbacks trading Max Scherzer to the Tigers but it helps. He was part of a three team deal that left the Tigers holding the bag while the Diamondbacks got Ray, and the Yankees got Didi Gregorious who has turned into a nice everyday SS.
Ray and Hill combined to strike out twenty-two hitters, out of thirty-nine outs. The game was 1 – 1 when both starters exited.
Luis Avilan was the first bullpen pitcher to get knocked around but he would not be the last. None of Avilan, Morrow, or Fields did their jobs giving the Diamondbacks a 4 – 1 lead headed into the bottom of the 9th.
At which point Fernando Rodney lost the plate and eventually the game. The big hit was the Corey Seager single up the middle to tie the game.
Batting cleanup Chris Taylor would notch his fourth hit to win the game after Justin Turner was intentionally walked to load the bases. His 1st hit was a bloop over the second baseman. His second hit was a bloop down the first base line. His 3rd hit was shot to deep RCF. His 4th hit was a walk-off line drive to LF over the head of the drawn in LF.
Joe Davis made a great call on the hit by Chris Taylor but the MLB videos have Charlie Steiner and that ain’t being linked. Oh fine, here is the link.
Which gets us back to Logan Forsythe. He’s been hot for ten games but in his last four starts, Mr. Forsythe has seven hits, four extra-base hits, three walks and is kick starting the offense. His walk in the bottom of the 9th plated the first run and you just had faith that Logan was going to get something done, just like a month ago you had faith he would not get something done.
Forsythe is the craziness of baseball. A month ago he looked as lost at the plate as any hitter ever has, and right now he is as locked in as any hitter in baseball.
Anyway, the Dodgers won again. The swept another team trying to make a race of the NL West. It was their 9th sweep of the year. That is crazy. It was their 58th win of the year and we still haven’t reached the all-star break. That is crazy. And according to their pythag, they are underperforming by two games.
You could make a case that the three best pitchers in the NL since Friday June 23rd have been Rich Hill, Alex Wood, and Clayton Kershaw.
Next
Alex Wood makes it six all-stars
With the announcement that Alex Wood has been picked as a replacement all-star the Dodgers now have six 2017 All-stars.
Even if the baseball All-Star game does not float your boat, as a Dodger fan you have to be excited to see this incredible team rewarded.
They all deserved it, no gimmie’s here.
1st/LF – Cody Bellinger
SS – Corey Seager
3rd – Justin Turner
SP – Clayton Kershaw
SP – Alex Wood
Closer – Kenley Jansen
Blazing Dodger Blue meets en fuego Royal Blue
A month ago the game was figuring out where the assorted Royals were going to end up. Cain, Hosmer, Moustakas, and Vargas were the primary names being bandied about. I had even conjectured that Cain would be a good fit for the Dodgers given the struggles of Pederson and the uncertain status of the untested Chris Taylor as two of the Dodger everyday outfielders.
Forget about it
Not just because the Royals are now players but because Joc and Chris seem entrenched along with help from Kiké as the Dodger outfielders.
The Royals are so hot they have climbed from last place on June 2nd to one game behind the division-leading Cleveland Indians. They did this by going 17 – 9 in June, and 5 – 1 so far in July.
No longer sellers, the Royals will be looking to add pieces in July.
What a great matchup the Dodger/Royals will be providing fans of Blue this weekend.
The offense is a bit out of synch for the Royals. All of the heavy lifting is being conducted by the infield, while the outfield has been struggling to keep pace.
The Dodgers have Justin Turner, the Royals can match them with Chatsworth High star Mike Moustakas who might be the hottest hitter in baseball. Moustakas has hit five home runs in the last seven days and twenty-five for the season which is already three more than his career high of twenty-two.
The Dodgers have Chris Taylor but the Royals can match that with Whit Merrifield who much like Taylor appeared to be destined to be an AAA or utility player at best this season. Instead, Merrifield has filled a huge hole at 2nd base while giving the team some speed. Whit does not measure upto Chris Taylor over the whole season so far due to his poor June but over the past seven days Whit is as hot as any second baseman in baseball with a 149 wRC+ along with five stolen bases.
The Dodgers have Cody Bellinger but right now the Royals can match that with Eric Hosmer. Outside of all-star snub Logan Morrison, Hosmer is the hottest hitting AL 1st baseman over the past seven days with a wRC+ of 202. Overall his 126 wRC+ is the best of his career.
The Dodgers have Corey Seager and the Royals can match that with…………………..Ha ha, no bloody way they can match Corey Seager.
If the Royals need some help they might be looking toward the outfield.
Lorenzo Cain has had an off year but in June he was spectacular putting up a full month wRC+ of 162, good enough for 3rd best for AL CF in June. For the season Cain is having a Cain like year after being down last year. His full season wRC+ is 110 which seems very Cain-like. According to Fangraphs, he’s not the dominant defensive CF we saw in two world series but he’s still above average. Just not spectacular.
The Dodgers have their Cuban right fielder, the Royals have their Cuban Right Fielder. The Dodger one is much better in all aspects of the game. I think Puig and Soler were signed the same season. Soler was signed by the Cubs and was generally expected to become a star. Didn’t happen. May not happen. Soler was sent down to AAA earlier this year, and is now back but is still not doing much.
The better Jorge has been Jorge Bonifacio but Bonifacio is one of the four Royal outfielders who have struggled lately. Jorge banged some home runs early and was a force in May but has seen his wRC+ drop rapidly as the season has progressed.
To give you an idea how bad the right fielder Jorge’s have struggled they have combined to strike out eighteen times in forty-four plate appearances. Nine for each.
Alex Gordon was one of the better left fielders in the game when we saw him in the 2014/2015 World Series. The 2016 version of Alex Gordon was the worst LF in baseball even accounting for good defense. The 2017 version started off much the same as the 2016 version and it has not gotten any better.
The Royals are contenders but they are doing it with the worst hitting outfield in the American League, and have only the Giants to thank for not being the worst hitting outfield in all of baseball.
Seven Day Stats for the Royal Hitters:
| Name | PA | wRC+ | wOBA | HR | R | RBI | SB |
| Whit Merrifield | 34 | 149 | 0.399 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 5 |
| Mike Moustakas | 26 | 205 | 0.482 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 0 |
| Eric Hosmer | 31 | 202 | 0.477 | 2 | 7 | 8 | 0 |
| Alcides Escobar | 28 | 108 | 0.34 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 0 |
| Brandon Moss | 16 | 178 | 0.442 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| Alex Gordon | 24 | 99 | 0.326 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 0 |
| Salvador Perez | 26 | 104 | 0.333 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 0 |
| Ramon Torres | 13 | 152 | 0.404 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Lorenzo Cain | 27 | 68 | 0.28 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 1 |
| Jorge Bonifacio | 23 | 73 | 0.288 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Drew Butera | 4 | -4 | 0.173 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jorge Soler | 21 | 73 | 0.286 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
The Dodgers will be facing Jason Hammel, Ian Kennedy, and Danny Duffy.
Did the Cubs make a mistake in letting Hammel walk this past winter and turning to Brett Anderson instead? Brett Anderson has shockingly spent most of the season on the disabled list. Hammel started out like he wasn’t going to finish the season in the Royal rotation but has righted the ship and is coming off a very good June. Can he carry that into July?
Ian Kennedy was the Royals big free agent signing in 2016 and it is not going well. He is giving the Royal rotation innings, he’s just not making it easy to win games that he starts. He has given up sixteen home runs in only eighty-one innings and is carrying a FIP of 5.36.
Danny Duffy was kind of the Alex Wood of 2016 for the Royals. Headed into 2016, the young left-hander Duffy had lost his spot in the rotation and was destined for the bullpen. He pitched well out of the bullpen was inserted into the rotation and went on to have his best season. This year, Duffy has pitched well but missed all of June, which oddly was the Royals best month. He’s now back and will be making his second start since coming off the DL.
The Dodgers don’t get to face All-Star Jason Vargas one of the great pitching stories of 2017. Too bad, really wanted to see him.
The bullpen no longer has Greg Holland or Wade Davis who have combined for forty-four saves for other teams. These don’t appear to be good decisions. Jorge Soler was the price for Wade Davis and he looks like the same bust he was for the Cubs. Greg Holland simply required a small investment and they passed.
Kelvin Herrera who had been the super setup man for Holland and Davis is now the closer and while he has struggled at times with that role the real problem is that he is no longer the super setup man. The long deep bullpen that was the key to the Royals success of 2014 and 2015 is gone.
Well not gone, just not the best in baseball anymore. Joakim Soria is still here and has moved into the super setup role and it looks like he’s doing the job. Mike Minor is certainly doing the job. The problem might be that those guys are the best, and it drops off from there. They picked up Feliz a few weeks ago and he might help but the Brewers didn’t think he could.
The starters still don’t go deep and the bullpen is not as good as it was to make up for it.
Now that I’ve looked at the Royal team I’m kind of coming away unimpressed. I think the hot streak by the Royals is a mirage and that this team still needs lots of help to continue to be a contender. They are in a tough spot with three key players in their free agent year who could help them get pieces for the next Royal run but as long as they are in contention they can’t trade them.
I wish them well, I really enjoyed watching those 2014/2015 teams but they could be in for a rude awakening facing the hottest team in baseball who appear to be better than them at every spot across the board.
Dodgers, Yesterday and Today 