Lamb and Schebler once again
One thing stood out for me. Jake Lamb and Scott Schebler are the exact same baseball age at 23. 67. Jake Lamb was promoted two weeks ago to be the Diamondbacks starting 3rd baseman. Lamb had the highest wOBA in the Southern League at .433, but his BABIP was sitting at .389. Schebler has an wOBA of .403 but with a more reasonable BABIP of only .304.
Since that promotion, Jack Lamb has been the starting 3rd baseman and has hit 53 home runs with an OPS just a tad below .800 at .799. This year Lamb has 14 home runs and is one of six NL 3rd baseman with an OPS > .900.
Schebler wouldn’t get a Dodger promotion in 2014. In fact, he barely got a promotion in 2015 getting in just 19 games. Fifteen months after I had compared Schebler favorably to Jake Lamb it was looking like a bad comparison. One was a starting 3rd baseman, the other couldn’t even crack a twenty-five man roster.
Schebler was traded in the winter of 2015 to the Reds along with teammate Jose Peraza in a three-team deal. The Dodgers got Trayce Thompson and hard-throwing Montas. Thompson was kind of the right-handed version of Scott Schebler but with some major league success already under his belt.
Thompson started off 2015 on fire and Schebler started it off in a slump so bad that he was sent back to AAA. Those who are quick to note these things claimed the Dodgers had made another heist in the deal.
One year later, that trade isn’t looking as good as it looked last year at this time. This time Thompson is the one in AAA and struggling to get back to the major league roster.
Schebler struggled in April but his manager had his back and now Scott Schebler has an NL league-leading sixteen home runs.
“(Price) told me ‘Hey, don’t look over your shoulder,’” Schebler said. “This is your job, you are going to be the everyday guy, we are going to give you an ample amount of opportunity. That just meant everything me because it’s such a sample-size game that you press a little bit and you feel pressure. For him to do that, to have my back on that … I think he knows what kind of person I am. It’s a credit to him to pull me into his office like that and know that it would mean a lot to me, whereas maybe it wouldn’t mean as much to other guys.”
He’s hit eight home runs in both April and May. That comparison to Jake Lamb isn’t looking so bad now. The two of them have combined for 30 home runs and they now have a career OPS within five points of each other. Both seem locked into their positions for the foreseeable future.
I was always a big fan of Scott Schebler, but I was kind of expecting a guy who could play decent corner outfield defense, a little speed, and hit right hand pitching with enough power to keep him in the lineup. At no time did I think Schebler was a 30 home run type of guy. Nor did I think Jake Lamb was that type of guy. I thought they could have similar careers but I didn’t think the careers would be this good.
My only disappointment in Schebler is his lack of triples at the major league level. One of my favorite Schebler stats was his propensity for hitting triples. He hit 62 minor league triples but only two major league triples. Go figure.
Bellinger / Taylor blazing beginnings
As Chris Taylor continues to prove he belongs somewhere in the starting lineup I started wondering where he would place among LAD who started their Dodger careers off with a bang.
I usually start with Marlon Anderson and Ronnie Belliard, two Sept pickups who excelled for the team and helped propel them toward the postseason.
I created a leaderboard of LAD who had <= 250 plate appearances, were good enough for an OPS+ > 110. I removed pitchers and anyone who had less than 50 plate appearances.
When you look at the list below you will see Sept heroes acquired via waiver deadline deals like Marlon Anderson. Late summer free agent signings like Justin Ruggiano and Dick Stuart. Mid season trade acquisitions like Steve Finley and Toby Hall. Rookies like Cody Bellinger, Ralph Bryant, and Andrew Toles. Players signed as free agents in the winter like Jose Hernandez.
Does anyone remember Toby Hall being any good for the Dodgers? I sure don’t, I thought he underperformed from the get go.
Nice to see Jose Hernandez on this list. What a 2004 season he had as the super utility infielder/outfielder. Look at all those extra base hits. Twenty – Six extra-base hits in 238 PA. The Kiké Hernandez of his day.
Belliard didn’t even make the cut. He was hot enough in Sept of 2009, but he got too many at-bats in 2010 and that pulled him down.
This list is a just a point in time for Bellinger, Toles, and Taylor as they will accumulate much more than 250 LAD plate appearances in their career. Unless Toles gets traded this winter. For everyone else, they will remain static on this list as their Dodger careers were complete with less than 250 plate appearances.
This leaderboard is thus
Current search:Spanning Multiple Seasons or entire Careers, Playing for the LAD, From 1958 to 2017, Played games at C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, LF, CF, RF, DH or PHR, (requiring PA<=250, onbase_plus_slugging_plus>=110 and PA>=50), sorted by greatest Adjusted OPS+
Player OPS+ PA From To Age 2B 3B HR RBI BB Justin Ruggiano 165 60 2015 2015 33-33 4 1 4 12 3 Marlon Anderson 161 102 2006 2007 32-33 3 2 7 17 10 Jose Hernandez 137 238 2004 2004 34-34 12 1 13 29 26 Cody Bellinger 136 156 2017 2017 21-21 6 1 12 31 16 Chris Taylor 134 208 2016 2017 25-26 10 2 8 30 25 Tim Harkness 129 84 1961 1962 23-24 4 0 2 7 13 McKay Christensen 123 55 2001 2001 25-25 2 0 1 7 3 Ralph Bryant 123 169 1985 1987 24-26 6 3 8 24 15 Andrew Toles 121 217 2016 2017 24-25 12 1 8 31 13 Steve Finley 112 250 2004 2004 39-39 12 0 13 46 21 Dick Stuart 111 104 1966 1966 33-33 1 0 3 9 11 Toby Hall 110 60 2006 2006 30-30 4 0 0 8 2
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 6/4/2017.
“Taylor made comeback”
Charlie Steiner doesn’t do much for me but that was his call after the Dodgers won earlier today on the backs of a grand slam home run by Chris Taylor in the 9th inning.
“Taylor made comeback”
Worth a mention
One day after a sleepfest the Dodgers/Brewers put on a show today with hitting/stolen bases/defense.
I’d say more but don’t have time just wanted to get the Charlie reference up before I forgot about it.
Strikeouts are kind of boring
That was what I was thinking last night about the 10th inning after a bazillion players struck out in the Dodger / Brewer game. No one could make contact for either team. Eventually, the game was decided by three solo home runs. Basically, the game consisted of strikeouts or solo home runs.
The strikeouts were historically cool but that was about it. It wasn’t like Clayton Kershaw was dominant, it was more like the Brewers can’t make contact. At first, I just assumed Kershaw was being brilliant but once Baez/Dayton struck out eight of their own nine hitters they faced I had to come to the conclusion that this might have been more about the Brewers than the Dodger pitchers. The Brewers lead the NL in strikeouts with 524. They strike out over 25% of the time. As a team.
They couldn’t make contact with anyone who wore Dodger blue except one time.
Maybe that type of game floats your boat, but it put me to sleep. I mean I used to love strikeouts and home runs but only because they used to be hard. In a league where everyone strikes out, and everyone hits home runs (except Adrian Gonzalez) it isn’t as cool as it used to be.
Kershaw re-writes the leaderboards
Part of the fun for me in posting the leaderboards before each series is to see if someone can crack them. Several weeks ago Alex Wood did just that, and last night Clayton Kershaw decided he would be mocked no more for not having a double-digit strikeout game against the Brewers on the road.
Here are the new leaderboards, and we will throw in the new LAD all-time strikeout leaderboard now that Kershaw has cracked 2,000.
First up will be game score, Clayton couldn’t knock off Hideo Nomo when Dave Roberts decided to use Chris Taylor to attempt to bunt in the top of the 8th but he did crack the 80 game score club for the 2nd time.
Player Date Opp Rslt IP H ER BB SO GSc Hideo Nomo 2003-05-24 MIL W 6-0 9.0 2 0 4 8 87 Chan Ho Park 2000-08-29 MIL W 7-2 8.0 1 2 3 14 83 Clayton Kershaw 2017-06-02 MIL W 2-1 7.0 2 1 1 14 82 Clayton Kershaw 2013-05-20 MIL W 3-1 9.0 3 1 1 5 81
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 6/3/2017.
Next up he matches Chan Ho Park for strikeouts after never having a double digit strikeout game against the Brewers on the road.
Player Date Opp Rslt IP H ER BB SO GSc Clayton Kershaw 2017-06-02 MIL W 2-1 7.0 2 1 1 14 82 Chan Ho Park 2000-08-29 MIL W 7-2 8.0 1 2 3 14 83 Luke Prokopec 2001-07-25 MIL L 3-4 6.2 6 3 1 11 60 Darren Dreifort 2000-08-30 MIL L 2-3 8.0 4 2 1 11 76
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 6/3/2017.
And finally the new LAD all time strikeout leaderboard.
Player SO From To Age W L W-L% IP ERA+ Don Sutton 2696 1966 1988 21-43 233 181 .563 3816.1 110 Don Drysdale 2486 1956 1969 19-32 209 166 .557 3432.0 121 Sandy Koufax 2396 1955 1966 19-30 165 87 .655 2324.1 131 Clayton Kershaw 2010 2008 2017 20-29 133 62 .682 1843.0 160
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 6/3/2017.
Kershaw goes for 2,000 K tonight
Only HOF need apply
Player SO From To Age IP Don Sutton 2696 1966 1988 21-43 3816.1 Don Drysdale 2283 1958 1969 21-32 3112.0 Sandy Koufax 2214 1958 1966 22-30 2119.2 Clayton Kershaw 1996 2008 2017 20-29 1836.0
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 6/2/2017.
Chan Ho Park takes the K leaderboard against Brewers
As expected Chan Ho Park sits on top of the strikeout leaderboard against the Brewers as visitors with his brilliant 14 strikeout performance on August 29, 2000.
What wasn’t expected was Luke Prokopec. Have to be honest I never expected to see Luke on any of these leaderboards, but I guess if John Purdin can make a list so could Luke Prokopec.
Darren Dreifort rounds out the top.
Anyone else surprised that Clayton Kershaw has never struck out ten Brewers on the road? Or Nomo? Or Fernando? They have been around since 1970 so all the great Dodger pitchers except Koufax/Drysdale had a shot at them.
Rob Deer could have accounted for 3 – 4 K’s himself in each game.
Player Date Opp Rslt IP H ER BB SO GSc Chan Ho Park 2000-08-29 MIL W 7-2 8.0 1 2 3 14 83 Luke Prokopec 2001-07-25 MIL L 3-4 6.2 6 3 1 11 60 Darren Dreifort 2000-08-30 MIL L 2-3 8.0 4 2 1 11 76
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 6/2/2017.
Hideo Nomo once again on top of a game score leaderboard against an opponent.
Hideo Nomo finds himself on top once again with his two hitter on May 24th, 2003.
Only three Dodgers have managed a game score above 80 against the Brewers on the road. That is kind of light. Chan Ho Park will probably be sitting on top the strikeout leaderboard against the Brewers on the road. It would kind of hard to top 14 K’s and not put up at least an 80 game score.
Player Date Opp Rslt IP H ER BB SO GSc Hideo Nomo 2003-05-24 MIL W 6-0 9.0 2 0 4 8 87 Chan Ho Park 2000-08-29 MIL W 7-2 8.0 1 2 3 14 83 Clayton Kershaw 2013-05-20 MIL W 3-1 9.0 3 1 1 5 81
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 6/2/2017.
Shawn Green with 19 total bases in one game against Brewers
Only two Dodgers have ever had double digit total bases on the road against the Brewers.
Even the most casual Dodger fan probably knows about the Shawn Green explosion on May 23rd, 2002. The single greatest game in the history of the Dodgers.
Does anyone remember the Grandal game? Grandal had two singles, two home runs, and two walks. Talk about deuces wild. And he drove in more runs than Green did in almost 1/2 the total bases.
Player Date Opp Rslt PA R 2B 3B HR TB RBI BB Shawn Green 2002-05-23 MIL W 16-3 6 6 1 0 4 19 7 0 Yasmani Grandal 2015-05-07 MIL W 14-4 6 3 0 0 2 10 8 2
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Generated 6/2/2017.
Dodger Farm System Positional update June 2nd, 2017
With two months in the books, how has the farm system been doing?
My quick top ten:
- Keibert Ruiz – I might be crazy, but he’s my favorite positional prospect
- Alex Verdugo – possible trade bait
- Willie Calhoun – trade bait
- Brendon Davis
- Gavin Lux
- Edwin Rios – trade bait
- Will Smith
- Oneil Cruz
- Carlos Rincon
- DJ Peters
- Yusniel Diaz
AAA Oklahoma Dodgers:
Kyle Farmer has done nothing but hit so far this year. The C/3rd baseman is going to try to carve out an Austin Barnes type of career.
Calhoun is having a nice year but I’d still want to see more considering his bat is his only tool.
Alex Verdugo has shown little power this year but great plate discipline.
Bobby Wilson is there to remind us of the nice depth the Dodgers have. Wilson has already proven he’s a reliable major league backup catcher.
Ike Davis should probably retire.
Trayce Thompson and Scott Van Slyke trying to work their way back to the major league roster. Right now Brett Eibner has taken their spot. Eibner might keep it though Thompson has finally got his baseball legs back under him.
Rk Name Age PA 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS 1 Kyle Farmer 26 28 3 0 2 6 4 2 .375 .464 .750 1.214 2 Drew Maggi 28 74 4 0 2 8 13 14 .390 .486 .559 1.046 3 Max Muncy* 26 98 5 1 4 15 10 24 .349 .418 .570 .988 4 Willie Calhoun* 22 187 9 1 10 21 14 20 .301 .353 .538 .891 5 OKoyea Dickson 27 196 10 1 14 36 17 45 .249 .321 .561 .882 6 Alex Verdugo* 21 187 6 2 1 24 22 21 .317 .396 .398 .793 7 Bobby Wilson 34 113 5 0 7 18 10 23 .228 .304 .485 .789 8 Brett Eibner 28 71 2 1 3 10 3 22 .258 .296 .455 .750 9 Ike Davis* 30 61 2 0 3 11 4 18 .218 .262 .418 .680 10 Charlie Culberson 28 163 4 2 3 13 13 34 .242 .302 .356 .658 11 Trayce Thompson 26 155 3 2 4 10 13 45 .186 .253 .321 .575 12 Scott Van Slyke 30 55 2 0 0 1 7 15 .178 .327 .222 .549
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 6/1/2017.
AA Tulsa Drillers:
Edwin Rios just hits and hits. The 2016 LAD Positional Minor League Player of the Year is crushing it in Tulsa. They say he’s lost weight and looks more nimble at 3rd base. That is all good, the bad – Notice the 48/6 K/BB ratio. Ouch
Jose Fernandez is doing OK, but he’s a 29 year old and that offense just won’t cut it. I can see why the Dodgers were able to sign him for the minimum. He is a minimum player. Hard to imagine a major league career for him. Maybe he keeps shaking the rust off and gets going, but he better start soon.
Not much else of note here, unless you want me to point out, just how bad Johan Mieses has been.
Rk Name Age PA R 2B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS 1 Edwin Rios* 23 195 25 15 9 38 6 48 .344 .374 .574 .948 2 Michael Ahmed 25 106 12 5 6 18 9 30 .292 .349 .531 .880 3 Kyle Farmer 26 141 21 7 3 18 16 13 .339 .411 .468 .879 4 Kyle Garlick 25 180 29 8 11 27 11 53 .253 .311 .500 .811 5 Jose Fernandez* 29 167 19 10 5 23 6 16 .299 .335 .461 .796 6 Matt Beaty* 24 137 14 8 3 17 6 19 .300 .336 .446 .782 7 Erick Mejia# 22 69 10 3 0 1 10 13 .268 .379 .393 .772 8 Tim Locastro 24 197 31 12 1 10 12 29 .280 .355 .400 .755 9 Wynston Sawyer 25 108 9 7 3 8 8 27 .255 .315 .418 .733 10 Paul Hoenecke* 26 123 10 6 7 13 4 30 .231 .260 .462 .722 11 Jacob Scavuzzo 23 132 15 5 6 22 6 41 .236 .280 .423 .703 12 Stetson Allie 26 99 7 6 1 5 9 41 .216 .293 .341 .634 13 Johan Mieses 21 144 18 3 8 14 14 62 .126 .229 .339 .568
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 6/1/2017.
A Plus – Cucamonga Quakes
Yusniel Diaz has to be the biggest disappointment in the system right now. The multi-tool CF may not have the hit tool. He’s only 20 but this is not impressive.
DJ Peters is impressive, though that K rate is krazy bad. At least he can take a walk and provide some pop when he connects.
Will Smith has had some streaks of brilliance this spring but overall is just a tad over tepid given his age for a league like this.
Ibandel Isabel has hit 12 home runs. There, I said something nice.
Drew Jackson is 23 and not doing much when you consider he’s repeating the level.
The Dodgers should consider swapping out Omar Estevez with Brendon Davis given that Estevez is being overmatched at this level.
Name Age PA 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS DJ Peters 21 215 9 3 8 27 28 75 .256 .372 .472 .844 Luke Raley* 22 201 5 4 5 18 17 44 .301 .383 .460 .843 Ibandel Isabel 22 192 4 0 12 34 19 76 .234 .323 .473 .796 Will Smith 22 188 7 2 7 24 27 46 .233 .374 .447 .821 Drew Jackson 23 160 7 1 5 16 21 38 .242 .375 .424 .799 Yusniel Diaz 20 198 5 1 2 19 21 50 .227 .308 .302 .610 Omar Estevez 19 163 7 1 1 14 9 37 .205 .258 .285 .542 Brandon Montgomery 21 125 7 0 1 14 5 20 .259 .288 .345 .633 Ariel Sandoval 21 108 3 0 1 8 7 39 .180 .241 .240 .481
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 6/1/2017.
A Ball Great Lake Loons
Hey look, some nice prospects.
Brendon Davis should be putting his name back on the prospect lists. Lots to like here, the big downside are the K’s but at 19 in this tough hitters league, everything else looks good. Is he a 2nd baseman, SS, or 3rd baseman? Dodgers don’t know yet so neither do we.
Carlos Rincon showing some big pop, little plate discipline.
Keibert Ruiz is probably one of my fastest risers. Eighteen, catcher, switch hitter, elite defense, holding his own offensively. Sign me up.
Gavin Lux isn’t at the Diaz level of disappointment but I was hoping for more from the 2016 1st round pick.
Cruz started slow in the cold weather of the MWL, but as it heats up so has Oneil Cruz. At only 18 and his first foray into a professional season on the continent, the expectations are still low. Getting burn at both SS and 3rd. Not sure why they are bothering with any SS work but I’m sure the Dodger dvlp group know what they are doing. The Dodgers must think the world of him to put him in such a tough environment instead of waiting for the Rookie leagues. That speaks volumes to me.
Mitch Hansen – forget about it
Name Age PA 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS Brendon Davis 19 200 10 2 5 29 26 65 .275 .390 .449 .839 Carlos Rincon 19 160 8 1 9 30 12 60 .259 .319 .510 .829 Cody Thomas* 22 194 6 1 9 19 14 67 .219 .284 .416 .699 Oneil Cruz 18 196 3 0 4 16 13 55 .218 .265 .302 .567 Keibert Ruiz# 18 154 9 0 1 14 7 23 .296 .338 .380 .718 Luis Paz* 20 153 4 1 3 17 10 41 .196 .248 .301 .549 Gavin Lux* 19 149 3 3 0 9 18 30 .236 .336 .307 .643 Mitchell Hansen* 21 150 4 1 1 8 16 39 .188 .280 .256 .536 Saige Jenco* 22 131 3 3 0 11 18 28 .198 .321 .279 .600 Gage Green* 24 107 8 0 0 14 6 18 .213 .271 .298 .569 Steve Berman 22 83 6 0 0 11 3 13 .269 .301 .346 .647 Zach McKinstry* 22 69 7 0 1 3 17 10 .308 .478 .500 .978 Errol Robinson 22 61 4 0 2 8 4 16 .204 .246 .389 .635 Moises Perez 19 55 4 0 0 5 5 9 .163 .236 .245 .481 Erick Meza* 19 37 0 0 1 4 1 6 .114 .162 .200 .362 Gersel Pitre 20 16 1 0 0 2 3 3 .333 .467 .417 .883 Shakir Albert 20 15 2 0 0 2 2 5 .231 .333 .385 .718
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 6/1/2017.
Dodgers, Yesterday and Today 