Kenta makes Roberts look good
Many questions, and many answers last night.
We will start with the NL baseball decision.
Should you pinch hit for your starting pitchers as early as the 4th inning?
Your pitcher struggled in the first inning putting the team in a hole by three runs, but has gotten his act together and kept the score close at 3 – 1 as you head into the bottom of the 4th. A few hits later and the score is 3 – 2, runners on 2nd/3rd and your pitcher due up. You have two outs so a hit is needed to bring in a run. You have Logan Forsythe normally a starting player ready to pinch hit. At most your pitcher might have another inning in him.
You decide to let your pitcher hit emitting groans throughout the Twittersphere and everyone is already getting ready to ask the question “why did you let Kenta hit in that spot”. Instead of that being a combative question, it becomes a question of respect, because Kenta Maeda delivered two out two-run single that put the Dodgers in front 4 -3, a lead they would never let go off.
Kenta delivered his flawless 5th inning, and another question needed to be answered.
Could Ryu pitch effectively in relief?
It would seem that Ryu has lost his spot in the starting rotation. Earlier in the day, Roberts had signaled what his rotation was going to look like going forward and Ryu was not in it. Ryu had never pitched in relief, so it was a legitimate question. Rarely has a question been answered with such an exclamation point. Ryu not only pitched in relief he threw four scoreless innings for the rare four innings save and allowed the rest of the bullpen to be fully ready for the Cubs this weekend.
Can Chris Taylor handle CF?
Oh boy, can he. Two games, two highlight catches, no mistakes, and he’s still hitting rockets everywhere. The Taylor Train is bypassing small city stops and headed straight for the big city.
Could this strange Dodger lineup score some runs against the might Cardinal rotation?
The Cardinal rotation entering last night had been as stingy as any in baseball and the Dodger lineup had a cleanup hitter who had yet to hit a home run in over 100 PA. The answer was yes and the scoring came from up and down the lineup. Chase Utley got it started with his first home run of 2017. The big rally was started by Cody Bellinger blasting a single into RF. Enrique Hernandez squeezed a single into RF after a brilliant at-bat. Puig takes a nasty strike two that was down and away. Not being able to take a chance on another bad call he swings at a pitch out of the strike zone but is able to deliver a to RF driving in Bellinger with Hernandez taking 3rd. Puig steals second, and Kenta brings them both home with a ball down the line just eluding the Gyorko glove putting the Dodgers ahead 4 – 3. In the 5th it is the top of the lineup that puts up two runs with Taylor getting it started and Gonzalez putting up the finishing touches with a touch double to LF. The final and seventh run is driven in by Taylor, plating Hernandez who had doubled.
Ready for more? The Cubs are coming in red hot, can the Dodgers cool their jets?
Can Kenta break the 4 game DL losing streak?
So far this year the Dodgers have lost the first game of every starter who has come back from the disabled list. They are 0 -4 in those games, with only one pitcher pitching notably well.
The Games:
- 4/16/2017 – Rich Hill makes his first return from the DL and loses 3 – 1. Hill would only get nine outs in his first game back.
- Ryu lost 10 – 7 at Coors on 5/11. Hey, welcome back, now go get those Rockie hitters out.
- Brandon McCarthy lost on 5/15 to the Giants 8 – 4 giving up six earned runs in five innings.
- Rich Hill tried again on May 16th but lost to the Giants 2 – 1. Hill pitched well, the Dodgers just didn’t give him any support.
It is now Kenta Maeda’s turn to break the four-game DL losing streak. Kenta had made three straight good starts including an eight-inning stint in his last start and then he was on the DL. Lets hope he can find the same rhythm he had going in his last three starts before the DL transaction.
The time was right for Joe Davis
Part of the reason I stopped being a Laker fan was because of the loss of Chick Hearn. I often wondered if the same would happen when Vin Scully was no longer calling Dodger games. Those were the only voices I’d heard from age 12 on up. They were part of my Los Angeles DNA.
I needn’t have worried.
Dodger fans have to feel lucky that by the time Vin decided to hang it up, a fresh face appeared to take his spot.
Laker fans weren’t so lucky when Chick Hearn left us. We not only didn’t get to say good-bye, the replacements have been horrible with the exception of Spero Dedes. The Lakers should have done everything they could to make sure that Spero would be the new voice for the Lakers but like everything else, in the past five years they bungled it and Spero left for greener pastures.
The Dodgers didn’t bungle it. They realized they had found the TV face for the franchise going forward and signed him up for the long term. The young, good looking, articulate, well mannered Davis brings his mid-western friendliness to the Dodger broadcasts and interacts quite well with his color analyst Orel Hershiser.
This is Joe’s first year calling the full complement of TV games for the Dodgers and he may be going overboard trying to replace Vin’s penchant for story telling but that is what Dodger fans are used to, so he’s giving them a bit of the old storytelling with a bit of the new sabermetric bent that has entered the vernacular of the baseball world. I don’t think it would have been the same if Vin had started telling us about WAR/Exit Velocities/Launch Angles but they roll off the tongue of Joe Davis in a non-threatening way.
Originally I felt that Joe was too much of a homer. He used the word “we” too easily. I looked at my feeling on this and came to the conclusion that this only bothers me because Vin never did it. If I removed Vin from the equation I realized that. Hey, I like my announcer rooting for my team. Damn.
This is a new era of baseball, where technology has given the game a whole new dimension, and Joe Davis is the guy who can deliver this information and still not interfere with the basic tenants of the game. Pitch/Hit/Field.
Some might feel this is too daunting, too much too soon, and just another indication that Millennials are bad people. I, on the other hand, enjoy avocado on my toast and am enjoying the transition just fine.
I feel that Vin retiring as he did, allowing him to say good-by to us, for us as fans to say good-bye to him, and thus letting him know what he meant to us has gone a long way in making this transition easier. I know it did for me. You never want to miss a good-bye because you may never get another chance.
I expect Joe Davis to be calling Dodger games long after I’ve passed on and become his own fabric to the young Dodger fans just learning about the great game. Those kids got lucky, if you peruse baseball on TV, you will find that most announcers are simply not very good.
We got a good one.
The ball finds you
Chris Taylor made his first ever start in CF last night and on the second pitch, Fowler hit a deep drive to straight away CF that seemed destined for a leadoff double or triple, but Chris Taylor tracked it down and leaped at the wall to snare the out leading Joe Davis to exclaim “The ball finds you”. Indeed it did, but Chris Taylor was up to the task looking like he had played CF for more than one pitch.
That was the highlight of the game. Rich Hill looked like the guy I saw in spring training in 2016 when he made a start for the A’s against the Dodgers and walked the bases loaded in the first inning. He never got out of the first inning in that start, but last night he managed to limit the damage to two runs until the 5th when his walks and Cody Bellinger’s error put the game out of reach and ended an erratic start by Hill.
History will show I was never a fan of the three-year deal for the 37-year-old journeyman, and so far it has been a bumpy ride in the first year of the deal.
If anyone can be critical of the front office it would have to start with how they have spent money on multi-year deals for oft-injured starting pitching. This front office is full of smart people and they have made wonderful below the radar trades but their free agent signings for the rotation are another manner.
McCarthy / Kazmir / Hill
We will look into that in further detail later, but for now, Rich Hill is not helping the resume.
OTDIB – May 25th, 2002 – Shawn Green carnage continues
On this date in baseball May 25th:
May 25th , 2002 – Shawn Green stays hot
With four homers on Thursday (5/23), one on Friday (5/24), and two more on Saturday (5/25), Shawn Green becomes the first major leaguer to hit seven round-trippers in three games. The Dodger outfielder’s nine big flies in a week also breaks a National League record, established by Ralph Kiner with eight and tied by Ted Kluszewski and Nate Colbert.
Might as well throw in this little bit about Shawn Green. In early May of 2002, Shawn Green was having a horrible start to the year. On May 19th he came into the game hit-less in his previous twelve at-bats and had a season OPS below .700. I went to the May 19th game and was chatting up the game with some fans. In his first ab-bat Green struck out looking. A woman turned around and said she was worried about Greeny, he was her favorite player but something looks wrong with him. I told her I was worried too but that he was to good a hitter to have simply lost it. In his 2nd at-bat he walked. In his 3rd at-bat he struck out again. She turned around again and said “are you sure he’s going to be OK”?. I like to think I gave her encouragement but I don’t really know. Finally, in the bottom of the 8th Shawn would hit a deep double to LCF in his last at-bat before heading to Milwaukee. I hope that lady watched that series.
In Milwaukee, Shawn Green had the greatest series in the history of baseball. In three games Shawn went nine for fourteen, hit six home runs (4 in one game), one double, and one triple.
He wasn’t done. He went to Arizona and collected seven more hits in just thirteen at-bats, three home runs, and another double.
In as span of six games, Shawn Green had sixteen hits in twenty seven at-bats, nine home runs, two doubles, and a triple. That was twelve extra base hits in six games.
His OPS after the carnage was .927, six games prior it was .685. In late May.
May 25th, 1935 – The Bambino’s last hurrah
At Forbes Field, Boston Braves outfielder Babe Ruth hits three homers and a single in an 11-7 loss to the Pirates in Pittsburgh. The ‘Sultan of Swat’s’ seventh-inning solo shot off Gary Bush, a blast which clears the ballpark’s roof, will be the Bambino’s 714th and final home run
Now that is how you go out. The greatest of his time, it is a shame that Hollywood has done an awful job in capturing Ruth. I always thought a mini-series would do here because his life as an orphan at the Catholic school up through signing in the minors would be a great part one. His pitching exploits with the Red Sox as part two. And finally his trade to the Yankees that changed baseball forever.
This is how you lose five of six with an ERA of 1.50
Joe Davis was wondering how the Cardinals could be losers of five of their last six games when the rotation had an ERA of 1.50. Which made me wonder.
This is how:
May 16th – Lose to Boston 6 – 3. Lance Lynn starts, gives up only two earned runs but four total runs. The team gives up three unearned runs with errors by Gyorko, Pham, and Wong. That is seven errors for Wong which sounds like a lot because it is.
May 17th – Lose to Boston 5 – 4. Mike Leake started and gave up two earned runs in seven innings. The Cardinals blew a four run lead with Leake giving up a two run home run in the 7th, and Trevor Rosenthal giving up the tying runs in the 8th.
May 19th – Lose to Giants 6 -5. Michael Wacha started and gave up zero earned runs in six innings. The Cardinals had a 2 – 0 lead headed into the top of the 7th. Broxton gave up two runs in the 7th, and Oh blew the game in the 9th when he gave up two more runs.
May 20th – Lose to Giants 3 – 1. Another thirteen inning affair that Joe Davis called on National TV. Carlos Martinez throws nine scoreless innings but Kevin Siegrist gives up three runs in the 13th.
At this point the Cardinal starters have thrown 15 straight scoreless innings and lost both games. Twenty two innings of two earned runs and lost three straight games. Twenty eight innings of four earned runs and lost four straight games.
They finally win on May 21st, when the offense pounds Matt Cain while Adam Wainwright gives up only one earned run in six innings.
Lost to the Dodgers on May 23rd 2 – 1 as they run into the buzzshaw making Lance Lynn’s eight innings of one run ball pointless.
That is five losses in six games with the starters giving up only six earned runs in forty two innings.
That is how it is done.
OTDIB-May 24th-3-Dog goes for 6
This date in baseball on May 2th
May 24th, 1973 – The 3-Dog goes for six
In a 19-inning marathon, LA outfielder Willie Davis collects six hits in a 7-3 loss to the Mets at Dodger Stadium. The two clubs establish a National League mark by hitting into a combined nine double plays.
How many LAD have had six hits in a game you ask?
Player Date Rslt PA R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB Willie Davis 1973-05-24 L 3-7 9 1 6 0 0 0 1 0 Paul Lo Duca 2001-05-28 W 11-10 6 3 6 0 0 1 4 0 Shawn Green 2002-05-23 W 16-3 6 6 6 1 0 4 7 0 Chase Utley 2016-07-06 L 4-6 7 2 6 2 0 0 0 0
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 5/24/2017.
Evidently if you are going to get six hits in a game, late May is the time to do it.
May 24th, 1986 – Anyone remember this?
A “drunk” Billy Martin is “fired” as the co-host of Saturday Night Live by executive producer Lorne Michaels after slurring his lines during a skit. In retaliation, the often-unemployed Yankee manager “sets fire” to his dressing room at the end of the show, which is the season finale.
This is National League baseball
Dave Roberts had a big decision to make, and only in the National League does this decision get to be made. His team was leading 1 – 0, his best starting pitcher, the best starting pitcher of his generation was pitching. It was the bottom of the 8th, and Clayton Kershaw was due up with a runner in scoring position.
Does Roberts pinch hit for Kershaw knowing he has Kenley Jansen ready to close out the current 1 -0 game while giving him a better chance at scoring a 2nd run?
Does Roberts let Kershaw hit, close out his own game?
Roberts let Kershaw hit, he walked, but Logan Forsythe struck out for the 4th time in the game and the runner was left stranded at second. In the top of the 9th, the Cardinals scored the tying run on a fluke play and the critics of the move felt that Kenley Jansen should have been pitching the 9th.
I think in this case you could argue either way. I was okay with the Roberts decision, though I could understand the thought process of those who felt Roberts should have pinch hit, gone aggressively for the second run, and let Jansen close it out.
What I can’t get behind is that this was a slam dunk decision. I really think it was 50/50 with good arguments on either side and that it just didn’t work out.
Pro Roberts Decision:
- Kershaw was cruising as only Kershaw can cruise
- Kershaw pitch count was completely under control and there were no signs of struggle
- Even in today’s game, a CG/Shutout means something to the pitcher. Does that make him bigger than his team by letting him go for it? Maybe. In this case Jansen was available. But what if this is October, and Jansen has pitched two straight games and is tired, and you have a cruising Kershaw? If he had bagged this game, that is just one more mental component that would help him in that October game if you don’t have a Jansen fall back. Or in a more simple sentence, Roberts went for the long game.
Anti Roberts Decision:
- Getting the second run with Jansen on the mound makes the lead just about 99.9% in the bag
- Jansen in the 9th, is better than Kershaw in the 9th
- A team win is more important than letting a pitcher go for CG/Shutout
I get it either way, I just don’t think either decision was a slam dunk.
Kershaw updates LAD/Cardinal Dodger Stadium leaderboads
Last night Clayton Kershaw twirled a gem, posting a game score of 87 with ten strikeouts. Yesterday I posted the LAD/Cardinal Game Score and Double Digit strikeout leaderboards of games pitched at Dodger Stadium.
With that game last night, Kershaw wedged himself into those leaderboards so I have to update them. Which is why I post them, hoping I’ll have to update them.
His game score of 87 is now good for fifth best ever against the Cardinals at Dodger Stadium.
Player Date Rslt IP H ER BB SO GSc Fernando Valenzuela 1990-06-29 W 6-0 9.0 0 0 3 7 91 Don Drysdale 1965-05-25 W 2-0 9.0 1 0 0 6 91 Sandy Koufax 1963-07-03 W 5-0 9.0 3 0 0 9 90 Clayton Kershaw 2015-06-06 W 2-0 8.0 1 0 2 11 89 Sandy Koufax 1963-08-21 W 2-1 12.0 9 1 2 10 88 Clayton Kershaw 2017-05-23 W 2-1 9.0 3 1 0 10 87 Mike Morgan 1990-04-24 W 3-0 9.0 3 0 0 6 87 Fernando Valenzuela 1985-07-20 W 3-0 9.0 3 0 1 7 87 Fernando Valenzuela 1981-09-06 W 5-0 9.0 4 0 1 8 86 Al Downing 1973-05-06 W 3-0 9.0 2 0 2 5 86 Sandy Koufax 1965-09-25 W 2-0 9.0 5 0 3 12 86 Sandy Koufax 1962-06-18 W 1-0 9.0 5 0 0 9 86 Chad Billingsley 2011-04-17 W 2-1 8.0 3 0 2 11 85 Don Sutton 1970-06-11 W 2-1 10.0 6 1 0 9 85 Sandy Koufax 1964-08-16(1) W 3-0 9.0 7 0 1 13 85
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 5/24/2017.
Clayton also cracked the double digit strikeout leaderboard for the fourth time, giving Sandy Koufax and Kershaw nine of the fifteen games on the leaderboard.
Player Date Rslt IP H ER BB SO GSc Clayton Kershaw 2014-06-29 W 6-0 7.0 5 0 2 13 78 Sandy Koufax 1964-08-16(1) W 3-0 9.0 7 0 1 13 85 Don Sutton 1973-07-11 W 3-1 9.0 7 1 3 12 78 Sandy Koufax 1965-09-25 W 2-0 9.0 5 0 3 12 86 Clayton Kershaw 2015-06-06 W 2-0 8.0 1 0 2 11 89 Chad Billingsley 2011-04-17 W 2-1 8.0 3 0 2 11 85 Clayton Kershaw 2017-05-23 W 2-1 9.0 3 1 0 10 87 Zack Greinke 2014-06-28 W 9-1 7.0 4 1 0 10 75 Clayton Kershaw 2010-06-09 W 4-3 7.0 4 3 2 10 65 Ismael Valdez 1999-04-24 W 6-1 9.0 6 1 2 10 79 Hideo Nomo 1997-06-07 W 5-2 9.0 6 2 3 10 74 Burt Hooton 1977-08-27 W 4-3 7.0 5 3 2 10 63 Sandy Koufax 1966-08-21 W 4-1 9.0 6 1 2 10 79 Sandy Koufax 1966-07-01 L 0-2 8.0 5 2 1 10 73 Sandy Koufax 1963-08-21 W 2-1 12.0 9 1 2 10 88
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 5/24/2017.
Forsythe has a triumphant return
For the first nine innings of last nights ballgame it looked like the Dodgers might have activated Logan Forsythe before he was ready. Logan struck out four times in his first four at-bats out of the lead off spot, but when it really counted he struck for gold connecting on a double to drive in the winning run in the bottom of the 13th inning.
I was already set to add Logan to pantheon of LAD who had struck out five times in a game but alas he escaped the group with a walk and walk off double. But since I had it in the box here it is:
Player Date PA SO Andruw Jones 2008-07-12 5 5 Marquis Grissom 2002-08-26 6 5 Darryl Strawberry 1991-05-01 5 5 Bill Russell 1971-06-09 5 5
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 5/23/2017.
I can kind of guess Jones/Strawberry/Grissom as they were all free swingers during their time with the Dodgers, but Bill Russell? Russell was the epitomy of a contact hitter so to find him on this list was shocking. In looking at his career at Fangraphs he constantly had a K rate < 10% and a career rate K rate of 8.3%. But in 1971 just as his career was starting his K rate was 17.5% more than double his career rate, and that game came in 1971.
This game will go into the categories as one of the top games of 2017 because:
- Clayton Kershaw was brilliant putting up a game score of 87 with double digit strikeouts
- Big NL managerial decision by Roberts to let Kershaw hit with a 1 – 0 lead in the bottom of the 8th with a runner on base.
- The bullpen was once again brilliant
- Several brilliant plays in the outfield involving Bellinger and Puig catching the ball while knocking Joc around like a bobblehead
- The crazy score from 2nd on a wild pitch even if for the opposing Cardinals.
- The Dodgers inability to make contact but still win the game
- From the start with Champ’s big smile to the end and Logan’s big smile
Here are some video’s of the game:
Another note. In the TBLA comments section Jon Weisman made an interesting point.
This is a little esoteric, even for Twitter, so I’m posting it here.
The Cardinals threw 209 pitches last night — 86 for balls, leaving 123 recorded as strikes. Of those 123, the Dodgers got three hits. Now, Baseball-Reference doesn’t have complete strike data, but for the games they do have, that 3/123 (2.4%) ratio is the worst for a game in Dodger history.http://bbref.com/pi/shareit/bz1OS
Posted by JonWeisman on May 24, 2017 | 7:05 AM
And one other note. While watching the Puig catch over and over in slow motion I was struck by how much ground he covered to catch the ball that was going to elude Joc.
Silverwidow over at TBLA comments showed me a link proving my thought process correct.
Roberts said nobody was to blame for the play, although Statcast™ showed that Pederson had a shorter patch to the ball than Puig, who was credited with his first five-star catch of the season. Puig had an 18 percent catch probability on the play, as he needed to go 93 feet in 5.0 seconds, according to Statcast™. Pederson had a 69 percent catch probability and was 87 feet away.
Dodgers, Yesterday and Today 