Thar might be gold in that Taylor
The team with the largest payroll in the history of baseball shouldn’t be allowed to uncover massive gold nuggets while panning in the rivers of utility players, but they keep doing it.
The story of Justin Turner is already will documented, and now the question is, have they done it again?
Chris Taylor was a simple utility player who rode the train between AAA and the Mariners for several years. Even with 230 plate appearances, Chris Taylor had never hit a major league home run. When the Dodgers traded for him last summer he was playing in AAA and the price was simply Zach Lee. Or to be more succinct the price was nothing.
Taylor came over and hit a triple in his first game as a Dodger but didn’t do much for the first few weeks. He barely played getting seventeen plate appearances and getting three hits.
That all changed on July 15th when he got the start at second base. It all started quietly enough with Taylor striking out in his first at-bat. It got good after that. In his 2nd at-bat he hit a triple driving in two runs. In his 3rd at-bat he hit a double. His fourth at-bat he hit his first major league home run, which also was his first grand slam. It was a game of firsts for Taylor and the Dodgers:
1st LAD to hit a grand slam as his first home run
1st LAD second baseman to drive in six runs
1st LAD to hit a grand slam, a double, and triple in the same game
1st Dodger second baseman since Jackie Robinson to drive in six runs
Taylor would collect six hits in three games and while that was his offensive peak in 2016, it appears that was just a peak into what he was going to do in 2017.
I’ll let fangraphs take it from here: If you got this far, I’d really recommend clicking on the provided link, it is a fun read.
It’s also allowing him to walk a lot more. Taylor’s taken a free pass in an impressive 16.8% of his plate appearances, which happens to be the exact same rate at which Joey Votto‘s walking this season. So, to recap: Taylor is hitting for high average, hitting for power, walking at a high rate, and fielding well. He’s doing all that in some snappy stirrups, too. The Dodgers may have a hell of a find on their hands, even when the regression dragons decide to work their magic.
Alex Wood closing in on most LAD wins in May
With four wins in May, Alex Wood has a decent shot at matching the most wins in May for an LAD. Fifteen times a player has won five games in May. According to the schedule, Wood has only one more start scheduled for May. If he was to win his fifth game in five starts he’d be the only LAD to accomplish five wins in May in only five starts.
Notes:
- Sandy Koufax did it four times
- Charlie Hough did twice without starting any games
- Don Drysdale did it three times
- Fernando did it in 1982 not 1981
- Clayton Kershaw did it last year
Player Year G W ERA GS IP OPS Ramon Martinez 1991 6 5 3.07 6 41.0 .628 Sandy Koufax 1963 6 5 1.52 6 47.1 .428 Sandy Koufax 1966 6 5 1.55 6 46.1 .502 Sandy Koufax 1961 8 5 2.74 7 49.1 .601 Don Drysdale 1965 8 5 2.51 7 57.1 .549 Fernando Valenzuela 1982 6 5 2.34 6 50.0 .594 Charlie Hough 1976 11 5 2.28 0 23.2 .633 Sandy Koufax 1965 7 5 2.05 7 61.1 .499 Clayton Kershaw 2016 6 5 0.91 6 49.2 .354 Don Drysdale 1964 8 5 1.83 8 64.0 .530 Don Sutton 1975 7 5 1.35 7 60.0 .442 Charlie Hough 1974 8 5 0.49 0 18.1 .328 Claude Osteen 1970 7 5 3.21 7 56.0 .664 Kevin Brown 2003 6 5 1.02 6 44.0 .451 Don Drysdale 1968 8 5 0.53 8 68.0 .436
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 5/22/2017.
Updated May Pitching Stats – May 22nd
Dodger record in May 12 wins 7 losses
Dodger overall record, 24 wins 18 loses, tied for 2nd place, two games behind Rockies
Alex Wood owns the month of May so far.
You can see why Julio Urias is now in AAA working on his command.
Ryu may only have a few more starts before they settle into the five man rotation of Kershaw/Hill/Kenta/Wood/McCarthy.
Josh Fields has made his case to be part of the bullpen going forward and not part of the AAA option train.
Jansen / Hatcher have yet to walk a hitter in a combined 15 innings.
Does Alex Wood’s four wins make you wonder who has the most wins in May for a Dodger? Probably not since we would have to expect Koufax/Kershaw/Drysdale/Orel/Fernando/Sutton to dominate the list. But do they?
Player G SO W ERA GS IP BB WHIP SO9 SO/W OPS Clayton Kershaw 4 23 3 1.98 4 27.1 5 1.024 7.6 4.60 .633 Alex Wood 4 33 4 1.54 4 23.1 5 1.071 12.7 6.60 .527 Julio Urias 4 7 0 6.62 4 17.2 10 1.642 3.6 0.70 .829 Kenta Maeda 2 13 1 2.03 2 13.1 3 0.825 8.8 4.33 .503 Josh Fields 10 11 0 0.77 0 11.2 3 0.943 8.5 3.67 .543 Brandon McCarthy 2 10 1 5.40 2 11.2 2 1.114 7.7 5.00 .582 Ross Stripling 5 13 0 1.93 0 9.1 2 0.964 12.5 6.50 .515 Hyun-Jin Ryu 2 7 1 6.75 2 9.1 7 2.357 6.8 1.00 1.113 Pedro Baez 10 8 0 2.00 0 9.0 4 1.333 8.0 2.00 .698 Chris Hatcher 7 15 0 4.32 0 8.1 0 1.320 16.2 .903 Kenley Jansen 7 15 1 1.23 0 7.1 0 0.682 18.4 .481 Sergio Romo 7 8 1 4.50 0 6.0 1 0.833 12.0 8.00 .717 Luis Avilan 9 11 0 4.76 0 5.2 4 1.941 17.5 2.75 .787 Rich Hill 1 6 0 1.80 1 5.0 0 1.200 10.8 .868 Grant Dayton 5 3 0 11.25 0 4.0 3 2.000 6.8 1.00 1.088 Adam Liberatore 1 1 0 0.00 0 1.0 0 0.000 9.0 .000
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 5/22/2017.
Most LAD walks in May
A few days ago we looked at where Cody Bellinger ranks in LAD May for home run runs and RBI.
How about we take a gander at Chris Taylor and the LAD May base on balls leaderboard. Taylor already has fifteen walks and while he’s a long way from the top, he could crack the top five (he’s already in the top ten), though playing time might be an issue with Logan Forsythe set to be activated tomorrow.
Wally Moon has the most walks with 24.
Player Split Year BB PA BA OBP SLG OPS Wally Moon May 1961 24 95 .324 .495 .493 .988 Jose Offerman May 1995 23 128 .356 .480 .455 .935 Shawn Green May 2000 23 118 .367 .508 .667 1.175 Ron Cey May 1973 22 125 .357 .475 .612 1.088 Jim Wynn May 1974 22 108 .365 .491 .706 1.197 Jim Wynn May 1975 22 114 .242 .389 .451 .840 Brett Butler May 1991 22 126 .243 .381 .282 .663 Greg Brock May 1983 21 100 .205 .370 .474 .844 Eddie Murray May 1989 21 108 .235 .389 .388 .777 Gil Hodges May 1959 20 89 .290 .449 .609 1.058 Wes Parker May 1967 20 123 .265 .385 .373 .758 Davey Lopes May 1975 20 111 .271 .410 .388 .798 Ron Cey May 1977 20 115 .221 .357 .400 .757 Shawn Green May 2002 20 120 .316 .433 .694 1.127 Ron Fairly May 1964 19 92 .214 .389 .300 .689 Wes Parker May 1968 19 140 .250 .351 .304 .654 Frank Robinson May 1972 19 108 .282 .407 .529 .937 Joe Ferguson May 1973 19 125 .275 .376 .520 .896 Reggie Smith May 1977 19 118 .296 .407 .633 1.039 Darryl Strawberry May 1991 19 101 .207 .356 .451 .808 Russell Martin May 2009 19 111 .330 .450 .385 .835 Charlie Neal May 1958 18 123 .225 .339 .451 .790 Wes Parker May 1970 18 132 .301 .394 .496 .890 Davey Lopes May 1980 18 112 .220 .342 .253 .595 Gary Sheffield May 2000 18 109 .275 .394 .473 .867 J.D. Drew May 2005 18 110 .244 .373 .411 .784 Jim Gilliam May 1960 17 119 .250 .359 .320 .679 Wally Moon May 1962 17 76 .293 .447 .397 .844 Jim Gilliam May 1962 17 125 .269 .377 .308 .685 Wes Parker May 1965 17 145 .236 .331 .333 .664 Ron Fairly May 1967 17 118 .232 .347 .394 .741 Billy Grabarkewitz May 1970 17 117 .394 .479 .564 1.042 Willie Crawford May 1973 17 112 .404 .495 .628 1.123 Ron Cey May 1974 17 121 .293 .395 .424 .819 Joe Ferguson May 1979 17 88 .203 .356 .449 .806 Brett Butler May 1994 17 125 .327 .424 .505 .929 Delino DeShields May 1994 17 104 .276 .394 .322 .716 Jose Cruz May 2006 17 81 .246 .405 .410 .815 Orlando Hudson May 2009 17 137 .328 .404 .414 .818 Yasiel Puig May 2014 17 128 .398 .492 .731 1.224 Maury Wills May 1961 16 125 .333 .424 .407 .831 Willie Crawford May 1970 16 107 .311 .421 .489 .909 Willie Crawford May 1974 16 113 .234 .339 .383 .722 Ron Cey May 1978 16 112 .266 .375 .447 .822 Jose Offerman May 1994 16 112 .213 .324 .287 .612 Joc Pederson May 2015 16 123 .236 .341 .519 .860 John Roseboro May 1961 15 100 .217 .330 .422 .752 Ron Fairly May 1962 15 84 .397 .513 .603 1.116 Dick Tracewski May 1964 15 107 .211 .321 .289 .610 Jim Lefebvre May 1965 15 131 .248 .341 .345 .686 Wes Parker May 1971 15 111 .283 .382 .402 .784 Reggie Smith May 1978 15 116 .357 .431 .602 1.033 Davey Lopes May 1979 15 127 .295 .378 .661 1.039 Pedro Guerrero May 1983 15 109 .275 .376 .462 .838 Mike Scioscia May 1986 15 85 .261 .400 .304 .704 Shawn Green May 2001 15 118 .252 .347 .476 .823 Andy LaRoche May 2007 15 54 .216 .444 .270 .715 Chris Taylor May 2017 15 72 .351 .486 .579 1.065
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 5/22/2017.
Some interesting names in year. Andy LaRoche? I’m shocked he ever got enough playing time to manage fifteen walks in a month. Got to love the split, a .216 BA with .444 OBP. How about that Dick Tracewski TSL? .211 .321 .289. Ha ha.
Orlando Hudson and Jose Cruz with seventeen walks.
There is that May 2014 Puig again. Can we have that guy back again?
And they say Maury Wills didn’t walk enough.
Of course Jimmy Wynn is near the top. That was the man’s calling card.
I was unaware of Wally Moon’s propensity for patience.
Updated May Hitting Stats – May 22nd
Dodger record in May 12 wins 7 losses
Dodger overall record, 24 wins 18 loses, tied for 2nd place, two games behind Rockies
Three regular players with an OPS over 1.000, 2/3 of the way through May. No wonder the Dodgers have a great record in May.
Offense looks to be held down by Seager / Joc / Puig. Can’t really count Adrian since he just got back and has looked very good since taking the time off to heal his wounds. Even Seager and Puig have an OPS over .700 so not exactly hurting the team, just not helping it. Joc was hurting the team but maybe with his jack yesterday he is ready to go on a tear.
Everything has already been said about Taylor and Bellinger. I guess what really stands out are the fifteen walks by Taylor. Hmmm, wonder how that stacks up on the May LAD Walk leaderboard?
Kind of easy to see why Brett Eibner is on the current roster and SVS is in AAA. Though Brett probably won’t see another game, as I’m sure he’ll be sent down when Logan Forsythe is activated tomorrow.
Player OPS PA R 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG Brett Eibner 1.371 13 3 0 0 2 6 1 4 .364 .462 .909 Chris Taylor 1.065 72 13 4 0 3 11 15 14 .351 .486 .579 Cody Bellinger 1.034 81 19 5 1 7 22 7 25 .297 .358 .676 Yasmani Grandal 1.021 58 6 9 0 1 14 2 10 .393 .414 .607 Austin Barnes .883 28 5 4 0 0 4 6 3 .273 .429 .455 Enrique Hernandez .871 43 7 6 0 1 6 5 8 .270 .357 .514 Andrew Toles .825 26 5 2 0 0 2 1 4 .360 .385 .440 Franklin Gutierrez .824 23 4 1 0 1 3 2 6 .286 .348 .476 Chase Utley .809 51 4 2 2 0 7 6 9 .286 .380 .429 Justin Turner .808 63 9 2 0 0 5 8 11 .333 .435 .373 Corey Seager .794 82 15 6 0 2 6 11 14 .257 .366 .429 Yasiel Puig .724 65 12 1 0 3 11 5 13 .250 .308 .417 Adrian Gonzalez .667 21 0 2 0 0 5 0 7 .286 .286 .381 Joc Pederson .619 61 9 3 0 1 4 6 13 .192 .311 .308 Scott Van Slyke .582 11 1 0 0 1 1 1 3 .100 .182 .400
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 5/22/2017.
OTDIB – May 22nd – Piazza finds his HOF cap
On this date in baseball:
May 22nd, 1998 – Mike Piazza gets traded again, this time to the Met’s where he would enjoy a HOF career. While the Dodgers got slugger Gary Sheffield for Piazza, the Marlins got jack shit from the Mets. Kind of funny how Dodger fans have hated that trade for years, but it was really the Marlins who got screwed.
The Mets trade Preston Wilson, Geoff Goetz, and Ed Yarnell to the Marlins for Mike Piazza. Florida had acquired the All-Star catcher last week from the Dodgers, along with Todd Zeille in exchange for Gary Sheffield, Bobby Bonilla, Charles Johnson, Jim Eisenreich, and Manuel Barrios.
May 22nd, 1968 – Pops Stargell picks up 15 total bases. Remember this was 1968, the year the offense went missing in baseball.
At Wrigley Field, Pirates’ slugger Willie Stargell hits three home runs and just misses a fourth in a 13-6 rout over the Cubs. ‘Pops’ also hit a single and a double, which bounced off the railing of the left field fence back onto the playing field.
May 22nd – Font Farm Factory Award winner
There were a lot of great performances by LAD prospects in the past week but the award has to belong to Wilmer Font. He’s not even really a prospect but when you put up a game like he put up on Monday he has to be on someone’s radar. I don’t care what kind of league you are in but when you strike out fifteen of your twenty one outs you are dealing. However Font wasn’t done dealing. On Sunday Night, The Font continued his dominant ways with another stellar effort, striking out another ten of his fifteen outs. For the week, Font struck out twenty-five hitters out of thirty-six outs. In his last five games Font has done the following:
| DATE | OPP | W | IP | H | ER | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 04/28/2017 | @OMA | 1 | 5.2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 7 |
| 05/03/2017 | COS | 0 | 5.0 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 9 |
| 05/09/2017 | @RR | 0 | 5.1 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 6 |
| 05/15/2017 | SAC | 1 | 7.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 15 |
| 05/21/2017 | @ELP | 0 | 5.0 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 10 |
| TOTALS | 2 | 28 | 20 | 10 | 4 | 47 |
Another notable efforts this week:
The man who some say will never play 2nd base base in the major leagues, Willie Calhoun hit four home runs, including three games in a row with a home run. Currently sitting with a plus .900 OPS for the season and a plus 1.000 OPS in May.\
19-year-old Dustin May hurled his best professional game for the Loons on Saturday Night. May struck out nine of his fifteen outs, giving up only two hits, one run, one walk.
2017 first round pick Gavin Lux came to life this week collecting ten hits and moved his up around 100 points to .643.
Kyle Farmer collected eight hits in just twenty at-bats to move his average upto .342, and is hitting .513 over his last ten games. Now sporting a robust .891 OPS overall, and .990 in May
Jose Fernandez had three multi hit games and moved his average upto .400 over his last ten games.
Bellinger climbing up LAD May Leaderboards
With 2/3 of May in the books, Cody Bellinger is already in the top ten in LAD May leaderboards for home runs and RBI.
At this moment headed into the May 21st game, Bellinger has 22 RBI and 7 home runs in May.
His 7 home runs would put him tied for 4th in LAD history with home runs in May. With 10 being the most, he has a good shot at being the all time LAD May home run hitter. Amazing
Player Split Year PA HR OPS Raul Mondesi May 1998 123 10 .946 Raul Mondesi May 1999 117 10 1.034 Shawn Green May 2002 120 10 1.127 Todd Hundley May 2000 79 9 1.139 Ron Cey May 1981 119 9 .997 Pedro Guerrero May 1987 108 9 1.127 Eric Karros May 2000 113 8 1.021 Yasiel Puig May 2014 128 8 1.224 Kal Daniels May 1990 98 8 .968 Pedro Guerrero May 1981 103 7 1.038 Willie Davis May 1961 117 7 .925 Cody Bellinger May 2017 76 7 1.079 Jim Wynn May 1974 108 7 1.197 Steve Garvey May 1980 106 7 .855 Matt Kemp May 2011 113 7 .822 Mike Marshall May 1986 103 7 .972
You get used to thinking Puig only mashed in 2013 but his May 2014 was also what got everyone excited. Three years now.
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 5/21/2017.
His 22 RBI would put him tied for 7th in LAD with RBI in May. With 28 being the high, he has a good shot at being the all time LAD MAY RBI leader. Amazing
Player Split Year RBI PA R sOPS+ Eric Karros May 2000 28 113 16 151 Nomar Garciaparra May 2006 28 122 25 174 Wes Parker May 1970 27 132 19 144 Joe Ferguson May 1973 27 125 21 154 Raul Mondesi May 1998 27 123 17 143 Raul Mondesi May 1999 27 117 21 157 Steve Garvey May 1974 26 127 20 160 Tommy Davis May 1962 25 125 25 151 Yasiel Puig May 2014 25 128 20 240 Willie Davis May 1970 24 123 21 146 Billy Grabarkewitz May 1970 24 117 20 186 Reggie Smith May 1978 24 116 18 193 Steve Garvey May 1979 24 122 16 134 Pedro Guerrero May 1982 24 120 15 181 Mike Piazza May 1994 24 106 18 170 Shawn Green May 2000 24 118 25 194 Pedro Guerrero May 1981 23 103 16 192 Kal Daniels May 1990 23 98 15 164 Todd Hundley May 2000 23 79 15 178 Willie Davis May 1961 22 117 20 150 Ron Cey May 1973 22 125 20 208 Ron Cey May 1981 22 119 17 181 Steve Garvey May 1981 22 131 20 135 Pedro Guerrero May 1987 22 108 17 194 Eddie Murray May 1991 22 109 15 125 Tim Wallach May 1993 22 111 11 105 Shawn Green May 2002 22 120 21 200 James Loney May 2009 22 128 14 76 James Loney May 2010 22 111 16 108 Adrian Gonzalez May 2013 22 94 11 143 Cody Bellinger May 2017 22 76 18 180
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 5/21/2017.
Twelve Dodgers are tied in 7th with 22 RBI. Suffice to say, Cody won’t be one of them come the morning of June 1st.
Urias might be making rotation question easier
With seven starting pitchers for five spots, Julio Urias might be making the tough front office decision easier. Other than one start, Urias simply hasn’t cut muster so far this season. Critics of this statement can point to his three starts where he has given up fewer than one run three times in five starts. I prefer to look at the command/control/dominance. Urias has now walked fourteen hitters in only twenty three innings, with just eleven strikeouts. This is not the arm we saw last summer and if he needs some time in AAA to get his command together, now would be a good time to make it happen while the Dodgers have an abundance of starting options.
I’m a huge Urias fan, it is because of Urias I started writing again last May, but I’m not sure he needs to struggle at the major league level right now when the Dodgers have other options.
Date Rslt IP H ER BB SO
Apr27 W5-1 5.2 4 1 4 4
May3 L1-4 5.0 4 0 4 1
May9 W4-3 6.1 1 1 2 5
May14 L6-9 4.0 7 6 1 1
May20 L6-10 2.1 7 6 3 0
2-3 23.1 23 14 14 11
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 5/21/2017.
[Update at 11:54 AM]
DODGERS RECALL JOSH RAVIN – The Los Angeles Dodgers today recalled right-handed pitcher Josh Ravin from Triple-A Oklahoma City and optioned left-handed pitcher Julio Urías to Triple-A OKC.
Ravin, 29, will make his first stint with the big league club this year after going 1-0 with a 1.80 ERA (1 ER/5.0 IP) in four games with the OKC Dodgers. He has struck out 11 batters against only two walks in 5.0 innings with Oklahoma City and has held batters to a .167 average (3-for-18). Ravin, who started the season on the disabled list with a right groin strain, appeared in 10 games for the Dodgers last year allowing just one run in 9.2 innings (0.93 ERA) and limited batters to a .065 average (2-for-31), while striking out 13 against four walks. The West Hills native is in his third season with Los Angeles, going 2-1 with a 3.79 ERA (8 ER/19.0 IP) in 19 career games, while punching out 25 batters in 19.0 innings.
Urías, 20, pitched last night against the Marlins allowing a career-high seven runs (six earned) on seven hits in 2.1 innings, his shortest outing as a starter, as he took his second loss of the season in the Dodgers’ 10-6 defeat. In five starts this season, Urías has gone 0-2 with a 5.40 ERA (14 ER/23.1 IP) and has struck out 11 batters against 14 walks.
Dodgers enjoying home cooking
With eight games left on this ten game home trip the Dodgers boast the best winning percentage at home in baseball which is keeping them in the NL West race.
MLB Best winning pct. at home, NL – 2017
Los Angeles Dodgers 15-6 .714
Arizona Diamondbacks 18-8 .692
Washington Nationals 12-7 .632
Even with that great record they are still chasing the Rockies by two games.
Much has been made of the inconsistent Puig, but one thing Puig has been consistent with this year is his love of Dodger Stadium. With his seven home runs at home only Bellinger at four keeps him from doubling up his other teammates.
Home Splits in 2017 as of May 19th, 2017:
Player HR PA R H 2B 3B RBI BB OBP SLG OPS Chris Taylor 3 38 8 12 4 0 9 7 .500 .806 1.306 Justin Turner 1 74 8 25 8 0 11 5 .473 .571 1.044 Yasiel Puig 7 81 15 20 2 0 19 10 .370 .623 .994 Cody Bellinger 4 47 11 12 1 1 11 4 .340 .628 .968 Yasmani Grandal 3 68 7 20 3 0 11 5 .368 .516 .884 Andrew Toles 3 59 13 18 2 0 7 2 .356 .518 .874 Logan Forsythe 0 30 4 8 1 0 2 3 .467 .391 .858 Enrique Hernandez 1 44 6 9 6 1 7 5 .326 .526 .852 Corey Seager 1 89 16 20 6 0 8 14 .393 .397 .791 Chase Utley 0 38 4 8 3 0 4 5 .351 .355 .706 Scott Van Slyke 1 15 3 1 0 0 1 4 .333 .364 .697 Franklin Gutierrez 1 13 2 3 0 0 2 0 .231 .462 .692 Adrian Gonzalez 0 67 3 17 2 0 6 6 .343 .311 .655 Austin Barnes 1 26 6 3 1 0 3 5 .308 .333 .641 Joc Pederson 1 50 6 8 2 0 8 5 .280 .302 .582 Clayton Kershaw 0 12 3 2 0 0 1 1 .300 .222 .522
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 5/20/2017.
Today would be a good day for Adrián González to hit his first home run at the ravine this year.
Dodgers, Yesterday and Today 