Baseball s Next .400 Hitter?
The Giants are a really bad team, but their World Series now is playing the Dodgers. I have a sneaking feeling that the Dodgers are going to have problems with them all year. It s just one of those things It s easy to blame this one on Doc for taking out Maeda after 5, but Alexander didn t cough up a hairball. Stripling did an inning later. Well, stripling set the table
The Giants are a really bad team, but their World Series now is playing the Dodgers. I have a sneaking feeling that the Dodgers are going to have problems with them all year. It’s just one of those things… It’s easy to blame this one on Doc for taking out Maeda after 5, but Alexander didn’t cough up a hairball. Stripling did… an inning later. Well, stripling set the table and Floro gave up the game-winning double. The runs were charged to Chicken Strip, but Floro gave up the hit. After the game, Ross said:
“The guys put 8½ innings of really good baseball together except when I was on the field.”
I could argue that after Maeda’s recent struggles he was trying to let Maeda be done after a successful start, so as to build on it. I also would have left Verdugo in to hit in the 9th instead of CT3, but again, Doc likes to show confidence in his players. It’s not what I would have done, but I won’t lose my mind over it.
The Great Bochy took out the Shark and brought in Watson who immediately gave up 4 hits and 2 runs! Bochy is an idiot, right? If that’s the logic you apply to Roberts, apply it both ways. Stripling could have done his job and so could Chris Taylor. You can disagree with the moves, but players have to execute too. Has anyone noticed that Joe Kelly has had two back-to-back outings without allowing a run? His ERA is down to a microscopic 8.31 (microscopic compared to what it once was).
I had hopes that Cody Bellinger could someday hit .300, but come on, .400? You have to be kidding me. After last night’s game, he is hitting .434 with one game left in May. I can’t wrap my mind around anyone hitting .400 again, but Cody Bellinger is doing all the things necessary to accomplish that. With two strikes, he just tries to make contact, almost a swinging bunt is how it looks.
He has cut down his strikeout rate from 27% to 15%, and increased his walk rate to 18% (from 12% last year). He is handling that low inside pitch and high inside pitch and not swinging at balls out of the zone. He is obviously taking RVS’s tutelage to heart, looking for pitches in certain parts of the zone. The odds are, he won’t hit .400, but right about now, he is showing all the signs that he can maintain it. Is it sustainable? I think not, but part of me is not quite sure.
The fact of the matter is: Cody Bellinger is morphing into a superstar at a much younger age than Yelich. I predicted stardom for him, but never anticipated anything like this. He has 14 HR to go with his .434 BA and set the All-time MLB record for RBI before May 1st with 37. By the way, he also gunned down Brandon Crawford at 3B and I doubt that even Puig would have made the play. Cody unleashed a throw that seems to be about 8 feet off the ground.
Cody is also OPS’ing 1.414 and before you say that is totally unsustainable, in 2004 Barry Bonds OPS’ed 1.422. He also OPS’ed over 1.300 three times as did Babe Ruth. He’s certainly in rare air. Will he hit a skid and come down to earth? History says that is likely… but you never know. It will be interesting to watch as he currently shows no signs of falling into bad habits.
Other Dodger News
- This could fall into “This might be really serious” category: AJ Pollock evidently has an elbow infection (possibly staph). This is the elbow where he has had a plate and screws inserted and has had two surgeries. This can potentially be horrible news. You don’t mess with stuff like this. Stay tuned.
- No word on Andrew Toles, except that he is in Glendale. I would imagine he is just working back into shape. If Pollock remains on the IL long term, we could see him in a month… maybe, or maybe not. We don’t know anything…
- Who takes Pollocks’ place? I would think Beaty or Rios, both LH hitters. If Pollock is going to miss much time, the Dodgers could sure us another RH bat… preferably one that could play CF as well. They could also use a “fixed” CT3, but that doesn’t appear close.
- It appears that DJLM is headed to the IL with knee inflammation. That brings the total number of Yankees on the IL to 163. 😉
- Let’s hope Striker Buehler gets his mojo back tonight. I think he has been “tinkering” too much. Just do the voodoo that you do, Striker.
(Photo Credit: Michael Urakami/MLB.com)
Minor League Report by AC
Both OKC and Great Lakes had a travel day and will resume play on Tuesday. The two remaining teams came away with one run victories.
Tulsa Drillers 5 – Corpus Christi Hooks 4 (Astros)
Down 4-1 in the 8th inning, the Drillers scored 4 thanks largely due to a DJ Peters 3 run HR, his third on the season. Gavin Lux got a sac fly for the 4th run. Four of the Drillers 7 hits on the night came in that 8th inning, along with 2 walks. That was enough for the win. No Driller had more than 1 hit, and Peters’ HR was the only XBH.
But tonight was the debut of 28-year-old RHP, Yordy Cabrera, in the Dodgers organization. Cabrera has had a very interesting career to this point, and if so inclined, you can read all about him in the linked article below. For now, the Dodgers are intrigued because he is another with a triple digit fastball. Cabrera went 3.1 innings allowing 3 runs (2 earned), 5 hits, 1 walk, and 2 strikeouts. Cabrera was relieved by Nathan Long who had 2.0 IP allowing 1 run on 1 hit, 1 walk, and 1 strikeout. Adam McCreery and Layne Somsen finished the final 3.2 shutout innings for the victory. McCreery got the win (2-1), while Somsen got his 2nd save on the season.
https://www.mlb.com/news/yordy-cabrera-surprises-in-dodgers-camp
RC Quakes 3 – Lake Elsinore Storm 2 (Padres)
It took 10 innings, but the Quakes came away with a 3-2 hard fought victory. Michael Grove started for the Quakes but finished his 34 pitches before he could get out of the 1st inning. In his 0.2 IP, Grove allowed 1 run (unearned) on 1 hit, 1 walk, and 2 strikeouts. Grove was relieved by Wills Montgomery who pitched a very good 5.2 innings before he ran into a little trouble in the 7th. After a walk, strikeout, and stolen base, Wills was replaced by the struggling Leo Crawford. In a save situation, Leo promptly gave up a run scoring and game tying single to knot the score at 2-2. Crawford continued and pitched an uneventful 2.2 innings after the single. Jordan Sheffield came in the top of the 10th, retired the side, but not without the great effort by Donovan Casey throwing out the go-ahead run at the plate. In the bottom of the 10th, Casey was again the impetus starting at 2nd base. Carlos Rincon walked, and Connor Wong flew out to CF with Casey and Rincon each moving up a base. Going on contact, Casey scored on a Devin Mann ground ball to 3B who made an errant throw to the plate giving Casey an easy score and a Quakes victory.
The Quakes hitters got a taste of the future Padres Ace, 20-year-old, LHSP, MacKenzie Gore. In his 4.1 IP, Gore struck out 11 Quakes’ batters. In the 5th, after striking out Starling Heredia, Gore issued his only walk to Brandon Montgomery and was replaced by Caleb Bouchley. Bouchley struck out Donovan Casey for out #2 in the fifth, but Carlos Rincon then slugged a 2 run HR to CF to give the Quakes the lead at 2-1. It was Carlos’ 3rd HR on the season. Besides Rincon’s HR, the Quakes offense was limited to 2 hits each from Nick Yarnall, Brandon Montgomery, and Devin Mann. Yarnall and Montgomery each hit their 3rd double.
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Discussion (156)
Disagree, not disagreeable
I do think that the Dodgers need another RH hitter.
I still want Nick Castellanos, but we may have to trade Joc to get him. He is in a bad situation on a bad team. Put him on a good team with coaching from RVS and I think he blooms. Let him play LF – he can be decent there.
Casty is a Free Agent after this season. Joc has two more years of control.
I for one wasn’t advocating sending CT3 down, I was questioning the decision to use him in the particular spot in question last night.
And only asking the question of how the decision was made.
As it was fleshed out, is it a decision made on a ” hunch ” a decision of a manager trying to get his guy on track, or a decision based on analytics.
That was my question, just curious how the game is being orchestrated.
I sure hope Taylor finds his way out of this rut, and hope DR helps him to do it.
Sure hope Andrew Toles gets another shot.
Hernandez CF
Seager SS
Turner 3B
Bellinger RF
Freese 1B
Muncy 2B
Taylor LF
Barnes C
Buehler P
Well Mark it’s not like Taylor set the world on fire for an entire year last season. It’s not a career maker to lead the league in K’s with little or no power!
I haven’t read through all of today’s posts, so while I continue to have serious doubts about CT3, I do agree with Mark that there is no justification to send him down to OKC, at this time.
What bothers me about CT3 is his apparent unwillingness to cut down on his violent wild swing. With his speed, and athleticism, it appears as if CT3 would be successful with s more controlled swing that got his speed on base regularly. I suspect he’s a guy that could hit a lot of doubles, and find his way on base often enough to ultimately become a very effective lead-off hitter. But it’s just speculation on my part. Maybe I’m right and maybe I’m wrong.
Dodger’s lack of right handed hitting depth exposed here
Beaty it is.
DODGERS RECALL INF MATT BEATY
OF A.J. POLLOCK PLACED ON 10-DAY IL
LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Dodgers today recalled infielder Matt Beaty from Triple-A Oklahoma City and placed outfielder A.J. Pollock on the 10-day injured list with right elbow inflammation.
Beaty, 26, was the 12th round selection by the Dodgers in the 2014 First-Year Player Draft out of Belmont University. The former Belmont Bruin has been with the Dodger organization for five seasons and this will be his first Major League promotion after being added to the 40-man roster on November 20, 2018. In five minor league seasons, he is a .307 (427-for-1390) hitter with 33 homers and 209 RBI across five different levels. Prior to the promotion, Beaty was batting .277 (23-for-83) with two homers and 10 RBI in 22 games for Oklahoma City.
Pollock, 31, will make his make his fifth career stint on the IL. In 28 games this season, Pollock is batting .223 (23-for-109) with two homers and 14 RBI. The former 2015 All-Star and Gold Glove Award winner is a career .279 (663-for-2380) hitter with 76 homers and 278 RBI.
Looks like it’s Beaty.
Enough with all this dumb talk about CT3. Does anyone know who Jose Ramirez is? The Cleveland Indians infielder hit 34 HR with a .939 OPS last year. In about twice as many AB’s as CT3, he is hitting .188 with 2 HR and OPS’ing .572!
Throw the baby out with the bathwater!
The car has a flat tire… blow it up!
It’s too cold in the house, set it on fire!
You send a guy like Yasiel Puig who is a dumbass and disrespects his coaches down. You don;t send a gut like CT3 down now.
Maybe after 150 AB’s you think about send CT3 down, but if your plan is to destroy his confidence and trade value, you send him down now… especially if you are really stupid!
Do you have any idea how hard it is to hit in the major leagues and how difficult it is to break out of a slump? Obviously not!
Ian Kinsler, Scott Schebler, Jackie Bradley, Jr., Josh Harrison, Chris Owings, Travis Shaw, Keon Broxton, Chris Dickerson, Rogned Odor, Edwin Nunez, and several others are all hitting less than CT3.
Wait, the car is dirty – take it to the junkyard. Yeah, that’s the ticket…
Geeeeezzzzz – Some of you guys kill me…
Well I wonder, I wonder if DR
” plays a hunch ” or is it just by the ” analytical books “.
If he was playing a hunch using CT3, then I do question his decision. If he was using the provided stats and following orders, then he was just being a good soldier on the battlefield.
I wonder which it was.
So based on that stat, using Taylor in that spot was reasonable IYO ? Honest question, not sarcasm.
Does seem to me that Verdugo would of been a more reasonable option, regardless of the stats.
I do assumes DR is making decision based on alot more than meets the eye of a fan watching a game on TV.
I’m not calling DR any names, only asking to better understand the game and enjoy the process. I don’t know nearly enough to be calling names.
Taylor had a .300 average as a pinch hitter. He could have hit for Joc instead but Joc was 2 for 4 with two doubles against Smith. Sometimes stats get in the way of the obvious.
Since no one has offered a legitimate reason why DR would have CT3 PH for Verdugo, I will continue to assume there isn’t one.
If DR is trying to build some confidence into Taylor it doesn’t seem to be working and last night probably did the opposite. While it doesn’t seem necessary to bolster Verdugo’s confidence, there’s no need to frustrate it either.
So what was DR doing, going off the script?
AJ on the DL what a shocker. Expect 4 years of this. Stripling to me has always seemed better as a starting pitcher than a relief pitcher. Doc with analytics but still hits Taylor over Verdugo despite what Verdugo did against lefties last year.
There seems to be some question as to who the Dodgers should bring up if Pollack goes on the IL. Which raises the question; if the Dodgers sent Taylor down who would come up for him? Given that he does provide good defense at several positions, maybe this is why Roberts keeps giving him opportunities. And I say this as one who is tired of seeing Taylor strike out all the time.
Bring up Peter’s and see if we can catch lightning in a bottle!
Garlick makes the most sense for now. Speaking of, I had garlic ice cream in Gilroy a few months ago; my god was it good!
I happen to think Garlick could get the call. The Dodgers have room to add him to the 40-man he he can play both corner outfield spots.
The next couple of days will be very important with regard to Pollock. Right now they say the 10 day IL but as others have pointed out, this could be very serious, leading to weeks or even months out for him if it is a serious infection or the hardware in his elbow needs replacing.
For a variety of reasons, we don’t seem to have a decent option in the minors for a right handed hitting outfielder. That leaves a trade. I would not be surprised if that turns out to be the answer. If AF dangles Rios and/or Beatty he could probably get something serviceable in return.
This loss was not due to any individual/manager/coach/player/pitcher. It was a team loss. Nothing more. It was Evan Longoria getting the best of Dylan Floro on one night. Before last night, Floro had inherited 8 runners, and only 1 scored (in a 7-2 victory). Even after last night, Floro still has a 0.00 ERA and a WHIP of 0.86. He is not the reincarnate of 2003 Eric Gagne or 2016 Zack Britton. One bad pitch does not undue the season successes to date.
I also do not blame Doc for using Stripling. He is aware that he is now a reliever. He knows how to relieve. It would have been a bullpen day for him anyway. Strip did not pitch well. It happens. It is not like bringing in Joe Kelly in a must shutdown situation in 2019 or Pedro Baez early 2018, and watching the pitcher implode. If you cannot rely on Strip pitching 1.0 inning, then it is time to get another pitcher, and there is ZERO reason to believe that.
I know Doc caught a lot of grief last year for continually putting Pedro Baez in tough situations only to watch him flounder. He kept going to him, and I am sure with the instruction THROW YOUR OFF-SPEED PITCHES. Finally late in the year (August), something clicked, and he was probably the most reliable reliever the Dodgers had down the stretch. This year, with that new confidence, Baez has appeared in 14 games, 16.0 IP. In four of those games, he was not very good allowing 10 runs (7 earned). But in the other 10 games, 12.2 IP, Baez has allowed zero runs and 4 base runners (1 hit, 2 BB, 1 HBP). He has 9 inherited runners, and two have scored.
Since none of us are in the clubhouse, maybe just maybe, Doc is doing the same with Joe Kelly. Keep throwing him out there with his instructions from Honey, and maybe something will click with him, and he will become the 2018 WS Joe Kelly. Maybe with the failures Kelly has experienced thus far, and with the confidence that Doc is showing in Kelly, he can turn it around when the Dodgers will need him most. Even with admittedly a poor bullpen, the Dodgers are at 19-12, a record I did not think they would be at on the last day of April.
On the surface, PHing CT3 for Verdugo looks questionable at best. But again, maybe just maybe, Doc is thinking about August and September and hoping that CT3 will remember the confidence Doc and the team showed him when he was a mess in April, and it will pay off. It is not like CT3 is not a ML hitter. He belongs on a ML roster even if as a late inning defensive player and RH PH. But I think Doc is looking for more, and if he continues to show confidence, hopefully it will be rewarded. If not, then the Dodgers can look elsewhere. Maybe Toles if he can recover from his personal demons. Just like the Dodgers have to ride Kenley and Kelly, they are going to have to ride CT3. Regardless of how it is perceived, I will continue to scrutinize the team and criticize when needed, even if considered a moron. But the team is 19-12, good for 2nd best record in NL in APRIL. Really, how great is that. IN APRIL!!
1 – Taylor should get the time that he needs to re-tool his swing in the minors. That’s what AAA is for.
2 – Too bad about Pollock. He can be a key contributor if healthy. I wonder how long he’s been hurting. This infection could be dangerous. If it’s caused by infected surgical hardware, the only fix might be removal of the hardware in which case he could be out for a while.
3 – I would love to see what Verdugo could do with an extended look. He would probably be OK short term in CF, but since he has a cannon arm and Bellinger has the speed to play CF, that might be a better fix.
4 – If Pollock goes on the IL then they need a RHH. Will Smith and Kyle Garlick are off the best start at OKC; Omar Estevez has been hot in Tulsa.
5 – No way to know that Stripling wasn’t going to execute in his 1st relief stint last night. He has been solid all season long. Dodger hitters didn’t do much against the Shark last night – a little surprising.
6 – Bellinger is not going to hit .400. It’s still April for heaven’s sake. I would be happy with .300 and 40 HR. (and pleasantly surprised)
Sometimes the wrong decision works, and sometimes the right decision doesn’t work.
I thought bringing in Floro and his wiffle ball stuff was the right move with the bases loaded. It almost worked, but then it didn’t.
But pinching hitting CT3 for Verdugo, who’s hitting well vs lefties, was the wrong move. Verdugo is a better hitter, including vs lefties, than CT3, and Will Smith is actually better vs. righties than lefties. It was the wrong move, and clearly it didn’t work.
In fact, it wasn’t just the wrong move, it was a dumb move. No common sense reason to pinch hit for Verdugo, EVER!
It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble.
It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.
Mark Twain
Let’s all calm down people, they lost a 1 run game on the road to a team that gets sky high to play them. Watch them bounce back in a big way tonight. The time to address another RH bat was in the off season, and it was not done. With AJ’s injury history (and this is a weird one) and Kike the main 2B guy that left CT3 as the only RH OF bat. Freese can play LF too, but no idea how he looks out there. I think Muncy plays more and Kike picks up more OF time too and Alex gets a shot at CF. They will be fine with more LH hitters until AJ comes back. Doc made a couple head scratchers last night but he is not an idiot!