Come and Listen to my Story About a Man Named Jedd

Jedd Gyorko will likely make his Dodger debut this weekend in the ATL. In case you don’t know, he plays every infield position and has logged one game in LF and two at pitcher. At 5′ 10″ and 215 pounds he is best suited for 2B or 3B. At best, he is a utilityman and I am sure the Dodgers hope he is someone who could benefit from the Robert Van Socyoc School of hitting.

He has struck out 22% of the time over his career and has two years where he put up 3.0+ WAR. He could be a nice piece for this Championship Run. He has a $13 million dollar club option next year that the Dodgers will 100% not exercise, so he’s here for the rest of the season (if he can deliver). He is a right-handed hitter and was obviously brought in for his ability to hit LH pitching. For his career, he is hitting .271 with a .345 OB% and has a .809 OPS against them.

Truth be told, he was brought in as insurance in case David Freese can’t return (and his return is at least 2-3 weeks away (at least). It is possible David Freese has played his last game as a Dodger, although I hope not. Jedd has a .290 average in Dodger Stadium over his career, so that bodes well. It should be noted that he is not a fast runner and his glove is average… at best! He does have the hit tool and blasted 30 HR a couple of years ago.

Jedd has never played in the post-season, so this is his chance to become famous. You never know how that can work out. He is not unlike David Freese and has about the same number of career HR as Freese in about half the at-bats. I look forward to watching him play.

Dodger News

• Kris Negron elicited a lot of complaints by Dodger fans when Andrew Friedman acquired him, but this 33-year old who has accumulated just 358 AB’s in the major leagues has shown he is a gamer and is in the discussion for the playoff roster. Of course, it depends upon the health of others (Freese, CT3, and Kike), but the fact that he is in the conversation tells you that he has seized the day as a Dodger. His all-out dive for the ball last night where he “ate turf” shows what he is all about. He is hitting .297 as a Dodger with 2 HR. You gotta’ love this guy, no matter what happens.
• Dave Roberts says that Dustin May will get some time in the pen. Actually, he may be suited for that role as well due to the “dog” in him. Rich Hill is eager to get back, but nothing is a given.
• There’s still time, but Caleb Ferguson and Yimi Garcia have most likely played their way off the Post-Season Roster.
• Nicholas Castellanos is hitting .386 as a Cub with a 1.207 OPS – he is so happy to be on a winning team. I envisioned him hitting like this playing LF for the Dodgers… Oh well… according to most of you, I was crazy!
• I still don’t understand why Gavin Lux has not been called up.
• Alex Verdugo will re-energize this team when he comes back!
• 40 HR and 93 RBI to go with a .317 BA and some Dodger fans can only say “He’s regressing!” I’ll take the regression any day.
• Mark Kertenian: Future Dodger Manager? The Athletic gives you the lowdown.

DC’s 10th Inning

SCORES:

DSL Dodgers Bautista 8 – DSL Rays (1) 4

DSL Dodgers Shoemaker 13 – DSL Cubs (1) 8

AZL Dodgers – not scheduled

Odgen Raptors  1 – Missoula Osprey (Arizona) 7

Great Lakes Loons 1 – West Michigan White Caps (Detroit) 5

Rancho Cucamonga Quakes  11 – Modesta Nuts (Seattle) 2

Tulsa Drillers 7  – Springfield Cardinals (St Louis) 1

OKC Dodgers 3 –  Round Rock Express (Houston) 5

DSL:

Shoemaker’s Dodgers scored 13 runs. Hector Martinez, Nelson Quiroz, Miguel Droz and Christian Hildago all had two hits. Juan De la Cruz pitched 3 scoreless innings on 2 hits with 5 strikeouts. On the season he has a 1.89 ERA and a 1.44 WHIP along with 49 strikeouts in 33.1 innings and 21 walks. In his last 10 appearances over 15.1 innings he has allowed no runs.

Eighteen-year-old Christian Suarez of the Bautista Dodgers pitched 4 innings on one hit, one unearned run and 3 strikeouts. On the season he has a 1.86 ERA,  a 1.11 WHIP over 38.2 innings with 8 walks and 32 strikeouts. With the 8-4 win the Bautista Dodgers are 2.5 games out of a play-off spot.

Ogden Raptors:

After pummeling the Osprey the night before the Raptors fell 7-1 to Missoula. They were held to  4 hits. Jacob Cantleberry continued his strong relief work with 1.2 scoreless innings.

Great Lakes Loons:

Ryan Pepiot made his 6th consecutive start of 2 innings allowing one run with one walk and 3 strikeouts. Zach Willeman followed with a season-high 5.2 innings. He ran into some hard luck with two errors behind him and a double scoring two runs when Joel Inoa relieved him. He was charged with  3 earned runs. Chris Roller had 3 of the Loons 5 hits. The Loons fell 5-1.

Rancho Cucamonga Quakes:

Everything worked for the Quakes in an 11-2 cakewalk. Andre Jackson started with a scoreless inning but left the game after throwing 27 pitches. Austin Hamilton gave up a single run in 5 innings while Melvin Jimenez, Darien Nunez, and shortstop Deacon Liput finished up with 3 scoreless innings. Liput recorded the final out and stranded 2 runners. Jeren Kendall had 3 hits, including his 17th home run, and 4 RBI. Rehabbing Chris Taylor went 2-3 with a home run.

Tulsa Drillers:

Edwin Uceta started and went 5 innings on 3 hits, one run, 3 walks and 6 strikeouts in the Drillers 7-1 win over the Springfield Cardinals.  In the 5th inning, he had the bases loaded with one out and got out of the jam with 2 strikeouts. Cody Thomas homered twice while Carlos Rincon and Eric Peterson also homered.

OKC Dodgers:

The Dodgers had but 5 hits in the 5-3 loss. Mitchell White pitched 2 strong innings on one hit and with 3 strikeouts. Rob Zastryzny gave up five runs in his 7 innings.