Get It Out Of The Ocean

Max Muncy, aka “Mad Max” just cemented his place in Legendary Dodger Lore after jacking a massive home run into McCovey Cove off of Madison Baumgarner. MadBum allegedly took umbrage when Max blasted the 424 foot home run and enjoyed watching it as it left his bat. I mean, what is wrong with that? However, MadBum yelled at Muncy to stop watching the ball and start running, to which MadMax responded with a perfectly classic line that will go down in Dodger History:

“If you don’t want to watch me run, you can go in the ocean and get it.”

If I were Max, I might have ended that sentence with a word that rhymes with “itch,” but that was still epic. MadBum was good. Striker Buehler was better and MadMax was the difference.

Madison Baumgarner is intense and insane. The Dodgers know how to rile him up (Yasiel Puig was exceptionally good at it) and no matter where he pitches, they will control him… because they know how. That may very well be the last time the Dodgers face Bum in a Giants uniform, but it won’t be the last time they see him. He could end up in San Diego, Atlanta, Houston or New York.

Max Muncy is just a baller, who is going to give it his all and enjoy playing. He has been through the struggles and bad times in Oakland and he is in baseball paradise now. You just have to love this guy and what he does.

Why Yordan Alvarez Was Traded

Yordan Alvarez made his debut as an Astro yesterday and was 1-3 with a HR and a walk. On the cover, it looks like Andrew Friedman gave him away, and he almost did, as the take-back was Josh Fields who is now long gone. I am sure if Friedman could have a “Mulligan” he might want Alvarez back, but Josh Fields, while not a star, was an important piece in the Dodger pen for parts of three years.

In his Dodger career, Josh was 8-2 with a 2.61 ERA in 117 Innings. His WHIP was 1.040, so he was certainly effective, if only for parts of three years. Josh had a 4.53 ERA with Houston in parts of 4 years, so coming to LA was the highlight of his career. It may turn out that Alvarez is another Willie Calhoun, in that he might have a skillet as a glove. It sounds like he is a DH for sure if you believe what Jake Kaplin of The Athletic writes:

But because of major questions concerning his defense, opinions of Alvarez’s potential oscillate much more than they do for Houston’s other top prospects, pitchers Forrest Whitley and Corbin Martin and outfielder Kyle Tucker. Astros officials have been giddy about the 6-foot-5, 225-pound Cuban slugger since they first got him into their complex in the Dominican Republic in August 2016. But around the industry, he’s not even a consensus Top 100 prospect.

“It’s true that there are some defensive issues there. But if he can be even remotely adequate with the glove, which seems possible to me, I think there’s enough upside in the bat that the defense is just not going to be that much of an issue,” said John Sickels, prospects expert for The Athletic.

Eric Longenhagen, Lead prospect analyst for FanGraphs (125th): “We have him in a category of player that is essentially first base/DH only. The way we try to look at it is, ‘How much from a WAR standpoint is each player likely to produce during their first six years of big league service time?’ So, between his defensive limitations and the body, the way that might age during that six-year stretch, we tended to round him down.

Like Willie Calhoun, Alvarez will likely be a DH, so he was not going to play for the Dodgers who value defense and versatility. When Friedman traded him, Yordon was but 18 and I am sure Andrew had no idea he might be this good. We shall see how it plays out.

Tonight, the Boys of Summer go up against the Angels and we know what Tommy says about that:

“The only Angels in Los Angeles are in Heaven, and they’re looking down on the Dodgers.”

Photo Credit: Michael Urakami/MLB.com

Minor League Report by DC

Great Lakes Loons 10 –  South Bend Cubs 0

The “mercy rule” was brought into play in the Loons game as it was called after seven complete innings with the Loons leading the Cubs 10-0. Actually for the Cubs rain mercifully shut down the game with South Bend having just one hit on the day.

Nineteen-year-old Robinson Ortiz had the game of his young career giving up  a single hit in five innings with three walks and five strikeouts. He was quite efficient with 66 pitches, 42 of them strikes. Unheralded Justin Hagenman followed suit with two perfect innings and three strikeouts.

Great Lakes scored in five of the seven innings played. They scored two runs in each of the first two innings in an interesting fashion. Three came in via the sac fly and one on a ground out. Three were scored in the bottom of the fifth on a James Outman three-run home run. Two were added in the sixth on a HBP and a single while the last run in the seventh scored on ground ball out.

Every Loon except Luke Heyer had an RBI with Jair Camargo, Chris Roller and James Outman recording two hits.

Rancho Cucamonga Quakes  5 – Inland Empire 66ers 3 ( LAA)

Josiah Gray started for the Quakes and tossed five innings giving up three runs on seven hits and one walk while striking out nine. Only one run was earned with two coming home with two out after a Devin Mann error. Connor Strain pitched a scoreless inning while Austin Drury in his A+ debut pitched two scoreless and hitless innings. He did walk three with two strikeouts. Connor Mitchell came on to close things out in the bottom of the ninth and picked up his first save.

The Quakes surged ahead with a three-run third inning  with runs batted in on a Drew Avans double, a rehabbing Matt Beaty double and a Deacon Liput single. Starling Heredia stroked his fifth home run of the season in the top of the fourth inning. He now has hit safely in nine of his last 10 games. They tacked on an insurance run in the top of the ninth inning on a Connor Wong double, a passed ball and a Drew Avans bunt.

Tulsa Drillers  7 – Arkansas Travelers 11 (Seattle)

The Travelers again dominated the Drillers and have gone 18-8 in the first half against the Dodgers AA affiliate. The Drillers might have been looking for the “mercy rule” trailing 11-0 after five innings. Right-hander Edwin Uceta did not get out of the second inning giving up seven earned runs with no outs, including two home runs. Andre Scrubb and Ryan Mosely really didn’t cool off the Travelers surrendering two runs each in the next five innings. Nolan Long with two and Marshall Kasowski with one finished up with three scoreless innings.

The Drillers responded to the trouncing in the bottom of the sixth inning scoring seven runs with eight hitters reaching base. The decisive blows were two run hits by a Gavin Lux triple, a Christian Santana double and a Keibert Ruiz double. That finished the scoring for Tulsa with Lux having the only multiple hit game with two.

OKC Dodgers  4 – Fresno Grizzlies 5  (Washington)

Tony Gonsolin started for the Dodgers and went three innings giving up one run on one hit, 2 walks along with three strikeouts. Adam McCreery pitched two innings allowing one inherited runner to score but not allowing any more damage. Josh Sborz went 1.1 innings and gave up two runs pulling the Grizzlies within one run of the Dodgers. Kevin Quackenbush in his 1.1 innings gave up only a hit. JT Chargois was called upon to get the last three outs and failed to do so, although he was the victim of some poor defense. After a walk, a bad bounce single, a stolen base and a short fly ball that should be caught plus a botched double play effort the Grizzlies took a 5-4 lead.

The Dodgers scored in each of the first three innings to take a 4-0 lead on a Shane Peterson sac fly, an Errol Robinson solo home run  and a Zach Reks two-run home run. That ended the scoring for OKC who had to settle for six hits.