Was Andrew Toles Treated Unfairly?
Andrew Toles was optioned to the minor leagues today, while Joc Pederson made the big club. For the record, I am an Andrew Toles fan I predicted he would be a good player long before he was called up in the first place, but now some fans think he was mistreated when they sent him back to the minors. Was he? You decide: Andrew Toles his .283 this spring,
Andrew Toles was optioned to the minor leagues today, while Joc Pederson made the big club. For the record, I am an Andrew Toles fan – I predicted he would be a good player long before he was called up in the first place, but now some fans think he was mistreated when they sent him back to the minors. Was he? You decide:
Andrew Toles his .283 this spring, but his OB% was only .286 because he has just 1 BB in 53 spring at-bats. That is troubling and unsustainable. He also needs to work on his outfield routes. I will say this: Andrew Toles has a higher upside than Joc Pederson… way higher, but he needs to improve on pitch recognition and defense. The only way to do that is to play everyday. He can only play “everyday” at OKC.
Andrew beat Joc in spring stats, but this is not about the Spring Battle – it is about the War to win the World Series. It’s based upon a lot of things, not just a spring training batting average!
Chris Taylor hit .354 with a .483 OB% last Spring and did not make the team. Cody Bellinger hit .393 with a .541 OB% in 2016 and did not make the team in 2016. In 2013, Yasiel Puig hit .517 with a .500 OB% (no walks) and he did not make the team, so Andrew Toles .283 is chicken feed, and it’s chicken _________ if you think this was somehow bad for Toles.
Look, I think Joc needs a fresh start, but he’s not going to get it in OKC. Hopefully, he will do well and improve his trade value so that the Dodgers can move him… or not. Joc has remarkable power and that is something everyone, including the Dodgers, covet.
There is a lot of ground to cover and a lot of things to be decided, but I guarantee that Andrew Friedman, Farhan Zaidi and Dave Roberts have had in depth conversations with Toles. He has not been wronged and I doubt that he thinks so. His time will come… and soon!
The bottom line is that Joc will likely do one of three things:
- He will do poorly;
- He will do very well; or
- He will get traded.
His trade value will only be enhanced if he does well on the Dodgers. This is a low risk, high reward situation. There is no right or wrong, just what it really is – reality!
Toles will be back… or he could be part of a blockbuster trade (I hope not).
Matt Kemp for MVP!
This roster will change a lot. Don’t Panic!
More from Dodger Talk
Dodgers Food Trailer
I did this interview a couple of weeks ago with Chef Mike, who runs the Dodgers Food Trailer for the Great Lakes Loons. They are there for every home and road regular season and playoff game. They prepare three meals a day for approximately 50 people (players and coaches). Since games end late most evenings, they do not prepare breakfast. Many of their hotels have a complimentary breakfast anyway. However,…
Meet LAD 2026 Draft Picks 1-12
3 picks were High School players (2 SS and 1 OF). There was a college OF, college catcher, college SS, and 10 college pitchers. Of all the talk for a need for a catcher, the only catcher the Dodgers selected was Luke Bard, son of LAD bullpen coach Josh Bard. Bard was a 4th year senior from Houston Christian University. He is not a prospect, so the Dodgers are still…
Interview with Paul Beachy – Team Bus Driver For The Great Lakes Loons (LA Dodgers Minor League Team)
It’s been a few days since I did this interview. We have evidently been working my son-in-law (the video guy) like a rented mule at US Water Systems. However, I am taking him to London with me in a few days, so maybe Watford will buy him a pint as a tip, but he’s a dang Red Sox fan, so there is that! I thought that it would be interesting…
Thanks for Your Service: Chris Taylor
I was going to do this post when Chris announced he was retiring, then he changed his mind, but since the chances of him ever playing for the Dodgers again are slim and non-existent, I will go ahead with this post. He unretired, went on the IL, then decided to call it quits on May 24th. Taylor was born in Virginia Beach VA on August 29th, 1990. He attended Great…
Discussion (90)
Disagree, not disagreeable
I guess I’ll have to pay closer attention to Kemps speed. I wonder why Doc even made the move with two outs if there wasn’t much of a difference? Curious thinking and I hate losing.
The Dodgers are not likely to win 100+ games again this year. They have only done so twice in the 60 years that they have been in LA. Too many things have to go right to win that many games. I expect mid-90s and another Division title.
I also wondered why a pinch runner wasn’t put in for Kemp immediately. But since I haven’t watched individual players that closely this spring, I figured maybe that the 40 pound lighter Kemp was faster than I imagined. And Mark is probably right in stating that there isn’t much of a difference in the speed of Kemp and Barnes. And the short bench could have also played a role.
–
I can’t even imagine how being sent down would mess with Toles’ mind. If anything, I think he would accept it as necessary to sharpen his game both offensively and defensively after having been out almost all of last season. And I would not describe Joc as having failed last night. First off, EVERY hitter “fails” most of the time, and secondly, if memory serves, Joc hit the ball pretty hard, but it just lacked “eyes”.
–
No doubt, the time of yesterday’s game, given the shadows, no doubt contributed to the lack of scoring, from both sides. Also, HR off of Kershaw would likely have been a routine fly ball if the game had started at 7:10 PT instead of 4:10 PT. The cooler night air would have likely kept it in the park, given that it barely cleared the wall at the earlier hour.
–
Bobby, no need to be pissed. 161-1 isn’t a bad year. 🙂
Jon Weisman’s back at Dodger Thoughts
Open on www.dodgerthoughts.comhttps://www.dodgerthoughts.com/2018/02/14/so-what-am-i-doing/interesting article by Mike Schmidt (yeah, that Mike Schmidt) about hitting
Open on sports.yahoo.comhttps://sports.yahoo.com/column-mike-schmidt-says-freelancing-hitters-upswing-175313026–mlb.htmlAC, maybe the reason we are slow starters is because we do not keep the best 25 players to start the season. They kept Hatcher when he should of been gone a long time ago. They kept the relief pitcher from Seattle, cannot remember his name, for three years because he had a 3 year contract. Those are stupid decisions and I do not see other teams doing this. I follow Seattle and I have never seen them keep a player because they have a contract. Usually at the end of May, FAZ has figured out what they have and does jettison some players. Right now I think Joc is totally useless as a player on the Dodger team. Sometimes you just have to cut your losses and move on. Even if one player makes it later on. I guess I am just mad at Joc. He had three years at the major league level. He has not succeeded doing it his way. He has not changed and that makes me mad. JT and Taylor made changes to what they were doing and succeeded. I am a very stubborn person, but Joc leaves me in his dust.
Stat Cast has rankings for speed and I was able to find Barnes and Kemp’s speed ratings. Barnes is 27.3 ft per second and Kemp is 25.6 ft per second. From 1st to home that could have been a pretty wide margin. I don’t want to beat a dead horse on this subject but I did think Barnes was a lot faster than Kemp and Stat Cast seems to back it up. Who knows how accurate this is. I will let Doc off the hook since it wouldn’t have made a difference last night anyway. Also, Joc’s ball that was hit last night, was hit pretty hard up the middle, however Crawford was shifted up the middle and it was hit right at him. We need a bounce back victory tonight. I can’t take another loss to the Giants right now.
Mark, how many years do we give Joc a chance? He has tried for three years and failed. Do we give him 5 years or maybe 10 years. Just asking. I am basing my decision on what I have seen in the last three years, not what happened last night.
Lineup:
–
1. Taylor CF
2. Seager SS
3. Puig RF
4. Bellinger 1B
5. Grandal C
6. Kemp LF
7. Utley 1B
8. Forsythe 3B
9. Wood P
Cueto looks to be pretty fat!
DODGERS HITERS ARE LOST
Who needs a Number Two?
–
The Dodgers have one: Alex “Freaking” Wood!
Finally, Christ has risen
Don’t Panik!
The Dodgers can’t hit themselves in the butt with both hands.
–
Forsythe can’t play 3B (Tonight)
–
Joe Panik is the new Giancarlo Stanton
–
Sometimes i HATE baseball
This team needs to wake up.
7 hits 4 errors 0 runs in two games
When does Turner come back?!?
Well ^&*(+_)(**&^%$#!!!!!
Anyone concerned that Jansen is only throwing his cutter 89? He only got into 2 or 3 spring games. He probably hasn’t built up arm strength yet. Brilliant.