Why Cody Bellinger Moves From 1B
There is no right answer here. But, the fact of the matter is that no rookie in the history of baseball has matched what one Cody Bellinger has done in less than 100 games! Cody Bellinger has 34 home runs in 97 games and is likely the best 1B in all of baseball. He s fast, he s gifted and he s a Future Hall-of-Famer (I guarantee it or your money back). Mike
There is no right answer here. But, the fact of the matter is that no rookie in the history of baseball has matched what one Cody Bellinger has done in less than 100 games! Cody Bellinger has 34 home runs in 97 games and is likely the best 1B in all of baseball. He’s fast, he’s gifted and he’s a Future Hall-of-Famer (I guarantee it or your money back). Mike Piazza hold the Dodger rookie record for Home Runs (35), but he did it in about 50 more games than Cody. Cody will demolish that record.
Cody Bellinger may ultimately be one of the best first basemen ever… but for the rest of this season, he is likely to be a left or right fielder. There’s an IF… If Adrian Gonzalez is healthy and he looked healthy last night. Look, just because I was against THE TRADE does not mean I don’t like A-Gon. A-Gon is a awesome player at the end of his career, but he has rested and rehabbed for almost three months and he should be fresh (IF he is healthy).
Cody Bellinger is the Dodger’s future 1B and everyone knows it, but did you see the look of admiration in his eyes when A-Gon doubled last night? Cody knows A-Gon has to take 1B back. A-Gon used to be a #3 or #4 hitter, but on this team, right here, right now, he is likely a #6 hitter and he could be the best one is baseball (IF he is healthy). The Dodgers are a better team if Bellinger and a healthy Adrian Gonzalez are BOTH in the lineup. Even Ray Charles can see that.
Cody is a pretty dang good left fielder or right fielder and can even play CF, but Adrian can only play 1B. So, it’s settled, against Right Handed Pitchers, A-Gon is the first baseman. Maybe not against LH pitchers, but certainly against RH pitchers. I don’t see A-Gon as the EVERYDAY 1B, but you never know what a healthy veteran player at the end of his career can do, so he has to play… IF he is healthy! End of story!
Curtis Granderson
Speaking of healthy veteran players at the end of his career brings me to Curtis Granderson, whom the Dodgers acquired last night. Curtis has 312 career home runs, of which 240 are against RH pitching. His career OPS is .857 against RH pitching. He has hit lefties to the tune of .224 over his career while he averages .265 against righties. he is a classic platoon player and that is why he came to LA. He happens to be hot right now, OPS’ing 1.326 over the past week.
It’s probably very hard for Curtis to be motivated to play on a team like the Mets at the end of his career, but like Marlon Anderson, he could be resurrected with the Dodgers. Anderson only had 73 plate appearances for the Dodgers in 2006, but he hit 7 HR, 3 doubles, 3 triples and OPS’ed 1.243 while on the team that year.
Joc Pederson is hitting .111 over the last 7 days, .080 the past two weeks and .127 the past month. They are trying to re-make his swing again and even though he had a double last night, he looks totally lost. I think he will go to OKC before today’s game and Curtis and Kike will platoon in CF. Maybe Granderson goes to LF and Taylor plays CF? We shall see. This could be Granderson’s last season and I am sure he would like to go out with a Ring – he just might seize the day.
… and just maybe, they can fix Joc at AAA. I love the move. It gives the team lots of options. Oh, and it keeps his away from the other contenders.
Rants and Raves
- Logan Forsythe bashers have recently been seen crawling back into their holes. Now, he’s getting hot. Come on, when will we ever learn?
- Henry Ramos was 0 fer again (.263 ouch) – so much for that idea.
- Andre Ethier was 0-3 in Tulsa.
- Scott Barlow went 6.2 and pitched well.
- It’s an early game today.
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Discussion (73)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Mark
I think you summed this up, quite well.
And you are right, you can’t say enough about Cody, and the player Cody is.
And since Cody can play the outfield as well as any of our outfielders, it is smart to move Cody to the outfield, and get Agone’s bat in this line up, because that makes this team even better, so I don’t know how anyone can question your logic, about that.
The key is that Bellinger in the outfield doesn’t weaken us, and although Agone is not the defensive player at first that Cody is, there are not to many first basemen, that plays that kind of defense, at first.
And Agone is not really a problem on defense at first, either.
I don’t know if Forsythe is getting hot, but I have noticed since he stopped trying to over work his counts, he has been a different hitter, so I have to give him credit for adjusting from what he had been doing, and I have a little more faith in Forsythe now, because he did that!
I think the move to get Granderson, was a very good move!
Granderson has been a much different hitter, in his last 250 at bats.
He is hitting 275, and his OBA is 398, and he is slugging in the 600s, in his last 250 at bats.
I don’t see how anyone can say anything negative about this move, because this is a very good, and a very smart move, for the team.
First we don’t know if Joc will turn the corner and start hitting, and time is starting to run out.
And Granderson’s offensive numbers have been pretty good in his last 250 at bats, and Joc has not showed much lately, when he has been up to bat, to believe he will turn it around.
And according to defensive metrics, Granderson has played better defense in the outfield, then Joc has, this year.
And Granderson is only costing the Dodgers, just under 4 million dollars, for the rest of the season.
I like the granderson signing. He may not hit lefties but he was a tough out for kershaw. His strikeouts are high but against the dodgers he battled and was a pain. He can also steal a base if needed. Now my biggest concern is a setup guy. Please no Baez no three peat. He has given up the long ball at the most inopportune times. Keep him in 6th or maybe 7 th inning. Unfortunately fields is homer prone as well. Buehler is a long shot but wacha albeit a starter did it for cards.
This is probably not the last deal that the Dodgers will make this month, but even though I suggested it last night, upon further thought, I doubt if it’s the prelude to a larger deal that could involve Stanton. The more I think about it, the less inclined I am to think that the Dodgers have any intention of taking on Stanton’s contract that runs through 2027, and which also contains a full no trade clause. The Dodgers haven’t spent all this time and money rebuilding the farm system in order to remain locked into the luxury tax for years to come. In fact, I’m not 100% sure that the Dodgers will re-sign Kershaw if he opts out after next year.
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Assuming that Pederson has options left, I think it’s likely that he goes to OKC to make room for Granderson, and that Chris Taylor moves to CF with Granderson platooning with Kike` in left. To the best of my knowledge, Granderson is no longer considered to be an asset in CF.
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I forget where I saw it, but I read somewhere last night that the Dodgers also acquired the Mets catcher Rene Rivera in the Granderson deal. With Farmer having done a good job while he was up, and with Grandal and Austin Barnes already around, I wonder what, if any, role Rivera would have with the Dodgers. It even makes me wonder if Farmer might conceivably be the PTBNL, especially since Grandal and Barnes are likely to be around for the next several years, and because the Dodgers have several younger, and promising catching prospects in the pipeline.
I read a good article on what the Dodgers were trying to accomplish the last three years. It is what Mark and others have been saying. They were trying to win now and build up the farm at the same time. That is why they had to go over the luxury cap to pay veterans so they could be competitive now. That is why they kept Seager, Bellinger and Beuhler. They will lose a lot of salary in the next two year. That will allow them to sign and pay Seager and Bellinger and others when they reach arbitration and free agency. Kasten was the one being quoted.
At first I thought why Granderson. I was hoping maybe Verdugo or Ramos would get a shot this fall. Now I do not think they will. FAZ likes veterans. Seager was the only one brought up in September and started in the play offs. Of course, he is a different breed of cat. Joc is the only problem I see on this team. FAZ wants to win it this year. I think Granderson will fit in nicely and it looks like a they did not give up much to get him. Now they need to figure out what they have in the bullpen. The parts are all there. They just need to figure out the right match ups.
Curtis Granderson is a great pickup. I would guess that Joc goes down to fine tune his stroke again. When he comes back in September, Granderson will be there to become a mentor to Joc as Chase Utley was to Seager. There are not many better citizens than Curtis Granderson. He is a great clubhouse presence, and just like with Utley, his character will rub off on the youngsters, and hopefully Joc.
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September call-ups got a little dicier now that Floro was designated for assignment. That is one less DFA. But the goal this year is to win the WS, and Granderson helps that cause. With the number of right handed pitchers they are likely to face in the playoffs, a veteran left handed hitter that is getting hot at the right time will help. Especially with someone who has an OPS of 1.070, .920., and .933 against Jake Arrieta, Max Scherer, and Tanner Roark respectively. I am sure those OPS numbers were not lost on FAZ. Plus nobody knows how Ethier is going to do after being out of baseball for nearly all of the last two year, or how AGon’s back will hold up, or if Joc will ever figure it out.
My first observation upon seeing AGon last night, was that he’d lost a bit of timber.
He certainly looked heavier at the start of the season than I remember, and carrying weight never helps a bad back.
I really like the Granderson pick up – lots more options for the post season.
Heady times these.