The Dodgers made the foolish decision to not start Chris Taylor in their 6-2 win over the Braves on Saturday night. Fortunately they made the smart decision to insert him into the game during the late innings. As soon as he entered the game he quickly became a star after he hit a home run and drove in two runs with a triple. The Dodgers have hopefully learned their damn lesson. Trayce Thompson had started the game in left field and continues to suck. He struck out three times to lower his batting average to a robust .119. I tweeted an important thought during the game….
Thompson now batting .119 after striking out 3 times tonight. I wonder how low his batting average can go?
— Ladodgerreport (@Ladodgerreport) July 23, 2017
Anyways, the Dodgers hit three home runs (Seager, Turner, and Taylor) and they also played a little small ball as well to support a strong Rich Hill start and halt the agonizing two-game losing streak that was plaguing the club since Thursday. Hill continues to pitch well. The curveball spinner tossed 6.1 effective innings only allowing two earned runs and striking out 8.
Braves 2 6 1
Dodgers 6 13 0
WP-Hill-7-4
LP-Teheran-7-8
HR-Seager-16-Utley-6-Taylor-12
The Dodger bats got started early against opposing starter Julio Teheran in the first inning. Corey Seager bombed one into the pavilions in left center to put the Dodgers up 1-0. Reports from the international space station confirm that the ball has yet to return to the Milky Way galaxy. It was crushed far gosh darnit.
Hill started off very well as he struck out the side in the first inning and two more in the second inning pitching around two singles from Nick Markakis, and Sean Rodriguez. Hill ran into a bit of trouble again in the top of the third, but was able to pitch around it again. Johan Camargo hit a two-out double and Freddie Freeman walked. But Hill got Kemp to hit into a force out to get out of it. The Dodgers added another run in the bottom half of the third inning when silver fox Chase Utley hit a home run into the visitor’s bullpen. That put the Dodgers ahead 2-0.
The Braves would tie the score in the top of the fifth. The inning starts with a hit by pitch on Teheran, and a double from Camargo one out later. Freeman’s ground out scores Teheran with the Dodger infield playing back. Then of course former Dodger Matt Kemp’s RBI single into left field brings home the tying run.
Move to the bottom of the sixth. The Dodgers used a little small ball in order to score the go-ahead run. With all of the balls the Dodgers have been slugging out of the ball park, it’s more than a little ironic that they used two swinging bunt nubbers that traveled about ten feet up the third base line to re-take the lead. That’s baseball for you.
Yasmani Grandal’s swinging bunt single leads-off the inning. Then Forsythe singles to left and Joc Pederson immediately grounds into a double play to seemingly ruin the inning for the Dodgers. However Grandal moves to third. Then Yasiel Puig’s swinging bunt squibber up along third is in the same spot that Grandal’s was. Teheran throws home but Grandal’s slide knocks the ball out of Flowers’ glove. The Dodgers lead 3-2! The scorer rules it a single and missed catch error on flowers. The Dodgers were probably lucky that the play wasn’t challenged. Puig took second on the play and stole third before the inning ended. Thompsons’s strike out ended the frame.
Rich Hill ended up getting the first out in the seventh inning before being removed. Pedro Baez and Chris Taylor would enter the game as a double-switch. As Baez recorded the final two outs of the seventh inning, Taylor would bat in the bottom half. Guess what happened…..
Taylor’s shot put the Dodgers up 4-2. Insurance runs helped and Taylor made sure the Dodgers would get a couple more. In the bottom of the eighth, Kike and Barnes would single and Taylor drives them both in with a two-run triple. The Dodgers take a 6-2 lead!
Baez and Kenley Jansen took care of things the rest of the way. Baez would pitch the top of the eighth and Kenley would close the door in the ninth. The Dodgers win!
The win gives the Dodgers their 40th win of the season at home. The club is now 40-13 at home and 67-31 overall. The lead in the NL West is back to 10.5 with Arizona losing to Washington. The Dodgers look for a split on Sunday afternoon. With Clayton Kershaw on the mound that looks pretty good. Left hander Sean Newcomb will take the mound for the Braves.
Hill pitching line- 6.1 IP 6 H 2 ER 2 BB 8 K
I think this site out of all the sites on the blog list was first to recognize Taylor’s talent. I just wanted to say this because every site and blogger is now on the Taylor bandwagon.
Most us here wanted Taylor to replace Kike long ago. Did we know Taylor was this good? Maybe, maybe not but we wanted the likes of Kike and Hatcher gone instead of blocking the likes of Taylor, and while everyone was talking about Bellinger we’ve been saying, we love Cody but Taylor was the second coming of Turner.
It’s borderline nauseating and infuriating seeing other sites talk about how they were right about Taylor, and then turn around and pretend that all the fans out there who criticize FAZ have no clue, etc.
I have no problem with everyone getting on the Taylor bandwagon but to play down this site on top of that is just bald faced lying. Very low and very sad.
Early in the season I saw an exit velocity over 100 from Taylor and I was very surprised. With his contact rate I knew we had something special. Do I believe he is a .300 hitter? Not really. I don’t believe any Dodger is. And I don’t believe the Dodgers care. They promote balls out swings on every count from every hitter and that just doesn’t produce .300. But if anyone on this roster could do it it’s him. And I don’t think we need both him and Kiké. They play the same role. I’d keep Taylor and use Kiké in trade for pen help. We’re going to need about 300 more innings from our pen to finish this off. Yes, I still say we are going to need arms.
Badger
It shouldn’t be Taylor or Kike, that we are talking about, if we are talking about production.
I thought Kike should have been sent down to AAA last year, because he was just not producing.
But this year, he is producing.
And he doesn’t get consistent at bats, like some of the other players, so it is hard for him, to have a good batting average.
But Kike’ still has a pretty good OPS, and that shows he is producing.
The player that should be in this conversation is Forsythe, not Kike or Taylor!
It looks like Forsythe goes up to bat, almost every time, to try to get a walk.
I haven’t seen a player strike out so much, without swinging.
And his stats support this, because there was an article that made the case that Forsythe is the most submissive hitter, in all of baseball.
He is hitting under 200 against righties, and his overal stats, just are not good.
He has a high OBA, and hits lefties well, but that is about it.
I think Badger and I were talking about coming out of spring training.
YF
I feel the same about Wood.
The Pirates know their surge won’t last, they will give up Rivero and McCutcheon by the 31st. OK, they need help at third and probably an outfielder. Forsythe, Joc, Tree Trunks, and as much trash (SVS, Thompson, Franklin G, Hatcher, McCarthey) as they want to haul off….
Another trade scenario from a Pirate lover. I like mine better… http://www.thepointofpittsburgh.com/l-dodgers-destination-pittsburgh-pirates-package/
Jaso and Watson, for Stripling and Stewart….they are definitely delusional.
MLBTR reports that the Rays traded cash or a player to be named later for Sergio Romo (Great name). The Dodgers could have just waited till he cleared waivers and let him sign wherever he wished at the prorated ML Minimum Salary, about $170K, but this way FAZ makes sure his old club gets him and the Dodgers get a little something for him instead of nothing at all. I don’t see anything wrong with that, just the Old Boy Network tossing out favors. I could name another half-dozen stiffs I wish he’d send to Tampa. Good place for retirement….
I liked that deal and Romo is a friend of AGon as well as somewhat of a mentor with Urias.
Nice comeback after getting tied, and Hill pitched well enough. BP was nails last night and Morrow threw some bullets. Joe had a neat little trivia question last night. Which Dodger hit the longest HR on the road and at home. Neither is on the active roster right now. I knew one of them because I watched the game, Eibner hit a 483 foot homer on the road, and Franklin Gutierrez hit the longest one at Dodger Stadium. I wonder if they left more snacks in Jansen’s locker after cheating him out of another save opportunity. Taylor is the real deal and should be playing everyday period. Time for Thompson to go back down. He looked like a AA player facing MLB pitching for the first time.
I thought Thompson had a real shot last year before he hurt his back. I’m starting to think he’ll never be as good as he was. No sentiment in baseball, trade him to another club so they can release him… ditto for SVS. And Ethier in October 2017. And Utley. And Agon October 2018.
Jonah
I see many posters claiming that Thompson is up on the major league team because Magic is friends with his father, but I don’t think that is true.
I think he is up here, from what he did last year, before he got hurt.
They are carrying him up at the major league team, because they can, because the team is doing so well.
He has never hit that well in the minors, but he is so far behind, because of his back problem.
And they talk about players with such long arms, have more trouble with their mechanics, when it comes to hitting and baseball in general.
There are financial considerations in play. Days on a major league roster will help him receive more money in retirement or disability retirement. All of those monies can be traced back to money from ticket sales and television revenue. In the end, it’s always the fan’s money….
Jonah, Ethier’s contract runs out at the end of the season, so no chance he gets traded. Non tendered no doubt, but no trade is nessesary.
What I noticed about the game last night, was that are offense wasn’t to productive, without Taylor and Turner, in the line up.
And this lack of offensive production, is one of our biggest problems.
Corey and Cody are not to bad when it comes to this, but our other players besides Turner and Taylor, are not good at making productive outs, or getting hits, when runners are in scoring position.
We were pretty lucky that we scored the go ahead run, before Taylor came into the game.
Because Grandal Sliced a ball to the left field line, and Puig hit him in, with a full swinging bunt.
And if Grandal wouldn’t have been able to knock the ball out of the catcher’s mitt, we wouldn’t have scored that run.
And against good pitching, we won’t be hitting to many HRs, so we need to start producing better, and do the little things better too!
Notice Cody’s getting a lot of walks? His production isn’t going to improve until they stop hitting Automatic Out Forsythe behind him. If you have to play Forsythe to showcase him, hit him leadoff and get him out of the way. He is hurting the club more than Romo was. Their four best hitters are JT, CT, CS, and CB. This is the order I would use: Forsythe (assuming he has to play), Seager, Turner, Taylor, Bellinger, Grandal (or Barnes), Puig, Joc (better yet Verdugo), and pitcher. Killer’s Row.
Jonah
I agree with your elvaulation of our best hitters.
Cody is taking walks, because sometimes they are pitching around him, so it is smart for him, to take a walk, instead of swinging out of the strike zone, and making an out.
Forsythe for sure is the weak link, and I would move him farther back, in the line up.
I don’t know how well his OBA is against righties, but if it is decent, I can see why you would want him, to be your lead off hitter.
Forsythe is a known streaky hitter. It’s possible he will put together a decent month between now and November. I doubt he is going anywhere, but frankly I’d rather Taylor and Barnes get those at bats.
Thompson may get better as he fully heals. Back injuries take time. Then again, maybe he won’t get better. We don’t really need him. Perhaps another organization will have the time to nurse him. Pittsburgh? I think Kiké and Thompson would fit well there.
We had some breaks go our way yesterday. And that has been a theme through this incredible win streak. Will it continue? Man I hope so.
Badger
With Taylor slotting into second base, Kike’ can be our utility player, he has a better OPS then some of our players, playing everyday.
In theory, yes. But until further notice Forsythe is the starting second baseman. Kiké and Taylor, on my depth chart, are nearly the same guy. They both bat right handed and can play anywhere. It’s close, but I take Taylor.
Badger
If it was between Taylor and Kike’s, no one would take Kike’ over what Taylor is doing right now.
But Forsythe is the one of these three players, that isn’t producing.
And Forsythe doesn’t play the outfield, and doesn’t have any speed.
And Forsythe was a utility player, for most of his career.
Kike is producing against lefty’s, RH, not so much. Taylor is hitting everybody. Forsythe is also one dimensional. He does also play 3rd which allows DR to rest Turner and his balky knees. That is one reason Utley is still with the team because he does hit RH. Forsythe was traded for to be the regular everyday 2nd baseman and leadoff hitter. It matters not to the FO whether he was never a starter before. His OBP is good because he walks a lot, and he has that leadoff hitters mentality even when he is hitting down in the order. Thinking they are even contemplating trading a guy that they want to play everyday is to not know how the FAZ operates. I like Kike, great guy, works hard, and plays hard. Hit’s LH pitching like they are little leaguers. When you look at the guys rotating at 2nd or backing up other players, they are all pretty much apples to oranges. Each has a strength and a weakness. And all of them have about the same at bats. Kike has 200, Utley has 209 and Forsythe has 201. Forsythe is hitting lefty’s at a .348 clip. Kike .272 and Utley a dismal .118. But he only has 17 at bats against lefty’s. Kike is hitting .184 against RH, Utley, .234 and Forsythe, .185. Not much difference there folks. Kike has more AB’s against RH’s than left. Forsythe the same, and most of Utley’s work has come against RH pitching. Kike’s OPS comes against lefty’s and he should be just what he is, a utility player. I am pretty sure they like the Utley-Forsythe platoon or they would not use it so much. You have 2 established veterans with good credentials and history at the position. And Badger was right about Forsythe being streaky. Is he better than Kike? Probably not, he has his strengths. Every body complains about Joc striking out so much, but he and Kike have both struck out 51 times, and Kike has more AB’s than Joc. They both have value to the team, and unless they find someone who can do those jobs and be equally productive, they are not trading any of them. I see a lot of fans screaming to bring up Verdugo. Granted, he is having a monster season at AAA, but there is no guarantee he does it up here, want a comparison? Joc came up the end of 2014, he was totally over matched and he was having an MVP like season in AAA. None of the guys tearing it up at AAA are guaranteed to do the same up in LA. I would love seeing what Taylor could do as the everyday 2nd baseman, but right now, his value to the Dodgers is LF where all the other options, SVS. Ethier, Gutierrez, Eibner, Toles, Thompson, are either injured or flamed out totally.
Michael
First I didn’t say they were gong to trade anyone!
Kike’s batting average is not the point, because he is OPSing higher then some everyday players, and the front office value a player’s OPS far more, then a batting average.
And an everyday player getting consistent at bats, are expected to hit for a decent average, especially against righties pitchers, and Forsythe isn’t doing that!
Forsythe isn’t hitting righties, and he hasn’t hit with any power, against righties either.
And that is not true about Taylor and Kike is on this team, to hit lefties, and he has hit lefties with power too..
And really, an everyday player should hit both lefties, and righties.
Joc is playing more often then Kike, because he is on the good side of a platoon, because there are many more rightie pitchers, in baseball.
And the fact that Kike has the same amount of strike outs as Joc does, and he has had more at bats then Joc, doesn’t make Joc look good.
You would always expect a hitter with more at bats, to have more strike outs, then a player with less at bats.
I don’t think they should bring any players up, unless they will be playing everyday.
And there is no room for another player, to play everyday.
And if Agone comes back, Cody will probably play in left field, and Taylor won’t be taken out of the line up, it will be someone else.
MJ, why to you take every post as a personal attack? I never not once in the above post said one word about anything you have posted. I looked up all the stats on the guys I was talking about and for the most part they are all pretty similar. If the Dodgers were worried about production, don’t you think Kike would play more often? Joc has more starts than Kike, but less at bats because he missed time on the DL. I was talking about the 3 players we were discussing, and there is not all that much difference between any of them except Kike’s power numbers are better. His OBP, not so much. Sure his OPS is going to be high, but it is inflated because of his stats against LH pitching. His OPS against RH is .595 and against LH, 1.053. But his OBP is very pedestrian, .320. I pointed out he is very effective against LH, so is Forsythe with less power. His OBP is .363. His OPS vs lefty’s is almost as good as Kike’s, 1.015 and his OBP vs lefty’s is a hefty .470. But sorry, they base who plays on all the stats including how good one is in the field. Forsythe is an excellent 2nd baseman and has proved that today. I also never said that you said they should trade anyone. I am not attacking you personally and I was posting what is the truth, the stats from the Dodgers web site. You disagree with them, talk to the statistician. Kike has played as much as the other 2 guys I mentioned, Utley and Forsythe. So I do not want to hear about poor Kike’s lack of playing time. He is what he is, a good, not great player. Quit thinking the guy is Rogers Hornsby. And Joc is NOT PLAYING more than Kike, his AB’s say so. They are pretty close but counting todays game Kike still has more. Read the damn stats before you say stuff like that. They are both being platooned,
Box, in response to your response to me yesterday, thanks! Yes, I did back it up with season tic.
And I”m sure I”d make a pretty penny if I sold playoff games! I’ll go to most (Game 1 always and then the later games), since we’ll likely have home field.
Bobby
That is what I was thinking concerning you, and your season tickets!
You really picked a great time, to get those season tickets, and I don’t see anything, but upside for you!
Michael
Joc is playing more often and more consistently then Kike is right now, now that Joc is has been off the DL, and that is exactly what I said!
And that is just obvious, since there are more rightie pitchers in baseball, and Kike plays mainly, against lefties!
And like I have already said, Kike is on this team to hit lefties, and fill in for other players, when he is needed.
And you are the one that brought Joc up not me!
You made a remark about how Joc had struck out, as many times, as Kike has.
And you acted like that was a good thing, even though Kike has had more at bats, and you used that, to try to credit Joc, but that doesn’t credit Joc!
And I never said Kike should play second base, on an everyday basis, either.
I said Taylor would play second for me, not Forsythe!
That was my comparison.
And that leaves Forsythe out, because I don’t think there is a single team in baseball, that would want to have a player play everyday, if they were not going to hit righties, and Forsythe is not hitting righties!
And Taylor has much better numbers against both lefties and righties, then Forsythe has!
And Taylor adds speed to the equation too, which Forsythe doesn’t have!
No, I was not saying Joc striking out the same amount of times as Kike was a credit to Joc. What I said, and if you would look at it the way it was said, was that people, not you, complain about Joc’s strike outs, but he and Kike had struck out exactly the same. That was not a slight to Kike, just the closest comparison of the stats. Forsythe strikes out more than both of them. But they are closer in stats than Forsythe is. Joc gets playing time because he is the best CF on the team, and he just happens to hit LH and a majority of the pitchers in the majors are RH. Kike walked twice in the game today, Joc struck out twice and walked once. But who won the game? Forsythe. He had 2 hits a walk and a K. He now leads the team in walk off hits with 2. We all know Taylors numbers, we all know he is hitting great, and doing a decent job in the outfield. We all also know that FAZ traded for Forsythe to be the starting 2nd baseman, which he is going to be regardless of anything any of us say here. You can sit there all day and say teams do not want a player playing everyday with those stats, and yet, there he is, out there almost every day now unless Roberts feels Utley is a better match. If you went by the stats, neither Kike or Forsythe should start against RH period. We all know what Kike is on the team for, so why do you get so upset that he is not quote playing as much as others, when the stats say different? Utley, Forsythe, and Kike have almost identical AB totals. That Joc is playing more consistently than Kike right now is because of the matchups, not because he is a better player, although he is much better in CF than Kike is. I agree that Taylor should be playing 2nd everyday, I said so before, but since everyone except Taylor that they have put out in LF has sucked, well guess what, he is the LF for now. If they do not bring Forsythe back next year on his option, maybe then Taylor becomes that guy, maybe they go nuts the next 10 days and trade for a real LF and a starter, which they now are going to need since Kershaw is headed to the DL, and sit Forsythe and put Taylor at 2nd. Doubt that will happen though. If you want to know why Forsythe is starting, it is his OBP which is very good and much better than Kikes. They are getting power from all over the place so Forsythe’s lack of HR’s is obviously not a problem to them.
Wish I could go to sleep and wake up next Tuesday to see what FAZ had done. I don’t do waiting well…..
Rip Van Jonah………I like it, they won’t do much, maybe even nothing. They are not willing to overpay for rentals, we all know that and some of the trades proposed by people are truly off the chart nuts.
I am ashamed to tell you how long it took to make this come out even as well as it did. And I don’t know if there is a point, but it is an easy comparison…
Player G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI
Barnes, A 53 118 22 34 8 2 5 20
JOC 67 196 35 47 14 0 9 26
BB SO SB CS AVG▼ OBP SLG OPS
21 26 4 0 .288 .400 .517 .917
27 51 1 3 .240 .351 .449 .800
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2017/07/dodgers-have-strong-interest-in-yu-darvish.html
Kershaw Designated Spa time coming up.
Kemp looks overweight.
Forsythe isn’t really needed but isn’t leaving. We again have a plethora of second baseman. FAZ do love to stack the 4 spot. We have 5 that can play there. 3 rightys and 2 leftys. In fact, that group is so versatile you could get them all in the lineup at the same time. Impressive, but I’d trade half of them for some arm support. That’s right, I’d trade 2 1/2 of them for pitching.
Badger
Kershaw just had off, ten days in the row, over the Allstar break, maybe one of his hips, is bothering him.
What happened to Kershaw????????? Thompson will be in Oklahoma before bedtime….
Kershaw got a owie. He was walking kinda weird. Might be his back again. Nobody saying much yet. Can’t say anything when you’re holding your breath.
Strasburg pulled after 2 in Arizona. He looked fine, then was gone. Nobody talking about it on the dback broadcast either.
They mentioned Kershaw’s hips, and he has had problems with his hips, in the past.
It’s being reported it is his back.
Last report 10 minutes ago, lower back tightness.
Jansen human. Kershaw human.
Is that a creak I hear in our foundation?
I’ve decided I don’t much care for Orel. I find him to be a corney homer.
Oral Horseshitter…Forgot to add, “IV”.
Badger
Orel tries to sweeten anything that he can, and Joe is like that too.
And that is why I like Nomar better!
Nomar tells the truth, and he doesn’t try to say stuff, to try to make everyone look good, on the Dodgers!
I think we’ll see a new starter quite soon, probably a relief pitcher too. No new right handed hitter, that just went down the tube… Say goodbye to Tree Trunks, Verdugo, Alvarez, maybe Buehler, et al…. I hope FAZ spends wisely. A bad price we can live with, since we have no choice, but the quality better be there or FAZ gets it in the neck.
I agree with all that Rip. Money is not the object, the object is the object. We may need Darvish. I figure FAZ wants him, but needing him changes a lot of things.
We don’t know how bad Kershaw is, but he started feeling this, on his second warm up pitches, in the before the second inning.
Kershaw’s delivery looks more stressful, then other pitchers deliveries because of the pause he makes, but I know all pitchers delivers are not good for a bad back.
Like I said – Kershaw to the Jacuzzi List.
This will affect his opt out too, possibly.
Reservations for one on the DL….
https://twitter.com/jphoornstra/status/889265367121502208
Actually 2. McBrittle headed there also. And by the way, Buehler is going no where. Alvarez maybe, but Buehler is pretty much untouchable. I think they will try to trade 2nd tier guys first. Calhoun might go, but Zaidi was pretty adamant that he was not trading Verdugo, which of course makes him the perfect trade candidate.
There you go believing a baseball executive again….. these guys invented lies… They’re all graduates of The University Of Deceit…