After sweeping the Cincinatti Reds, the boys returned to Chavez Ravine and the hopes of another possible sweep over the hapless New York Mets. Well, as Vin Scully loved to remind us, the Dodgers never do anything easy, and while tonight’s 10-6 score looks impressive in print, it was by no means an easy win.
Clayton Kershaw took the mound tonight, and as I noted in my previous article, Mr. Kershaw has been particularly vulnerable to the home run ball this season. He’s never surrendered more than 16 home runs in a season in his career, but he gave up four tonight (two to Jose Reyes), putting him at a career-high 17 homers allowed, and we’re not even at the halfway mark yet.
Despite all that, Mets home runs aren’t the story tonight – Dodgers home runs are. Cody Bellinger launched two home runs tying, and then breaking, the record for fastest man to 20 and 21 home runs in major league history. What can we say about that? The man is on fire now. The only thing missing is him hitting a home run into the stadium lights a la The Natural.
The Dodgers also got home runs from Justin Turner and Chris Taylor. Turner ended the night batting .399 and had 7 total bases. Joc Pederson and Bellinger had 9 total bases each. The offense is running on all cylinders now, and the team has become a real joy to watch in action.
However, the night wasn’t all blue cherries. The Dodgers spotted Kershaw a 7-0 lead after just 2 innings, but the Mets didn’t roll over. Despite recording 10 strike outs, Kershaw kept on serving up home run pitches that the Mets were more than happy to capitalize on. He gave up HRs in the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 7th, allowing the Mets to climb back into the game and he left in the 7th inning with a slim 8-6 lead.
The Dodgers extended their lead to 10-6 in the bottom of the seventh on a Chris Taylor solo home run and a Chase Utley RBI. Things looked good for the boys until Chris Hatcher came in and let the Mets get a taste of coming back once again. The Mets loaded the bases on a single and two walks. There were two outs and Jose “I’ve already hit two home runs tonight” Reyes stepped to the plate as the tying run. The Dodger Stadium crowd groaned and gnashed their teeth as the skipper kept Kenley Jansen in the pen and left Hatcher out there to show us all what he’s got.
Hatcher got Reyes to strike out and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Then we all got to hold our collective breath once again as Hatcher returned for the ninth. He gave up a single and everyone puckered up. Hatcher then got a fly out and a strike out. One more to go. T.J. Rivera fired of a curving fly ball to right-center field that Chris Taylor ran down and caught on the slide for the final out. Whew!
Dodgers Win 10-6! Four in a row and five in a row at home.
Don’t miss tomorrow night’s ride on the big blue roller coaster!
Oscar Martinez
I was born in the shadow of Dodger Stadium and immediately drenched in Dodger Blue. Chavez Ravine is my baseball cathedral, Vin Scully was the golden voice of summer all my life, and Tommy Lasorda remains the greatest Dodgers manager ever. My favorite things are coffee, beer, and the Dodgers beating the Giants. I also blog about my baseball card hobby at All Trade Bait, All the Time.
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Wow! Can the Boy Wonder continue this performance?
He alone has carried this team. Sure there has been some other notable performances. Turner hitting at a .399 clip, Taylor hitting over .300 with power. Alex Wood pitching like Sandy Koufax and of course Mr. Reliable Kershaw pitching well.
But Turner, Kershaw and Wood begin the season with the team and were performing well from the get go. It didn’t matter as the Dodgers record as of April 24th was 9 wins and 11 losses.
A couple of observations.
Thank God Toles got hurt and Pederson and Puig sucked starting the season otherwise Bellinger would still be in the minors. This is not the first time this has happened. Just recently in 2015, FAZ waited until the 6th month of the season before bringing up ‘The Kid.’ It took Rollins sucking for 5 full months before the call up of Seager. Duh!
Why the quicker call up this time? Because both Pederson and Puig have a recent track record of underperforming offensively so when they continued where they left off last year and the team offensively was underperforming it was a no brainer to change things up. Enter ‘Boy Wonder.’ I recall saying then that this was the first option prior to a trade(s) taking place to fix the offense.
Friedman should be giving half of his $7.5M annual pay to Colletti/White and company for having access to Seager, Bellinger, Urias, etc.
Since the call up on 4/25/17, the Dodgers have gone 36-15. That is winning at a .706 clip. What happened on 4/25/17 that started these winning ways? Boy Wonder was brought up. Pure and simple.
Boy Wonder has bailed out the incompetency of this FO. This has been my beef with this FO for a long time…..they have very little vision. Hell, I could argue that they have no vision. They out spend their competition on average 2 to 1. Inherited a stocked minor league system. Inherited 2 aces. Still have the best starting pitcher (some are saying Kershaw could be the best ever.) Inherited one of the top closers in the game and due to questionable acquisitions has to rely on prospects to bail them out.
In 2015 it was Seager. Last year it was Urias. This year it’s Bellinger. Sooner or later, Colletti/White’s draft picks are going to dry up. Then what?
Well for their sake they had better hope they win a title and soon. From where I sit they have 2 years left on their 4 year window. That window closes the end of 2018…..which coincides with Kershaw’s opt out clause. Either the Dodgers pay him more or someone else will. $16M won’t cut it with Kershaw.
Back to the present. Bellinger has already won ROY, hell he is in the talks for MVP. He is a given for the All-Star team. But someone needs to tell him NOT to enter the HR Derby. That would be suicidal for him and the Dodgers. In actuality I hope he gets snubbed for the All-Star game (not going to happen) but I think that will have an adverse effect on his 2nd half performance.
Too much talk takes place at that time between pitchers/opposition players. People ask questions in an attempt to learn how to be successful at their trade. Getting Bellinger out will go a long ways in beating the Dodgers. You don’t think Arenado, Zimmerman or Rizzo won’t go back to their teams and tell what they learned, heard or seen firsthand. Yeah right!
Can the Boy Wonder continue this performance in spite of the challenges that will arise the second half of the season?
I can’t tell. Has Chili finally become an optimistic FAZ fan? It’s hard to discern.
Maybe, but I think not.
Chili
Bellinger came up because Joc and Either were out, and Agone was on his way.
Because Toles played center when Joc went out, and Bellinger was in left.
But I agree it was good to see Bellinger come up, with the lack of offensive production from Puig, and Joc, the last three years.
And that reminds me why did Oscar include Joc in the same sentence as Bellinger, when talking about the game last night.
Because Bellinger had two HRs and a single which is nine total bases and Joc had a single which is one total base.
But at least Bellinger hit those HRs off a real major league pitcher, and not off the AAA pitcher, that came in later in the game.
Hi MJ, Joc had a single and a walk last night. All the bases he touched would be counted, not just one on a single. For example, if he hit a single and eventually scored, that would count as 4 total bases. That said, he didn’t score any runs last night.
I took the stats from the official MLB box score, which as of this morning is still showing him at 9.
At the time I reported what the box score showed. You made a good observation MJ. I guess MLB made the mistake, and I reported it after them.
In baseball statistics, total bases (TBs) is the number of bases a player has gained with hits. It is a weighted sum for which the weight value is 1 for a single, 2 for a double, 3 for a triple and 4 for a home run. Only bases attained from hits count toward this total.
Chili
I wrote my response to Oscar before seeing your response.
But saber metrics count walks as the same as hits, so maybe that was changed, but I agree, walks should not get the same value, as a hit.
And because sabers value walks in that way, it makes players like Grandal and Joc, look like they were more offensively productive, then they really were.
What is Total Bases – TB?
A statistic in baseball that measures the number of bases a player reaches on their hits. If a player hits a single, they will receive 1 Total Bases or TBs. If they hit a double, they will get 2 TBs, a triple will get them 3 TBs and a home run gives them 4 TBs.
Total Bases = 1B + 2*(2B) + 3*(3B) + 4*(HR)
***This is the measurement for total bases. Nothing more, nothing less.***
Do you see walks identified? I didn’t think so.
Thanks for the info, Chili. Now I learned something 🙂
No prob Oscar. We live and we learn. We appreciate all you add to this blog. Keep up the great work!
Oscar
I’m sorry I didn’t mean to be so critical.
I wouldn’t have thought about Joc’s walk, so thanks!
I don’t think walks should be valued as much as a hit, because they obviously don’t affect an offense in the same way, in most situations.
I just thought it was odd to group Joc and Bellinger together, since Bellinger, and other players on the team, did much more, then Joc did.
Chili
I understand, that is why I asked Oscar about that.
Hi MJ, I didn’t think you were being critical, so no worries about that.
It’s all good that came up because Chili educated me on TB stat. I really oversimplified the stat and misunderstood it.
But MLB got the stat wrong on the box score. Geez…now I have to triple check the numbers for box score stats??? It aint easy being a writer!! >.<
Like. MJ just said, Bellinger isnt supposed to be here. Management choice was Toles. It’s worked out pretty well hasn’t it.
What Chili said. I would submit that after ’18 we will have opportunity to add another super star. I look forward to that.
I said a while back at some point I figured the plan might be to restart the luxury cap/competitive balance tax clock. Not happening. Not even close. It’s like they just don’t care. It’s good to be filthy rich.
Interesting. I see them trying to duck under the tax after next year. Maybe not, though.
Let’s see. Ethier comes off the books. Kazmir, right? Gonzalez. Forsythe. Kershaw opts out…
Crawford this year.
That’s a lot of money.
Kazmir, Gonzo, Forsythe, Kershaw after 2018 if Kersh opts out. Ethier after this year, he has an option which I am sure will be declined.
Badger
Bringing Toles up was no mistake, because he is a better hitter, then both Joc and Puig.
But if Either wouldn’t have got hurt, Toles might not have began the season, on the major league team.
But I am glad Toles took advantage of his chance, and showed he could adjust to what the pitchers were doing to him, to try to get him out.
That had to give him more confidence and he also showed he can hit in clutch situations, and he is able to hit at the top of the line up, too.
http://www.spotrac.com/mlb/los-angeles-dodgers/payroll/2018/
A lot of heavy limbs on the Dodger tree in ’18. Kazmir, Hill, McBrittle, Ryu. According to this we’re still paying Olivera. But, they can afford it. Slowly but surely we will enter the KasFAZten era. Colletti/White is still working quite well, don’t you think?
MJ, not sure what you meant by the Toles comment. Wasn’t a mistake? Never said he was. But like so many recent purchases, he too is in the shop.
Badger
He is not a an older player, and he had no further damage then the one injury he had, and that is not always the case, so he will be just fine.
I just thought you meant they should have brought up Bellinger before Toles, but no big deal, I think they both belong.
I am just glad your back!
I’m being moderated again. Sh*t’s getting old.
Sorry for the moderation, Badger. It’s not you personally who’s being moderated, it’s the link in your comment.
Our spam filters apparently think the link looks spammy, so it pulls the comment for us to approve.
The filters don’t stop all links, as not all links are created equal. You may want to take notice if the comments get slowed down when you try to link to one particular site. Their links may look suspicious while others don’t.
Oscar
I have had trouble on and off with my keyboard.
It is not working correctly, it gets caught on capital letters, and the letters and numbers, get stuck.
But I have no problem anywhere else.
Hi MJ,
I’m not sure what your comment about your keyboard relates to.
Did I miss something about your typing or letters/numbers?
So the other day I went to Dodger Therapy to see if any new posts went up, there weren’t any but I noticed something. There is a new poster there calling himself Badger the Olde. I was curious so I asked him who he was. No answer but the next day my post was deleted. I asked again last night and inquired why my post asking about him had been disappeared. No response from Freudy. Weird. When I went on WordPress a long time ago Badger was taken so I just took Badger3 and it worked. Don’t know who Badger the Olde is. Anyone got any ideas about it?
I posted like 5 different posts. Only one made it up.
I used Carl Jung or something like that.
Just checked. Jungy.
And…..
Still no new posts.
In the comments, the proprietor seems to lay his cards on the table. He’s just a knee-jerky anti-Friedman crank.
He’s old school, and yes, he’s anti-FAZ. But I don’t think he’s knee-jerky. I find his posts well thought out.
Badger
I have no idea who that is.
I might be able to guess who that may be, if their post was still there.
There haven’t been any new posts, I was just going on the most recent one and his interaction in the post section….
That was about as bad a game as I have ever seen CK pitch, save a couple of playoff meltdowns. They were raking on anything left in the zone. 2 HR’s by Reyes? He hasn’t been that good the last several years, and this is the 2nd time this season a rookie has hit his first bomb off CK. Arroyo of the Giants being the other. Thankfully the Mets pitching is horrendous and they took advantage.
Michael
I think it was a curve that both kids hit out, against Kershaw.
It was last night. Reyes hit his on fastballs. Bruce hit a hanger too. Just not used to seeing teams tee off on Kershaw. That was the 3rd time this season a team has hit at least 3 off him. Oh well…….trade the BUM!! LOL
Stuff from around the web:
Is Kenley Jansen the new Mariano?
www DOT fangraphs.com/blogs/kenley-jansen-is-mariano-rivera-2-0/
The great Jeff Sullivan on Chris Taylor:
www DOT fangraphs.com/blogs/instagraphs/what-might-chris-taylor-have-become/
Dodger prospect Rincon can hit HRs well:
www DOT baseballamerica.com/minors/carlos-rincon-vladimir-guerrero-jr-put-show-midwest-league-home-run-derby/#cLcohAthGYkXbG2H.97
BP take a look at Brock Stewart and Oaks:
www DOT baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=32106
Thanks Bluto!
In the A All-Star Game:
Dennis Santana, who some watchers have told BA they prefer to the highly regarded Yadier Alvarez, comes out 94 FB w/sink, 85 CH, filthy 80-82 SL. 2 Ks
In this MLB game:
Looks like Forsythe is rounding back into form. Starting to really lace the ball.