Ladies and gentlemen, this game had everything! Double-digit scoring, double-digit strikeouts, back-to-back home runs, an injury scare, Puig happening, Kenley Jansen pitching with a ten-run lead, and much more.
Southpaw Rich Hill led the boys with a dominant performance. He struck out ten and only allowed two Padres hits. He may only throw a 90 mph fastball, but when he’s throwing it with pinpoint control (on a night the home plate umpire had a tight strike zone), and he matches that with a wicked curveball that came from every angle, but always seemed to finish over the plate, the Padres’ batters simply had no chance.
On the other end of the spectrum, the Dodgers’ offense pummeled Padres starter Clayton Richard for eight of their ten runs, and they looked like they were having a great amount of fun doing so.
The Dodgers scored throughout the night, putting up runs in the first three innings (with a big four runs in the third) and then again in the fifth and sixth innings.
Almost every starter, including Rich Hill, put up at least one RBI tonight. Justin Turner didn’t knock in anyone, but he did manage to score a run, and Chris Taylor didn’t pick up any RBIs because he left the game early with a scary slide step off first base. He was lifted from the game and early medical reports listed him with a bruised knee.
Yasiel Puig delivered a monster home run in the bottom of the fifth. One inning later Curtis Granderson (who replaced Taylor) and Corey Seager hit back-to-back home runs that sealed the Padres fate at 10-0.
Before the game, Roberts had decided Kenley Jansen would pitch, no matter what, so after being pummeled by the Big Blue Steamroller, the Padres had to endure one last bone crushing at the hands of the greatest closer in baseball. It was beautiful!
the Dodgers have already assured themselves home field advantage through the NL playoffs, and they now have a magic number of one to secure the best record in baseball over the Cleveland Indians. Tonight’s win tied the Los Angeles franchise’s record of 102 wins, with enough games left to tie the all-time Dodgers record of 105. Stay tuned!
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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Oscar is putting the steamroller back!
Puig absolutely crushed that homer. I wonder how all those who said early in the season that the Dodgers should trade Puig feel now. 27 homers, 2nd on the team. Solid and sometimes spectacular defense in RF. Worth the minimal aggravation he caused this year.
Puig once again nails in the 8 hole. The entire team did a great job. Cody got his 96th ribbie. I sure would like to see 40-100 for him. In the mile high, he should be able to do that. If not, that 10 day DL stint robbed him of a great shot at it.
I’ve been saying all season long, don’t get greedy and leave Puig at 8 hole. He consistently produces at the spot, which by the way, most players do not produce in the 8 hole. they did most of their damage, team-wise, with Puig in the 8 hole. So please Roberts, quit being an 8-hole and leave him alone.
It is time for the MLB do something about the construction and materials used for making the bases. They have always been a slick and pretty unforgiving bag. Time to put some effort into a better bag to replace the current “ice rink” being used. these players are getting paid way too much money to take a chance of ruining the careers of such players as Bruce Harper and Chris Taylor.
It will be interesting to see who hits against good pitching, because HRs can’t always be your offense, since good pitchers, usually don’t leave most pitches right over the middle for someone to hit.
The top four, and sometimes five hitters, have been better at being a little more productive, with the offense.
And it looks like Roberts has emphasized the team trying to be more productive, on offense.
When both Cody and Corey went out one after another, that showed that they are the two most important bats in this line up, but Turner is very important, and Taylor has also made himself, very important too!
Taylor said he expects to play Friday, he said it was more a scare to him then anything, and that he hyper extended his knee a little, but he said he is fine.
Now the Corey is back on track, my biggest concern in the post season, will be the pitchers they bring in to pitch the six and seventh innings, if our starter is pulled before the sixth.
We have no idea what goes on behind close doors, and we were not aware, that Puig had been acting up, even before he stoled that base.
The only thing I read that pointed to him, was that article at ESPN that Dodger rick posted.
That writer said he didn’t know if Puig was really part of the team, or that everyone just tolerated him.
I hope Puig behaves because they won’t tolerate anyone getting in the way, of the team.
Corey missed 23 games long before he went out for those ten days, because he didn’t start in the majors until April 25, so he didn’t play an entire major league season, so if anything, that makes Cody’s numbers, even better!
So Cody broke the rookie HR record, with fewer at bats, then the other two players.
Not good news in Taylor. You need wheels in CF. He’s got a week to recover. If not then who: Joc, Verdugo, Grandy, Kike, Cody? Again, it depends on what the spreadsheet says.
Taylor will be back in the lineup on Friday. Injury was very minor.
And today is an off day. Does that mean a new video with a beer review?
If there is anything that is really a negative with this team, it has to be the amount of strikeouts by the hitters. Taylor leads the team with 142, then Bellinger with 141, and that’s not even a full season, Seager with 130, Grandal at 128, Forsythe at 108 and Puig at 100 are the guys in triple digits. Turner only strikes out about once every 9 at bats. Utley about once every 6th AB. Kike is at 80 and Granderson since he became a Dodger strikes out a third of the time. Those are bad numbers. Wasted outs, but the Saber guys do not care about stuff like that. They are looking at WAR and OBP. Barnes has struck out 40 times in 212 at bats which is pretty good. Turner has only struck out 56 times in almost 450 at bats. The good thing is that the offense seems to be waking up some, even if it is only the Padres. But they are still MLB pitchers and you have to hit them all, good and bad. Lets hope they keep it up. Weird stat. Granderson has hit more homers in his 33 games as a Dodger than Forsythe has all year.
Aren’t the Cubs, Diamondbacks and Rockies similar if not worse?
For K%:
D’Backs 23.5% of the time they strikeout
Rocks 22.7%
Dodgers 22.5%
Cubs 22.4%
Yanks 21.8%
Nats 21.4%
Lots of good teams striking out a lot.
Yeah the MLB today does not place the emphasis on K’s that they used to. Back in the day, that was a definite no-no. You look at players like DiMaggio and Berra and wonder how they were able to make contact the percentage of times that they did. I mean DiMaggio’s career K’s just 8 above his HR’s 369 to 361 in 13 years in the majors. Unreal. Berra struck out 414 times in a 19 year big league career. That’s less than a 25 times a year average. That is totally amazing for a guy who did not even look like a athlete. Pete Rose in his 24 years struck out 1143 times. Ted Williams, one of the greater power hitters of all time, who you think would strike out a lot, was fanned 717 times in 19 years. That is truly amazing considering guys like Mantle struck out at a very high rate.
So true.
Different game.
What is the team batting averages of those teams?
That will probably make a bigger difference, against good pitching.
Because teams that also have good batting averages, are better with runners in scoring position, and tend to have a more productive offense.
Batting average is useless.
The better question is what are the teams’ OPS.
You know what else is useless? ABs, they are inferior to plate appearance because they don’t include walks (I forget if they include sacrifices)
This is a great article about how teams deal with struggling players:
http://www.ocregister.com/2017/09/28/kenley-jansen-makes-pitch-for-pedro-baez-on-dodgers-playoff-roster/
Interesting. It was good to see that Jansen has become such a leader down there. As for the playoff roster, I do not like a 4 man bench, and in a 5 game series I see no reason to carry 12 pitchers. And certainly no reason for 4 lefty’s in the pen. I also think Wood should be one of the starters. 16 wins is more than enough evidence for me that the guy is a grinder out there. Baez has pitched better his last 2 outings, but he has left a real bad taste in the mouth of the fans. I would not doubt he would get booed at home again.
Lots of high quality chatter and debate about relievers today. ThinkBlueLA has a good piece in Wood vs Ryu and the comments are worth a read too.
The thing is, in a series, do you want
Wood for 5 innings in a single outing, which would be the case if he was the 4th starter. Or do you want him (at least) 5 innings for (at least) 3 outings? It’s a no brainer for me – I would want him out there more than once. I trust his stuff and his consistent GB rate, and I’d call him in for high leverage outs, or down 1 or 2, over anyone other than Morrow and Jansen.
If Baez makes it how about Stripling? At this point I’d leave both off, but it’s unfair if Baez makes it over Stripling at this point in the season. I’d go with Maeda as the mop up long reliever and Wood as the Swiss Army knife. This allows us to go with 7 relievers and I think I’d want Farmer in there. Someone like him will be very very useful if a game or two goes extra innings.
Yueh, I am glad I do not have to make those calls. In last years playoffs they carried 3 catchers. Ruiz, Barnes and Grandal. Do they do the same thing again? Barnes can play 2nd. Farmer can play 3rd and 1st, Grandal has played 1st in a pinch and with A-Gone off the roster for sure, he is an option to back up Bellinger there. There are a lot of options. They like Baez because of that live fastball of his. But sometimes, that game in Philly is a prime example, he rely’s on it way too much. And a lot of that I put on Grandal’s game calling skills. You throw the same pitch 8 times in a 10 pitch at bat like he did to Hoskins, the guy is going to find one he likes sooner or later. Do they carry 4 lefty’s in the pen or 3? Me, I leave Avilan off the roster, his stuff is not that impressive. Maeda as the long man, or Stripling? What about Walker Buehler or Stewart? I think 3 righty’s are a lock. Jansen, Morrow and Fields. 2 lefty’s Cingrani and Watson. They did not trade for those guys to not use them in the playoffs. Hill, Kershaw and Darvish are locks. That’s 8 right there. Locks in the lineup, Bellinger, Puig, Seager, Turner, Taylor, Utley, Forsythe…those guys make it no matter what. That makes 15…then the catchers…Barnes and Grandal…so that’s 17….Granderson probably makes it because FAZ traded for him at the deadline…..18. 7 spots to fill depending on how many arms you add I figure they carry 12 and 13 position players. Who are those 7 guys? Your guess is as good as mine, and probably better.
Grandal called other pitches, Baez shook him off, and every pitch was all Baez, and there was an article about this!
Ya don’t throw it if ya don’t trust it. Obviously Baez did not trust anything but his fastball. That being said, Grandal is still lousy calling a game.
YF
There is no way that Baez should make this team!
He not only doesn’t deserve to make this team, he has a history of giving away runs, in the post season.
Baez has had three chances before, and he was never been good, even once, in those three post seasons.
And his fastball doesn’t have much movement on it, and that is why hitters, crush his fastball, over the fence, time and time again!
Well MJ neither you nor I will make that call. That is on Dave and the gang in the FO.
Michael
When I look at the pitchers that will surely make the post season team, I just don’t see enough room for Baez, on the roster.
That is unless one of the pitchers, gets injured.
I do agree with you about Avilan, but he has even pitched better then Baez, lately.
But I thought his change up was better to get rightie hitters out, more then leftie hitters, but I am not sure about that.
YF
Stripling was probably over used a little, so that may be why he has not been pitching well, at the end.
I went into the records to check on career K’s by hitters. The numbers are unreal. There are 6 players in MLB history with 2000 plus strikeouts. Reggie Jackson, Jim Thome, Adam Dunn, Sammy Sosa, Alex Rodriguez and Andres Galarraga. I current player is within 200 K’s of that magic number, Mark Reynolds. Some players that I thought struck out way too much were actually not all that bad, one of them was Gary Sheffield. 1172 K’s in 22 years. Mantle was at 1702, Mays 1526 and Aaron 1383, Ruth was below Aaron with 1330, and Gehrig only struck out 790 times in 17 years. Ott, 896 in 22 seasons and Rogers Hornsby checked in with 679 in 23 years. Snider, Hodges and Piazza, 3 of my favorite players came in at 1237, 1137, and 1113 respectively. Matt Kemp will soon eclipse 1600. Just thought it was so interesting to check the differences in the era’s. Before the live ball era, hitters did not strikeout all that much. Even the sluggers made contact more often. You can tell that by their batting averages. Ruth at .342. Today’s game is so much different. You can strikeout 190 times in a year and make millions. Back then you would be lucky to get 10,000.00.
Sabers and especially our front office look at OPS!
And that is OBA and slugging combined.
Cardinals are eliminated from the post season again, all of that bad karma, has finally hit the Cards!
OBP and slugging. OBA is not a stat.
Michael
Well it is a stat, but I agree with you, it isn’t always the best stat for production, because it gives to much production, to all or nothing hitters.
And the front office looks at that more.
And it is not exciting to watch players walk, strike out, and hit an occasional HR!
That is because batting average is more important then sabers believe, especially against good pitching.
And I believe both the Astros and Nats, have decent team batting averages compared to us.
No, it’s NOT A STAT.
The stat you are trying to reference is a commonly shorted to OBP, that stands for On Base Percentage. For the percentage of time a player gets on base.
It’s not meant to represent the total production, and gives absolutely NO extra value to “all or nothing hitters.” It simply quantifies how often a player gets on base. It gives NO extra value to a HR over a walk.
MJ, the beginning of the response you just posted could not be more incorrect if you tried.
Bluto
I am talking about OPS.
Which is calculated with OBA and slugging.
I didn’t see that Michael didn’t copy down the abbreviation right!
Check what I wrote, that Michael responded to, it is two places up from his response.
But Michael said there, that OBA is not a stat, and that is a stat, just like OPS is.
But I think Michael is just joking there.
But thank you, for your concern!
THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS OBA!
THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS OBA!
THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS OBA!
Bluto
Thanks on base percentage.
OBP and slugging OPS.
OBP is On Base Percentage
SlUG is slugging percentage
OPS is the sum of both.
Three stats. The third the most comprehensive.
Bluto
I looked this up in baseball reference, both OBA, and OBP are known as the exact same thing, in baseball statistics.
And they are calculated the exact same way.
But thanks for your concern!
NO THEY ARE NOT!
THERE IS NO OBA!
Nowhere on Baseball Reference.
Nowhere:
https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/MLB/2017-batting-leaders.shtml
STOP IT!
Now children! Lets play nice!
There is a OBA stat. Opponent batting average.
Yes, but that stat has nothing to do with OBP and OPS. That is about pitchers. Dodgers promoted Tim Locastro to the 40 man roster and placed Okoye Dickson on the 60 day DL for a condition that will need surgery. Roberts said there is a chance that Locastro will make the playoff roster…….as a pinch runner.
Old schooler’s like myself, are stuck in the old way of evaluating players. Back in the day when players were on 1 year contracts life was so much easier. You had a lousy year, you lost leverage on your next contract and sometimes you even got a pay cut. I remember a very good player, Carl Furillo. Carl was still with the Dodgers when they moved to LA. For years he had been the regular RF. Cannon of an arm, solid hitter. Won the batting title once too. But Carl was past his prime and starting to have nagging injuries. In 58 he had a decent year, played 122 games with 18 homers and a .290 average. But in 1959 he was injured most of the year. He still hit .290 but was mostly used as a PH and played in only 50 games. He did have the biggest hit of the year as in the last playoff game against the Braves he singled up the middle to drive in Gil Hodges with the winning run and sent LA to it’s first world series. He tried coming back the next year, but was released. But, the Dodgers released him while he was on the DL. He sued, and after a long process won. He got 35,000.00. That’s it. Carl spent most of the rest of his life working for the Otis Elevator company in NYC. He never was employed in baseball after he sued the Dodgers. Black listed as it were. That’s the way players were treated then. Today, a guy hits .210 or so, plays multiple positions and is versatile, and he makes a ton of money. The union protects him. Oh, he can be sent down to the minors or even released, but he is still in a good spot. Saber guys love their stats. They point out that this guy may be hitting .210, but his OPS is .390. OK he walks a lot and hits extra base hits. I get that. But if the guy could hit say .250, might his OPS be much higher? Guess not, seems those extra hits decreased his walks. And he was hitting singles instead of doubles and such and now his OPS is .340. Saber guys love that stuff. Me, I get tired of seeing guys hitting on or near the Mendoza line in clutch situations and they end up striking out or hitting a meek grounder. For years I was against the DH. Now I wish the NL would adopt it. I am oh so tired of seeing pitchers kill rally’s. Instead of two different styles of play, lets even the playing field once and for all. Yeah, Rich Hill had an RBI single the other night, but that does not take away all the other times when he and other pitchers just flailed away. Any way, I love the game despite all it’s flaws and the style of play. More HR’s this year than ever before. What do you want to bet, they redo the ball again.