The Dodgers received a huge scare in the sixth inning of Wednesday’s 6-2 loss to the Phillies. It was more than just the scare of falling back into second place in the NL West race. During that frame Philadelphia right hander Elvis Araujo struck Corey Seager on the right wrist with a 91 MPH heater. Seager slumped over on the ground in visible pain. He grimaced as he walked to first base, flexing his wrist on the way there.
Seager was visited by the trainer and then took his base. He stayed in for the rest of the game. Manager Dave Roberts sprinted out of the dugout immediately as young Corey cradled his wrist. Manager Dave Roberts’ concern is understandable.
After all Corey Seager is not only having an incredible rookie of the year campaign, he’s having arguably a historically great season for the Dodgers. He’s almost a shoe in for rookie of the year and could be a candidate for NL MVP as well. The Dodgers can’t lose Seager and if they did they would be royally screwed.
“Corey’s fine, it’s just a little bruise,” manager Dave Roberts said.
The club had Seager take some x-rays as a precaution which all came out negative. Thank god. With an MLB record 26 players on the disabled list the Dodgers can ill-afford another setback. Especially if it’s Corey Seager. The Dodgers believe that the injury is minor and just a bruise. Seager stated after the game that he hopes to play on Friday against the Pirates.
Fortunately the Dodgers have a scheduled off day on Thursday which allows Seager to rest the bruised wrist. The 22-year old shortstop is slashing .303/.357/.531 with an .888 OPS and 21 home runs with 55 runs driven in while receiving 479 plate appearances. Seager (133 for 439) has 31 doubles and has played in 109 games. Seager recently broke the all-time LA Dodger record for most doubles in a season by a rookie.
That’s the good news. Bad news is still no Blister Hill to be seen. Reddick still not hitting. Jansen very pedestrian when he is not in a save situation. Other than that life is peachy! Off day, so the BP gets a one day break. Stripling on the hill against the Bucco’s tomorrow. Hope the kid goes 7 and shows em who is the boss. I will say this about Grandal. Although he has been on fire since June 30th, he is still not hitting in the clutch. He could have buried Hellickson in the 1st inning, but he struck out. He has hit a lot of homers and drove in runs, but from what I have noticed, they usually come when the team is already ahead.
I seem to recall he hit a 3 run HR against the Nationals to turn a 2-0 deficit into a 3 -2 win.
Once…….I remember that shot. I also remember that most of his homers add to a lead. Rarely does he do it in the clutch.
I remember that, so he has done it once…most of his shots add to a lead, they do not win games or get them a lead.
Yes I want them to take this series against the Pirates.
We haven’t took a series against the Pirates, in the last few years.
I hope our guys get another crack, at that Pirates rookie pitcher, who pitched against us in Pittsburg.
Well they said that McCarthy throw his fastball better, in his bullpen session, but they are waiting for McCarthy to throw another bullpen session today, before deciding if he will pitch Saturday I believe.
I don’t understand what is taking Hill’s blister to heal, but the team didn’t even try to guess, when Hill will be able to pitch again.
Hill has been out almost as long as Kershaw, and like I said on the previous blog, Hill hasn’t pitched in 25 days.
Who knows how he is going to pitch, once he is finally able to pitch.
I hope Roberts finally puts Reddick farther down in the order.
He doesn’t belong in the meat of the order.
And like Mark said, Reddick shouldn’t play when a leftie pitcher, is pitching.
Why can’t some of these major league leftie hitters, hit a leftie pitcher?
Back in the old days, a manager tried to put his three best hitters in the 3,4 and 5 spots. I’d bat Howie #2, then Seager, Turner, AGon and Grandal as long as he stays hot. It seems like they have trouble scoring runs when Turner is not in the lineup. If you’re going to rest him, why not do it against a lefty?
Snider
Your order, is the order that I would use.
And I would bat Utley first, against righties in that order.
Actually Howie hit really well last year, when he was hitting second.
And he hit in quite a few runs, batting second.
Roberts had Utley, Cory, Agone, and Turner, and that line up, did really well.
This line up would be ok with me too, with Howie hitting fifth.
I just think it is best for the team, to bat Reddick down lower in the line up.
That would probably put less pressure on Reddick too.
And you know I agree that Roberts should rest Turner against lefties, if Turner, needs to get some rest.
In baseball today, they want there best hitter, to get the most at bats , and they also want them to drive in runs.
And that is probably why they bat there best hitter second.
I didn’t understand why Roberts wanted Reddick to get most of the at bats, in yesterday’s game.
He had two hits, but no extra base hits at all.
It isn’t like Reddick, hasn’t played in a while, so why is Roberts having to get Reddick going anyways.
I was looking at Toles stats, and he had 12 hits, and 3 doubles, when he was up with the team.
In only four less at bats, Reddick only has four singles.
If Reddick doesn’t get going, I wouid rather have Toles up with the team, but I know that isn’t going to happen.
Go ahead, blame it on Roberts, but some people are convinced that FAZ makes out the lineup. I am.
It sure was a lot of fun being in first place 🙂
It was like your typical weekend….blink twice and its gone.
Oh well hopefully the kid recovers quickly.
I am not blaming Roberts, I just think it is better to have Reddick down in the line up.
I am sure Roberts has his reasons.
I can’t believe that Reddick was hitting third in the A’s order.
Wondering
Did you finally see Puig’s snap shots?
Yes. And I don’t know why everyone is so excited about them. They are just typical of how young people act these days. One would hope that Puig had outgrown that stuff but you had to remember he didn’t have the typical teen years American kids had, he’s just catching up. What he needs is a good woman but a good woman wouldn’t have anything to do with him the way he is now… Unfortunately, there’s no shortage of the other kind, so he won’t hurt for company. We can only hope he grows up soon.
Wondering
The Dodgers were more upset that Puig posted there so called party.
And they were also upset, that they were celebrating after losing the game too.
They just reminded me of a bunch of hooligans.
Lighten up there MJ. Weren’t you ever a kid? They were blowing off steam. Maybe not the way we think they should, but they are still for the most part very young men. I am sure I did some stupid crap when I was their age. Hooligans? Please, those kind of people vandalize and steal.
It’s hard not to notice that our recent acquisitions are the shits. One hasn’t played at all. And the reason we got them for what we gave up is that they were hot. Oops. I’m sounding negative. Coupled with Iwakuma at Seattle with 11 wins, you can say what you want about the suits, but they are not even good Guessers with $. Too many games are going down to the last 3 innings, and the odds diminish each time we win one of those. Yesterday was our turn. Don’t count on the Orioles to beat the giants this weekend. The A’s handled them most recently. The giants played some nasty games against the Marlins and won 2 of them. They have a habit of doing that. Figure the 9 games against them to be a virtual split, so we must win every time they lose to someone else. That starts tomorrow, I hope.
Bobbie 17
All I can say is the Giants better score there runs early.
The Orioles have two good set up man, and a good closer.
It is going to be hard for the Giants, to score runs late in the games.
I don’t think there is anyone here, that under estimates the Giants.
They were talking about Iwakuna on the MLB Channel the other day, and they named off a bunch of pitchers, that have got hurt, and others who have filled in, in our starting pitching rotation, and Iwakuma had five more wins this year, then all of the other Dodger pitchers combined, that they named.
Like I have already said, just because we are in the position we are in, that doesn’t mean that what the front office has done, is something to blueprint and use down the line.
They are lucky that Roberts has kept this team stable, and did his best with the bullpen.
And they are lucky that our players, have been hitting so well, that they have been able to cover up, most of the bad pitching performances, that could have cost us some wins.
And the team has done this, since Kershaw went down.
And about this trade, some here, said Cotten is no big loss, and then I read he pitched eight perfect innings.
Then I think back to who was involved in this trade transaction, and it was Billy Beane, his pupil, and Friedman.
Who do you think got the best of this trade?
If trades can be evaluated withing 10 days then Friedman got swindled, but we all know it doesn’t work that way.
If the trade worked, he gave up too much and if it didn’t he’s an idiot!
Fans have it all figured out. It’s so easy.
Since you have it all figured out, what should they have done?
How long should we wait, with only a little over a month do go?
We should not have to wait. Trades at the end of July are made to improve your chances of winning. Outside of Chavez’s decent performances, and a couple by Fields, they have gotten nothing from the big deal with the A’s
Not traded for Hill, that is obvious. How many starts are they going to get out of this guy? How effective will he be after more than a month on the sidelines? Reddick is an everyday player, easier to evaluate. So far he is flunking. Chavez has been pretty good, and so has Fields. But the so called bit trade looks pretty pedestrian right now….show me results on the field and I will either like or dislike the trade. Right now, it sucks….I think they had better options, they just went the other way.
There is no way to evaluate the trade now. It has to be evaluated:
1 – at the season’s end. Did the trade make a difference to the outcome of the season? Last year’s trades for Johnson, Latos and Wood were a flop in this regard.
2 – years later. You never know what the prospects that the Dodgers traded away are going to do. Detroit famously traded down the stretch for Doyle Alexander to try to put them over the top. The guy they traded to Atlanta to get Alexander? John Smoltz.
In any event, if you think that you have a chance to go for it you have to give up prospects. The Dodgers are overloaded with right handed pitchers in the minors so they traded from their excess.
My concern? If Kershaw isn’t coming back this year they aren’t going anywhere anyway so they shouldn’t have made the trade. If he is coming back I’m not sure that they guys that they got are real difference makers. It is either too much or too little.
We will have to play the season out to find out.
I think Iwakuma has 13 wins.
I think you are right, but he flunked his Dodger physical.
Evaluate a trade after 10 days? Damn straight if it is a deadline deal that is supposed to improve your offense, and your starting staff and the pitcher you got has not thrown and inning and your starting RF can’t buy a hit. Maybe they contribute, and maybe they do not. But right now it looks like a fleece job for 2 rentals.
It’s not like anything was subtracted from the 2016 Dodgers so anything the 2 do is a plus.
Which at this point is BUPKIS.
I agree with you guys about since it’s a July 31 deadline deal (technically Aug1), we can judge deals faster.
However, I will wait until October before I can objectively judge. So far, yes, we haven’t gotten but 3 hits and 2 blisters from our newbies, but let’s see. Let Reddick struggle now while other guys are hot. We may need him to carry us later this month or sometime in Sept, so he can wake up then. Hill may as well rest the blister. It’d be even stupider to throw him out there if he’d reinjure his blister. If he can give us 5 good starts in Sept, and get us into Oct, he’s worth the wait. If he can’t, well then I’ll bitch just as much as I can come October if we’re sitting home .
Bobby
I hope that happens, but I still think Reddick doesn’t belong at the top of the order.
And I am not basing that on what he has done for the Dodgers.
I just don’t think he is a better hitter, then Agone, Turner, Cory, and maybe Howie.
And I hope Reddick can hit and help the team.
I also wonder why it is taking so long for a blister to heal.
Hill has been out for 25 days.
And I think when people hear about Cotten throwing eight perfect innings, that has made everyone more impatient.
And now the Dodgers are not even guessing when Hill will pitch, is probably another reason, people are wondering what is going on.
And of course no one can judge this trade now.
And even you Bobby, thought we would be better off, with who we already had.
Bobby
Sorry that game that you went to, wasn’t a Dodger win.
I actually didn’t go, as some work stuff came up.
Thanks god!
I’m glad to hear that Bobby.
Because I was thinking about you, after the game turned out to be a dud.
Well, not too much to talk about since there is no game but just for the heck of it, whom would you keep and whom would you wave goodbye to from our FA at the end of the year:
Ellis
Utley
Turner
Reddick
Anderson
Hill
Blanton
Chavez
Jansen
Howell
Did I miss anyone? I didn’t include Kazmir as he has a player option for the next two years.
I’d like to keep Turner, Blanton and perhaps Reddick if the price is right and who knows what that may be?
Complete list of free agents:
Reddick
Turner
Utley
Ellis
Jansen
Chavez
Howell
Dayton
Fields
Anderson
Culberson
Blanton
Hill
Norris
Coleman
I would try to keep:
Jansen
Turner
Ellis?
Blanton
Reddick will be superflous if Ethier returns. Ellis is still Kershaw’s guy. I still like Jansen notwithstanding Mark’s comments to the contrary. Turner is likely the best 3B on the market. Blanton has pitched much better than expected – I have to eat crow on that one.
I think Turner is the most important player, that we should bring back, and sign.
Turner is important for what he brings to the team, as a teammate, as well as his good clutch hitting.
And Turner is playing for the team he wants to play for.
This is Turners home.
And because all of that, and the Dodgers giving Turner a chance, to be an everyday player.
I think Turner will sign a team friendly deal to stay in LA.
Thanks Rick for making the list complete. Ethier I don’t think will return this year and at the end of 2017 is a FA. Reddick on the other hand could be extended(based on what he does for us this year) and is much younger than Andre. Neither one can hit LHP but Reddick is almost 5 years younger.
We do have Verdugo, Diaz, Heredia, Scavuzzo, Mieses, Toles and Hansen and Sandavol as OF waiting in the pipeline but who really knows what their ETA really is.
Puig I think is gone. So we also have to remember Joc and Thompson for next year.
Not sure if Ethier makes Reddick superfluous. Remember everyone thought having Howie AND Utley was a waste. And both have played great. In the case of Utley basically all season.
Just my humble opinion.
You’re right. I concur. Both players have been very good and though I don’t really know too much about Howie, I know he’s a .280-.290 hitter and also plays a decent LF. Utley has stated he wants to play full time next year with a team. Unfortunately, that team won’t be us. He is a true professional in every sense of the word. Every time I see him in the dugout he’s watching the game trying to pick up something he can use vs the other team. I wish Puig had 1/3 of Utley’s dedication.
The way that Chase hits against the Mets, it is to bad that Mattingly didn’t play him against the Mets last year, in the post season.
I wish every Dodger player, had Utleys knowledge and drive for the game.
I had hoped for a draft pick out of the Kendrick QO and was anticipating a platoon of Utley and Kike’ at second.
While I thought Kendrick was a good sign, I was hoping to go with the future and Kike’.
It worked out for the better.
Dodger rick
What did you think about Cotten throwing that good game?
I would keep Blanton too.
And I will be eating Crow with you to Rick.
Puig has to be gone if they stopped selling all of his merchandise.
Is everyone watching that Cubbies Cardinals game tonight?
We need the Cubs to beat those dirty birds.
My opinion on the Free Agents:
Reddick – I think the Dodgers will offer him a 4 year/$45-$50 million deal – someone will offer more
Turner – I think he gets 4 years/$60 mil. He wants to be in LA, unless someone offers him a really crazy deal, which is possible.
Utley – Gone unless he wants a real team-friendly deal
Ellis – He will be given a significant coaching position
Jansen – They will give him the QO. Someone else will offer more – we get a pick
Chavez – Maybe on a 1 year deal
Howell – Gone
Dayton – Back
Fields – Back
Anderson – Believe it or not, he could get a QO
Culberson – Gone
Blanton – Back
Hill – Gone
Norris – Gone
Coleman – Maybe
Anderson; I don’t think you can use QOs twice on the same player, it’s a one time thing.
Reddick; Why in the world would we want him back? Ethier will be here and he is very similar. Toles is waiting in the wings, he’s cheaper and from what little I’ve seen of both, Toles is preferable.
Reddick is a better defensive player, then Ethier, but Ethier is a better offensive player.
I just hope Reddick starts hitting.
Wondering
I hope you are right about that.
Because Anderson will accept the offer again, why wouldn’t he?
If you could use it more than once per player, you could prevent him from ever being a free agent, a violation of his rights. Once per player, that’s it.
If he turned the QO down he would be a free agent and isn’t the draft thing being negotiated?
Hopefully, I can post this here. When I tried to post stuff from this website at another I was not treated well:
Dodger’s Digest has a great article on Corey Seager:
http://dodgersdigest.com/2016/08/11/dodgers-corey-seager-lock-for-rookie-of-the-year-and-bonafide-mvp-candidate/
Mike Petriello says this:
1. He’s the best shortstop in baseball.
2. He’s having the best season for a Dodger shortstop ever.
3. He might be the best rookie shortstop ever.
WOW!
I love Seager, but what about Nomar?
.306, 44 2B, 11 3B, 30 HR, 122 R, 99 RBI, .875 OPS
I don’t know that Cory is the MVP on the team.
I think Turner has got the most clutch hits, then anyone on the team.
If Turner is not in this line up, the offense is not the same.
And this is not a knock on Cory.
And I know Turner started slow, but that was because
he was coming back, from an injury.
Cory is that hall of fame player, and that is why the Dodgers must keep him
on the team.
They haven’t been able to retire a number, for a long time, because of bad in sight, by the owner, or the GM.
Cory has the same temperment that Trout has.
Trout doesn’t let an umpire call, get him off his game, and Cory doesn’t either.
That is why Trout has been consistent every year he has played.
Cory is going to be the same kind of player.
The same temperment that helps Trout be consistent, is the reason Harper isn’t consistent.
Harper is more of an emotional player.
He does let an umpire call, get him off his game.
I think it is way premature to call Seager a hall of famer, same for Trout. They are good young players who may or may not have long careers and post unreal numbers. Corey is by far the best rookie player that have had since, dare I say it, Yasiel Puig in 2013. How many thought he would be the next Roberto Clemente. As far as retiring numbers goes, well my thought has always been and always will be, you spend most of your career as a Dodger and go in the hall of fame, your number gets retired. The only exception has been Jr Gilliam, and I agree with that. Gilliam did not have HOF numbers, but he was a well respected member of the team for almost 30 years, and he died during the season. The team dedicated that years world series to Jr. I doubt they will retire Piazza’s 31 since he went into the hall as a Met. Nolan Ryan had his number retired by numerous teams. Dodger HOFer’s with out retired numbers, Dazzy Vance and Zack Wheat is because they wore no numbers back in the day.
Michael
Barring any terrible injury, both Cory and Trout have that specialness about themselves, that hall of fame players have.
And that is the reason I hope they keep Cory on the Dodgers, for years to come.
And I also believe that only a hall of fame player, that has been a Dodger, most of the time in there career, is the only numbers the Dodgers should retire.
I think they are one of only a few teams, that only retire players numbers, that have made it to the hall of fame.
The truth is that people the Dodgers have had in management, and even an owner, have let to many good players, go to other teams, that came up in the Dodgers system.
And some of these players, have went on to have hall of fame careers.
I hope that doesn’t haven’t with Cory, because they are a once in a generation type of player.
They all seem to be able to so the game down, and make it look easy.
Mark
That is crazy to be treatened by another site.
Oh, I didn’t feel threatened….
Just amazed!
Mark
I meant they were threatened by another Dodger blog.
I wrote this: “You cannot believe the vitriol LASHED TOWARDS Grandal at another board.”
That’s twice in less than 24 hours. Can you PLEASE stop doing this? I nor many (most) of our regulars even care about what is posted “at another board.”
It’s his board, but with that type of Sanctimonious BS, I’ll never post there again. I wonder if he censure someone who tells him I said this?
When he said “most of or regulars”, was he referring to the three people who read it? 😉
It’s funny, really. I just don’t tolerate fools very well.
That is part of the reason I thought you would leave that site.
But that is why that site is not as good or as popular, as this site is.
Censorship is un American really.
giants aren’t facing Orioles’ best this weekend. We get the Pirates best. Soon the giants’ schedule eases. A big weekend.
Bobbie 17
Even the Orioles best starting pitcher, is not as good as most number one pitchers.
There starting pitching isn’t there strength.
The Orioles pen has the strongest pitching on the team.
I think the Orioles got there offense going in there last game against the A’s, so I was glad to see that.
Let’s just hope the Giants are not able to score early.
In respect to signing Reddick for the future. I think that there is a problem in signing a good player because it blocks signing a very good player.
if faz makes out the line up …and if i was roberts i would say take this job and shove it he made enough money ..he dont need this
It’s ego, not money. But I don’t see much ego satisfaction if you know you’re a ventriloquist’s dummy.
Regarding the Qualifying Offer debate above.
Here is what a Foxsports article said a couple years ago: “Both Santana and Cruz lost out on bigger offseason fair-market deals at least partially because of the draft pick compensation attached to them. Unfortunately that could happen to them again.
One of the issues that needs to change with the system is that a player should not be subject to qualifying offers in consecutive seasons. Cruz and Santana were hurt by the system once already. Both were given qualifying offers on Monday. In the case of Cruz, I have to imagine most teams are willing to look past the draft pick, but that is unlikely the case with Santana, and that’s not really fair.
Santana is a tweener player — good, yes, but maybe not “surrender a draft pick” good in the eyes of many organizations. This is a cycle that could never end for him.”
So it sounds like Anderson could be given another QO if Dodgers wanted to. Following is the link to the complete article.
http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/just-a-bit-outside/story/mlb-qualifying-offer-system-ervin-santana-nelson-cruz-james-shields-110414
I could very well be wrong about that but I did learn something interesting in trying to document my opinion. That the Dodgers could have offered Zack Greinke a Qualifying Offer last year. I don’t think it would have deterred the Snakes from signing them but it would have taken away their first round draft pick away from them and given it to us. That is what they were trying to do with Anderson, they wanted the draft pick, not him. Obviously he was smarter than the Great FAZ, he took the offer, more than any other team would likely have signed him for. And the same holds true this year, he’d be all over a Qualifying Offer but I’d bet they learned their lesson last year, there will be no QO. Think about it:
1. FAZ failed to get the free draft pick for Zack.
2. FAZ tried to get a draft pick for Anderson whom they didn’t want, and failed.
3. FAZ tried to get a draft pick for Kendrick, whom they wouldn’t have minded accepting their QO, and failed. No draft pick, no one year contract. They finally had to resign him for 2 years because nobody else would.
As tacticians, FAZ ranks right up there with George Armstrong Custer!
Actually FAZ did give Greinke a QO.
See attached: http://www.truebluela.com/2015/11/6/9662686/mlb-qualifying-offers-dodgers-zack-greinke-howie-kendrick-brett-anderson-2016
Dodgers received a supplemental draft pick for Greinke signing in AZ.
Additionally, by offering Kendrick the QO FAZ was able to sign him to a $20M, two year deal. I believe the Kendrick contract is a very good deal for Dodgers. Giving Kendrick the QO lessened his value to other teams, who didn’t want to forfeit a 1st round draft pick. FAZ didn’t have to resign Kendrick, they wanted to resign Kendrick.
We have debated the Anderson QO for a long time. Anderson was coming off 180 IP at 3.64 ERA and 1.6 WAR. No big deal offering the QO to Anderson, which amounts to a one year contract at $16M. I agree with Mark, FAZ might even offer Anderson a QO again.
Really? Is this a joke?
Not you Box!
Good Information Box.
The QO isn’t exactly chump change. I still think the burden falls on the team and if they are willing to pay the player the QO. IMO, if he isn’t worth it than no reason to offer. Sure the compensatory pick is nice but in the end it should come down to money/value of the player.
Reddick–QO
Turner– $45M
Utley–good bye
Ellis–1 year
Jansen– $45M
Chavez–?
Howell–good bye
Dayton–$750,000
Fields=?
Anderson=De Leon
Culberson=Taylor
Blanton=Garcia
Hill–QO
Norris–QO
Coleman–?
No QO for Reddick, I doubt they even offer him a contract at all.
No QOs for Hill or Norris either, not even close. Is this one of your “just throw it out there to get a discussion started” things?
Can’t give Reddick, Hill or Norris a QO, they were traded during year.
Damn! I should have remembered that. The thought of giving any of those three a QO sickens me.
You are on it Box. They can re-sign any of them, but they get no picks.
A player traded in mid-season does not cost a QO, but if they coulod, I think Reddick would get a QO!
A lot of people don’t comprehend what FAZ was trying to do…
Your last sentence should be carved in stone!
There was only one way the trade for Hill made sense, and two
things had to be working: 1)they had solid info that the blisters had a
definite cause – and a definite quick cure, because blisters and pitchers
have a history filled with mystery. And (2), that info could not come from
the woeful Dodgers’ medical/training staff.
Absent that, it was likely to be another poor reading of the cost/benefit
ratio by the FO. That he’s already missed two dates was utterly predictable,
and another sign that these guys are too mistake-prone to build a championship
team.