One day after the Dodgers traded for now-ex-Texas Rangers ace, Yu Darvish, Kenta Maeda made a statement to anyone listening that he will not go down quietly into the Atlanta night. That turned out great for the Dodgers, and not so much for the Atlanta Braves, as Maeda delivered what may be his best pitching performance of 2017.
Maeda threw a dominating seven scoreless innings. He was hitless through four, and ended his night with giving up only two hits, one walk, and striking out seven. He didn;t need an expanded strike zone to help, as his pitch command was magnificent tonight.
The Dodgers lost the shutout when the skipper pulled Maeda after seven and inserted Josh Ravin, who immediately set fire to everything Maeda had built. He walked a batter and then gave up a two run home run to suddenly give the Braves a look at the game. Roberts practically ran out to the mound to yank Ravin off, and he brought in the newest addition to the bullpen, ex-Pirate, Tony Watson. The southpaw gave up a hit, but settled things down and closed out the eighth inning without anyone scoring.
The Dodgers’ steamroller offense, led by Yasiel Puig, was its usual self and scored just enough runs to ensure the win. Puig doubled in the third inning, and was knocked in to score the first run of the game by Chris Taylor‘s double.
In the next inning, Cody Bellinger slammed his 29th homer of the year.
Without skipping a beat, the Dodgers scored again for the third consecutive inning. This one took a bit of work. Yasiel once agin got things started with a simple single. He advanced to second on a sac bunt, and then the real fun started. Puig stole third base, and then came home with his second run of the night on a bad throw which went into left field.
That was all the boys scored, but it was enough, as Watson shut the Braves down in the eighth, and Kenley Jansen did some steamrolling of his own in the ninth to strike out the side and nail down the win.
Hyun-Jin Ryu served notice to the Dodgers that he’s still got gas in his tank in his last outing, and now Kenta Maeda has done the same. The Dodgers now look like a team with six legitimate starting pitchers, and that is a wonderful problem to have.
Dodgers Win 3-2!
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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And they are saving our bullpen. The dog days of summer are here and this one was a snoozer. No energy from the Braves or their crowd even in a one run situation. The last 3 at bats against Kenley seemed like they just wanted to go home. Felt like a Mattingly game (sorry could not resist).
YF
I agree that game didn’t do much for anyone, it just kind of dragged along.
It didn’t look like the same Brave’s team we just recently played.
Maybe the Braves are missing Kemp, because they have not been winning, since they beat us in those first two games, the last time we played them.
And your right about Mattingly.
I don’t even think Joc was a wake on first base, because he got easily pitcked off.
Where is everybody?
I think I know. Like the fans of the teams who have to play the Dodgers, they’re all asleep. May not wake up until October.
I think I had the 92 wins wrong. But I had the West title right. Can’t believe I’m saying that on August 2nd. Hey, it’s my brother’s birthday. Thanks for the reminder. I’ll give him a call later.
Not much excitement about wins hey? Especially against what we used to call second division clubs. There’s only maybe 2 NL clubs that match up against the Dodgers.
You know what I’m really surprised about? Can’t tell you. Don’t want to jinx them.
What Badger’s surprised about?
HEre’s what I’m surprised about:
PItching staying healthy
Taylor’s performance (although I think he’s regressing of late)
Puig’s performance?
Baez’s consistency?
The manipulation of the 10 day DL?
The prospects both in the majors and throughout the system.
Bluto
How is Taylor regressing?
He was the one of the best hitters in all of baseball in July, and this is only August second.
Yes, I may have been presumptuous with that, but not by much.
We’ll get to that.
His BABIP is literally unsustainable (in any baseball context,) the only historical precedent for hitting like he has is Ruth’s ridiculous 1923 season.
Before his 0-6 recent couple of games, he was HIGHER than Ruth.
The numbers now:
Player (Year) PAs/BABIP
Babe Ruth (1923) 699/0.393/1.309/231/0.423
Chris Taylor (2017) 341/0.312/0.908/141/0.418
To put into perspective, the league-average BABIP has been right around .300 every year since BEFORE Ruth came into the league, so this comparison actually holds up through all BB eras. Every few years or so a player rides a blazing first half to an incredible BABIP. Andrew McCutchen, Chris Johnson, Austin Jackson, David Wright, and Jose Hernandez have all made it past the halfway mark with BABIPs approaching or surpassing Ruth’s record. EACH HAS COOLED in the second half.
I’d love to be wrong, but look at this:
http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=y&type=8&season=2017&month=0&season1=2017&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&sort=12,d
I don’t know,… Badger sent Timmons a birthday present???? That would really surprise me.
Well, you brought it up.
Maeda. Hill. Ryu. McCarthy. If all of them make quality starts in September I’ll be amazed. McBrittle. Blister Boy. Kenta My-elbow. Ryuined. Kazaster. This starting staff gives me the shakes and has for 2 years.
Everyone is surprised about Taylor. Everyone is surprised by both Wood and Bellinger. And I’m one of the few who sung Baez’ praises. His arm has always been electric. I’m not st all surprised by his success. Same with Puig.
What’s that about Timmons? Why do people keep bringing that creep’s name up in here?
Badger
Baez has never been good in the post season, lets see what he can do, in the post season.
I guess I could say the same thing about Puig too.
But he has done better, but if he wasn’t that good defensively, his offensive numbers, wouldn’t be that great, for a rightfielder.
But at least Puig is finally trying, to get better this year.
Last 28 days – .885 OPS.
I don’t know many that have questioned Baez’s ability. It’s whether or not he can do it in the post season and that he makes a snail seem fast when he’s on the mound.
Badger
Thanks it is one of my good friends birthday today too, and I am going to call her too!
9 game winning streak, again. Joe Davis says it is the 3rd 9+ win streak this season, the rest of base combined has 4 such streaks.
Now, everyone just stay healthy and keep this monsta rolling thru the WS.
After watching Ravin last night, I have a funny feeling who might not be on the 25 man roster much longer. Ravin, Fields, Avilan all need to be sent down immediately.Stripling could be added to that list, but he may be the best baserunner of that group, lol. In fact when some of the guys on the DL come back, all four probably go down.
Whatever it takes…….. Fresh, rested arms for October.
Everyone is right, it is a lot more fun to play and beat the Giants!
As Jonah posted last stream, Eibner to have Tommy John, so he is done for the year. His biggest contribution to the big club? He hit the longest homer of any Dodger so far this year. 468 feet. Nice to see Kenta so locked in. Stewart gets a start against Tehran. Should be interesting. I would not worry to much about Taylor, he went into a small slump just before July and then made adjustments and had a monster month. I play Utley over Forsythe right now. Logan is totally lost up there, and when Chase is not in the lineup, I put Taylor at 2nd. Nice debut by Watson, D-Backs lose, Rocks win, 15 and 14.5, who woulda thunk.
Michael
July just ended and we played are first game in August yesterday, and Taylor’s numbers for July are 394/412/660/1072.
How can anyone say Taylor is regressing?
I’ll say it – Taylor won’t hit .394 in August.
Badger
I agree with that, but his stats in July, are very good.
And in the first game of August, Taylor, hit in the first run yesterday.
He said it because Taylor lost a few points on his batting average the last couple of games and he went 0-6 in that last game against the Giants.
Michael
Since when does Bluto look at batting averages?
He doesn’t think a batting average means anything.
But I didn’t even realize that about Taylor, but that is more that we or someone, is probably expecting to much from Taylor, because he had been so good in July.
I understand that totally, but he probably watched him struggle in that SF game. I wrote it off as just a bad day. Turner has slumped the last week or so as well, but according to Joe Davis it is probably a by product of his chest infection.
Yes, I may have been presumptuous with that, but not by much.
We’ll get to that.
His BABIP is literally unsustainable (in any baseball context,) the only historical precedent for hitting like he has is Ruth’s ridiculous 1923 season.
Before his 0-6 recent couple of games, he was HIGHER than Ruth.
The numbers now:
Player (Year) PAs/BABIP
Babe Ruth (1923) 699/0.393/1.309/231/0.423
Chris Taylor (2017) 341/0.312/0.908/141/0.418
To put into perspective, the league-average BABIP has been right around .300 every year since BEFORE Ruth came into the league, so this comparison actually holds up through all BB eras. Every few years or so a player rides a blazing first half to an incredible BABIP. Andrew McCutchen, Chris Johnson, Austin Jackson, David Wright, and Jose Hernandez have all made it past the halfway mark with BABIPs approaching or surpassing Ruth’s record. EACH HAS COOLED in the second half.
I’d love to be wrong, but look at this:
http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=y&type=8&season=2017&month=0&season1=2017&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&sort=12,d
It’s more fun when they have a slump in August and then get red hot during the postseason. It forces teams like the Cardinals to want to break your ribs, but this year we can handle that and the whole team might even get hotter if something like that happens again.
I imagine several of the Dodger players are on the Waiver Wire already but we won’t know of it until someone leaks the information. The Waiver Wire is MLB Top Secret. Here are some guesses on my part:
Joc (Verdugo awaits)
Forsythe (FOUR replacements on hand!!!)
McCarthy
Kazmir (not really, since he’s on the DL)
Ryu (maybe)
Maeda (maybe, but I doubt it. He’s so cheap)
Some relief pitchers
Jonah
What is funny right now, both Maeda and Ryu, have better eras then McCarthy does.
McCarthy has sure regressed since the season began.
Most teams put almost all of their players on waivers in August just to see the interest. Those waivers are revocable, which means you can pull the player back. If a player is claimed, the team has 3 options, pull the player back, let the claiming team have him, or if he is not claimed, let him clear waivers. He can be traded to anyone if he clears, if he is claimed and pulled back, the claiming team and the organization have 72 hours to work out a trade. Players are sometimes claimed to block a rival from getting them. This can backfire as it did on the Yankees when they claimed Canseco to keep him from going to the Red Sox. They got stuck with his contract. Was a big story when the Dodgers put Hanley on waivers. He was not claimed, but that is just a standard thing all teams do. Sometimes a gem slips through. Remember the trade? All those players went through waivers. That was an August trade.
Just in case some of you don’t understand how the Waiver Wire works, here’s a short synopsis:
Listing a player on the Waiver Wire can mean you’re willing to give him up without compensation, just so someone else pays his salary.
It can also mean you won’t give him up for free but you’ll talk trade on him or you’ll even pay part of his salary to get rid of him.
If a player clears waivers, for the rest of the season you can trade him without going through waivers again.
For the players I listed, I think the Dodgers would require a trade for Joc; They’d let Forsythe go without compensation. Ryu and Maeda would also require compensation. In the case of KazMir and McCarthy, I think the Dodgers would even be willing to pay a large portion of their salary just to get rid of them. Maybe Agon as well….
Didn’t mean to step on your toes there, Michael…
No problem, you gave a synopsis, I gave a description of what it means. And the salary is exactly why McBrittle and Kazsaster are going no where. A-Gone will be put on waivers, but no one is picking up that contract either.
There are two things to waivers, as we know.
One is the procedure to put a player onto the wire. Most teams do this with all their players.
The other is to rescind waivers when another team “claims” a certain player.
Obviously the Dodgers would love someone to claim Kazmir, but no one will. There’s zero point zero chance the Dodgers wouldn’t rescind Waivers on Pederson.
Are you joking???!??!?!
Are you? The ONLY reason a team puts a player on waivers is if they are willing to move him. As I wrote above, I think they would require a trade back for Pederson before they would let him go. Or didn’t you read that part? If they would not trade a player under any circumstances, they will not put him on waivers.
Players I think the Dodgers DID NOT PUT ON WAIVERS:
Kershaw-Wood Darvish-Kenley-Bellinger-Turner- Seager-Taylor-Verdugo-Buehler-Alvarez
Others I am not sure about…
You said: The other is to rescind waivers when another team “claims” a certain player.
That is ONLY if they wouldn’t let that player go just to get rid of his salary. Re Kazmir, McCarthy etc…
Yes, I was trying to say they won’t be looking for a trade partner for Pederson, nor (for your example) do I think they’d let Forsythe go to a claiming team.
That said, two things:
1. I’m wrong a lot.
2. There’s no reason not to put every player on waivers.
1. Aren’t we all?
2. Why not avoid the clutter? There really are some players they would not trade.
3. Is Mike Trout on waivers?
Didn’t think of it as clutter. I’d hope it’s a paperless easy process.
https://twitter.com/pgammo/status/892790342092804097
Let’s see Verdugo in CF now. If he is all that, I want him ready for the playoffs. Joc has improved since having the shit knocked out of him by Puig, but he is still lacking and inconsistent in most clutch situations. Waiting until Sept to take a look at Verdugo is a mistake. Give him plenty of at bats at this level so he can make any adjustments necessary to be a big time producer in October.
They say Verdugo can’t play centerfielder in the majors.
Verdugo is not fast, and right now, he isn’t hitting with any power.
If Verdugo doesn’t hit for power, I just don’t see a team wanting a player that hits for an average, with no speed.
Especially when they have other outfielders, that have both speed and can hit for power.
Hit for average, no power, no speed…Hmmmm, sounds like Tony Gwynn….
Let’s judge him when we see him. Remember all the different stories we heard about Mr. Tree Trunks. FAZ probably didn’t make him untouchable because he thought he wouldn’t play well up here…. If he did, then that is a big mistake. I expect Joc is going to get a DL break any day now and Verdugo will arrive. Better yet, Forsythe to the DL with a hammy, Taylor to second base, Verdugo to left field, a preview of next year’s lineup…
Jonah
Your right Gwynn was a pure hitter like you mentioned, but baseball people right now, don’t value a player that hits for only a high average, but has no power.
But if Verdugo hit enough doubles and extra base hits, that might be different.
And you know I feel differently about an average.
Gwynn was a corner outfielder, and that was great production from a guy like that. I think the most homers he ever hit was 19. But he, like Ichiro, could unload when he wanted to.
That’s right. Find out now if he can fly. That can affect the direction we go this winter.
I have quit following Timmons’ blog. He conducts himself very well there and is nothing like he was over here. I guess we know why… So it’s not him, it’s the doped up followers he has there. (Some of them come over here too.) It is like some of them are high all the time, hearing things I can’t hear, reaching conclusions that leave me agape. I am not going back, it might be catching…..
I visit there everyday but I think they are building too much bad karma over there. Too much gloating about the Dodgers not healthy for the balance of the universe, and I don’t think Uncle Scully or the Big Dodger in the Sky would approve.
Mega Millions Lottery is up to $323 MM. Buy your tickets before Friday night… How much of that would you actually get? Disregarding your state and local tax situation, if you took cash settlement and paid all your federal Income Tax on it, you should get about 39% of that, $126MM. Enough to buy season tickets to the Dodgers for you, your chauffeur, and your butler for all the season and playoff games, plus all the $7 Dodger Dogs and $12 beer. (No beer for the chauffeur) And get those tickets close to where Magic sits….
At my age, I take the cash option. Allows me to do a lot for family, and a few perks for me. Last note on waivers. 2 kinds, revocable and non revocable. Darvish activated, Ravin sent down, so I am 2 for 2 on the send downs.
Michael, when I go to bed, I never know what strange thoughts come to mind… Last night I thought of the three best WW2 airplane movies I saw. They were:
Command Decision, with Clark Gable et al
12 O’Clock High, with Gregory Peck et al
Fighter Squadron, with Edmund O’Brien et al
Can you suggest any others?
Red Tails is excellent, A Guy Called Joe is pretty good, has Spencer Tracy in it. Of the WWII movies Wayne made, Flying Tigers is better than Flying Leathernecks. Battle of Britain is good. One that is underrated is The War Lover with Steve McQueen.
A couple more. Memphis Belle, 30 Seconds Over Tokyo, 633 Squadron and the Dam Busters. When I was a kid, I loved Bombardiers. Old Randolph Scott movie.
I’ve seen and enjoyed all of them except Red Tails. Was it anything like The Muskogee Airmen?
Same story, only set in Italy. Only actor from the original is Cuba Gooding. Shows their life in camp and when they graduate from support missions to guarding the bombers. They get P-51 Mustangs instead of the old P-40 War Horse.
As far as we know, only one major league pitcher was ever born without a UCL. R A Dickey. So no Tommy John Surgery for him, ever. And that isn’t even the most unusual thing about him. Excellent short story: http://www.npr.org/2012/07/09/156501334/for-r-a-dickey-knuckleballs-are-personal
https://twitter.com/jcrasnick/status/892852324455993344
Verlander on waivers. Claim him if you don’t mind paying ~$66MM for his services this year and the next two. I wouldn’t claim him even if they threw in
Gotcha….neither would I…….
Rose in the news again and not the good kind. Reds decide not to honor him after latest revelation. Loved the guy as a player. But man, talk about sabotaging your own life. He is the poster boy for that. Too bad, he was a great player.
Hell of a #2 starter the Dodgers have.
https://dodgers.mlblogs.com/rich-hill-is-julys-nl-pitcher-of-the-month-47297a7c81cd
Or is he the #4 starter?
My response about Taylor regressing is in moderation, but it can be inferred by looking at some of his metrics (esp BABIP)
Bluto
Thanks I haven’t looked that closely at that, because he has been hitting so well.
Guys, NPUT