Tonight is Jackie Robinson night, and what better way to pay tribute to the pioneer then to beat the crap out of the Giants. If everything goes according to plan, that’s what should happen tonight as the Giants come into Dodger Stadium for a three game series. All of Baseball will be honoring the great Jackie by wearing his number 42. There should be a special tribute like there normally is to a baseball hero who was not only a great ball player, but also a great man.
We’ll see the second round of the Bumgarner vs. Kershaw heavyweight fight. The Dodgers are coming off a nice little series win against the Snakes. Hopefully that should give them some confidence. The first round ended in a draw last Saturday as both hurlers were given no-decisions in a game the Dodgers eventually won in extra innings. Perhaps we’ll see another great pitching duel? Me thinks we will.
Dodgers Lineup vs. Giants
Hernandez LF
Puig RF
Gonzalez 1B
Turner 3B
Kendrick 2B
Thompson CF
Ellis C
Culberson SS
Kershaw P
Madison Bumgarner-1-0 vs. Clayton Kershaw-1-0
Game time – 7:10 PM –TV- SNLA
Nobody pitches better against the Giants than Clayton Kershaw. The three-time Cy Young winner is 16-7 with a 1.57 ERA in 31 starts. Kershaw has struck out 248 Giants hitters and thrown five shutouts against them. Unbelievable.
Kershaw vs. Giants
The Giants are only hitting .161 against Kershaw, but watch out for Bumgarner who has hit two home runs against Kershaw himself.
| Name | PA | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | SH | SF | IBB | HBP | GDP |
| Buster Posey | 82 | 79 | 18 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 2 | 16 | .228 | .256 | .329 | .585 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| Angel Pagan | 62 | 60 | 16 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 14 | .267 | .290 | .350 | .640 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Hunter Pence | 59 | 58 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 16 | .086 | .102 | .086 | .188 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Brandon Belt | 44 | 40 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 22 | .075 | .159 | .100 | .259 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Gregor Blanco | 28 | 25 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 9 | .200 | .286 | .200 | .486 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Brandon Crawford | 22 | 21 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | .048 | .091 | .048 | .139 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Matt Duffy | 22 | 22 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | .227 | .227 | .227 | .455 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Madison Bumgarner | 17 | 16 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 9 | .188 | .188 | .563 | .750 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kelby Tomlinson | 10 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .000 | .100 | .000 | .100 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Matt Cain | 9 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | .111 | .111 | .111 | .222 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Denard Span | 9 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ehire Adrianza | 8 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | .125 | .125 | .500 | .625 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Joe Panik | 8 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .250 | .250 | .250 | .500 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Johnny Cueto | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jake Peavy | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Trevor Brown | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 389 | 372 | 60 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 16 | 13 | 118 | .161 | .194 | .223 | .417 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 8 |
Bumgarner has pitched well against the Dodgers too. He’s 13-7 with a 2.41 ERA, and 8-4 with a 2.12 ERA at Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers have hit seven home runs against him, but are only hitting .209 (49 for 235) with a .601 OPS against.
Bumgarner vs. Dodgers
| Name | PA | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | SH | SF | IBB | HBP | GDP |
| Adrian Gonzalez | 47 | 45 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 9 | .156 | .191 | .200 | .391 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| A.J. Ellis | 39 | 36 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 9 | .194 | .256 | .306 | .562 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Justin Turner | 39 | 36 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 7 | .222 | .256 | .444 | .701 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Yasiel Puig | 30 | 26 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 | .269 | .367 | .500 | .867 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Clayton Kershaw | 18 | 17 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | .176 | .176 | .176 | .353 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Enrique Hernandez | 13 | 13 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | .538 | .538 | 1.000 | 1.538 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Chase Utley | 13 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .167 | .231 | .167 | .397 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Charlie Culberson | 12 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | .182 | .250 | .364 | .614 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Howie Kendrick | 12 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | .167 | .167 | .167 | .333 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Yasmani Grandal | 9 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | .125 | .111 | .250 | .361 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Joc Pederson | 9 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | .222 | .222 | .667 | .889 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Joe Blanton | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Corey Seager | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Trayce Thompson | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .333 | .333 | .667 | 1.000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Scott Kazmir | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Alex Wood | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 254 | 235 | 49 | 13 | 0 | 7 | 15 | 11 | 61 | .209 | .248 | .353 | .601 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Justin Turner is expected to be back in the lineup. Who knows what the lineup will look like tonight. The constant lineup shuffling seems to be back, much to my dismay. I’ll be at work, so Oscar will have to fill you guys in on all the rest of the pregame stuff. Just win Dodgers. Don’t disgrace Jackie by losing again to the Giants. Seriously Dodgers, I mean it.
Go Blue!
All the numbers seem to say CK over Bumstadt but it should be close. I’d love to see Puig hit another HR off Bumstadt and as he’s circling the bases, lets hear Bumstadt yell again ” You ain’t good enough”. Puid already has 2 HR’s vs him, lets make it #3 & #4.
Odd fact so far: Bumstadt has a higher OPS vs CK than any other Gnat.
Either Kike’ (3 games) or Utley (7 games) have led off. Not coincidentally, Kike’ has led off against LHSP. Utley is killing RHP and Kike’ is killing LHP so I have no problem with that setup. With Bumgarner, Kike’ will lead off and probably play LF. Howie will undoubtedly play 2B, with Utley expected to lead off and play 2B both Saturday and Sunday, and Howie going to LF.
Seager normally bats #2. But against LHSP he has dropped in the lineup. Since he is 0-9 against LHP, I think it prudent to move him down the lineup against LHSP. The only game he did not start was against Bumgarner, so he has been the regular SS, and just moved in the lineup depending on who was pitching. I would think he will start tonight, but he will bat #6 or #7, and back at #2 Saturday and Sunday.
Turner has started 8 games and has batted 3rd for all but 1 (when he batted 4th and AGon 3rd). Turner is probably going to get a game off each week/10 days. That was always the plan. AGon has started all 10 games and has batted 4th 8 out of the 10 games. He batted 3rd 2 out the 3 against the DBacks (Corbin and Ray).
Puig has usually batted 5th, moving up to #2 when Seager drops down against LHSP. The #6 – #8 has been in more flux, but that was also to be expected. LF was always going to be a platoon, and Grandal/Ellis is going to change most of the year. The one open question for me is Joc. He is consistently sitting against LHSP, but Trayce Thompson has done well when he has played, so I do not know how anyone can complain with Thompson getting ABs. But I think the handwriting was on the wall since the beginning that Joc was going to sit against LHP. I would like to see Joc play more against LHP. He has only 3 AB against LHP (no H and 2K), but he is too young to turn into a platoon CF, so he needs to face the lefties. You cannot get better at something without actually facing the challenge. Let Joc play against LHP. If he continues to flounder, then okay…Kike’ and Trayce get more opportunities.
The days of Garvey/Lopes/Cey/Russell/Baker/Monday/Smith/Yeager are gone. With the exception of Joc, most of the lineup changes were expected, and have generally created positive results. And Joc is not a total surprise.
Joc, Kike, and Thompson, all have the same amount of hits, but Joc has had more at bats. All three, have the same amount doubles, but Joc is the only one, that has hit a HR.
The main difference, between Joc, Tracy, and Kike, is that Joc, has struck out four times more, then both Kike, and Thompson. And this might be the reason, that Roberts, has not played Joc, that much, against leftys.
I wouldn’t mind, seeing Joc face Bumgarner tonight, since he has hit a HR, off Bumgarner. But it is hard to keep Thompson out of the line up, because he has been hitting, and he started the rally last night, with his base hit.
But of the three, Kike is the one, that has to be in tonight’s line up, and he will be tonight’s line up.
I would give Seager a rest tonight. There are some leftys that are harder on lefty swingers and Bumgarner is one of them.
Hernandez LF
Puig RF
Turner 3B
Kendrick 2B
Grandal 1st
Thompson CF
Ellis C
Culbertson SS
I don’t want Joc to platoon but it is important that he gets off to a good start. He is choking up on the bat now and looks to me that he is going up the middle and ala Tommy Davis, hitting to left or right depending on where the ball is pitched. He has hit a few balls that would normally be hits if there were no shift on.
This is from Justin Russo in Dodger Nation:
The Dodgers became just the second team in baseball, and the first one in the National League, to put exit velocity readings onto the scoreboard.
Exit velocity is one of the statistics that is starting to get out there more and more. The harder you hit the ball, the likelier it is to be a hit. For instance, Joc Pederson has an average exit velocity of 96.43 this season, good for 11th best in baseball among players with at least 10 balls put into play. He has a .467 BABIP.
Good post AC.
I don’t like platooning the younger players. I play Seager and Joc every day. Then again, I’m all about preparing them for the future.
There is an article about exit velocity and angles that batted balls take on the Five Thirty Eight blog.
I think Seager will easily hit lefties. Keep him in the 2 hole; he’s the franchise
I missed yesterday’s game (again), because I was at the Kings playoff game. I did pay attention on my phone however. Stripling looks like he belongs, which is great!
Bobby- you are a big LA Sports fan.
Is there anything you don’t watch or support?
haha. Well, despite being Indian, I don’t really watch cricket (we didn’t grow up with it in America like our parents, etc did)
But yes, go Dodgers, Lakers, Kings, Galaxy, Chicago Bears, Manchester United, LA Sparks, and Fresno St Bulldogs!
Wat, when you’re in LA, mate, we need to get a few pints!
Might you come back as a Dodger Bobby?
maybe a leftie reliever who can pitch the 8th?
Definitely – you must have a very understanding wife.
Or you’re divorced!!
haha, I’m single. That helps me enjoy life!
Bolsinger who?
I owned every second that this world could give
I saw so many places, the things that I did
With every broken bone, I swear I lived!
Sounds like something ONEREPUBLIC would say.
I used to work in a program contra drug addiction and one recovering addict once told me that he missed the feeling of the possibility of having some bones broken when he walked down the street.
Who was it a few threads back that made some statement like “Trayce Thompson isn’t ready for the bright lights.”????
Dude is only hitting .438, and starting again in CF again tonight. This guy deserves the LF job, in my mind. He, Joc, Puig make for a great young athletic OF.
Hopefully Kersh hits a hr of of bum today. Payback baby
I really like that outfield Bobby. The thing about depth is that if that outfield doesn’t get the job done, then another combination is available in the dugout, already on the team.
The same logic would go for Hernandez. Maybe he should play second until it looks like Utley or Kendrick is needed. Kendrick can rest Turner and Utley can rest Agon Let’s start getting younger and use the experienced, proven, and older players as damage control.
Still got Dre to come back into the mix – and Doc likes him leading off.
I’m pretty certain the story had come to an end of Bumgarner hitting HR’s off of Kershaw. At this stage Bumgarner may as well close his eyes and swing as Kershaw ain’t gonna give him fastballs for strikes except to clown him. It really would be cool beyond cool to see Kershaw go yard tonight.
Thompson looks like he can hit. It’s Barnes that looks overmatched.
I’m all in on our younger players getting honest looks at full time jobs. Thompson, Pederson and Puig sound like a good starting outfield to me. Hernandez can hack, give him a job. Let the old guys back up. But again, I’m preparing for the FUTURE.
Badger, Hatcher is returning tonight from paternity leave, and Barnes was sent down. While Barnes being optioned is not a surprise, it does put 8 relievers in the pen. Since CC and or SVS have a week or so to go on the DL, and because there are not any true offensive prospects are AAA, it would appear LAD is going with 13 pitchers. I guess they want to see who is going to pitch themselves off the 25 man roster.
Yeah, who can pitch and who cannot can pitch. We’d all like to know who out there can be counted on. It could be solved with all our starters going 8. Yeah, I know, 8 innings today is asking too much. Remember Harvey Haddix going 12.2? 12 of that was without giving up a hit. Koufax, the greatest Dodger pitcher ever, 137 complete games in 314 starts. I live in baseball history because it was better then.
Seager and Joc are both sitting tonight, at least to start.
Seager, Joc, AGon, and Utley. A four man bench!
Agon is playing.
Oops I thought I saw Grandal at 1B.
I think Cory is a good decision, because I think he has went zero for eight, in his last eight at bats. After all, this is his first year. It has to be mentally tiring at times, especially with such big expectations. Joc and Cory might still get in the game. Wasn’t in the first game, that the Dodgers faced Bumgarner, when Cory got that double, in the tenth?
I checked Thompson’s BABIP and his is 538. That is way up there. It is higher then Puigs’.
I got 5,000 push-ups that says he won’t finish the year with a BABIP over .500
Your not on!
Note to Kershaw – keep the ball down.
Note to Howie, make the play!
Sloppy half inning.
Kind of, like poetic justice, Kike bailing Howie out, and getting that run back.
4 innings, I’ve counted 4 snot rockets and at least 4 nose picks.
It must be to much in breeding!
What an innings – 2 huge errors and Kiki delivers again.
Let’s hope that their confidence is shot.
Culberson is a gamer
4 unearned so far. Yoiks.
It’s worth getting up at 3.30 in the morning to see this.
Got to enjoy Kershaw while he is pitching like this.
I didn’t see Koufax so this could well be my once in a lifetime pitcher.
He is right up there as the best I’ve ever seen.
Kershaw is pretty sharp tonight!
They are different – Koufax was better but Kershaw is better longer!
After 20 AB’s Thompson is great and Barnes is poor. OK, 20 AB’s are the dividing line (sarcasm). Thompson can hit and Barnes can’t!
If you really believe that… you are an idiot!
I am fine with Barnes going to OKC right now – Culberson is awesome!
Actually, I think Barnes gets traded!
I don’t think they should trade Barnes. I think he is becoming a solid catcher. And he doesn’t have the knees of a catcher, because he is new to the position. His hitting will catch up, once he is getting regular at bats. AJ is getting older, and Grandal needs to stay on the field. He also needs some at bats. I hope Grandal, and Roberts are ok, because remember, he had a problem with the pitchers, in SD, when he was there.
Ellis looks bad behind the plate. But he’s hitting .136, so, he has value.
Haha
Badger your batting a thousand tonight, but AJ should have blocked that last ball. They need to get Grandal, some at bats. They are making me nervous, because Kershaw can’t close the game.
Over under tonight was 6. Who had the over?