[mlbvideo id=”35124307″ width=”550″ height=”308″ /]
Dee Gordon, 2B
Yasiel Puig, CF
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Matt Kemp, RF
Scott Van Slyke, LF
Justin Turner, 3B
A.J. Ellis, C
Erisbel Arruebarrena, SS
Dan Haren, P
By Jon Weisman
For a while now, Dodger manager Don Mattingly has made no secret of the fact that Scott Van Slyke is a regular starter against left-handed pitching. But the opportunities have been harder to come by in August.
Van Slyke made only four starts in the first 19 days of August, before getting the call Wednesday against San Diego and now tonight against the Mets. Combined with four appearances off the bench, that has left Van Slyke 5 for 19 in August with two walks, two doubles and a sacrifice fly, for a .716 OPS.
By comparison, Van Slyke averaged 50 plate appearances in June and July, with a .394 on-base percentage, .488 slugging percentage and .882 OPS.
Tonight marks one month since Van Slyke’s last home run, as he waits to become the fifth Dodger this year with 10 home runs. It appears unlikely that the Dodgers will end up with more than five players in double digits on the long ball, given that Juan Uribe is next on the team with six. From 2010-12, the Dodgers had four players with at least 10 homers each year, then had six such players in 2013.
Yolie Scott
They need to trade Andre Ethier not because he is not a good player, but because he is always on the bench, He probably needs to whine, moan and groan just like Kemp did – so that he can play. If they bench him because they think he can’t hit, how is he ever going to prove otherwise – if they won’t play him.
Mark Hagerstrom
SVSs hitting righties better than either CC or Dre. Just sayin’.
Vin Smith
…Somehow, the Dodgers are going to have to make room for Joc Pederson and Andy Van Slyke on a daily basis. Those two–with Yasiel Puig–would be a fabulous five season outfield. Van Slyke would be too old in ten seasons, or otherwise those three would likely be able to match that fabulous ten-year infield of yesteryear; Cey, Russel, Lopes, Garvey…