In case you missed it: Home Run Dopey

[mlbvideo id=”141829583″ width=”550″ height=”308″ /]

By Jon Weisman

I strongly recommend you read Eric Stephen’s piece at True Blue L.A. today on the Dodger offense, which is starting to take on criticism for hitting too many home runs. Yeah, really.

At the heart of the problem is the increasing circulation of the misleading statistic that 49 percent of the Dodger offense has been produced by home runs (117 of the Dodgers’ 238 runs have been driven in by homers) — which conveniently ignores how the guys who scored ahead of the home runs get on base.

Example: Do you really want to be arguing that the three ninth-inning singles Tuesday had *nothing* to do with Alex Guerrero's grand slam?

— Dodger Insider (@DodgerInsider) June 3, 2015

I guess the fear is that somehow, if the Dodgers score too many runs on home runs, then they’ll be in trouble in October when the home runs don’t come so easily — as if somehow walks, hit-and-runs and stolen bases in the playoffs somehow are a piece of cake.

Let’s find other things to think about …

• Tonight’s Dodger game has been — shocker, I know — delayed by rain. No cancellation is expected.
• Hector Olivera is expected begin his professional career Thursday with Double-A Tulsa in a 5:05 Pacific game against Midland.
• Yasiel Puig is expected to start his rehab assignment with Rancho Cucamonga in a 6:30 p.m. game at Lancaster. His last rehab assignment began three weeks ago but was cut short May 8.
• Ian Thomas, the 26th man on the roster for Tuesday’s doubleheader, has been returned to Triple-A Oklahoma City.
• In the wake of Joc Pederson’s awesome power display Tuesday, Jeff Sullivan of Fangraphs looks at Joc Pederson’s awesome power.
• ESPN’s Home Run Tracker, updated through Tuesday, is a lot of fun to look at today.
• Talk about batting 1.000 …

In 523 combined plate appearances, Pederson, Gonzalez and Guerrero have hit .297/.383/.617/1.000! with 61 walks, 33 doubles and 37 homers

— Dodger Insider (@DodgerInsider) June 3, 2015