Dodger Thoughts

Tom Szczerbowski/US Presswire Adrian Beltre and J.D. Drew led the Dodgers in home runs in 2004 and 2006, respectively.

Today in Boston, the Dodgers say a rare hello to former Boys in Blue Adrian Beltre and J.D. Drew.

Moving from Seattle’s pitcher-friendly ballpark Safeco Field to Fenway Park has revitalized Beltre offensively. The third baseman, now 31, has a .374 on-base percentage and .574 slugging percentage, his best numbers since he left the Dodgers. I’m not sure ballpark adjustments entirely account for his improvement from .304/.379 with the Mariners last season.

In six career games against the Dodgers, Beltre is 8 for 24 with two doubles, a homer, three walks and one strikeout. Beltre was 3 for 21 with three walks and a homer for the Dodgers against Boston.

Drew, 34, has declined so far this year, his OPS falling from .914 in 2009 to .807 while starting 60 of 68 games in right field. This weekend marks the first time he faces the Dodgers since opting out of his contract. Something tells me that Drew would get booed if he ever returned in a visiting uniform to Dodger Stadium, a shame considering his .905 OPS for Los Angeles.

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• Carlos Monasterios won’t be the least experienced starting pitcher in Fenway Park tonight. Fellow Venezuelan Felix Doubront, 22, is making his first major-league start. The lefthander’s ERA with AAA Pawtucket was 1.08, though he never reached the six-inning mark in any of his four starts. He struck out 16 in 16 2/3 innings against 22 baserunners. For AA Portland, Doubront had a 2.51 ERA in 43 innings spread over eight starts.
• From the Dodger press notes: “Monasterios has now outlasted all Rule 5 draft picks for the Dodgers other than D.J. Houlton (2005). Since 1981, the Dodgers have drafted just nine players in the Rule 5 draft and only four made the Opening Day roster – Houlton, Monasterios, Frank Lankford (1998) and Jose Antonio Nunez (2001). Both Lankford and Nunez were returned to their previous teams in May. Houlton stayed on the roster all season.”
• Nick Green has signed a minor-league contract with Toronto, according to the team (via MLB Trade Rumors).
• A barnburner in Albuquerque on Thursday, with the Isotopes falling, 15-12 in 11 innings after rallying from an eight-run deficit. Claudio Vargas pitched an effective three innings in his return to the Dodger organization, but then the roof caved in on Cody White, who allowed 10 runs in four innings. Lucas May had a single, double and one of four Albuquerque home runs, raising his OPS to .830. Russ Mitchell hit his fourth homer in his past four games.
• Kyle Russell doubled but also wore the platinum sombrero in Chatanooga’s 14-2 win. Russell has struck out 19 times in 36 AA at-bats. Dee Gordon reached base four times for the Lookouts, raising his OPS to .951 in his past 10 games. Kenley Jansen continues his fast track up the Dodger system since he converted to relief pitching from catching; he has 24 strikeouts and a 1.17 ERA against 18 baserunners in 15 1/3 AA innings.
• Ethan Martin pitched six innings of one-run ball with six strikeouts for Inland Empire.
• Collectibles from Pedro Guerrero’s magic June 1985 are on auction, writes Ernest Reyes of Blue Heaven. They were obtained directly from Guerrero.
• Here’s a Dodger divorce update from Dodger Divorce.
• Why do some teams avoid giving physicals to players they’re going to acquire, wonders Craig Calcaterra of Hardball Talk.
• Why do managers bat reserve players in the same batting slot as the starters they’re replacing, regardless of whether that makes sense, wonders Joe Pawlikowski of Fangraphs.
• Jerry Seinfeld and Keith Hernandez will reunite in the Mets broadcast booth next week.
• Davey Lopes was interviewed by David Laurila of Baseball Prospectus. The big news to come out of the interview was that Phillies second baseman Chase Utley has been playing with a bum knee, but I’m linking it for the moment Lopes talks about the day he stole five bases against the Cardinals and how he kicks himself for not getting seven.
• We know how great Sandy Koufax’s 1966 was. At this stage of the season, it was even greater.
• Beyond the Box Score has a neat graph of Wins Above Replacement for the first round of the 2006 (Clayton Kershaw) draft.
• The San Diego Padres pitching gets a long look from Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com.