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By Jon Weisman
Adrian Gonzalez is in first place among first basemen and Dee Gordon is in second place among second baseman in the initial 2014 National League All-Star vote update.
Tag: Adrian Gonzalez (Page 8 of 9)
On this travel day for the Dodgers, here’s some topical reading from the May 2014 issue of Dodger Insider magazine. Chris Gigley contributed this piece on the nuances of the Dodgers’ approach toward defensive shifts. Don Mattingly, Tim Wallach, Adrian Gonzalez and Josh Beckett were interviewed for the story. (Click the image to enlarge.)
— Jon Weisman
Whatever the weather, someone’s getting wet. (Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)
Dodgers at Twins, 5:10 p.m.
Dee Gordon, 2B
Yasiel Puig, RF
Hanley Ramirez, SS
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Matt Kemp, CF
Andre Ethier, DH
Juan Uribe, 3B
Drew Butera, C
Carl Crawford, LF
(Zack Greinke, P)
Dee Gordon, 2B
Yasiel Puig, RF
Hanley Ramirez, SS
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Matt Kemp, CF
Andre Ethier, DH
Juan Uribe, 3B
Drew Butera, C
Carl Crawford, LF
(Zack Greinke, P)
By Jon Weisman
Two changes come to the active roster in time for today’s game against Minnesota. Lefty reliever Paco Rodriguez and catcher Miguel Olivo have come up from Albuquerque, while infielder Carlos Triunfel and catcher Tim Federowicz make the journey to Triple A.
Among players who have primarily been catchers in their careers, Olivo ranks 32nd all-time with 145 home runs. Ahead of him are eight former Dodgers: Mike Piazza (1), Gary Carter (6), Roy Campanella (10), Todd Hundley (13), Ernie Lombardi (17), Ramon Hernandez (23), Charles Johnson (24) and Mike Lieberthal (31).
Chad Billingsley, meanwhile, has been moved to the 60-day disabled list, which would still allow him to be activated in May. Billingsley, who made a rehab start April 6, received a platelet-rich plasma injection on Tuesday for elbow tendinitis last week.
The Dodgers can also add a 26th man to the roster for Thursday’s doubleheader, based on a Collective Bargaining Agreement rule that allows clubs a 26-man roster for day-night doubleheaders if scheduled at least 48 hours in advance.
More roster changes could be coming in the next few days, based on a) what happens with Clayton Kershaw’s rehab start with Double-A Chattanooga tonight and b) the potential need for a starting pitcher Sunday, so that Zack Greinke doesn’t have to come back on three days’ rest.
In other news and notes:
- The Dodgers can expect to face a lefty in Minnesota after all. For their 26th man on Thursday, the Twins have called up Kris Johnson (not the former UCLA hoopster) to make his first Major League start. Johnson pitched 10 1/3 innings in relief for the Pirates last year with a 6.10 ERA but 2.76 FIP. He has a 2.86 in 22 minor-league innings this year, with 20 strikeouts against 26 baserunners.
- Carl Crawford makes his first start in the No. 9 slot of the batting order since September 20, 2003.
- Adrian Gonzalez has been the top first baseman in the Majors in April, according to Jay Jaffe of SI.com. Dee Gordon was honorably mentioned at second base.
- Greinke’s performance to date is analyzed by Dustin Nosler at Dodgers Digest.
- Maury Wills is featured in the final posting from the great series of Union Oil 1961 Family Booklets, presented by Ernest Reyes at Blue Heaven.
- From the Dodger press notes: “The Dodgers will fly more than 6,200 miles during this trip as they touch points to the extreme north, south, east and west of the continental United States.”
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Dodgers at Giants, 7:15 p.m.
Dee Gordon, 2B
Carl Crawford, LF
Hanley Ramirez, SS
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Yasiel Puig, RF
Andre Ethier, LF
Juan Uribe, 3B
Tim Federowicz, C
Josh Beckett, P
Dee Gordon, 2B
Carl Crawford, LF
Hanley Ramirez, SS
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Yasiel Puig, RF
Andre Ethier, LF
Juan Uribe, 3B
Tim Federowicz, C
Josh Beckett, P
By Jon Weisman
After playing their first 13 games in 24 days, the Dodgers will play their next 13 games in 13 days. So get ready …
Late updates: Taking advantage of his remaining options, the Dodgers sent Paco Rodriguez to Albuquerque to make room for the return of Brian Wilson from the disabled list. Obviously, this won’t be the last the Dodgers see of Rodriguez, who had allowed six hits and two walks in 5 2/3 innings this year while striking out five.
More forebodingly, Chad Billingsley is returning to Los Angeles for an MRI after cutting short a bullpen session today with discomfort in his right elbow. Ken Gurnick of MLB.com has more on both stories if you click the links.
* * *
Some gems from the Dodger press notes:
- The Dodgers’ 7-1 start on the road this season is their best since 1983, and a win tonight would make this their best road start since the 1977 team went 11-1.
- The Dodgers lead MLB by scoring first in 10 games this season and winning nine of those (via Stats, LLC).
- The Dodger bullpen has allowed only two of 20 inherited runners to score this season.
- Adrian Gonzalez became the eighth Los Angeles Dodger to have at least 10 RBI in a three-game series. Frank Howard is tops with 12 from July 27-29, 1962 against the Giants.
- Gonzalez has homered in four consecutive games, one off the team record held by Roy Campanella (1950), Shawn Green (2001) and Matt Kemp (2010).
- Gonzalez has an extra-base hit in eight consecutive games, one off the team record held by Jack Fournier.
- I looked up Fournier’s streak just now (August 20-26, 1925) and saw that it included doubleheaders on three consecutive days. From sunup on August 22 to sundown on August 24, the 35-year-old first baseman went 10 for 22 with two doubles, a triple, three homers and four walks.
* * *
Also in today’s mix …
- The first Jackie Robinson Celebration Game was set for today at Holman Stadium at Historic Dodgertown in Vero Beach, matching Florida State League teams Lakeland (Tigers) and Brevard County (Brewers). Former MLB commissioner Fay Vincent was to address the crowd with history about Robinson.
- Kenley Jansen threw a cutter that broke 100 mph, notes Daniel Brim at Dodgers Digest.
- Ernest Reyes at Blue Heaven presents some anti-discrimination baseball memorabilia.
- Duke Snider received the 1961 Union Oil Dodger Family Booklet treatment (also at Blue Heaven).
- The Dodgers were shut out four times in nine games at San Francisco in 2012, but none in 2013.
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By Jon Weisman
Some jottings before turning out the lights on the weekend, a most successful one for the Dodgers.
- If someone had offered you a 9-4 start in a season that began with a cross-globe trip to Australia and was soon followed by injuries to Clayton Kershaw and Brian Wilson, I’m guessing you’d take that, right? Only surprising Milwaukee, winners of nine games in a row en route to a 10-2 record, has a better record in the Majors than the Dodgers.
- The Dodgers’ offense roared this weekend in their three game sweep of Arizona, climaxing in today’s 8-6 victory (recapped here by Ken Gurnick of MLB.com), but it’s not that much of a surprise that the team would have an easier time scoring at Chase Field than Petco Park or even Dodger Stadium.
- Similarly, Phoenix is going to be a tougher place to hold a lead, so don’t get too angry at the Dodger bullpen.
- Not that I’m looking to take anything away from Adrian Gonzalez, who has an extra-base hit in eight consecutive games, one shy of a team record. Tied for the MLB lead in home runs at five until Mark Trumbo launched No. 6 today off Jamey Wright, Gonzalez is slugging .680 in 2014. Last year, Gonzalez hit his fifth home run in his 42nd start, May 25.
- Tonight’s random trivia: The Dodgers have scored eight runs in two consecutive games. Only two seasons ago, they tallied exactly eight runs in three consecutive games.
- Meet your MLB stolen base leader, Dee Gordon, with nine steals in 11 games. What a display he put on today. And in addition to his four steals, he also walked twice, raising his on-base percentage to .457, eighth in the Majors.
- Also, this, from Jon SooHoo:
- Meet your MLB co-leader in doubles, Juan Uribe, who has a .547 slugging percentage and a .358 OBP despite going the entire season to date without a walk. Yeah, I know — but don’t worry about it now.
- You want to use a .154 batting average to judge Matt Kemp, be my guest. I’ll take the .829 OPS. After 31 plate appearances, Kemp has 14 total bases but has yet to hit a single.
- Making his debut for Albuquerque today, Alex Guerrero had a three-run homer, double and single in four at-bats, as Christopher Jackson notes at Examiner.com.
- One more note from the minors: Joc Pederson has a .511 on-base percentage and .714 slugging this season for the Isotopes. He has 13 hits, six of them for extra bases. But he has yet to drive in another runner. He has three RBI, each coming on a solo home run.
- The Dodgers struck out 16 times today, tied for third-most in team history (the record of 20, you should recall, was set last year before Yasiel Puig hit his walkoff home run to beat Cincinnati, 1-0). Never before had the Dodgers struck out 16 times in a nine-inning game and won.
- The Dodgers have now struck out 123 times in 13 games, or 9.46 times per game. a pace that would give them 1,533 strikeouts in their 162-game season. That would break the franchise record of 1,190 by more than 300. I guess I should be more worried about this, but I’m going to assume that it will taper off, unless you’re also willing to grant that all the superb offensive numbers will also stick.
By Jon Weisman
Well, that was a nice wire-to-wire victory for the Dodgers tonight.
As Los Angeles stomped the Arizona Diamondbacks, 6-0 in 141 minutes, allowing only two singles and two walks, these noteworthy feats emerged.
Hyun-Jin Ryu
Ryu allowed six earned runs in two innings at the Dodgers’ home opener a week ago. Here’s how far back you have to go to find more than six earned runs allowed by Ryu on the road:
- Tonight at Arizona: seven innings, zero runs
- March 30 at San Diego: seven innings, zero runs
- March 23 at Arizona (in Sydney): five innings, zero runs
- Sept. 24 at San Francisco: seven innings, one earned run
- Sept. 16 at Arizona: eight innings, two earned runs
- Aug. 19 at Miami: 7 1/3 innings, three earned runs
- Aug. 8 at St. Louis: seven innings, one unearned run
- Aug. 2 at Chicago Cubs: 5 1/3 innings, two earned runs
Ryu has pitched 21 consecutive shutout innings on the road and has a road ERA of 0.27 in his last 33 road innings.
Adrian Gonzalez
Gonzalez had five RBI tonight — four by the top of the third inning — to give him the 24th game of at least four RBI in his career and third game of at least five RBI. His career high of six RBI came against the Dodgers on May 19, 2010.
Hanley Ramirez
The Dodger shortstop had two doubles tonight, tying him for the MLB lead with six this season. One of three Dodgers to play all 100 innings his season, Ramirez has combined his new-found durability with a .383 on-base percentage and a .595 slugging percentage.
Dee Gordon
Two more hits for Gordon, whose OBP is now .439 while slugging .541. He also stole his fifth base, tying him for second in the Majors. Still, expect him to start Saturday’s game on the bench when the Dodgers face Arizona lefty Wade Miley.
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By Jon Weisman
Appropriately, it didn’t get talked about all that much, but you could still catch some people muttering and snickering about Yasiel Puig’s homerless sub-.150 Spring Training batting average.
By Jon Weisman
Zack Greinke makes his first exhibition game appearance since his four-pitch outing about two weeks ago. (Has it only been two weeks?)
Greinke is expected to pitch two innings.
Almost simultaneous to today’s game, Matt Kemp was playing in a minor-league intrasquad game at Camelback, including his first action in center field of the year.
First AB for @TheRealMattKemp during today’s intra squad game at @camelbackranch. Kemp making progress. pic.twitter.com/oTaM95F3dE
— Alanna Rizzo (@alannarizzo) March 12, 2014
Diamondbacks vs. Dodgers, 1:05 p.m.
Yasiel Puig, RF
Carl Crawford, LF
Hanley Ramirez, SS
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Andre Ethier, CF
Chone Figgins, 3B
AJ Ellis, C
Dee Gordon, 2B
Zack Greinke, P
Yasiel Puig, RF
Carl Crawford, LF
Hanley Ramirez, SS
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Andre Ethier, CF
Chone Figgins, 3B
AJ Ellis, C
Dee Gordon, 2B
Zack Greinke, P
- Scheduled to follow Greinke today on the mound are Zach Lee, J.P. Howell, Kenley Jansen, Chris Perez and Chris Withrow.
- Adrian Gonzalez told Dylan Hernandez of the Times that he’s looking to take more walks in 2014.
“I’ve done a decent job of it so far this spring,” he said. “I’ve walked three or four times and a lot of at-bats have gone deep into counts. There have been at-bats where I got frustrated because I walk and I’ll say, ‘I want to hit now,’ but then I’m like, ‘Stay with it.’ “
- Chris St. John of Beyond the Box Score compiled a consensus ranking of the Dodgers’ top 65 prospects.
Lorenzo Bundy congratulates homer-hitting Clint Robinson in the eighth inning today.
By Jon Weisman
For those of you caught in today’s rain in Los Angeles, it won’t surprise you to find that weather could be a factor for Saturday’s Spring Training game for the Dodgers against the Brewers.
In the meantime …
- Juan Castro, now a Dodger special assistant for player personnel, talked to Ken Gurnick of MLB.com about the challenge faced by Dee Gordon and Alex Guerrero in trying to master second base.
“The double play is harder, because the shortstop has everything in front of him. He can see the runner. The second baseman has his back to the runner and doesn’t know where he’s at, where he’s sliding, if he’s going to get hit.”
Castro said players are instructed on their positioning to take a throw, turn the pivot and get out of the way of the runner. But it’s too dangerous to practice getting taken out by an opponent trying to break you in half from behind. That only happens in the games, and there’s no way to know how a player reacts until it does.
- With 22 days to go until a potential March 22 start for No. 22, it’s Clayton Kershaw in the spotlight at Opening Day Countdown, whose Mark Newman wonders if Kershaw could someday become the greatest Opening Day pitcher of all time.
- Adrian Gonzalez on the Dodger Stadium crowds last year, as told to Richard Justice of MLB.com:
“The crowds were there when we were losing,” he said, “and that made it more special to go out there and win some games for them and get in the playoffs. You know, you always hear about the crowds when they’re winning, but when they’re out there when we’re losing, that shows a lot about what kind of fan base we have.”
- Monica Barlow, public relations director for the Baltimore Orioles, passed away from cancer at age 36. There are several tributes to her online, such as this from Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun.
Carl Crawford congratulates Adrian Gonzalez at home plate in San Diego on April 11. (Jon SooHoo/LA Dodgers, LLC 2013)
By Jon Weisman
You don’t even need to look at the numbers, do you? The Dodgers, even as they went all the way to the National League Championship Series in 2013, didn’t hit enough with men on base, right?
Well, maybe we should look at the numbers anyway. Because they’re kind of interesting.
Dodgers with men on base, 2013
(ordered by plate appearances)
| Rk | PA ▾ | HR | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Adrian Gonzalez | 312 | 11 | .308 | .362 | .491 | .853 |
| 2 | Andre Ethier | 266 | 4 | .243 | .357 | .356 | .713 |
| 3 | A.J. Ellis | 232 | 5 | .247 | .320 | .354 | .674 |
| 4 | Mark Ellis | 209 | 4 | .295 | .340 | .421 | .761 |
| 5 | Juan Uribe | 195 | 6 | .280 | .328 | .463 | .791 |
| 6 | Yasiel Puig | 174 | 5 | .259 | .356 | .395 | .751 |
| 7 | Carl Crawford | 169 | 1 | .272 | .337 | .338 | .675 |
| 8 | Skip Schumaker | 165 | 2 | .278 | .354 | .354 | .708 |
| 9 | Hanley Ramirez | 149 | 10 | .351 | .416 | .679 | 1.095 |
| 10 | Matt Kemp | 145 | 2 | .246 | .303 | .346 | .650 |
| 11 | Nick Punto | 134 | 0 | .280 | .320 | .364 | .685 |
| 12 | Jerry Hairston | 106 | 1 | .217 | .272 | .283 | .554 |
| 13 | Tim Federowicz | 86 | 2 | .203 | .286 | .351 | .637 |
| 14 | Scott Van Slyke | 76 | 1 | .210 | .329 | .339 | .668 |
| 15 | Luis Cruz | 67 | 1 | .150 | .200 | .233 | .433 |
| Team Total | 2805 | 55 | .257 | .325 | .383 | .708 |
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
NL leader in OPS with runners on base: St. Louis (.839)
Collectively, the Dodgers had a .325 on-base percentage with men on base, nearly identical to their overall 2013 OBP of .326. And of the nine players who came up the most in those situations, none had a lower OBP than .320.
Key RBI guys like Adrian Gonzalez (.362), Andre Ethier (.357) and, holy cow, Hanley Ramirez (.416) kept coming through time and again, either driving in runs or extending innings. Matt Kemp, by contrast, was disappointing at .303, but we’re going to talk more about him in a minute.
Where the Dodgers showed more of a dip was in their slugging percentage – .383 with runners on base, compared to .396 overall in the season. The difference was more pronounced with runners in scoring position.
Dodgers with RISP
(ordered by plate appearances)
| Rk | PA ▾ | HR | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Adrian Gonzalez | 188 | 7 | .323 | .378 | .532 | .909 |
| 2 | Andre Ethier | 156 | 2 | .228 | .372 | .325 | .697 |
| 3 | A.J. Ellis | 135 | 2 | .255 | .333 | .345 | .679 |
| 4 | Mark Ellis | 124 | 2 | .282 | .336 | .388 | .724 |
| 5 | Skip Schumaker | 110 | 2 | .268 | .336 | .351 | .687 |
| 6 | Juan Uribe | 105 | 2 | .278 | .340 | .433 | .773 |
| 7 | Carl Crawford | 103 | 1 | .289 | .359 | .356 | .715 |
| 8 | Yasiel Puig | 99 | 4 | .234 | .374 | .416 | .789 |
| 9 | Matt Kemp | 87 | 0 | .230 | .310 | .270 | .581 |
| 10 | Hanley Ramirez | 83 | 7 | .368 | .458 | .779 | 1.237 |
| 11 | Nick Punto | 67 | 0 | .246 | .297 | .351 | .648 |
| 12 | Jerry Hairston | 63 | 0 | .236 | .274 | .236 | .511 |
| 13 | Tim Federowicz | 51 | 0 | .122 | .245 | .171 | .416 |
| 14 | Scott Van Slyke | 43 | 0 | .229 | .326 | .314 | .640 |
| 15 | Luis Cruz | 42 | 0 | .128 | .146 | .154 | .300 |
| Team Total | 1639 | 29 | .252 | .330 | .367 | .697 |
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
NL leader in OPS with RISP: St. Louis (.865)
NL leader in OPS with RISP: St. Louis (.865)
If the Dodgers were swinging for the fences with runners in scoring position, the stats show they weren’t connecting. Their slugging percentage dipped 7 percent compared with their overall 2013 performance. On the other hand, their OBP inched up, with the eight guys most frequently batting with RISP doing their part to drive in runs or at least extend innings. And again, Hanley – wow.
In general, given the sample sizes at play and the variables in terms of situation, I’m not sure how significant these differences are. You’d expect pitchers to be more vulnerable with runners on base, if only because vulnerable pitchers tend to put more runners on base. But pitchers being more careful with runners on could also play a role.
Which leads me to latest favorite stat: In 2013, Clayton Kershaw allowed five extra-base hits with runners in scoring position all year.
Keep all this in mind as I present the Dodgers’ performance with the bases loaded in 2013. The sample size shrinks … and the offense shrinks even more.
Dodgers with bases loaded, 2013
(ordered by plate appearances)
| Rk | PA ▾ | HR | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A.J. Ellis | 17 | 0 | .143 | .176 | .214 | .391 |
| 2 | Mark Ellis | 14 | 0 | .417 | .357 | .417 | .774 |
| 3 | Juan Uribe | 14 | 0 | .154 | .143 | .385 | .527 |
| 4 | Skip Schumaker | 14 | 0 | .071 | .071 | .071 | .143 |
| 5 | Adrian Gonzalez | 10 | 0 | .375 | .300 | .500 | .800 |
| 6 | Carl Crawford | 10 | 0 | .333 | .300 | .444 | .744 |
| 7 | Andre Ethier | 9 | 0 | .143 | .222 | .286 | .508 |
| 8 | Matt Kemp | 9 | 0 | .125 | .111 | .125 | .236 |
| 9 | Tim Federowicz | 8 | 0 | .143 | .125 | .286 | .411 |
| 10 | Clayton Kershaw | 8 | 0 | .125 | .125 | .125 | .250 |
| 11 | Scott Van Slyke | 8 | 0 | .000 | .125 | .000 | .125 |
| 12 | Nick Punto | 7 | 0 | .200 | .429 | .200 | .629 |
| 13 | Yasiel Puig | 6 | 1 | .400 | .500 | 1.000 | 1.500 |
| 14 | Luis Cruz | 5 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| 15 | Jerry Hairston | 4 | 0 | .500 | .500 | .500 | 1.000 |
| Team Total | 156 | 1 | .190 | .205 | .270 | .475 |
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
NL leader in OPS with bases loaded: St. Louis (.935)
NL leader in OPS with bases loaded: St. Louis (.935)
Those numbers … well, they are numbers. I’ll give them that. The Dodgers were last in the NL in batting with the bases loaded, by a wide margin. Coming in at 15th was Pittsburgh, with a .591 OPS.
How wildly inconsistent are they from hitter to hitter? No one on that list has a batting average between .200 and .300.
Also, do you see who isn’t on the list? Our friend Mr. Ramirez, whose total number of plate appearances with the bases loaded in 2013 was … one. (He got out.)
Once more, I’d offer that the quantity of plate appearances is too small to derive too much into the Dodgers’ bases-loaded performance, but we can say this: If you’re looking for a way the Dodgers can improve in 2014, look no farther.
I promised to circle back to Matt Kemp, and circle back we shall. Kemp, as you might have noticed, struggled in all of these situations, yet another reason his 2013 was so frustrating. But is it possible that we’ve got this backward – that his frustrations were the reason he struggled with men on base?
Look at how Kemp did in previous seasons:
Matt Kemp with men on base
| I | Year | PA | HR | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 85 | 4 | .295 | .318 | .513 | .830 | |
| 2007 | 144 | 4 | .373 | .396 | .560 | .956 | |
| 2008 | 296 | 6 | .282 | .342 | .417 | .760 | |
| 2009 | 321 | 13 | .279 | .336 | .463 | .800 | |
| 2010 | 324 | 15 | .238 | .299 | .462 | .761 | |
| 2011 | 347 | 21 | .344 | .424 | .626 | 1.049 | |
| 2012 | 204 | 14 | .331 | .412 | .651 | 1.063 | |
| 2013 | 145 | 2 | .246 | .303 | .346 | .650 | |
| Career Total | 1866 | 79 | .295 | .357 | .505 | .862 |
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Matt Kemp with RISP
| I | Year | PA | HR | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 50 | 3 | .273 | .300 | .523 | .823 | |
| 2007 | 85 | 2 | .333 | .353 | .500 | .853 | |
| 2008 | 168 | 3 | .268 | .359 | .394 | .754 | |
| 2009 | 190 | 9 | .279 | .342 | .485 | .827 | |
| 2010 | 193 | 8 | .225 | .311 | .456 | .767 | |
| 2011 | 200 | 13 | .335 | .450 | .652 | 1.102 | |
| 2012 | 107 | 5 | .292 | .383 | .551 | .934 | |
| 2013 | 87 | 0 | .230 | .310 | .270 | .581 | |
| Career Total | 1080 | 43 | .279 | .360 | .486 | .846 |
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Matt Kemp with bases loaded
| I | Year | PA | HR | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 7 | 0 | .167 | .143 | .167 | .310 | |
| 2007 | 10 | 0 | .000 | .100 | .000 | .100 | |
| 2008 | 18 | 1 | .250 | .222 | .500 | .722 | |
| 2009 | 19 | 3 | .313 | .316 | .938 | 1.253 | |
| 2010 | 15 | 1 | .300 | .333 | .600 | .933 | |
| 2011 | 10 | 1 | .571 | .500 | 1.000 | 1.500 | |
| 2012 | 9 | 0 | .250 | .222 | .250 | .472 | |
| 2013 | 9 | 0 | .125 | .111 | .125 | .236 | |
| Career Total | 97 | 6 | .250 | .258 | .500 | .758 |
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Historically, Kemp has been good to great with runners on base, before falling off a cliff in 2013. (Weird stat No. 2: Kemp had more grand slams in 2009 than hits with the bases loaded in 2013). A healthier Kemp obviously makes the Dodgers a better team; this is but one example of the difference he might make.
The big question I have is how much control players really have over their performance with runners on base. In a conversation for the season preview story of the upcoming Dodgers’ March magazine (which you all are going to want to get), Dodger manager Don Mattingly shared his thoughts.
“You put an emphasis on it in Spring Training,” Mattingly said. “You continue to put guys in situations in camp and work on things. … Everyone tries to drive that run in, and a lot of times they do it really fast. Sometimes it’s just being willing to let the next guy do it, because they may not be willing to pitch to (you). So if they’re not going to give you anything to do it with … you’ve got to be willing to pass the baton and trust your teammate.”
Easier said than done? No doubt. But even though their performance with runners on base might be better than you realized — and certainly improved when they heated up in the summer — it remains something the Dodgers will think about.
By Jon Weisman
Some would call the most important information known to man. Others, less enlightened, might call it trivia. Either way, in the 2013 regular season, it is a fact that Adrian Gonzalez had …
- … a .985 OPS (.444 on-base percentage, .541 slugging percentage) batting cleanup in his first 17 games of the season — but despite reaching base 32 times, scored only three runs.
- … a .940 OPS (.351/.589) when he swung at the first pitch of an at-bat, despite only two walks in 185 plate appearances. By comparison, Yasiel Puig had a .927 OPS in the 187 times he swung at the first pitch of an at-bat.
- … 18 homers in 400 at-bats against right-handed pitching, compared with four in 183 at-bats against lefties – but delivered more doubles against lefties (17) than righties (15).
- … an .835 OPS at Dodger Stadium in 315 plate appearances. In 2007, while with San Diego, Gonzalez went 2 for 38 in Los Angeles.
- … the same OPS in August as he did in September: .772. And that includes wrapping up the regular season with a .945 OPS in his final 22 games.
- … a line of 6 for 11 with two doubles as a designated hitter or pinch-hitter.
- … runs in nine consecutive road games from July 10-August 2.
- … 14 home runs in 285 plate appearances after pitchers got first-pitch strikes, compared with six home runs in 283 plate appearances after first-pitch balls.
- … a 1.099 OPS in the seventh inning and a .461 OPS in the eighth inning.
- … eight infield hits, four more than Zack Greinke.
The strange thing about the reaction to Adrian Gonzalez’s acknowledgment (to Bill Shaikin of the Times) that he won’t have the same power as he did before undergoing labrum surgery in the 2010-11 offseason is that no one has followed that with the obvious connection to Matt Kemp.
“I can still hit home runs. That is not going to be an issue. The full power is not the same,” said Gonzalez, who had surgery to repair his labrum before the 2011 season, in acknowledging he would be more of an average and doubles hitter going forward. If medical malpractice were to be existent during the surgical operation, Gonzalez can reach out to licensed professionals.
In October, Dylan Hernandez of the Times did link Gonzalez with Kemp — who had labrum surgery last winter — but nevertheless, people seem to remain surprised that Kemp is having power issues at the start of this season. In 2011, Gonzalez hit one home run in April — the same as Kemp this year.
Gonzalez finished 2011 with 27 home runs, before hitting 18 in 2012. He has three this season, though he is slugging .500 thanks to seven doubles.
The potential effect of labrum injuries on sluggers is nothing new. Ten years ago, I noted on Dodger Thoughts the effect that Shawn Green’s surgery would likely have on his career in this piece, “The Shawn Green of Old Will Not Return.” Green actually fared better than the title predicted, hitting 28 home runs in 2004, though 18 of those came after the All-Star Break. He hit 47 more home runs the rest of his career.
What the long-term effects of Kemp’s injury will be, I don’t know. Perhaps he’ll kick the home-run power into gear starting tonight. But we can’t be surprised if his four-bagger forays take time to resurrect.
If Hyun-Jin Ryu keeps playing like this, we’re going to have quite a run at the Pun Store.
The rookie Dodger lefty had a barrel of fun against Arizona tonight, striking out 9 in 6 1/3 innings while going 3 for 3 at the plate – with his parents watching from the first row behind the Dodger dugout – in Los Angeles’ 7-5 victory over the Diamondbacks.
Heh. That’s actually kind of clever. RT @ratingsjedi: @mike_petriello D’backs announcer has taken to calling him Babe Ryuth.
— Mike Petriello (@mike_petriello) April 14, 2013
Ryu baffled Arizona, allowing only four hits, a walk and an RBI groundout before the seventh inning, along with doubling and singling twice. His bid to become the first Dodger pitcher with four hits since Claude Osteen in 1970 was enabled and then disabled by Justin Sellers, who singled with two out in the top of the seventh but was picked off.
| Player | Date | Tm | Opp | Rslt | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Osteen | 1970-05-26 | LAD | SFG | W 19-3 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Don Newcombe | 1955-07-15 | BRO | STL | W 12-3 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Chris Van Cuyk | 1952-05-21 | BRO | CIN | W 19-1 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Carl Erskine | 1950-08-31 | BRO | BSN | W 19-3 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kirby Higbe | 1941-08-17 (1) | BRO | BSN | W 5-1 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Kirby Higbe | 1941-08-11 | BRO | NYG | W 15-7 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Bobby Reis | 1935-09-24 (2) | BRO | BSN | W 6-5 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Sloppy Thurston | 1932-08-13 (1) | BRO | NYG | W 18-9 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Dazzy Vance | 1927-05-12 | BRO | CIN | W 6-3 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Burleigh Grimes | 1925-04-22 | BRO | PHI | L 7-8 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Dutch Ruether | 1924-09-04 (2) | BRO | BSN | W 9-1 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Burleigh Grimes | 1924-08-18 | BRO | PIT | W 7-4 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dutch Ruether | 1922-04-16 | BRO | PHI | W 10-2 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Burleigh Grimes | 1921-07-06 | BRO | NYG | W 11-4 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com
Ryu wasn’t alone in providing offense, as the Dodgers knocked out a season-high 14 hits and got an Adrian Gonzalez homer in the fourth, two runs in the fifth and three in the sixth, building a 6-1 lead. Gonzalez went 3 for 4 with a walk, Carl Crawford and Andre Ethier each singled and doubled and Matt Kemp doubled his season RBI total from two to four.
Crossing the 100-pitch mark, Ryu gave up two hits to start the bottom of the seventh, and like Clayton Kershaw the night before, watched from the bench as the first Dodger reliever, in this case Ronald Belisario, allowed both to score. (Ryu’s ERA rose from 1.93 to 2.89.) Martin Prado homered off Kenley Jansen in the bottom of the eighth to cut the Dodger lead to 6-4, and Aaron Hill’s pinch-hit RBI double later in the frame made it a one-run game.
Jansen struck out Cody Ross to end the inning and preserve the lead, but back-to-back doubles by Ethier and Ramon Hernandez built it back to 7-5. Brandon League retired the side in order to end the game.
The Dodgers (7-4) are tied with Arizona and Colorado for second place in the National League West, half a game behind San Francisco.
Feeling Opening Day excitement and the writing bug late on a Saturday …
• I’m reasonably excited about this year’s Dodger team, but part of that is a perverse excitement about just how bad on offense that left side of the infield might be, at least while Hanley Ramirez is out. That makes the decision to go with Justin Sellers fun for kicks, however dubious. Still, I have always liked the idea of emphasizing defense where offense isn’t an option.
• It only just now occurred to me that I was in the stands last year at the game in which Sellers was hurt and the one in which Dee Gordon was hurt.
• Do you realize this will no doubt be the fourth consecutive year that Kenley Jansen isn’t the Opening Day closer but eventually moves into that role?
• One thing I don’t miss about baseball season is the whining whenever a save gets blown, as if it should never happen. Heaven knows, though, it will happen.
• Carl Crawford has me excited. Truly didn’t think he’d be ready this fast, but this is the one case where I’m allowing myself to be swept away by past success and heady Spring Training numbers.
• I think lingering effects of his labrum injury will keep Matt Kemp below 25 home runs this year, but that doesn’t mean he won’t be productive.
• At first, I thought that with no true right-handed outfielder in reserve, the Dodgers would need to keep Adrian Gonzalez and Andre Ethier spaced out in their lineup, or lefty relievers will just crush the team. But Gonzalez has had success against left-handers, so that helps. It’s still not necessarily a bad idea to insert a right-hander between them, though – as long as it’s a decent one.
• My initial plan for any free writing time that emerged this spring was that I would spend it offline on a long-term project. I did begin work on that project early this month, but with baseball season starting, I’m wavering. What might happen is a mix, where I post on Dodger Thoughts not infrequently, but not comprehensively. The risk is feeling like I’m doing both things halfway.
• Another intervening factor in my life is that Youngest Master Weisman, now 5, is six days away from his first T-ball season, and he is raring to go. (His team: the Tigers.) After playing with a pretend ball inside the house several times, we made it out to the park for the first time, and he was knocking balls through the infield and reaching the grass. Also in the past day, I’ve begun trying to teach him how to scoop balls on defense. It’s crazy.
• Older brother Young Master Weisman, now 8 1/2, took a few swings, but piano is his game. He’s composing his own material for his May recital performance. Young Miss Weisman, a whopping 10 1/2, is also wonderful on the keys.
Adrian Gonzalez is just what the doctor ordered for the Dodgers, but at what cost?
* * *
Rubby De La Rosa has been optioned to the minors, enabling him to be traded as a player to be named later in the offseason.
James Loney was listed in the Dodger starting lineup tonight, then scratched. Adrian Gonzales has been scratched by Boston.
It’s happening. The blockbuster trade has the momentum of a Boston-to-Los Angeles freight train. From Gordon Edes of ESPN.com:
The Dodgers and Red Sox are closing in on a deal that would send Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford and Nick Punto to Los Angeles, though a few hurdles remain before it’s official, multiple baseball sources said Friday.
Pitcher Rubby De La Rosa will be headed back to Boston as the centerpiece of the deal, sources say. De La Rosa made his first major league appearance of the season Wednesday, having had Tommy John surgery about 13 months ago. Also included are first baseman James Loney and prospects Ivan De Jesus (infielder) and Jerry Sands (outfielder), according to sources, plus another top prospect that is still unknown. …
I understand the impulse to go for it — I want that World Series too — because I know how much Gonzalez might help the Dodgers. But losing De La Rosa is a huge one for me to swallow.
On Twitter, I’ve already gotten some amount of ridicule for daring to mention this trade in the same breath as the infamous Pedro Martinez-Delino DeShields trade from 1993. But I’m guessing most of those people doing so are using the benefit of hindsight.
Today, DeShields is held in contempt by Dodger fans — he’s the historic equivalent of Juan Uribe or Andruw Jones as far as Dodger trade acquisitions go. But compare the following at the time of the transaction:
- DeShields, 1993: 24-year-old second baseman with a .284 True Average, according to Baseball Prospectus.
- Gonzalez, 2012: 30-year-old first baseman with a .286 True Average, according to Baseball Prospectus.
DeShields had also improved three consecutive seasons, from 1991-93. Gonzalez has started to decline over the past three consecutive seasons. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that DeShields, at the time of the transaction, was a more valuable player and had a brighter future than Gonzalez today.
As for De La Rosa … I’ll never forget the time I was in the Dodger dugout, interviewing Orel Hershiser before the 2011 season opener, and heard a key member of the Dodger staff compare De La Rosa to Martinez. It was the first time I heard the comparison — though not the last. De La Rosa’s arm is electric.
At the time of the 1993 trade, Martinez had already logged 115 innings of major-league ball (almost entirely in relief) at age 22 with a 2.58 ERA and 9.9 strikeouts per nine innings, which puts him ahead compared to De La Rosa, who has just now recovered from Tommy John surgery. But make no mistake — there were concerns about Martinez’s health too, to the point that Dr. Frank Jobe was concerned he would break down. As high as we were on him, we didn’t know Martinez was going to become a legend any more than we know what De La Rosa’s ultimate journey will be. And I can tell you for a fact that plenty were thrilled about DeShields coming to Los Angeles.
The chances of De La Rosa becoming one of the greatest pitchers of all time might be slim, but De La Rosa doesn’t have to become the second Pedro to represent a major loss for the Dodgers. He could just be really good, while Gonzalez apes DeShields’ decline.
Like I said, I’m hungry for a World Series title, and I’m not saying the risk of trading De La Rosa won’t be worth it. Don’t misunderstand me: The Dodgers need a player like Gonzalez, who boosts them at their weakest position. I even believe that a move back to his Southern California roots and away from the Red Sox maelstrom could revitalize him.
All I’m saying is, short of Clayton Kershaw, the trade of any other pitcher besides De La Rosa would have left me more comfortable.
