Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers
Hi ho, it’s February. Dodger pitchers and catchers and other eager beavers are scheduled to report to Camelback Ranch in eight days. The first full squad workout comes two weeks from Tuesday.
Vibe: unsettled.
Forecast: angsty.
Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers
Manny Machado’s first 50 plate appearances as a Dodger are now in the books: .400 on-base percentage, .442 slugging percentage. During that time, the Dodgers went 6-4 on a road trip against three playoff contenders, a trip that you could have called a complete success had they won the 16-inning game at Philadelphia and taken all three series, if you’re into sports and also into video games you could also try games like WoW Classic which is a great choice for this and you can also get gold if you read this guide here.
Josh Barber/Los Angeles Dodgers
It’s not as if the Dodgers must call up an outfielder if, as expected, Yasiel Puig goes on the disabled list with an oblique strain suffered Sunday. In addition to Matt Kemp and Joc Pederson, they have three infielders who play outfield in Chris Taylor, Kiké Hernandez and Cody Bellinger, and relocating Bellinger to center (with Kemp in right) would open up time for Max Muncy to play first base and give him a break from learning second base on the job.
But moving an infielder to the outfield would also force more playing time at second base for the likes of struggling Logan Forsythe (1 for 27 with two walks and 11 strikeouts since June 22) and Chase Utley, whereas you could hardly ask for better outfield candidates for the Dodgers to import from Oklahoma City than Andrew Toles and Alex Verdugo.
If the Dodgers had nothing more than a platoon of Kiké Hernández and Joc Pederson entering the season, I’d be fine with the Dodgers in left field.
In a typical Dodger batting order, left field might basically be the No. 7 spot. If Logan Forsythe bounced back from his 2017 struggles at the plate, the left fielder could bat as low as eighth.
Chris Taylor, CF
Corey Seager, SS
Justin Turner, 3B
Cody Bellinger, 1B
Yasiel Puig, RF
Austin Barnes/Yasmani Grandal, C
TBD, LF
Logan Forsythe, 2B
You don’t want left field to be a black hole in the lineup — certainly, by the time the postseason race heats up, you don’t want any black holes in the lineup. But entering the season, the Dodgers are in fine shape with Hernández, who in his career has an .883 OPS with 19 homers in 382 at-bats against left-handed pitching, and Pederson, who has OPSed .823 against righties with 54 homers in 953 at-bats (23 homers per 400 at-bats).
Each player has gone through an extended slump in his career, but both recalibrated by last October — in the glare of the postseason, no less. And, both Hernández and Pederson will be 26 years old for most of the season. It might seem like they’ve been around for a while, but they’re just entering prime time.
In particular, Pederson is a buy-low candidate. His contact rate has improved each of the past three years. His on-base percentage was a career-worst .331 in 2017, but his batting average on balls in play (.241) was the unluckiest of his three full seasons in the majors. In his poorest year, Pederson’s OBP was only .023 behind Chris Taylor in Taylor’s best year.
The signings of Kenley Jansen and Justin Turner still count. (Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)
If this offseason, the Dodgers followed up their National League pennant by signing free agents Rich Hill through 2019, Justin Turner through 2020 and Kenley Jansen through 2021 (not to mention adding a 39-homer-hitting first baseman in the process), everyone would be saying it was a huge haul.
That’s not an argument to stand pat for the sake of standing pat — nor is it to deny that a trade for a certain Miami outfielder had its appeal — but don’t think less of the Dodgers because they got a big part of their homework done a year ago.
And I have to say, I like the mix the Dodgers have for their outfield right now. Yasiel Puig, Chris Taylor, Joc Pederson, Kiké Hernández, Andrew Toles and Alex Verdugo all have considerable upside, with only Taylor arguably playing over his head in 2017.
Pederson, who won’t turn 26 until April, might well have had the same growth experience last summer that Puig had in 2016. Through the end of July, Pederson had a .359 on-base percentage, .481 slugging percentage and .840 OPS with a career-low strikeout rate, statistics that got lost in the shuffle when he hit the August skids. Then he came back and delivered an 1.186 OPS in 26 playoff plate appearances.
As an alternative platoon partner to Hernández, Verdugo had a .389 on-base percentage for Triple-A Oklahoma City, ninth in the Pacific Coast League (despite being its second youngest player), walked more than he struck out and boasts a plus arm. And before he ripped his knee ligament trying to preserve a Julio Urías no-hitter in April, Toles was tied for the Dodger team lead with five homers.
All due credit to Milwaukee, which led the NL Central at the All-Star Break and finished with 86 wins last year. By acquiring Christian Yelich and Lorenzo Cain in one afternoon, the Brewers have definitely made their 2018 a lot more interesting.
But it’s not nothing that the Dodgers are adding Verdugo and Toles to an outfield that, following Toles’ injury, won 95 games without them. In adjusted OPS last year, the Dodgers finished second in the NL (behind now-depleted Miami) with an offense whose two oldest starters were only 30 and 32. You always look to improve, but they remain in good shape.
We will take it! 3-2 OKC on a Will Venable single! ⬇️7️⃣#ITFDBOKC pic.twitter.com/6ETaAY9q1s
— OKC Dodgers (@okc_dodgers) September 17, 2016
By Jon Weisman
After Brett Anderson pitched five strong innings, Triple-A Oklahoma City scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh to rally for a 4-2 victory over El Paso in Game 3 of the Pacific Coast League finals.
Rich Crimi/Tulsa Drillers
By Jon Weisman
Double-A Tulsa right-hander Chase De Jong was named Pitcher of the Year in the Texas League, which also placed second baseman Willie Calhoun and outfielder Alex Verdugo on its All-Star Team.
Cody Bellinger (Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)
By Jon Weisman
Despite this year’s promotions of Corey Seager and Julio Urias and the debut of American rookie Kenta Maeda, Baseball America included six Dodgers in its Midseason Top 100 Prospects update.
Cody Bellinger (24), Jose De Leon (25), Alex Verdugo (44), Grant Holmes (60), Frankie Montas (82) and Willie Calhoun (98) were the Dodgers listed.
By comparison, the season-opening 2016 Baseball America 100 had Seager (1), Urías (4), De Leon (23), Maeda (50), Bellinger (54), Holmes (72) and Verdugo (100).
The new list does not include anyone taken in the 2016 draft or signed internationally this month.
By Jon Weisman
When Justin Turner hit his first homer of 2016 on Saturday, it capped his best four-game stretch of the season.
Turner went 6 for 16 with two doubles, two walks and the homer, raising his OPS from .631 to .714. Though Turner went 0 for 3 with a walk Sunday, Dave Roberts didn’t think the uptick in numbers was a fluke.
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By Jon Weisman
Before tonight’s 3-1 loss to Kansas City, Andrew Friedman confirmed suspicions that Mike Bolsinger’s oblique injury would knock him off track for an opening-week start.
Carlos Frias, Zach Lee and Brandon Beachy are the leading possibilities for making that start on April 8, though Julio Urias conspiracy theorists will note that the teenage lefty threw three “impressive” innings in a minor-league game, according to Ken Gurnick of MLB.com.
What else can I tell you?
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Whatever you think of the Dodgers’ luck right now, there’s this: Clayton Kershaw came out of a car accident unscathed.
Matthew Mesa/Los Angeles Dodgers
By Jon Weisman
In discussing potential Dodger leadoff hitters last week, I hesitated to include Andre Ethier because he had never done so in a regular-season game – but I decided to do so anyway, because against right-handers, it makes sense.
Sure enough, Ethier grabbed a leadoff spot in today’s 7-3 Dodger victory over Colorado, walking and singling in his first two at-bats.
Dave Roberts told reporters today that Ethier could bat leadoff when the matchup is favorable.
What else can I tell you?
Dodger Stadium looks great, and the intriguing second pitchers' mound near first base is even more exciting! pic.twitter.com/o8WJnLW1pc
— Dodger Insider (@DodgerInsider) March 16, 2016
By Jon Weisman
ESPN prospect analyst Keith Law ranked the Dodger farm system second in MLB, thanks in no small part to the appearance of seven prospects in his top 100 list that was released today.
As has been their custom, Corey Seager and Julio Urias landed in Law’s top five, with Seager claiming the top spot previously held by Minnesota’s Byron Buxton. They are the only Dodgers in Law’s top 50. However, there are five in the next half-hundred: Alex Verdugo (51), Jose De Leon (60), Grant Holmes (71), Yusniel Diaz (79), the Cuban emigré whose signing hasn’t been officially announced by the Dodgers, and Cody Bellinger (92).
Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers
By Jon Weisman
Baseball America’s annual ranking of Dodger prospects actually comes early this year — the 2015 rankings were published 10 months ago — and comes with five names that weren’t on the preseason 2015 list.
Joc Pederson graduated from prospect status, but Corey Seager remains a rookie despite his impressive September debut, allowing the Dodger infielder a second consecutive year in the No. 1 slot. Julio Urias moves up a spot accordingly to No. 2, while right-hadner Jose De Leon leapfrogs into the No. 3 spot.
The top newcomer on this year’s list is infielder Jose Peraza, acquired from Atlanta in the big July 30 deal. “Peraza lacks a high ceiling,” Baseball America’s Ben Badler writes, “but his bat-to-ball skills and wheels should make him a steady player in the middle of the diamond.” In the list of best tools in the Dodger minor leagues, Peraza is called the organization’s top athlete.
Making the biggest leap internally is first baseman-outfielder Cody Bellinger, who skipped Great Lakes after hitting three homers with Rookie League Ogden in 2014 and hit 30 for High-A Rancho Cucamonga in 2015. The 20-year-old is also labeled the best power hitter in the system.
“Bellinger used to gear his swing for line drives, but he made a mechanical adjustment in 2015 to put his body in a better position to create torque,” Badler wrote in his analysis. “Toward the end of 2015, he began to study heat maps to understand his own strengths and weaknesses, and he condensed his trigger slightly.”
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