[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVBahpC9g-8]
By Jon Weisman
Good day, everyone. I’ve got a long buildup of links to share, and today’s off day provides the opportunity.
Tag: Joc Pederson (Page 6 of 11)
The 2015 Dodger All-Stars (Ben Platt/MLB.com)
By Jon Weisman
Yasmani Grandal saved Dodger hitters from a quadruple-whiffing at tonight’s All-Star Game.
On a 1-2 pitch from Kansas City reliever extraordinaire Wade Davis with two out in the bottom of the eighth inning, Grandal’s bid for an RBI single was flagged down deep in the hole at shortstop by Jose Iglesias, who threw Grandal out.
Davis struck out the previous batter, Adrian Gonzalez, on four pitches. Earlier in the game, Joc Pederson was fanned twice, by Dallas Keuchel in the second inning and Chris Archer in the fifth.
The three Dodgers combined for nine innings in the field: Pederson for the first five innings in left, Gonzalez the last three at first base and Grandal the ninth inning at catcher. Grandal might have had it the hardest, with Reds reliever Aroldis Chapman throwing 12 of his 14 pitches at 100 mph or more.
Clayton Kershaw took the loss for the National League, which was trailing 3-1 when the Dodger lefty left the game before losing, 6-3. And yes, that means the American League will have home-field advantage in a potential Game 7 of the World Series.
AL 100 020 210 — 6 7 2
NL 010 001 001 — 3 6 0
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By Jon Weisman
Joc Pederson was an absolute smash at the first round of this year’s Home Run Derby in Cincinnati, before falling by the slimmest of margins.
Hometown hero Todd Frazier of Cincinnati went all the way to bonus time to edge Pederson in the final round tonight, 15-14, though Pederson — blasting distance-shattering homers to all fields — dazzled the nationwide audience like none other, and muted a history of Dodger disappointments at the event.
As I sensed a couple of weeks ago, the winds of change (and injury) have pushed Joc Pederson into the National League All-Star starting lineup, replacing the injured Matt Holliday.
The 23-year-old Pederson is the Dodgers’ first rookie All-Star starter since Hideo Nomo in 1995 and, as Eric Stephen of True Blue L.A. notes, the franchise’s first rookie position player to start the All-Star game ever.
Pederson earned his spot in the starting lineup through his vote count from the NL Player Ballot. He will probably start in left field, with Pittsburgh’s Andrew McCutchen in center field and Washington’s Bryce Harper in right.
— Jon Weisman
By Jon Weisman
Greetings. A few quick morning notes …
- St. Louis has confirmed that Matt Holliday will join fellow National League All-Star electee Giancarlo Stanton on the sidelines for the All-Star Game, leaving two outfield spots open in the starting lineup alongside Bryce Harper that will go to two of these four: Andrew McCutchen, A.J. Pollock, Justin Upton, Joc Pederson.
Here’s how the candidates rank in wins above replacement among NL outfielders: Pollock third, McCutchen fourth, Pederson fifth, Upton 11th.
On Friday, Pederson singled, then later doubled in the game-winning run in the Dodgers’ 3-2 comeback victory over Milwaukee.
- Though a starter for almost his entire career, Andre Ethier is moving up the Dodgers all-time pinch-hitting charts. His two-run, pinch-hit, game-tying single in the seventh inning Friday gave him 27 career pinch-hit RBI, good for 11th place and one away from a three-way tie with Rick Monday, Mitch Webster and Ken McMullen for eighth place.
Ethier also has the 10th-highest on-base percentage (.394) among pinch-hitters in Dodger history (minimum 50 plate appearances). Arky Vaughan is first at .461.
- In his first appearance since having elective cosmetic eye surgery, Julio Urias retired six of seven batters Friday for Rookie League Arizona, allowing an infield single while striking out three. “He hovered around 93-94 mph, topped out at 97 and saw his off-speed stuff drop into the low-80s,” wrote William Boor for MLB.com. (Hector Olivera also played in the game and went 0 for 3.)
- Dodger Double-A catcher and MLB Futures Game participant Kyle Farmer is the subject of a nice profile by Eric Stephen of True Blue L.A.
- Workloads for MLB starting pitchers are no longer declining, according to a subscription-only piece from Bill James that was excerpted by Rob Neyer at Fox Sports’ Just a Bit Outside:
… What is happening at this time is not relievers taking innings away from starting pitchers so much as it is relievers taking innings away from other relievers. The batters faced per game by relievers are declining, at this point, only because we switch more rapidly from one relief pitcher to another.
Actually, the historical trend toward fewer innings for starting pitchers appears to be over. Major league starting pitchers pitched more innings (and more innings per start) in 2014 than they did in 1999—fifteen years earlier. There is no decline in innings pitched by starting pitchers occurring at this time; if anything, the numbers are increasing.
In the year 2003, major league relievers pitched more innings than they did in 2014. However, in 2003 they pitched those 14,720 innings in 12,958 relief appearances. In 2014 the innings were down to 14,622—but the games were up to 14,461.
- Finally, this … speaks for itself.
Um, @Cindyluellis, are you watching this? @IntentionalTalk pic.twitter.com/ZFjLEET6mz
— Dodger Insider (@DodgerInsider) July 10, 2015
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Good feedback on @IntentionalTalk cameo except from LAD Strength Coach @bdmac23 who met me back at my locker with a new nutritional plan.
— AJ Ellis (@AJEllis17) July 10, 2015
Photos: Juan Ocampo/Los Angeles Dodgers
By Jon Weisman
Yasiel Puig squared up on the 2-1 pitch in the bottom of the eighth inning Wednesday and hit it hard to center fielder Odubel Herrera, almost as hard as he lined the 3-2 pitch in the fourth inning that Herrera had to make an awkward leaping catch to corral. That drive was recorded at 109 mph off Puig’s bat.
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By Jon Weisman
I’m not sure I can do justice to the surreal quality of tonight’s long and crazy, crazy and long Dodger game, won by the home team, 10-7, in well under five hours, so just take these notes and know that I did not feel rushed to write them.
By Jon Weisman
For the second year in a row, four Dodgers have been named to the National League All-Star team.
Adrian Gonzalez, Yasmani Grandal, Zack Greinke and Joc Pederson were selected by a combination of player vote and NL All-Star manager Bruce Bochy. (Pederson and Greinke were by player vote, Gonzalez and Grandal by Bochy.)
As noted Sunday, Greinke and Pederson are each in the running to end up as All-Star Game starters. Greinke is probably the No. 1 alternative to Washington’s Max Scherzer, while Pederson is one of the top candidates to be an injury replacement for either Giancarlo Stanton or Matt Holliday.
By Jon Weisman
The Dodgers were shut out today by the Mets and the National League All-Star voters, who didn’t put any Dodger position players among the league’s elected starters.
Los Angeles still has a chance to make an impression on the All-Star roster when reserves are announced Monday afternoon, with Zack Greinke, Clayton Kershaw, Kenley Jansen and J.P. Howell in consideration for the pitching staff and Joc Pederson, Adrian Gonzalez, Yasmani Grandal and Justin Turner for the bench. Pederson and Greinke could still even end up in the starting lineup.
Kiké Hernandez is 14 for 41 with five doubles, two triples, a homer and three walks against left-handed starting pitching this season. (Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)
Mets at Dodgers, 1:10 p.m.
Kiké Hernandez, SS
Howie Kendrick, 2B
Justin Turner, 3B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Yasiel Puig, RF
Soctt Van Slyke, LF
Joc Pederson, CF
A.J. Ellis, C
Mike Bolsinger, P
Kiké Hernandez, SS
Howie Kendrick, 2B
Justin Turner, 3B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Yasiel Puig, RF
Soctt Van Slyke, LF
Joc Pederson, CF
A.J. Ellis, C
Mike Bolsinger, P
By Jon Weisman
It’s more like a bug bite than a debilitating injury, but the Dodgers could be happier, healthier and heartier facing left-handed starters this year.
Going into today’s game against left-handed Mets rookie Steven Matz, the Dodgers are 7-8 (.467) against southpaw starters in 2015, compared with 39-28 (.582) against righties.
In those eight losses, the Dodgers have scored a combined 14 runs. Three of those eight losses have come in games started by San Francisco’s Madison Bumgarner, who has a 1.31 ERA against Los Angeles in 2015.
In their seven wins against lefty starters, the Dodgers have scored 35 runs (five per game).
Lefty starters have held the Dodgers to a .668 OPS, as opposed to their .783 OPS against righty starters. Confounding expectations, Dodger right-handed batters have hit better against righties than lefties in 2015.
Yasiel Puig (1.082 OPS) and Kiké Hernandez (1.034 OPS) have been the Dodgers’ best hitters against lefty starters this year, which helps explain why Hernandez is batting leadoff today. Joc Pederson is starting in the No. 7 spot for the first time since April, though his OPS against lefty starters (.875) is third on the team, ahead of Scott Van Slyke (.744).
One problem for the Dodgers is that the typical No. 3 and No. 4 hitters, Justin Turner (.559) and Adrian Gonzalez (.601) have not done well in their small samples against lefty starters this year. The right-handed hitting Turner’s career platoon splits actually favor him against right-handed pitching (.681 OPS vs. all lefties, .816 OPS vs. all righties).
Further, Dodger catchers A.J. Ellis, Yasmani Grandal and Austin Barnes are 7 for 44 with two doubles and no home runs against southpaw starters this year (.204 slugging percentage), though Ellis does have 10 walks to give him a .356 on-base percentage.
Even Alex Guerrero only has a .239 on-base percentage against left-handed starters, though he has two homers in 45 at-bats.
One other piece of trivia: The Dodgers have one stolen base all season against a left-handed starter, and that was by Zack Greinke.
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By Jon Weisman
Sandwiching a home run in the same inning by Yasmani Grandal, Dodger outfielders Andre Ethier and Joc Pederson each hit fourth-inning blasts that made a bit of history tonight in Arizona.
Pederson’s home run, which almost predictably came after a first-inning walk and third-inning strikeout, was his 20th of the season, making him the first Dodger since Gary Sheffield in 2000 and fourth in Los Angeles Dodger history to have at least 20 homers and 50 walks before the All-Star Break.
The 23-year-old rookie is only the eighth Dodger rooke ever to have 20 homers in an entire season.
Joc Pederson with a 461-foot HR.
Pederson has 7 HR in June with an average distance of 450.3 feet. pic.twitter.com/AHUIlaEm6f
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) June 30, 2015
As my colleague Cary Osborne informed me last week, Pederson is ahead of the pace needed to become the first rookie in MLB history with at least 40 homers and 100 walks. Al Rosen came closest in 1957 with Cleveland, homering 37 times and walking 100.
Only two National League rookies have hit more homers before July 1 than Pederson: Wally Berger (22, 1930, Boston Braves) and Albert Pujols (21, 2001, St. Louis Cardinals).
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But let’s not forget Ethier. His home run was the 155th of his career, which the Dodgers’ public relations department noted put him in sole possession of ninth place on the Los Angeles Dodgers’ all-time list, ahead of Willie Davis.
It also gave the Dodgers six players with at least 10 homers before the All-Star Break for the first time since 1979, which admittedly was a team that finished the first half of the season in last place. Grandal, who hit his 11th home run, is one of those six players.
Juan Ocampo/Los Angeles Dodgers
By Jon Weisman
In the final All-Star Game balloting update before the results are announced July 5, no Dodger is within more than 2.4 million votes of a starting spot — but there is still some intrigue.
Although Bryce Harper returned to play Sunday for Washington after a brief absence, the next three National League vote leaders in the outfield — Giancarlo Stanton, Matt Holliday and Nori Aoki– are on the disabled list. If none of those three are able to play in the game, Dodger center fielder Joc Pederson, in sixth place with a 330,000-vote lead over Jason Heyward, would be in line to start. To bet on any NL games, sites like slot dolar138 are up and running.
NL All-Star manager Bruce Bochy of the Giants will make the decision on who starts in place of any injured players, but fan balloting should be a factor in his selection (along with, perhaps, the presence of Dodger manager Don Mattingly as one of his coaches, not to mention the fact that the Dodgers have let the NL West most of this season).
In any case: Your votes still matter.
You can read more about the selection process here. Vote up to 35 times until the July 2 deadline. Here’s a direct link to the ballot.
Earlier today on Fangraphs, Dave Cameron explained why he’d select Pederson to start and add Yasmani Grandal, Adrian Gonzalez, Justin Turner, Zack Greinke, Clayton Kershaw and Kenley Jansen as reserves.
The starting position players for the 2015 All-Star Game will be announced Sunday at 4:30 p.m. Pacific on ESPN, with the reserves named the following night (July 6) at 4 p.m. Pacific on ESPN. Pitchers and reserves are determined through a combination of player ballot choices and managerial selections.
The All-Star Game Final Vote for the 34th spot on each team’s roster will then begin, continuing through July 10.
Current vote totals appear below:
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Though not strictly a rookie move — Mike Bolsinger is technically a veteran — the Dodgers renewed their tradition of sending a newbie or three out into the streets near Wrigley Field to get coffee and coffee-like drinks. SportsNet LA’s “Backstage Dodgers” shared a clip.
— Jon Weisman
Coffee run! pic.twitter.com/SKuKTTKoPC
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) June 25, 2015
Album dropping soon. pic.twitter.com/wPHdbAU0qR
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) June 25, 2015
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Giants at Dodgers, 7:10 p.m.
Yasiel Puig, RF
Joc Pederson, CF
Justin Turner, 3B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Howie Kendrick, 2B
Andre Ethier, LF
Yasmani Grandal, C
Jimmy Rollins, SS
Mike Bolsinger, P
Yasiel Puig, RF
Joc Pederson, CF
Justin Turner, 3B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Howie Kendrick, 2B
Andre Ethier, LF
Yasmani Grandal, C
Jimmy Rollins, SS
Mike Bolsinger, P
By Jon Weisman
Are there stakes for the Dodgers tonight? Sure. It’s a game against the Giants, their top rival both spiritually and in the 2015 National League West standings.
But what seems to be more at stake for the Dodgers is their self-esteem.
After tallying only seven runs in their four games this week against Texas and requiring a walkoff balk to salvage any sunshine, the Dodgers enter tonight trying to escape an even darker cloud.
If the Dodgers go scoreless for the first three innings against San Francisco, they will set a Los Angeles record for most consecutive scoreless innings against a single opponent.
According to Stats LLC (via the Dodger PR department), Pittsburgh shut out the Dodgers for 33 consecutive innings from September 26, 1967 through April 15, 1968. The Giants have two 31-inning streaks against the Dodgers, one in 2012, the other current.
While the Dodgers avoid Madison Bumgarner this weekend, they do begin this series against Chris Heston, who 10 days ago no-hit the Mets with no walks and 11 strikeouts.
To reverse the tide, the Dodgers have taken certain steps that might or might not have an immediate effect. For the first time this year, Don Mattingly has placed Yasiel Puig, who has a career .387 on-base percentage and .386 in the leadoff spot, and Joc Pederson one and two in the batting order. The move (which puts Pederson 57 percent of the way toward fulfilling my March prophecy for him)— also has the domino effect of Justin Turner batting third tonight.
Prediction: @yungjoc650 starts in seven different spots in the batting order during the 2015 regular season.
— Dodger Insider (@DodgerInsider) March 25, 2015
“Just moving pieces,” Mattingly said. “Really the main thing I wanted to was flip Yas and Joc to see what that looks like, and from there Justin fits into the No. 3 spot, so you split (left-handed hitters) Joc and Adrian.”
Though he didn’t discount the possibility that the new order could provide a spark, Mattingly isn’t counting on it to do so. He maintains that the key for the Dodger offense is to fight for good at-bats — easier said than done. On this subject, he spoke at length.
Los Angeles Dodgers Joc Pederson signs for Westchester Little League prior to the June 7 game against St. Louis.
By Jon Weisman
Joc Pederson gained and lost ground simultaneously in the past week of fan voting for the All-Star Game.
Pederson moved up from 11th to eighth place among National League outfielders, but his distance from a starting spot increased from 813,000 votes to 1.3 million.
The 23-year-old rookie remains deserving of votes, ranking third among all NL outfielders in Wins Above Replacement. Andre Ethier is ninth among NL outfielders in WAR.
Yasiel Puig also moved up in the standings during his first week off the disabled list, but the 2014 NL starter’s gap from the top three spots increased as well.
First baseman Adrian Gonzalez, second baseman Howie Kendrick and catcher Yasmani Grandal remained second and fifth at their positions.
You can read more about the selection process here. Vote up to 35 times until the July 2 deadline. Click the image below to enlarge the current results.
