I was thinking the other day, there are now so many former Dodgers scattered around the league, so which one has had a lot of success against the Dodgers. Steve Garvey played 71 games against LA after he left as a free agent. He hit .268/5/38. Not Garvey’s normal line. He was a career .307 hitter at Dodger Stadium.
JT has played in 19 games against the Dodgers, most of those when he was with the Mets. He has a .241/2/7 line against his old mates. He was a .294 hitter at Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers will see him in Toronto the 26th through the 28th of April.
Joc Pederson is now with Arizona, they play LA 13 times, so Joc will get some time against them. Joc has not done well during the regular season against his old team. He is hitting a paltry .150 with 2 homers and 9 driven in. He has a homer and 4 RBI’s against them in playoff games.
Pepiot and DeLuca have not played against them yet. Kyle Farmer has hit .266 against them. He has a homer and 8 driven in. Trea Turner has hit .257 against LA with a couple of homers and 9 RBIs.
Max Scherzer is 5-5 in his career against the Dodgers, but he has a really good ERA of 2.34 and he has struck out 113 Dodgers in 103.2 innings. He also has only given up 9 bombs to Dodger hitters.
Alex Wood is 3-5 against LA. His ERA is a little over 3. He has pitched 14 games against LA. Most of that work with the Braves.
I am hoping J.D. signs in the other league. He has hit 7 homers against the Dodgers, 4 in one game. He has hit 22 homers at Dodger Stadium. Bellinger has only had a handful of games against the Dodgers. But he has hit .333 with 3 homers and 4 RBIs plus a couple of really great defensive plays. Cody is a career .249 hitter at Dodger Stadium.
Freddie Freeman was a .261 hitter against the Dodgers. He is a .308 hitter at Dodger Stadium. He has 29 homers and 109 RBIs there. More to come. By the way, also in a handful of games, he is hitting .320 against his old team.
I really want to thank Jeff for the opportunity to keep writing. It is fun for me and I love doing the research. If you have a player or a subject, please do not hesitate to ask.
Keep it up Michael – you are much appreciated.
Yamamoto not as impressive last night, but battled away. More concerning is Gavin Lux at Shortstop. Yes I know it’s early, and he’s coming back from a terrible injury, but I’ve got to admit to being amazed at how poor he looks.
I thought he had been working out all winter, taking Ground Balls etc, but he looks very very rusty, almost to the point where it’s hard to watch. At this moment I’m not sure where the Dodgers go with him? On the plus side, his bat is alive, but there may well be a case for letting him get done Reps at AAA, because I’m not sure its gonna do his, or anyone else’s confidence any good if he consistently to flounder like he is.
Im confident we can carry Rojas’s weaker bat (we did ok last season) in this improved lineup.
He really looks bad. I like him, but he needs to get out of the spotlight for a bit.
Brassier is a little concerning too, and Wild Joe Kelly looks very rusty.
Still, I cannot wait for it all to start properly. I’m very optimistic.
Many Happy Returns to the Doyen of LADC – Badger.
I hope you’re well, and the balky back is being kind.
Have a great day my friend.
It puzzles me that JD Martinez has hooked up with a team yet.
I haven’t done much looking, but I think he’d be a good fit for the Mets. (Last season they used Vogelbach a lot.) He’d probably be a lot more appealing on the market if he played a little first base.
Happy Birthday Badger! Always look forward to your comments here. Sorry to hear about your friend. At our age those events just serve to remind us of our own mortality. Hope you can enjoy your special day today.
The Dodgers are starting 4 starters tonight (Smith, T. Hernandez, Outman, and Heyward). OTOH, the Giants could be starting their starting lineup against Paxton. Chapman will be making his SFG debut tonight. LaMonte Wade could be the 1B over Wilmer Flores and Marco Luciano could be the SS over Nich Ahmed. But I could make an argument for both Flores and Ahmed being the starters.
Trevor Bauer will be pitching against the Dodgers with his new Independent Team, Asian Breeze. It is a travel team that gets undiscovered players in front of scouts as they play against MiLB players on the back fields. The players generally pay a fee to join the travel team.
I do not believe any other NRI has these requirements. It is possible that someone like TJ McFarland could have his own opt out clause in his MiLB contract.
Although things haven’t started well for Lux so far defensively, I’m in the Bear camp as far as giving Lux some more time. I don’t think he wasn’t able to do any SS drills until late January. I have to agree that he doesn’t look healthy. Anyway, I say give him to the All Star break and then re-evaluate. With his offensive potential and the rest of the team’s offensive weapons could be enough to compensate for any defensive weakness from Lux (and Muncy) on the left side of the infield. The pitchers may get a bit upset though. I watched the third inning yesterday and Yamamoto might have been thinking…WTF, these are my starting SS and 3B? Yikes.
I was a big Vargas fan when he first got some MLB experience in 2022. Last year he started off with the broken fingers and struggles at the plate. The team gave him a fair chance to turn things around offensively. Defensively I thought his play improved somewhat even though he had no range at 2B. But, he regressed at the plate and was sent down for the remainder of the year. This year, with another position change, he hasn’t shown much and doesn’t look at that confident in LF. The improvement of Pages, with more power potential, and him being a true OF at all three spots he surely has a better chance of playing for the Dodgers at some point this year. With T. Hernandez on a one year deal, I would think Pages would be the favorite to replace him. But, who never knows. Vargas may turn things around and become a solid player. It could be an outfield of Vargas, Outman, and Pages in 2025!
Carry on.
More pitchers going down to arm injuries.
Way back after the 2022 season, I was writing hoping that the Dodgers would sign a SS and leave Gavin Lux at 2B. I said at the time that Lux could be an All Star 2B, but a below average SS. However the Dodgers decided to give the SS job to Lux for 2023, but we know what happened last Spring.
Now it is 2024, and Lux has been declared the Opening Day SS all Spring. Until now. Now Doc says that he is not sure who will be Opening Day SS. He came into Spring just getting cleared for baseball activities. The Dodgers have played 14 games, and Lux has appeared in 8; 5 as SS. He has had 10 chances at SS, and while they have not looked good, it has been just 10 chances. The Dodgers are making a decision on 10 chances?
In 2022, Lux was in the 8th percentile in arm strength. And now he is moving to a position that requires even more arm strength? The Dodgers gave Miguel Vargas a half year in 2023 (poor defense and offense). Muncy had all of last season as a poor defensive 3B. And Lux gets 10 chances?
I was in favor of upgrading SS and keeping Lux at 2B. They won 100 games with Miguel Rojas at SS. The Dodgers had all winter to upgrade SS, but said they were giving the job to Lux. Okay, now give him the time to work things out. If Lux’s SS play is hurting the team’s chances at winning, make a change at the deadline.
Interesting stuff out of Dodgers camp today:
1. Buehler threw today, and looked either sharp or locked in. Depending on which synonym you prefer. He struck out four batters (he was facing a few minor-leaguers in the org) missing bats.
2. ALERT! Roberts changed tack today, noticeably. He is not longer committing to Gavin Lux being the Dodgers opening day shortstop. While the team is still confident in Lux’s defense, he also reiterated that “performance matters” & that the club will do what is best for team.
3. Rosters for the Spring Breakout game have been released. For the LAD, some prospect names:
P: Ferris, Henriquez, Karros, Kopp, Rooney, Wrobleski
IF: Albertus, Gauthier, Sweeney
OF: DePaula, George, Munoz
C: Yeiner, Lirazano, Rushing
Red Sox extends 25 year old RHSP Brayan Bello. It is a 6 year $51MM guarantee (includes $1MM buyout of club option). There is also a $21MM club option for 2030. Of course we have been advised by a certain someone to not expect the Dodgers to approach Bobby Miller because he is going to be looking for $300MM.
There is a post on MLBTR about Lux. It basically says the same thing Roberts said earlier today. No guarantees Lux plays SS opening day. But it also touched on the trade rumors about Adames. Yes, Milwaukee has young Joey Ortiz penciled in as the future SS, especially with Adames in his walk year. But they look like they will need him to play some second base and third this year. I understand that Adames is attractive because of his defense. I totally get it. He would also make the team RH heavy and add a bat that averages 182 K’s every 162 games. His OPS+ is 95. Yes, he will give you a lot of pop. 20 or more homers 5 times in his career. OPS is also under .800 and he doesn’t walk much. Less than half the times he strikes out. With guys like Chris Taylor, who has struck out more than 100 times six times in the last seven years, Max Muncy, who has struck out 120 or more times five of the last six, Freeman averages 132 K’s every 162 games, but he makes enough contact to offset that. Betts averages 102 a year, Ohtani, 174, Teo, 191, Heyward 111, Smith has struck out 300 times in his five years. Those averages are over 162 games. So even without Adames, there is a lot of swing and miss going on. That is one reason why I believe they are trying to help Lux get better and might give him until at least the All-Star break before they make any drastic decisions. Rojas can always come in late in games for defensive purposes. Lux makes contact. He doesn’t strikeout much. He has had 10 chances this spring. That is way to small of a sample size to make any judgements.
I have an appointment with an orthopedist on Tuesday. Finally getting my knees checked out after all of these years. When I bend them, I can hear the bones grinding. Hell, the warranty ran out on them years ago. Here is how I feel about this team. I do not care who plays where. I would rather see them not trade for a rental. If there was a condition that Adames had to sign an extension, I would be ok with that. But I dislike them getting rental players and trading away guys who are under team control. I want them to win. Whatever it takes to get rid of the bad taste the last two playoffs have left in my mouth, I am for it.
Well we had our first rainy day of spring training on Thursday, in Arizona. The weather has been great. Two big thunder and lightening storms came through, one late morning and the next about 6:00 pm. When it rains here, it doesn’t fool around. It bounces off the pavement about 2 feet and the evening storm pelted hail, like bullets. They don’t last long but it’s instant flooding. The forecast looks like we’re good to go for awhile now. Somehow they got the game in down the road at Goodyear.
Really nice to see Michael Busch hit a 2 run homer for the Cubs v Cincy at Goodyear. Now with Bellinger in camp it will be interesting to see his role. He played first yesterday. It would be nice to see him get a legit shot and not get buried again.
Well we had our first rainy day of spring training on Thursday, in Arizona. The weather has been great. Two big thunder and lightening storms came through, one late morning and the next about 6:00 pm. When it rains here, it doesn’t fool around. It bounces off the pavement about 2 feet and the evening storm pelted hail. They don’t last long but it’s instant flooding. The fields drain well and some games got in.
Really nice to see Michael Busch hit a 2 run homer for the Cubs v Cincy at Goodyear. Now with Bellinger in camp it will be interesting to see his role. He played first yesterday. It would be nice to see him get a legit shot and not get buried again.
I am assuming that Roberts is referring to WS Championships and not Divisional Championships. What if AF followed that logic with Roberts? With him in the dugout making playoff decisions, does that give the Dodgers the best chance to win? If performance is paramount, do we consider Roberts’ performance as a playoff manager as paramount?