Oh, what a difference 66 years make. In 1958 when the Dodgers moved to LA, they had a team total of 172 home runs. The most by any player on that team was the 22 slugged by Charlie Neal and Gil Hodges. No one else had more than 18. And those belonged to Carl Furillo in his last full season as a Dodger. He was injured most of 59 and released in 1960.
In 59, that number dropped to 148, with 6 of those being hit by pitchers. Hodges 25 and Snider’s 23 led the team. Ohtani has 26 already. In 1960, it dropped to 126. Seems to be a trend there. Only Howard hit 20 or more that season. Frank Howard was the first LA Dodger to hit 30 or more when he slugged 31 in 1962, their first year in Dodger Stadium. But even there, they only hit 140 all year.
Since Freidman became the boss, they have not had a season under 187 except the covid year. Since 2017, they have consistently been over 200. 2017, 221, 2018, 235, 2019, 279, 2021, 237, 2022, 212, 2023, 249. At the halfway point this year, they have 113. Easily on pace for another 200 plus season. In the covid year, they hit 116 in 60 games and followed that up with 30 in all of the playoff games.
You go back to the last 11 years in Brooklyn, the Boys of Summer teams, those teams hit over 200 homers exactly twice. 1953 and 1955. And they were supposed to be full of power hitters. But it seems almost everybody in baseball slug’s homers now. Chris Taylor and Kike have both had 20 homer seasons.
No Tommy Lasorda team ever hit 200 homers. The most they got was the 191 in the year that Garvey, Cey, Baker and Smith his 30 or more. 1977. The first LA Dodger team to top 200 homers? The 2000 Dodgers led by Gary Sheffield’s 43. They hit 206 the following season led by Shawn Green’s Dodger record of 49. No Dodger player before or since has hit more. Beltre’s 48 got them back over 200 at 203 in 2004. They were the last LA Dodger team to top 200 until the 2017 team started this run.
Are the Dodgers too reliant on homers? One could make the case that they are. Just look at their record this year, they are almost unbeatable when they hit 2 or more homers. One or none, they are not nearly as good. They only hit two in the series with the Giants and lost two games. When they are slugging, they are lethal.
The only consistent hitters in the lineup at this point are Ohtani, who is almost a lock to become the first Dodger ever to crank 50 homers in a season, and Freeman. They miss Mookie’s bat a lot. Muncy is not nearly as consistent, but when he gets on a roll, he can carry the team and has done that before.
In my humble opinion, they could use a player or two who are good bat to ball skills type players. Someone who also brings some occasional pop with him. I have no clue who might be on the market, but we all know several have been mentioned as possibilities. Home runs are fun to watch, just like great defensive plays in the field. But you cannot build a steady offense by counting on the longball.
You need guys like there used to be, Brett Butler, Maury Wills, great leadoff men who set the table for the guys behind them. The game is so much different now, and those days are gone for good. Although there is a trend among some teams to bring back those good contact so so power guys. Steven Kwan with Cleveland is one example, another would be Luis Arraez with the Padres.
Might be why the Dodgers took a flyer on Kendall George. He has struggled some, but he has great speed, as witnessed by his 21 steals at Rancho. He also has his BA up to .283. He has no homers, and only 5 extra base hits. But the kid is 19 and should hit for a little more power as he gets some more muscle on him.
For now, Dodger fans are going to have to live with the present approach to hitting. It is taught throughout the system, and it seems to be the way they want their players to hit. One player that type of hitting has affected adversely is Miguel Vargas. Miguel has gone back to his old style, and so far, it seems to be working. But he is nothing more than a platoon player right now facing only lefties. I have the feeling he is being showcased for a trade.
I am sure you all have your opinions on this. And if you agree or not, I am sure I will see your arguments. But I think that is just the way this organization is wired right now. And I do not see it changing anytime soon. The last Dodger to lead the league in home runs was Duke Snider, with 43 in 1956. Duke also led the National League in home runs in the decade of the 50’s. He had four straight seasons hitting 40. A rare feat. Gil Hodges was second to Duke in the 50’s. They were the only two players with 300 plus for the decade. LA Dodger hitters have come close to HR crowns, Bellinger with his 47 in his MVP year, Beltre with his 48, and Green with 49.
MiLB GAME SUMMARY REPORTS
OKC Baseball Club 3 – Las Vegas Aviators (A’s) 1
This was a big River Ryan game. He completed 4.0 innings for the first time this season, and did so on 57 pitches (40 strikes). He allowed 2 singles and a BB to go with 4 K. Ryan threw five pitches – 4 seamer, slider, change, cutter, curve. He got his fastball up to 99 and was sitting 97-98 for the first three innings. He only threw one 4-seamer in the 4th. Both singles were off sliders.
Tanner Dodson and Ricky Vanasco pitched 3.0 scoreless innings. Mike Flynn gave up a solo HR in the 8th. Matt Gage pitched a perfect 9th for his 1st save.
OKC scored the game’s 1st run on a pair of walks, double play moving a runner to 3rd, and WP.
A pair of solo HRs by Ryan Ward (22) in the 4th, and James Outman (9) in the 8th completed the scoring.
James Outman tattoos a homer to center field! pic.twitter.com/8ku2cC2uCA
— Oklahoma City Baseball Club (@okc_baseball) July 4, 2024
Ryan Ward goes deep for a second consecutive game!
— Oklahoma City Baseball Club (@okc_baseball) July 4, 2024
That's his league-leading 22nd dinger of the season. pic.twitter.com/oLeQm94Uz4
Ryan Ward was the only OKC hitter with 2 hits. Besides the 2 HRs, the other XBH was from a Hunter Feduccia double (14).
Tulsa Drillers 3 – Wichita Wind Surge (Minnesota) 2 – 10 innings
Remember the name Chris Campos. Campos was the LAD 7th round draft pick in 2022 from St. Mary’s. He was a 2-way player at St. Mary’s. Remind you of anyone? Except Campos was a SS while Gonsolin was an OF. Some considered a sleeper in the draft.
Campos has started 2 games for Tulsa and has completed 6.0 innings in both games. He did not allow a run in his first start, and allowed one unearned run in his 2nd start. Overall, at Tulsa, 12.0 IP, 1 unearned run, 8 hits, 2 BB, 11K. He left the game with a 2-1 lead that stood until the 9th.
Get on board with Chris Campos!
— Dodgers Daily (@dodger_daily) July 4, 2024
He has a ton of skill in manipulating his pitches that turn, then locating his FB to parts of the zone that play off of his movement. And, he always seems to be 3 pitches ahead in terms of what he knows he's gonna throw.
6IP 4H 1R 6K 2BB#dodgers pic.twitter.com/NU4ot4Gegs
Chris Campos turned in another great start!
— Dodgers Daily (@dodger_daily) June 23, 2024
6IP 5H 1R 4Ks 1BB
Gave up a single run in the 4th but controlled almost the entire game. ERA down to 3.15, WHIP just 1.01, 50Ks in 45.2IP. 2nd outing in a row (11IP) where he's allowed just 1 run, 9 Ks in those outings, just 1 walk.… pic.twitter.com/wBA9GnhVga
Chris Campos can really manipulate his slider! Sometimes it cuts other times it has depth, it changes speeds & is in the zone a lot. It's obvious he understands what makes him good & that leads to an impressive consistency in executing. Works great in big moments too! #dodgers pic.twitter.com/ZazoM35FIn
— Dodgers Daily (@dodger_daily) June 28, 2024
Ronan Kopp followed Campos and pitched 2.0 scoreless innings. He struck out 4, but more importantly for him, he walked only 1 batter.
Lucas Wepf relieved Ronan Kopp in the 9th and hit the first batter he faced. After a strikeout and WP, Wepf gave up the game tying double.
Tulsa scored a pair in the third. Bubba Alleyne singled and scored on an Alex Freeland double. Freeland scored on Taylor Young’s single for a 2-0 lead.
#Dodgers SS prospect Alex Freeland, who was named as a Top 100 prospect today by Baseball America, picked up an RBI double pic.twitter.com/dQkB9ycLup
— Bruce Kuntz (@Bnicklaus7) July 4, 2024
Tied at 2-2 in the 10th, Brandon Davis was the free runner at 2nd and scored on a Bubba Alleyne single for the 3-2 lead.
In the bottom of the 10th, Wepf struck out the first two batters and got the final out on a fly out for the win.
Bubba Alleyne was the only Tulsa hitter with a multi-hit game (2-4).
Doubles – Alex Freeland (11), Damon Keith (5), Griffin Lockwood-Powell (10).
Great Lakes Loons 6 – West Michigan Whitecaps (Detroit) 5
Great Lakes jumped out to a 4-0 and 6-1 lead and held on for the 6-5 win.
In the 1st, Josue De Paula led off with a single, moved to 3rd on a Noah Miller single, and scored on a Kyle Nevin fielder’s choice.
In the third with 2 outs, Noah Miller doubled and scored on a Kyle Nevin single. Sam Mongelli followed with his 3rd HR of the season, and a 4-0 lead.
In the 5th, Josue led off and reached on an E-3. Nevin doubled to score De Paula, and Nevin scored on a Jake Gelof single.
With Felix Bautista on the mound in the 7th, with one out, a pair of singles, WP, and double scored two. The third run scored on a fielding error to cut the lead to 6-5.
Michael Martinez and Kelvin Ramirez pitched two scoreless innings to preserve the win with Ramirez registering his 5th save.
Visalia Rawhide (Arizona) 5 – Rancho Cucamonga Quakes 1
Jeral Perez led off the bottom of the first with a ground rule double, moved to 3rd on a Samuel Munoz single, and scored on a Alexander Albertus single. That was it for the RC offense.
Wyatt Crowell continued his solid pitching returning from his TJ surgery. This was his 3rd start for RC, and in 3.1 IP he allowed 1 run, 1 hit, 1 BB, and 5 K. After keeping Visalia off the board for 3.1 innings, 19 year old RHP Sean Linan relieved Crowell with a runner on 1st. Linan gave up a BB and 2 singles to allow Crowell’s run to score.
Crowell has now allowed 1 run in 9.0 RC innings.
This was Wyatt’s initial RC game on June 22.
Wyatt Crowell made it to Rancho!
— Dodgers Daily (@dodger_daily) June 22, 2024
Drafted last summer in the 4th Round out of Florida State but has been dealing with injury, so just got back at the end of May. 4 outings in ACL, made his debut with Rancho last night. Tail on FB, good depth & Bite to Slider, tumbling change.… pic.twitter.com/jjSi9urfzZ
Linan followed that up with allowing 4 unanswered runs of his own.
Waylin Santana pitched a scoreless 9th.
- Carlos Rojas – 3-4, double (5)
- Doubles – Jeral Perez (14), Cameron Decker (4), Wilman Diaz (11), Jose Meza (4)
What a stinker of a game. The pitching staff all across the board stunk up the joint. Someone needs to find a weakness in Christian Walker’s swing. 2 bombs? 1 yesterday too. Guy kills the Dodgers and learn how to hold runners on base. The D-Backs have a lot of rabbits. Tonight, kind of proved my point. 2 homers in the first inning, four runs, and zip, nada, zero, afterwards. Padres won so the lead is down to 7.5. Az and the Dodgers are 4-4 against each other now. I did not see a single bright spot in tonight’s game except Mookie being in the booth. Very insightful. He is about four weeks away from coming back. Most likely the first week of August.
I want to wish everyone a very happy 4th of July. Be safe and enjoy your day. The 4th is one of my favorite holidays.
I can understand the desire for slug. A guy,goes 1 for 4 w a hr he’s hitting .250 w a run scored. Another guy can go 4 for 4 and not score but he’s hitting 1.000. But I believe there is a benefit in having baserunners almost every inning, moving the line along,running up the pitch count and setting the stage for more runs. As with most things in life there needs to be a balance.
Well Bear, are you just coming around to this conclusion after so many years of this approach? You are the one that usually wears rose colored glasses. The Dodgers are the worst winning team I’ve ever seen.
Mookie is missed, mucho. He was a great presence in the booth during the broadcast. Very open and talkative. He’s got so much joy and enthusiasm for the game and he seems able to articulate it.
Heyward needs to hit much better than what he does to justify keeping a young player in AAA ball. The Dodgers have only so many prospects that other teams might want which limits the spots in the lineup they might improve. I want an outfield of Teo, Outland, and Pages with Heyward on the bench. I would not platoon those three outfielders.
I still prefer getting Pepiot back if the Dodgers add a starter.
Lux is playing good defense and is progressing. I still want a 3rd baseman. The Angels Luis Rengifo isn’t as good of a defensive player as I want but he could play 3rd until Muncy returns and then replace Kike’.
Nick Ramirez recalled, and Michael Petersen optioned back to AAA.
Let’s look at where we are just past the half-way point.
And I’m not overreacting to last night’s debacle.
*Starting pitching is inconsistent. Between guys on the IL and guys coming off the IL, the situation is a mess. Miller, Buehler, Kershaw, May, Kelly, Gonzo and Graterol are question marks. Treinen has looked shitty. Stone, Yarborough and Ramirez were BP, last night.
*My main observation is – is this a Dodger team constructed to win in the Playoffs? Let me give you 6 reasons why NOT.
Lux .217, Barnes .208, Kike .206, Heyward .205, Biggio .188 and CT3 .162. We hold out hope that the savior will arrive soon – Max Muncy @ .223.
*There’s no denying that the top 5 in our lineup are lethal. And they are expected to carry the mail. And Mookie’s return is huge.
*But some fans clamor to go find a new, likely expensive SS and return our SS, hitting .290, to the bench. I know he’s 35 and needs some days, but we have far greater needs.
*All the while, watching ineffective platoons and our “other” utility guys, not hit.
*We’ve all heard all the perceived deficiencies that keep Outman, Feduccia, Hoese, Ward, and perhaps others, in AAA and Vargas sitting every game. Now he apparently can’t hit RHP. We bring in a guy like Biggio instead of giving Hoese a shot. That says volumes. OKC, for most, must seem like a black hole.
*At this point in the season it’s my opinion that the Dodgers are the most overrated team in MLB. There’s no middle class. We have the 5 or 6 elite position players and 7 bottom feeders. I’d like to see some moves not based on veteran bias and sentimentality. If AF doesn’t have any faith in his minor league players and doesn’t have plans for the guys stuck in the organization to help, get busy making some deals and trade then for “better” players.
This team will win the division, most likely, and that’s it. We all are waiting for too many miracles and sudden turn arounds by too many players. I’m getting tired of waiting on our bottom feeders to suddenly find it.
That’s my first half review.
Who is the greatest “Dodger killer” ever?
Christian Walker is leading the way now. Just uncanny.
I figure these Dodgers are bound to get blown out a couple of times a season. It happens. But they should blow out their rivals about ten times per season.
Still, it was disappointing that Stone got rocked.
FREE RYAN WARD!!!
The guy now has 22 HRs for OKC but he seems to get zero consideration for a promotion to LA, for whatever reason. Is he a poor fielder? Is he slow? Did he piss off the wrong guy? I have no idea.
Whatever the reason, I hope the Dodgers deal Ward to a small-market team without a full-time DH that might give him a chance.
I have been at a BBQ all day and just got home. Read all of the posts with much interest. And my friends, it comes down to this. It is all about how you feel about the team and the last 11 years. Some feel that one championship, and that coming in a truncated season, is simply not enough. They want multiple championships. I totally understand the feeling. But I also understand that winning the whole thing is not that easy, and a lot of things have to fall into place. To me, the 2020 title is legit. I do not give a rat’s rear end what Giant fans or any other fans think. You could say the same thing about 81, but nobody is throwing that one back. They really had to fight to win. Times have changed. The playoffs are longer, you have to win 13 games to get the title. The Dodgers had to do that in 20. Injuries happen, players slump, stars do not perform the way the fans expect. Jeff asked why I used the Angels as a comparison. Well, which record would you rather your team have? In the playoffs every year with a chance to go to the World Series, or going home with no shot? How about being a fan of Cleveland. You know how long it has been since they won a World Series??? 76 years. They last won in 1948. They have been to the playoffs 14 times since then and the World Series four times. They lost every time. I think fans are frustrated simply because the last two seasons have ended with a thud. They played well until the NLCS in 21. And some of those games were the most exciting of the year. The BEAT the Giants, who had a better record in the LDS. But all the fans could talk about was the loss to Atlanta. But, what if Muncy had not been hurt on the last day of the season, one reason I think you sit as many regulars as you can if the game is meaningless. What if Scherzer had been healthy and ready to go, Kershaw was down too. Wanting is one thing, being able to get it done is another. Sure, fans want the title, they want to say to Giants fans, or any other fan for that matter, eat my dust! But guys, it just isn’t that easy. It is all about perception. I am ok with what they have done the last 11 years. At least they went to three World Series. From 88, they could not even win in the post season, this is much better. I have been alive to see all of their wins, and all of their failures. There is no one to blame, it is just life, and life is not always so rosy.
Good News: Muncy is taking swings
Bad News: He still has soreness
Doc says: Max’s return will be “well after the All Star break”
Conclusion: We need to trade for a good 3rd baseman, the sooner the better
I now turn the floor over to Bums who will provide us with a list of candidates (some of whom we might be able to trade for).
What has happened to Corbin Carroll??!?!??
Injuries? Sophomore slump? Regression to the mean?
Also, this is a weird and awesome stat:
Christian Walker just hit his 18th career homer at Chavez Ravine, in just his 42nd game here
Knack off to great start.
Heyward has become a problem.
dbacks may be waking up.
Carroll? I sure hope he doesn’t.
Two pitching promotions on the farm:
-RHP Carlos Duran promoted to Tulsa to make his Double-A debut today. Making his way back from Tommy John surgery, Duran has one of the best sliders in the system
-LHP Moises Brito (acquired from TOR in Mitch White deal) promoted to Single-A
Everyone keep AF away from his phone. NYM released Trayce Thompson.
They are going to lose this one. Combined team effort. Padres won so they will be 6.5 back of LA.
As bad as we all feel after this game and this series, I would bet the players feel worse.
But we don’t need any pitching?
but we don’t need any hitting?
we got about 6-7 players who can’t hit .200
starting pitchers can’t go 5
this team is nothing special for sure
13-13 or close with everyone in the division not named Colorado.
all the money thrown at this team and all the holes. Hard to believe. Without Yamamoto at his best we r very mediocre at sp.
our bullpen/ who would have thought, Ramírez, Ramirez,etc etc
i don’t c a fix when they don’t even c a problem
dont blame Roberts he has to play who he is given.
At some point the runway for Kike, Taylor and Lux has to come to an end.
I know it’s July, but at some point you can’t have four replacement level players in every lineup.