Well it is hard for me to admit, but I totally botched this one. I knew in the offseason that the Dodgers would be chasing someone who hit lefties really well. This has been a Dodger bugaboo for a long time.
I do not consider Mookie Betts to be your atypical RH power hitter. Don’t get me wrong, Mookie is a poor man’s version of Jimmy Wynn, The Toy Cannon. Mookie is just a better hitter for average than Wynn was. But they are both slight in stature. Mookie is 5’9″ 180. Wynn was 5’8″ 160. In his 15 years in the majors, Wynn slugged 291 homers. Betts in his 11 seasons, so far has 262.
Wynn never hit 40, but three times he had 30 or more. Mookie’s best was 39 last year. He has now hit 30 or more four times. Mookie has hit lefties at a .298 clip in his career. Slightly better than he has RHP, .294. He has 3000 more plate appearances against RHP than he does lefties. His homer total reflects that, he has 195 off of RHP, and 67 off of LHP.
Last year, the Dodgers had two players with more than 30 homers who hit from the right side, Martinez and Betts. 137 of the team’s 249 homers came from the right side.
The team hit .249 against LHP with 79 homers, and a .787 OPS. So adding some more pop against lefties made a lot of sense. I believed they would try and trade for a hitter. But I sure read that wrong.
Instead, they went out and signed another free agent, Teoscar Hernandez, to play the outfield and be a lefty killer. I was dead set against this. Teo struck out 211 times last season. He hit .258, but his OPS was below .800. I did not think his 26 homers and 93 RBIs was enough to offset making all those useless outs.
But at this point in the season, I see what AF liked. The guy is just plain fun and loves to play the game. He also brings some thunder in that bat, and has a good time playing the game.
He is tied for the team lead in homers, he leads the team in RBIs with 50, and except for an error in last night’s game, his defense has been stellar. They could have done a lot worse than signing this guy.
He is OPSing 42 points higher than his career number. He has scored 40 and has 4 bags. His OPS+ is 139. Almost half of his 17 homers, 8, have come off of lefties.
Some have called for AF to give him an extension. I would not be against giving him a three year deal. The Dodgers have very few prime outfield prospects in the high minors. Keeping Hernandez makes a lot of sense.
MiLB GAME SUMMARY REPORTS
Sugarland Space Cowboys (Houston) 5 – OKC Baseball Club 2
Bobby Miller had another rehab start for OKC. It did not go well. 4.2 IP, 5 runs, 6 hits, 3 BB, 1 HBP with 4 K. Jesse Hahn, JP Feyereisen, and Michael Petersen finished the final 3.1 IP, allowing just a single and walk, with 5 Ks.
The two runs for OKC were from a James Outman 2-run HR in the 5th.
James Outman hit HR #5 and is hitting .307, OPS 1.022 with OKC. He has hits in 3 games in a row & in 14 of the 21 games he's played with the Baseball Club. Dude is doin' what he's been tasked to do, just Keep it Goin', Keep Grindin' & control what you can control! #dodgers pic.twitter.com/CWs6yBCKBr
— Dodgers Daily (@dodger_daily) June 14, 2024
- Drew Avans – 2-4, 1 BB, double (14)
- James Outman – 1-4 – 1 run, 2 RBI, HR (5)
- Ryan Ward – 1-4, double (11)
Tulsa Drillers 1 – Arkansas Travelers (Seattle) 0 – 10 innings
Kendall Williams and three relievers pitched a combined 4-hit shutout. All 4 hits were singles, and there were three walks to go with the singles.
This was Kendall Williams’s best game in 2024, and it really isn’t close. He threw 82 pitches (52 strikes).
Atta Baby Kendall Williams!
6IP 3H 0R 5K 1BB
Tonight was easily his best performance so far this year, best since August of last year & 2nd best outing since being in AA. Definitely a Great performance & one to build the rest of his season off of, that's for sure. #dodgers pic.twitter.com/79OD52uR8m— Dodgers Daily (@dodger_daily) June 14, 2024
Antonio Knowles has had many really good outings, but tonight was, IMO, his best!
Reasons…Sequencing made him ambidextrous!
Sinker to Left (Hopped back), Slider to Right (different shapes) & location & execution was 100% perfect.
2 words of advice for hitters, Good Luck!… pic.twitter.com/2nKE8wmEWe— Dodgers Daily (@dodger_daily) June 14, 2024
Ryan Sublette picked up the W recording the last 2 outs, both via K. The Dodgers have a ton of Power arms out of the pen, and, while Sub can rush it up there, he brings uniqueness in arm slot, delivery & deception. He's gonna go on and stay on a heater & never look back. #dodgers pic.twitter.com/QtZSbBNCa8
— Dodgers Daily (@dodger_daily) June 14, 2024
Tulsa walked it off with one out in the 10th when Damon Keith’s single scored the free runner, Bubba Alleyne. This was Keith’s second walk off hit in the last three games.
You can't Make This Stuff Up!
Damon Keith hit his 2nd Walk Off this week, 2nd in the last 3 games, off the SAME pitcher. Just got back from a Hamate injury last week and has a hit in all but 1 game he's played in & is hitting .341 so far.
Atta Baby Damon! #dodgers pic.twitter.com/6r6dWSABMG— Dodgers Daily (@dodger_daily) June 14, 2024
No Tulsa batter had a multi-hit game. Their were four singles and 1 double (Kyle Freeland).
Great Lakes Loons 8 – Dayton Dragons (Reds) 2
Great Lakes got a very good 6.0 inning start from Christian Romero. He allowed 2 runs with 4 hits (including a solo HR), 0 BB and 6 BB. Jose Rodriguez got a 3-inning save with 3.0 scoreless innings, on 1 hit, 1 BB, and 6 K.
Great Lakes put three on the board in the 3rd. Jake Vogel walked, Noah Miller singled, and Dylan Campbell slugged a 3-run HR (2).
GL put up 2 more in the 7th on 3 singles, 2 wild pitches, and a sac fly. They scored 2 in the 8th on a Jake Gelof 2-run double. They finished their scoring with one in the 9th when Kyle Nevin tripled home Jake Vogel who singled to open the 9th.
- Kyle Nevin – 2-5, 1 run, 1 RBI, triple (4)
- Jake Gelof – 2-4, 2 RBI, double (6)
- Nick Biddison – 2-4, 1 run
- Jake Vogel – 2-2, 2 BB, 2 runs, 1 RBI
- Dylan Campbell – 1-4, 1 BB, 1 run, 3 RBI, HR (2)
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes 6 – Fresno Grizzlies (Colorado) 5
Patrick Copen had a good start. He completed 5.0 innings, allowing 1 run on 3 hits and 3 BB with 6 K.
Yet again, the bullpen faltered late in the game. They went into the bottom of the 9th with a 6-2 lead, but two RC relievers allowed 3 runs, and RC had to hold on for the win.
The Quakes opened the scoring in the 2nd when Jordan Thompson led off with a double (12), and Juan Alonso hit a 1-out, 2-run HR (2).
In the 3rd, Jeral Perez singled and scored on a Carlos Rojas double (4).
The Quakes seemingly put the game away in the 5th when Carlos Rojas slugged a 2-out, 3-run HR (1) following a Wilman Diaz single, and a Jeral Perez walk.
In the bottom of the 9th, Felix Cabrera put the first three runners on base on 2 BB and 1 HBP. Callum Wallace relieved Cabrera and served up a run scoring single leaving the bases loaded. Wallace then induced a run scoring DP with a runner moving to 3rd. That runner scored on a WP, and the Grizzlies had scored 3 runs on 1 hit and were within one run.
Wallace got the final out to preserve the win. Wallace allowed 3 inherited runners to score, but got the save…go figure.
- Carlos Rojas – 2-4, 1 run, 4 RBI, double (4), HR (1)
- Juan Alonso – 1-4, 1 run, 2 RBI, HR (2)
- Doubles – Jordan Thompson (12), Logan Wagner (6)
ACL Dodgers – Did not play
A strikeout from #Dodgers 18-year-old LHP prospect Justin Chambers
He was acquired in the offseason from the Brewers and is working his way back from Tommy John surgery. Chambers could see time in Single-A later this year pic.twitter.com/hBz20PtBhu
— Bruce Kuntz (@Bnicklaus7) June 13, 2024
Question – Is Bobby Miller really ready to come back to join the rotation? In 4 rehab starts – 15.0 IP, 19 hits, 14 runs (13 earned), 8 BB, 10 K, 2 HBP. He does not need to join the 26 man. He has options. Maybe he should work out of OKC until he is right???
It should also be noted that Landon Knack has pitched better in LAD than has Miller this year, and at OKC.
I think it is a legit question.
Rōki Sasaki news
The Dodgers add Jose Hernandez to the 40 man. Why not this guy?
Takes a big man to admit he was wrong. Good on ya.
Huge news on Sasaki.
I really dislike bullpen games. Grove was bitten by some weakly hit balls. But this loss is on the offense. Seems like if the big four don’t get it done, they are not scoring.
Hernandez: “I would love to stay”
I’m sure he would. Don’t count on it.
To watch the top 3 in our lineup do what they did in the 8th was deflating. Nobody making contact and Ohtani chasing one that bounced. Come on man.
Mookie doesn’t look right to me. He’s hitting.192/.683, the last two weeks, .239/.731 the last month. Ohtani .204/.683 the last month. If those two don’t hit, and hit WRISP (Ohtani .232/.623 for the season) this team will have difficulty beating anybody, let alone beating the better teams.
As bad as they have looked, they are 5-5, as are the Padres and giants. These Dodgers may be cake walking through the early summer days with only the marginal players stressed for job security.
What might be next for this group? Admittedly I have no idea.
What I see as needs for the Dodgers at the deadline. A. Muncy back. He lengthens the lineup even with his high K rate. And he is a streak hitter. B. More consistency from Mookie and Ohtani. Freeman is heating up even though he had a bad game last night. C. They need to dominate the bad teams. So far, they have not done that. D. More production off of the bench. This means cutting loose either Kike or Taylor or both. Getting an outfielder with some pop and bat to ball skills. If they really feel the need to get better at SS, make the move early. If Lux has to be part of a trade, so be it. E. At least one more dominating bullpen arm. I doubt they could pry Miller from the A’s. But there are some options out there. Flip-flop Freddie and Ohtani. Give Ohtani a day off here and there and let Smith DH. They need his bat in the lineup.
It’s my birthday, so they damn well better beat KC tonight! LOL> 😁
Happy Birthday brother. You’re as old as me now. Act accordingly geezer.
Happy Birthday, Bear!
I appreciate your great writing and research.
Teoscar has exceeded my expectations as well, and he brings a ton of energy to the team. He has been great so far, and has had some fantastic hot streaks. I share some concern with the strikeout numbers and thought $23 million was a hefty price, but a one year deal is limited risk. Let’s see how the rest of the season plays out. Just 9 days ago, Teoscar had an OPS of 767 which was 40 points below his career average, but then he dominated in NYC. We need to prepare for some ups and downs with Teoscar, but the attitude has been great.
Mookie runs hot and cold. That’s who he is. Luckily he is hot more than he is cold and his Luke warm is very good. I worry more about Ohtani because he has a swing that would be criticized if someone like Pages had it.
My lineup would be: Betts, Freeman, Smith, Othani, Royce Lewis, Outman,Teoscar, Lux, Pages.
I had hopes for Sheehan, Stone, and Pepiot in the rotation this year. Glasnow has a better resume than Pepiot but I miss Pepiot just the same. In the meantime, thank you Dodgers for keeping me amused with the likes of Biggio being added here and there to spice up the season.
We need to be on DFA watch. Toronto has just DFA another player…Daniel Vogelbach. Perfect all or nothing addition to the Dodgers lineup. RVS will get him popping up and striking out in no time.
Happy Birthday Bear. I hope you have an enjoyable day.
*Michael Lorenenzen is tough. Not a strike out pitcher but he keeps his pitches off the barrel.
*Grover struggled in the first and maybe he’s not an opener, as he wasn’t a starter. Maybe he should just assume his roll as a 1 inning middle reliever and call it a deal. Start Yarbrough and get 3 or 4.
*I can see Vesia closing games. He’s been great. Our back end of Hudson, Treinen and Phillips is pretty damn good. But Vesia is more than a situational LHRP. RHB are hitting .100 against him and LHB .108.
*I knew we would get a couple in the 8th to tie it up but David Robertson got Mookie, Shohei and Freddie on consecutive swinging, strikeouts. Very surprising.
And in the 9th, Kirby Yates was everywhere early but settled down after a lead off walk to Teoscar. He ended up to strikeout out the side on 26 pitches, including Heyward’s 10 pitch at bat.
*All of our outs in the 8th and 9th innings were on strikeouts swinging.
*Nice to see Pages with a couple of knocks. Despite his occasional mental mistakes. He is swinging well right now. I tend to be more forgiving on hustle mistakes. Had he scored the night before after running through Dino’s stop sign, he would have been a hero. I actually liked his effort.
*I know I got a little over enthusiastic over Ohtani’s early success. It wasn’t possible to keep up his early pace. After all, he’s a career .277 hitter.
Badger mentioned his numbers last month. To elaborate, as of May 15th, he was hitting .364/1.108. He didn’t have back-to-back hitless games until May 7 and 8. In his first 36 games he only went hitless in 5 games.
In his 24 games since May 15th, Shohei is hitting .200/.676. Last night, in the disappointing 8th, he took the first pitch, a center cut, slightly inside, 93 mph fastball. It was the best pitch he would see during at AB. He ended up flaying away at an unhittable outside dirt-ball for a K. He has really gotten behind in counts and expanded the zone lately. Doesn’t look like the same guy we saw in April and 1/2 of May.
These losses are so pathetic and predicable. Scheduled load management losses. Before last night’s game I remember thinking about the likely scenario. The opener Grove would likely give up 2-3 runs in the first right away, before being removed for Yarborough. Then the offense with Smith out of the lineup consisting of mostly .200 hitting utility players would do nothing, perhaps score 1 or 2 runs, and well…
How is that load management working? Not well. we have so many pitchers out injured. if you absolutely have to give Yamamoto an extra day off, then dont use an opener, either call up someone from OKC to make the start, (which means planning better and not making the decision at the last minute) or just let Yarbs make the start, he was a starting pitcher after all, and is their “bulk guy”.
There are now 5 utility players on the team…Taylor, Kike, Lux, Rojas, and now Biggio. You can probably put Heyward in that category. The only one hitting well is Rojas. How many mendoza line utility players does one team need?
BTW, I still dont understand Friedman’s obsession with Utility players, nor his obsession with his pet prospect Lux. He is beyond pathetic hitter. Here is Lux’s numbers, and yes I realize he had a few singles in the last series.
.214/.267.286 OPS+ 58 41 STRIKEOUTS AND JUST 39 HITS.
he is dreadful.
Friedman’s ego is so massive, it’s bigger than Dodger Stadium itself. Again, as I said before, the Dodgers need to hit rock bottom before this egomaniac does anything different. Nothing irritates me more than losing on purpose to get guys rest, and then telling everyone that “it gives them the best chance of winning” how about you just put your best players on the field everyday, give that a try.
Please fire Friedman.
The Dodgers are 20-9 when Rojas starts.
They’re 24-22 when Lux starts.
This has to be a factor going forward.