A quick look at the last 30 games leading into the All Star Break

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1. Here ya’ go.
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   Thanks Bum!
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   Put down the Rap!

   1. This is Joc’s stats from 23 games, because he didn’t start playing in June, until June 13

      1. MJ, your weird compulsion to say something negative about Joc has again led you to say something that is misleading. Cody played in 26 of those last 30 games and nobody else played in more than 24. Joc played in 24 and Seager played in 19. I left out games played and instead included plate appearances.
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         A player must have 3.1 plate appearances (PA) per team game to appear in stats sorted by “qualified”. Joc qualified.

         1. Bum

            It is the other way around.

            And it is quite obvious that when a player misses half of a month in a season, and there has been only six games played in July, that that player hasn’t played in 30 games.

            Joc has played in 22 games since he came back.

            Cody has played in 35 games, and both Corey and Puig have also played in 33 games too.

            Cody has had a least 140 at bats, to Joc’s 88 at the most, and that is a big difference.

            And that affects the stats quite a bit!

            1. My stats are for the last 30 games played before the All Star game and as such does not go back to June 1. This is my source: http://losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com/stats/sortable.jsp?c_id=la#playerType=QUALIFIER&elem=%5Bobject+Object%5D&tab_level=child&click_text=Sortable+Player+hitting&game_type='R'&season=2017&season_type=ANY&league_code='MLB'&sectionType=sp&statType=hitting&page=1&ts=1499874521523&timeframe=d30&split=&last_x_days=30

2. I was a little slow to get this posted on the last thread where it was being discussed before comments closed. Hopefully no issue for carring it forward to this thread.
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   AC: … “My point is neither Puig or Schebler are difference makers. Nor is Souza. To me they are all the same player; interchangeable ML RF. Puig can be replaced, and IMO relatively easily.”
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   I’m not one to disagree too much as I’m not too smart or even that knowledgable and certainly don’t have your background of experience and knowledge about baseball in general AC. I was hoping someone else would step up about the above statement you made, with which I have to disagree. I acknowledge that Puig’s offense is not a difference maker and I believe that on this team that is ok. I would like to let the Dodgers record at this time attest to that statement.
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   While he is adequate on offense with much greater potential, he is, without a doubt, a difference maker on defense. His speed, glove, routes and arm make him one of the very best right fielders in the game. I don’t believe that he can be easily replaced and am not in a hurry to see the Dodgers try to do so. If they can do an upgrade without paying through the nose, I’m on board. I don’t think deleting 2-1/2 years of Puig for a 1/2 year of JD Martinez is a worthwhile move. I think defense wins games too.
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   If the Dodgers had no other offense, then the Puig problem would be a bigger issue and I would be more inclined to defer to your position. Until then, I’m happy to have Puig’s ‘difference maker’ defense, his adequate offense, and hope that he finds the talent hidden within to make us all forget about this question of who should play RF.

   1. The comment here is perfectly fine.
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      This is an easy one for me: I hate Yasiel Puig… and I love Yasiel Puig.
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      I see both sides and have no clue which one is right.
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      However, if I could trade 2-1/2 years of Yasiel for a half season of JD Martinez even up, I would do it and hope I had someone to play RF.
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      You can never predict what you will get with Yasiel. It might be good and it might be deplorable. The unknown is what drives me crazy.
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      I do think he is the best RF in baseball… defensively.

      1. Mark

         Check out Mookie Betts!

         He has already twenty runs saved this year!

         And that is not to say that Puig isn’t good defensively, that would be stupid for someone to say, because Puig is solid in right!

         1. Yeah, I forgot about Betts. Betts is faster. Heyward is in the conversation too.
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            However, I think Josh Reddick is the best!

            1. OK, I’m kidding! 😉

            2. Mark

               Actually Heyward has 12 runs saved, and Puig has 6 runs saved.

            3. Wouldn’t guys who play CF automatically have more runs saved if they’re a top defender?

   2. I fully expected to get disagreements on my position. I am perfectly fine with that. I do not expect all Dodger fans to agree on each player. It would be very boring if that were the case.
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      I am nothing more than a fan of the Dodgers and baseball in general, and especially minor league baseball. I was fortunate to have a son play MLB, but I certainly do not have his abilities or knowledge. And I have no more knowledge than anyone else on this site. I may have more anecdotes, but not more knowledge.
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      As a Dodger fan, I hope I am wrong about Puig.

      1. AC

         I would argue with the assessment, that you gave yourself!

         1. I would fully concur with MJ’s comment on this matter.
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            We appreicate your knowledge and efforts and the time it takes to share the information you have with us AC.
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            It’s nothing more than differing opinions on the same player. I look forward to your comments as much as Mark’s opinion of his vision. In this case I just felt you are far too smart and knowledgable to say that Shebler and Sousa were the same guy as Puig and the Dodgers would be equally as well off with any of them. And I am perfectly ok if that is how you really feel. I just thought it needed aired out a little bit more because I think we all value your opinion so highly. Nonetheless, Puig would remain my right fielder for the time being.

3. Peter

   Like I said, I thought Mattingly treated Ethier badly.

   When spring training started in 2015, Mattingly told Ethier he had to try out against Joc, to be the centerfielder.

   And we know that centerfielder was never really Ethier outfield position, so you knew right then, that Mattingly was messing with Ethier.

   Ethier only played center, after Kemp was moved out of center, but that was only because I think Mattingly trusted Ethier in center, more then Puig.

   Anyways Ethier had a really good spring training, and he became the left fielder, but he only played, against righties.

   And any time the other team brought into the game a leftie pitcher, Mattingly would bat for Ethier right then.

   And actually Ethier was the most productive offensive player on that team, in the second half of the season, in 2015.

   I don’t know why Vegas said that Ethier only wanted to play rightfield, because Ethier felt fine, in either left or right field.

   Vegas must have been thinking about Kemp the year before.

   Because Kemp was the one that didn’t want to play left field, after Mattingly moved him, out of centerfield.

   1. I said that because I believe it to be true, that Ethier would play left or right and would not play center at the beginning of 2015. Ethier played well for the most part but sat against most lefties. He played in 50 games in LF and 81 games in RF that season. He had been a right fielder most of his career until Puig came along. That’s why he played 68 games in CF the year before but he said his body had trouble with it. In my mind Andre still wanted to be the everyday RF but he was platooned most of the time. As you said he wanted a camp battle with Joc then he had a hot start and made the All Star team but in the 2nd half was slumping and got in Mattingly’s doghouse. During the last few months of the season he was messing with ALL of the Dodgers starting outfield. I would like to thing Doc Roberts would have handled things differently. I don’t know all of the details of Andre’s yelling in the dugout but he had gotten hot at the plate umpire. I thought this was worse than Puig’s being upset at his double switch incident and no one called for Ethier to be traded and that was a playoff game. Players are emotional and also want to win. Teams usually try keep this stuff in house but now there are cameras everywhere.

      http://www.sportingnews.com/mlb/news/mlb-playoffs-2015-andre-ethier-yells-at-don-mattingly-dugout-dodgers-mets/1v4ttvci1nybl1xo8r8gtzyd8u

      1. Bum

         It is the other way around.

         And it is quite obvious that when a player misses half of a month in a season, and there has been only six games played in July, that that player hasn’t played in 30 games.

         Joc has played in 22 games since he came back.

         Cody has played in 35 games, and both Corey and Puig have also played in 33 games too.

         Cody has had a least 140 at bats, to Joc’s 88 at the most, and that is a big difference.

         And that affects the stats quite a bit!

      2. Vegas

         Think about it, you could only think of one incident, with another player.

         And comparing Ethier’s one incident to Puig, is not even close, unless you are just comparing the two incidents alone.

         Because we know I could think of many more incidents, when it comes to Puig, in the last five years.

         I thought at the time Puig was out of line, but I didn’t worry about it, after I saw Puig out there, rooting with his team mates.

         And I know the front office and Roberts, won’t put up with that behavior for long, so I am not worried about it.

         1. MJ, stop changing the parameters. If you want to take the time to share your analysis then do so, but taking pot shots is not an analysis.
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            Here is the source of my stats:
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            http://losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com/stats/sortable.jsp?c_id=la#playerType=QUALIFIER&elem=%5Bobject+Object%5D&tab_level=child&click_text=Sortable+Player+hitting&game_type='R'&season=2017&season_type=ANY&league_code='MLB'&sectionType=sp&statType=hitting&page=1&ts=1499874521523&timeframe=d30&split=&last_x_days=30

            1. Bum

               Let’s hope Joc keeps hitting!

               He played a really good game in that series against the Royals, on both sides of the field!

      3. I for one am glad the Mattingly is gone, but I never had a problem with how he handled Ethier. Andre got every chance in the world to show he wasn’t a platoon player and he failed. Other than his rookie season, he hit terribly against lefties and refused to change his approach.. Until Andre got his big pay day, he was a selfish player and Mattingly was correct about Andre throwing away AB’s because of his tantrum. I thought Molly’s book painted a pretty accurate picture of Andre both good and bad. The OF thing always seemed to work itself out during those years. Crawford earned the PT one year and Ethier another year and when Puig or Kemp were hurt someone slid over.

         1. Andre Ethier hit .303 with a .382 OB% for his career against RH Pitchers . Against LH pitchers he hit .234 with a .291 OB%. Some will say that he only had 1,246 AB’s against LH pitchers while he had 3,520 AB’s against RH pitchers.
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            He only had 1,246 AB’s because he only hit .234. Actually, it’s worse that that, because in his first two years he mauled Lefties, but then they figured him out and he was toast. In 2014 he hit .222 against LH and in 2015 it was .200.
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            Andre Ethier was a platoon player. PERIOD! He also used to rival Matt Kemp as to who was the biggest horse’s ass in the clubhouse, but about 3 years ago, he stopped it – It was a big change and I respected him for it… even if I called him Mr. Softeee!

4. AA – Tulsa Drillers highlights – 6-0 win over Midland Rockhounds (A’s) – Eddie Gamboa/Colt Hynes/Shea Spitzbarth/Ralston Cash combined for a 5 hit shutout. Matt Beaty hit his 10th HR on the year. Will Smith was 0-1 in his AA debut, but was HBP twice, and registered his first stolen base.
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   A+ – Rancho Cucamonga Quakes highlights – 7-6 losers to Inland Empire 66ers (Angels) – Caleb Ferguson was in a position to win when the Quakes took a 6-3 lead into the 8th inning only to see the 66ers score 4 runs against Tony Gonsolin and Andrew Istler. In his first RC game since his promotion, Keibert Ruiz had 2 hits, including a triple. Arie Sandoval also had 2 hits.
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   A – Great Lakes Loons highlights – 9-1 losers to Bowling Green Hot Rods (Rays) – Let’s just say it was not a good night offensively or from the pitchers and leave it at that.
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   Rookie – Ogden Raptors – Lost to Grand Junction Rockies 8-5 – Tyler Adkison (.359) led the offense with three hits (including 2 doubles) for the Raptors. Moises Perez (.407), Starling Heredia (.478), Luis Paz (.379), Hendrik Clementia (.380), and Brock Carpenter (.208) had two hits each. 8 different pitchers took the bump for the Raptors and none of them distinguished themselves. One note – OF Luis Paz leads the league in HR (7), RBI (25), SLG (.803), OPS (1.250). Paz is a 21 year old from Marilia, Brazil. The Raptors have the 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 9th top hitters (BA) in the Pioneer League.
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   Rookie – AZL Dodgers – Lost to AZL Brewers 14-13 (July 9) – Offensively Jefrey Souffront (.423) and Pascal Amon had three hits each. Ronnie Brito hit his first two HRs of the season. Amon and Souffront also had HRs for the Dodgers. Jair Camargo and Ramon Rodriguez (.370) also had two hits.
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   With Will Smith getting the promotion to AA, and Ruiz being promoted to Rancho, Great Lakes needed to add a catcher, and Garrett Hope was promoted from Ogden. In addition to the promotions, Hendrik Clementia at .380 and Ramon Rodriguez at .370 are two more catchers to watch.
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   Tim Shibuya was placed on the 7 day DL for the 4th time this year to make room for 32 year old knuckleballer Eddie Gamboa released by Texas and signed to a minor league contract by the Dodgers on June 30.

   1. AC, the Dodgers are really getting stacked at Catcher in the system. The 2 guys on the big club are producing, Farmer is almost ready, Smith is being promoted, Ruiz is turning heads and he’s what 20? Now you mention 2 more guys hitting .380 and .370? Wow! Your minor league coverage is greatly appreciated.
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      I was thinking the same thing tonight, Wood is off the hook for the loss which would have been on a pop fly that landed among 3 players down the 1B line. Looks like a line drive in the box score though.

5. Thank you Yadi Molina. Now Alex Wood cannot get the loss.

   1. Sweet!

6. I was surprised by a couple of player’s stats over the 26 and 4 run closing out the first half. Seager’s batting average was much higher than I realized and so were his strikeouts. Also, Taylor is coming back down to earth and Forsythe is rising.
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   I had no idea that the Dodgers had 4 players with an OPS over 1 and 6 over .869. This team can hit and field. It seems like teams that can hit don’t field all that well and rarely does it seem like a team can hit, field, and pitch as well as the Dodgers.

7. I thought we were stocked at the catcher’s position before AC mentioned the last two. Never heard of those two. I agree with you Vegas. That is the one position you never have enough prospects. I am just amazed at what we have in our farm system. I bet when FAZ is talking to other teams about trades, everyone will want Verdugo.
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   When I look back on how Mattingly treated Eithier, I am really glad he is gone. He is not a good manager.

   1. Only a short while ago that there seemed like there was minimal to no depth in the Dodger organization at the catcher position. Dodgers have a few years before they will need an infielder but I suspect FAZ will be building up depth for the infield as well.

8. Who’s ready for some Dodgers baseball? Me too, another couple days and the journey to a championship continues!
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   Interesting stats Bumsrap! Shows EVERYONE is contributing. We all knew we had a “long” lineup.
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   Enjoyed the trade talk on the last thread. Lots of thoughtful comments. My final “two cents”, lets ADD a LHRP and an outfielder to replace Gutierrez/Thompson (could be either a righty or lefty). Both could be obtained from internal sources, but let’s not trade any big contributors from the first half. They all deserve to come along on the ride to a championship!

   1. Boxout

      That was what I was thinking last night, when is the next game!

      It is a good time to be a Dodger fan, and let’s get this rolling again!

      I am glad that Roberts and the front office, are not pitching Kershaw in the first three or four games, after we get back, to use this time to give Kershaw a break, to try to help keep him fresh for the post season!

      I hope they find time toward the end of the regular season too, to give Kershaw another break.

9. Great job Bum…
   AC as usual, thanks for the minor lg. update…
   The AS game is done and thank God no stupid series rewards…
   We can yak about 2017 surprises (Taylor & Wood)… Rebirth of the LAD minor lg. system (Move over Cubbie GM… You’ll soon have company) etc . etc.
   But Wait!!! I’m hit with ” Hope that he finds the hidden talent within to make us all forget etc.etc… Waves of nausea flood over me and I’m soon hugging the camode(?)
   5 years…$12M bonus…$22+M salaries… Really??? Sense of entitlement or dare I say IQ???
   Lets talk about Kike’s turnaround, a glimpse of Toles we got to see, Alex Wood ” I will but I don’t want to be in the pen”, Barnes maturation.etc etc
   Come on LAD fans… Don’t get caught up in the stuff…

   1. Peter

      Good points!

10. It was a fun All-Star Game. It’s just a chance for the guys to get together. It doesn’t mean much, but if you are a fan, these are the guys we watch so I enjoyed it. Shoot, I enjoyed the Celebrity Softball Game… so there’s that.
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    I like most announcers, even Charley Steiner! I don’t like the Giants, but I don’t HATE them either.
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    Finally, I can enjoy winning without the whining. Life is good. I’m ready for B-Mac to pitch on Friday. Play Ball!

11. I have posted before how soft the schedule for the rest of July is:
    5 teams, one with a winning record, the Twins at 45-43 for 3 at home.
    10 home games and 5 away with 3 off days. Roberts can juggle the rotation and play match ups.
    August is tougher:
    8 teams, 2 with winning records-DBacks for 6 all on the road and the Brewers for 3 at home.
    19 road games and 8 home games with 4 off days.
    They also play the Braves, Mets, Padres, White Sox, Tigers and Pirates.
    2 tests in August-playing better on the road and facing the Snakes for 6 in their house. The Snakes have better pitching than the Rocks but have a suspect bullpen. They play well and hit well at home.
    Sept schedule:
    6 teams, 3 with winning records: Snakes 3 at home, Rocks 4 home and 2 road and Nationals for 3 on the road.
    13 Home and 16 away games with only 2 off days.
    They also play the Pads, Giants, and Phillies, 3 home and 3 away with SF and SD and 4 road in Philly.
    Sept will be fun with lots of call ups from the minors, last year they ran out of lockers in the home clubhouse! If they handle July and August, Sept will be a get the team ready for the playoffs mode and look at some kids.

12. They also play Marlins and White Sox on the road and The Braves, Twins and Giants at home in July. They can increase their lead during this stretch leading into a tougher August and Sept schedule.

    1. I plan on going to the White Sox series. I try to take my son to a new stadium every year and he hasn’t been to new Comiskey or whatever they’re calling it these days.

       1. I wanted to go, but the 19th is our Anniversary and she has taken me to baseball games on it the past 3 years. She wants something different…

          1. Then you should go the 18th. It’s close to Indy.

13. I do not think Hatcher or Gutierrez will be back this year. That is ok with me. We have Thompson in the outfield field and he is fine defensively. He needs more work on his hitting. We need to bring Verdugo up and send Thompson down. We are fine in the infield. We are ok at catcher. I am fine with h he starting pitchers. It is the bull pen where we need help. Romo is not much help. We need a good lock down left hander. If we cannot trade for one, then it will have to come from Avilan, Dayton, Liberatore, Ryu or Kasmir. I am afraid we would have to give away 2-3 really good prospects to get one and I would not do it. And yet, I want to win so bad this year, I just may do it. How is that for riding the fence.

14. As we get ready for the 2nd half, I’m just going to throw some bones for you guys to chew on, which by the way has been a great ride. Totally DIG LADODGERTLALK, by far the best blog. Mark and the rest of the gang, you guys are great, thanks so much for upping my baseball IQ by leaps and bounds. Here goes,..

    If you really look at it in a different light, nobody in the Dodgers lineup is really THE MAN, or THE MAN 2, as far as do not pitch to this guy, he will kill you. What we have is something I haven’t seen in years on the Dodgers, a bunch of grinders. OK, we know Puig, Joc and even Seager can be free swingers at times, but look at the rest of these guys, No marquee names at all, but when you have to face Taylor, Kike, Chasey, Barnes, Grandal when he is on, Forsythe, and of course Cody who seems to adjust about 3 times per at bat, that’s just flat out scary to another pitching staff. I am saving props for Turner because when we get to the play-offs he will be the guy that will show us the way. Dude is just incredible. The regulars and platoon guys are kicking some serious ass right now.

    Starters: Don’t really see FAZ making an earth shaking deal for a 1A or wingman starter for Kershaw, Going back to one of the DodgerTalk posts awhile back, when you guys broke down the Cueto, Price, and Hamels trades. Not real impressive returns on those guys so far… Some of the best moves are the ones you don’t make. Maybe a solid #3 at best for minimal prospects,(Please throw in Hatchet!)

    Bullpen: As much as I love the guy, I agree with most of the guys on this site, No Mo Romo..I think he is holding up a spot that one of our young studs from AAA could audition for, Really,REALLY excited to see what kind of arms show up from the farm teams around late August and September. One of these guys could be a game changer, put us over the top in a divisional series. Really hesitant dealing with the Padres for Hand. He is a shutdown lefty, but we will have to face our own prospects for years in the same division. Not good.

    Manager: As much as I liked Mattingly, Dave Roberts reminds me so much of a young Tommy Lasorda back in the day. Don’t be fooled by his cheerleader type demeanor. Ask Maeda how that conversation on the mound went a couple of starts ago, Roberts chewed on him good. Also check out how quick his players had his back when he got into it with the Pads manager. This guy is legit, the real deal with a lot of street cred with his players. Wouldn’t YOU like to play for this guy? Still think FAZ like this guy, but had no idea how bad ass he would turn out. My favorite manager in years..

15. As I mentioned/suggested before, I don’t think Verdugo is on the 40, so who gets jettisoned…AC you there…
    P.S. same problem at getting a peek at the OKC 2B (brain fart with the name)…

    1. Getting Verdugo/Calhoun/Oaks/Buehler or whomever FAZ decides can help, there are several options open:
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       1. Julio Urias to 60 Day DL
       2. AGon can go on the 60 Day DL (will not be back before September – If he does come back then another roster move will need to be made).
       3. DFA one or more of the following:
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       a. Peter O’Brien
       b. Mike Freeman
       c. Fabio Castillo
       d. Franklin Gutierrez (or 60 Day DL)
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       There are minor trades that can be made that involve some of the other “less desirous” members on the 40 man:
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       a. Jacob Rhame
       b. Josh Ravin
       c. SVS
       d. Brett Eibner

16. Willie Calhoun 2- 2, 2 doubles in AAA. All-Star Game.

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