This post is by Bumsrap (not Mark Timmons). Thank You, Bum!
The Dodgers (61-29) enter the All-Star break with the best record in baseball and have won 26 of their last 30 games.
The last 30 games is what finally separated the Dodgers from Arizona and Colorado; two teams that kept on winning with the Dodgers until they couldn’t.
Here is a look at those 30 games and the players with enough PAs to qualify.
| Player | PA | R | R/PA | H | 2B | HR | HR/PA | RBI/PA | BB | K/PA | AVG▼ | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| Turner | 107 | 21 | .196 | 31 | 4 | 8 | .074 | .168 | 19 | .084 | .369 | .495 | .702 | 1.198 |
| Seager | 86 | 13 | .151 | 28 | 6 | 5 | .058 | .209 | 8 | .314 | .364 | .430 | .636 | 1.067 |
| Forsythe | 99 | 20 | .202 | 25 | 5 | 2 | .020 | .101 | 17 | .192 | .309 | .424 | .444 | .869 |
| Pederson, J | 85 | 17 | .200 | 21 | 6 | 7 | .082 | .176 | 13 | .174 | .304 | .435 | .696 | 1.131 |
| Bellinger, C | 116 | 22 | .190 | 29 | 8 | 12 | .103 | .224 | 15 | .233 | .290 | .379 | .730 | 1.109 |
| Puig, Y | 92 | 13 | .141 | 23 | 2 | 7 | .076 | .130 | 10 | .185 | .284 | .359 | .568 | .927 |
| Taylor, C | 106 | 15 | .142 | 25 | 8 | 3 | .028 | .132 | 9 | .292 | .258 | .321 | .433 | .754 |
Sorted by runs per PA
| Forsythe | .202 |
| Pederson | .200 |
| Turner | .196 |
| Bellinger | .190 |
| Seager | .151 |
| Taylor | .141 |
| Puig | .141 |
Sorted by HR per PA
| Bellinger | .103 |
| Pederson | .082 |
| Puig | .076 |
| Turner | .074 |
| Seager | .058 |
| Taylor | .028 |
| Forsythe | .020 |
Sorted by RBI per PA
| Bellinger | .224 |
| Seager | .209 |
| Pederson | .176 |
| Turner | .168 |
| Taylor | .132 |
| Puig | .130 |
| Forsythe | .101 |
Sorted by K per PA
| Turner | .084 |
| Pederson | .174 |
| Puig | .185 |
| Forsythe | .192 |
| Bellinger | .233 |
| Taylor | .292 |
| Seager | .314 |
Sorted by Average
| Turner | .369 |
| Seager | .364 |
| Forsythe | .309 |
| Pederson | .304 |
| Bellinger | .290 |
| Puig | .284 |
| Taylor | .258 |
Sorted by OBP
| Turner | .495 |
| Pederson | .435 |
| Seager | .430 |
| Forsythe | .424 |
| Bellinger | .379 |
| Puig | .359 |
| Taylor | .321 |
Sorted by SLG
| Bellinger | .730 |
| Turner | .702 |
| Pederson | .696 |
| Seager | .636 |
| Puig | .568 |
| Forsythe | .444 |
| Taylor | .433 |
Sorted by OPS
| Turner | 1.198 |
| Pederson | 1.131 |
| Bellinger | 1.109 |
| Seager | 1.067 |
| Puig | 0.927 |
| Forsythe | 0.869 |
| Taylor | 0.754 |
Are there surprises? The Dodgers had 7 players that had enough plate appearances to be qualifiers. Can’t say that is an over use of platoons. Those seven had really outstanding stats. Is it unrealistic to think they can keep it up for the rest of the season? Everybody knows it is unwise to check the box that has always and never in one of the answers on a test, so there’s that.
Here is something to think about. Some talent evaluators like to look at spin rates for pitchers. Should they?
Definition, MLB.com Spin Rate (SR)
A pitcher’s Spin Rate represents the rate of spin on a baseball after it is released. It is measured in revolutions per minute.
The amount of spin on a pitch changes its trajectory. The same pitch thrown at the same Velocity will end up in a different place depending on how much it spins. (For instance, a fastball with a high Spin Rate appears to have a rising effect on the hitter, and it crosses the plate a few inches higher than a fastball of equal Velocity with a lower Spin Rate. Conversely, a lower Spin Rate on a changeup tends to create more movement.)
As more data have become available, most experts have agreed that fastballs and breaking balls are tougher to hit when they possess higher Spin Rates. In fact, some data suggest that Spin Rate correlates more closely than Velocity to swinging-strike percentage.
Okay, now let’s look at a few player’s stats.
| Name | Ave mph 4 seam fastball mph | Ave spin 4 seam fastball rpm |
| Kershaw | 92.91 | 2315 |
| Wood* | 92.41 | 2062 |
| Hill | 89.20 | 2434 |
| Stewart | 93.68 | 2496 |
| Baez | 97.36 | 2266 |
Wood’s stat is for a 2 seam fastball, all others are for 4 seam fastball.
Maybe someone could find that speed and spin rates for their curveballs.
My hypothesis is that command and control is more important than speed and spin. What is everybody’s take?
— Bumsrap
Discussion (45)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Willie Calhoun 2- 2, 2 doubles in AAA. All-Star Game.
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)…
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..
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.
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.
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.
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!
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…
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!
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.
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.
Thank you Yadi Molina. Now Alex Wood cannot get the loss.
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.
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.
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.
Here ya’ go.
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Thanks Bum!
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Put down the Rap!