The Swiss Army Knife

MJ,

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First of all, Alex Wood does not qualify for the ERA title as yet, because he is a little short on innings.

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Secondly, Wood has walked the same amount of batters as Kershaw, but he has pitched 43 fewer innings.

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Third, they both have the same WHIP.

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Wood has a better ERA and BA against and has allowed 15 fewer HR.

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The fact that he has pitched so many fewer innings in the main deal.

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Wood averages less than 6 innings a start while Kershaw is just below 7 innings a start.

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Don;t get me wrong, Wood is pitching very good and deserves to be there, but no one is baseball is going to take Wood over Kershaw.

CODY BELLINGER, KENLEY JANSEN, CLAYTON KERSHAW AND COREY SEAGER SELECTED TO NATIONAL LEAGUE ALL-STAR TEAM

Justin Turner selected as Final Vote Candidate

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LOS ANGELES – Major League Baseball announced today that infielder/outfielder Cody Bellinger, right-handed pitcher Kenley Jansen, left-handed pitcher Clayton Kershaw and shortstop Corey Seager were named to the National League All-Star team. All four were selected via player balloting, with Bellinger making his first All-Star appearance, Jansen and Seager each making their second and Kershaw making his seventh. Major League Baseball’s 88th All-Star Game presented by Mastercard will be played on Tuesday, July 11 at Marlins Park in Miami, Florida at 5:00 p.m. PT and televised nationally on FOX.

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In addition, Dodger third baseman Justin Turner was selected as a Final Vote candidate and has the opportunity to join Bellinger, Jansen, Kershaw and Seager on the NL All-Star team via fan balloting, which begins immediately on Dodgers.com or MLB.com/vote, and runs through this Thursday, July 6, at 1:00 p.m. PT.

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Turner is seeking his first All-Star selection and has made a strong All-Star push by leading the Majors (min. 200 AB) with a .388 batting average and a .473 on-base percentage in 58 games, while recording 16 doubles, seven home runs, 31 RBI, 26 multi-hit games and a 1.038 OPS. He currently sits with the fourth highest batting average at the All-Star Break since 1969, trailing just Larry Walker (.398, 1997), Tony Gwynn (.394, 1997) and Andres Galarraga (.391, 1993). Since joining the Dodgers in 2014, Turner ranks among NL leaders in batting average (.309, 4th), OBP (.380, 8th) and SLG (.503, 9th).

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Fans can now begin to vote for Turner to be the final player selected to the National League’s All-Star team via the 2017 Esurance MLB All-Star Game Final Vote. Voting is available online at Dodgers.com/vote and MLB.com, as well as via mobile ballot and by SMS text voting. Text “N5” to 89269 (USA) or 101010 (Canada) to vote for Turner. Voting by text message is limited to 35 per phone number. In addition, during the last six hours of voting (7 a.m. PT to end of the Final Vote) on Thursday, July 6, tweets with #VoteJT will also count. The Dodgers have partnered with the Kansas City Royals as fans are encouraged to vote for Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas for the American League Final Vote, when they vote for Turner.

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This marks the third time in the last four years that the Dodgers have had four or more All-Star representatives (also: 2014 and 2015) and were Turner to win the Final Vote, it would be the third time in the last 12 years that the club would have five players participate in the Midsummer Classic (1995 and 2015).

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At 21 years, 354 days old, Bellinger becomes the youngest position player to be honored as an All-Star in franchise history (previous: Corey Seager: 22 years, 69 days) and the third-youngest Dodger All-Star overall (at the time of their first selection), behind only Fernando Valenzuela (20 years, 281 days in 1981) and Ralph Branca (21 years, 183 days in 1947). Despite being promoted to the big leagues on April 25, Bellinger currently leads the Senior Circuit in home runs (24), slugging percentage (.633) and home runs per at-bat (9.88), while ranking among the NL’s best in OPS (.967, 5th) and RBI (56, 11th). The reigning NL Rookie of the Month, who leads the Dodgers in home runs, RBI and slugging percentage, has recorded the most homers as a Dodger in a season at the age of 21 or younger, besting Adrián Beltré, who slugged 20 homers at age 21 in 2000. Bellinger is in his first MLB season after being selected by the Dodgers in the fourth round of the 2013 First-Year Player Draft from Hamilton High School in Arizona.

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Jansen, 29, will make his second consecutive All-Star appearance after being selected for the first time last year. He currently leads MLB relievers with a 0.79 ERA and ranks among National League relievers in WHIP (0.53, 1st), strike-to-walk ratio (53.00, 1st, 53 SO/1 BB), wins (4, T-2nd), strikeouts (53, 2nd), saves (18, T-3rd) and strike per nine innings (14.03, 4th) in 32 appearances this year. Jansen, who is in his eighth big league season, is the Dodgers’ all-time leader in saves (207) and strikeouts by a reliever (685). He was signed by the Dodgers as an international free agent on Nov. 17, 2004.

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Kershaw, 29, will become the first Dodger to be named to seven consecutive All-Star teams (2011-17) since Steve Garvey (1974-81), who made eight consecutive appearances in the Midsummer Classic. Kershaw, who is a strong candidate to start the game for the National League, currently is tied for the Major League lead in wins (12), while ranking among the league leaders in innings pitched (116.1, 2nd), quality starts (14, T-2nd), ERA (2.32, 3rd), WHIP (0.91, 3rd), strikeouts (135, 3rd), strikeout-to-walk ratio (6.75, 4th) and opponents’ batting average (.202, 5th) in 17 starts. The three-time Cy Young Award winner and 2014 NL Most Valuable Player is in his 10th MLB season after being selected by the Dodgers in the first round (7th overall) in the 2006 First-Year Player Draft.

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Seager, 23, will also make his second consecutive All-Star appearance after leading National League shortstops in runs (57), doubles (19), home runs (13), RBI (40) and walks (45) this season, while ranking second in hits (81), batting average (.299), on-base percentage (.401) and slugging percentage (.513). The reigning National League Rookie of the Year leads the Dodgers in runs scored, hits (82) and doubles, while hitting .353 with runners in scoring position (18-for-51), which ranks 16th in the NL. Seager is in his third MLB season after being selected by the Dodgers in the first round (18th overall) in the 2012 First-Year Player Draft out of Northwest Cabarrus High School in North Carolina.

Chacin’s was on the corner or just off all day, Maeda’s was pretty much in the hitting zone, same plane as his fastball. Guys with wipe out sliders can break it a lot more and Maeda usually has a sharp break that just was not there today. Just my 2 cents of course!

Today Maeda’s slider was breaking about 4 to 6 inches and the Padres feasted on it and his 89-90 mph fastball. Meanwhile the Dodgers hitters acted like they had never seen a mediocre backdoor slider and the ump had a generous strike zone. Give Chacin credit he was pitching, not throwing. Hopefully the battle of the bullpens goes better in the last 4 innings. The Dodgers have left a ton of runners on base today. Snakes are winning 3-2 in the 8th.

Today, the Dodgers traded left-handed pitcher Jason Wheeler to the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for International Amateur Signing Bonus Pool space.

Here is one for the books…. Turner just grounded out 1-4-6-3 Don’t see that play very often.

As noted above by a couple posters, we might be better off just sticking with what we have rather than trading.

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Remember last year with everyone wanted to dump Grandal for Lucroy? Well here is a bombshell.

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Rangers Open To Trading Jonathan Lucroy

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Grandal 2017, .264 BA, 10 HRS, 30 RBI, 1.9 WAR

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Lucroy 2017, .263 BA, 4 HRS, 20 RBI, .1 WAR

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Bet TX would like all those prospects back.

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Maybe we should just “Love the One We’re With”

I guess I should proof my writing before posting. Darvish from Tx would be a lot better than that Sarvish guy.

9- x =1 This is getting too hard.

I sound like a broken record, but I do not see any sense in trading for a starting pitcher UNLESS, we trade a couple of our current starters (not CK and a couple of others) ++ for an elite pitcher. The problem is, it would probably be someone else’s #1 and that is not likely and there aren’t many out there that are able to be moved. Who would you suggest we might be interested in??? Someone like Martinez from SL, or Anderson from Mil. or Sarvish from Tx?????

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Someone else mentioned LHRP Rivero and I could see us going for that. Having the two best relievers in baseball would be something (if they could exist together)

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Mark, all this math is above me, how am I supposed to know what 6+8 is in order to post.

The Dodgers are 20 – 3 in the last 23 games, a pace only matched by 3 previous teams, (2 of which were Dodgers). When things go this well, pretty much everything is going right. Even if something goes wrong, something else goes right. All Dodger fans should cheer, but then think ahead about the future. What is most likely to go wrong and what are the fixes?

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This team is good enough that the ‘fixes” are not going to be major. Everyone seems to be talking about the same things – a #2 starter, another shutdown reliever and a right-handed power bat. My views on these subjects are well known so I’m not going to belabor the point. I will say that the team is good enough this year that I am hopeful that this is the year that the Braintrust doesn’t look to obtain place-fillers such as Bud Norris and only looks to secure a difference maker.

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This is why I doubt that they will get another starter – I don’t really see a difference maker out there. They can obtain a difference maker for the ‘pen or the OF. Will they do it this year? I hope so. As Idahoal said above, the Dodgers resigned Turner, Jansen and Hill because they thought the team as constituted was a contender but only if the key parts returned. If another key part puts them over the top, I think that this year, the Braintrust will pull the trigger and make it happen.

Farmer played shortstop yesterday. His natural, college position. Interesting. Played the entire game there.

Thinking back on the Jansen, Turner, and Hill signings this winter. I really think FAZ thought they were close to having the team they wanted. They could not afford to lose these pieces of the team. If they did not sign them, what would that say to the team. I trust them more every day.

Stewart’s ball movement must be special. He misses bats. Period. He is the next starter in waiting. Hill’s ball-strike ratio was over the top great. Something like 25-60. Outstanding. The team has not been stressed lately. How will it respond? The Angels are playing as good as anyone right now and the series split was as close to playoff ball as we’ve seen lately. The team is rolling. As good as we have seen in 20 years. The run under Mattingly was more stressful than this one. I hope we don’t start taking all of this for granted. Too bad the season has to pause for the All Star game. I want to keep playing. I’m glad the giants are dead last because they are playing better right now. giants suck.

To me many factors are behind the scenes:

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Do the coaches think Pederson, Taylor and Puig can continue?

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Is there any way Calhoun ever turns into a 2B?

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Is Verdugo elite or just average at the MLB level?

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What is going on with McCarthy?

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How much wiggle room is there with the 40 in the future….

One guy we do not talk about very much is Turner. He is having a great year. He is batting .388. I just assume he is going to do well every night and he does not disappoint. He is a very good defensive third baseman. I bet the Mets are not happy. They just let him go.

It was nice to hear what the announcers said about Stewart. He needs to improve his curve a little and he will be lights out for the next 10 years. Minnesota wanted Stewart in trade talks this Spring. Dodgers would not give him up. That is how we ended up with Forsythe. I think the front office really knows which players they will not give up in trade talks.

Mark, you are absolutely correct, this is a fun team to watch. Your remarks about Kike are spot on, the kid is a super utility player with POP, it has been fun to see him progress into this roll. He is for sure a swiss army knife, that catch last night?

The progression of Seager, Christ Taylor showing up, Bellinger and his heroics, best hitter in baseball Turner, Puig turning things around in his approach and clubhouse presence and his continuous cannon arm, the Barnes explosion (yes, you have been calling for this kid for years), it is a great time to be a Dodger fan.

We obviously know we have the horses in Kershaw and Jansen, I PRAY Wood and Hill stay healthy for October, I admit- its tough giving up prospects right now with the kings ransom Quintana and others will take, I am sort of in the ride this out camp too.

This is fun and the Dodgers are becoming a force for many years to come, so exciting to watch. The truth is, this team is here to stay for awhile.

If we could pick up a JD Martinez, can you imagine this?

Taylor CF

Seager SS

Turner 3B

Martinez LF

Bellinger 1B

Forsythe 2B

Barnes C

Puig RF

Def kept Barnes in there!!!

Great article in the Times about the Dodgers and the upcoming deadline, pretty much in line with what all of us on Dodgertalk have been going back and forth on:The starting pitching. I am 100% on board with what FAZ is talking about between the lines. They aren’t going to make a trade “Just to rearrange the deck chairs”. Seems to me part of FAZ is old school in that they REALLY value the chemistry of this current group, and don’t really see a need to make a major trade to upset that vibe. And the piece made a good point. The play-offs ARE a major crapshoot, so you put the best team together that you can and hope you don’t run into a hot pitching team that’s on a roll. After all these years following the Dodgers, hell, since the mid 70’s, these guys totally remind me of the old Lasorda teams, scrappy as hell with a different guy getting it done everyday. Roberts has built that culture, and I still believe he was one of FAZ’s best moves they have ever made. Love that guy, what a bad ass the other night. His guys would go through a brick wall for him right now.

I like Kike a lot, his energy and versatility and good defense are very valuable. He hits pretty well off LHP but his approach against RHP needs work. He does not always get his foot back down and is vulnerable to sliders away which he tends to chase. He may explore working with JT and Taylors coach in the off season and take the ball up the middle more and lay off pitches out of the zone.

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The lineup against LHP sometimes annoys me, I would rather see Puig or Joc and not Thompson in the OF. (Hard to argue with an 8-0 win though) Forsythe and Barnes were supposed to be part of the answer and the last 2 games performed in a huge way. JT has done much better this year against LHP. Dodgers have not announced the rotation yet for the DBacks series but as lined up would be Ryu, Kershaw and Wood. The Snakes will throw 2 LHP in Corbin and Robbie Ray and the latter has been on a roll. It may be wise to sit Bellinger for one of those games.

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It was great to see Taylor hit yet another GS and I agree with Mark he should be the lead off hitter going forward. He sees a lot of pitches, takes his walks, has good speed (leads the team in SB) and can hurt you in clutch situations. He has been scrapping a bit lately but has been a key part of the teams strong play the last 2 months. The 5 spot in the lineup is key as well to give protection to Bellinger and it has been a revolving door. The guy on deck influences how they pitch to him. Bellinger needs to lay off the low pitches and wait for a pitch up in the zone he can drive. If it’s low just take it the other way. His 1st pitch come backer to the pitcher on a low pitch with the bases loaded and 2 outs was a perfect example of not waiting for his pitch. He chased ball 4 on a 3-2 inside pitch in his 1st AB. Not picking on him, he just seems to be pressing and needs to be more patient.

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Hill was outstanding, commanding the breaking ball and spotting his fast ball. He made Myers look silly and had him talking to himself on the way back to the dugout. The Dodgers should just go to a 6 man rotation, it will keep all of them all fresh and move Kershaw up as needed. The extra off days in July might delay that being implemented but I could see it coming as long as they all keep pitching like this.

I’m happy with current starter situation. Don’t think we can upgrade at the deadline. Starters will be available, but doubt they will be better than what we already have — Kershaw, Wood, Hill, McCarthy/Maeda/Ryu—without significantly overpaying.

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I would be happy if we got a good bullpen piece. Jansen, Baez, Murrow, Stewart is a solid foundation. I’ll take two out of Stripling, Avilon, Libatore, Dayton, Fields–just not sure which two. Need two to three more for the post season. ? Oaks, Ryu/Maeda/other AAA option or trade. Don’t see Romo or Hatcher on post season roster. Sure I’m forgetting someone.

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I’d also like to seen another bat on the bench that can also play outfield. Not sure Thompson is that person. ?verdugo or rental if can be had for good price.

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The way they are playing right now there aren’t a lot of spots to upgrade

“What did I tell you about Rich Hill? Logan Forsythe? Chris Taylor? Austin Barnes? Cody Bellinger?”

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Didn’t you say they were 21st century “Pulsar Interceptors”? I would agree and we can add Kiki to that list!