Spring Training 2016 has turned into a camp of attrition for the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers are still looking to fill out their starting rotation but the candidates- Brandon Beachy and Mike Bolsinger are the frontrunners- but they went down with nagging injuries with only a little more than a week to go in camp. Alex Wood has also been slowed by injury and has only made two stats this spring and Scott Kazmir had an encouraging last outing after getting shelled in his first two starts.
Rookie shortstop Corey Seager has been sidelined by a knee strain and has been limited to 13 at bats this spring, Andre Ethier just went down after taking a foul ball off of his lower leg, Yasmani Grandal has a shoulder issue, Howie Kendrick has missed some time, Adrian Gonzalez is just now getting in some time on the playing field, and Justin Turner is working his way back from microfracture surgery in the off season. That would be three potential members of the starting rotation and six regulars. As a Dodgers fan, that is not the start to the season I was hoping for.
Showing posts with label Brandon Beachy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brandon Beachy. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 22, 2016
Tuesday, March 8, 2016
The Evaluations Begin
I would have to believe that Clayton Kershaw and Kenta Maeda are the only two starting pitchers that are guaranteed a spot in the starting rotation. Kazmir was not sharp in his initial outing of the spring and neither was Alex Wood. Zach Lee and Brandon Beachy also looked good in their first outings of the spring but Lee's body of work will be more closely examined than a veteran pitcher's would be and Beachy has had an injury plagued career and has missed the majority of the past two seasons. The Dodgers started the spring with a surplus of starting pitching and they are down to a pool of six unless Jose Deleon or Julio Urias both have such an outstanding spring, the do not give the Dodgers brass any choice but to take them to Los Angeles when the team breaks camp.
Saturday, August 29, 2015
....And The Rest Of The Starting Pitchers
Manager Don Mattingly and the Los Angeles Dodgers have had to cobble together the back end of the starting rotation made up of rookies, cast offs, and veterans acquired by trade after Hyun Jin-Ryu and Brandon McCarthy went down early in the season. The Dodgers ran the gamut of pitchers from veteran arms, young arms, and rebuilt arms from the scrap heap to the independent leagues and all walks of the professional baseball community. It seems like everyone had the opportunity to nail down those last two starting spots from Scott Baker and Brandon Beachy to Ian Thomas and Zach Lee.
After Greinke and Kershaw, the oft-injured Brett Anderson has managed to stay healthy and productive this season and hold down the third spot in the rotation. The Dodgers eventually settled on Mat Latos and Alex Wood for their final two starters. Mat Latos gets another opportunity in the rotation, facing the Chicago Cubs tonight and this might be his last opportunity as the Dodgers head into the stretch with a 2 1/2 game lead over the San Francisco Giants in the National League West.
The Dodgers can expand their roster to 40 players on September 1 and if Latos has another bad outing, I look for the Dodgers to insert Mike Bolsinger back into the rotation. He was by far the most successful of the Dodgers open pitching tryouts throughout the balance of the season.
After Greinke and Kershaw, the oft-injured Brett Anderson has managed to stay healthy and productive this season and hold down the third spot in the rotation. The Dodgers eventually settled on Mat Latos and Alex Wood for their final two starters. Mat Latos gets another opportunity in the rotation, facing the Chicago Cubs tonight and this might be his last opportunity as the Dodgers head into the stretch with a 2 1/2 game lead over the San Francisco Giants in the National League West.
The Dodgers can expand their roster to 40 players on September 1 and if Latos has another bad outing, I look for the Dodgers to insert Mike Bolsinger back into the rotation. He was by far the most successful of the Dodgers open pitching tryouts throughout the balance of the season.
Sunday, July 12, 2015
Another Comeback Story
The Dodgers rolled out another comeback story against the Milwaukee Brewers in the form of Starting Pitcher Brandon Beachy. It had been more than two years since Beach had appeared in a major league game. This comeback story did not go as well as Chin-hui Tsao's as Beachy gave up three runs in four innings and took the loss. Beach gave up all three runs in the top of the third inning on a bases loaded double.
Beachy was signed as an insurance policy in case something happened to one of the Dodgers brittle starters and now that insurance has come due. He was not expected to be ready until the All Star break so he is right on schedule. Beach had some control issues and outside of the one bad inning, he did not look too bad.
Chin-hui Tsao pitched two more scoreless innings in middle relief so it will be interesting to see how the bullpen shakes out after the All Star break.
Beachy was signed as an insurance policy in case something happened to one of the Dodgers brittle starters and now that insurance has come due. He was not expected to be ready until the All Star break so he is right on schedule. Beach had some control issues and outside of the one bad inning, he did not look too bad.
Chin-hui Tsao pitched two more scoreless innings in middle relief so it will be interesting to see how the bullpen shakes out after the All Star break.
Friday, June 12, 2015
Looking At The Numbers
The Dodgers have been scuffling at the plate lately. I know they went through an eight game stretch in May where they only scored nine runs. The Dodgers have suffered through a stretch of three straight shutouts at the hands of the San Francisco Giants and 42 consecutive scoreless innings on the road. These games came against the San Francisco Giants and the St. Louis Cardinals, two of the best pitching staffs in baseball.
I decided to take a look at the overall offensive numbers of the Dodgers. What I saw really surprised me. After 60 games, the Dodgers are first in Major League baseball in OBP, tied for first in home runs with the Houston Astros, second in OPS, fifth in runs scored, and ninth in batting average.
The Dodgers have racked up these numbers in spite of outfielders Yasiel Puig and Carl Crawford missing large chunks of the season and starting shortstop Jimmy Rollins being off to the worst start of his career.
On the plus side Joc Pederson has been as advertised and Andre Ethier has shown flashes of his form of five or six seasons ago. Pederson leads Major League rookies in home runs with 17 and Ethier has already doubled his homerun output from last season. Alex Guerrero's emergence as a power hitter helped lead to Juan Uribe's trade.
Where is the consistency in the run scoring? It has always been said that good pitching beats good hitting and that is how the Giants and the Cardinals are taking it to the Dodgers this season and in last season's playoffs.. The Dodgers are also missing their third and fourth starters in Hyun Jin-Ryu and Brandon McCarthy and they have been piecing together the back end of their pitching staff since Opening Day. Right now Carlos Frias and Mike Bolsinger are doing the job and Brandon Beachy should be back in about another six weeks.
I decided to take a look at the overall offensive numbers of the Dodgers. What I saw really surprised me. After 60 games, the Dodgers are first in Major League baseball in OBP, tied for first in home runs with the Houston Astros, second in OPS, fifth in runs scored, and ninth in batting average.
The Dodgers have racked up these numbers in spite of outfielders Yasiel Puig and Carl Crawford missing large chunks of the season and starting shortstop Jimmy Rollins being off to the worst start of his career.
On the plus side Joc Pederson has been as advertised and Andre Ethier has shown flashes of his form of five or six seasons ago. Pederson leads Major League rookies in home runs with 17 and Ethier has already doubled his homerun output from last season. Alex Guerrero's emergence as a power hitter helped lead to Juan Uribe's trade.
Where is the consistency in the run scoring? It has always been said that good pitching beats good hitting and that is how the Giants and the Cardinals are taking it to the Dodgers this season and in last season's playoffs.. The Dodgers are also missing their third and fourth starters in Hyun Jin-Ryu and Brandon McCarthy and they have been piecing together the back end of their pitching staff since Opening Day. Right now Carlos Frias and Mike Bolsinger are doing the job and Brandon Beachy should be back in about another six weeks.
Sunday, February 22, 2015
A Future Contract
The Dodgers signed 28 year old right-handed starter Brandon Beachy to a one year contract yesterday with an option for 2016. He had his second Tommy John surgery almost a year ago and will not be ready to pitch until around the All-Star break. He missed all of 2014 with the Atlanta Braves and has only pitched in 18 games in the past three seasons. He has a 14-11 career record with a 3.23 ERA.
The Dodgers signed Beachy as an insurance policy for the second half of this season (that is a $2.75 million policy) and hoping he can make a comeback. It also covers 2016 in case Greinke and/or Anderson end up somewhere else. The contract option is for $3-$6 million depending on how much he pitches this year.
The Dodgers signed Beachy as an insurance policy for the second half of this season (that is a $2.75 million policy) and hoping he can make a comeback. It also covers 2016 in case Greinke and/or Anderson end up somewhere else. The contract option is for $3-$6 million depending on how much he pitches this year.
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