The Homerun Derby

The Los Angeles Dodgers had a homerun derby yesterday against the Arizona Diamondbacks pitching yesterday in their home opener. The Dodgers set a Major League record with eight homeruns on opening day and won going away 12-5. Joc Pederson and Kike Hernandez hit two homeruns a piece to lead the way and Corey Seager hit a homerun in his first game action since last April 29. Max Muncy, Cody Bellinger, and Austin Barnes also homered.

Joc Pederson put on the most impressive display as he showed power to all fields. A double to left, a homerun to centerfield, and a monster shot to right showcased his different approach at the plate. The results were impressive.

Hyun Jin-Ryu put on an impressive pitching display giving up only one run in six innings. He located his fastball well and mixed in a slider and a curveball to keep the Diamondbacks hitters off balance. Ryu got bumped to the from of the rotation because of the injuries to Clayton Kershaw and Walker Buehler.

The least impressive aspect of the Dodgers win over the Diamondbacks was their middle relievers, Yimi Garcia and Brock Stewart. They gave up a combined four runs in three innings of work. They were the last two pitchers to make the pitching staff and it is good to have a ten run lead in the late innings of a game.

The Dodgers At The Break

The Los Angeles Dodgers arrive at the All Star break 11 games over .500 and 6 1/2 games behind the San Francisco Giants in the National League West, still within striking distance. Considering all of the injury problems the Dodgers have had and the problems they have had fielding a starting rotation, the Dodgers are not in bad shape to make a run at the Giants.

The Dodgers have used 12 different starter pitchers this season. They have used a combination of rookies, cast offs, and fringe pitchers to find that fifth starter they have been missing all season. Injuries increased the need for starting pitching to force the Dodgers to trade for Bud Norris. Brandon McCarthy and Hyun Jin-Ryu have finally returned from injuries and when Clayton Kershaw comes back in a couple of weeks, the Dodgers will finally have a full compliment of major league starting pitchers for the first time all season.

The Dodgers offense has been inconsistent all season as they are 12th in the National League in batting average at .241 and ninth in runs scored. Injuries have also taken their toll on the Dodgers. Andre Ethier was injured in Spring Training has not played at all, Yasmani Grandal has been battling injuries for most of the season, Scott Van Slyke was injured early and has never got going, and Yasiel Puig has had his usual stint on the Disabled List. Carl Crawford was a shadow of his former self and was released still being owed $35 million. Alex Guerrero never lived up to the hype when he was signed out of Cuba and was released as well as the Dodgers decided to clean house and gain some productivity.

Rookie Corey Seager has been as good as advertised as he leads the team in almost every offensive category. He leads the team in batting average at .297, homeruns with 17, and is third on the team in runs batted in with 42. Fellow rookie Trayce Thompson, acquired via trade in the off season, has flashed some power with 13 homeruns and is second on the team in stolen bases with five. Veterans Chase Utley and Howie Kendrick have manned second base admirably, Adrian Gonzalez has lost his power stroke but is still tied with fellow veteran Justin Turner for the team lead in RBI's with 44.

The Dodgers are still in contention for the National League West title and if they can't chase the San Francisco Giants down are in line for a Wild Card berth. Injured Dodgers are slowly making their way back into the lineup and the starting rotation setting the Dodgers up for a strong second half run.

Sometimes They Come Back

"Sometimes They Come Back" was the title of a short story by Stephen King which seemed appropriate considering the nature of the Los Angeles Dodgers starting rotation over the past month or so. Brandon McCarthy and Hyun Jin-Ryu made their long awaited return from very long stints on the Disabled List. McCarthy was out for over a year because of Tommy John surgery and only pitched 23 innings in 2015 posting a 3-0 record. Ryu missed all of 2015 and half of 2016 due to arm problems of various kinds.

They both returned over the course of the past week with very different results. McCarthy has won both of his post-Tommy John starts but only pitching five innings in each start (outside of Kershaw that is about all the Dodgers starters average anyway), only giving up three runs, but getting the win in each game. Ryu got shelled in his return giving up six runs in four and two-thirds innings but after a season and a half, I am sure there was quite a bit of "mound rust" going on even though he had made several rehab starts in the Dodgers minor league system.

An Injury Depleted Roster

The Los Angeles Dodgers are starting the season with ten players on the Disabled List including three starting pitchers- Brandon McCarthy, Brett Anderson, and Hyun-Jin Ryu- and three starting position players- left fielder Andre Ethier, second baseman Howie Kendrick, and catcher Yasmani Grandal.

All of the injuries allowed some rookies to open the season with the Dodgers. The Dodgers opening day roster includes three rookies- shortstop Corey Seager, outfielder Trayce Thompson, and Ross Stripling who earned the role of the Dodgers fifth starter. Non-roster invitee utilityman Charlie Culberson also made the roster with a solid spring at the plate and he showed the ability to play multiple positions. A late addition to the Dodgers pitching staff, reliever Louis Coleman also made the roster as it was decided to option left hander Luis Avilan to AAA Oklahoma City. Coleman was signed right as camp opened.

Was There Ever Any Doubt?

Clayton Kershaw was named as the Opening Day Starter for the sixth season in a row. Was there ever any doubt that Kershaw was going to get the opening day nod? I am hard pressed to see who is going to follow Kershaw after opening day. Ryu will not be back until May, McCarthy will not be back until after the all star break, nobody knows what Kenta Maeda can do, and Alex Wood might be the Dodgers "X" factor. Newly signed Scott Kazmir will be penciled in as the #2 starter, and Brett Anderson will be the #3. Maeda might be the only right handed pitcher in the mix.

....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.

Taking A Chance

This past offseason, the Dodgers took a big chance when they signed left handed starter Brett Anderson to a one year, $10 million contract. Now it is looking like the most important signing of the off season. Anderson was slated to be the #5 starter when the season began but due to season ending injuries to Hyun-Jin Ryu and Brandon McCarthy, he has been boosted to the #3 slot in the rotation. Backup Catcher A.J. Ellis said after last night's seven inning, one run performance against the Diamondbacks that Anderson had often pitched like a #1 or #2.

The oft-injured Anderson has already started more games this season than he has since 2010, his second season with the Oakland A's, and has as many wins, five, as staff ace Clayton Kershaw and a better ERA than Kershaw, 3.00 versus 3.20. Anderson has overcome a variety of injuries since 2010 including a Tommy John surgery but it looks like this $10 million gamble is paying off for the Dodgers and looking like a bargain.

Finishing With A Flourish

The Los Angeles Dodgers just finished taking two out of three from the second place San Francisco Giants and they took the last two with style. After getting blown out in the first game 9-0 after Hyun-Jin Ryu left in the first inning with shoulder stiffness, the Dodgers took the last two games, 17-0 and 4-2. The 17-0 victory featured the hitting and pitching of Zach Greinke who pitched 7 shutout innings and hit a two run homer. He improved his record to 15-8 with the win. The rubber game of the series featured the pitching of Clayton Kershaw (8 innings, 2 ER, 8 K's, 2 BB's, and a 19-3 record) and the hitting of Matt Kemp (his 20th HR and now 74 RBI's). The Dodgers left San Francisco with a three game lead with thirteen games to play and left with what they needed. They face the bottom feeding Colorado Rockies next and need to take at least two games in this series.

Give Me Some Excitement

I would like for this years Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team to give me some excitement and I am not talking about the kind the bullpen gives when they come in in the 8th and 9th inning and blow a two or three run lead. Yesterday's 2-1 win against the San Diego Padres was just another ho hum performance. The Dodgers scored single runs in the first and second innings and then have to hold on for dear life against former Dodger Eric Stults who is the pitching equivalent of Bob Uecker. Stults came into the game with a record of 2-9 on the season with an ERA of around 6. The Dodgers managed to turn it into a pitching duel between Stults and Dodgers starter Hyun-Jin Ryu and luckily for the Dodgers, Ryu was up to the challenge as he only gave up one run in six innings, allowing only 4 hits. He improved to 9-3 on the season and dropped his ERA to 3.06. It was a typical Ryu performance. He gets the Dodgers to the 6th or 7th inning, has a high pitch count, and then has to turn the game over to the bullpen. This season turning it over to the bullpen has been like turning the ball over to the batting practice pitcher. Kenley Jansen did turn in his most dominate inning of the season, striking out the side in the 9th inning on 13 pitches for his 22nd Save. Yasiel Puig does provide some excitement but here lately it has been the various ways in which he can pull something, bruise something, or strain something and have to be removed from the game. I am issuing a call to Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier, Hanley Ramirez, and Adrian Gonzalez or anybody else with a bat in their hand.... Do something useful with it other than knock the dirt off your cleats!

The Bats Wake Up

The Dodgers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates last night 12-2 as Hanley Ramirez hit two homeruns and drove in five and a trio of players- Matt Kemp, Jeff Turner, and Drew Butera- drive in two runs a piece. Hyun Jin-Ryu improved his record to 6-2 as he scattered ten hits (can you really scatter ten hits?) and gave up both Pittsburgh runs. Jamey Wright pitched three scoreless innings to earn his first save of the year. The Dodgers are still hovering around the .500 mark and Hanley Ramirez carried the team when they got hot last year and I am hoping a five RBI night will jump start him to another hot streak. Matt Kemp needs to get off the schneid as well or he might be playing himself right out of Los Angeles.

A Hard Act To Follow

Hyun Jin-Ryu tried his best to follow Josh Beckett's no-hitter the day before but ran out of gas in the 8th inning of the Dodgers 4-3 win over the Cincinnati Reds last night. He retired the first 21 Reds to come to the plate before Todd Frazier doubled in the top of the 8th inning to break up the perfect game. That was also about the time the wheels fell off. The Reds sent 9 men to the plate in the 8th inning, scored 3 runs off of Ryu and Brian Wilson and Kenley Jansen came on to get the first four out save of his career, his 15th on the season. Jansen cannot seem to come in and just shut the door, he has to make it exciting. He escaped a two on, two out jam in the top of the ninth before retiring the final batter on a fly ball to Center. Carl Crawford carried the big bat by driving in two runs and Ryu helped his own cause by driving in a run but only because the Reds could not turn a double play. With only 5 hits in the game, the Dodgers will take runs any way they can get them.

Chris Withrow Optioned Out

Chris Withrow was optioned down to AAA Albuquerque to make room for Hyun-Jin Ryu, who came off the Disabled List. Paul Maholm was sent to the bullpen to take Withrow's place. Withrow pitched in 20 games, 21 1/3 innings, and gave up 7 earned runs for a 2.95 ERA. He had one bad outing within the past week in which he gave up 5 runs but I believe the biggest reasons that he was sent down was the fact that he had options left and to work on his control. He issued 18 walks in those 21 1/3 innings. He was one of the least deserving of some of the other relievers of being optioned out but it was about the only move the Dodgers could make. Plus the Dodgers needed another lefty besides J.P. Howell in the bullpen.

Making The Hits Count

The Dodgers only had 4 hits against the New York Mets in their 4-3 win win last night but three of them were solo homeruns- Gonzalez (12), Puig (10), and Hanley Ramirez (7)- and Ramirez drove in the Dodgers other run. Hyun-Jin Ryu came off the Disabled List and pitched 6 innings, giving up 2 runs, striki9ng out 9 and only walking 1. He improved to 4-2 on the season and his return couldn't have come at a better time. The Dodgers held on for the victory in spite of Kenley Jansen giving up a 9th inning run but he did earn his 13th save. Brandon League and Brian Wilson pitched scoreless innings a piece and Brian Wilson may be getting back into the pitching groove he had at the end of last year when he helped propel the Dodgers into the playoffs. League lowered his ERA to 1.35.

A Streak In The Wrong Direction

The Dodgers lost their second game in a row last night for the first time in a couple of months, this one to the Miami Marlins 6-2. Hyun-Jin Ryu (12-4) pitched well enough to win (7 1/3 innings, 3 earned runs) but the offense fell short again. Juan Uribe had 3 of the Dodgers 6 hits, including an RBI. The Dodgers ran into a hot pitcher, Marlins rookie Jose Fernandez (9-5) and potential Rookie of the Year, who gave up 1 earned run in 6 innings, only giving up 3 hits and striking out 8.

Scattered And Smothered

I had to borrow this headline from the Waffle House menu. Dodgers starter Hyun-Jin Ryu gave up 11 hits but only 2 runs in 5 1/3 innings in yesterday's 6-2 win over the Chicago Cubs but he hung around long enough to get his 10th win on the season. The Dodgers offense was led by Nick Punto's 2 RBI's and Yasiel Puig, who was on base 4 out of the 5 times he was at the plate. He had 2 singles, a walk, and was hit by a pitch and drove in a run. Puig also threw himself all over Wrigley Fields' outfield grass making one sliding catch, barely missed on an all out sprint into the right center field gap in which the ball popped out of his glove, and a missile of a throw from right field to Juan Uribe at third that almost nailed a sliding Junior Lake. A lot of people in baseball and in the press are questioning Puig's attitude and his respect for the game but you really cannot question his effort between the foul lines. He is raw and he makes his share of mistakes but the potential is unlimited. Manager Don Mattingly and Second Baseman Mark Ellis were not around to see the end of the game as they got tossed by Home Plate Umpire Alan Porter for arguing balls and strikes in the top of the fourth inning. Porter's strike zone was inconsistent all game and he called Ellis out on a pitch that was outside. Even the Cubs announcers commented that Porter gave Ellis a quick hook and Mattingly even a quicker one. In Mattingly's argument with Porter in defense of Ellis, the replays looked like Porter and Mattingly came in contact with each other. It looked to me like Porter initiated the contact. I am sure Major League Baseball's League Office will be taking a look at that one.

Pitching Rules The Day

The Dodgers beat the Cincinnati Reds last night 4-1 behind the pitching of Hyun-Jin Ryu (9-3). He went 7 innings, gave up 2 hits, allowed one run (a second inning solo homer by Jay Bruce), and struck out 9 qhile walking only 1. Hanley Ramirez got the Dodgers scoring started in the bottom of the first inning with an RBI double and Skip Schumaker broke a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the 5th inning with a two-run homer (his second home run in less than a week). Adrian Gonzalez added an insurance run in the 7th with an RBI single (his 65th RBI). The Dodgers relievers came in and pitched two innings of hitless relief(Ronald Belisario-2/3, Paco Rodriguez-1/3, and Kenley Jansen- 1 inning). Jansen earned his 14th save. You have to love the versatility of the Dodgers team. Skip Schumaker batted leadoff in this game and the Dodgers have become a team of interchangeable parts. Over a 162 game season, that is what it takes to win a pennant.

North Of The Border

The Los Angeles Dodgers broke out the bats last night in a 14-5 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays. They had three four run innings (2nd, 6th, and 7th) fueled by Catcher A.J. Ellis' career night at the plate. Ellis went 4 for 6 with one home run, 5 RBI's, and 3 runs scored. Skip Schumaker, playing rightfield, had his first homerun on the season in the 7th inning with two on and Carl Crawford had 2 RBI's. Hyun-Jin Ryu did not have his best game of the year and it was his first game action since July 10th. He went 5 1/3 innings and gave up 9 hits and 4 runs. That is the beauty of run support. You don't have to be at your best every game when your team is scoring a lot of runs. Ryu improved his record to 8-3. The Dodgers are 4-0 since the All-Star break and moved into sole posession of first place.

Gutting Out A Sweep

The Dodgers gutted out a tough 14 inning win over the Arizona Diamondbacks last night, 7-5. Hanley Ramirez and A.J. Ellis both hit homeruns in the top of the 14th after Adrian Gonzalez was singled in by A.J. Ellis in the top of the 9th to tie the game at 5. Hyun-Jin Ryu did not have his best outing of the year, giving up 5 runs in 5 innings, but the Dodgers bullpen really held down the fort. They only gave up 2 hits in 9 innings in relief. This was highlighted by the best outing of Chris Withrow's young career, going 3 innings, only giving up 1 hit while striking out 3 and walking 2. Kenley Jansen (3-3) went the last two innings for the win. Hanley Ramirez was the hitting star for the Dodgers going 3 for 6 with 3 RBI's. The win also allowed the Dodgers to pull even at .500 with a 45-45 record. Chris Capuano stays in the rotation with Stephen Fife going to the 15 day Disabled List and he opens against the Colorado Rockies tonight.

A Juan Uribe Sighting

Juan Uribe appeared as a major contributor on the stat sheet last night for the first time since he has been a Los Angeles Dodger. Seeing him stuffing the stat sheet is as about as rare as a Big Foot sighting or seeing my ex-wife cooking in the kitchen. Uribe had a double, a bases clearing triple that chased Giants starter Matt Cain, and his 5th homerun and totaled 7 RBI's. He fell a single short of the cycle, a rarity for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Only two others in Dodgers history- Wes Parker in 1970 and Orlando Hudson in 2009- have hit for the cycle. More importantly for me is that was the 4th win in a row over the San Francisco Giants and their 11th win in 13 games. Hyun-Jin Ryu went 6 2/3 IP and only gave up 2 runs and improved his record to 7-3. He also drove in a run. The bottom third of the Dodgers batting order Uribe, A.J. Ellis, and Ryu) accounted for 9 of the 10 Dodger RBI's. He had pitched in 5 straight games without a decision. Isn't run support a beautiful thing? The sudddenly brittle Matt Kemp hurt his shoulder in his first at bat of the game but finished the at bat, drawing a walk. He was removed after that for precautionary reasons and Carl Crawford, in his first game back from the Disabled List, finished the game for him. Since the game was not in doubt in the ninth inning, the Dodgers gave Brandon League an inning to work and he pitched a scoreless bottom of the ninth.

Back On Track

After the Dodgers winning streak came crashing to Earth on Friday night in a 16-1 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies (Skip Schumaker even got to pitch an inning, a scoreless one at that), the Dodgers got back on track last night in a 4-3 win. Once again, Hyun-Jin Ryu once again pitched well enough to win (7 IP, 2 Earned Runs) but two outfield errors (one by Puig and one by Kemp)in the top of the ninth allowed the Phillies to tie the game at 3 off of Kenley Jansen. The Dodgers got their second walk-off win of the season when Catcher A.J. Ellis singled in Hanley Ramirez from second base. The Dodgers have won 7 of 8 now and need to finish the rest of the first half of the season strong. Hanley Ramirez went 3 out of 4, including his 6th homerun of the season, to raise his batting average to .394. Matt Kemp had a very forgettable game as he struck out in 3 out of his 4 at bats and walked in his other one.