The Trade That Didn't Happen

The Los Angeles Dodgers didn't make a splash at the major league baseball trade deadline; they barely caused a ripple. The got starting pitcher Rich Hill (who was even on the Disabled List because of a blister problem) and outfielder Josh Reddick from the Oakland A's and relief pitcher got relief pitcher Josh Fields from the Houston Astros and Jesse Chavez from the Toronto Blue Jays. All of these players were acquired for minor league players and the Dodgers did not have to empty out their farm system of the best prospects.

The biggest news on this day was that the Dodgers finally took a hardline stance with Yasiel Puig. When the Dodgers could not package Puig in a trade deal, the Dodgers decided to option Puig to AAA Oklahoma City. Puig is not having the worst statistical season of the Dodgers outfielders but Puig has always been cursed with a world of potential but appears disinterested most of the time and has spent his fair share of games on the bench with nagging injuries. The trade for Reddick, Enrique Hernandez and Scott Van Slyke making it back from injuries, and with Trayce Thompson due back soon made Puig dispensable. Puig may have finally wore out his welcome with the Dodgers and may have taken his last at bat with the Dodgers.

The Whiff N' Poof Express

Several years ago in the comic strip BC, the manager of the caveman baseball team was asked what the nickname was of his batting lineup a la "The Murderer's Row" of the 1927 New York Yankees. The manager's reply was "The Whiff and Poof Express." I thought of that comic strip when I was glancing at the Los Angeles Dodgers offensive statistics for the 2016 season.

In their game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Los Angeles Dodgers had three players out of their starting eight regulars that by the end of the game were hitting below the infamous "Mendoza Line", a term used to describe a level of futility in major league hitters. Outfielder Enrique Hernandez finished the game at .198, fellow outfielder Scott Van Slyke at .185 (although he did hit the game winning three-run homerun), and Catcher A.J. Ellis at .187. Granted all three of those players have spent the majority of the season coming off the bench, spot starting, or on the Disabled List.

The overall statistics don't lie. A team batting average of .231 good for 12th in the National League, On Base Percentage of .307 good for 11th, 13th is Slugging Percentage at .376, ninth in Runs Scored with 277 good for a little over 4.1 a game, and they are eighth in strikeouts and in homeruns. Those middle of the pack statistics lead to a record of a little over .500 and lagging behind in the National League West.

A Tribute To Earl Weaver

The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks in an Earl Weaver kind of game. It featured Clayton Kershaw's great pitching and a three-run homer by Scott Van Slyke. The Dodgers need to get their offense one swing at a time because they have not been getting it any other way. Clayton Kershaw pitched seven and one-third innings, giving up the two runs, struck out 11 and the biggest news was that he walked a batter. If Kershaw keeps up his current pace, he will obliterate the record for strikeout-to-walks ratio record. Scott Van Slyke celebrated his return to the active roster by hitting his first homerun of the season.

Injuries Continue To Mount

Injuries continue to change the look of the Los Angeles Dodgers opening day roster. It was announced that outfielder Andre Ethier was going to miss 10 to 14 weeks with a broken tibia after fouling a pitch off his lower leg during a spring training game. Ethier had already been announced as the starting leftfielder and his absence can stretch into July. Carl Crawford and Scott Van Slyke will probably platoon in Ethier's absence and the Dodgers also have a couple of ex-infielder's- Enrique Hernandez and Alex Guerrero- that are trying to make the conversion to the outfield. There are enough at bats to go around for everyone- for now.

Trayce Thompson, the outfielder acquired in a trade this off season, is the odd man out. He has only batted .184 this spring with two homeruns but as brittle as the outfielders are- namely Carl Crawford and Scott Van Slyke- it is only a matter of time before Thompson is called up to the Dodgers.

A Rough Beginning

Left handed starter Scott Kazmir made his first appearance in a Dodger uniform against the Texas Rangers and it was a rough start. He went two innings and gave up six hits and two runs. He struck out two and did not issue a walk. Mike Bolsinger followed Kazmir and pitched two scoreless innings allowing a hit, struck out two, and gave up a walk. A couple of Dodgers pitching prospects, Jacob Rhame and Jharel Cotton, pitched the last couple of innings. Rhame pitched a scoreless inning and Cotton pitched two scoreless frames. The Dodgers have a lot of arms in camp.

With Adrian Gonzalez sitting out with neck discomfort, Scott Van Slyke got the start at first base and hit a homerun to power the Dodgers. Corey Brown scored the tying run on a wild pitch and that was the extent of the Dodgers offense.

Scott Van Slyke Carries A Big Bat

"I'd rather be lucky than good", a quote attributed to Hall of Fame Pitcher Lefty Gomez, should be the Dodgers battle cry for the rest of the season.

The Dodgers won the first game of their season against their local rivals from the American League, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, and Scott Van Slyke carried the big bat with four hits and four Runs Batted In. Two of those hits barely left the infield as his two RBI double deflected off the pitchers glove and barely made the outfield grass but he ended up on second base with his second double of the game. The four hits were a career high for Van Slyke and the four RBI's matched a career high.

Zack Greinke held on long enough to get the win, his 16th, and the Dodgers improved their National League West lead to 8 1/2 games over the San Francisco Giants.

Two Teams

Take away two teams from the Los Angeles Dodgers season thus far and the Dodgers would be having a great season. The Dodgers cannot seem to get past the San Francisco Giants or the St. Louis Cardinals. If the Dodgers do get as far as the post season, they will more than likely be dealing with both of those teams. In the Dodgers defense, everyday seems to bring a new injury or a new personnel issue.

Outfielder Scott Schebler is the latest player to make his major league debut as Scott Van Slyke hit the Disabled List. Schebler went 1 for 3 last night. Schebler has hit at every minor league stop he has been at and hit with some power but he has struggled at AAA Oklahoma City this season.

The Utility Man Award

The NBA has a Sixth Man Award and I believe that Major League baseball should have a Utility man Award or Something. It would have to be a player that does not stat everyday and can play multiple positions.

The Dodgers have a couple of players that could win that award in Justin Turner and Scott Van Slyke. Justin Turner was Sunday's hero against the Colorado Rockies and Scott Van Slyke was last night's hero against the Miami Marlins. Van Slyke's first big play came on defense. I don't think he is ever going to be known as a five tool player but he threw a strike to Dodgers Catcher Yasmani Grandal to nail a Marlins runner trying to score from third on a sacrifice fly. The ball got stuck in his glove at first and he had to reload but he made the play. His biggest play came in the bottom of the ninth when he hit a walk off, three run homer to win the game.

Both Turner and Van Slyke are batting over .300 and only have about 100 at bats between the two of them. Van Slyke primarily plays the outfield but can play first base if absolutely necessary whereas Turner is primarily an infielder. Both would make excellent candidates for my new Utility Man Award.

The Opening Day Roster

The Dodgers went 16-11 with 8 ties this spring. There are no real surprises on the Los Angeles Dodgers Opening Day Roster. None of the Dodgers twenty non-Roster invitees made the Roster.

The Dodgers are going with four starting pitchers and seven relievers until a fifth starter is needed sometime in May. The two left handed Relievers they decided to go with were J.P. Howell and Paco Rodriguez even though non-Roster invitee Adam Liberatore pitched in 11 games without giving up a run. Rodriguez had a good camp and the experience factor may have won out. Pedro Baez and Yimi Garcia are two rookie right handed relievers that made the staff. Recently acquired Chris Hatcher may get the first crack at the Closer's role until Kenley Jansen comes back sometime in early May. Hatcher did not have a good camp with an ERA over 8.

Rookie Centerfielder Joc Pederson cemented his hold on the starting job as he tied for the team lead with Infielder Enrique Hernandez in home runs with 6 and he batted .338. Andre Ethier also had a good spring but the Dodgers are looking to deal him but it may be closer to the trade deadline before he can be moved. The Dodgers are going to carry five outfielders going into Opening Day but Scott Van Slyke can also play First Base. Darwin Barney and Alex Guerrero both made the team as backup infielders, Barney for his glove and Guerrero for his bat.

Enrique Hernandez and off season acquisition Outfielder Chris Heisey were both sent down. Hernandez had a solid spring but he can be an every day player in AAA and Heisey did not help himself out any by batting .100 this Spring. Left hander David Huff had a decent spring but was sent down to get in some innings until the Dodgers need a fifth starter in a couple of weeks.

The Stats Say It All

Clayton Kershaw's stats speak volumes about the season he has had and an argument could easily be made that he should already be a twenty game winner in spite of missing five weeks of the season. He has only had one bad start this season and he got a little bit of redemption against the Arizona Diamondbacks last night giving up only one unearned run in eight innings pitched while striking out ten. Kershaw leads the majors in wins with 16, has a 1.73 ERA, and an out of this world WHIP for a starting pitcher of 0.84. The Diamondbacks also loaded the bases on Kershaw last night and that was the first time all season long that had happened to him. Of course, the Diamondbacks did not score a run against him. Scott Van Slyke also has an amazing record against Diamondbacks starter Wade Miley. Van Slyke has 8 hits against Miley this year with 5 homeruns including one last night. Van Slyke owns (I always think of the movie Slap Shot "Owwnnnss, Owwnnnss" when I think of that sports phrase) Miley. ott

The Dodger Record Books

Los Angeles Dodgers records are hard to break. Clayton Kershaw ran his scoreless innings streak to 36 with 8 more shutout innings in the Dodgers 9-0 win over the Colrado Rockies last night. The 36 inning scoreless streak is only the third longest in Dodger history behind Orel Hershiser's 59 and Don Drysdale's 58. Kershaw improved his record to 10-2 and his ERA to 1.85. He even went 2 for 4 at the plate and drove in his first run on the season. He was leaving nothing to chance. Yasiel Puig hit his 12th homerun and Scott Van Slyke hit his 8th in support of Kershaw. Dee Gordon, Andre Ethier, and A.J. Ellis all had 3 hits among the Dodgers 19 hits and Gordon stole his 41st base. The win gave the Dodgers a 1 1/2 game lead on the San Francisco Giants with the All-Star break getting close.

Managing Better With Less

I have been calling for Don Mattingly's job now for about a year and I feel I have had justifiable reasons. A bigger payroll than Wal-Mart, a ton of talent, and the best starting pitching in baseball are just a few of the reasons the Dodgers should be running away with the National League West. If I have noticed one thing about Don Mattingly's managerial style over the past couple of years it is that he seems to manage better when he has less talent on the field. When Mattingly has to make the pieces fit and somehow work, it brings out the best and more creative manager in him. The left side of the infield over the course of the past three weeks has been a combination of Jeff Turner, Miguel Rojas, Jamie Romak, and Carlos Triunfel with an occasional guest appearance thrown in by Hanley Ramirez and the Dodgers are 13-6. Outside of Hanley Ramirez,three rookies (I am not sure about Triunfel) and Mets castoff Turner, none of them a household name. Scott Van Slyke and Drew Butera have played key roles off the bench. Mattingly seems to have a better feel as to when to use the lesser players as starters and off the bench rather than roll the superstars out there and watch them play.

A Hit (By Pitch) And A Win

Los Angeles Dodgers Catcher A.J. Ellis took a Wade Davis cutter off the arm with the bases loaded to drive in the winning run in last nights 5-4 victory over the Kansas City Royals. That is what Bob Uecker used to refer to as "taking one for the team." Whatever works. The offensive stars for the Dodgers were Second Baseman Dee Gordon, 4 for 5 with his MLB leading 9th triple, 2 runs scored, and his 40th stolen base, Yasiel Puig, 2 for 5 those being a triple and an RBI double, and Matt Kemp hit his 8th homerun. Dodgers starter Dan Haren did not make it long enough to pick up the win as he went 4 1/3, giving up all 4 KC runs, including 2 homeruns. Jamey Wright came in in relief and pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings to get the win (3-2) and Brian Wilson pitched a scoreless 9th inning to get his first save in more than two years. Kenley jansen had pitched in 4 out of the last 5 games so he was unavailable. Scott Van Slyke, playing First base, snared a Lorenzo Cain line drive with one out and the tying run on second and doubled the runner off to end the game.

Raising Arizona

I had to take the title of this blog from the movie of the same name but it was the best I could do. The Dodgers improved to 8-1 on the season against the Arizona Diamondbacks with a 7-0 win last night and are a perfect 4-0 against them at Chase Field AKA "the old swimmin' hole". Zach Greinke continued his Cy Young type of start to the season by pitching 8 scoreless innings against the Diamondbacks, striking out 6, and giving up only 5 singles. Greinke improved to 7-1 on the season and lowered his ERA to 2.03. Last year's Silver Slugger also had two hits and doubled in a run. Maybe the Kansas City Royals should have let him hit when he pitched there? Greinke has also only allowed 2 or fewer runs in 21 straight starts, the longest such streak since at least 1914 for all you stat geeks (such as myself) out there. Yasiel Puig extended his hitting streak to a career best 15 games with 3 hits including his 8th homerun. Scott Van Slyke continued to use Diamondbacks starter Wade Miley as his personal batting practice pitcher by hitting his 4th homerun (3 against Miley) and he is 6 for 9 against him on the season, and all 6 hits are for extra bases.

Who Needs The Bullpen?

After losing two in a row to the Philadelphia Phillies, 7-0 to Lefty Cliff Lee, and 3-2 when the bullpen lost it in extra innings, the Los Angeles Dodgers sent Zach Greinke to the mound to try to get back on track. Greinke pitched 7 innings and gave up 2 earned runs, struck out 11, and was pulled in the top of the eighth inning after giving up a leadoff homerun to Jayson Nix. J.P. Howell pitched a scoreless eighth inning and Kenley Jansen finished it off for his 8th save on the season. The Dodgers had 5 players with 2 hits a piece, led by Yasiel Puig who tripled and had 2 RBI's. Hanley Ramirez (his 3rd homerun in the bottom of the eighth inning), Matt Kemp, Scott Van Slyke, and Drew Butera also had two hits. Clayton Kershaw is getting close to returning with a planned minor league rehab start on Friday night and there have been no reported problems in any of his bullpen sessions.

Andre Ethier's Time Has Come

I think it is time that the Los Angeles Dodgers start exploring trade opportunities for outfielder Andre Ethier. He is off to another slow start and his future replacement, Joc Pederson, has been tearing it up at AAA Albuquerque (well over a .400 batting average with 5 homerun's in only 55 at bats but also 14 strikeouts) but the Dodgers had better get something for Ethier while they can. Pederson is only 21 years old but he almost made the team out of Spring Training and is closer to being ready than not. The Dodgers could use some more prospects at Catcher and a few more in the infield as well. Ethier was only a AA player when they traded for him and the Dodgers could platoon Scott Van Slyke and Joc Pederson until Pederson is ready to take over full time. Payroll doesn't seem to be a concern for the Dodgers for a change and the Dodgers may be in the market for a Closer if the bullpen keeps blowing leads.

Reds And Diamondbacks And Dodgers, Oh My!

The Dodgers got swept by the Reds last weekend which in the greater scheme of things really, did not mean that much. The Reds needed the wins much more than the Dodgers at this point and time in the season but I am looking at any potential Playoff matchup. The Reds still have to leapfrog either the Pirates or the Cardinals to win the Wild Card spot or even winning the National League Central is not out of the question. The Dodgers have taken the first two games from the Diamondbacks with 8-1 and 5-3 wins and have shown some rarely seen power for this season. In the 8-1, win Juan Uribe went deep three times and Adrian Gonzalez hit his 20th. Starter Ricky Nolasco improved to 8-1 with the Dodgers, 13-9 overall. In Last night's 5-3 win, Pinch Hitter Scott Van Slyke hit a two run walk off homer in the 11th inning to seal the deal. It gave reliever Chris Withrow his third win of the season against no losses. Newly signed Edinson Volquez had a solid showing in his second start for the Dodgers. The Dodgers now own the largest lead, 13 games, of any team in baseball with only 18 games to go in the season.

September Roster Moves

The Dodgers were able to expand their rosters to a max of 40 on September 1st and they quickly recalled five players from Albuquerque. They recalled Shortstop Dee Gordon, Outfielder Scott Van Slyke, Starter/Reliever Stephen Fife, and Relievers Peter Moylan and Chris Withrow, who will be recalled on Tuesday when he is eligible. All five have spent time with the Dodgers this year with the exception of Drew Butera who was acquired from the Minnesota Twins on July 31st. The most interesting and important acquisition they made over the weekend was acquiring infielder Michael Young from the Philadelphia Phillies for minor league pitcher Rob Rasmussen, one of the Dodgers Top 20 Prospects according to dodgers.com. They are not looking to supplant the Dodgers infield rotation or Juan Uribe at Third Base, but Young can play multiple positions, provide veteran leadership, and be a quality right-handed bat off the bench.

The Streak Ends

A couple of Hanley Ramirez errors in the ninth inning, including a potential inning ending double play, allowed the Philadelphia Phillies to score the winning run in a 3-2 loss on Sunday afternoon. Starter Ricky Nolasco pitched a solid game, 6 innings, 2 earned runs, but reliever Brandon League absorbed the loss (6-4). The Dodgers offense consisted of Andre Ethier's solo homerun, his 9th and he scored both runs, the second on a Jerry Hairston, Jr., RBI single. The bottom half of the Dodgers lineup-Ethier, Van Slyke, and Hairston all had 2 hits- had 7 of the Dodgers 8 hits. That loss ended the Dodgers 10 game winning streak and dropped their lead in the National League West to 7 1/2 games.

All Star Break Starts Early

The Dodgers offense started their All Star break about three games early as they only scored 2 runs in losing 2 of 3 to the Colorado Rockies. Ricky Nolasco (6-9) was pinned with the loss yesterday giving up all 3 runs in 5 innings. The Dodgers could only muster 6 hits (Schumaker and Van Slyke had 2 a piece) and Adrian Gonzalez had the only RBI, his 59th. Former Asheville Tourist Jhoulys Chacin (9-4) pitched 6 innings for the win.