Ace By Default

With the Los Angeles Dodgers shutting down Clayton Kershaw for an undetermined amount of time, Scott Kazmir becomes the Dodgers ace by default. Kazmir came through against a very good hitting and National League East leading Washington Nationals team in his first game as the ace. Kazmir only gave up one run in seven innings and struck out eight. Kazmir improved his record to 8-3 with a 4.30 earned run average. Veteran Chae Utley lead off the game with a homerun, had three hits, and totaled three runs batted in. I had my doubts about the Dodgers re-signing Utley this past offseason but luckily for me, he has proved me wrong.

Under The Radar

The Zach Lee-Christ Taylor trade with the Seattle Mariners on June 19 was one of those innocuous deals that really did not mean much at the time. The Los Angeles Dodgers needed organizational depth in the middle infield and Chris Taylor had made brief appearances with the Seattle Mariners in 2014 and 2015 with three at bats in 2016. He has made appearances at second base, shortstop, and third base. He was a fifth round draft pick by the Seattle Mariners out of the University of Virginia in 2012.

I would not have even noticed the trade if Zach Lee would not have been involved. He was a first round draft pick by the Los Angeles Dodgers out of McKinney High School in Plano, Texas in 2010. The Dodgers gave him a large signing bonus at the last minute to keep him from attending LSU and competing for the quarterback job for their football team. This trade was the Dodgers throwing in the towel on Zach Lee. This was his third season in AAA and his sixth season in the Dodgers organization. He has had an up-and-down minor league career and only made one career start for the Dodgers in 2015 and Lee could never seem to put his talent together enough to make that jump to the majors.

Chris Taylor was originally sent to the Dodgers AAA affiliate Oklahoma City but only spent three games there as he was called up to replace the injured Enrique Hernandez on the Dodgers roster. Another injury, this time to outfielder Trayce Thompson, put Taylor into the starting lineup at second base against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the first game back from the All Star break. Taylor fell a single shy of hitting for the cycle. His two run triple in the fourth inning gave the Dodgers the lead and his sixth inning grand slam put the game away for the Dodgers and it gave Taylor a career high six runs batted in, The grand slam was also his first career homerun and cemented a place for him in Dodgers history as he became only the third player in Dodgers history whose first homerun was a grand slam.

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.

Bob Uecker Vs. Drew Butera

Every once in a while I will do a comparison piece but usually I compare great players and attempt to do a statistical analysis of the two players. The comparison usually involves a Los Angeles Dodger. This statistical analysis is at the other end of the spectrum of greatness, that of the backup catcher. Every team has one and it is a job that you just can't plug a player in to. The backup catcher is usually a defensive specialist, can call a game and handle a pitching staff, and is a good fit in the clubhouse. This blog is a comparison of Bob Uecker, a catcher whose hitting futility is stuff of baseball legend, and Drew Butera, who has carved himself out a career as a light hitting backup catcher but statistically, ranks right down there with Uecker's.

Bob Uecker played in the 1960's with four teams over six seasons and sported a career .200 batting average with 14 homeruns and 74 RBI's. This is Drew Butera's seventh season, also with four teams and has a career batting average of .192 to this point in his career with 11 homeruns and 68 RBI's. I believe Drew Butera may have the advantage over Uecker in the speed department. Uecker had 0 career triples and 0 stolen bases in four attempts whereas Butera has three career triples and 0 stolen bases in two attempts.

In what I would call a statistical anomaly, Butera has never batted above .200 in any of his first six seasons until this season. He is currently batting .286 although it is only in 56 at bats with the Kansas City Royals. Butera did hit a career high three homeruns with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2014 and Bob Uecker's career high was seven in 1966 with the Philadelphia Phillies.

Defensively, it is also just about dead even. Uecker's career fielding percentage was .981 and Butera sports a .991 career fielding. They both threw out 33 percent of the runners trying to steal against them.

Butera has played multiple positions in his career having logged 13 games at first base and four as a pitcher in his 331 games in the major leagues. He was even used once as a designated hitter (there is no rule that says they should actually be able to hit). Uecker spent his entire career behind the plate.

In comparing these stats, I believe that Bob Uecker has been supplanted as "Mr. Baseball" by Drew Butera. Their careers are almost statistically identical with the light hitting edge going to Butera. They were both able to carve out a niche in baseball with their rare abilities to be backup catchers.

Welcome To The Los Angeles Dodgers Bud Norris

With Clayton Kershaw going on the Disabled List, the Los Angeles Dodgers needed to make a move to add a starting pitcher so they came up with Bud Norris who was pitching for the Atlanta Braves. Norris has bounced back and forth between starting and long relief and has a 3-7 record with a 4.22 ERA in 22 games and 10 starts. This is Norris's eighth season in the majors and he was a 15 game winner with the Baltimore Orioles in 2014.

Bud Norris put in a Kershaw-like effort in his first start for the Los Angeles Dodgers against the Colorado Rockies. He pitched six shutout innings and struck out eight. His pitch count was only in the mid-80's but manager Dave Roberts decided to turn it over to the bullpen.

Bud Norris is never going to replace Clayton Kershaw but as far as trades go, this was not a bad trade for the Dodgers. They gave up two minor leaguers and received Norris, two minor leaguers and some cash in return. The Dodgers have been looking for a fifth starter all season long so when all of this shakes out, Norris would be a good candidate to fill that role.

Kershaw Lands On The Disabled List

The worst possible news for Los Angeles Dodgers fans happened a few days ago when it was announced that pitcher Clayton Kershaw was going to be placed on the 15 day Disabled List due to a "mildly" herniated disc. He will miss three to four starts at the minimum but that is three to four starts the Dodgers can ill afford to have him miss.

The Los Angeles Dodgers go into the games of 2 July six games behind the San Francisco Giants in the National League West. At this point in the season the Dodgers would be the leader for the Wild Card spot. Kershaw, Kenta Maeda, and Scott Kazmir were the only Dodgers in the five man rotation that had not missed any starts this season.

However, Maeda and Kazmir are not even averaging six innings a start whereas Kershaw is averaging over seven innings a start. Take Kershaw out of the mix and the Dodgers overworked bullpen is due to get into games much earlier. Seven Dodgers relievers have pitched in 30 or more games. Pedro Baez and Joe Blanton lead the way with 37 appearances a piece.