May 2016 – Page 5 – Dodger Thoughts

Suddenly Seager … is standing beside you

On May 13, 2016

Corey Seager (Juan Ocampo/Los Angeles Dodgers)

Corey Seager has given Justin Turner and the rest of the Dodgers reason to smile. (Juan Ocampo/Los Angeles Dodgers)

Cardinals at Dodgers, 7:10 p.m.
Howie Kendrick, 2B
Corey Seager, SS
Justin Turner, 3B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Yasiel Puig, RF
Joc Pederson, CF
Trayce Thompson, LF
A.J. Ellis, C
Ross Stripling, P

By Jon Weisman

Have you all noticed what Corey Seager’s been doing lately?

It almost feels like there’s been a media blackout on the 22-year-old shortstop, which might not be a bad thing. But just to make sure you’re up to speed, here’s a bulletin: Seager is producing.

Since April 22, he has a .403 on-base percentage and .522 slugging percentage (.925 OPS) in 77 plate appearances. He now has a .770 OPS on the season, and that might understate his value.

The Superlative Store called, and it’s running out of Kershaw

By Jon Weisman

On May 12, 2016

In Postgame

By Jon Weisman

The walk to David Wright in the first inning mattered not at all, except that it just brought the slightest bit of humility to the superhuman Clayton Kershaw.

The very slightest.

Kershaw CCL has arrived

By Jon Weisman

On May 12, 2016

In Pregame

Patrick McElhenney/Fox

Mets at Dodgers, 7:10 p.m.
Kershaw CCL: Kershawrter Country
Chase Utley, 2B
Corey Seager, SS
Justin Turner, 3B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Yasmani Grandal, C
Joc Pederson, CF
Yasiel Puig, RF
Kiké Hernandez, LF
Clayton Kershaw, P

By Jon Weisman

It’s probably the least popular and least productive thing I’ve ever done with my life, though I wish it were the most humiliating.

But ever since Clayton Kershaw made his Major League debut, on May 25, 2008, I’ve pictured every subsequent start as if it were a sequel in a blockbuster movie series.

You just had that feeling about Kershaw, from the very beginning, that he was going to be epic.

The first sequel was Kershaw II: The Kershawing. And it went on from there. Mostly downhill.

Tonight, Kershaw reaches career start No. 250. To commemorate the event — and with deepest apologies — here’s the list of all the titles I’ve created.

So many of them are just awful, truly awful. Some, I really don’t know what I was thinking — even by my lowly standards. Some were repeats, with me having forgotten I had used a title already — sometimes within the same month.

But, what’s done is done, and what’s here is here. At least I haven’t cursed him. And I am happy with the quote I used to introduce him before his first big-league game.

LADF 50/50 Raffle debuts tonight at Dodger Stadium

By Jon Weisman

On May 12, 2016

In Community, Dodger Stadium

By Erin Edwards

Dodger fans now have the chance to win big by participating in the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation’s inaugural 50/50 Raffle.

This charitable in-game raffle will be launched at Dodger Stadium tonight, continuing here all season, and the proceeds will benefit LADF’s programs and giving to local youth organizations.

During every Dodger home game, tickets will be sold by staff in gold shirts throughout Dodger Stadium. The winning raffle number will be selected during the seventh inning to determine the 50/50 Raffle jackpot winner. The winning raffle number will be displayed in stadium during the eighth inning.

For each and every raffle, half of the 50/50 Raffle jackpot will go to the selected winner, and the other half will go to LADF for its programs and to support youth organizations across Los Angeles.

Raffle tickets will be sold for cash only at three price points: three for $5, 10 for $10 and 40 for $20. Fans can visit kiosks in the Left Field Plaza, Loge Level (behind sections 103/105) and Reserve Level (section 10). Sellers will also be roving throughout the concourse and Top Deck, Reserve, Club, Loge, Field and Pavilion seating areas.

Thor subject: Syndergaard blasts two off Maeda

By Jon Weisman

On May 11, 2016

In History, Postgame

Kenta Maeda looks away from the second time around the bases by Noah Syndergaard. (Harry How/Getty Images)

By Jon Weisman

The first time was a shocker. The second time was a stunner.

No, this isn’t about the two home runs Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard allowed. It’s about the two he hit.

Delving into Kenta Maeda’s transition to the U.S.

By Jon Weisman

On May 11, 2016

In Pregame, Publications

Mets at Dodgers, 7:10 p.m.
Chase Utley, 2B
Corey Seager, SS
Howie Kendrick, 3B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Yasmani Grandal, C
Joc Pederson, CF
Yasiel Puig, RF
Carl Crawford, LF
Kenta Maeda, P

By Jon Weisman

In the cover story for the latest issue of Dodger Insider magazine, Kenta Maeda — tonight’s starting pitcher for the Dodgers — speaks to Cary Osborne about the differences between Japan and the United States, and the adjustments he has been making.

“I was the ace of the staff in Japan,” said Maeda, who enters tonight’s game with a 1.66 ERA, 0.95 WHIP and 35 strikeouts in 38 innings. “Coming over here, I need to prove myself again to hopefully eventually be in that position.”

Rick Honeycutt and Dave Roberts chime in to discuss why Maeda is capable of transcending in this journey across the Pacific.

Read the entire story by clicking here.

Beginning this year, the Dodgers merged their previously separate Playbill and Dodger Insider magazines into one publication (at least 80 pages per issue) with a new edition available each homestand plus one in October, 13 issues total. It is distributed at auto gates (one per vehicle) and via Fan Services for those who use alternate transportation. Dodger Insider magazine includes news, features, analysis, photos, games, stadium information and more. Fans who still wish to subscribe can do so at dodgers.com/magazine.

What’s up, Trayce Thompson?

By Jon Weisman

On May 11, 2016

In Uncategorized

Trayce Thompson follows through on his walkoff home run Tuesday against the Mets. Thompson’s career wRC+ is a robust 137 in 203 plate appearances.

By Jon Weisman

Trayce Thompson has almost nothing in common with Alex Guerrero, except for this: People wondering, like they did last May with Guerrero, if he’s for real.

Farm Fresh: Tim Locastro hits for the cycle

By Jon Weisman

On May 11, 2016

In Minor leagues

Tim Locastro has collected at least two hits six times during his 13-game hitting streak. (Fernando Gutierrez Jr./MiLB.com)

By Jon Weisman

Over at Fangraphs, Carson Cistulli has a regular feature called “The Fringe Five,” which (in a shorthand definition) is dedicated to prospects that fall just outside of the spotlight of all the top rankings.

Minor-league Dodger infielder Tim Locastro has become something of a regular on this roundup. Here’s what Cistulli wrote about him five days ago:

Locastro made his first appearance among the Five last July, shortly after having been traded by the Blue Jays to the Dodgers — which transaction also led to his debut at High-A, thus rendering him eligible for consideration here. Here were Locastro’s credentials at that time: he’d carried a strikeout rate below 10%, exhibited at least average power on contact, posted impressive baserunning numbers, and recorded the majority of his defensive starts at either second base or shortstop. A month through the 2016 season, here are some statements one might employ to characterize the 23-year-old now: he’s got a strikeout rate below 10%, is exhibiting at least average power on contact, is posting impressive baserunning numbers, and has recorded the majority of his starts at either second base or shortstop. He’s been particularly impressive of late. Regard: in 28 plate appearances from April 28 through May 3, Locastro recorded a 5:1 walk-to-strikeout ratio and five extra-base hits, including a home run. None of which is to recognize how he was drafted out of Division III Ithaca College.

Fringe or not, Locastro is generating headlines. In the midst of a 13-game hitting streak, on Tuesday he hit for the cycle for Single-A Rancho Cucamonga, as Tyler Maun of MiLB.com reports:

Dave Roberts knows .500 isn’t good enough

By Jon Weisman

On May 10, 2016

In Managing, Pregame, Status report

Mets at Dodgers, 7:10 p.m.
Chase Utley, 2B
Corey Seager, SS
Justin Turner, 3B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Yasmani Grandal, C
Joc Pederson, CF
Yasiel Puig, RF
Carl Crawford, LF
Alex Wood, P
Note: Alex Guerrero is beginning a rehab assignment tonight with Single-A Rancho Cucamonga.

By Jon Weisman

If you’re wondering whether the Dodgers are content to be in first place in their division with a .500 record, the answer is no.

“We’re not playing great baseball,” Dave Roberts said this afternoon. “I think for the most part we’re catching the baseball, but for the pitching and hitting to sync up, we’re still waiting for that to happen.”

The debate about the Dodgers that’s happening right now around town and on social media is which of their two seemingly irreconcilable identities is true. Are they a first-place team, or are they a squad that loses at least as much as it wins?

Steve Cilladi earned every bit of his big-league dream

By Jon Weisman

On May 10, 2016

In Coaching

Steve Cilladi (82) during Spring Training in 2015 (Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)

By Jon Weisman

Steve Cilladi’s lifetime professional statistics read like the baseball version of Oliver Twist.

Forty games. Seventeen hits. Two homers, one triple, no doubles. Six walks, three times hit by pitch. Thirty-five strikeouts.

That’s what the ledger shows for five seasons. Please, sir. I want some more.

But Cilladi is no unfortunate, and he would rebel at the very thought of it. He is a man of means, ambition and perspective — Dodger bullpen catcher today, who knows what tomorrow?

“To me, negativity is an absolute distraction,” Cilladi said. “The time that’s used to complain or mope or whatever else, can be time better utilized for the person next to you or for you, and I really take that to heart. Why am I going to complain? If I have a negative thought in my head, I’m going to turn that into something that can either be productive for myself or that’s going to help the person next to me, and I think that’s something we need more of.”

Vin Scully on cover of Sports Illustrated

By Jon Weisman

On May 10, 2016

In Broadcasting

Vin Scully is the subject of an eloquent cover story by Tom Verducci for Sports Illustrated that you can see here.

— Jon Weisman

Dodger loss stands to Reese’n

By Jon Weisman

On May 9, 2016

In Postgame

Matthew Mesa/Los Angeles Dodgers

It looked like the Dodgers and Scott Kazmir might be buried early by the Mets, but two assists in the third inning by left fielder Kiké Hernandez kept New York’s lead to three after three. Trayce Thompson’s 340-foot homer to right field in the fourth cut the deficit to a single run, but the Dodgers drew no closer and, after an unearned run in the sixth, fell to the Mets, 4-2.

Vin Scully told the story tonight of Pee Wee Reese speaking to Jackie Robinson after Bobby Thomson’s “Shot Heard ‘Round the World” in 1951. “There’s one thing that I’ll never understand,” Reese said. “That this game hasn’t driven me crazy.”

— Jon Weisman

Justin Turner warming up as Mets come to town

By Jon Weisman

On May 9, 2016

In Pregame

Mets at Dodgers, 7:10 p.m.
Kiké Hernandez, LF
Howie Kendrick, 2B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Justin Turner, 3B
Yasiel Puig, RF
Trayce Thompson, CF
A.J. Ellis, C
Charlie Culberson, SS
Scott Kazmir, P

By Jon Weisman

When Justin Turner hit his first homer of 2016 on Saturday, it capped his best four-game stretch of the season.

Turner went 6 for 16 with two doubles, two walks and the homer, raising his OPS from .631 to .714. Though Turner went 0 for 3 with a walk Sunday, Dave Roberts didn’t think the uptick in numbers was a fluke.

Day by day, Brandon McCarthy keeps moving forward

By Jon Weisman

On May 9, 2016

In Health/injuries

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By Jon Weisman

It might have been just another day in the post-Tommy John surgery life of Brandon McCarthy, but every day forward is a good one.

Stripling strong, result not wrong for Dodgers

By Jon Weisman

On May 8, 2016

In Postgame

[mlbvideo id=”673061283″ width=”550″ height=”308″ /]

Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images

By Jon Weisman

Though he didn’t get the win, Ross Stripling’s six one-hit innings didn’t go for naught, as the Dodgers rallied from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits Sunday to defeat Toronto, 4-2, and end their series and road trip on an upbeat note.

Stripling struck out six and walked none, throwing 85 pitches. Joc Pederson homered in the top of the seventh, and after Chris Hatcher allowed an unearned run, Yasmani Grandal and Howie Kendrick drove in runs in the eighth to put the Dodgers ahead.

Dodger Thoughts

Jon Weisman's outlet for dealing psychologically with the Los Angeles Dodgers, baseball and life

Month: May 2016 (Page 5 of 7)

Suddenly Seager … is standing beside you

The Superlative Store called, and it’s running out of Kershaw

Kershaw CCL has arrived

LADF 50/50 Raffle debuts tonight at Dodger Stadium

Thor subject: Syndergaard blasts two off Maeda

Delving into Kenta Maeda’s transition to the U.S.

What’s up, Trayce Thompson?

Farm Fresh: Tim Locastro hits for the cycle

Dave Roberts knows .500 isn’t good enough

Steve Cilladi earned every bit of his big-league dream

Vin Scully on cover of Sports Illustrated

Dodger loss stands to Reese’n

Justin Turner warming up as Mets come to town

Day by day, Brandon McCarthy keeps moving forward

Stripling strong, result not wrong for Dodgers

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