Blog Kiosk: 9/16/2015 - Dodger Links - Some Odds and Ends

So, how many of you stuck around to watch the end of last nights (or this mornings) game? 

I sure didn't.  I was safely tucked away in bed.  Sure, I had the television on, but make no mistake I slowly drifted into a slumber. 

As it turns out, the Dodgers and Rockies played 16 innings and finished up their match at about 12:30 in the morning.  That's a 5 hours and 23 minutes contest.  No doubt that was exacerbated by their egregious use of the bench.  According to Israel Fehr at Big League Stew they broke Major League records by using a combined 58 players and 24 pitchers in one game.  Via Zach Helfand at the LA Times:

"In this time of year, you don’t plan on running out of guys," Mattingly said. "We pretty much ran out of guys."

At the least the weather was good... Oh, yeah... It was a misty sprinkled filled evening... Sorry, my bad.  Hopefully tonight's game is better.

The photo above is via @Dodgers on twitter.  BTW, the Dodgers "Magic Number" is now at 11 - thanks to the Reds defeat of the Giants in extras.  Below are more links to check out:

• Via Ken Gurnick at MLB.com, "Dodgers shake up Minor League staffs."  Wow!  Not Stubbs!!

Among the 10 whose contracts will not be renewed are Triple-A Oklahoma City manager Damon Berryhill, who was named manager of the year in the Pacific Coast League earlier this month, and Double-A Tulsa manager Razor Shines.

In addition to Berryhill and Shines, Oklahoma City hitting coach Franklin Stubbs, Great Lakes pitching coach Glenn Dishman, Arizona Rookie League manager Jack McDowell, instructor Rick Rhoden, Great Lakes coach Angel Sanchez, Great Lakes hitting coach Jay Gibbons, Ogden hitting coach Darryl Brinkley and instructor Erik Bedard will not be retained.

"All our Minor League staff put forth a tremendous effort in 2015, and we appreciate all their work and dedication," said Gabe Kapler, Dodgers director of player development. "At this moment in time, we wanted to bring in some new voices in some key areas. Our changes should not be viewed as a reflection on any performance; they simply reflect that we are heading in a different direction."

• Via Ron Cervenka at Think Blue LA, "Schebler still not bothered by playing in shadow of others."

On Corey Seager: “He deserves all the attention he gets. I mean, look at what he’s doing,” Schebler answered about his very close friend and former roommate. “No… no, I don’t mind being [the] under-the-radar guy, that’s fine. But yeah, he deserves everything he gets.”

• I've wondered about this too.  Via Jon Weisman at Dodger Insider, "Dodgers platoon a lot, but not the most."  As Jon shows, the Dodgers used the platoon far more often under Manager Walter Alston.  Heck, you can maybe argue that they don't platoon enough today.

Seven of the top 10 platooning squads in Los Angeles Dodger history came along between 1961-1971, all under manager Walter Alston. The other three came from 1990-92, under Tom Lasorda. Perhaps oddly, despite the rise of sabermetrics in mainstream acceptance, no Dodger teams outside of 2004 and 2015 crack the top 20 in platoon advantage.

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Blog Kiosk: 9/5/2015 - Dodger Links - Injuries and the Home Run

Hitting Home Runs, Home Runs All the Time

It should come as no surprise that the top home run team in the National League would wallop five in one game.  Still, it was a shock when it happened.  After all, the Dodgers haven't been much of a home run hitting team in recent history.

Did you know that the last time this team hit more home runs than the league average was in 2004?  Yeah, neither did I.  I had to click past way to many annual statistics at Baseball Reference to find that out.

Now, we're an offensive juggernaut, and I still find myself a bit uncomfortable with that.

Don't get me wrong, though.  I'm extremely happy with this change.  Via Mark Saxon at ESPN:

“Obviously, I’m not going to complain about home runs,” manager Don Mattingly said.

I guess I shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth.


Scott Scheber is featuring in the photo above hitting his 2nd inning home run to tie the game.  The pic is via Jon SooHoo/LA Dodgers 2015.  Go here to check out more fantastic photos from yesterday's game by Jon.  Below are some links to check out:

• Kiké Hernandez now has an official website.  Check it out here: kikehndez.com.
• Via Jon Weisman at Dodger Insider, "Damon Berryhill named PCL Manager of the Year."
• Uh-Oh.  Via JP Hoornstra at the Daily News, "Dodgers’ Yasiel Puig, Kiké Hernandez may be out until playoffs."  For now, we may be able to hold on, but if they aren't available come playoff time then we could be in trouble.  We're better with those bats than without.

“Howie (Kendrick) took a month,” Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. “How much time do we have left? We’ve got about a month, and Yas has been out (a week). If it is a month, we’re right pretty much at the end of the year. Kiké’s a little farther behind that. The timetable tells you you’re going to be close.”

• We have slightly better news on the Howie Kendrick front.  Via AJ Cassavell at MLB.com, "Kendrick should be back before season's end."

"Unless something were to happen to him, he's going to be back within ...," Mattingly started, before cutting himself off sharply.

"I'm not even going to say, because I don't want to jinx it," Mattingly continued. "But Howie's going to be back."

• Jon Weisman at Dodger Insider informs us that Dodger baserunning has gotten better: "Homer-happy Dodgers on a basestealing roll."  He shares a nice graphic showing the teams improvement.

Though still not exactly a team of Rickey Hendersons, the Dodgers have turned things around as basestealers. The team that began the season 14 for 35 on stolen-base attempts through July 1 has gone 30 for 37 since — including 13 for 13 in its past seven games.

Eric Stephen at True Blue LA adds more:

"We've been a little bit better recently. Sometimes it's who you're playing that night, and that pitcher, if he gives you a chance to steal," manager Don Mattingly said on Tuesday. "It's really down to the mathematics - it takes so long to get to home plate, it takes so long to get to second, so if you get a decent jump you have a shot."

• Check out this interesting podcast from LA Meekly that is all about the history of Baseball in Los Angeles before the Dodgers came to town.  They also talk about the battle for Chavez Razine. 

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