Blog Kiosk: 5/28/2019 - Dodgers Links - MVP! MVP! MVP!

First, I wanted to acknowledge a patch that ballplayers wore for the first time yesterday, for Memorial Day. It is a remembrance poppy that has been used since 1921 to commemorate military personnel who have died in war and was first adopted by the American Legion. See it on the right, via UniWatch.

As for Cody Bellinger (featured in the pic above), he is unbelievable. Cody was a driving force behind this weekends sweep of the Pirates and their Memorial Day win yesterday afternoon. He is slashing .278/.381/.722/1.103 with two home runs, five runs scored and five RBI over the past four games. On top of that, he is looking like a Gold Glover every day. Per Ken Gurnick at MLB.com:

“Words are tough to come by,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. “I don’t know if they give out Gold Gloves in May, but it’s hard to see it play out any other way.” 

Roberts said there’s only one comp to what Bellinger can do to impact a game and he used the name – Mike Trout – with trepidation. 

“You’re talking about slug, average, on base, first-to-third, stolen bases, catching the baseball, outfield assists, all that stuff,” said Roberts. “To do what he can do, to check all those boxes. You’ve got to be careful when you’re talking about Mike Trout. That’s longevity, too. For a two-month span, that’s kind of what you’re talking about.”

Photo above via Jon SooHoo/LA Dodgers 2019 at Dodger Insider. Go here to check out more pics from Memorial Day. Below are more links to check out:

• This Day in Dodgers History: In 1957 the NL officially approves of the move of the Dodgers and Giants to the West Coast, provided both clubs make their request before October 1 and move at the same time. This effectively allowed both clubs to start negotiating with potential host cities. In 1962 Don Newcombe signs a contract to play for the Chunichi Dragons of the Japanese Central League. In 2001 Dodger catcher Paul Lo Duca has a big day. He goes 6-for-6 to lead the Dodgers during an 11-10 win over the Rockies. He records five singles, a three-run home run and four RBI. In 2011 a small fire in a nearby storage area in the Reserve seats at Dodger Stadium forces the evacuation of fans of that section during a game between the Dodgers and Marlins. The fire is controlled quickly and they do not need to evacuate the entire stadium.
• Happy Birthday, Rafael Landestoy, Kirk Gibson & Cory Wade!

Congrats, Drillers! Here's Some Fantasy Custom Baseball Cards in Celebration

In celebration of the Tulsa Drillers -- the Dodgers Double-A club -- league championship victory over the weekend I made a bunch of fantasy cards featuring some of the players. Check them out above and below.

Blog Kiosk: 6/5/2015 - Dodger Links - Puig, Jansen and Julio Urias

The toast of the town, Joc Pederson, is captured in the photo above signing autographs for adoring fans prior to the start of yesterdays game.  Pic above via Jon SooHoo/LA Dodgers 2015.  Go here to check out more photos taken by Jon from Thursday's game.

Below are some more links to check out:

• My fantasy team could really use a healthy Puig right now.  Via George Alfano at MLB.com, "Puig gets two hits, hopes to return this weekend."

"I thought he looked great, and the hamstring looks good," Rancho Cucamonga manager Bill Haselman said. "He ran great. With a pulled muscle, the body eventually heals itself."

"I'm not 100 percent now, but it felt comfortable," said Puig, who is in his third season with the Dodgers and has a career batting average of .304. "I did my job, did my rehab in Arizona and I'll come back here [to Lancaster] tomorrow night."

• Via Eric Stephen at True Blue LA, "Grant Holmes, J.D. Underwood, Michael Ahmed named Midwest League All-Stars."
• Via Steve Adams at MLB Trade Rumors, "David Aardsma Opts Out Of Dodgers Contract."  This is too bad, he could've been a nice piece out of the pen.

The 33-year-old Aardsma has pitched quite well for L.A.’s Triple-A affiliate in Oklahoma City, working to an excellent 2.41 ERA with 11.1 K/9, 3.4 BB/9 and 15 saves in 18 2/3 innings. Aardsma recently explained to The Oklahoman’s Jacob Unruh that his offseason work in a strengthening program called Top Velocity helped him add a couple of ticks back to his fastball, which is now regularly sitting in the 91-93 mph range.

• Here's great news.  Via Jon Weisman at Dodger Insider, "Kenley Jansen cleared to pitch tonight (Thursday)." Via Ken Gurnick at MLB.com, "Altitude triggers high blood pressure in Jansen."
• Here's some not so great news, via Eric Stephen on twitter:

Zach Lee is in Los Angeles getting examined. Experiencing tingling in fingers of throwing hand

— Eric Stephen (@truebluela) June 4, 2015

• Now... Back to some awesome news!  Top prospect Julio Urias appears to be recovering well from his recent surgery to his eye, per a tweet by him from yesterday.  He tells us that he'll be back on the field in one weeks time:

1 semana mas y estamos de regreso⚾️.. #Thanksgod! pic.twitter.com/oYUhhGx286

— Julio Urias (@theteenager7) June 4, 2015

• I would like to extend a hearty congratulations to LA Kings broadcaster Nick Nickson for being selected as the Hockey Hall of Fame 2015 Foster Hewitt Memorial Award winner.  This award celebrates "members of the radio and television industry who made outstanding contributions to their profession and the game during their career in hockey broadcasting."  This is the highest honor a hockey broadcaster can receive - like winning the Ford Frick Award for Baseball broadcasters.  Jon Rosen at LA Kings Insider shares a recent interview with him here.

“I don’t know if it’s going to sink in anytime soon,” Nickson said on Thursday. “I just talked to Pat Foley – he called like 10 minutes ago, literally – who won it last year in Chicago. He was telling me it’s been a year since he won it and he still kind of walks around and goes ‘Did this really happen?’ I guess it’s nice to know that your work is appreciated and the work that you do put in gets rewarded in some way.”

(Nick and I)

* Please follow on twitter @ernestreyes *

* Like Dodgers Blue Heaven on facebook *

* Dodgers Blue Heaven home page *

Here are April's Dodger Pride Award Winners - Minor League Players of the Month

The Dodgers just announced their April 2015 Dodger Pride Award Winners.  These awards celebrate the franchises best performers in the Minor Leagues for the month of April.  This year, instead of naming a fielder and pitcher for each Minor League club they are classifying the awards into three categories: “Strong Mind Pitcher of the Month,” “Strong Mind Position Player of the Month” and “Strong Mind Teammate of the Month.”  Per the press release:

The winners of the pitcher and position player of the month are selected based on a strict statistical method incorporating several baseball measureables, including best first-pitch strike percentage, best 1-1 count strike percentage, best overall strike percentage, best walk-strikeout ratio, best swing percentage on strikes and lowest chase rate. The teammate of the month is voted on by players, coaches and staff. 

Quantification is what it's all about. Check out the winners below.

-------------

Strong Mind Pitcher of the Month

RHP Scott Baker- Triple-A Oklahoma City: In three starts for Triple-A Oklahoma City, he went 1-1 with a 1.06 ERA (2 ER/17.0 IP) and struck out 16 against just one walk. The 33-year-old veteran was had great command, throwing 73.4% of his pitches for strikes, ranking near the top in the Dodger minor league affiliates. He would get ahead in the count against most batters he faced, throwing 70.5% of his first pitches for strikes and 66.7% for strikes on a 1-1 count. He led the Pacific Coast league with a 0.65 WHIP and a .169 opposing batting average. The right-hander earned a call-up to Los Angeles and made two starts for the Dodgers, after having his contract selected on April 26.

I am such a flake.  I had failed to make a fantasy Baseball card for Scott Baker when he initially joined the Dodgers 25-man roster a few weeks ago, so this is a bit belated.  Shown above is Baker's card featuring a photo originally taken by Dodger photographer Jon SooHoo/LA DOdgers 2015 and the 1987 Topps Baseball card design.

-------------

Strong Mind Position Player of the Month

(Pic via MiLB)

IF/OF Jarek Cunningham - Single-A Rancho Cucamonga:  The 25-year-old infielder/outfielder topped the California League with 21 RBI and tied for second with three triples in April, while posting a .325 batting average (25-for-77) with 11 runs, six doubles, three triples and a home run in 19 games. Cunningham was swinging at 74.7% of pitches thrown for strike, while ranking second among all Dodger minor leaguers swinging at 75.0% of in-zone fastballs on the first pitch.  Cunningham posted a 14-game hitting streak from April 14-29, hitting .345 with three doubles and 15 RBI during that span. He was originally signed by the Dodgers as a free agent on Jan. 20, 2015.

-------------

Strong Mind Teammate of the Month

(pic via MiLB)

IF/OF Mike Ahmed – Single-A Great Lakes: The Springfield, Massachusetts, native batted .290 (20-for-69) with five doubles, one triple, four RBI and seven steals in 17 games. He posted an eight-game hitting streak from April 12-20, batting .333 with three doubles and seven runs during that span. The 23-year-old was originally selected by the Dodgers in the 20th round of the 2013 MLB Amateur Draft out of the College of the Holy Cross.

* Please follow on twitter @ernestreyes *

* Like Dodgers Blue Heaven on facebook *

* Dodgers Blue Heaven home page *