Random rantings and ravings about the Los Angeles Dodgers, written by a small consortium of rabid Dodger fans. With occasional comments on baseball, entertainment, pop culture, and life in general.
The Dodgers' 2024 Opening Day center fielder was demoted to the minors on May 17. And since then, happy to say, Tarzan has been bringing his moribund bat back to life.
Outman, now playing for AAA Oklahoma City, is 15-for-42 with two doubles and three home runs, batting .357 with an OPS of 1.161. That is awesome news, especially given the bottom of the Dodgers' order is still challenged. Here's a recent tweet from OKC:
OKC got it done both at the plate and on the mound as they won in Albuquerque, 11-1, Thursday night!
James Outman went 3-for-5 with a two-run homer, while Kody Hoese went 4-for-4. Starting pitcher Landon Knack delivered five scoreless innings.
Thu May 16 7p: Tyler Glasnow (6-1, 2.53) vs. Brent Suter (0-0, 3.86)
Fri May 17 7p: James Paxton (5-0, 2.58) vs. Frankie Montas (2-3, 4.20)
Sat May 18 6p: Walker Buehler (0-1, 7.36) vs. Graham Ashcraft (3-2, 4.12)
Sun May 19 1p: TBD Landon Knack (1-1, 2.81) vs. Hunter Greene (2-2, 3.27)
Things were rolling against the Giants earlier this week with two good wins, however the series unfortunately culminated in our meek 4-1 loss last night, with plenty of wasted opportunities throughout. Blame the bottom five in the lineup again: Max Muncy, Teoscar Hernandez, Gavin Lux, Andy Pages, and James (Automatic) Outman, who went a combined 0-for-18 with 7 Ks, to thoroughly squash any potential rally we tried to muster.
The healthy division lead gives us time to figure out who else outside the Big Four is going to hit. I had high hopes for Muncy and Lux, both of whom have picked up their defensive play, but Muncy has fallen back to a .223 BA / .798 OPS (still an OPS+ of 125, shockingly) and Lux a .194 BA / .525 OPS (OPS+ 50). And then there's Automatic Outman, batting .151 with an OPS of .530 (OPS+ 51).
I'm excited to go to the Stadium tonight and pick up the Shohei Ohtani bobblehead. And I've got an outside shot at going to the Sunday game, featuring Notre Dame Sherman Oaks High School's Hunter Greene.
The Dodgers, looking to bring in crowds after their showdown sweep over the Braves this past weekend, shifted Star Wars Night @ Dodger Stadium to May 6, rather than the traditional May 4. Fun was still had by all, and in particular, Dodger fans who got a chance to see Walker Buehler take the mound for the first time in two years.
Here's Buehler's introduction from the public address announcer, which was pretty cool to hear:
Luckily for the Dodgers, we have Shohei Ohtani, whose first-inning HR (following a Mookie Betts leadoff walk) immediately tied the score, with none out in the first. I was fortunate to get this video (yes, that's me and SoSG AC screaming):
Freddie Freeman followed with a first-inning HR of his own, so it was 3-2. The Marlins then tied it in the second on a Nick Gordon solo HR. Then in the bottom of the second, after Gavin Lux worked a walk, James Outman came to the plate. I jokingly said to SoSG AC that Outman was going to pull an Ohtani of his own and hit a two-run HR. Which, amazingly, he did. We were both cracking up that I had called that.
The Dodgers added one more with a solo poke HR from Teoscar Hernandez, who apparently has seven of his eight HR on the year at Dodger Stadium. Solid performances from Ryan Yarbrough, Blake Treinen, and Alex Vesia gave us the 6-3 victory and our fifth win in a row (we are undefeated in May 2024 so far).
The Star Wars Night theming was pretty good, including a Dejarik board for the hat shuffle, a pre-game trivia contest, and abundant crowd shots of fellow nerds in the crowd. (Anthony Keides of the Red Hots and Mark Hoppus of Blink-182 were also at the game.)
The return of onions at Dodger Stadium: possibly the only fiscally positive addition to the Stadium this season
On the downside: the Dodger Stadium food fare has really sunk to new depths of both quantity (small) and pricing (large). They got rid of the chicken sandwich place that I liked from last year (the Nashville spicy chicken sandwich was great), and instead the new Japanese place has a chicken katsu sandwich which is a total ripoff. Not only is the chicken wafer-thin like a smushed McDonald's hash brown patty (breaded of course), the small piece of white "bread" for the sandwich (and I use that liberally, as it's little more than the size of a Triscuit cracker) is pathetically microscopic:
I'm already shelling out $16.50 for a beer at the Stadium. If the food is also going to be both skimpy in portion size and exorbitant in price, I'm going to bring in my own food in the future. Very disappointing from a food front! Thankfully, I've got free food to eat today all over town.
Shohei Ohtani's HR, with an exit velocity of 118.7 mph, was the hardest-hit ball all year in the majors. The sound of that pitch leaving the back is unbelievable, and the fact that it ended up in the second deck of Nationals Park is completely unsurprising. Wow.
The Dodgers had plenty of surprises today, though! After bumbling through five innings and letting winless Nationals starter Patrick Corbin stymie the lineup, it was the Dodgers' scrubs who came through to win this game. In the sixth inning, Kiké Hernandez singled home Teoscar Hernandez to tie the game at 1.
Teoscar Hernandez scored again in the eighth inning when James Outman, pinch hitting for Kiké with two out and a man on second, doubled to right to put the Dodgers ahead. And then Miguel Rojas singled to right to score Outman.
The Ohtani HR in the ninth was the capper, with the Dodgers almost giving the game away in the ninth save an out at home for the second out, plus a bases-loaded K on Jesse Winker to end the game.
But the scrubs (5-through-9 in the order) out-hit the Dodgers' Big Four, five hits to four, today (Freddie Freeman went 2-for-4; Will Smith went 0-for-4). And that makes three out of the last four games where the Dodgers, ranked 22nd in the majors with 9.42 Ks per game, actually had five or fewer Ks (we had 14 Ks on Saturday).
Could the Dodgers be getting more patient at the plate? Or more productive from the worst part of our lineup (to be faire, neither Gavin Lux nor Chris Taylor played today)? Either way, it was a good start to this nine-game roadtrip.
The Padres took the rubber game on national television today, coming back from a 3-1 deficit to win, 6-3, at Chavez Ravine. Dodger pitchers gave up an astonishing 14 walks today, eight of which came at the hands of Dodger starter James Paxton, who was tagged for three earned runs thanks to another subpar outing from Ryan Brasier.
The bottom of the Dodgers lineup (James Outman, Kiké Hernandez, and Gavin Lux) was once again pathetic, going a combined 0-for-9--except that the malaise actually spread up the lineup to Teoscar Hernandez, who also went 0-for-4 on top of that. So the six hits from the top of the lineup didn't mean much when we couldn't convert any of those baserunners; the Dodgers were 1-for-5 with RISP and had many leadoff baserunners stranded in place.
Tonight marked the second time in this series that the Padres clawed their way back to a victory. I didn't see that spark from the Dodgers this weekend. We'll see if we get something back against the Nationals, starting tomorrow.
Hey, Seoul Series! Ain't that frickin' early on the radio, stereo; I can't afford Spectrum, you know?
The starting lineups haven't posted yet, but MLB.com has been kind enough to post matchups. For the Dodgers, players who have fared well against Darvish include Freddie Freeman (.286 BA and .926 OPS with 2 HR in 28 AB), as well as James Outman (.333 BA and 1.166 OPS with 1 HR in 6 AB); not to mention new Dodgers addition Teoscar Hernandez (BA .333), who batted .414 in spring training this year.
For the Padres, the only regular to face Glasnow is Xander Bogaerts, who has a .167 BA and .583 OPS against Glasnow in 12 AB. Glasnow is new material for the rest of that lineup, which is still formidable with Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr., and Ha-Seong Kim.
I'm going to try and make it up early for this one...but we'll see.
3.3% chance of winning. Not quite one in a million, more like 1 in 30. But that's what Fangraphs had forecasted for the Dodgers, down 2-1 in the top of the ninth inning in San Diego, with two outs and no one on. Up to the plate was Mookie Betts, and if you were paying attention to the graph up above (I warned you, there was going to be a quiz!), Betts had some atoning to do.
In the first inning, Betts had let a Xander Bogaerts ball go off his glove in right field (he may have mis-timed his leap, and the sun was also in his eyes--though while mic'd up with ESPN during the third inning, Betts claimed the sun was not a factor in him missing that ball), allowing Manny Machado to score and putting the Dodgers in a quick 2-0 hole. The game stayed 2-0 SD until the sixth inning, when Will Smith doubled home Freddie Freeman (who reached on a fielding error by Juan Soto), chasing Joe Musgrove (who had only allowed two hits all game, but also gave up 3 BB along with 5 Ks).
Betts was 0-for-3 coming into this ninth-inning AB against Josh Hader, who hadn't blown a save all year in 11 opportunities. And Betts did this:
With Betts' (Han) solo HR, the game was tied. We go to extras, after a great hold from Caleb Ferguson (who got the win), a solid 1-2-3 ninth inning that ended with two Ks.
Top of the tenth, and Smith grounds ghost runner Freeman to third. Max Muncy is rung up on strikes for out number two, and then Michael Busch singles home Freeman to take the lead. Then, James Outman, who going into this AB was 0-for-9 this series, with 3 Ks; not to mention a mortal 3-for-20 in the month of May--launched a home run to right field that cheater Fernando Tatis Jr. could only watch. 5-2 LA, and Evan Phillips comes in to secure the save in the bottom of the tenth.
The Dodgers end up taking two of three on the road in San Diego, and end the weekend in first place in the NL West, 1.5 games ahead of Arizona and three games ahead of the Padres. I'm not going to read too much into this game--we looked pretty bad offensively through most of the game today before the late eruption, and the other two games weren't much better.
But amazingly, the bullpen did a pretty nice job this weekend. 3.1 no-hit innings on Friday; a run yielded in three innings in Saturday's victory (Brusdar Graterol was the victim); and then 4.1 innings of one-hit ball (with no walks) today. If you had told me neither Clayton Kershaw nor Julio Urias was going to get a win this weekend, I would have thought we would be swept. To come away with a series win on the road was pretty sweet indeed.
I'm going to also add the highlights video below, so you can see Betts pointing to the Dodgers' dugout after his game-tying home run. Way to go, Mookie!
Also, I'm aware that the Petco Park folks put up some immature memes and banners about our guys this weekend, en route to losing two of three games against the Dodgers. On that point:
James Outman has been amazing in center field for the Dodgers this season, with a .973 OPS that tops all rookies, but is also in the top 15 for all qualified hitters as well.
But what I find particularly amazing is that, even with the surprising resurgence of 2022 Dodger centerfielder Cody Bellinger in Chicago, Outman's numbers hold pace with Bellinger's numbers:
With Chris Taylor stil mired in a slump, J.D. Martinez injured, Miguel Rojas unable to hit, and Austin Barnes not only unable to hit but also unable to throw anyone out at second--we've needed Outman in the lineup. He's been great this first month of the season.
This is Outman's first career Rookie of the Month award. Ichiro Suzuki (2001), Mike Trout (2012), and Aaron Judge (2017) have all won the award four times--but no NL players has won it four times (Jason Bay, 2004, and Juan Soto, 2018, have won it three times).
Dodgers starter Michael Grove wasn't really great tonight, lasting only three innings before exiting with a groin strain and Cubs on second and third with none out in the fourth (Grove did lower his ERA from 9.00 to 8.44 tonight, however). Mookie Betts, activated after his paternity leave, wasn't in the starting lineup. And a rain delay in Chicago led to a late start time with winds swirling and a warnings of a possible tornado.
And yet, there were still rays of sunlight for the Dodgers; they just came late and from the Dodgers' dugout. After squandering a lead twice in this game, Betts entered in the seventh inning at shortstop for his first SS appearance in the majors (pinch hitting for Luke Williams), and promptly singled, only to be quickly erased by Austin "Automatic Out" Barnes (GIDP; Barnes went 0-for-3 with 4 LOB and is now batting .040 on the year).
But Betts then made an amazing double play in the bottom of the eighth to quell the Cubs' rally (from two on and none out, to two out and runner at third, with that runner eventually being stranded). And then, in the top of the ninth, James Outman (who had already hit a solo HR in the third inning) sealed the game with this grand slam:
I'm not sure if I like Stephen Nelson's "DID YOU?" home run call very much (I think this is the second time I've heard it now). But boy, I love Dodger grand slams at Wrigley Field, like this one in the 2008 NLDS. Outman is really blossoming as an everyday starter, almost making me forget about our last centerfielder (who also had a solo HR tonight, and is amazingly batting .290 this year).
Dodgers win the first game in this four-game series, with all the rest of the games starting early (11.20a first pitch). Up and at 'em, Dodger fans!
One day after 0-fer-ing with RISP, the Dodgers lit up the Rockies with a 4-for-9 with RISP performance, including what MLB.com's Juan Toribio called "one of the best two-out rallies you’ll see all season long." Apparently, the Dodgers are a pendulum swinging from feast to famine on successive games. If this continues, I'm going to be sea sick. Or hypnotized.
The Dodgers had just given up a 2-0 lead in the top of the fifth, and were trailing 4-2. And then Chris Taylor popped to second, and Mookie Betts Kd swinging, to make it two out and no one on. And then:
Freddie Freeman doubles to right.
Will Smith walks.
Max Muncy walks. Bases loaded. Rockies go to Jake Bird to relieve starter Ryan Feltner.
JD Martinez narrowly misses a grand slam, then singles to left to score Freeman and Smith. Muncy to second. Tied at 4.
James Outman triples (his first of two triples in the game!), scoring Muncy and Martinez. 6-4 LA.
Miguel Vargas singles to left, scoring Outman. 7-4 LA.
Jason Heyward homers, scoring Vargas. 9-4 LA.
Taylor grounds to second for the third out.
What an inning, and the Dodgers didn't look back. So now we have blowout victories in games 1, 3, and 5; and bad 2-1 losses in games 2 and 4 (both of which showed 0-fers with RISP).
So I guess we know what's in store tomorrow, right? Maybe that's why they're giving away hooded sweatshirts to the first 40K attendees.
3/27 vs. AZ (W, 6-4): AC
4/11 vs. TEX (W, 8-7): Sax
5/11 vs. SF (L, 3-9): Sax
5/25 vs. COL (W, 5-3): Sax
6/11 @ PIT (W, 8-6): Sax
6/15 vs. TB (W, 4-3): Nomo
7/4 vs. SD (W, 3-0): Orel, Sax
