Tag Archives: Cody Bellinger

Dec 10

Hot Stove League #2, 2022-2023

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The Dodgers have not re-signed Justin Turner. They have lost Craig Kimbrel, Tyler Anderson, Cody Bellinger, Chris Martin, Tommy Kahnle, Andrew Heaney, and Trea Turner to free agency or non-renewal of club option. David Price is a free agent and the Dodgers have expressed no interest in re-signing him. They have not signed Aaron Judge or Xander Bogaerts or Dansby Swanson (although he’s still available) or Justin Verlander or Jacob DeGrom. They’ve signed Shelby Miller and Jason Heyward; amusingly, the Braves traded Heyward to the Cardinals for Miller in 2014.

All in all, so far the Dodgers have made no external moves to meet any of their needs at shortstop, center field, or starting pitching, although Clayton Kershaw is coming back. There’s plenty of time to do so; spring training won’t start until February 14.

The fans are restless.

Nov 25

Hot Stove League, Black Friday Edition

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Rumor has it that there are at least four teams interested in the non-tendered Cody Bellinger.

MLB insider Jon Heyman joined Chicago’s 670 The Score radio station to talk MLB rumors. He said there’s at least four teams that he’s heard connected with the Dodgers’ centerfielder.

“I have heard Bellinger connected with the Cubs. Bellinger certainly would fit the White Sox,” Heyman said. “I’ve heard him with Astros, Jays, Cubs, I’m sure the Yankees, as well, would be interested in Bellinger.”

Heyman said that on a sports radio show. In a column at the New York Post he upgraded the number of interested teams to eleven!

From the same source, the Dodgers are expressing interest in Carlos Rodón, who spent last year with the Giants and posted a 14-8 record with an ERA 2.88 and a WHIP of 1.03.

Aug 15

Game 114, 2022

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Dodgers at Brewers, 2:10 PM PDT, TV: Bally Sports Wisconsin, SPNLA

LHP Julio Urías (12-6, 2.49 ERA) takes the mound for the Dodgers at American Family Field in Milwaukee tonight. He’ll face the Brewers’ RHP Freddy Peralta (4-2, 4.37 ERA). Urías is 10-3 in his last fifteen games with a 2.28 ERA. Peralta will make his third start after missing two months with a shoulder injury. He went 8 2/3 innings in the previous two.

The Dodgers lead their division by a gazillion; the Brewers are 1 1/2 games behind the Cardinals in the NL Central.

Horrible news surfaced today. Buehler will have to undergo elbow surgery after all, which means he’s done for the year.

Better news:

A week ago in Sports Illustrated, a recognition of hope:Cody Bellinger is once again a critical component of the Dodgers

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1914 Brooklyn’s Jake Daubert sets a National League record with four sacrifices in one game. The first baseman’s efforts aren’t enough when the Dodgers drop an 8-7 decision to Philadelphia at Ebbets Field.
  • 1926 When Babe Herman doubles with the bases loaded, three Dodgers wind up on third base. The runner on second rounds third but decides to go back as the runner from first reaches the same base, and a few seconds later Herman slides in to join his two teammates.
  • 1951 With one out in the top of the eighth inning and a runner on third base in a 1-1 tied game, Willie Mays, running at full speed, makes an incredible catch of Carl Furillo’s drive to deep centerfield. After grabbing the ball, the rookie outfielder turns counterclockwise and throws a perfect strike to home to nail a surprised Billy Cox at home to complete the double play. Some believe the catch, in the Giants’ eventual 3-1 Polo Grounds victory over the Dodgers, is the impetus for the beginning of the team’s incredible comeback from an 11.5 game deficit to win the National League pennant.
  • 2006 The Dodgers, with their 4-0 blanking of the Marlins, win their sixth consecutive game and 17th in the last 18 contests. The stretch is the team’s best run since the Brooklyn Superbas went 20-1 in 1899.
  • 2020 Max Muncy hits the first leadoff sac fly in baseball history when he flies out to deep right field, scoring Chris Taylor, the Dodgers’ ghost runner who stole third base on the second pitch of the tenth inning. Angels’ reliever Keynan Middleton, who throws a perfect 1-2-3 inning, is tagged with the loss when the run proves to be the difference in the team’s 6-5 loss in Anaheim.

Lineups:

Jul 15

Game 89, 2022

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Dodgers at Angels, 6:38 PM PDT, TV: Bally Sports West, SPNLA

All Star LHP Clayton Kershaw (6-2, 2.40 ERA) takes the hill for the Dodgers in Anaheim against LHP Patrick Sandoval (3-4, 2.95 ERA) of the host Angels. In Kershaw’s last start he went 7 2/3 innings, gave up five hits and two runs and got the win. Sandoval’s last start was unfortunate. He went 6 1/3 innings, gave up five hits and just one run and took the loss.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1960 Home plate umpire Frank Dascoli stops play for 24 minutes when Willie McCovey hits a pitch into shallow left field that no one can see because of the dense fog. The Giants first baseman’s second inning “invisible triple” doesn’t deter the Dodgers when they go on to win the Candlestick Park contest, 5-3.
  • 2003 At the All-Star Game played in Chicago’s U.S. Cellular Field, Angels outfielder Garret Anderson goes 3-for-4, including a two-run homer and a double, helping the American League to beat the NL, 7-6. Pinch-hitting in the eighth inning, Rangers third baseman Hank Blalock hits a go-ahead two-run homer off the usually untouchable reliever of the Dodgers, Eric Gagne.
  • 2004 Eric Gagne surpasses Jeff Shaw for the most career saves in franchise history, collecting his 130th save in a Dodger uniform. The 28 year-old right-handed closer pitches a perfect ninth, striking out the side, in the team’s 5-2 victory over Arizona at Bank One Ballpark.
  • 2017 Cody Bellinger becomes the first Dodger rookie to hit for the cycle when he collects a seventh-inning triple in the team’s 7-1 victory over the Marlins in Miami. The 22-year old freshman goes 4-for-5, driving in three runs en route to his historic accomplishment.

Also: in 1939 National League president Ford Frick orders two-foot screens affixed inside all foul poles after Billy Jurges of the Giants and umpire George Magerkurth spit at each other after a foul ball call down the left field line is disputed at the Polo Grounds. The American League will soon follow the Senior Circuit lead and will also install foul ball screens.

And: in 1994 after being confiscated in the first inning of the Indians-White Sox contest at Comiskey Park, Albert Belle’s bat, suspected of being corked, is placed in umpire Dave Phillips’ locker for further examination. The attempt to take and replace the suspected bat by a bungling burglar, who gains access to the umpire’s room by squirming through the stadium’s overhead crawl space, a thievery Jason Grimsley will confess to five-years later, is immediately uncovered with the discovery of pieces of broken ceiling tile on the floor, and a new name on the “clean” bat which now reads Paul Sorrento.

Lineups when available.

Jul 13

Game 87, 2022

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Dodgers at Cardinals, 4:45 PM PDT, TV: Bally Sports Midwest, SPNLA

RHP Tony Gonsolin (11-0, 1.62 ERA) brings his unblemished record to the hill to face the Cardinals’ long-time ace Adam Wainwright (6-7, 3.15 ERA). In his last start Gonsolin went seven innings, gave up two runs on four hits and saw his ERA go up for his trouble. Wainwright is 40 years old; he and Kershaw each have 191 career wins (Kershaw has 26 fewer losses). In Wainwright’s last start he gave up two runs on five hits, pitched a complete game and lost 2-0.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 2019 The Dodgers got four home runs from Muncy, Turner, Bellinger and Pollock and Ross Stripling got the win as the Dodgers defeated Chris Sale and the Boston Red Sox 11-2.

Lineups when available.

Jul 02

Game 77, 2022

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Padres at Dodgers, 4:15 PM PDT, TV: FOX

The visiting Padres send RHP Yu Darvish (7-3, 3.26 ERA) out to do battle with the Dodgers’ LHP Tyler Anderson (8-1, 3.23 ERA). Darvish has a 1.61 ERA over his last four starts. He got no decision in the last one, giving up seven hits and three runs over six innings to the Phillies, who came back to win against the Padres’ bullpen. Anderson took his first loss of the year in his last start, giving up ten hits and four runs in six innings to the Rockies.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1962 Johnny Podres ties a major league mark record, striking out eight consecutive batters in LA’s 5-1 victory over Philadelphia. The 29 year-old southpaw’s streak begins with the third out in the top of the fourth frame and ends after the first out in the seventh inning of the Dodger Stadium contest.
  • 1995 Dodger right-hander Hideo Nomo, who is leading the National League in strikeouts, becomes the first player from Japan to be selected for the major league All-Star game. As the starter for the Senior Circuit, the 26 year-old rookie tosses two scoreless innings in the National League’s 3-2 victory over their American League rivals at The Ballpark in Arlington.
  • 2019 The Dodgers overcome a 4-3 deficit with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning when the Diamondbacks’ bullpen walks five consecutive batters, including Cody Bellinger’s base-on-balls forcing in the winning run. The last time the Chavez Ravine club got a walk-off win with a walk was when Bellinger drew the fourth consecutive free pass issued by the Royals relievers, plating the winning run in a 5-4 extra-inning victory in 2017.

Lineups when available.

May 16

Game 34, 2022

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Diamondbacks at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PDT, TV: BS Arizona, SPNLA

LHP Madison Bumgarner (2-1, 1.78 ERA) goes for the D-Backs and RHP Tony Gonsolin (3-0, 1.33 ERA) pitches for the Dodgers. Bumgarner won his last start going 6 1/3 innings, giving up two runs on six hits. Gonsolin won his last start going five innings and surrendering no runs on just one hit.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1913 Alfredo Cabrera, born in the Canary Islands, becomes the first person from Spain to appear in the majors. The 32 year-old Cardinals shortstop will go 0-for-2 in the only big league game he will play, a 6-5 loss to the Dodgers at Ebbets Field.
  • 1967 Reliever Phil Regan loses his first game in 77 appearances. The ‘Vulture’ gets pinned with his first defeat in over a year when Astros’ third baseman Bob Aspromonte hits a two-run triple in the tenth to beat the Dodgers, 5-3.
  • 1970 During a game against the Giants at Dodger Stadium, Alan Fish, sitting with friends from the Poinsettia Playground in the second row seats along the first base line, is struck in the head by a foul ball off the bat of Manny Mota. The 14 year-old boy will die four days later to become the first fatality as a result of a batted ball in major league history.
  • 1983 In an 11-4 rout of the Pirates, rookie right fielder Darryl Strawberry hit his first major league home run, a two-run round-tripper off Pittsburgh’s Lee Tunnell at Three Rivers Stadium. The troubled Mets outfielder, the eventual franchise leader with 252 homers, will hit a total of 335 during his turbulent 17-year career with the Mets, Dodgers, Giants, and Yankees.
  • 2000 After a fan steals Los Angeles’ catcher Chad Kreuter’s hat and hits him in the back of the head, many Dodgers, including coaches John Shelby and Rick Dempsey, go into the stands and start fighting with the Wrigley Field faithful. When the melee ends, several fans are arrested as the game is delayed nearly ten minutes, and there is litter all over the field.

Lineups when available.

Apr 08

Opening Day, Game One, 2022

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Dodgers at Rockies, 1:10 PM PDT, TV: ATT SportsNet RM, SPNLA

After an off-season which induced doubt that this season would begin even close to its scheduled date, here we are. The Dodgers send RHP Walker Buehler to make the first Opening Day start of his career. He’ll face the Rockies’ LHP Kyle Freeland. This is the second year in a row the Dodgers have opened the season on the road in Colorado.

The Dodgers only made one major addition to their starting lineup — Freddie Freeman at first base. He had a slash line of .295/.384/.509 with the Braves last year. The Rockies added Kris Bryant and Randal Grichuk to their outfield. Bryant had a slash line of .265/.353/.481 between the Cubs and Giants in 2021, while Grichuk had a slash line of .241/.281/.423 with the Blue Jays.

Today in Dodgers history:

  • 1966 Thanks to the Monsanto chemical company’s experimental nylon playing surface, the Astros and Dodgers play baseball’s first game on synthetic grass. The original plan to play all-dirt field, necessitated by the need to paint the Astrodome’s glass panes to reduce the glare, which prevented natural grass from growing, is alleviated by the use of ‘AstroTurf.’
  • 1974 Braves outfielder Hank Aaron passes Babe Ruth as the all-time home run leader with his 715th, going deep in the fourth inning off Dodger hurler Al Downing in Atlanta’s home opener. ‘Hammerin’ Hank’ equaled the Bambino’s mark on Opening Day in Cincinnati.
  • 1994 Kent Mercker, throwing his first major league complete game, no-hits the Dodgers, 6-0 at Chavez Ravine. The Braves left-hander was one of the three Atlanta pitchers, along with Mark Wohlers and Alejandro Pena, to throw a combined no-no against the Padres in 1991.
  • 1994 Chan Ho Park becomes the first Korean to play in the major leagues when he makes his pitching debut at Chavez Ravine. In one inning of work, the 21-year-old Kongju City native gives up two runs on one hit, walking two and striking out two batters in the Dodgers’ 6-0 loss to Atlanta.
  • 2008 On the last Opening Day in the Queens ballpark, the Mets unveil a disc with William Shea’s name, honoring the namesake of their stadium. The New York attorney played an instrumental role in bringing the National League back to the Big Apple following the Giants and Dodgers’ departure after the 1957 season.
  • 2015 Adrian Gonzalez becomes the first major league player to hit five home runs in the first three games of the season when he goes deep three times in the Dodgers’ 7-4 victory over San Diego at Chavez Ravine. The Los Angeles first baseman joins Carl Furillo (1955) and Jimmy Wynn (1974) as the only players in franchise history to have homered in the first three games of a campaign.
  • 2019 Chris Davis breaks the record for the longest hitless streak in major league history at 0-for-47, surpassing Eugenio Velez’s dubious mark with the Giants and Dodgers in 2010-11. The Baltimore fans, who had begun regularly booing the Orioles outfielder with the $161 million fully guaranteed contract, were very supportive when he lined out to deep left field in the fifth inning in the game against the A’s to take his place in baseball infamy.

In case you missed it:

“I always thought, ‘Of course, Joe Buck’s going to be at Fox forever,’” Davis said. ‘“Joe Buck’s always going to be calling the World Series.’”

But Buck didn’t stay at Fox forever and he won’t call any more World Series. That job, officially as of Friday, belongs to Davis, the Dodgers’ TV play-by-play man. Davis was named to Fox’s lead play-by-play position upon Buck’s departure last month to ESPN. Hall of Famer John Smoltz will be his color analyst.

Lineups:

Dodgers

I wonder if this is the first time Bellinger has hit 8th in the lineup since he got to the major leagues.

Rockies

Feb 02

Open Thread #7, 2022

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As if losing Seager and Scherzer and possibly Kershaw aren’t enough, now comes word that the Dodgers tried to extend RHP Walker Buehler’s contract last spring and he turned the offer down. Now, he’s under club control for another three years, hard as that may be to believe, but he’s in line for big raises through arbitration in each of the next two years, and by the time he hits free agency he’ll be about to enter his age-30 season in 2025. What if Turner, Kershaw, Bellinger and Urias are gone by that point? All of them will have completed their current contracts by that season. Will the team want to spend millions on one pitcher if the entire roster has been depleted?

Or maybe their roster will have been reloaded by then, given their Baseball American farm system ranking of #8. But is that a good bet?

The future is occasionally scary to contemplate.

Sep 28

Game 157, 2021

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Padres at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PDT, TV: Bally Sports San Diego, ESPN (out-of-market only), SPNLA

RHP Yu Darvish (8-10, 4.21 ERA) takes the mound for the visiting Padres, facing the Dodgers’ RHP Walker Buehler (14-4, 2.58 ERA).

The Giants have put their slugging first baseman (29 HRs, 59 RBI) Brandon Belt on the IL with a fractured thumb.

As noted in the comments to the previous post, Albert Pujols has been put on the IL; Cody Bellinger has been activated.

On this day in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1924 Rogers Hornsby finishes the season with a .424 batting average to lead the National League. The Cardinal second baseman easily outdistances Zack Wheat, who finishes second in the race, batting .375 for the Dodgers.
  • 1952 On the last day of the season at Ebbets Field, the Braves’ 77 years of representing Boston is extended by three innings when Eddie Mathews’ ninth-inning, two-out double ties the game. The contest is called due to darkness and ends in the 12th inning in a 5-5 tie with the Dodgers.
  • 1955 In the bottom of the second inning, Elston Howard, in his first World Series at-bat, knots the score at 2-2 when he homers off Dodgers’ right-hander Don Newcombe. The round-tripper to deep left field at Yankee Stadium marks the first time a black batter has hit a home run off a black pitcher in the history of the Fall Classic.
  • 1959 The Braves, who ended the National League regular season in a first-place tie with the Dodgers, lose Game 1 of the three-game series, 3-2, in front of a sparse crowd of 18,297 at County Stadium. Milwaukee will lose tomorrow’s game in L.A., spoiling their chance for a three-peat as NL Champs.
  • 1966 At Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Larry Jaster throws a four-hitter, blanking Don Sutton and the Dodgers, 2-0. It’s the southpaw’s fifth shutout against LA this season, equaling a post-1900 major league mark held by the Senators’ Tom Hughes (against the Indians in 1905) and Grover Cleveland Alexander of the Phillies (against the Reds in 1916).
  • 1988 In his last start of the regular season, Dodger Orel Hershiser tosses 10 shutout frames to extend his streak to 59, breaking Don Drysdale’s record of 58 consecutive scoreless innings.
  • 1997 With his 40th home run, catcher Mike Piazza sets a single season Los Angeles Dodger record. Duke Snider holds the franchise record, slugging 43 round-trippers for Brooklyn in 1956.
  • 2003 At Turner Field in Atlanta, Jose Reyes becomes the second Mets player to hit a home run from both sides of the plate in one game. Lee Mazzilli was the first when he went yard twice against the Dodgers in LA on September 3, 1978.
  • 2006 At Coors Field in Colorado, James Loney collects four hits, including two homers, and drives in nine runs in the Dodgers’ 19-11 victory over the Rockies. The rookie first baseman, who had one homer and eight runs batted in in 93 previous at-bats with the team, ties the franchise RBI mark set by Gil Hodges in his 1950 four-homer game for Brooklyn and breaks the Los Angeles club mark held by Ron Cey.

Lineup: