Editorials

What is on a Dodger Fan’s Christmas Wishlist?

Christmas is just around the corner, and kids all around the world have written letters to Santa, wishing anything from a new toy, new clothes, or a new puppy. But what could Dodgers fans be asking Santa to wish for a happy 2017 Dodgers season? Let’s take a look and see.

 



  1. The Dodgers make improvements against left-handed pitchers.

This was undoubtedly the Dodgers biggest issue of last season. Whenever a left-handed pitcher pitched against the Dodgers, the Dodgers lineup tightened up. For example, Yasmani Grandal switched to hit right-handed when faced against left handers, and that didn’t work in his favor as he lost some of his slugging capabilities (.497 against righties but only .385 against lefties). Joc Pederson’s struggles against lefties were widely documented as well. Last year, Pederson only hit one home run against left hand pitching while hitting 24 against righties, his OPS (on base + slugging percentages) was .469 against lefties and .918 against righties, and overall had a .125 batting average.

[graphiq id=”dLDq2PJQYg5″ title=”Joc Pederson 2016 Complete Batting Splits” width=”640″ height=”523″ url=”https://w.graphiq.com/w/dLDq2PJQYg5″ link=”http://baseball-players.pointafter.com/l/18592/Joc-Pederson” link_text=”PointAfter | Graphiq” ]

These guys are everyday players in the Dodgers lineup and are here to stay. So how do you solve this problem that’s more of a nightmare? I would turn to two guys: Kiké Hernandez and Trayce Thompson. Can Kiké recreate some of his rally banana magic two seasons ago and smash off lefties other than Madison Bumgarner? And can Trayce Thompson come back healthy, secure an everyday position in the outfield, and improve hitting off lefties in a full season of work (He hit .219 against lefties)? Right fielder seems to be an open position with Josh Reddick leaving for Houston combined with Yasiel Puig’s struggles.

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  1. Figuring out how to replace Joe Blanton’s production.

Joe Blanton was quietly the Dodgers best reliever last season, having career numbers while surprising everyone in the process. Last year Blanton held his opponents to a 1.94 average while maintaining a 1.01 WHIP. He is currently a free agent, and there hasn’t been a lot of information whether or not the Dodgers will resign him.

Blanton is also 36 years old which doesn’t supply any long-term stability with the bullpen. The easy answer is to resign Blanton to a one year deal, which very much can still happen. But if that doesn’t happen, I would be intrigued with what Brock Stewart and Ross Stripling can do coming out of the pen. Kershaw, Hill, and Maeda aren’t going anywhere anytime soon, and Julio Urias and Jose De Leon figure to take the back end of the starting rotation, assuming De Leon doesn’t get traded. Striping and Stewart are 27 and 25 years old respectively. They’ve shown some moments last year, like when Stewart pitched five shutout innings and struck out eight against the Cubs in the regular season. If they find their niches in the bullpen, this would lower the need to hand the ball to Luis Avilan and Chris Hatcher, two shaky options at best.

 

  1. Hyun-Jin Ryu finding a place on this team

I would say that Ryu can be called the “forgotten Dodger” when looking towards this season because as of right now, his role on the Dodgers is up in the air. Excluding this season (where he only played one game before going back on the DL), let’s not forget that Ryu was a quality arm for two seasons pitching after Clayton Kershaw and Zach Greinke.

Now that Maeda has taken over as the third guy, is Ryu (assuming he comes back healthy) the fourth guy, moving Urias to the fifth slot? But the fifth guy doesn’t get as many opportunities guys slotted 1-4 get, which might hurt Urias’ growth as a young pitcher. Maybe Ryu competes for the 5th spot with Scott Kazmir, or becomes the long man out of the bullpen. No matter what happens, Ryu has a lot to bring to this Dodgers team, and if he’s used right, the Dodgers have another quality weapon they can go to.

 

  1. Corey Seager excels yet again and wins NL MVP.

Without Seager, the Dodgers would be nowhere near where they were last year. Seager always brought something to the table and delivered, such as when he broke up Matt Moore’s no hitter, or when he started off the Dodgers postseason with a homerun to centerfield. Seager has a .308 batting average with 26 home runs and 72 RBI’s last season.

Seager is only 22 years old, and the sky is the limit with him. If Seager endures a “sophomore slump”, the Dodgers will slump, it’s that simple.  But let’s hope Seager performs much like Kris Bryant did in his sophomore campaign by lead the Dodgers to the World Series while winning the NL MVP. If the Dodgers want to reach new heights, it starts with Seager.

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Staff Writer features content written by our site editors along with our staff of contributing writers. Thank you for your readership.

8 Comments

  1. Maybe Uriah would benefit from a lighter load since the Dodgers seem to be cautious with his total innings pitched. If the want Uriah to pitch more than they can give the day off to Riu since he might need it in coming back from injury.

  2. I would work Urias out of the bullpen. That would limit his innings while continuing to give him MLB experience. On ocasión get a start here and there. Urias is still two years away from being consistent pitcher in the Dodger rotation.

  3. I wish besides a world series, be able to watch them on TV like before. I miss watching the boys in blue.

  4. Great article Nate. I believe the Dodgers are waiting to see how Ryu pitches in the Spring. Remember Ryu pitched for us with an injured shoulder. We have never seen him with a completely Healthy arm/shoulder. He obviously has an amazing pain tolerance. If Ryu can regain his form he can be a very dominate pitcher for the Blue Crew…
    I also think Maeda is a very smart pitcher and now knows the grind of the Major League season. He will, I am sure, change his workout regimen and pitch strategy to allow him to pitch deeper into games. 
    With that said I would love to see the Dodgers trade McCarthy and Kazmir as we have young arms that can fill in. I am a Pragmatist however and do not believe anyone will take McCarthy as he showed he had injury and mental issues last season. 
    I would love to see them trade for Dozier but do not want them to give up more than a young proven arm like DeLeon and maybe a second tier guy or guys. Otherwise, I would sign Utley for one more year if they do not believe Calhoun is ready or do not want to go with a (pick them) Kike, Calhoun, Taylor, Culberson, Barnes type platoon, which I would favor.

    I really like Stewart he showed against the Cubs that he has the pitching mix (very important swing and miss arsenal) to start in the Majors. I also believe that Stripling will be much improved with the year experience. 
    Also look out for Oaks, DeChong and Alvarez as dark horses….
    I believe the Dodgers will be very much in contention again…And with an actual intact rotation could win the West and possibly fight for Home Field.

    I am very excited to see Toles fight it out with the other outfielders for playing time….What can Thompson do with a sound back and more experience?

    Rooting for SPring to come quickly…

  5. Hi:

    I personally think that Joc should spend the ENTIRE off season hitting against lefties, and that goes for all the other Dodgers with this weakness. The great ones don’t have this problem. Once this problem is overcome teams can’t routinely throw a lefty rally killer at us. We  still need to fill a hole at second and may lose a prospect, although I don’t think Urias or Cody Bellinger should be traded.. As for Hatcher–how is he still on the team? I cringe when I even see him warming up in the bullpen- money ill spent! . Good to see Jansen and Turner re-signed- Finally! Ryu still a question mark that, hopefully, will be resolved in spring training. Crossing fingers!

  6. diddleyman I agree I hope they all work on hitting Lefties…I am hoping that Turner shows his lower stats this year was an anomaly. Justin had to fight through recovering from his surgery and did not really regain his hitting power until more than half way through the season. 
    Gonzo did not hit well the first half either so we should see an improvement…

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