Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
It’s funny what getting out of San Francisco can do for a team. The Dodgers were triumphant last night, and it was a solid performance all-around.
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Dodgers
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Padres
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5:30 p.m.
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San Diego
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SS
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Rollins
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CF
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Myers
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RF
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Ethier
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2B
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Solarte
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1B
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Gonzalez
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RF
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Kemp
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2B
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Kendrick
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LF
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Upton
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C
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Grandal
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1B
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Alonso
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LF
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Crawford
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C
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Norris
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3B
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Uribe
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3B
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Middlebrooks
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CF
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Pederson
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SS
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Amarista
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P
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McCarthy (R)
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P
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Kennedy (R)
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Brandon McCarthy toes the slab today in San Diego, and he has been pretty good so far. Sure, he’s given up a few too many home runs early on (35.3 percent HR/FB), but that won’t last. He hasn’t gotten a ton of ground balls (41.9 percent), especially after posting a 52.6 percent rate last year.
But where he has changed his game is with the strikeout. He has a 12.5 K/9 in three starts. Small sample size for sure, but he’s also doing it with increased velocity on his fastball (93.8 MPH) and cut fastball (91.6 MPH).
There is also this from Jason Collette.
https://twitter.com/jasoncollette/status/591998287810600960
He has increased his strikeout rate by nearly 14 percent since last season. If he isn’t going to get a lot of ground balls, it might as well be because he’s striking more hitters out. The home runs will dissipate, and the ground balls will increase. McCarthy will not be a 12.5 K/9 guy for the entire season, but it’s nice to see he has some more swing-and-miss in him than most thought.
Then there’s this from the good folks at Beyond the Box Score.
Batted ball velo leaders (100 pitches min.)
H. Ramirez (101 mph)
A. Rodriguez (98.2)
J. Pederson (96.6)
J. Soler (96.1)
J. Smolinski (95.7)— Beyond the Box Score (@BtBScore) April 25, 2015
Oh hai Joc. No surprise to see Hanley Ramirez atop this list. It’s surprising to see 39-year-old Alex Rodriguez there, but it’s also surprising to see Joc Pederson in the Top 3. The ball does jump off his bat, and hitting the ball hard bodes well for future success (just ask Yasmani Grandal, who has been BABIP’d for most of the season).
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