Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
| PA | AVG | OBP | SLG | wRC+ | HR | WAR | |
| MLB | 29 | .122 | .250 | .293 | 44 | 2 | -0.3 |
| MiLB | 265 | .222 | .317 | .365 | N/A | 6 | N/A |
What Happened In 2017: Had three stints with the major-league club in 2017, then was traded to the Cincinnati Reds at the trade deadline for Tony Cingrani ending his 12-year career in the Dodgers organization.
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The Dodgers hoped Scott Van Slyke would rebound after a limited 2016 season that was affected by a back and wrist injury that needed surgery. He signed a one-year deal for $1.325 million with the Dodgers in the off-season, avoiding arbitration and a possible non-tender. Van Slyke made the Dodgers’ Opening Day roster, his fourth straight time doing so, but failed to stick around after collecting only four hits with 12 strikeouts in 36 plate appearances in April. After being sent down to Triple-A Oklahoma City briefly, he was called back up to the Dodgers in May for a seven-game stint and later for one game in July.
SVS didn’t stay with the big club long in 2017, because he was unable to repeat his success against left-handed pitching. He went 4-for-29 against LHP in 2017, hitting .138/.265/.276 with one home run in 29 at-bats. After collectively struggling against southpaws in 2016, the Dodgers were looking for Van Slyke to perform similarly against left-handers as he had over his career. Unfortunately, his results in 2017 were markedly worse than his career line vs. LHP (.252/.358/.462/.820). He was never was able to return to 2014 form when he was a valuable bench piece.
The Dodgers parted ways with Van Slyke on July 31, sending him to the Reds along with minor league catcher Hendrik Clementina in exchange for Cingrani. Cingrani subsequently found success out of the Dodgers’ bullpen, striking out 28 batters in 19 1/3 innings for L.A down the stretch.
After being desingated for assignment by the Reds in August, Van Slyke cleared waivers and was sent outright to Triple-A Louisville, where he finished off the season playing in 15 games and serving as outfield depth for Cincy.
Van Slyke had some memorable moments during his time in Dodger Blue like hitting the first MLB homer of 2014 in Sydney, Australia. He finished his Dodger career with a slashline of .242/.326/.417/.744 and 29 home runs over six seasons.
He also put an end to my long-time obsession with finding a baby photo of Juan Uribe.
I’d give anything to see a baby pic of Juan #Uribe.
— Stacie Wheeler (@StacieMWheeler) July 13, 2014
@StacieMWheeler I don’t think it exists!
— ScottVanSlyke (@ScottVanSlick) October 19, 2017
#NeverForget
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2018 Status: Currently a free agent.
