Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
We all know the Dodgers are incredibly deep. They’ve dipped into that depth plenty this season, but even I was surprised to see they recalled Scott Schebler. I’m even more surprised he’s starting tonight.
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Cardinals
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Dodgers
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7:10 p.m.
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Los Angeles
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2B
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Wong
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CF
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Pederson
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3B
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Carpenter
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SS
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Rollins
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LF
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Holliday
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1B
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Gonzalez
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SS
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Peralta
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C
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Grandal
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CF
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Grichuk
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RF
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Ethier
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1B
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Reynolds
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3B
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Callaspo
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C
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Molina
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LF
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Schebler
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Heyward
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2B
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Hernandez
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P
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Martinez (R)
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P
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Anderson (L)
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Schebler, 24, was struggling (surprisingly) in Triple-A with the OKC Dodgers — .216/.307/.389, 6 home runs in 189 plate appearances — but Dodgers’ head of player development Gabe Kapler loves him.
Only thing more enjoyable than watching @scheb08 drill a bullet HR to RCF just now for the @okc_dodgers, was watching the pro trot. Strong.
— gabe kapler (@gabekapler) April 28, 2015
This is on the heels of Kapler praising Schebler in spring training.
“… Schebler came in tremendously prepared, and he strikes the ball with as much force as anyone in our big league camp.”
I ranked Schebler as the ninth-best prospect in the system coming into the season.
“Schebler, a left-handed hitter, sets up with his feet shoulder width apart with his knees bent slightly. He holds his hands at chest level and wiggles the bat a little pre-pitch. He has a small leg kick and doesn’t have much of a load. His hands are quiet and move directly toward the pitch, which helps him to maintain a level swing path. His stride is quite long — almost to the point where it looks like he’s over-striding. But, he clears his hips as his hands come through the zone and generates plus-raw power, but projects to have solid-average power (and has shown it in games). Most of his power is to his pull side, as just two of his home runs and five of his doubles were to left side. Surprisingly, nine of his 14 triples came to the left side of center field. He has improved his strike zone judgment and plate discipline in recent years, giving him a chance to be an average hitter at the next level. But if he isn’t hitting, he won’t be able to lean on his walk rate to keep him on the bases. Unlike most left-handed hitters with power, Schebler’s swing is level and doesn’t have much of an upper-cut to it. He also has shown an ability to hit southpaws, which at least gives him a chance to be an everyday player going forward.”
So, just some things to keep an eye on while he’s up. And he’ll probably only be up for a few days, as Yasiel Puig is closer and closer to returning to the Dodgers. They could absolutely use an impact player of his caliber right about now.
Howie Kendrick isn’t heading to the disabled list, apparently. That’s good, but it doesn’t mean he won’t end up there in the next day or two. The Dodgers could use another good outing by Brett Anderson tonight. With Carlos Martinez on the mound — the guy who 1-hit the Dodgers last time out — offense might be scarce.
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