Shades of Milton Bradley… and I don’t mean the board game manufacturer. Perhaps you remember Milton (not pictured here) – a one-time Dodger (and one time Expo, Indian, Athletic, Padre, Ranger, Cub, and Mariner) who will best be remembered for his domestic violence record and bottle-chucking than his 2008 All-Star season. Well, Milton is retired but, of course, back in the news again for – what else – playing “pepper” with his wife. On June 3rd of this year, Milton was convicted on four counts of spousal battery, two counts of criminal threats, one count of assault with a deadly weapon, one count of brandishing a deadly weapon, and – to top it all off with a flourish – one count of vandalism. As of just a month ago, Milton is appealing his 960-day jail sentence, 400 hours of community service, and 7 years of probation. You go Milt’, we’re all pulling for you. But this isn’t about Milton Bradley (though I would wager that there’s a connection between the amount of domestic violence spurred by Milton Bradley the individual and the Monopoly board game); in fact, what I mean by “shades of Milton Bradley” is to describe my feelings about Hanley Ramirez for the past six years. To be fair, however, Hanley during his days with the (then Florida and now Miami) Marlins was much more “Milton-lite:” not exactly the one to chuck a bottle back in the stands at fans but crossed with a temper that was punctuated with cooler smashing and bat-box breaking that held him back from his promise as a MLB star. In short, to give credit to Bel Biv Devoe, that boy was “poison.” And, though he joined the Dodgers last year for the last two months of the season, Hanley had yet to prove himself in Los Angeles, beginning this season on the DL after injuring his thumb in the World Baseball Classic and making it to the plate only 11 times through April and May. Even with his return to the starting lineup in June, Hanley initially seemed to have his old lackluster attitude and wore his frustration on his sleeve, but when Puig came up and electrified the Dodgers, well, look who is looking at you…and smiling. And Hanley has damn good reason to smile. He hit for a .375 AVG in June on 64 ABs (second only to Puig on the Dodgers lineup) and during this last month of July continued his hot streak by hitting for a .365 AVG on 104 ABs to take home his first Batting Title – and Team Reid’s first title – of the season. At the same time, Kershaw has been essential, taking home his second Pitching Title of the season with a 1.34 ERA on 6 GS and giving Team Roberts his own reason to smile as he is only one more title win away from locking in the ‘Dem Bums Pennant bonus. In turn, the Los Angeles dugout is currently all smiles and bad dances as they have gone from worst to first in the NL West since June, making history by winning ten straight road games (the most since the 1955 Dodgers who won 11 road games in a row) with sweeps of the D-Backs, Nationals, and Blue Jays. After winning a series against the Reds and splitting a two-game set with the Yankees at home, the Dodgers are at Wrigley tonight to see if they can tie the 1955 record. In the meantime, thank you Hanley, with all the kindness and generosity I have.
JUAN-LONG-GARES
Go ahead, take it deep on the Mets – just be sure you hit it to center. In his latest push for rookie respect, Juan Lagares has established himself as the starting CF for the Metsos after hitting for the second highest average (.353 on 68 ABs) amongst outfielders in the National League during the month of June, second only to Jayson Werth who hit .367 on 90 ABs. Coming out of the All-Star Break, Lagares rocketed to a 7-10 (.700 AVG) and ranked second in the NL with a 1.200 slugging percentage. However, it isn’t just Lagares’ prowess at the plate that earned him NL Player of the Week honors during the second to last week of July; rather, Lagares has provided a release from the teeth-grinding reflexes of any ball hit on a fly among Mets fans. It’s quite a contrast when you consider the collective cringe and worry of a ball hit out to the patrolmen of Duda, Cowgill, and Baxter that were the regulars on the grass for the Mets during the first half of the season, to now have the speed of Young, Lagares, and Byrd (it should be noted that Byrd hit for the fourth best average among NL outfielders in July). But for Lagares, the impress is range, something that is reflected in his unmatched ability to make “out of zone” plays (Baseball Info Solutions). To clarify, an “out of zone” play is a play made in an area in which less than half the batted balls are turned into outs. While the average center fielder makes an “out of zone” catch every 14 innings, Lagares makes one every seven innings that has given Mets fans some outfield highlights (in place of bloopers) and, I would argue, just that many more no-hitter threats this season as Gee, Wheeler and Harvey (all who have taken no-hitters into at least the 6th inning) take the mound. Over his 230 2/3 innings (as of June 23rd), Lagares has made 33 “out of zone” catches compared to 30 total “out of zone” catches made by Ankiel, Valdespin, Cowgill, Nieuwenhuis, Young, and Byrd combined. And since I know you were wondering, this is what that looks like:
I know, I’m a sucker for charts and graphs, but as a closing note for all of us ‘Dem Bums participants, the un-owned Lagares has the best batting average of all qualifying Mets players in July and would have placed second only to Hanley for the July Batting Title. Just something to ponder as you’re walking into the digital draft room for the month of August. In the meantime, here’s your breakdown of July.
JULY PITCHING TITLE
1) Team Roberts – Clayton Kershaw (1.34 / 6)
2) Team Talley – Matt Harvey (2.57 / 4)
3) Team Parry – Dillon Gee (2.88 / 5)
4) Team Rybakova – Hyun-Jin Ryu (4.50 / 4)
5) Team Reid – Jeremy Hefner (5.51 / 6) (DNQ)
JULY BATTING TITLE
1) Team Reid – Hanley Ramirez (.365 / 104)
2) Team Rybakova – Marlon Byrd (.336 / 116)
3) Team Talley – David Wright (.315 / 111)
4) Team Parry – Andre Ethier (.312 / 93)
5) Team Roberts – Adrian Gonzalez (.305 / 105)
No doubt you’ve heard it by now. “Puig.” And if you take the time to look it up, you’ll discover that “Puig” actually means “moon” in Catalan… actually, it doesn’t. But I wanted to make the headline fit here and to say that Dodgers’ and ‘Dem Bums’ fans alike are “over the moon” about the meteoric rise of the young Cuban star, is probably – like seemingly everything else with the kid – an understatement. Not one baseball player in Dodgers history has drawn more Hollywood-script metaphors before and not one Dodgers rookie, including the likes of Fernando Valenzuela and Mike Piazza, has sold more jerseys in his first 20 games in the MLB (and that’s saying something when you consider that the Dodgers have had 12 Rookie of the Year award winners since 1960). In June, Yasiel led the MLB in hits with 44 and was second only to San Diego’s Everth Cabrera with a .436 batting average (Cabrera hit .459), not to mention his constant clutch play and aggressive base running that consistently lights up the crowd and the “W”s on the Dodger scoreboard as the team went 7-1 in their last 8 games of the month and have renewed energy on the field. Such success, at least for Puig – named both the rookie and NL Player of the Month for June – is no shock to the ‘Dem Bums system though right? May I quote from the very first post of this here 2013 season: “Spring Training doesn’t mean a thing, at least that’s what they say. So pay no attention that some new Dodger named Yasiel Puig is leading all batters in the MLB with a .527 AVG on 55 ABs in the Cactus League.” Of course, along with that post about Puig was a comment about the spring success of Niese, who now sits on the DL and will need to learn to accept his future as a “middle of the rotation” guy when he gets back (but I’m getting distracted). More importantly, at least for Team Roberts, is that Puig brings home what looks like his first of many Batting Titles – and Team Roberts third in a row – of the 2013 season. We are just about halfway home, and with 3 total title wins thus far, Josh is quickly taking steady aim at that bonus ‘Dem Bums Pennant that will earn him that extra $60 before playoffs. So, appropriately, the family name of “Puig” actually comes from the Latin word for “platform” to indicate people who live upon hilltops or plateaus – the heights of which Yasiel seems to have no problem reaching in his young MLB career and the very heights he’ll have to get used to.
It’s been a dismal, dismal May as far as both the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Mets are concerned. The Mets were 29th overall in team batting average at .222 this month and the Dodgers, began May with 8 straight losses and swirling “off with his head” rumors for Mattingly, to end up occupying last place in the NL West. It’s a tough watch whether you’re on the east or west coast. You question your faith and your fandom, but as a bum, you never waver. And yet, to make matters worse, the stars just ain’t shining for either club. Sure, David Wright hit 5 homers (and finally his first this year at Citi Field) and for a .277 average, but Matt Kemp, just put on the disabled list for the second time this season due to a mild right hamstring strain, hit for a meager .242 and only one home run in May while Ike Davis seems utterly lost at the plate and stuck on the interstate with four flat tires hitting–as of May 31st–an exact (really!) replica of his 2012 May of a .154 average on 78 ABs. A little too consistent Ike in all the wrong ways, but I guess we now know what to expect and should keep in mind that Davis warmed to a .265 AVG in June last year. But the excitement, the jubilation, can always be found in the details and this May of 2013 belongs to Adrian Gonzalez, Clayton Kershaw and Team Roberts as they bring home all the cash and prizes. On his way to his first Pitching Title of the 2013 season and (only) second in ‘Dem Bums history, Clayton Kershaw edged out the upstart Matt Harvey by pitching for a 1.97 ERA in 6 starts with 35 strikeouts, second only to the Diamondbacks’ Patrick Corbin in the NL in May ERA. This makes for Team Roberts first Pitching Title of the season as and it sure seems hard to see the Pitching Title race being none other than a Harvey / Kershaw photo finish in the months to come, at least, until Zach Wheeler arrives for the Mets. In terms of the “bat” side of things, outside of near flame-worthy performance from the undrafted Daniel Murphy who hit for a .317 AVG on 104 ABs and a near flame-earning performance from the undrafted Juan Uribe who hit for a .327 AVG but five ABs short of the qualifying minimum, Adrian Gonzalez hit for .314 and repeats as the Hitting Title winner. Gonzalez is fourth in RBIs with 33 and sixth overall in NL batting average on the year and is having his best work at the dish in a Dodger uniform. The key now is for the Dodgers to learn how to hit with the bases loaded as the team average is a pathetic .130 with the bases packed. But let’s not let the darkness crowd out this sliver of daylight. Congratulations to Team Hosho, er, Roberts for a 2-for-2 May, perhaps the only perspective from which a so-far-dire season can look a bit brighter.
Of course, I’d be remiss not to mention the sheer glory that the New York Mets brought to NYC with their first ever sweep of the subway series against the Yankees. However, the sweep of the Yankees wasn’t the only way that the Mets made history this past week. In Tuesday night’s 2-1 bottom of the ninth comeback win against the Yankees, the Mets handed future Hall of Fame closer Mariano Rivera his first ever blown save without getting at least one out. The inning began with a Daniel Murphy double to the left field corner, followed by a David Wright single up the gut to plate Murphy as the tying run. Wright advanced to second on a throwing error and Duda came in with a strong arm single to shallow right field for the walk-off win. From there on, the Mets went to Yankee Stadium to smack a blowout win on Wednesday night and close out the series on a career pitching performance from Dillon Gee who had 12 strikeouts and no walks on 7 1/3 innings pitched, with his only ER coming on a Robinson Cano homerun in the bottom of the 3rd. Gee looked nothing like his usual 2013 self, just flat out making Yankee hitters miss, and part of this might be the fact that he knows that he is playing for his starting role with the pending arrival of top pitching prospect Zach Wheeler in mid-June. So, after a May that featured 6 and 8-game losing streaks, the Mets finished the month with the key to NYC and five straight wins to make reaching a .500 record seem like a possibility. Here’s the breakdown and I’ll see you in the drafting room.
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