Don Mattingly has named Kenley Jansen closer following Brandon League being Brandon League and imploding in a save situation yet again. When asked how he would get the ball to Jansen, Donnie Baseball said something you’d prefer your manager to not say publicly: With Jansen closing, how will Dodgers get the ball to the 9th inning? Mattingly: “That’s a great ... Read More »
The Dodgers handed Brandon League a three-year contract and the closer’s role heading into the 2013 season, but his predictable fall from temporary grace in the role has led to continued questions about his viability as the closer, especially with Kenley Jansen waiting in the wings. It’s easy to see why questions are being asked, as any comparison between the ... Read More »
Baseball fans love to talk about clutch plays and clutch players, and Dodgers fans are no exception, but like with a pitcher’s best and worst pitches, there tends to be a lack of evidence presented. As such, I decided to find some basis for clutch plays and clutch players, courtesy of the WPA and Clutch statistics. WPA Most sabermetric statistics ... Read More »
The 2013 projection for the Dodgers from Dan Szymborski‘s ZiPS system was released last week, and given that it’s probably my favorite forecasting tool, it’s worth a look to see how the team fared. Forecasting is not a complete science, obviously, and I’ll address some of the potential pitfalls as we go along, but it’s better to use objective tools ... Read More »
As fans of the Dodgers, we’re always analyzing which pitchers have the best and worst pitches, but we normally base that on nothing but our own feelings at the moment, so I decided to take a more objective look at things. For a pitch to qualify for these rankings, I used a 200-pitch minimum for starters and a 50-pitch minimum ... Read More »
As fans of the Dodgers, we’re always analyzing which pitchers have the best and worst pitches, but we normally base that on nothing but our own feelings at the moment, so I decided to take a more objective look at things. For a pitch to qualify for these rankings, I used a 200-pitch minimum for starters and a 50-pitch minimum ... Read More »
Zack Greinke news is dribbling in slowly, especially given that talks were expected to escalate quickly. The latest speculation is that the Dodgers and Rangers are out ahead, according to Bill Shaikin. The Dodgers and Rangers appear to be the favorites for Greinke, with the Angels as the dark horse, tweets Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times. So apparently ... Read More »
Kenley Jansen Kenley Jansen entered 2012 as the set-up man with elite stuff, freed up to face the opponents’ best hitters should they be due up before the ninth inning. It was the perfect scenario, considering the closer role is a vastly overrated entity. Though Jansen was slotted correctly, he quickly found himself as the closer following some early struggles ... Read More »
Baseball America: Dodgers have hired Patrick Guerrero as their Latin American Coordinator. Guerrero, who lives in the Dominican Republic, will run the organization’s scouting throughout Latin America. The Mariners had fired Guerrero as their Latin American coordinator earlier this month at the same time they announced that Bob Engle, their vice president of international scouting, had decided to leave the ... Read More »
Brandon League has signed a three-year, $22.5 million deal with the Dodgers, according to MLB.com and … everybody. The Dodgers re-signed reliever Brandon League to a three-year contract for $22.5 million Tuesday, and general manager Ned Colletti said the right-hander will be the closer. MLB Trade Rumors provides further information on the option. 10:24pm: The 2016 vesting option can escalate ... Read More »
I didn’t like the Brandon League trade at the time it was executed, primarily because the effect that a reliever can have in such a short time period is both volatile and minimal. That dislike for the deal grew to mockery when he got off to a horrid start, but after the Dodgers said they fixed his mechanics (and I ... Read More »
Brandon League may well have found the treatment for what has ailed him with the help of the Dodgers coaching staff, as there has been a stark change in his mechanics in the month or so since he has arrived. Acquired in a trade with the Mariners, League’s career with the Dodgers got off to a putrid start, as his ... Read More »
So Rubby De La Rosa is back with the Dodgers a little over a year after undergoing Tommy John surgery, and he certainly deserves every bit of the promotion. In the minors, he allowed 0 runs in 12 innings while striking out 12 and walking 3. More importantly, he was sitting in the mid-90s and touching the upper register when ... Read More »
In a surprising move late yesterday, the Dodgers traded prospects Leon Landry and Logan Bawcom to the Mariners for Brandon League. League, 29, is owed approximately $1.8MM for the rest of the season before becoming a free agent this winter. He’s pitched to a 3.63 ERA with 5.4 K/9 and 3.8 BB/9 in 44 2/3 innings this year, plus his ... Read More »
Chad Moriyama Dodgers, Sabermetrics, Scouting