Dodgers power past Phillies by 6-3 on Friday night at Chavez Ravine

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Joc Pederson helped lead host LA past the Phils on Friday night

The Los Angeles Dodgers (39-19) showed the Philadelphia Phillies (33-24) why the National League pennant has gone through the six-time NL West champions in each of the last two seasons, and why it likely will once again in 2019, putting a 6-3 thumping on the visitors on Friday night at Dodger Stadium.

In front of 54,307 fans, the largest crowd to see a game at Chavez Ravine since 2012, the Dodgers ripped Phillies starter Jake Arrieta for 10 hits and three home runs. Two of those longballs came in the home 5th inning, when the Dodgers scored three times to break open a tie ball game.

The scoring got started in the bottom of the 3rd inning when Joc Pederson led off with a base hit, which was followed immediately by a two-run homer off the bat of Max Muncy.

The Phillies answered in the top of the 4th when Andrew McCutchen took Dodgers starter Kenta Maeda out to dead center field. His 10th home run of the season cut the deficit to just a 2-1 margin.

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In the top of the 5th, Arrieta got himself even. With runners at second and third and two out, the Phillies pitcher lined a base hit to left, scoring Cesar Hernandez with the run that temporarily tied the game back up at 2-2.

2019 MLB preview and predictions

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Paul Goldschmidt powers up the Saint Louis Cardinals for 2019

With the 2019 Grapefruit and Cactus League schedules drawing to a close this week, all eyes are now squarely focused on Opening Day. All 30 teams in Major League Baseball will be playing in the regular season on Thursday.

How will superstars such as Bryce Harper with the Philadelphia Phillies, Manny Machado with the San Diego Padres, and Paul Goldschmidt with the Saint Louis Cardinals fare in their new homes? Which teams will become surprise contenders? Which major injuries will derail a team’s postseason hopes?

Each new MLB campaign comes with its own unique storylines. This year will be no different. Over the coming six months there will be excitement, drama, heartbreak, and controversy as each club plays out its 162-game schedule.

For years now I’ve been looking into my own personal crystal ball to make predictions for MLB’s division winners and individual award winners as well as my picks for the postseason.

A year ago in my 2018 MLB Preview and Predictions piece, I got four of the six divisions correct. I missed out on the Milwaukee Brewers edging my Chicago Cubs pick for the NL Central, as well as the Atlanta Braves, who I had for third place in the NL East.

My NL Wildcards were those Brewers and the Colorado Rockies. So the Braves were the only NL playoff team that I missed. In the AL, I had the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Angels as those Wildcard teams. Right divison, wrong team, as the Oakland Athletics actually captured an AL Wildcard spot instead of those Halos.

For the Fall Classic, I predicted that the defending champion Houston Astros would repeat by downing the Cubs in five games in a match-up between the two previous World Series titlists.

Those Cubs would end up losing a thrilling 2-1 NL Wildcard Game to the Rockies at Wrigley Field. The Astros returned to the ALCS, but were eliminated in five games by the eventual World Series champion Boston Red Sox.

Since I am writing for a Phillies-centric site, a bit of a disclaimer: this piece is not Phillies-centric. There will be plenty of times here at Phillies Nation where we cover the wider story of Major League Baseball. As for our favorite home nine, well, you are going to have to look elsewhere if you want to find a “homer” World Series prediction. At least this year.

Now time to reveal my predictions for the upcoming 2019 season. As always, I would love to hear your own picks in the comments section or on social media. Play ball!

Phillies may fall short in the Manny Machado Derby

Manny Machado (picture: Yahoo Sports)

While Rhys Hoskins was getting passed by Kyle Schwarber in the semi-finals of the Home Run Derby last night, it appears that the Los Angeles Dodgers may have also passed the Phillies in the Manny Machado Derby.

MLB insider Jon Heyman of Fancred Sports was first out with the story on Twitter this morning:

Breaking; The Dodgers appear to be the leading contender for superstar Manny Machado as talks head toward the finish line. The situation is fluid and brewers and phillies may still have an outside chance. Barring turnabout, deal should be done this week. Story comin on @Fancred
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) July 17, 2018

Just yesterday it was the Phillies who were considered the leader to land the services of the superstar Baltimore Orioles shortstop. They were willing to include the organizational number two prospect in pitcher Adonis Medina in a deal. That seemed to be a potential deal clincher.

However, Heyman believes that Los Angeles GM Farhan Zaidi may be willing to include their own fourth-rankedorganizational prospect, outfielder Yusniel Diaz, which may have tipped the scales in the Dodgers favor.

It’s difficult to believe that Diaz, a former Cuban defector as a teenager, would make that much of a difference. He is an intriguing prospect. However, scouting reports on his ultimate ceiling have always been mixed. However, perhaps the Orioles see something they really like in the 21-year old outfielder.

The Dodgers lost their own young superstar shortstop, Corey Seager, to injury for the season before it even got underway. He will be back next year, and Machado has stated that he wishes to play shortstop. Heyman addressed this in a full piece later in the morning:

“If he moves to Los Angeles, Machado will effectively be filling in for injured shortstop Corey Seager, the 24-year-old budding star who was lost for the season. That makes it highly likely that he would be a rental for the remainder of the season and then sign with a different organization in the offseason, though that would be re-evaluated after the season.”

Another respected MLB insider, Buster Olney, put out more information on Tuesday morning:

Sources: The Orioles have structure of a deal in place, and are going through the medicals/paperwork portion of the transaction. Dodgers have been very invested in their pursuit of Machado, as have the Phillies and other teams, but this in not finished yet.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) July 17, 2018

If it is the Dodgers, that might make it easier for the Phillies to lure him with a long-term contract in the coming off-season. That would allow them to keep their top prospects. But it would also mean that the Phillies don’t land the proven impact run producer for which the present lineup is desperate.

Until a deal is actually completed and announced with some team, the Phillies are still in it. But it may be difficult to see them actually being the winner in this Machado derby without including pitching phenom Sixto Sanchez. His inclusion would appear to be a deal-breaker, as it probably should be at this point.

NLCS: Los Angeles Dodgers vs Chicago Cubs preview and prediction

The Dodgers and Cubs meet in a repeat NLCS

For the second consecutive season the National League Championship Series will be contested by the Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers.

The two teams engaged in a spirited series last October, eventually won by the Cubs in six games. Chicago would then go on to defeat the Cleveland Indians, winning the franchise first World Series in more than a century.

A year ago, Chicago took the opener. But LA then received back-to-back pitching gems from Clayton Kershaw and Rich Hill, shutting out the Cubs twice to take a 2-1 series lead.

After that, it was all Chicago. The Cubbies bats awoke with a vengeance to take the final three games by a combined 23-6 score.

This season, the Dodgers staggered out of the gate, going 10-12 over the first few weeks of April. But from April 27 through August 25 they accumulated an unreal 81-24 record.

That four month stretch of dominance allowed the Dodgers to run away with the National League West Division race. Even a month-long slump over which they lost 20 of 25 games would not allow either the Arizona Diamondbacks or Colorado Rockies, both eventual NL Wildcard teams, to make a dent in the division.

Los Angeles would recover to take eight of their final 10 games, finishing with 104 wins and an 11-game cushion over Arizona. The 104 victories gave them the best mark in all of Major League Baseball, and were the most by any Dodgers team in more than four decades.

NLDS Prediction: Arizona Diamondbacks over Los Angeles Dodgers

Dodger Stadium hosts the first two games of a 2017 NLDS

Through four games of the 2017 Major League Baseball postseason, home teams are 4-0. Those hosts have outscored the visiting squads by a 31-14 margin to this point.

For my prediction in this National League Division Series to come true, that is going to have to come to an end. I am picking the Arizona Diamondbacks to top the NL West Division rival Los Angeles Dodgers in what some might consider an upset.

I say "some", because knowledgeable baseball fans who have been following these teams know that, despite the Dodgers finishing with a better overall record, the Dbacks have actually been the better team for some time.

Guided by second-year skipper Dave Roberts, the Dodgers finished with an MLB-best record of 104-58. That was 11 games better than Torey Lovullo and his Diamondbacks, who had to settle for the top NL Wildcard position.

But as late as August 25, that Dodgers lead had ballooned up to 21.5 games. Over the next month, LA collapsed, losing 20 of their next 25 games. The Dodgers did ultimately recover their equilibrium at the end, winning 10 of their final dozen.

The Dbacks, meanwhile, were nearly polar opposites. They won 20 of 25 between August 21 and September 16 to take complete command of a Wildcard playoff berth.

In that NL Wildcard Game, held on Wednesday night, Arizona blitzed out to an early 6-0 lead over the division-rival Colorado Rockies. The Diamondbacks ultimately powered their way to an 11-8 victory in the slugfest that many had predicted.

The Dodgers offensive attack is led by two of the top young players in the game today in second-year shortstop Corey Seager and rookie first baseman Cody Bellinger.

Cody Bellinger hits for The Cycle to continue special rookie season

On Saturday night at Marlins Park in Miami, Los Angeles Dodgers rookie sensation Cody Bellinger put on a record-setting show.

Bellinger went 4-5, scored twice, and knocked in three runs to help pace the torrid, first place Dodgers to a 7-1 thrashing of the host Miami Marlins.

His night began with a single in the top of the first inning. In the top of the third, Bellinger’s 26th home run of the season opened the scoring, putting LA on top 2-0.

In the top of the fourth, Bellinger lined an RBI double to right field that upped the visitors lead to 6-0. Then in the seventh, he made history.

On the first offering from Marlins reliever Nick Wittgren, Bellinger ripped a ball to right that sailed over the head of Giancarlo Stanton. As the ball rolled to the wall, Bellinger raced around the bases, sliding into third easily ahead of the throw.

With that triple, Bellinger became the first rookie in the long and storied history of Dodgers baseball to hit for ‘The Cycle’ with a single, double, triple, and home run all in the same game.

“Every time he steps on the field,” manager Dave Roberts said per Andy McCullough of the LA Times, “something special can happen.”

Dodgers 2016 POY: Corey Seager

The Los Angeles Dodgers went 91-71 to win the NL West Division for a fourth straight season, their sixth division crown in the last nine years.

The Dodgers then gutted out a five-game NLDS victory over the Washington Nationals. 

Falling behind 2-1 in games, they won back-to-back one-run games to advance into the NLCS.

In that NLCS, manager Dave Roberts club shut out the vaunted Chicago Cubs offensive attack in Games Two and Three to take a 2-1 lead in the series. 

But the Cubs came roaring back to win three straight en route to their World Series title.

DODGERS 2016 STATISTICAL LEADERS

Third baseman Justin Turner hit .275 with 27 home runs, 34 doubles and 90 RBI. He came in 9th in the NL MVP Award voting.

24-year old center fielder Joc Pederson had 25 homers and 25 doubles. Catcher Yasmani Grandal banged 27 homers with 72 RBI. On the other end of the age scale, 37-year old second baseman Chase Utley had 14 homers and scored 79 runs.

Veteran first baseman Adrian Gonzalez hit for a .285/.349/.435 slash line with 18 homers and 90 RBI. In just 262 plate appearances, Trayce Thompson blasted 13 home runs with 32 RBI and 31 runs scored.

The Dodgers are historically known for their pitching, and 2016 was no different. Closer Kenley Jansen won the Trevor Hoffman Award as the NL’s top closer after recording 47 Saves. He struck out 104 batters over 68.2 innings while allowing just 35 hits.

Daniel Murphy Deserves National League MVP

The official announcement of the 2016 winners of the Most Valuable Player Awardin both the National and American Leagues comes on Thursday.

In the American League, the finalists are Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout, Boston Red Sox outfielder Mookie Betts, and Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve.

The finalists in the National League are third baseman Kris Bryant of the Chicago Cubs, shortstop Corey Seager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and second baseman Daniel Murphy of the Washington Nationals.

In balloting for the IBWAA, my first place votes for the two awards went to Trout in the AL, and to Murphy in the NL.

The favorite in the National League, perhaps the overwhelming favorite, is Bryant from the world champion Cubs. Bryant is certainly a worthy nominee, and in fact he would be a worthy winner of the award. I gave him the second place vote on my IBWAA ballot.

In 2016, Bryant hit for a .292/.385/.554 slash line with 39 home runs, 35 doubles, 102 RBI, and 121 runs scored with a 7.7 WAR mark.

Seager, announced as the winner of the NL Rookie of the Year in both the IBWAA vote and in the official MLB voting, also had a fine season. For me, he got the hardware that he deserved, and was the third choice on my ballot.

The rookie hit for a .308/.365/.512 slash line with 26 homers, 40 doubles, 72 RBI, and 105 runs scored. He finished with a 6.1 WAR mark this season.

With Bryant as the runner-up and Seager at #3 on my ballot, that leaves Murphy as my 2016 National League MVP winner. So why did I make that choice?

First the stats, where we find Murphy is a very worthy finalist for anyone to consider seriously. 

Seager Should Be Unanimous NL Rookie of the Year

This coming Monday evening on the MLB Network, baseball’s official National League Rookie of the Year Award winner will be announced.  

It says here that if the voters get it right, not only will they give the honor to Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager, but they will give him that award with a unanimous vote.

There was a time when this award seemed to be owned by the Dodgers organization. Between 1992-96, five straight Dodgers players captured the award.

Dodgers ROY History

In that stretch, Eric Karros (’92), Mike Piazza (’93), Raul Mondesi (’94), Hideo Nomo(’95) and Todd Hollandsworth (’96) received the NL honors.

Just over a decade earlier, four straight Dodgers rookies took home the hardware. Rick Sutcliffe (’79), Steve Howe (’80), Fernando Valenzuela (’81) and Steve Sax (’82) each won the award in succession.

Going back through history, seven more Dodgers have won the NL Rookie of the Year Award. Ted Sizemore (’69), Jim Lefebvre (’65), Frank Howard (’60), Jim Gilliam (’53), Joe Black (’52) and Don Newcombe (’49) finished atop the voting.

The first-ever winner of the NL Rookie of the Year Award was, in fact, a Dodgers player. Jackie Robinson took home those honors for his work in the 1947 season when he broke the MLB color barrier.

IBWAA 2016 Major League Baseball Awards Ballot

It is MLB awards season, and as Major League Baseball hands out its formal honors, the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America will do the same.

With the 2016 MLB season winding to a close, various individuals and groups, including myself and the full body of the IBWAA (Internet Baseball Writers Association of America) will be honoring players and coaches as award winners for their performances this year.

The IBWAA was founded on the 4th of July back in 2009 "to organize and promote the growing online baseball media, and to serve as a digital alternative to the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA)" per the home website.

At the end of each regular season, the IBWAA membership receives an awards ballot. Each writer is then asked to vote and return the ballots promptly.

These ballots are then tabulated, and MLB awards winners are determined. The IBWAA is scheduled to begin announcing the winners of its writer balloting in mid-November.

MLB has already begun the process of announcing some its awards winners. For instance, David Ortiz in the AL and Kris Bryant in the NL have been honored with the Hank Aaron Award as the top hitter in each league this season.

Each year, I publicly release my vote. I do this so that any followers get a sense of what I am thinking as far as the game is concerned, but also to spur conversation on our great game of baseball.

I am quite sure that in at least a couple of these selections, you would choose differently. Would love to hear your choices for each of the awards. Feel free to leave a comment with those selections.

So now, on to my ballot. As writers we were asked to provide a Top 10 in each league MVP vote, a Top 5 in the Cy Young Award balloting, and Top 3 in each of the Top Manager, Top Reliever, and Rookie of the Year categories.

NEXT: AL MANAGER OF THE YEAR

MLB 2016 Predictions: National League Rookie of the Year

Our staff has just released our predictions for the winners of each division, as well as our postseason predictions, including the 2016 World Series winner. 

I released my own predictions for the Phillies in the coming season. Now we begin the process of releasing our predictions for some of MLB’s major award winners.

Impact rookie ball players are always a fascinating part of any MLB season. A year ago, the Philadelphia Phillies began their rebuilding program by introducing 3rd baseman Maikel Franco for his first full campaign, and starting pitchers Aaron Nola and Jerad Eickhoff as rookies on the mound.

The 2015 National League Rookie of the Year was slugging Chicago Cubs 3rd sacker Kris Bryant, who delivered 26 homers and 99 RBI while producing a ..275/.369/.488 slash line.

While Bryant was an early and well-known, expected contender for the award a year ago, the two players who finished immediately behind him were most definitely not expected to contend. 

Those two players were 3rd baseman Matt Duffy of the San Francisco Giants, and shortstop Jung Ho Kang of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Duffy emerged to solidify the hot corner on the Bay in the aftermath of Pablo Sandoval leaving as a free agent, and hit for a .295 batting average with a dozen homers and steals, and 77 RBI and runs scored. 

Kang was a 28-year old from South Korea who played 77 games at 3rd base and 60 at shortstop for the playoff-bound Bucs, hitting for a .287/.355/.461 slash line with 15 homers and 58 RBI.

The top rookie pitcher in the National League a year ago was New York Mets phenom Noah Syndergaard. 

Dodgers Up Next on Hamels

Rumors have outfielder Joc Pederson on Phillies radar

The latest rumors have the Los Angeles Dodgers as the next team in pursuit of Phillies lefty ace Cole Hamels, with Phils management researching the top LA prospects in anticipation of upcoming trade negotiations. 

There are certainly a number of good reasons both clubs would pursue such a deal.

From the Phillies end, the same principles apply as in recent weeks with both the Cubs and Red Sox. A team flush with strong prospects that could offer the Phils a chance to add a trio of young pieces for their future.

From the Dodgers end, a slightly different dynamic than exists with the Cubbies and Bosox. Those are teams with significant shortcomings, one building with youth, the other working hard to rebound from a last-place finish.

But Los Angeles is a winner right now. The Dodgers won the NL West crown this past season. They have deep-pocketed, competitive ownership hungry to win a World Series in 2015.

The Dodgers lost shortstop Hanley Ramirez to free agency (to Boston), and that would appear to be their first order of business. But don’t forget, the Phillies have stated a desire to move their veterans. Would Jimmy Rollins accept a trade for a legitimate shot at another world championship?

Pairing Cole Hamels and Jimmy Rollins in a deal to the Dodgers would make Los Angeles the clear front-runners in the National League in 2015. Their rotation would feature a trio of aces, with Hamels joining 3-time Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw and former AL Cy Young Award winner Zack Greinke, with Hyun-Jin Ryu and Dan Haren rounding out the rotation.

Dodgers fans are likely to balk at the price it would take to get Hamels, suggesting that the lefty is not in the class of Kershaw. That, of course, is not the point. The simple fact is that what Hamels is, is the best starting pitcher available to Los Angeles.

Neither Jon Lester or Max Scherzer is going to LA, and the other free agents are clearly not as good as the Phils ace. Hamels also is controlled at a reasonable price for his talent. The $23.5 million he will earn in each of the next 4 seasons is market value, and over the next few years is likely to become even more so.

Hamels is outstanding, having a career 3.27 ERA and 1.14 WHIP. Hamels is reliable, having made at least 30 starts in 7 straight seasons, besting the 200 innings mark in the last 5 consecutive seasons. He can dominate, having struck out over 1,700 hitters in just over 1,800 innings. He is a true ace.

For a team as flush with cash as the Dodgers, the contract is the easiest part of the price for them to handle. The tough part for LA and it’s fans? The real cost, which will be three strong prospects, perhaps the three best in the Dodgers system.

The Phillies have been reported to have demanded shortstop Corey Seager, outfielder Joc Pederson, and young lefty pitcher Julio Urias in exchange for Hamels alone in recent months. For me, that is the price that they need to stick with. And for me, it gets the Dodgers their pitcher in Hamels as well as the bonus of JRoll to play shortstop.

Jimmy Rollins not only would bring veteran, winning leadership and experience to the Dodgers locker room for the next couple of seasons, but also brings a still-high skills level to their lineup. He hit 17 homers and had 28 steals in 2014.

Rollins is also reliable, having just recorded his 4th straight season with more than 600 plate appearances, now having exceeded that mark in 13 of the last 14 years.

Becoming front-runners in the National League, vaulting themselves clearly ahead of not only the Washington Nationals and Saint Louis Cardinals, but also the defending World Series champion and arch-rival San Francisco Giants, the price of Pederson, Seager, and Urias is entirely reasonable.

It has been said that doing this kind of deal has to hurt for both teams. Trust me, losing a homegrown World Series MVP in Cole Hamels and the homegrown franchise all-time Hits leader and icon Jimmy Rollins will hurt the Phillies and their fans.

Before any Dodgers fans balk at such a price as their top 3 prospects, do yourselves a favor, and do a little research. Look back over the last decade or so at the top few prospects in each MLB team’s system. Then look at how many of those once-promising kids actually panned out into stars.

This is what it will take. It will not be easy for either side. But a trade of Cole Hamels and Jimmy Rollins from the Philadelphia Phillies to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Corey Seager, Joc Pederson, and Julio Urias is the right deal for these two teams. We’ll see if either GM has what it takes to get such a deal done.