Dodgers plagued by injury concerns again – Annenberg Media

All statistics were correct as of Thursday, June 20.

Welcome to Giesler’s Grand Slam, a weekly column about all things MLB. My name is Andrew Giesler and I’m a sophomore from Los Angeles, California. I’m an avid fan of all sports – especially baseball – and I enjoy using statistics and science to analyze sports more effectively.

Without further ado, let’s get to this week’s topics:

A look back at Willie Mays’ career

The legendary “Say Hey Kid” Willie Mays passed away on Tuesday. He played 23 seasons in MLB, most of them from 1951 to 1972 for the San Francisco Giants before spending the final two years of his career with the New York Mets. Ultimately, Mays finished his career with a .301 batting average, 3,293 hits and 660 home runs. He was an instant inductee into the Hall of Fame in 1979, and his number 24 was retired by both the Giants and Mets.

From there, his resume only gets more incredible. He appeared in 24 All-Star games, won 12 Gold Glove Awards, was voted the National League’s Most Valuable Player twice, led the National League in home runs and stolen bases four times, and of course won the coveted Commissioner’s Trophy in 1954. In 1999, he was named to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team, receiving nearly 1.116 million votes from fans.

This week, the baseball community is mourning the loss of one of the greatest players in history, a man who also played a crucial role in the civil rights movement. Mays began his baseball career with the Birmingham Black Barons and moved to the major leagues just four years after Jackie Robinson broke segregation. In 2015, Mays was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by then-President Barack Obama, who said, “It is because of giants like Mays that someone like me could even consider running for president.”

What do injuries mean for the Dodgers?

Last Sunday, Mookie Betts went down after a 98-mile-per-hour four-seam fastball pierced his left hand during an at-bat against the Royals. The Dodgers (47-30) lead the NL West by 9 games over the Diamondbacks and Giants, but they are without one of the league’s best leadoff hitters.

With a .405 OBP heading into the 2024 season, Betts consistently puts Los Angeles in scoring position. With Freddie Freeman, Shohei Ohtani and Will Smith waiting behind him, it’s no surprise that the Dodgers have scored the second-most runs (389) and RBIs (375) in MLB. Betts has been vital to the Dodgers’ offense, consistently putting himself in scoring position with a solid .488 slugging percentage and nine stolen bases.

Betts’ fracture will not require surgery. The bad news, however, is that he injured his hand. As a shortstop, batters will constantly throw hard balls his way. The Dodgers need to make sure Betts is fully recovered before he returns, as the risk of re-injury could lead to another devastating postseason loss for Los Angeles.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto, a dominant right-handed pitcher who LA hopes to use as a long-term starter, has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to a rotator cuff strain. While this injury is not season-ending, it is a major blow to the Dodgers’ rotation. With Dustin May, Tony Gonsolin, Joe Kelly, Brusdar Graterol and now Walker Buehler all on the 60-day IL and Clayton Kershaw just starting his minor league rehab last week, fans are wondering how good a healthy Dodgers team could be.

The likely cause of Yamamoto’s injury lies in his June 7 start against the Yankees, when he threw 106 pitches, a season-high. The ball flew out of his hand and easily reached speeds of over 90 mph. During his seven innings, he was able to throw his 19 fastest pitches of the season, as well as 13 sliders – the most he’s thrown in MLB to date. Despite getting a full seven days of rest between his start against the Yankees and his next start against the Royals, Yamamoto threw over 100 pitches in each of his last four starts. In his June 15 start, the workload finally caught up with him and he left the game against the Royals after just 28 pitches. The Dodgers must hope their injuries are just a minor setback and don’t cost them their most expensive postseason run yet.

Rockies robbed of victory

On Tuesday night, the Colorado Rockies (26-49) and the Dodgers (47-30) played a one-sided game. When the game went into the ninth inning, the Rockies were comfortably ahead 9-4. But Jason Heyward’s grand slam from the Dodgers reduced the gap to a single run. With two outs and a 1-2 count, Colorado pitcher Victor Vodnik threw a high fastball that Teoscar Hernández overcame with a check-swing ball – a moment that would significantly change the course of the game.

There is no direct rule for a checked swing in MLB; in fact, there is no rule for what is considered a swing at all. Because the definition is so vague, it’s no surprise that teams allow runs and lose games because checked swings are scored differently. The general rule of thumb is that if the bat crosses the plane of the plate or the batter’s wrists break, it is considered a swing and a strike should be called.

In the specific case of Hernández’s batting performance, the sequence of events was clear. His bat clearly went through the plate and his wrists broke at the end of his swing. This obvious swing sparked a wave of protests from Rockies players, fans and manager Bud Black, who was ejected after his heated exchange with the umpire at first base. Fueled by his frustration, Vodnik’s next pitch was his fastest of the night, a fastball down the middle. The result? A three-run home run by Hernández gave the Dodgers an 11-9 lead early in the ninth inning.

The controversy is another example of why the rules of the game should be more clearly defined on paper. An objective measure for determining whether a batsman is swinging is essential to ensure that decisions are consistent and teams are not left at a disadvantage in decisions that are left to the umpire’s judgement.

A double play for the weekend…

The first matchup to watch is the New York Yankees’ home game against the Atlanta Braves. The Yankees, who have scored the second most runs in baseball this year (389) along with the Dodgers and are third in the league in team ERA (3.18), will look to prove why they are considered baseball’s best team against a National League opponent with a 41-31 record.

Friday night will see a pitching duel between Carlos Rodon of the Yankees and Chris Sale of the Braves. Sale will look to maintain his momentum after a seven-strikeout outing against the Tigers, while Rodon will look to get back into his usual rhythm after allowing seven runs in five innings.

Prediction: The Yankees will lose the first game, but win games two and three to win the series 2-1.

The second meeting will be in the Freeway Series between the Dodgers and the Angels. It will be Ohtani’s first time facing the Angels in the regular season since switching teams, and he hopes to do better than he did against them in spring training.

Ohtani went 0-6 with two walks and two strikeouts in the three-game series. This series will also be the first time the Dodgers have had to fill the hole in the rotation caused by Yamamoto’s absence. Fans will likely see a bullpen day, as Sunday’s expected starter Tyler Glasnow only has five days rest and will not be moved up in the rotation.

Prediction: Even though Betts and Yamamoto are missing, the Dodgers will still win two games.

To be honest, I’ll be keeping an eye on my double play record every week. Right now we’re 0-0.