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Craig Kimbrel is no longer on the Dodgers’ 40-man roster, opening up a potentially significant number of save opportunities on one of the league’s best teams. However, even if Kimbrel was still with the Dodgers, given his struggles it’s likely that Graterol – not to mention a number of other relievers – would be in the mix for saves here. Veteran left-hander David Price made his second spot start since returning from the injured list. He began the bullpen game by retiring all eight batters he faced, striking out five.
Outman became the first Dodgers player to reach base at least three times in each of his first two career games since Bernie Neis in April 1920, and he’s the first to get on safely a minimum of seven times over that same span since Casey Stengel in 1912. He did not sign with Cleveland and attended Baylor University. He played college baseball for the Baylor Bears from 2010 to 2012, and also played collegiate summer baseball for the Wareham Gatemen of the Cape Cod Baseball League in 2010 and 2011. In his three years at Baylor, Muncy had a .311 batting average with 27 home runs.
Dodgers win on walk-off home run by Max Muncy
He leads MLB in Baseball Reference’s version of Wins Above Replacement. That doesn’t sound like innocent chatter before the start of a playoff series. Home plate umpire Chris Segal is off to a rough start in Game 2 of the Los Angeles Dodgers-San Diego Padres series, as he gifted Max Muncy a home run. After James Outman singled and Mookie Betts doubled to start the third inning, Trea Turner’s sacrifice fly extended the Dodgers’ lead.
And he might once again reach double digits in home runs and steals. But if the quality of contact numbers repeat themselves, you might be better off looking elsewhere in drafts for versatile bench options. Taylor logged a .277 xwOBA in 2022, the lowest of his career since 2015 when he had 151 plate appearances in his first season in the Majors with the Mariners. His xwOBAcon also dipped considerably, going from .415 in 2021 to .379 this past season.
Max Muncy’s home run lifts Dodgers over Giants
Will Smith was then hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and Chris Taylor tied the score with a single. Dodgers starter Andrew Heaney limited the damage against him to one inning, the fourth. It ended with the Padres hitting balls 104, 100, 108 and 98 mph, sandwiched around a fielding error by Dodgers second baseman Gavin Lux. Taylor, who like Lux has considerable experience playing across the diamond, has been a quality fantasy option ever since his first full season with the Dodgers during the 2017 campaign. He’s been a quality option for fantasy managers with his ability to collect home runs and stolen bases while possessing eligibility at a number of positions. Throw in his increased run and RBI totals playing for a Dodgers club that has scored the second-most runs in the league since 2017 and you have a player who has been crucial in determining fantasy championships at times.
With Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Will Smith, and Max Muncy leading the way, the Dodgers offer one of the most fantasy-friendly environments for counting stats, especially RBI and runs scored. Elsewhere, the Dodgers have more pitcher wins – 458 to be exact, and 18 more than the next closest team – since 2018 despite utilizing a variety of different starters during that span. In short, there’s plenty to like fantasy-wise about the 2023 iteration of the Dodgers, though as with all teams there are a few players to stay away from in fantasy drafts. Muncy made the National League All-Star team in 2018, but he’s taken his game to another level in 2021. He enters Monday night’s game against the St. Louis Cardinals with a .281 average, a major league-best .442 on-base percentage, a 1.005 OPS, 13 homers, 30 RBIs and a major league-leading 43 walks in 51 games. The infielder hit .170 with a .200 on-base percentage, a home run, and a stolen base in a tiny 50-plate appearance sample size for the Dodgers last year.
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He also writes about fantasy baseball for RotoBaller and the Detroit Tigers for his own Patreon page, Getting You Through the Tigers Rebuild (@Tigers_Rebuild on Twitter). The Dodgers’ outfield is certainly less-crowded as of mid-December with Cody Bellinger and Joey Gallo no longer on the 40-man roster. Still, Trayce Thompson, Taylor, and James Outman are all options to see time alongside Betts in the outfield with top prospect Andy Pages not far off. And that’s all without mentioning a 35.2% strikeout rate that looks particularly worrisome when paired with Taylor’s strong chase rate.
The fact that we’re playing really good baseball and we have a really good record right now. Justin Turner and Bellinger were fifth and seventh respectively on the team in plate appearances with runners in scoring position, accounting for nearly a sixth of the Dodgers’ 630 total plate appearances with runners in scoring position last year. In fact, you could make the argument that the presence of Treinen, Vesia, and Phillips only helps Graterol’s save potential as they could be utilized in higher-leverage situations earlier in games. A quick pitch from Wood appeared to catch Muncy off guard in his first plate appearance.
Two innings later, Scott Alexander surrendered a two-run home run to the light-hitting Daulton Varsho. Roberts called the Dodgers’ 10-hit attack Saturday a “clinic.” They struck out only four times. Smith also hit a home run against Clevinger (3-4), his 16th of the season. Mookie Betts went 3 for 5, stole a base, and scored three runs. It was the kind of questionable decision that blows up on teams with records.
The Giants’ aggressive approach forced the left-hander to adjust his. Then in the third inning, the Dodgers strung together five consecutive singles to create some separation. Trea Turner extended his hitting streak to 13 games during that span, and Freddie Freeman, Max Muncy and Justin Turner each drove in a run. Roberts said the shortstop will head to Arizona to take at-bats and play in simulated games at the organization’s spring training facility when the team opens the second half in Denver on Friday. From there, if he emerges without a hitch, Seager could come off the injured list July 19 when the Dodgers host San Francisco without going on a rehabilitation assignment. Sunday’s comeback sealed a three-game series win over the cellar dwellers after the Dodgers dropped three of four games to the Miami Marlins — the NL East’s last-place team.
The Dodgers start the series off against the Braves with an 8-3, come from behind win in Atlanta. Max Muncy led the team tonight with 3 RBI’s, and the bullpen stepped up allowing no runs through 4.1 IP. It was good to see Julio Urias and Adam Kolarek take care of business. Yu Darvish is one of the more dominant pitchers in all of baseball when he’s on, but he’s not getting any favors from home plate umpire Chris Segal. Smith collected his second RBI double of the night in the fifth inning, Turner’s leadoff home run in the seventh extended his hitting streak to 19 games, and Freeman added an RBI single in the ninth for good measure. In the third game of 2018 World Series against the Boston Red Sox, Muncy scored the tying run in the 13th inning and then hit a walk-off home run in the 18th, concluding the longest game in World Series history after seven hours and 20 minutes.
Bukauskas left a 2-and-1 fastball over the plate to Muncy who put an end to the game with the Dodgers’ 11th home run of the series. Freddie Freeman is entrenched at first base and will get most or all of the starts there. Second base could be an option for Vargas, though if the Dodgers add a shortstop via trade or free agency, Lux, Max Muncy, and Mookie Betts are all on hand as potential options to see time at the keystone. Third base is probably Vargas’ best bet for consistent playing time, but Muncy could also see a significant number of starts there, as could Chris Taylor. The 24-year-old reliever turned in a strong season for Los Angeles in 2022, logging a 3.26 ERA and a 2.95 FIP in 49.2 innings of work. He didn’t overwhelm with strikeouts (7.79 per nine innings) but allowed just 1.81 walks and 0.54 home runs per nine frames while registering a career-best 10.9% swinging strike rate.
At Triple-A, he hit .304 with a .404 on-base percentage, 17 home runs, and 16 stolen bases while walking (13.7% walk rate) nearly as much as he struck out (14.6%). And while he’s played a variety of positions in the minors – including first base, second base, third base and left field – there are plenty of roadblocks on the Dodgers roster where playing time is concerned. Muncy delivered the game-winning hit in the Dodgers’ 4-3 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Thursday night, a solo home run in the sixth inning of a tie game. It gave Muncy a commanding 5-for-11, three-homer batting line against the Giants this season. And it came against an old friend, Alex Wood, the left-handed pitcher who helped the Dodgers capture a championship last October.
Betts and Muncy followed with singles to load the bases with no outs – not a good position for the Diamondbacks reliever to be in after the Dodgers two-grand slam night Saturday. Kelly left the game with cramps in his right leg at that point. Muncy got to third base but was stranded there and the Dodgers went into the eighth inning trailing 4-1. The Diamondbacks right-hander retired 12 of the next 14 Dodgers batters following Betts’ homer.
Max Muncy rounds the bases at Dodger Stadium after hitting a two-run homer in the eighth inning of Sunday’s game against the San Francisco Giants. Roberts said Clayton Kershaw will remain shut down during the All-Star break. Kershaw hasn’t thrown a ball since going on the injured list with left elbow inflammation Wednesday. Roberts said he doesn’t know when Kershaw will be activated. Julio Urías will start Friday against the Colorado Rockies in the Dodgers’ first game out of the break, Roberts said. Walker Buehler, who is expected to pitch in Tuesday’s All-Star game, will start Saturday.
By not allowing an earned run in 4 ⅔ innings, Heaney lowered his earned-run average for the season to 0.64. According to Stats Perform, that’s the lowest ERA in at least 25 innings by any pitcher over his first six starts since Fernando Valenzuela (0.33) in 1981. The solid contact of a record-setting 22-run, 21-hit, eight-home run game still reverberating off the hills in Chavez Ravine, the Dodgers went quietly for the first seven innings Sunday afternoon, managing just one run on five hits. But they rallied for three runs in the eighth inning to tie the game and won it on Muncy’s walk-off home run in the ninth, beating the Arizona Diamondbacks, 7-4, on Sunday afternoon.
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