Game of the Week: April 5: LAD @ OAK

[Commissioner Erick]

Los Angeles Dodgers (3-1) @ Oakland Athletics (3-1)


LAD: Boyd Vander Kooi (0-0, 0.00)
OAK: Zach Diaz (0-0, 0.00)


The Los Angeles Dodgers and Oakland Athletics square off after very similar opening weekends. The Dodgers feasted on Colorado’s pitching and are tied for first in homers and lead the NL in runs. However, they still needed some late inning magic to walk away from the opening weekend with a 3-1 record. The Athletics feasted on Houston’s pitching and lead the AL in homers and are second in runs scored. However, they still needed some late inning magic to walk away from the opening weekend with a 3-1 record. Los Angeles got a historic debut from Loose Saunderson who let loose a barrage against the Rockies, with a 10-15 series with four homers, seven RBIs, seven runs, two steals, and a 2.288 OPS. Oakland, meanwhile, had a balanced approach where eight players already have a homer, and 12 of their 13 rostered position players drove in a weekend run.


Questions for the GMs:


For Ben Vincent, Cody Saunderson is the talk of the league. He had to have surpassed even your wildest expectations. How excited are you to have the 21 year old on your club as the new face of your franchise?

Boyd Vander Kooi didn’t have a great season with St. Louis last year, yet you signed him to be your fifth starter. Why did you target him in free agency?

Your power, especially with Saunderson, was on display in the opening series, yet you also stole eight bases. You have a little more power than years past, but have leaned in to your speed with this core. Will you dial back the aggressiveness on the bases or continue to be active trying to steal bags?

For Garrett White, two years ago Arturo Rivera led the league in hits, runs, and doubles. Plus he hit .303 with 25 homers, 103 RBIs, and even stole 19 bases in an All-Star campaign in a brutal park for offense. This year, he’s batting eighth. Do you think it’s possible for him to regain the form he had that season?

The Dodgers love to run, and you have Nick Tinsmann possibly needing a day off, and Nick Chesley as your backup. Zach Diaz isn’t great at holding runners. Will you tweak your strategy to try to keep the Dodgers’ runners at bay today?

According to StatsPlus, your defense is 11th in Zone Rating, but is tied for committing the fewest errors in the league. How do you feel the unit is performing thus far?


TRIVIA: Elias Ramirez had a spectacular second season with 37 homers, and 37 steals last year, one of only four players to ever accomplish 30+ homers and 30+ steals in the same year. Who are the other three players who have accomplished the feat?

[Ben_Dodgers]

Cody Saunderson is the talk of the league. He had to have surpassed even your wildest expectations. How excited are you to have the 21 year old on your club as the new face of your franchise?

He certainly put on an impressive display in the opening series.  His debut game on opening day is arguably the single greatest debut performance* and the single greatest opening day by a hitter** in the history of baseball.  That's incredible.  It also means he may have already had the best game of his career.  So we have to be realistic about expectations.  Until a week ago I had planned for Saunderson to play at least a few months in AAA.  That's not service time related - he clearly still has some holes in his game.  But he had an impressive spring, hitting 5 HRs in just 18 games, and showed improvement across the board.  I also needed someone who could play CF and he was our best option.

It is exciting to have Saunderson in the clubhouse this year.  He's the first home grown star we've had in a long time He's just 21, when the average age of our lineup is over 32.  So he's been watching his teammates play for most of his life, and now gets to play alongside them.

Boyd Vander Kooi didn’t have a great season with St. Louis last year, yet you signed him to be your fifth starter. Why did you target him in free agency?

I wouldn't say I targeted him.  I went after Vic Davies and Jara Ojo pretty aggressively, but there was a lot of competition for both of them.  I pursued some trades that didn't work out.  I eventually signed Vander Kooi because I think he has a makeup similar to other pitchers who have been successful here.  I also think last year's struggles are overblown.  St. Louis is a unique place to pitch.  Some players will thrive there, others will struggle under that system.  His FIP was 3.97, and we have an elite defense up the middle.  And lets be honest - I'm wasn't looking for an ace here.  I was looking for someone who could keep us in games every five days until Weaver returns in August, and then fill in behind injuries.  I expect this team to score a lot of runs, so an ERA around 4.50 from the fifth starter would be perfectly fine.

Your power, especially with Saunderson, was on display in the opening series, yet you also stole eight bases. You have a little more power than years past, but have leaned in to your speed with this core. Will you dial back the aggressiveness on the bases or continue to be active trying to steal bags?

We will continue to run.  We're not running wild.  Drouet, Marte, Allen, and Kendall are all fantastic base stealers, and successful 80+% of the time.  That translates into more runs.  Plus it fun!


* No other player has hit 3 HR in the major league level debut.
** There have been 4 other 3HR games on opening day in MLB history, but none of them went 5 for 5.  www.mlb.com/news/best-opening-day-performances-in-mlb-history-c268186522

[Commissioner Erick]

Dodgers 5 - Athletics 0


WP: B. Vander Kooi (1-0)
LP: Z. Diaz (0-1)

Los Angeles Dodgers starter Boyd Vander Kooi pitched his team past the Oakland Athletics, 5-0. Vander Kooi went 5.1 innings to notch the win. He scattered 2 hits, walked 3, and struck out 4. His record improves to 1-0. The loss puts Oakland at 3-2.

Los Angeles relied on the hitting of Jeren Kendall to pick up the win. The center fielder clubbed a 3-run home run in the top of the sixth inning to put the Dodgers on top, 4-0. For the game, Kendall had 1 home run and 1 single in 3 at-bats.

Kendall called the win "a lesson in teamwork."


Questions for the GMs:


For Ben Vincent, you would be happy with a 4.50 ERA from Vander Kooi, you stated, but he looked better than that today. How encouraging was it to see him go 5.1, not allow a homer, and give up only two hits?

Your bullpen struggled a bit against Colorado. How encouraging was it to see the unit settle down with 3.2 scoreless against Oakland?

Lost a bit in Saunderson's hot start is Jelfry Marte had three hits and is now batting .526 when he's only had an OPS+ above 100 twice in his career, the latest being 2029. How much do you need him to produce to fuel the bottom of your order?

For Garrett White, your offense blew up against Houston, but fizzled here today. Do you feel like your true offensive talent is closer to the opening series or this game?

Lucius Fox twice stranded runners in scoring position with two outs, and Lux did once. They're very good fielders, but do you feel you need more offense from the position?

Were you satisfied with Zach Diaz' performance?


TRIVIA: Jeren Kendall is the clear leader in Center Field Zone Rating all-time. Who is second?

[Ben_Dodgers]

For Ben Vincent, you would be happy with a 4.50 ERA from Vander Kooi, you stated, but he looked better than that today. How encouraging was it to see him go 5.1, not allow a homer, and give up only two hits?

Yes, I'm happy with his performance. He made me nervous with the walks, though. Hopefully we can cut down on those going forward.

Your bullpen struggled a bit against Colorado. How encouraging was it to see the unit settle down with 3.2 scoreless against Oakland?

Very. I have always banked on having a shutdown bullpen, and that's carried us far in the past. I am definitely going to need the same from them this year.

Lost a bit in Saunderson's hot start is Jelfry Marte had three hits and is now batting .526 when he's only had an OPS+ above 100 twice in his career, the latest being 2029. How much do you need him to produce to fuel the bottom of your order?

He's certainly been hot. Marte doesn't have much power, so it's tough for him to really shine when looking at OPS. And hitting in the bottom of the order doesn't give him a ton of RBI opportunities. But if he can get on base before the order turns over, with his speed that gives us a great chance to score. Honestly with his defense I think he's plenty valuable at 85-90 OPS+. He's a much better hitter against lefties - last year he lead off for us against LHPs and hit .308. This season half of the SPs on our division rivals are lefties, so I think that'll give him even more at bats against LHP.

[Commissioner Erick]

TRIVIA 2: Zigmo correctly guessed Raimfer Salinas

[Commissioner Erick]

TRIVIA 2: Zigmo correctly guessed Raimfer Salinas

[Commissioner Erick]

TRIVIA 1: Matt correctly guessed Mickey Moniak. Jay correctly guessed David Dahl and Victor Robles