Game of the Week: June 7: COL @ LAD

[Commissioner Erick]

Colorado Rockies (31-26) @ Los Angeles Dodgers (36-22)


COL: Peter Lambert (4-4, 4.94)
LAD: Logan Allen (4-5, 3.98)


The Los Angeles Dodgers are dealing with major injuries to their pitching staff yet remain in first place in the NL West. The Colorado Rockies are down two starting pitchers and two corner outfielders yet sit 4.5 games out of the division lead out West.

A pair of banged up NL West behemoths battle it out in the Game of the Week when the Rockies visit Los Angeles to take on the Dodgers.

The Dodgers have seen Clayton Kershaw and Kenta Maeda go down and haven't missed a beat. Their pitching staff has been second best in the National League despite the injuries thanks to a slew of starters pitching in and a perennial impressive bullpen.

Where the Dodgers have struggled is their offense. The Dodgers start Michael de Leon, who is hitting .187 with no home runs. Luke Railey starts in center and is hitting .200. Edwin Rios bats .225 and plays third base. Sure those positions are defense-oriented spots, but each of the aforementioned player has a negative zone rating. There are so many positions being manned by underwhelming players, despite the Dodgers having room to spend.

They've been saved by Nomar Mazara. Mazara isn't having the season he had in 2019 where he showcased himself as an upper echelon talent. His contact skills haven't been quite as good, as if he's selling out for power more. The power has come as Mazara's 18 home runs place him in a tie for third in the league, and put him on pace for 50.

Mazara is healthy, unlike Colorado's corner outfielders. Carlos Gonzalez, in the midst of a late career resurgence, tore his labrum which will have him miss the season. Charlie Blackmon is still rehabbing from a sore ankle caused by a need for him to play the field more. Those two players combined for 60 home runs last season.

Raimel Tapia, healthy after a lost 2020, is picking up where he left off in 2019. The free-swinger with the sweet stroke isn't hitting for the power he showed in 2019 when he hit 22 home runs in 393 plate appearances. He has five home runs in about half the plate appearances, but he's hitting .314, already has his 2019 doubles total with 14, and has seven steals in eight bases. Tapia has been a huge relief for Colorado, starting while Gonzales is out.

The other outfield spot has been far less dependable. Rookie Evan Pietronico has gotten the lion's share of at bats as a left-handed hitter. Pietronico has a legendary batter's eye that caused him to consistently record on-base percentages well over .400 in the minors. He hit an altitude-inflated .312 in Albuquerque last year, but carrier a gnarly .286/.441/.406 at sea level in Hartford the year prior. His major league start has been weird though. He's only hitting .222 without an extra base hit. He's struck out in essentially a quarter of his plate appearances. However, he's also walked 20% of the time, giving him a .378 on-base percentage. If pitchers start throwing him meatballs, maybe Pietronico won't be able to do anything with them. Until then, he has a 4.51 pitcher seen per plate appearances mark, fourth in the majors among players with at least 45 plate appearances.

He may play off the bench, but Stephen Souza Jr. will start against the lefty Logan Allen. Souza Jr. has four home runs this year in 73 plate appearances, with his playing time against lefties and righties split evenly. However, he's hitting just .083 against righties despite having to play against them more often. Erick Blasco would love it if he remained a lefty masher, as it's a role he's exceptional in. Souza Jr. is hitting .433 with three home runs against lefties in just 36 plate appearances. This is a year after he had a 1.004 OPS against lefties in 2020. The Rockies will be counting on Souza driving an Allen pitch deep into the LA night.


Questions for the GM's:


For Erick Blasco, you traded for Carlos Santana and Jasrado Chisholm in the offseason. How do you think those deals have worked?

Nolan Arenado's numbers are way down. Is he in the beginning of a decline phase?

Are you worried about Peter Lambert going against the lefty-dominant lineup the Dodgers will throw out?

For Troy Allenbagh, your main pitchers went down and your staff kept it together. What do you owe that extraordinary resilience to?

You have multiple players who aren't hitting. Do you plan on acquiring an extra bat at some point?

Osiris Ramirez lead baseball in shutdowns as he's been remarkable. How did you develop such an electric reliever?

TRIVIA: Last year's NL West crown wasn't decided until the final pitch of the season when Kenley Jansen struck out the tying run with David Dahl on third in a 4-3 Dodgers win. Who was the batter?

[Commissioner Erick]

For Erick Blasco, you traded for Carlos Santana and Jasrado Chisholm in the offseason. How do you think those deals have worked?

Those deals have been very good for us. We were looking for a powerful right-handed bat and we were always impressed with Santana from his time in Texas. Our team didn't have a lot of patience and Santana has that in spades, serving as a guy who could get on base at the top of the order. We gave up a guy who likely won't be an impact player and is already 25 in Vince Fernandez, and we're not paying much for Santana. We wish we didn't have the injuries we did so we could rest Santana more, but we're happy with his production.

We're ecstatic with what Chisholm has provided. We were looking for a glove-first shortstop to move Trevor Story to second, but our other glove-first middle infielders just didn't hit. Travis Dameritte just doesn't hit for enough average, and Sergio Alcantara hits .250 with no power. It just wasn't viable for us to be a top-flight team with that being out second middle-infield position.

We expected Chisholm to hit .260 with some pop to keep you honest. Before a recent cold spell, that's what he was doing. His defense has been strong for us, with a 2.6 zone rating, as he's been one of the best gloves in the league. He's also just 23 and improving, and should be our shortstop for half a decade at least. We gave up a lot to get him, but we have a ton of outfield prospects and don't value draft picks as much. For a starting shortstop who can field and hit, it was worth it.

Nolan Arenado's numbers are way down. Is he in the beginning of a decline phase?

I don't think so. We haven't managed him well this year and he's spent a lot of the time exhausted. We need to get him rested so he's in top shape to contribute. We expect him to play fewer games in the second half, but for him to produce more in those games. We have a few off days coming up so expect him to surge.

Are you worried about Peter Lambert going against the lefty-dominant lineup the Dodgers will throw out?

Lambert did well earlier this year against them and has better platoon splits against lefties. He went 7 scoreless innings with just three hits and no walks allowed against them earlier this year. Last year, he had a 5-inning, two-run affair, though he walked four in that game and allowed five hits. This shows that he's done well historically. Lefties have about 0.50 points of OPS worse than him because of his devastating change up as well. I'm almost tempted to be more comfortable with Lambert since the Dodgers throw out 9 lefties.

[Commissioner Erick]

Rockies 3 - Dodgers 0


WP: P. Lambert (5-4)
LP: L. Allen (4-6)
SV: G. Holland (8)


The Los Angeles Dodgers have scuffled offensively all season. Monday night's Game of the Week may have been their lowest point.

Peter Lambert allowed just two hits over 7.1 innings, the Dodgers didn't get an extra base hit until the ninth inning, and the Colorado Rockies blanked Los Angeles 3-0.

Against a lineup of lefties and backups, Peter Lambert dominated. The only two hits he allowed came when Luke Raley dunked a fly ball that fell in front of Steven Souza Jr. in the first, and when Raley slashed a line single to left in the third. He coaxed four infield popups as he kept the Dodgers off balance with a sneaky fastball, an outstanding changeup, and an effective curveball. It tied for Lambert's longest outing of the year, and was his longing start since going 8.1 in his final appearance of 2020.

Raley had the first three-hit game of his career, but the positives end there for the Dodgers offense.

Willie Calhoun has struggled to replicate the success he had last year, and his 0-4 game dropped his average to .233. He came up with the bases full in the third and struck out. The Dodgers never had as good a chance as that. With Jurrickson Profar and Nomar Mazara also having off nights, the rest of the offense went into the tank. Cody Bellinger was walked twice, and the bottom of the Dodgers lineup—Keibert Ruiz, Starling Heredia, and Danny Diaz—went 1-11.

The Rockies offense wasn't very strong off Logan Allen and a vaunted bullpen. Allen dominated early, striking out the first four men he faced, not allowing a hit until the third, and then getting out of a two-out, no-on jam by striking out Jasrado Chisholm and getting David Dahl to hit into a double play.

The Rockies were able to strike in the fourth though. After Nolan Arenado walked, Trevor Story yanked one off the wall in center field to plate the Rockies first run. Souza pulled a grounder that glanced slightly off the glove of De Leon to plate Story with the game's second run. Souza homered in the ninth to complete the scoring.

But the story of the game was the offensive impotence of the Dodgers and what it could mean for them down the line.


Questions for the GM's:


For Erick Blasco, Lambert was tremendous against a powerful lineup. What are your thoughts on the youngster going forward?

What were your thoughts on the Dodgers offense? Do they evoke fear the way they used to?

You turned down trades to resign Souza. What do you like about his game?

For Troy Allenbagh, your team went down meekly to a pitcher without a lot of pedigree. What are your thoughts on the offense?

Logan Allen was strong allowing just two runs and striking out seven over 5 innings. Do you see him as a mainstay of your staff even once it gets healthy?

You've had a lot of patience with Raley and it finally paid off with a three-hit day. What do you like about him?


TRIVIA: Including the playoffs, the Dodgers have not had a pitcher throw a complete game shutout against them since 2018. Which four pitchers in 2017 and 2018 were able to throw complete game shutouts against the Dodgers?

[Commissioner Erick]

For Erick Blasco, Lambert was tremendous against a powerful lineup. What are your thoughts on the youngster going forward?

We don't love Lambert, but we do like him as a back-end option. He'll give up home runs which is dangerous in our ballpark and doesn't have the stuff to compensate, plus his walks are elevated. Plus he can't go deep into games. That being said, he's a solid bet to finish a year with an ERA in the mid-4's, which with our ballpark is really good. We're hoping he can be our number 5 starter for awhile, and if we have depth, Lambert could become a terrific reliever.

What were your thoughts on the Dodgers offense? Do they evoke fear the way they used to?

I think it sucks. I think there are so many players on that lineup that should be in Triple A. Mazara and Bellinger are still fearsome, but it's embarassing the Dodgers can throw out so many crappy hitters and lead the division. We hope to build on the shutout tomorrow.

You turned down trades to resign Souza. What do you like about his game?

I just think he mashes lefties. Our team is very lefty-skewed and I need to have someone, preferably in the outfield where we tend to have a deep assortment of lefties, who is a right-handed hitter who can punish left-handed pitching. Souza was outstanding in the role for us last year, and he plays a good Right Field. We're hoping he can hold his own in left with the injuries we've had, but we know we can count on his bat to produce against lefties.

[Commissioner Erick]

TRIVIA 1: Nolan Arenado

TRIVIA 2: Madison Bumgarner and Jose de Leon were two. I have to check the other two when I have a chance.