Welcome to Behind the Plate With DJ, a weekly look at what is going on in the world of baseball. This series will weigh in on the interesting, the controversial, and the downright cool. The play of the week could be an incredible play or an unusual one. If something made you scratch your head, you will probably find it here. So sit back, relax, and let’s take a look at the week that was.
More Rare Than A Perfect Game
On August 11, the Milwaukee Brewers completed a feat that is more rare than a perfect game. According to MLB.com, it was just the 19th time in the modern era of Major League history, the Brewers scored in every inning of a 9 inning game in their 11-3 win over the Atlanta Braves. In contrast, there have been 21 perfect games in the modern era.
The Brewers scored 2 runs in the first inning, 3 in the sixth, and 1 run in the second, third, fourth, fifth, seventh, and eighth. Since they were the home team and had the lead, they did not come up to bat in the ninth inning.
The Brewers hit 3 home runs, had 7 different players score a run, and 5 different batters drove in at least 1 run. Rookie catcher Manny Pina led the charge with 3 RBI, while Hernan Perez went 3 for 4 with a home run, 2 rBI, and 2 runs scored.
The Tigers scored in every inning against the Rockies in 2014 and the Yankees also matched the feat against the Blue Jays in 2006. The Rockies were the last National League team to score a run in every inning, against the Cubs in 1999.
Cubs Pitchers
Joe Maddon has been using his pitchers in unconventional ways this season. On June 28, he had Travis Wood, Spencer Patton, and Pedro Strop play left field in the 14th and 15th innings so he could extend the use of Wood.
Wood got another chance in left field on July 31, and this time he made a great play, catching a drive by Franklin Gutierrez as he slammed into the wall. Then, in the 12th inning, Jon Lester and his .051 career batting average came in to pinch hit with a runner on third and was able to lay down a perfect squeeze bunt to score Jason Heyward for an extra inning walk-off.
Maddon has looked like a genius with the way he is handling the pitching staff, especially in extra innings.
Designated Hitter
I have been against the designated hitter for as long as I can remember. I like the strategy and the moves that a manager needs to keep in mind during the game, and I thought that the DH took a lot of that away. As a Brewer fan, I was happy when we were moved to the National League and we no longer had the DH.
The argument for the DH is simply that it increases the offense, and thus increases the excitement of the game. It also keeps aging players in the game, allowing players like David Ortiz to continue to hit without having them be a liability in the field.
I have changed my mind about the DH, but it has nothing to do with increasing the offense. Instead, it has to do with the pitchers. Having pitchers hit exposes them to injuries, both at the plate and on the base paths. Surprisingly, it was an American League team that really drove that home for me.
The Boston Red Sox had Steven Wright pinch run for Ortiz in the sixth inning. He suffered an injury to his shoulder diving back into second base on a fake pickoff move and he ended up on the DL.
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There are teams that do well with having their pitchers hit, like the Cubs and the Dodgers. Then there is Madison Bumgarner. Bumgarner has hit 12 home runs and has 31 RBI in the last 3 years. The Giants even had him hit in Oakland, where they could have used a DH. He went 1 for 4 with a run scored in the 12-6 win.
Only 7 pitchers with 20 or more at bats have an average of .250 or better. In contrast, 24 pitchers have a batting average of .100 or less. This level of production is not enough to justify the risk to the pitchers.
All players are subject to that risk, but pitchers are harder to replace, especially front of the rotation guys. Just ask the Red Sox, who lost one of their best pitchers while they were trying to hang on to first place.
The experiment has been going since 1973 in the American League, and the world has not ended, the game is still played the same way, and we have seen some players excel at the position.
I now believe that it is time for the National League to adopt the designated hitter. That was hard to say, but with the value of top pitchers, it is time to let them focus solely on pitching.
Dodger Power
The Dodgers have been having issues with their pitching staff, with 9 pitchers on the DL, including Clayton Kershaw and Alex Wood, but they have not let that stop them. They have overtaken a slumping Giants team for the NL West lead, and they are doing it with their hitting.
On Monday, they took it to a whole new level. They blasted 7 home runs in an 18-9 win over the Reds. Adrian Gonzalez led the way with 3 home runs. Andrew Toles, Rob Segedin, Corey Seager, and Yasmani Grandal each added one of their own as the Dodgers got their home run trot on.
This power surge came from a team that was 7th in the National League with 143 home runs coming into the game. The Dodgers need their hitters to continue to score to help that banged up pitching staff. They have averaged 9.75 runs per game in their last 8 wins. Unfortunately, they have averaged just 2.2 runs per game in the 6 losses over that same time span.
All Or Nothing
Mark Trumbo hit only .211 in 11 games from August 11 to August 22, with just 8 hits in 38 at bats. However, the last 7 hits in that stretch were all home runs, boosting his Major League leading total to 38. It appears that Trumbo is in feast or famine mode. The Orioles need him to be feasting more often if they hope to get back on top of the AL East.
Play of the Week
Anthony Rizzo made a play on August 16 against the Brewers that topped them all. Keon Broxton popped a foul ball that was headed into the second row, but Rizzo stepped up onto the wall in order to reach out and snag the ball for the second out of the fifth inning.
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