Blog Kiosk: 7/22/2016 - Dodgers Links - Justin Turner is a Beast

All hail Justin Turner!

He was a one man wrecking crew yesterday afternoon.  Justin was responsible for five of the Dodgers six runs on the day by hitting two homers against Washington ace Stephen Strasburg.

I think it's fair to say that JT is out of his early season slump.  He began the year slashing .235/.335/.343/.678 with three home runs and 16 RBI's in the first 50 games.  Via Bill Ladson and Alex Putterman at MLB.com:

"I've felt healthy all year. I don't know what was going on those first two months," Turner said. "I feel good, feel comfortable, and am obviously getting better results."

Since July 1st, over a span of the past 16 games, Turner has been slashing .323/.394/.677/1.072 with six homers and 16 RBI's.  That's definitely much better results.  Via Alex Putterman at MLB.com:

"It's a simple mindset, but execution and mechanically it's tougher to do," (Dave) Roberts said. "But he committed some time in June to get out front and elevate to the pull side, and then you've seen the slug."

The Dodgers defeated the Nationals, 6-3, and now sit four games behind the Giants in NL West and maintains a one game lead over the Marlins in the Wild-Card race.  The photo above via Jon SooHoo/LA Dodgers 2016.  Go here to check out more pics by Jon from yesterdays game.   Below are more links to check out:

• This Day in Dodger History:  In 1966 Mets left fielder learns he is a new dad when the Dodger Stadium scoreboard relays the message, "Congratulations, Ron Swoboda. Your new son is born tomorrow morning". Cecilia Swoboda gave birth to Chipper, the couple's first child, at 1:05 a.m. eastern standard time, making it the next day on the East Coast. In 1970 Tom Haller hit the very first pinch hit grand slam in Dodgers franchise history.  It was in the seventh inning against Claude Raymond of the Expos, and it sparked an eight-run rally that eventually saw the Dodgers defeat Montreal, 12-10.  In 2005 Yhency Brazoban breaks the clubs rookie record for saves established in 1980 by Steve Howe with 18.
• Ugh... Via Doug Padilla at ESPN; "Dodgers' Yasiel Puig leaves vs. Nationals with right hamstring injury."

"I think history says it's his left hamstring that's given him problems, but this is his right," manager Dave Roberts said. "I don't know the degree at this point."

• Via Todd at A Very Pleasant Good Evening; "Talking Clayton Kershaw’s Herniated Disc with My Brother the Neurosurgeon."
• Baseball America makes note of Dodgers left-handed pitching prospect Imano Abdullah:

An 11th-round pick a year ago, the San Diego product has caught the Dodgers’ attention for his advanced feel. He pitched five shutout innings Thursday for low Class A Great Lakes in a 2-0 win over Kane County (Diamondbacks). Abdullah has struck out 43 and walked just five in 50 innings. He’s still filling out his 6-foot-4 frame, but Abdullah’s already got the fastball up to 94 mph and his curveball has shown great improvement. 

• Carson Cistulli at FanGraphs shares, "The Fringe Five: Baseball’s Most Compelling Fringe Prospects," and it includes Dodgers infield prospect Tim Locastro.

The author is quoting himself when he states that the purpose of this weekly exercise is “to identify and/or continue monitoring the most compelling fringe prospects in all of baseball.” With regard to Locastro, he was identified as a candidate for this column last year when, following a trade from the Blue Jays to Dodgers, he was promoted to High-A. Like a number of the players who appear here, Locastro exhibited a profile featuring above-average contact ability, non-negligible power, and defensive acumen — a profile that he’s mostly preserved in 2016.

• Via Jonah Gardner at Sports Reference; "Remembering Mike Piazza’s 8 Amazing Days with the Florida Marlins."
• Via an SI Wire; "Rob Manfred: MLB exploring limiting use of relief pitchers."
  

  “You know the problem with relief pitchers is that they're so good,” Manfred said. “I've got nothing against relief pitchers but they do two things to the game; the pitching changes themselves slow the game down and our relief pitchers have become so dominate at the back end that they actually rob action out of the end of the game, the last few innings of the game. So relief pitchers is a topic that is under active consideration. We're talking about that a lot internally.”

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