Los Angeles Dodgers Beat the Streak selections — April 13
By Jason Reed
Following an off-day and a bad 16-6 beat down from the Oakland Athletics, the Los Angeles Dodgers host the Arizona Diamondbacks Friday night.
The offense has been bad most of the season, Kenley Jansen even erupted twice. Corey Seager and others are yet to truly find their swings. All in all not much was going right for the Los Angeles Dodgers. What was going right for the Dodgers was the starting pitching; which kept the team in games.
That was not the case on Wednesday night, as the Oakland Athletics jumped on Alex Wood early before eventually bullying Wilmer Font to score 16 runs in total. The offense was not bad, scoring six runs for the third time in 11 games.
Now, the Dodgers stand at 4-7. We are nowhere close to reaching for the panic button, but the thought has at least crept into our heads. What we are not panicking about here, though, is our Dodgers Beat the Streak selections. Both Sarah Maninger and I are two-for-two this season, with hopes of extending it to three.
Need help with your Beat the Streak picks? Want to pick a Dodger? You came to the right place.
Wednesday’s picks:
I selected Corey Seager to get another hit after blasting a home run on Tuesday night and Sarah Maninger selected Chris Taylor to get another hit after blasting a home run on Tuesday night.
Coincidence? Totally. But it worked out in our favor. Both Seager and Taylor got a hit. Seager went 1-4 with a sharp liner to right field in the third inning. Taylor selected his only hit of the night on a ground ball up the middle in the fifth inning. We did get a bit lucky, Seager and Taylor went a combined 1-9.
Sarah’s pick (Current streak: 2): Enrique Hernandez
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WHY:
My pick for today is Enrique Hernandez. Hernandez has quickly become one of my favorite Dodgers and he is primed for a breakout. Though manager Dave Roberts has not put Hernandez in the lineup too much when a righty is on the hill, the Dodgers will face a righty tonight, and it’s one the Dodgers know very, very well.
In 2017, Zack Greinke gave up more home runs to right-handed hitters (15) than he did to left-handed hitters (10). That stat alone is enough to put a power-hitter like Kiké Hernandez in the lineup.
He is capable of hitting 25 homers and driving in 75 runs this season, as long as he keeps getting the chance. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Dodgers start hitting right out of the gate tonight, especially since Greinke’s ERA at Dodger Stadium last season was 4.50. Hernandez, I believe, is the offensive boost the Dodgers desperately need right now.
Jason’s pick (Current streak: 2): Cody Bellinger
This is about the law of averages. Cody Bellinger has not entirely impressed me with his power yet this season, but his .268 batting average is the third-best on the team.
While a .268 batting average is not great, it is indicative of one thing, at least statistically: Bellinger gets a hit in 26.8 percent of his at-bats. That is just under 27 hits for every 100 at-bats, 2.7 hits for every ten at-bats and one hit in every 3.7 at-bats.
Bellinger went 0-4 in the last contest against the Oakland Athletics. At least from a statistical standpoint, Bellinger should be guaranteed another hit in his next three or so at-bats. Of course, baseball never works that way, but it sounded smart when I thought about who to pick.
Next: Three guys that can save the Dodgers from a slow start
Oh yeah, and Bellinger was 3-9 off of Greinke in his rookie season. All the statistics are pointing to Bellinger getting at least one hit so long as he gets three at-bats. Let’s hope.