Los Angeles Dodgers Beat the Streak selections — April 28
By Jason Reed
After dropping the opening game of the series due to a bullpen malfunction, the Los Angeles Dodgers are in for a doubleheader on Saturday against the Giants.
The month of April continues to be a struggle for the Los Angeles Dodgers. After turning the season around by sweeping the Padres and winning the series against the Nationals, the team dropped two out of three to the Miami Marlins and lost Friday’s opening contest against the San Francisco Giants.
The Dodgers have just been unable to find any sort of groove. If one aspect of the game is working one game, another aspect will not. Some nights the bats cannot come alive. Some nights the starting pitching cannot deliver. Other nights the bullpen will blow a lead.
Dodger fans have just about seen every possible way to lose this season. Take out a few key moments in some of these games and the Dodgers would be above .500. Instead, they are two games under.
Regardless, we keep our Beat the Streak series chugging along as we try to outmatch each other in selecting consecutive Dodgers to get a hit. Today, the Dodgers have a doubleheader, so we have a chance to extend our streak by two.
Friday’s picks:
Friday was an unsuccessful day for both of our streaks. After going 0-5 on Wednesday, I went with Chris Taylor, hoping that he would follow a 0-5 performance with at least one hit. He didn’t. Taylor posted his second consecutive 0-5 game.
Sarah went with the Birthday boy, Corey Seager. Unfortunately for her, Seager did not have a single plate appearance so her streak did not increase. The only problem is that her streak was already at zero, so it remains.
Sarah’s picks (Current streak: Zero): Cody Bellinger (Game one), Yasmani Grandal (Game two)
My picks for today are Cody Bellinger and Yasmani Grandal. I chose Bellinger for the day game because he’s a home run hitter. AT&T Park is massive but with the thinner air of the day game in San Francisco, the weather won’t hinder any potential homers. I’m not expecting Bellinger to hit 40+ homers this season, more in the range of 25-40, but it’s about time Bellinger starts to get hot at the plate.
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Chris Stratton, who the Dodgers faced in the 4th game of the season, and jumped on him for 3 earned runs in a game LA would eventually win 9-0. Most of the time I predict that players will single, or go for extra bases, merely because those are more common than homers, but Belli has a swing that implies he’s swinging for the fences, literally.
My pick for the nightcap of the doubleheader is Yasmani Grandal, and I had slim to no difficulty coming to this decision. Grandal has been the hottest hitter in this lineup all season. He hasn’t slowed down and has already driven in 19 runs.
The next closest player is Kemp, with 12 RBIs. Grandal has the highest batting average (at .316) and see’s the ball better than anyone else has. Side note; Clayton Kershaw has a higher batting than both Chris Taylor and Yasiel Puig, so when can he sign up for the Home run derby?
Grandal and Bellinger are two of the best offensive pieces the Dodgers have right now, and I can’t think of a better time for these two to kick it into gear than in San Francisco. Also, it’s important to note that Bellinger first made his MLB debut in the second game of a four-game set against the Giants. Where? AT&T Park.
Jason’s pick (Current streak: Zero): Chris Taylor (Game one & two)
Yes, Chris Taylor did me dirty on Friday by posting his second consecutive 0-5 contest. Thus, it seems pretty foolish for me to go back to Taylor as my beat the streak selection, especially if he is cold at the plate.
However, using the same logic that ended my streak to begin with, you have to think that Chris Taylor is due for a hit. After going 0-5 in his last two contests, Taylor will have a big day in both of the games and will extend my streak to two.
Next: Remembering each starter's first start
Thus, he will make up for it and reset my streak back to where it was. At least I hope.