Tag Archives: Andre Ethier

August 23, 2018

Mr. Walkoff

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Ryan Zimmerman kept the Nationals hopes alive Wednesday night with a two-out, two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth to beat the Phillies 8-7. Zimmerman came up in 2005, and in that time frame he drove in a walk-off run 17 times, the most in the majors. Albert Pujols is second at 16, Andre Ethier has 14, David Ortiz, Hunter Pence, and Melky Cabrera all have 13.

I can compute this number back to 1974, and Zimmerman is tied for 12th in that time frame with Barry Bonds, George Foster, Andruw Jones, Eddie Murray, and Lance Parrish. Rickey Henderson and Albert Pujols have the most, 21. Another reason to love Rickey!

November 27, 2017

Players Don’t Usually Retire

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Andre Ethier denies reports that he is going to retire:

Ethier told Ken Gurnick of MLB.com that a report from FanRag Sports’ Robert Murray stating he planned to call it a career is “totally untrue.” Ethier added that his back is healthy and he’s preparing to play next season.

Very few players actually retire, meaning they voluntarily leave the game when a team still wants their services. Most who announce a retirement are in the position that no team wants their services, so they face reality and move on to their post-baseball life.

October 17, 2017 October 15, 2016 March 22, 2016

Neither Ethier

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Andre Either won’t be playing baseball for a while:

Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Andre Ethier will be out 10 to 14 weeks after fracturing his right tibia.

Ethier, the projected starter in left field this year, was injured after fouling a ball off his shin Friday during a spring game against the Arizona Diamondbacks. X-rays that day revealed no broken bones, but the Dodgers said Tuesday that a follow-up CT scan showed the fracture.

Ethier is a two to three WAR player in a healthy season, so that a decent loss for the Dodgers. The Dodgers had a bit of a glut at the position, but some questionable talent. This hurts.

They could send him to a military hospital to speed his recovery. 🙂

First Doctor Get on parade! Come on! We haven’t got all day, have we? Come on, come on, come on. (the patients painfully get themselves into line) Hurry up … right! Now, I know some hospitals where you get the patients lying around in bed. Sleeping, resting, recuperating, convalescing. Well, that’s not the way we do things here, right! No, you won’t be loafing about in bed wasting the doctors’ time. You – you horrible little cripple. What’s the matter with you?
Patient Fractured tibia, sergeant.
First Doctor ‘Fractured tibia, sergeant’? ‘Fractured tibia, sergeant’? Ooh. Proper little mummy’s boy, aren’t we? Well, I’ll tell you something, my fine friend, if you fracture a tibia here you keep quiet about it! Look at him! (looks more closely) He’s broken both his arms and he don’t go shouting about it, do he? No! ‘Cos he’s a man – he’s a woman, you see, so don’t come that broken tibia talk with me. Get on at the double. One, two, three, pick that crutch up, pick that crutch right up.

The patient hobbles off at the double and falls over.

October 16, 2015 October 15, 2015 May 13, 2015

Sweet Spot Plus Bat Speed

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Statcast does a nice job of highlighting the exit velocity of the first inning home run by Giancarlo Stanton Tuesday night:

Unfortunately for the Marlins, that would be their only run. Andre Ethier went 5 for 5 with a homer as the Dodgers win big 11-1. Dee Gordon went 0 for 4 for the second game in a row, dropping his batting average to .412.

October 7, 2014

No Puig to Poke

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Yasiel Puig sits for game four in favor of Andre Ethier. Ethier is 2 for 6 against Miller in the regular season with a home run. I hope that’s not the only reason Puig is sitting.

Update: Mattingly on the move:

I don’t see it.

October 15, 2013

Hart Attack

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At the start of the bottom of the ninth, Mary Hart was twirling her Dodger hanky to start a rally, and Andre Ethier leads off the frame with a single. The Dodgers trail the Cardinals 4-2, and are hoping for another Kirk Gibson moment.

Update: Yasiel Puig grounds into a double play on a 2-0 pitch. The game is up to Juan Uribe.

Update: Trevor Rosenthal strikes out Uribe for the save, and the Cardinals take a commanding 3-1 lead in the NLCS.

I must admit, this reminds me a bit of the 1996 NLCS. The Cardinals won three of the first four in that series, but they had to face three aces in the final three games, John Smoltz, Greg Maddux, and Tom Glavine. I remember thinking that year that the Braves could easily win those three games. St. Louis gets to face three aces over the next three days, and the Dodgers could easily win all three.

August 14, 2013

Leg Worries

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The Dodgers were concerned enough about a slow healing bruise to send Andre Ethier to the hospital:

So on Tuesday, Ethier was scratched from the lineup and sent to a local hospital for tests. He said team officials wanted to make sure there was no blood clot, and something else.

Something that gave them a scare last season.

“I went to see if there was a clot or kind of the same thing Mark [Ellis] had last year, that compartment syndrome,” Ethier said. “They were kind of concerned along those lines.”

Ellis needed emergency surgery last season when compartment syndrome nearly cost him his left leg. He was out for six weeks.

Luckily, all the tests were negative for compartment syndrome, and the Dodgers scored four runs off Matt Harvey to beat the Mets 4-2.

June 30, 2013

First 25

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After noting Yasiel Puig‘s ranking in batting average after 15 games, a reader asked if I would look at OPS. I thought I would wait until Puig reached 25 games into his career, which he did Saturday night. As before, the list consists of players who started their careers from 1969 on. That’s one of the inflection points in baseball history, with the mound lowered and division play starting in that season. The following table contains all players with at least 70 AB and an On-Base + Slugging (OPS) of at least .950 (.9495, to be exact).

Hitter On-Base Pct. Slugging Pct. OBP+Slug
Fred Lynn 0.495 0.718 1.213
Alvin Davis 0.464 0.739 1.202
Austin Kearns 0.524 0.658 1.182
Jeff Francoeur 0.407 0.767 1.173
Albert Pujols 0.430 0.719 1.149
Mitchell Page 0.450 0.688 1.137
Gregg Jefferies 0.414 0.716 1.130
Yasiel Puig 0.451 0.677 1.128
Rudy Pemberton 0.468 0.648 1.115
Chris Dickerson 0.423 0.670 1.094
Dave Hostetler 0.381 0.712 1.093
Kevin Maas 0.398 0.684 1.081
Chris Davis 0.347 0.730 1.078
Sam Horn 0.394 0.682 1.076
Brett Lawrie 0.381 0.674 1.056
J.D. Drew 0.379 0.675 1.055
Mike Napoli 0.422 0.629 1.050
Don Baylor 0.424 0.625 1.049
J.T. Snow 0.402 0.636 1.039
Jason Heyward 0.412 0.627 1.038
Jason Bay 0.425 0.592 1.017
Carlos Santana 0.422 0.593 1.014
Dwayne Hosey 0.405 0.606 1.011
Dwight Smith 0.412 0.595 1.007
Chris Parmelee 0.430 0.575 1.005
Wally Joyner 0.386 0.615 1.001
Mark Quinn 0.374 0.626 1.000
Jeff Baker 0.341 0.659 0.999
Josh Hamilton 0.394 0.605 0.999
Hunter Pence 0.392 0.604 0.996
Bill Mueller 0.488 0.507 0.995
Ken Griffey Sr. 0.424 0.570 0.994
Chris Chambliss 0.427 0.564 0.991
Doug Ault 0.425 0.564 0.989
Coco Laboy 0.410 0.574 0.984
Mike Jacobs 0.344 0.639 0.983
Daric Barton 0.409 0.571 0.980
Jacoby Ellsbury 0.421 0.558 0.979
Bucky Jacobsen 0.387 0.591 0.978
Al Woods 0.409 0.567 0.975
Brennan Boesch 0.357 0.617 0.974
Frank Thomas 0.449 0.525 0.974
Andre Ethier 0.395 0.577 0.973
Ryan Braun 0.376 0.596 0.972
Randy Ready 0.426 0.543 0.969
Adam Dunn 0.402 0.567 0.969
Jason Bates 0.416 0.552 0.968
Josh Rutledge 0.340 0.627 0.967
Stephen Drew 0.380 0.587 0.967
Matt Kemp 0.347 0.612 0.959
Bobby Smith 0.409 0.550 0.959
Mike Morse 0.457 0.500 0.957
Matt Kata 0.396 0.560 0.956
Marty Cordova 0.350 0.606 0.956
Ben Petrick 0.398 0.556 0.953
David Ortiz 0.402 0.549 0.952

Note that after 25 games, there’s no way of telling where a player’s career will go. There are great hitters like Lynn, Pujols, David Ortiz, and Frank Thomas. There are flash in the pans, like Kevin Maas and Sam Horn. Note that Matt Kemp is on the list, and Kemp sees himself in Puig. (Andre Ethier is also on the list, that’s a pretty good trio for the Dodgers in the outfield.)

So Puig is off to a very good start, but we don’t know if he’ll be Francoeur or Maas yet.

May 29, 2013

Rare Doubles

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Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier both hit doubles Tuesday night in the Dodgers 3-0 win over the Angels. It was just the fourth time this season the pair each hit an extra-base hit in a game. At one point they had gone nearly a month without that accomplishment, from 4/23 to 5/20. Last year, the duo recorded 13 of these games, nine by the end of May, before Kemp was hurt. That missing power production is one of the reasons the Dodgers sit in last place in the NL West. Either seems to have come around a bit in the last eight games, and two of Kemp’s last five hits have gone for extra bases as well. Luckily for the Dodgers, no one ran away with the division. Their seven game deficit could be overcome with a nice hot streak.

April 6, 2013

Trading Walks for Home Runs

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It was an interesting night for the three true outcomes Friday. Pitchers and batters seemed to be trading walks for home runs, much like they did on Wednesday:

Game Date K per 9 IP BB per 9 IP HR per 200 IP
3/31/2013 10.59 3.18 11.8
4/01/2013 9.18 3.07 14.6
4/02/2013 7.71 2.93 23.8
4/03/2013 7.68 2.94 25.8
4/04/2013 6.89 3.00 24.0
4/05/2013 7.49 2.87 24.3

Note that if taken as a whole, the numbers favor the pitchers, as a long term trend continues of the three true outcomes moving mostly in favor of pitching:

Season K per 9 IP BB per 9 IP HR per 200 IP
2013 7.85 2.96 22.4
2012 7.56 3.05 22.8
2011 7.13 3.11 20.9
2010 7.13 3.28 21.3

The game is getting to the point where home runs become the main way of scoring. Starters have thrown 19 short shutouts so far this season (pitched at least six innings, did not get charged with a run). That blows away the record for the first five days of the season, 15 in 1972 (there were 13 last year). If teams don’t hit home runs, they aren’t putting enough batters on base to generate runs. High strikeout rates reduce the batting average component of OBP, and low walk rates do the rest.

Andre Ethier homers

Andre Ethier’s second inning home run was all the Dodgers needed Friday night. The Dodgers and Pirates combined for two walks and 14 strikeouts despite Jonathan Sanchez taking the mound. Photo: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

So far 39.4% of runs have been driven in by homers. The high point during the offensive explosion era came in 2004, when 37% of runs scored on homers, and last season when 37% also scored (36.999 in 2004 vs. 36.994 in 2012).

These numbers need some time to stabilize. A few fifth starter games will likely bring 2013 closer to 2012. The trend is there, however. With more strikeouts and fewer walks, batters are compensating by swinging for the fences. This, of course, leads to more strikeouts as batters swing harder, and fewer walks as batters are less willing to take a close pitch. The pendulum of baseball swings back to the pitchers.

June 12, 2012

Andre’s Giant Contract

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The Los Angeles Dodgers reached a deal with Andre Ethier:

The Dodgers and Andre Ethier are in agreement on an $85-million, five-year contract extension.

Ethier’s new deal includes a sixth-year vesting option that could bring the deal to $100 million.

An announcement is forthcoming. News of the deal was first reported by CBSSports.com.

The deal, the third largest in Dodgers history after Matt Kemp and Kevin Brown, willl be worth $100 million if the sixth-year option vests based on plate appearances in 2017 or 2016-17. The plate-appearance threshold is one he has reached each year since 2008.

The Ethier deal is the first big one for the new Dodgers regime led by Mark Walter, Stan Kasten and Magic Johnson. It is not believed to include a no-trade clause.

The new management of the Dodgers appears to have overpaid here to make a splash. Andre has never been worth $17 million a year. His best season came in 2008. Ethier is seasonal age 30 this year, so the Dodgers are paying $17 million a year for his decline.

Then again, a number of contracts this season indicate that salary inflation is afoot, much like we saw throughout the 1990s up to the Alex Rodriguez/Manny Ramirez contracts. In this high spending environment, Ethier may indeed be worth the money.

May 12, 2012

Late Night NL Roundup

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The NL played two extra innings games in the mid-west as well as a full west coast schedule. The Cubs and Brewers played a pitchers duel for the first six innings, a slugfest for the next three, and then went back to pitching for the final four as Milwaukee takes the game 8-7. David DeJesus hit a pinch-hit grand slam for Chicago in the top of the seventh to give the Cubs a 4-1 lead, but the bullpen gave it all back in the bottom of the inning. The Cubs scored three times in the ninth, but once again the bullpen blew the lead, sending the game into extra innings on a home run by Corey Hart. That set up Hart in the 13th to win the game after two hit batsmen and a single loaded the bases, Corey singled home the winning run.

The Braves and Cardinals combined for six home runs in twelve innings, Jason Heyward‘s two-run shot in the top of the twelfth giving Atlanta the 9-7 victory. Carlos Beltran had the big night of the big nights, four for four with two homers, a triple and a double, missing the cycle by a single. He’s now slugging .658 on the season. That’s extremely impressive for a 35-year-old that has been plagued by injuries.

Patrick Corbin pitched a strong game for the Diamondbacks, holding the Giants to three hits in seven innings with no walks. Paul Goldschmidt and A.J. Pollock added home runs as the Diamondbacks win 5-1. For Pollock, it was the first home run as a major leaguer. Melky Cabrera hit a home run for San Francisco to provide their only offense of the night, and lately Melky has been carrying the team.

Finally, Mark Ellis and Andre Ethier broke out their power bats as each homered and doubled in the 7-3 Dodgers win over Colorado. Ethier drove in two more runs and leads the National League with 32 RBI. Matt Kemp went zero for three with a walk, and his average drops to .375. It looks like he won’t be hitting .400 this season. Jamie Moyer allowed five runs in five innings despite walking one and striking out seven. He allowed seven hits, so when batters are not fooled, they are smacking the ball.

January 17, 2012

One More Year for Andre

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Andre Ethier and the Dodgers reached an agreement on a one-year contract worth almost $11 million. That’s actually a fairly generous contract given his performance over the last few seasons. I wonder if the Dodgers ownership situation kept the team from signing him long term? Maybe the contract was a bit generous so that when the team is sold, Andre might be more tempted to sign an extension than test free agency.

September 8, 2011 August 28, 2011

Thoughts on Ethier

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Jon Weisman at Dodger Thoughts sees a pattern in the Andre Ethier kerfuffle:

If the injured baseball player doesn’t feel he can take himself out of action, because of love of the game, or arrogance, or denial, or fear of being labeled a sissy, then management needs to make the decision for him. You can’t rely on the Russell Martins and Broxtons and Ethiers to break “The Code” of manning up. There are a few exceptions to the rule (his name, I believe, is Kobe Bryant), but you need to have the rule.

August 28, 2011

Knee to Know

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Andre Ethier‘s knee injury is causing problems on and off the field:

Ethier went public with his problem in Sunday’s Los Angeles Times, which caused a clamor throughout the clubhouse and resulted in a 15-minute closed-door meeting with first-year manager Don Mattingly and general manager Ned Colletti.

The outfielder’s remarks to a Times columnist gave the impression that Ethier had repeatedly told the Dodgers he couldn’t play and that they instead insisted he did.

Mattingly denied the implication, saying that he was ”blindsided” by the information in the column and emphasizing that he doesn’t have any communication problems with Ethier.

Ethier would not talk to reporters before the game, so there was no clarification of his statements.

Update: From the comments, Ethier did back away from the article.

May 8, 2011 May 7, 2011

Streak Over

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The Mets score twice in the bottom of the eighth on a two-run, 400 foot, bases loaded single by Justin Turner propel them to a 4-2 win over the Dodgers. Francisco Rodriguez pitches his first 1-2-3 inning of the season, keeping Andre Ethier on the bench, ending his hit streak at 30 games. The Dodgers brought him to the plate five time, but he could not deliver as he walked once and struck out once. Still, he posted a fairly rare 30 game streak, and kept the Dodgers interesting during a lack-luster team start.

May 7, 2011 May 7, 2011

Ethier on the Edge

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Andre Ethier just flied out in the bottom of the fifth. He’s 0 for 2 this evening with a walk. With his 30-game hit streak on the line and the Mets leading 2-1, Ethier may get only one more chance to extend his streak.

Update: Ethier grounds out in the sixth, as the Dodgers tie the game at two. He’ll get at least one more chance to extend the streak.

May 7, 2011

Games of the Day

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The Braves try to make it two in a row against the Phillies as they send Julio Teheran in his major league debut against Kyle Kendrick. Talk about tossing someone into the fire! The 20-year-old Teheran owns a 3.04 career minor league ERA with 9.0 K per 9 innings and only 2.3 walks per nine. In five starts at AAA this season he posted a 1.80 ERA. Kendrick is off to a good start in terms of ERA, but all of that came in relief. He walked eight in 13 innings, but four of those were intentional. He only struck out two, however, which makes his ERA look too low for his other numbers.

The Pittsburgh Pirates sit just two games under .500 as they host Bud Norris and the Astros. Charlie Morton takes the mound for the Pirates. Norris is striking out batters at a prodigious rate, but his lower walk and home run rates helped him to a lower ERA. Morton has had some good results despite a high walk rate this season. The weak Astros offense should help.

Andre Ethier goes for game 31 of his hit streak as the Dodgers continue their series with the Mets. He’ll face Chris Young. Ethier, for his career, faced Young 34 times and batted .414, 12 for 29 with five walks and six home runs. It looks like a good matchup to extend the hit streak.

Finally, Alex White makes his second start for the Indians as he takes on Jered Weaver and the Angels in a battle of division leaders. White played his first professional season in 2010, then worked his way up to start at AAA this season. In four starts there he averaged 10.6 strikeouts per nine innings. Weaver was lights out until his start against Boston, but still holds opposing batters to a .174/.224/.245 slash line.

Enjoy!

May 6, 2011 May 6, 2011

Games of the Day

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Andre Ethier

Andre Ethier tries to extend his hit streak to 30 games Friday night against the Mets. Photo: Icon SMI

The Braves trail the Phillies by 4 1/2 games as they open a three game series, sending Derek Lowe against Cliff Lee. Lowe is throwing fewer fastballs this season, substituting sliders and cutters, and the change led to a much higher strikeout rate. Since the start of the 2010 season, Lee walked 24 batters in 251 2/3 innings. Four pitchers have walked at least that many this season.

All eyes will be on the Dodgers/Mets game to see if Andre Ethier can extend his hit streak to 30 games. He’s expected to play after missing Wednesday’s game with a sore elbow. If he collects a hit tonight, it would be the 44th 30-game hit streak in the modern era and the eighth since 2000.

The Oakland Athletics head into Kansas City to play the wild card leading Royals with Gio Gonzalez facing Sean O’Sullivan. In a pretty good year for strikeout leaders, Gonzalez ranks 8th in the AL with 8.59 K per 9. O’Sullivan walked 13 and struck out 14 in 21 innings, but allowed just one home run and held the opposition to a .167 BA with runners in scoring position. With Oakland hitting just .209 with runners in scoring position this year, O’Sullivan matches up well against them.

Finally, first place teams battle in Anaheim as the Indians and Justin Masterson take on the Angels and Tyler Chatwood. Masterson goes for his sixth win without a defeat, using good control and the ability to keep the ball in the park to stop opponents. He’s inducing more ground balls and fewer line drives this season as well. The Angels outcome in Chatwood’s games have depended on the offense. They’ve scored six runs or more three times and won, two runs or less twice and lost. With 17 walks and four home runs allowed in 27 1/3 innings, the Angels probably need to score on the high side to win again.

Enjoy!

May 4, 2011

Elbow Swoon

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Andre Ethier is sitting out this afternoon’s Dodgers game with an elbow problem.

Andre Ethier has been removed from the Los Angeles Dodgers starting lineup because of an inflamed left elbow, putting his 29-game hitting streak on hold, and closer Jonathan Broxton won’t pitch until after an MRI exam of his aching right elbow.

Ethier felt discomfort Tuesday night, when he stretched his streak to 29 games, two shy of the franchise record that Willie Davis set in 1969. Wednesday’s series finale against the Chicago Cubs was the first time this season Ethier wasn’t in the starting lineup.

It doesn’t sound serious, and Ethier can probably use a day off. He wants to be 100% to try to keep the streak alive.

May 3, 2011 May 2, 2011

Halfway to DiMaggio

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Andre Ethier just hit a soft line drive the other way, just out of the reach of Starlin Castro in the hole. Castro knocked the ball down but couldn’t throw out Ethier and didn’t try. The infield single in the bottom of the fifth gives Andre a 28 game hit streak, half way to DiMaggio’s record of 56 games. It puts the record in perspective. It’s tough enough to go 28 straight games, imagine doing it twice in a row.

The Dodgers lead the Cubs 5-1 in the bottom of the fifth.

I can’t believe how many empty seats I’m seeing in Dodger Stadium. It’s really sad.