THREE UP ▲ THREE DOWN ▼
WHAT’S TRENDING IN MLB
Three up
Texas appears to be the spot for former Dodgers prospects to flourish. The headlines have gone to Astros DH/left fielder Yordan Alvarez, obtained for reliever Josh Fields. Alvarez is batting .306 with a 1.055 OPS, and 22 home runs in 68 games. But, up Interstate 45, Rangers left fielder Willie Calhoun has 18 home runs in 64 games. Calhoun, who was miscast with the Dodgers as a second baseman, was traded for pitcher Yu Darvish. No harm: The Dodgers’ eight left fielders have combined for 36 home runs. With Shohei Ohtani of the Angels limited to batting this season, the “first player since Babe Ruth to ... ” lines this year belong to Cincinnati’s Michael Lorenzen. On Wednesday, Lorenzen became the first player to hit a home run, be the winning pitcher and play the field since Ruth did so June 13, 1921. Ruth finished that game in center field, replacing the delightfully named Chicken Hawks. The opposing center fielder that day: Ty Cobb. Ned Colletti, who ran the Dodgers’ baseball operations before Andrew Friedman, was hired Friday to scout for the NHL’s San Jose Sharks. Colletti’s predecessor, Paul DePodesta, is the chief strategy officer for the NFL’s Cleveland Browns. What could Friedman’s next sports challenge be? The United States never has won an Olympic medal in table tennis. Given the Dodgers’ intense pingpong sessions during spring training, he could go from Dodgers blue to red, white and blue, and go get the U.S. that elusive medal. But World Series parade first, please.
Three down
The Philadelphia Phillies didn’t spend $330 million on Bryce Harper to finish third in the NL East again, but that’s where they stood Saturday, amid another secondhalf swoon under manager Gabe Kapler. He could be on the hot seat. The favorite to replace him: Mike Scioscia, who grew up in Philadelphia. Complication: Phillies general manager Matt Klentak was the assistant in Anaheim to GM Jerry Dipoto, who clashed with Scioscia. Would owner John Middleton and oldschool President Andy MacPhail make the hire themselves? The Boston Red Sox had 17 relievers available Wednesday and 21 pitchers in all. “We’re going winter ball style,” manager Alex Cora said. “The games, instead of four hours, are going to be five hours.” The Red Sox won’t be able to try that next year, when September rosters will be limited to 28 players, down from 40. “Our starters are not giving enough,” Cora said. On the day he said that, the Red Sox starters had a 5.03 ERA, seventh-best in the American League. Yikes. With MLB attendance down for the fourth consecutive season, Baseball Prospectus ran some analytics and attributed about 35% of the decline to tanking teams. The Chicago Cubs won in 2016 and Houston in 2017, both after blowing up their rosters in the hope of building a winner, but the first part does not guarantee the second. In related news, the San Diego Padres are headed for their ninth consecutive losing season. In their last playoff game, in 2006, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was their left fielder.