The Los Angeles Dodgers finished the month of July by winning three-of-four at Coors Field against the Rockies. The Dodgers and Rockies will not face off again until the last six games of the season, all at Dodger Stadium.
The Dodgers went 21-5 this month, tied for the fourth best winning percentage in the month of July by a team ever in the majors. The number one team in July? The 2017 Dodgers. Los Angeles will head into August with at least a 12 game lead in the NL West.
Outfielder James Outman made his major league debut, starting in right field. He hit a two-run homer in his first at-bat, after seeing just three pitches. He is the eighth Dodger to homer in their major league debut.
Outman struck out in his second at bat, but then turned around a 98mph pitch for a single, with a 110mph exit velocity. In his fourth plate appearance, he doubled, scoring Gavin Lux. Outman ended the day 3-for-4, and is the first Dodger to have at least three hits in his debut since Mike Piazza in 1992. He is the second Dodger ever with three hits and three RBI in his debut, also.
“It was a dream come true…it’s kind of what I’ve been envisioning ever since I was like eight years old”, Outman told SNLA’s Kirsten Watson after the game. And if you haven’t seen the reaction from his family in the crowd, it’s must see.
On Sunday, the Chris Martin trade was made official. The Dodgers traded for RP Martin on Saturday, sending utility man Zach McKinstry to the Chicago Cubs in return. Jake Reed was optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City to make room for Martin on the roster.
Justin Turner will be out of the Dodgers lineup until at least Thursday, in San Francisco. Manager Dave Roberts said there’s “no cost” in keeping JT off the IL, because the team would have to make a change on the 40-man roster to make that happen. Turner’s MRI came back clean, but the injury is to his side is still holding steady.
Chris Taylor is set to start his rehab assignment on Monday. Taylor has been on the IL dealing with a fracture in his foot. While the place of his rehab assignment has yet to be announced, Taylor will play outfield while there, and will get at least a week worth of at bats before he is reinstated to the Dodgers.
Blake Treinen is set to rejoin the team, and face batters in San Francisco. Treinen came out of his last Sim game well Friday at Dodger Stadium.
The Dodgers now head to San Francisco to start a four game set against the Giants. Probable pitchers include Monday, Andrew Heaney and Logan Webb; Tuesday, Tyler Anderson and Alex Wood; Julio Urías and Alex Cobb; and Thursday, Clayton Kershaw and Jakob Junis.
Think Blue Planning Committee 
Good job Andy, after the day Outman had he deserved an article.
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What a pleasure to see Outman’s debut today. If we knew he could keep up an anywhere near decent offense, he’s a much more valuable spot on the roster than is Lamb because he’s an excellent outfielder. Problem is they may not have time to properly evaluate his offense before CT3 gets back. Still more likely to be sent to OKC than Lamb is to be taken off the roster.
On the other hand, AF may have gotten a call from the Nats after the game, wanting to adjust the players in the Dodgers proposed Soto trade.
Injuries like JT’s are stubborn and can take quite a while to heal. I think we may see him hit the IL after the trade deadline. In the meanwhile, with a huge lead in the division we can be a little careless about roster spots for a couple of days.
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I don’t think too many saw that kind of debut by Outman. I have been very aware of his athleticism and progress thru the LA system. I was describing him to my wife as well as my concern for kid high strikeout rate and then Bam! Followed by a K and then Bam Ban. Well done, young man.
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Awesome debut for the kid. Probably won’t strike out as much as CT3.
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Nowhere to go but down from that start. Here’s another positive – no matter where Soto ends up, he likely won’t do that in his first game.
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Hey, he could hit 2 homers tonight!
Padres just traded for Hader. Outman won’t enjoy facing him.
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Padres gave up two top ten prospects for Hader, but none of there very top prospects, they’ve still got plenty enough blue chips to make a Soto deal. Read that the Pads are on the short list for Montas also, it seems like they are in on everybody.
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Preller being Preller.
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Moving Cleavenger surprised me, I guess that’s how they are making room on the roster for Martin?
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They already had a spot for Martin, but they’re going to need a number of spots for guys who are returning from the 60 day IL and also possibly for incoming trades.
Then, this winter they’ll have a 40-man roster crunch because they’ll need to protect some guys from their minor league system who would otherwise be eligible for the Rule 5 draft in December.
Cleavinger was obviously not very high up on the “we love him” list. They took they’re good time bringing him back this last time around and then he had a pretty poor performance.
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I can’t find any way to edit on this re-done site, but I want my old English teachers to know that I am herewith correcting “they’re” to “their” in the above comment.
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Nice debut for the kid, now enjoy the rest of the year in OKC. Cleavinger to Tampa for an 18 year old Dominican outfielder who is playing rookie ball. Rios and Taylor back soon. Who will they trade for next>>>>??? Won’t be Soto. Price is way too high. Padres get Hader from Brewers for four players. Two of them on the MLB roster.
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Preller is in a tough spot. The Padres have spent a lot of money and traded talent attempting to keep up with the Dodgers. The problem San Diego has is that the Dodgers and the Giants have more money than the Padres. Plus they both have excellent management that plans long term. If they are lucky they are a perennial playoff spot team but not a NL West winner.
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The exit velocity of Outmans’ hits were very impressive. I wonder if they are showcasing him? Glad they got something for Cleavinger just watch that Dominican outfielder will be a hitting wonder-kin in 3-4 years. As the saying goes Friedman is playing chess while most others are playing checkers.
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