August 20th, 2016 at 10:12 am 
by Ron Cervenka When the Dodgers banished oft-controversial outfielder Yasiel Puig back down to the minor leagues – and make no mistake about it, no matter what color you wish to paint it, it was every bit a banishment – and acquired eight-year MLB veteran outfielder Josh Reddick from the Oakland A’s, I was as on-board with the move as anyone. Although the 25-year-old Puig is without question an extremely talented baseball player and athlete and will soon be back in the majors (with somebody), he definitely didn’t – or at least to this point hasn’t – played the game the right way; such as missing cut-off men, throwing to the wrong base, frequent base running gaffs, etc. But as on-board as I was with the acquisition of Reddick, I am rapidly approaching the point of getting off-board with him.
It goes without saying that since being drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 17th round of the 2006 MLB First-Year Player Draft out of Middle Georgia College in Cochran Georgia and subsequently traded to the A’s in December 2011, Reddick has has a decent career; not Hall of Fame decent by any stretch, but decent nonetheless. Through his eight big league seasons the Savannah, Georgia native has a career slash-line of .253 / .315 / .430 for an OPS of .745; again, decent.
The problem, of course, is that since being traded to the Dodgers on August 1, Josh Reddick has… well… sucked. And though it has and continues to be well documented – ad nauseam, I might add – that he is having “very good at-bats” and is “hitting the ball very hard,” the cold, hard, indisputable truth is that he is 10 for 61 (.164) with exactly one extra base hit (a double) and (wait for it) zero runs batted in. In fact, as of this writing, there are only eight players who either are or were on the Dodgers roster this season who are/were hitting worse that Reddick … and five of those eight are pitchers. This isn’t just bad, this is atrocious.
Dodger fans have grown tired of hearing about how good Reddick’s at-bats have been and how hard he has been hitting the ball. He needs to either start producing or be replaced by someone who will.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)
Although Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has and continues to shoulder the responsibility for keeping the 29-year-old left-handed-hitting / right-handed-throwing Reddick in his daily lineup (he has missed only one game since being acquired), there is absolutely no doubt whatsoever that Roberts is being told to do so by Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and general manager Farhan Zaidi, for whom Reddick played in Oakland. Unfortunately, this is clearly perceived by Dodger fans as an attempt to: A) Justify their (thus far) failed acquisition of Reddick and: B) Justify banishing Puig to Triple-A Oklahoma City; this in spite of the fact that Puig had better overall numbers across the board before Reddick was acquired. And while you will never, ever, ever get Friedman, Zaidi or even Dave Roberts to admit to this and there is no disputing that this is 100 percent speculation on my part, I will stand by my assessment until proven mistaken which, quite frankly, I do not see happening anytime soon.
I have absolutely no ax to grind with Josh Reddick, Andrew Friedman, Farhan Zaidi or Dave Roberts – none whatsoever. I was also not opposed to seeing Puig sent down to OKC to “teach him a lesson.” But Reddick has been an absolutely bust and a determent to the Dodgers offensively since the moment he laced up his new Dodger Blue spikes for the first time – especially when it comes to hitting with runners in scoring position – something for which he came highly touted. In fact, in the 15 games he has played in with the Dodgers thus far, he has stranded 10 runners in scoring position with two outs. (Note: They do not tally the number of RISP with less than two outs in the box score but I can assure you that Reddick has left a lot more than 10).
Not wanting to beat a dead horse but worth mentioning, Puig is 16 for 38 (.421) with a .488 on-base percentage and .763 slugging percentage for an insane 1.252 OPS since his demotion to Triple-A. He has also hit two doubles, one triple and three home runs in the 10 games he has played with the OKC Dodgers. And while I get that hitting against minor league pitching is not nearly as difficult as hitting against major league pitching, it is impossible to ignore these numbers. And if this is a matter of “saving face” for Friedman and Zaidi, 24-year-old outfielder Andrew Toles is also raking at OKC with a slash-line of .321 / .339 / .518 / .857 with two home runs and five doubles in his 17 games played there. Even he would be a huge improvement over Reddick – at least for the time being.
With the Dodgers once again trailing the NL West-leading Giants by a half-game and with only 41 games remaining in the regular (including nine against said Giants), there is little wiggle room for the Dodgers. As such, it would behoove them to put the best eight out there every day and, simply put, Josh Reddick is not one of them.
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Yep, I wholeheartedly agree, it’s time. ?
Thank you. Hard to believe Alston, Lasorda or even Torre would’ve kept this guy in the cleanup spot. Last year I blamed Mattingly for some of the questionable lineups but now I’m not sure he had a say.
While Puig probably needed the wake-up call, Toles was doing a nice job and brought some speed to the lineup. Reddick may start hitting any time, but he can hit just as well in the 7 or 8 spot until then.
How “BIG” of a lesson must Yasiel be taught? Perhaps it’s time to see if putting him in the “corner” has taught him how to behave. With only 41 games remaining, IMO the time is now. Let’s see once and for all if Yasiel can be a real teammate.
A Dodger fan from Ebbets Field.
Posted on the forum this morning at 8:38 AM:
Hard luck or not, Josh Reddick is an LOB machine right now. The offense could’ve used a shot in the arm the last two days and Reddick is absolutely killing us in the cleanup spot, with two of the hottest hitters in the Dodgers lineup protecting him. Puig was never afforded that kind of opportunity this year. Double standard, or are F&Z trying really, really, really hard to make this trade something it isn’t; a good one?
Time to eat crow guys and get Puig back in the lineup.
Puig has been getting opportunities for 3 years and done nothing with them. Potential doesn’t cut it. He has to earn his way back, earn the starting job, and earn the right to keep it.
I ‘spect he’ll be back September 1. Then we’ll see if he does anything with this opportunity.
Incidentally, I agree with Ron re: Toles.
Toles’ beard is absolutely crushing it! I’d guess that thing takes about 3 seconds off his first-to-third time because of its drag coefficient.
Some things are just worth it. 😎
Somebody actually asked him about that postgame a few weeks back. His reply was:
“Is that a real question?”
I REALLY like Andrew Toles. : )
Toles has reverted to a more “streamlined” beard.
thank you…too many media members were defending the FO move for too long. It’s nice to see media who is not an FO puppet.
I guess that “patience” article from two days ago is out the window. I’ll say it again. Puig needs to be back. The team needs right handed bats in the line up and everyone seems to realize that except for FAZ and Roberts. If they’re going to have Reddick in the line up, he needs to be hitting 8th. Another lefty going against the club today. This team is clearly deficient against lefties.
Patience only goes so far and if that piece upset you, well… sorry about that. I believe it was both timely and appropriate.
And to further upset you, I would rather see Toles in the Dodgers lineup than Puig. But hey… what can I say, I’ve always been a sucker for a nice left-handed swing; oh… and good base running. ; )
Ah come on Ron. I didn’t mean to offend. Not upset at all. It’s sports, not life. It’s amazing what a two game losing streak can do for our psyche though.
With regard to Toles…I love the guy. He’s a sparkplug, a perennial leadoff hitter BUT he’s another left handed stick. We have enough of those.
@8Peters
Well, Reddick is sitting today. D’you think they’re listening to you, or it’s just the LHP?
Nobody listens to me, but it was definitely the LHP thing. ?
Way off topic but:
What’s with that apparent grass stain at JT’s left shoulder blade? Can’t be the same jersey. Yesterday they were wearing “Dodgers” jerseys, previously “Los Angeles” jerseys. Besides, I think I first noticed it during their last home stand. It’s always there. Anybody know what’s up?
Pine tar from his bat – just like Matt Kemp always had.
Thanks. I wasn’t able to see many Dodgers games back when Matt Kemp was playing with them.