August 18th, 2016 at 7:02 am 
by Ron Cervenka It’s one of life’s lessons that we were taught when we were very young, one that sounds as dumb today as it did back then yet one that continues to prove itself time and time again, in spite of our impatience:
“Good things come to those who wait.”
But if you are a Dodger fan, a true die-hard, blue-to-the-core Dodger fan, by now you are saying “Enough, already!”
As Dodger fans, we have collectively been waiting since October 20, 1988 – at least those of us who were even around in 1988. That was the night that the Los Angeles Dodgers were presented with their last World Series trophy after beating the Oakland Athletics in five games. But while the champagne was flowing and guys named Tommy Lasorda, Orel Hershiser, Mike Scioscia, Kirk Gibson and Steve Sax (among many others) celebrated long into the night, a kid named William Joshua “Josh” Reddick was four months shy of his second birthday. And though his parents didn’t know it at the time, young Josh would one day go on to play major league baseball for both the Oakland A’s and the LA Dodgers some 20-plus years later.
Reddick, who was selected by the Boston Red Sox in the 17th round of the 2006 MLB First-Year Player Draft out of South Effingham High School in Guyton, Georgia, spent three major league seasons with the Red Sox from 2009 to 2011 before being traded to the A’s in 2012. And while the soft-spoken Savannah, Georgia native hit only .248 while with Boston, the left-handed-hitting, right-handed-throwing outfielder would go on to become one of the most popular players on Billy Beane’s ever-changing A’s roster.
Even though Reddick was never considered a superstar, not by any stretch, he won a Gold Glove for his outstanding defense as the A’s right fielder in his first season in Oakland in 2012. But at the August 1, 2016 trade deadline, the ever-frugal Beane decided to package Reddick up with star left-hander Rich Hill in a trade with the Dodgers in exchange for Dodgers top pitching prospects Jharel Cotton, Grant Holmes and Frankie Montas.
Although Hill was and is still on the disabled list with a lingering blister problem on his left middle finger and has still yet to make even one pitch as a Dodger, Reddick has appeared in all but one of the Dodgers 14 games since joining the team as Yasiel Puig‘s replacement as the Dodgers everyday right fielder. That’s the good news. The bad news is that in the 13 games in which Reddick has played with his new team he is 9 for 53 (.170) with only one extra base hit (a double).
If there were a statistic for “at-em” balls, Reddick would be leading the league. He did manage to get this one to drop for a single against the Red Sox at Dodger Stadium on August 6.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)
“Oh yeah, I know it’s coming from every side,” Reddick told Orange County Register’s Bill Plunkett prior to Wednesday’s game against the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. “They made this trade and the numbers don’t show anything. At home, they were yelling at me about bringing Puig back.”
They, of course, are Dodger fans who are very upset that the Dodgers banished the oft-controversial but extremely popular Puig to Triple-A Oklahoma City after signing Reddick and even more so at the seemingly endless offensive slump that Reddick has been in since dawning a Dodgers uniform. But for anyone who has been paying close attention to Reddick’s 53 at-bats as a Dodger, they have noticed – or at least should have noticed – that he is having very good at-bats and is hitting the ball very hard, even though the results are not there … not yet, that is.
“You see guys swinging the bat well and scoring runs and you want to join in the party,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told Plunkett. “You want to make a good impression on the new ballclub and he hasn’t yet. But I think for me, just to see his competitiveness, the way he fights every at-bat, it’s more about having him focus on the quality of at-bat rather than the result. I’ve always liked Josh as a player – offensively, defensively. There’s a reason I keep putting him in the lineup.
“Josh is here to help us win baseball games,” added Roberts. “And as long as we’re winning I know that he can deal with some of the frustrations offensively that I know he’ll work through.”
But Reddick is an eight-year major league veteran and knows full well that you have to take the bad with the good. He also knows, or at least senses, that he is very close to busting it wide open … as do patient Dodger fans.
“It could be frustrating but I feel like I’m having quality at-bats and hitting the ball hard most of the time,” Reddick said. “It would be worse if I was striking out one or two times a game or rolling over everything and hitting weak grounders. I feel like I’m putting together good at-bats. It sucks but I’m not going to be the guy sulking about individual stuff when the team is in first place … I’ll come around.”
So before running down to your local hardware store for pitchforks and kerosene for your torches, take a closer look at Josh Reddick’s at-bats. Chances are that if you do, you will see – or al least should see – just how very close he is to coming around. But even more importantly, take a close look an the National League West standings and bask in the knowledge that when the “at-em” balls that Reddick has been crushing begin to fall – and they eventually will – things will indeed be “glorious,” as Gail Johnson so accurately put it.
Posted in 
@JodyWHL i said the same thing yesterday https://t.co/CqSyH0AI3n
#LetPuigPlay Reddick is a drag. 3 players for a guy to hit under .100?
That, of course, would be exactly what that “patience” thing means.
It’s been some decades since I’ve taken a math class but my retention has been pretty good. I’m reasonably certain that .170>.100.
I think Ron covered the situation quite accurately. Having watched every game Josh has played in I’m quite impressed with how he’s hitting. Unfortunately, I’m also impressed with how the defenses are playing him.
I’ve not been so impressed with his defense thus far. Regarding that I’ll revert to the main point of this article:
Patience.
I’m sure you noticed that every defensive fly ball play he made on Wednesday was with two hands. Pretty sure nobody had to even say a word to him about Tuesday’s blunder. lol!
Yes, I did notice that.
Stuff happens, and sometimes happens in groups.
I do expect to see better defense from him in the future. They don’t give out Gold Gloves for good looks. I seem to recollect that Pete Rose won a few.
I expect we had all hoped that Josh would have one of those new team streaks where the newcomer tears the cover off the ball for some time. That hasn’t happened. Maybe they will start to fall at an even more opportune time as several Dodger hitters have already come alone since the all-star break.
I liken Josh to Andre Ethier offensively. His career stats don’t quite measure up to Andre’s but both are streaky and both have some difficulty with left-handed pitching. Like Gail, I am anticipating a streak from Josh.
@RealJoshReddick can’t believe fans sometimes!! Josh ABs look awesome, great pickup all around. Keep it up, they will drop
Although I’m unfamiliar with Reddick and it still looks weird to be seeing him batting cleanup in this lineup, I have to say since he had an outstanding batting average when he join the team and he is very respected, I’m just hoping that he lives up to his reputation.
You guys all realize that Puig is hitting about .500 with about 3 dingers and 1.505 OPS since he started playing in OKC right? I love Reddick and all, but it sure would be nice to have Puig in RF, Pederson in CF and Reddick in LF. It would be the best defensive OF in baseball, and with Puig hitting…sky is the limit.
September 1, my friend. ; )
I know what Puig is doing Evan but he is playing at AAA. He deserves another shot at MLB and not embarrassing the Dodgers, but hitting in the minors with no pressure and playing MLB are two different things. I don’t have the confidence in him hitting as expected at the MLB level because I think his overall skill set has been over-rated.
However, always willing to see guys get a second chance. The team has done well without him playing so that might be an another impediment to his return to LA. I have to believe he will be a September call up if for no other reason than to enhance his trade value over the winter.
I can assure you that there has been no one bigger in Puig’s corner that I. If you recall, I was on him like stink on rice (sorry, I always loved that misquote) from the day the Dodgers signed him and followed him as close as anyone through the minors. (I even got his one and only Cal League HR ball – lol!). I also defended him MANY times against those who criticized him on the TBLA forum – especially to one guy in particular who is no longer there.
I have also been privy to seeing (and hearing) Yasiel interact with the media and, even more so, with his teammates in the Dodgers clubhouse. It is (was) here that I learned that Yasiel was as big of a clubhouse distraction as were Matt Kemp and Hanley Ramirez (and a couple others).
I think the writing was on the wall when Adrian Gonzalez moved to a locker located across the clubhouse about as far away from Puig’s locker as was physically possible earlier this season. Although AGon never came right out and said why he had moved, he didn’t need to.
Like many, I attributed Puig’s “issues” to immaturity, but the bottom line is that he never grew up; never got past his immaturity. I also now believe that he never will.
But alas, this article is about Josh Reddick, not Yasiel Puig.
Reply to Evan Bladh
IF Puig is hitting.
Likely he will be, as he has always done when coming back from the DL. The question is, will it last more than 2-3 weeks?
Puig has great potential but he can’t build a MLB career on potential. Performance is required.
I want to see Puig back, but he has to earn the promotion, earn the starting spot, and earn the right to keep it.
I look at the game of baseball as a team game, and the Dodgers are 8-5 in games that Josh has started. The 5 games the Dodgers lost were not close. Josh may not have helped LA a bunch, but he hasn’t hurt them either. He was a far better hitter WRISP while with Oakland than anyone with LA, so it does not seem unreasonable that he should bat 4th in the lineup. When Justin Turner was having his problems, many were yelling for Roberts to move him out of the 3rd spot. Roberts was “patient” and stuck with him, and now he is producing. The same with Grandal and to a degree AGon. 13 games is not a lot to measure the success or failure of a trade. Maybe last night’s infield single will turn it around for him, and maybe some of those hard hit balls will start to drop.
I actually received a couple of text messages and Twitter replies suggesting that Josh’s “swinging bunt” base hit yesterday might be a sign that he is coming out of his “slump.” I put slump in quotation marks because I do not consider him slumping at all. He is having great ABs and hitting the ball very hard, they are simply hit right at defenders and not falling.
I think his own assessment of the situation says it best. He is not striking out and is making hard contact. These are not indicative of a guy who is slumping, they are indicative of bad luck and/or a credit to the scouting reports on him (i.e. – defensive alignment).
And Joe … do you honestly believe that this has anything to do with him living up to his reputation?
All good points. Thing is: we all know Puig is a “knucklehead,” (thanks for the reference Mark Timmons, it is a perfect fit). The extent of his “knuckleheadedness” is a mystery, because it was been kept “in-house,” but I’m pretty sure it had to be quite severe when you consider that Puig was hitting when he was sent down, and coming off a three hit game at that.
His “knuckleheadedness” continued when he got to OKC with his comments and his night on the town, BUT it didn’t stop him from continuing to rake down there. Yes, Harold, I understand it is AAA, but regardless of the level, Yasiel went down there and continued to perform, which beats the alternative of sulking, going down there and stinking up the joint.
I say, the man has served his punishment. Now we need that right handed stick in the lineup. It is time to step on the gas and leave Frisco in the dust. Van Slyke is out. Do we really believe Chris Taylor can provide more to the 25 man roster than Puig? I don’t.
“knuckleheadedness” – That is a VERY good word. It leaves nothing to the imagination. lol!
Looks like Yasiel has taken this article over as he is prone to do. It would indeed be interesting to see what happens should one of the Dodger outfielders sustain an injury and go on the DL.
The fact remains; if Reddick’s batted balls would have landed somewhere else rather than inside the gloves of the defense, then this wouldn’t even be a discussion right now… hence the patience required of us.
But his balls are being fielded, and his stats are reflecting this… just like any other ballplayer’s stats would. The fact that it’s happening at the onset of his Dodgers career is the polarizing factor of the discussion and the reason why Puig is missed. No matter how one decides to slice it; Josh Reddick is not even in the same universe when comparing talent or the ability to impact a team.
Conversely, Yasiel Puig is absolutely raking it right now. Puig’s knuckleheadedness has been addressed and I’m sure he’s gotten the memo by now. I agree with Evan and think it’s time to bring Puig back and let him prove he’s ready to “be a good teammate” again.
Too early. He’s been sent the message that he’s not wanted as is. Calling him back now would be seen by him as a message that they were wrong. Another temporary change isn’t enough.
September 1 tells him he’s in the top 40, but no longer in the top 25. He needs to get back to the top 8.
They’ll probably call up Toles
You guys any good at reading between the lines?
Has anyone ever heard of regression to the mean? Reddick’s average at Oakland was about 35 points above his career average. Things even out. He will get some hits eventually but I fail to understand why he is batting cleanup until that happens; he batted third for the A’s who are not a great hitting team.
Bill Plunkett succinctly addressed this exact point on Twitter, which I agree 100% with:
I’m going more off topic than we already are, but Evan gave me a good lead in:
“It is time to step on the gas and leave Frisco in the dust.”
I’m thinking Frisco may have just stepped on the gas theirownselves. Last night, after our old friend Justin Ruggiano started the scoring with a grand slam in the fourth the Giants came right back with with 5 runs, then 3 in the fifth. This is the kind of win that can turn momentum.
So, our Boys in Blue need to follow Evan’s advice. Do it to Cincy, then come home breathing fire.
The Dodgers must be really down on Puig if they keep Reddick in the lineup batting cleanup. They rather wait for Reddick to finally start hitting than have Puig on the team. I wonder if the Dodgers weren’t doing so well, if they’d put up this long with Reddick.