End of April Marks Double Milestones for Dodd

As April 2024 winded down, Dave Dodd eyed two career milestones.  1000 RBI and 1500 career hits.  The RBI mark would fall first as the Porland Philosopher Kings would visit Jersey on April 28th.

In the 5th inning Dodd would launch a solo HR off of 2nd year pitcher Jose Garza that bring Jersey Shore within one run and make the score a 5-4 game.  After watching Portland's young slugger Jeff Daniels put the Philosopher Kings up 3 with a 2-run HR in the top of the 7th, Dodd would get his chance in the bottom half. Tadahisa Kisuki would lead off the inning with a single and Mikey Bryant would just miss a home run with his ball careening off the wall in right-center field that would end with Kisuki at 3rd and Bryant at 2nd.  Edgardo Guzman, the flame throwing 26 year old lefty for Portland, would get ahead of Dodd 1-2.  Dodd would take a borderline pitch that was called ball 2 before fouling another pitch back to the screen.  Guzman would make the next mistake hanging a high curveball that Dodd would deposit 408 feet later over the spot that Bryant had previously doubled for his 328th career HR and 1000th career RBI which also tied the game.  The D-Bags would go on to score one more run in the inning and go on to win the game 8-6.  

Dodd became the 21st player in BSA history to reach the 1000 RBI milestone, 14 of which of those are active players.  Next on the list is the retired Louis May, who sits at 1006 RBI.  At age 30 Dodd has a good chance at making a run at the all time record, currently held by Shumei Yokoyama at 1579.  Yokoyama is still active playing for the Niagara Falls Frenzy.

After an off day, the San Francisco Bandits would come to town on April 30th, which marked Dodd's 30th birthday.  Dodd would get his 1st hit in the 1st inning and also drive in the games first run with an RBI single off of starter Tomiji Takuda.  Dodd's 2nd hit of the game would come in the bottom of the 6th inning, also off of Takuda.  With 2 outs and the bases empty, Dodd would smoke a line drive the other way past the 3rd baseman. The ball would rattle around in the corner while Dodd coasted into 2nd with a stand up double.  Hit number 1499.  He would be stranded at 2nd.  Dodd would get his first crack at 1500 when he would lead off the 9th inning with his D-Bags down 13-8.  Veteran Pedro Castillo would was on the bump for the Bandits and that proved as a good sign for Dodd as he was 5-9 lifetime against Castillo up to this point.  Dodd would foul off 5 straight pitches to start the at bat before taking a 94 MPH fastball the other way which would clear the 15 foot wall in left center and land in the 4th row for his 1500th career hit.  Though Jersey would go on to lose the game 13-9, Dodd would join Mike Bryant as the only two players to join the 1500 career hit club in Jersey Shore uniforms.  As a career achievement the hit mark isn't as impressive as the RBI mark, but it does make Dodd the 47th BSA player to reach the mark.

With 3 gold gloves, 4 all star appearances and 3 straight MVP's, Dodd is probably a shoe in already for the BSA Hall of Fame, but could he become one of the best ever?  At only 30 years old all current BSA records seemingly are in play.  If he has the health and longevity that his teammate Mike Bryant has nothing is off the tables, but as we all know, nothing in the BSA is a given as we have seen players at all ages fall abruptly off the table.  What Dodd and Jersey Shore fans want next is a World Series ring.

GO D-BAGS

Bryant Starts Season Hot; Clubs 300th Career HR

When Mikey Bryant ended the 2020 season with 297 career home runs, everyone knew it wouldn't take him long in the 2021 season to hit 3 and reach the milestone of 300, but what they didn't know is that it would only take 3 games.  Bryant homered in both of the 2 game opening series again the 84er's to put him at 299 heading into a 3 game set in Reno on April 5th, 2021.  Luis Lopez was the starter for the Cards and a pitcher Bryant was a then 2-7 against without a HR.  After grounding out in the 1st, Bryant would a 0-1 pitch and launch it 438 feet to dead center easily clearing the CF wall for his 300th career bomb.  

Bryant becomes the 10th big leaguer to hit for 300 HR in the history of the BSA, behind Shizue Chouda who hit his 300th before the end of last season.  Though Bryant amassed 40 HR last year, through 51 games in the 2021 season he has struggled.  As of May 30th, he sits at 8 HR which puts him on pace for only 25. In the past he has heated up in the summer months, particularly August, so time will tell if can put up another great season at age 33, Jersey Shore could sure use his bat as they sit 6 games under .500.  

The only real viable candidate he can pass on the all time list this year year is George Alston who sits at 315 homers. He is active playing in AAA Lansing, but hasn't seen BSA time since 2019.  There is still a good chance that Bryant could reach the 400 HR club and beyond if he doesn't harshly regress in the next 2 years.  Even only a 30 HR season would put him would put him around 330.  The real question to be asked is if Jersey Shore will resign him after this season where he is a pending free agent.  Only a handful of parks around the league are as offensively friendly as the park in Jersey.  I really don't see the D-Bags letting him walk, but we have seen stranger things in the BSA. 

Meanwhile in the lineup, Dave Dodd and his incredibly hot start have him sitting on 184 HR at only 27 years old and he might be peaking now.  Tracking his stats should be a fun thing to do as well.

GO D-BAGS

Milestone for Bryant; Smashes HR #250

I'm sure the league has to be sick of hearing the name Mike Bryant by now.  The superstar now in his 6th full season and 7th total season continues to put up eye popping stats year in and year out.  Earlier this season he was selected to his 6th straight All-Star game and after a "slow" month of April Byrant has hit at least 6 HR and 20 RBI in every month, hit above .330 with an OBP of over 400 in every month except for May and is currently having his most productive month with a week still left over.  

On August 12th, 2019, the first game of a 10 day roadtrip, Bryant didn't take much time hitting a towering fly down the RF line into the 2nd deck of Red Box Field in Madison off of 24 year old reliever turned starter Robinson Gonzales for his 250th career bomb.  Bryant became only the 14th batter to reach this milestone behind classic sluggers such as Crowe, Sagar, Yoko, Delaney, Rivas, Fujita, Alston, Torres, Chouda, Newell and most recently Copriviza.  Not a bad group of players to be associated with.

At the current pace he is on with ~5 or so weeks to go in the season, Bryant would reach 37+ HR for the 6th straight year, 208+ hits for the 6th straight year as well as 119+ RBI also for the 6th straight year.  While he seems to have lost a tiny step on defense and on the basepaths there is really no denying his bat is still going strong.  Bryant will turn 32 a few weeks before the 2020 season and all of Jersey Shore is hoping he ages gracefully continuing to be the heart and soul of the powerful offense.  With his current pace, Bryant should hit the magical 1500 hit mark at some point next season and if he continues on his career HR pace, the 300 HR mark could be hit near the end of next season.

With the emergence of Dave Dodd as a bonafide superstar, he and Bryant make for the one of the most dangerous duos in the current BSA.  They lead all duos with a combined 66 HR, 207 RBI, 193 runs scored and 594 total bases.  Throw in catcher Warren Goyer and the trio makes up for 3 of the top 4 HR hitters in the CL this season.  Will this be enough to push Jersey into the post season?  We can only hope so.  With 5 weeks left in the regular season, Greenville is making a charge and sits 5 games behind Jersey.  The D-Bags only hold a slight lead on the current Wild Card team, the Pocatello Bocabellas as well.  It should be a fun 5 weeks in the CL!

GO D-BAGS

John Warner Named CL Player of Month for August

After trading Superstar Matt Doyle in the off season it opened a huge hole at 1B and in the middle of the lineup.  Alberto Perez has a glove at 1st base and while he isn't a slouch with the bat, he isn't a threat either.  Plans to replace his power came from rookie Fransisco Ibarra who showed he can hit in AAA, but all intents and purposes had no BSA experience.  Before the start of the season Jersey dealt big time power prospect Fransisco Calderon to the LA Bruins for vet John Warner.

Warner had his glory days back in the 2012-2013 season while playing for the Knights of New York before being signed by the Bruins.  After having arguably the worst season of his  career last year, Jersey hoped bringing him into a hitter's park like the Ballpark by the Shore would help his numbers and help the whole created in the lineup.  About being shuffled about the lineup getting over 30 AB hitting 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th during the season, Warner's numbers were consistent April-July, but nothing to write home about.  That's until August rolled around. 

During August Warner was one of 3 players to hit 11 HR during the month, and that also tied 2 others for the most HR for a month in 2018.  It included a 3-game HR stretch vs STL and SCS 8/7-8/9 and his 2nd mutli-HR game of the season in a 11-6 win @TOR on 8/22.  Surprisingly this is the first time in his career that he has been crowned Player of the Month in the BSA.  During the month he raised his slugging percentage 52 points and as of 9/12 sits tied for 6th in the CL in HR with 31. It's the first time he has reached the 30 HR mark since the 2014 season.  

By the end of the season Dave Dodd and Warren Goyer should join Warner and Mike Bryant with 30 HR.  This would mark the 2nd straight season and only the 2nd time in team history that 4 players hit the 30 HR mark.  With the up and coming Fransisco Ibarra, maybe next year we might see the 1st time a Jersey club has featured five members of the 30 HR club.  

For now as 2018 winds down and Jersey is looking towards missing the playoffs for the first time since 2014, we can still hope for a good finish.  Mikey Bryant is looking for his 5th straight 200 hit season, rookie Sergio Martinez has really come on late to show he might be the next big thing and Dave Dodd needs 3 doubles to break the all time Jersey record for doubles in a season.  Just a few things to watch for as the season winds down.

GO D-BAGS

The Maturation of Dave "Diamond" Dodd

Before the season I made a lofty goal for Jersey outfielder Dave Dodd.  I predicted he would build on his 30 HR, 105 RBI season of a year ago and increase that to 42 HR and 135 RBI.  Lofty projections.  Now that we sit mid way through August starting down at the last 6 weeks of the season, it's finally time to start looking at some of these projections.  

While the super power that I had projected hasn't quite come around yet, Dodd is a on projected pace to hit 32 HR this year.  Yes, that would only be 2 more than he hit last year but the encouraging numbers come in his extra base hits.  In only 440 AB this season Dodd has doubled 39 times, which is 9 more times than last year in 170 less AB, and the most in the CL this season.  He also has 6 triples compared to the 5 he totaled all of last season. That puts him on pace for 53 doubles, 8 triples and 32 HR and on pace for 325 total bases which ranks him 6th in the CL.

At only 24 years old I think it's possible to expect we haven't see his full potential yet.  In his 2nd season Dodd took a step back in slugging and OPS, even though his batting average and OBP both rose.  In his 3rd season we have seen improvement in all of these areas.  Batting average is up 11 points at .277, where he he .266 a year.  OBP is up 25 points and Dodd is on pace to walk 15 more times than last year.  With all the added extra base hits his slugging percentage has shot up to .557, which is 78 points higher than last year, and with the additions across the board the OPS is over .900 at .912, over 100 point increase.  

After setting the BSA record for strikeouts in a season with 204, Dodd's contact rate has gone up, and while the strikeouts are still very much there, he is on pace to K 180 times.  That would be 24 times and 12% less than a season ago.  Even his work in the field has increased.  His ZR in RF for all of last season was +6.5, which is respectable, but this season in 46 less games he has upped that number to +10.7.

While Dodd narrowly missed out on making the CL All-Star team this year, we see All-Star nods in his future.   If he can keep improving, which we believe he can, he could be a very special player.  I may have predicted the 40 HR season a season too soon, we very well could see some of those doubles turn into HR, but right now with a line of .277/.355/.557, which RH starter out there wants to face he and Bryant in the same inning?

GO D-BAGS

Bryant Reaches Milestone; 1000 Hits

We celebrated for his 100th career HR, and on May 10th in St. Louis, Mikey Bryant celebrated his 2nd major milestone with his 1000th career hit.  It came in his 747th game at Gateway Stadium in St. Louis and was the 3rd hit in his 5th career 5 hit game.  It's also the game that got him started after a 5 week cold spell to start the season.  He becomes the 86th player in BSA history to reach the 1000 hit plateau and the first player ever to do it in a Jersey uniform.  He also becomes the first player to make his debut in 2013 or later to reach the 1000 hit mark.

Sitting at 996 hits before the game started, Bryant would need a big day to reach the mark.  On the mound was young "Beanpole" Gonzales who up until this time was posting a shiny 4.12 ERA to go with a 3-2 W/L record.  In the first Bryant would get an infield single, which Jersey would end up scoring 3 runs in.  Bryant would single the very next inning scoring a runner from 3rd, two batters before teammate Dave Dodd would hit a Grand Slam to completely break the game open at 9-0.  Bryant wouldn't have to wait long to get his 3rd chance.  In the 3rd inning he would come up with runners on a 2-2 count line a pitch between 1st and 2nd for his 3rd single of the day and his 2nd RBI.  3 innings, 3 AB, 3 hits.  He would actually have to wait an extra inning to get his shot at grand 1000 hit.  With Peter Larson standing on 1st base and MR Seung-Woo Yun on the mound, Bryant would foul off a 1-0 pitch before Yun left a 98 MPH fastball up in the zone.  A pitch like that Bryant usually doesn't miss, and he sure as wouldn't today.  The ball wouldn't clear the short CF wall by much, but 413 feet later, Bryant was 4-4 and his 1000th hit was a HR, which really shouldn't be that surprising.  Nearly 20% of Bryant's hits in his career have landed as souvenirs.  Bryant would double in the 7th for his 5th hit, giving him 5 RBI on the day.  He had a chance to join former 2-time MVP Jeff Cole as the only other BSA players to have 6 hits in a regulation 9 inning game, but lined out into Left-Center leading off the 9th inning.

The HR was the 188th in Bryant's career.  As of today, he sits at 1026 hits and 193 HR.  If he continues along his career pace, his 200th career HR will come sometime in late June or early July.  Teammate John Warner currently sits at 198 HR, but you never know with Mikey, 7 HR might not take as long as anyone could guess.  Currently Warner sits with 7 HR on the year and Bryant is 2nd in the CL with 14 HR.  

As Bryant and any other Jersey players climb career leaderboards and gain personal achievements tune in to the Bag Report to read the full breakdown!

GO D-BAGS 

Mike Bryant's Assault and Climb on BSA's Record Books

Just days before the 2018 season started, Mike Bryant turned 30 years old, with only 4.5 years under his belt he is behind most players who played their rookie year before the age of 25.  That hasn't stopped him from being one of the most consistent players in that time span.  Bryant had another huge year in 2017 bringing home his 2nd MVP award and making him only the 3rd player in league history to have 2.  The others are John Crowe and Jeff Cole, not too bad of company to be in.

Bryant has nearly set every record in the Jersey Shore record book for hitters and will only build upon that in the coming years.  As we are a week into the 2018 season, Bryant sits only behind Todd Church on the All Time BSA leader boards for batting average, 2nd to only Jeff Cole in OPS, while sitting firmly atop the Slugging percentage ranks by 31 points over German Rivas.

As for 2nd basemen he already holds the all time lead for HR with 182 and only sits 5 RBI behind Dylan Sinclair for the all-time RBI lead at 2B.  It just goes to show how much of a rarity it is for a powerful 2nd baseman to remain there and produce.

With 3 HR in Jersey's first 5 games, Bryant has a career total of 182 HR which currently puts him tied for 35th on the all-time list.  If he can hit his career average for HR and hit 35 this season, he would be pushed up the list to around the 20th mark, while becoming the 22nd, 23rd or 24th player ever to hit 200 HR in BSA history.

For his career he has knocked in 641 runs, which ranks him 53rd on the all time list.  If he hits career averages and knocks in 140 runs this year, he should end in the neighborhood of 775 or so RBI, which catapult him into the 25-30th range with a large handful of still active players ahead of him on the list.

As for hits Bryant sits lower on the list and just entered the Top 100, sitting at 96th with 974.  He will become around the 90th player in BSA history to have 1000 career hits.  He hasn't missed 200 hits in a full season yet in his career and with another 200 hit season, he should end this year around 1170.

As for runs, he is in the same boat as hits.  He recently entered the Top 100 and sits in 86th place with 547.  His career average for runs is 125, and if he puts up close to that it could catapult him into the top 50.

While I know getting a late start in his career will hamper his career numbers and hold him back from any huge milestones, I will use this as a starting piece to track his progress through this year and beyond.

As of 4/6/2018 ranks:

BA 2nd: .3306

OPS 2nd: .9807

SLG: 1st: .5954

VORP 20th: 348.54

Hits: 96th: 974

HR: 35th: 182

RBI: 53rd: 641

WAR: 24th: 35.51

Despite Down Year Doyle Reaches Milestone

Matthew Doyle had high hopes coming in 2016.  A year after leading the CL in HR in his first full season he eyed improvement and so far this year he has come up short.  For him the numbers are down across the board, for any normal player it's still a stellar season, but playing in his 3rd year in the pros it's been a small disappointment. Though on August 9th, 2016 he had something to celebrate.  Doyle become the 2nd D-Bag player in franchise history, and this season, to reach the 100 HR plateau.

In officially his 1537th AB, Doyle took Vista SP Michael Hoffmeyer deep in the 4th inning to give Jersey a 3-0 lead and officially his 100th career HR.  It was a line drive shot Doyle pulled and whizzed by the foul pole landing an estimated 352 feet from home plate.  As Doyle rounded third celebratory fireworks filled the skies at the Ballpark at the Shore and Doyle was first greeted by fellow superstar and best friend Mikey Bryant who had doubled in his previous AB.  It was Doyle's 2nd career hit and 1st career HR off of Hoffmeyer, who he had been 1-5 against previously for his career.

Doyle needing only 1537 AB's, or 15.37 AB/HR, compared to all-time HR leader John Crowe who has hit 16.04 AB/HR in his career.  Not that it means anything, nor that Doyle will ever reach Crowe who has nearly 4 times the HR at this point, but a nice point of reference for the 27 year old.  Doyle in only his 3rd year sits only behind Bryant for HR in a D-Bags uniform.  Bryant currently sits at 125, while at the time of this publication Doyle sits at 103.  If Doyle is going to repeat as CL HR king, he will have to get hot late.  Bryant and rookie Domingo Cardona currently lead the CL with 33 HR apiece, while Doyle sits at 26 with only 40 or so games left to go in the season.

Mikey Bryant Clubs HR #100

"With the 21st pick in the 2010 Rule IV Amateur Draft the Jersey Shore D-Bags select Mike Bryant, second base, out of Stanford University" ~ Commissioner Ulery, September 1, 2010

Combination of  glove, power, speed and contact made Bryant a prototypical 1st round pick.  Jersey was shocked he fell to them at 21.  "We had him Top 10, especially playing in the middle infield.  Guy was a no-brainier in our mindset." said GM Josh Swain.  Bryant has put in long hours in the cage and worked in the off season to make him one of most feared hitters in the BSA today.  We sit a few months short of 6 years since the Bags took Bryant to celebrate his 100th career HR.  He was drafted at the age of 22, spent nearly 3 years in the minors refining his skills before breaking out in 2013.  435 games and 1767 At bats later he reaches his 1st milestone.  

Tuesday, May 10th, 2016.  After hitting his 99th career HR a week earlier, the Bags sat in the middle of a home stand.  Beating the LA Bruins 2 out of 3 was nice, but for Bryant he sat on 99.  The counter by the "Bryant Bunch" in the Right Field bleachers told the entire crowd where he sat.  They were hoping to see fireworks at home.  Alfonso Medina was on the mound for the Madison Bombers that afternoon, whom Bryant was 3 for 7 against without a HR.  Bryant would get his chance early.  Hitting cleanup, the first two hitters in the inning, Peter Larson and Alberto Perez would reach base via walks.  After the catcher Duran would fly out, Bryant would get his cuts.  It only took Medina 4 pitches to sit Bryant down swinging on a slider out of the zone.

His 2nd try would come leading off the bottom of the 3rd inning with his team trailing 5-2.  He had a favorable count of 2-1 before a big swing and a miss left the count evened at 2-2.  The 5th pitch Bryant just missed which resulted in a fly out to CF.  Bryant would barely have his helmet off before his good buddy Matt Doyle would take the 3rd pitch of his AB 375 feet, 17 rows up in the right field bleachers.   It wouldn't take long for Bryant to get another chance.  It was just the next inning.  With runners on the corners down 5-3, Bryant strolled to the plate to face Medina for the 3rd time today. The first pitch was a fastball which caught the inside corner for a strike, a good slider and a swing and a miss would put Bryant down in the hole 0-2.  Medina set and pitched.....Medina made a mistake.  A hanging curveball. Bryant rarely misses mistakes.  He didn't this time.  Bryant with a dead pull punished that curveball.  What seemed like minutes later, the ball landed 457 feet deep into the upper deck for a go ahead 3 run HR, and the 100 HR of the young slugger's career.  The crowd gave a standing ovation and Bryant would return out of the dugout with a tip of the hat.  

How far can Bryant go?  100 HR is a nice milestone and it puts him in the company of 100+ players who also have hit that many HR.  He is 28, which for a 3rd year player is older than most.  The big milestones may be out of reach, but with the way he has played in his short career, I don't think we have seen him to his full potential yet.  The kid is special.  The real question is which milestone will come 2nd now?  1000 career hits or 200 HR?  He currently sits at 582 career hits and 100 HR.  My bet is on hits, but with the way the HR are leaving the yard, it might be close!

Hopefully Bryant can continue the D-Bags in this tough division battle and lead the Bags back to the playoffs this season!

GO D-BAGS!