LOS ANGELES — Before and after the finale of a three-game series between the Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers, hear are some things I heard from both clubhouses.
With the series ending on Wednesday afternoon, much of the buzz around the Dodgers clubhouse had to do with not only the return of Kiké Hernandez after being acquired in a trade with the Boston Red Sox, but also the walk-off double by James Outman that gave the Dodgers an 8-7 win on Tuesday night.
Los Angeles Dodgers: Dave Roberts liking what he sees from James Outman
Outman's game-winning hit was the latest exclamation point of the season for the 26-year-old Outman. After playing in just four games last season, Outman has been a key contributor for the Dodgers this season, especially once the calendar turned to July. Heading into Wednesday's finale, Outman was slashing .310/.437/.500 in 71 plate appearances this month, then opened the matinee with a single to right field. Later, his RBI single to left finally got the Dodgers on the board.
"I'm very impressed with his ability to weather a storm. You know, it was tough sledding there for a while for James," Roberts said, referring to 92 plate appearances in May where he slashed just .165/.261/.291. "But as we've talked about many times, you bet on the maturity, the age and the head. He didn't waver in his preparation. His work with the hitting coaches and being able to manage at-bats, for me, since the break, you wouldn't know he was a rookie. I think right now it's almost to that point where he's past that rookie status for me. He's just another Major League Baseball player."
Los Angeles Dodgers keeping an eye on Tony Gonsolin's velocity
In his July 21 road start against the Texas Rangers, Gonsolin's fastball hovered between 92.2 and 95.2 mph. The top of that range was a good sign for Dave Roberts as Gonsolin's fastball has averaged just 92.4 mph all season.
The fastball helped make a difference as Gonsolin struck out six Rangers, the most he has in an outing in more than a month.
"The average velocity was better in his last start. Also the split, but all the stuff was good," Roberts said. "Hopefully he turned the corner. We got a good outing from Julio (Urias) last night (Tuesday) and if we can get into the off day with another good one from Tony to reset the bullpen would be huge."
Gonsolin, however, would struggle early against the Blue Jays, giving up a pair of runs and loading the bases in his first 2.2 innings of work before pitching coach Mark Prior visited the mound. He responded to the visit by striking out Whit Merrifield to end the threat and the third inning.
Merrifield would get his revenge in the fifth, launching an 0-2 pitch from Gonsolin over the left field wall to extend Toronto's lead to 5-0.
Gonsolin's velocity was there again on Wednesday, throwing a pair of 95.2 mph fastballs during a fifth-inning duel with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. In all, Gonsolin threw 109 pitches in his 5.0 innings of work, including 62 for strikes. Of the pitches, 49 were fastballs ranging from 95.2 to 91.3 mph, with an average of 93.3 mph, still above what had been his season average.
Toronto Blue Jays: Yusei Kikuchi showing offseason adjustments paid off
Coming off a season where the 32-year-old left-hander was taken out of the rotation because of ineffectiveness and eventually posted a 5.19 ERA/5.62 WHIP/1.500 WHIP, Kikuchi made some adjustments in spring training that are still reaping rewards for the Blue Jays.
Those rewards kept coming on Wednesday as Kikuchi scattered seven hits and one run over 6.0 strong innings, walking just two and striking out eight to finish off what has been a strong month. In five July starts (25.1 innings), Kikuchi has posted a combined 3.91 ERA, and that's coming off a splendid June where his ERA was 2.28 over five starts (27.2 innings).
All of the worries about what Kikuchi could bring the Blue Jays in the second year of a three-year, $36 million deal seem to have vanished.
"His year as a whole, he's been really consistent," Blue Jays manager John Schneider said after Wednesday's win. "Coming out of camp, the adjustments he made, it's a credit to him to put himself in the position he did and then kind of evolve along the way too.
"If you look back over the probably the second month and change in the season, without him, we probably wouldn't be here. He's been really, really good in his last two (months) and he's been consistent all year."
Whit Merrifield, one of the offensive heroes of Wednesday, tipped his cap to Kikuchi in the postgame scrum.
"He's been nails. He's in the zone and he's got great stuff," Merrifield said. "He had those guys (Dodgers) in a really good offense off-balance for most of the day."
