LA Dodgers’ baseball game that succeeds when touched continues this year. Trace Thompson (32), who ate together with Kim Ha-seong (28) in San Diego last year, is showing an unexpected performance.
The Los Angeles Dodgers defeated Arizona 10-1 in the 2023 Major League Baseball regular season game held at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California on the 2nd (Korean time) and confirmed the winning series.
The match drew attention as it was Madison Bumgarner’s메이저사이트 first match against Clayton Kershaw since moving to Arizona. In the past, in San Francisco, Bumgarner drew attention as an ace representing Kershaw and each club. However, the main character was not them, but LA Dodgers back-up right-handed outfielder Thompson.
Thompson, who was named in the starting lineup as the number 7 hitter and center fielder against left-hander Bumgarner, blew fire from the first at-bat. In the bottom of the first inning, with the Dodgers leading 1-0, with two outs and bases loaded, Thompson hit Bumgarner’s changeup, which was driven in the middle, and fired a mid-running bag.
Thompson, who took one at-bat off in the bottom of the third inning, hit Kevin Ginkel in the bottom of the fifth and drew another three-run arch over the center fence. In the last at-bat in the 9th inning, he hit a mid-month solo shot against Carlos Vargas, finishing the game with 3 hits (3 homers) and 8 RBIs in 4 at-bats. Thompson’s record of 8 RBIs in a game is tied for third in the history of the Los Angeles Dodgers since 1920, when RBIs were counted.
It’s hard to see it as a surprise performance. Last year, Thompson recorded a batting average of 0.071 (1 hit in 14 at-bats) in 6 games with San Diego and was assigned the nomination. He later signed a minor league contract with Detroit, but was traded for cash to the Los Angeles Dodgers about a month later.
The Los Angeles Dodgers knew exactly how to use Thompson. Thompson had strength against righties (0.308 batting average, 1.010 OPS) and was given a chance as a platoon agent. As a result, he had a career high season last year with a batting average of 0.268, 13 homers, 39 RBIs and an OPS of 0.901 in 74 games.
The reason he couldn’t stay as a backup was because he was weak against lefties with a batting average of 0.174 and an OPS of 0.621. However, on this day, he made anticipation for the coming season by performing an anti-war performance against left-hander Beom Garner.
MLB.com said, “One of the reasons the Los Angeles Dodgers had an unusually quiet offseason was that they already had players on the roster to give them a chance,” adding, “One of the players the Dodgers bet on this season is Thompson. Thompson was the perfect acquisition for the Dodgers.”