Ten things I learned in the 2017 Bill James Handbook.

Bill  James Handbook 2017The 2017 Bill James Handbook is on shelves now. It’s 609 pages of facts, figures and other quantitative observations from the most recent baseball season. I’m always amazed at how quickly anyone can publish such massive amounts of data, let alone sort them and analyze them into something digestable.

Between tracking down Kenley Jansen contract details, I attempted to make the BJH even more digestable for Dodger fans. Here are 10 things that either I didn’t know, or didn’t know with nearly the same precision, before reading the book:

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Dave Roberts is the 2016 National League Manager of the Year.

Dave Roberts

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts won the NL Manager of the Year award on Tuesday. (John McCoy/Staff photographer)

Dave Roberts, who guided the Dodgers to 91 wins and a division title in his first season managing at any level, was named National League Manager of the Year on Tuesday. Roberts was listed first on 16 out of 30 ballots. The Baseball Writers’ Association of America voted on the award after the regular season.

Roberts’ own struggles on his journey to the big leagues helped him relate to his players, writes colleague Bill Plunkett.

Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon finished second to Roberts and was listed first on my ballot. Here’s why.

 

Corey Seager, Kenta Maeda, Dave Roberts among finalists for BBWAA awards.

Corey Seager Dave Roberts

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts and shortstop Corey Seager are up for BBWAA awards next week. (John McCoy/Staff photographer)


Corey Seager has a chance to become the third player ever to win his league’s Most Valuable Player award and Rookie of the Year Award. The Dodgers’ shortstop is among top three vote-getters for both awards, the Baseball Writers’ Association of America announced Monday.

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Dave Roberts says Trayce Thompson’s back wasn’t responding to treatment

Trayce Thompson

Trayce Thompson/:Photo courtesy of Los Angeles Dodgers, MLB.com

 

Outfielder Trayce Thompson (back) was expected to go on a rehab assignment soon, but manager Dave Roberts said Friday that he doesn’t expect to see Thompson until perhaps Sept. 1.

Roberts said Saturday that Thompson did not re-aggravate his back injury. Rather, he just wasn’t responding all that well to treatment.

“So we did a little bit more imaging and I don’t know the exact diagnosis, but there was stuff prior that we wanted to kind of calm down,” Roberts said. “So with the back, we took a step back on his rehab. I think now it’s limited, if any, baseball activity. But we’re just trying to stabilize his core and back.”

Dodgers to sign autographs to raise money for earthquake relief in Japan, Ecuador.

DENVER — An hour and a half before a home game, the Dodgers will typically be indoors working out, relaxing, eating, or meeting. Tuesday they will be signing autographs.
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