As the season is winding down, I was waiting for an “exciting” opener for two teams headed for the playoffs, but seemingly unable to hit with RISP, and trying to figure out what to write. I was going to write about the 107 wins (now 108) and other related notes, but Badger posted an excellent summation that explained it better than I could and saved me a ton of research time.
With Houston’s loss on Wednesday and the Dodgers win on Thursday, the Dodgers magic number to be the home team thru the World Series was down to 1. Not a lot of drama impacting the Dodgers. There was no MiLB game that I could write about. I guess I will just write about some random thoughts that hit me during the game.
It is clear that Brusdar Graterol does not have swing and miss pitches. That could prove to be a problem in the playoffs, as it was in last night’s game. He was not hit hard at all, but he was hit. A lot of velo, but not a lot of movement. He still deserved much better than his numbers on the night.
Andrew Heaney has swing and miss pitches, but didn’t seem to throw them on 0-2 pitches. To be fair, both hits on 0-2 pitches were not in the strike zone, but obviously hittable. But he was able to come back and punch out Manny Machado on an 0-2 pitch, but it probably did catch too much of the plate. Heaney also dodged a bullet with a 750 foot foul ball hit by Machado with the bases loaded. But he settled down and completed a brilliant 4.0 scoreless innings. 3 hits, 1 walk, and 6Ks.
The umpiring behind the plate was especially bad in the Padres series. Thursday’s plate umpire, Edwin Moscoso is considered an extreme hitter friendly umpire (2nd most). That might explain why some of Heaney’s clear strikes were called balls. And to be fair, also true for Sean Manaea and all the pitchers that followed, LAD and SDP pitchers alike.
The official scorekeeper was obviously very favorable to SD hitters in this series. The double hit off Caleb Ferguson by Austin Nola (Tuesday night) should have been a two base error by CT3. And that Brandon Drury hit that got by Trea Turner in the 1st? Am I being too tough on Trea?
There were an awful lot of Dodgers jerseys in the seats behind the plate the entire series. Probably throughout the stadium. The Dodgers play more than 81 home games.
Miguel Vargas is showing people he belongs in the Show. That 2 strike pitch he hit off Pierce Johnson for a 2-run single was brilliant. Everywhere Vargas has played he has hit. Every time he starts at a new level, he starts slowly. But once he gets comfortable, he has been special. This year at OKC, on April 27 and 77 ABs, Miggy was batting .233/.341/.384/.725. When he was brought up to LA after August, Vargas’ batting line with OKC was .304/.404/.511/.915. Over his last three games with LAD, Miguel is 4-11 with a sac fly and 5 RBIs. Over his last five games he is 5 for 17 with 6 RBIs.
Cody Bellinger is still an elite CF.
It was nice to see David Price pitching again for LAD. I am not sure that he makes the playoff roster. But I hope he finishes strong. The relief pitching AGAIN was terrific for LAD. The Padres got 10 hits, but other than the Machado double, not much trouble. The Padres were 1-9 WRISP while LAD was 3-8.
The Dodgers take the series against San Diego 2 games to 1. They are now 14-5 against San Diego for the season with a RS vs RA of 109-47. Average score of 5.7 to 2.5.
The Dodgers have 54 road wins in 2022, the most in franchise history.
The Dodgers have now won at least 106 wins in the last three full 162 game seasons. With another 104 win season two seasons earlier. Even with the great regular season, the ultimate goal of a WS championship did not happen.
2022 – 108-48 (and still playing)
2021 – 106-56
- Beat St. Louis in wild card game
- Beat San Francisco 3 games to 2 in NLDS
- Lost to Atlanta 4 games to 2 in NLCS
2019 – 106-56
- Lost to Washington 3 games to 2 in NLDS
2017 – 104-58
- Beat Arizona 3 games to 0 in NLDS
- Beat Chicago Cubs 4 games to 1 in NLCS
- Cheated by Houston 4 games to 3 in WS
The Dodgers have had 5 additional 100 win seasons since 1900.
1974 – 102-60
- Beat Pittsburgh 3 games to 1 in NLCS
- Lost to Oakland 4 games to 1 in WS
1962 – 102-63
- Lost to San Francisco 2 games to 1 in NL Playoff
1953 – 103-49
1942 – 104-50
- Finished in 2nd place in National League
1941 – 100-54
As can be seen, winning 100 games has not helped the Dodgers win any world championships. Will 2022 be different? I say yes. But I do believe it was Bluto (and others) who are taking the field. With the Dodgers (and Trojans) I always lead with my heart over my head.
I know everyone is excited about Diego Cartaya. Andy why not? He is 21 years old (20 baseball age). He is the #1 LAD prospect. He was the LAD MiLB Player of the Year. He was assigned first to low A and then quickly promoted to High A in 2022, where in 445 PA, he accumulated a batting line of .254/.389/.503/.892 with 22 HRs. He had 119 Ks (26.7%) and 63 BB (14.2%). For the season, Cartaya had a CS% of 19% (18 out of 96) with 10 passed balls.
It was my hope that Diego could be pushed a bit to get to AA. Keibert Ruiz was playing AAA at the same age, and made his MLB debut at 21. If it were not for Will Smith, Ruiz would be the starting catcher for LAD. There were some who believed that the Dodgers should move Smith to 3B just so Ruiz could catch for the Dodgers. I am glad that person(s) is (are) not the Dodger GM. Will Smith is the best overall catcher in MLB.
Why bring this up? Today NYM is promoting Francisco Álvarez to the Show. He will be playing in the middle of a pennant race against Atlanta in the big 3 game series. For the season at AA and AAA, Álvarez posted a batting line of .260/.374/.511/.885, with 27 HRs and 123 Ks (24.8%) and 70 BBs (14.1%). He had 495 PA. He had a CS% of 29% (31 out of 108) and 10 passed balls.
Álvarez is actually 11 weeks YOUNGER than Cartaya and he is making his MLB debut this weekend in a hot pennant race. They both signed July 2, 2018, and they are both from Venezuela. Cartaya was #3 International FA, while Álvarez was #17 (#3 catcher). And yes I do understand the difference in organizational catching depth. While the Dodgers have Will Smith and Austin Barnes, the Mets are stuck with Tomás Nido, James McCann, and Patrick Mazeika. But it sure would have been nice to see Cartaya pushed like Álvarez so he could be in a position to replace one of the two if an injury occurred. Barnes signed for two more years, so it would seem the Dodgers are looking at Cartaya at AA in 2023 and AAA in 2024.
Cartaya will be on the 40 man roster this December, and could make his ML debut at any time in 2023 or 2024.
How much better will Cartaya be than Rushing? Which one gets traded? Cartaya and Lux for Franco?
Infield for next 6 years:
Freeman, Betts, Vargas, Franco.
Good summation Jeff.
“Am I being too tough on Trea?” Hell no. Make the play Trea. You’re a Major League shortstop. Softball shortstops across the country make more difficult plays than that every night.
I fell asleep somewhere around the 5th. Dodger games have been soporific of late. It’s ok. Better than Ambien I suppose.
Anybody seen our outfield bats? They’re about 34” long and don’t have any scuff marks on them. Vargas, and his .165, is actually making a move on a roster spot.
Gallo’s sun is setting, but some loud contact this coming week could change that. Come on Joey. See ball hit ball
I’ve said it before but it’s worth regurgitating – Graterol needs some grip education. Take that 100 mph tubed fastball, bend it to 97 and watch how many bats you miss. Maybe it’s grip strength. If I were his coach I’d have him 3 finger hang from a high bar 7 minutes every day. I’d also have him talk to Orel about grips. Orel bores the heck out of me on a telecast but I’ve heard him talk about gripping seams and nobody knows more about that than he does.
108. Yawn. I see 112, several days off to heal owies then out of the October gates like Seabisquit. This is our year.
Thanks for commenting early every morning Badger. I look forward to reading Jeff’s Post and all the comments. We always have to wait for noon to arrive before STB joins in. He must party hard every night.
Seabisquit? I prefer Whirlaway.
As I remember the original trade proposal involving Mookie had Graterol going to Boston but Boston rejected him based on medicals. Was it the Twins that traded him? They didn’t seem all that impressed with him. I hope he “hangs” around with the Dodgers.
Gonsolin to be ready to pitch 4 maybe 5 if pitch count is limited. By the time the World Series starts will he be stretched to 7? Dodgers need him.
I’m more and more moving off of Trea. He has not done well in playoff games and seems to be fading some. I used to want to see Lux at short but now I like him at second or included in a trade for the RIGHT shortstop if a free agent isn’t signed.
If Vargas is a keeper then put him at third next year and keep one of Justin or Max for insurance. I don’t want to see Vargas linger in AAA or the bench.
If Trace wants to stay a Dodger then he needs to learn to hit lefties. Hitting against righties has not been a problem for the Dodgers for quite a few years.
Hey Fred. Just reporting in. I’m an hour early. Didn’t get to bed until about 4:00 this morning. The L.A. party scene is beginning to wear me down. By the way, anyone who knows me will know we’ve never met. They would get a real good laugh thinking I was out partying.
Trea definitely looks tired to me and if we couple that with another so-so playoff performance, that might just make AF think twice about how hard he tries to get him to stay. That said, I’d still rather have him here than not.
Here’s a question for you. Would our 2023 lineup without Trea be strong enough to absorb having Amaya as the shortstop? He’s a great fielder and after a lousy start offensively at OKC, came on strong at the end of the year. I’d really like to get to a point where at least two of our starting infielders are Gold Glove worthy (Freddie plus the shortstop?).
If Vargas becomes a regular (or semi-regular) next year, I definitely want him to spend most of his time in left field. I think with decent reps out there he could become a decent outfielder and that way we can still alternate Max and JT at third. Who do we have that plays left field that would be better in the lineup than JT or Max? That’s why I say use Vargas in left.
There are probably going to be several free agent shortstops available. Swanson, Carrera, Bogaerts in addition to Trea.
I have fun with trades and recently there was an article about some teams that need several good players more than they need one really good player. Franco was given as an example and since then I have Wandered if there was a chance for him being a Dodger. Pipe dream.
Extra points for Wandering about Franco. Well done!
Welcome to the party Jefe. The Dodgers put me asleep around 8:30. I was up before 4. Ready for a nap now
My SS choice was Lindor. Second choice would probably be Turner or Bogaerts. I have no idea what Friedman is thinking but I’m pretty sure it isn’t Amaya.
“Who do we have that plays left field that would be better in the lineup than JT or Max?”.
At the moment, nobody. That could change. Taylor, Vargas, Thompson or Gallo could go off any day.
Boston did reject the trade for Graterol based on medicals. It did seem like Minnesota wanted to trade him away. Graterol throws very hard, so it seems reasonable to keep him and hope that one of these supposed LAD pitching gurus can “fix” him.
Fred, just out of curiosity, which SS is the RIGHT SS to trade for. NYM is not trading Lindor. Texas is not trading Seager. ChiSox is not trading Tim Anderson. KC is not trading Bobby Witt Jr. I cannot see Chicago Cubs trading Nico Hoerner, but the Cubs have not been very smart of late. Bo Bichette? The only place Toronto will move Bichette is to another infield position if they can sign one of the big SS in FA. I am sure Detroit would love to get out from under Javy Baez’s contract, but I am certain he is not who you may be referring to. I know you like Gleybar Torres, but he is not a SS. NYY is sticking with Isiah Kiner-Falefa until Volpe is ready. Wily Adames? I do not trust Milwaukee slugging numbers. The reason the SS position has been blown up contract wise the last couple of years is because everyone is looking for the RIGHT SS. There just are not many around, and when a contender has one, they keep them,
Secretariat in a romp.
Trea isn’t as good this year as he was last year, which is counterintuitive in a contract year. But, he is pushing 30 and we all know it’s downhill from there. Going forward he will be closer to 4 WAR than the 6.5 he put up in ‘21. He also may be become a 135 game player if he’s to be counted on through to November. He looks kinda tired to me.
Gonsolin. I haven’t seen him throw 1 inning to Major League hitters in weeks and until he does, I plan a staff without him. If he’s ready by mid October it will be easy enough to bump somebody.
Whilraway huh? An obscure reference. No movies made about him that I recall, but, ok. We can whirl out of the post season starting gate.
I had a game as a kid where 4 race horses raced around a track based on the roll of a dice. The horses were Citation, Man o’ War, Whirlaway, and Seabiscuit. Secretariat was yet to be born. I remember Round Table from watching Gil Stratton sports news. Whirlaway isn’t considered a top 12 race horse.
I had that game too, or at least something very similar. Mine was called Kentucky Derby and had 5 horses: Whirlaway, Seabiscuit, Galant Man, Citation and Twenty Grand.
Fascinating racehorse talk. I just liked the sound of Seabiscuit.
Too salty for me.
Seabiscuit? Whirlaway? Great horses to be sure. But my favorite horse and race came on my 21st birthday (06/09/73) and I was in Las Vegas celebrating. I placed a $5.00 bet on Secretariat in the Belmont and he won by 31 lengths. Just like San Diego and LAD, Secretariat and Sham were together at the half mile, but Secretariat took off as did the Dodgers. Now LAD has to finish just like Secretariat. It is called the greatest horse race of all time. I was so happy to cash in my winning bet, but when I got only $5.50 (something around that amount) on my $5.00 bet, I wondered why people go through all that for so little reward. I have never been a gambler ever since.
Kimbrel and Gallo need to go away.
Totally agree. Can we send them to Ohio?
Yes to Cleveland for Shane Bieber.
Now we just need to make you Cleveland GM, Jeff. 🙂
Picking up on Jeff’s article and Vargas’s typical slow starts at a new level of Thompson, Gallo and Vargas which two would you have for post season?
Gallo hasn’t been coming through lately but can play good defense. Thompson has been slumping but can play all three outfield positions. Is it possible that Vargas is starting to show his talents at the MLB level? However, he’s not the greatest playing left field.
Vargas is showing the bat to ball skills that he is becoming known for. His hit last night was very RH Freddie Freeman. With 2 strikes, shorten up the swing, put barrel on ball and hit it where it is pitched. The below video should be forced viewing for CT3 and Belli.