It is not one thing, but a confluence of events that seems to be impacting the Dodgers’ 2025 season.
This was the 2nd consecutive year that the Dodgers left in the middle of Spring Training to open the MLB season in Korea and then Japan. Sure it is the trip of a lifetime for the players and their families, and ownership made of piles of $$$, but could the ST interruption negatively impact their 2025 development?
One year could be okay, but two consecutive years? In and by itself, it was not a big deal. After all, the team broke out 8-0. But then the injuries started to pile up. Treinen, Phillips, Glasnow, Snell, Kopech, Sasaki, Gonsolin…Mookie came down with an stomach virus, as did Kiké. Mookie lost 20+ pounds. He did not have 20 pounds to lose. He did recover and was playing well when he broke his toe. He did not recover quickly from the broken toe and tanked for 2+ months into his worst slump by far as a baseball player. Did the recovery from the loss of the 20 pounds impact his recovery and conditioning for the toe?
Then we learned that Mookie’s stepfather was suffering an illness that just recently took his life. How much did this weigh on Mookie? Mookie has been in a funk all season, and the Dodgers need Mookie to be Mookie.
The Dodgers were already coming off a WS championship run, that would necessarily cut into the recovery mode of the offseason. Then with the early and shortened ST, there were bound to be some injuries, lingering and new, correct?
Did Glasnow have sufficient time to change his mechanics before departing to Japan? It did not take long for Tyler to come down with a shoulder inflammation. Could the rushed ST have impacted Tyler’s 2025 training and development? His mechanics changed so as to try and minimize potential injuries. Did he not have time to work them all out?
The shortened ST sure appears to perhaps have had an impact with Blake Snell. He has since stated that he was not ready to start the season but did not want to disappoint his teammates, and he too came down with a shoulder injury.
Tony Gonsolin came down with a back ailment, and is now out with right elbow discomfort.
Evan Phillips first hurt his rotator cuff, came back and suffered a UCL tear and had TJ surgery. Maybe there was not enough rest from the extended innings in 2024 and the early start to 2025 and shortened ST to fully recuperate, as he was injured and not on the WS roster.
Michael Kopech also perhaps did not recover sufficiently from 2024 forcing him to start on the IL. His latest injury had nothing to do with any other circumstance.
Roki Sasaki was losing velo last season in Japan. Maybe he should not have tried to push it early in his MLB career, and build up his arm to get ready for the back end of the season. He is supposedly pain free now and is heading out for a rehab assignment in OKC of Thursday.
The Dodgers were the best team in MLB when Max Muncy suffered a significant knee bruise and went on the IL. Max was carrying the team in June. The Dodgers were 10-15 during the 25 games that Max was out. The team is 3-4 since he returned, so it appears that the Dodgers have still not recovered fully from his absence.
One of the players who might have filled in for Max was Kiké Hernández, but Kiké has been out since July 7 with elbow soreness. The reports of his potential return are all over the place. One day Doc is reporting that Kiké may be down for the year. A couple of days later, Kiké is taking ground balls at 3B and now could be back in a few weeks. Who knows right now.
Next man up was Tommy Edman. Edman has been hurt all year, but he tweaked his bad ankle again and was placed on the IL August 4, the same day Max came back. Tommy has not been Tommy since injuring his ankle at the end of April. At the time of his injury, his OPS was .818. Since he returned May 18, his batting line has been .214/.273/.323/.596.
To begin the season, Teoscar Hernández was batting .315/.333/.600/.933 with 10 doubles, 9 HR, 34 RBI, and only 25 K (18.3%) in 136 PA. He was well on his way to another All Star season when he suffered a groin injury. He returned to the lineup 13 days later, and has not been the same since. Since his return, Teo is hitting .220/.265/.390/.655, 13 doubles, 9 HR, 35 RBI, and 73 K (28.9) in 253 PA.
Freddie Freeman started the year as if he was on his way to his 2nd NL MVP. On May 31, Freddie was batting .374/.440/.638/1.078. Then June hit Freddie right between the eyes. No reported reason or explanation. But from June1 to July 28, Freddie batted .212/.288/.285/.573. He had 1 HR in that span, on the last game in June. He did not get his next HR until his last game in July. From July 29 thru August 11, Freddie is back at his MVP pace, batting .395/.462/.721/1.182.
Shohei was having another MVP type season through May. He won May MLB Player of the Month, and was batting .298/.395/.667/1.062. Through June and July, Shohei was batting .236/.348/.533/.881. July was a particularly bad month for Shohei.
What happened to make things go sideways? Could it have been that was the time when Shohei was starting to ramp up to be a starting pitcher. His first start was June 16. Shohei probably would have been ramped up in his off season training if not for the shoulder subluxation suffered in the World Series.
Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates (twice) were supposed to be the late game high leverage relievers/closers. Neither has lived up to their expectations. Why? Is it just the season of unanswered questions?
Michael Conforto has been a disappointment from very early on. No injury, just bad baseball. Why?
Dalton Rushing, Hyeseong Kim, Alex Freeland have each had their moments, but none of them have shown they can sustain their positive play. They all look to be MLB players with some upside. But it is doubtful that Rushing will achieve that level as a backup catcher, and probably should be traded in the offseason for him to be able to achieve that success. Holding on to him for next year will necessarily diminish his future trade value.
Kim is an exceptional defensive 2B. Can he hit consistently enough for the everyday job? He should be back soon. Freeland has shown he too can be a plus defensive infielder. Will he hit enough? None of the three players are capable of contributing to the success of the team over a lengthy part of the 2025 season.
Injuries are certainly a reason for the poor play of the Dodgers in 2025. But perhaps another factor could be where the Dodgers draft every year. At some point the age of the MLB regulars and lack of elite MLB ready talent in the affiliates have to have had an effect, right?
The last time the Dodgers had a draft pick in the teens was 2013, RHP Chris Anderson was selected 18th overall. This was one year after the Dodgers selected SS Corey Seager, also with the 18th overall pick.
Clayton Kershaw was the last single digit overall selection. He was #7 in 2006. From 2007-2011, there were two other overall selections in the teens:
- 2008 – RHP Ethan Martin
- 2011 – LHP Chris Reed
The Dodgers have had two 1st draft picks at #40 in the last 4 drafts: C Dalton Rushing #40 (2022) and LHP Zach Root (2025).
The highest draft pick LAD has had in the AF era was 2016 when the Dodgers selected #20 overall for HS SS Gavin Lux.
Of course there have been multiple All Star selections taken subsequent to the first round, but the odds of selecting an elite perennial All Star player increases the lower in the draft order a team goes. It is not just the first round, but all of the subsequent rounds where the Dodgers select near the end of each round. Plus the Dodgers have lost a number of 2nd and 5th round picks for selecting free agents with a QO.
With all of that, we have now learned that Ohtani and his agent, Nez Balelo are subject to a multi Hundred Million $$$ lawsuit, for allegedly sabotaging a $240 million Hawaii real estate project. Per the suit, Ohtani’s agent, Nez Balelo, demanded concessions from developer Kevin J. Hayes Sr. and real estate broker Tomoko Matsumoto before eventually dropping out of the project altogether.
Per the AP:
“Balelo and (Ohtani), who were brought into the venture solely for (Ohtani’s) promotional and branding value, exploited their celebrity leverage to destabilize and ultimately dismantle Plaintiffs’ role in the project — for no reason other than their own financial self-interest,” the lawsuit claims. It’s also claimed that Ohtani and Balelo used their influence to tank a neighboring project, costing the company millions in the process.
The project – a hotel and resort – championed Ohtani as the first resident of the hotel at Mauna Kea Resort.
“Ohtani will act as the celebrity spokesperson for the project and has committed to purchasing one of the 14 residences within the project,” the brochure says. “He also intends to spend significant time at The Vista in the off-season and will construct a small hitting and pitching facility for preseason training.”
Will this affect Ohtani for the remainder of the season? The Dodgers need Shohei to be Shohei.
One of my favorite movies was The Perfect Storm.
Could all of the circumstances together create a season where enough things can and do go bad enough to derail the season? Do not know yet. There is still nearly 7 weeks before the end of the season, and things can turn around. Ohtani, Mookie, Freddie, and Max have all shown positive signs of turning the page.
Then we saw a Yoshinobu Yamamoto hiccup in Monday night’s game. Is there something there? I would not be surprised with how this season has been unfolding.
But I still choose to think positively (even with some trepidation). I still believe that Scott will come back and be his 2023-2024 version.
I think Treinen’s command will come back. I have no clue about Yates, but he was so good last year, you have to hope that his time on the IL will help. I am also very curious as to what may have been uncovered with Bobby Miller who has been exceptional since moving to the pen. I hope he gets a chance to show what he can do at the MLB level, even if it is as a showcase for 2026.
And while this team looks to be snake bit for 2025, and there are a lot of “IFS”, the team is still in position for a playoff berth. Get there and then let the talent take over in short series. Maybe October is the anti-venom for the LAD snake bites.
MiLB GAME SUMMARY REPORTS
OKC Comets 8 – Albuquerque Isotopes (Colorado) 6
The Oklahoma City Comets overcame an early five-run deficit and broke a tie in the seventh inning on the way to an 8-6 win against the Albuquerque Isotopes Tuesday night. Albuquerque raced out to a 5-0 lead in the second inning. With Great Lakes RHP Christian Romero starting for OKC, Michael Toglia hit a three-run homer in the first inning and Ryan Ritter knocked a two-run single in the second inning for a 5-0 advantage.
Oklahoma City responded quickly with five runs in the second inning on a sacrifice fly by Noah Miller, RBI single by Chuckie Robinson and three-run homer by Esteury Ruiz.
The Comets then went in front, 6-5, on a solo home run by Luken Baker (1) in the third inning.
The Isotopes tied the score, 6-6, in the sixth inning before the Comets regained the lead for good in the seventh inning on Noah Miller’s second sacrifice fly of the night. Jose Ramos added an insurance run for the Comets in the eighth inning, hitting a RBI single.
Esteury Ruiz hit his 10th home run of the season with the Comets and finished with a team-high three RBI. He went 1-for-3 with two walks and scored two runs. Since being optioned to OKC last week, Ruiz has hit safely in three of four games, going 4-for-14 with two home runs, a double, four RBI, seven walks and seven runs scored.
In his second game with the Comets, Luken Baker went 2-for-4 with a home run (1). He has hit safely in each of his first two games with the Comets since being claimed off waivers by the Los Angeles Dodgers from the St. Louis Cardinals Aug. 4.
Austin Gauthier went 2-for-3 with a walk and scored a run. Over his last seven games, Gauthier is 8-for-20 (.400) with 12 walks.
Chuckie Robinson hit a RBI single and walked and is now 22-for-56 (.393) with 15 RBI and 12 runs over his last 15 games.
Comets pitchers limited Albuquerque to one run over the game’s final seven innings with Paul Gervase and Julian Fernández combining to hold Albuquerque scoreless over the final three innings. Gervase was credited with his second win with OKC, tossing 2.0 scoreless innings with two strikeouts and Fernández retired all three batters he faced in the ninth inning, including a strikeout, for his fourth save.
Tulsa Drillers 8 – San Antonio Missions (San Diego) 5
Tulsa took its initial 4-0 lead by scoring four times in the bottom of the third inning. John Rhodes started the rally with a leadoff base hit, and Zach Ehrhard drew a one-out walk. James Tibbs III and Kyle Nevin followed with consecutive run-scoring singles before Chris Newell capped the inning with a two-run double.
The Missions answered with a pair of two-run innings to erase the lead. Tulsa starting pitcher Luke Fox opened the game with three scoreless innings before running into problems in the top of the fourth. A walk and two singles loaded the bases with just one out. Another single from Jacob Campbell plated San Antonio’s first run, and an infield force out brought home the second.
Jeisson Cabrera took over for Fox to open the fifth inning and surrendered a leadoff double. Francisco Acuna singled a run, before scoring himself on a game-tying single.
The Drillers broke the 4-4 tie with a two-run inning of their own in the bottom of the sixth. With one out a pair of walks and a single loaded the bases. John Rhodes singled home the first run, and Ehrhard picked up the second RBI when he drew a bases-loaded walk, giving Tulsa 6-4 cushion.
Jerming Rosario issued a walk and hit a batter to put the tying runs on base. Christian Suarez came on for Rosario and got a potential double-play grounder from Damon Dues, but first baseman Rhodes’ throw to second base sailed into left field. One run scored on the error.
With the Drillers lead down to just one run and runners at the corners, Suarez foiled the Missions suicide squeeze attempt when he fielded Vilar’s bunt and scooped a glove throw to the plate to easily retire Jacob Campbell. Suarez ended the inning by striking out Devin Ortiz with Tulsa still leading 6-5.
Nevin gave the Drillers some breathing run with a big two-out hit in the bottom half of the eighth. With the bases loaded and a full count, Nevin lined a fastball into centerfield for a two-run single that upped the lead to three runs.
Suarez set the Missions down in the top of the ninth inning to close out the win and collect his second save of the season.
- James Tibbs III – 2-4, 1 BB, 1 run, 1 RBI
- Kyle Nevin – 2-5, 1 run, 3 RBI
- Nelson Quiroz – 2-4, 1 run
- John Rhodes – 2-3, 1 BB, 2 runs, 1 RBI
- Chris Newell – 18th double
Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (Milwaukee) 4 – Great Lakes Loons 3
Wisconsin produced four runs, three driven in by Luis Pena in his home debut, to beat the Loons 4-3.
Wyatt Crowell worked his first two innings scoreless to extend a streak of innings without an earned run to 26. Luis Pena put Wisconsin on the board with a 388-foot home run to deep left field in the third inning.
Wisconsin plated three runs in the fifth. Blyburg Diaz doubled to start the inning. Two walks in the next three batters loaded the bases. Crowell balked home a run and then Luis Pena lined an 0-1 pitch to centerfield to score two and to end Crowell’s day.
Great Lakes opened the scoring in the 1st. Eduardo Quintero doubled up the right field line, and Zyhir Hope’s infield single put runners on the corners. Logan Wagner pushed a run across with a fielder’s choice. Wagner was tagged out trying to get back to third after a Cameron Decker infield single.
Kendall George gained two singles, including a go-ahead knock in the fifth. With Frank Rodriguez in scoring position with two outs, George lined the first pitch he saw into centerfield. George moved to second base after an error in centerfield. He was stranded, one of seven on the night. Wisconsin starter Travis Smith left three on base in his 5.2 innings.
Wisconsin’s Jesus Broca completed the last 3.1 innings, punching out five Great Lakes batters. Great Lakes bullpen arms combined for 3.2 scoreless innings. Myles Caba struck out two over 1.2, including a strikeout to escape the fifth. Joel Ibarra and Alex Makarewich each struck out the side; Ibarra needed just 13 pitches.
Cameron Decker’s sacrifice fly in the sixth pulled the deficit to one. Decker has four RBI in his last two games.
- Kendall George – 2-5, 1 RBI
- Eduardo Quintero – 1-3, 1 BB, 1 run, double (3)
- Jake Gelof – 1-4, double (6)
Visalia Rawhide (Arizona) 3 – Rancho Cucamonga Quakes 2
The Quakes scored the initial run of the game after getting 3 walks to open the 2nd inning. A ground ball out scored the run.
Aidan Foeller was the starter for Rancho. He surrendered a pair of runs in the 5th. Visalia hit a double and a single putting runners on the corners. After a SB, the next batter hit a ground out scored one run, with the runner moving up to 3rd. That runner scored on a sac fly.
Both teams put up zeroes until the 9th. Jaron Elkins led off with a BB. With one out, Elkins stole 2nd and moved to 3rd on the catcher’s throwing error. Elkins scored the tying run when Chase Harlan reached on a fielding error.
Visalia hit three consecutive single off Shawndrick Oduber for the walk off win.
The Quakes had one hit, a single by Ching-Hsien Ko.
Finding ways to lose every single night. This time they hit into a rallye killing triple play in a close game.
And once again we had to witness the lack of a closer when this time Vesia blew the lead.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
When they hit, they don’t pitch and when they pitch, they don’t hit. Sheehan irritated the hell out of me last night with all those first pitch balls. Throw strikes, get ahead and put the batter on his heels. Ohtani pitches tonight. You can bet your box of tacos he won’t be nibbling. One good thing about the series with the Padres, the three most effective starters lately, Kershaw, Snell and Glasnow will be pitching. Padres are 20 points lower against lefties.
Vesia has closed before and has done the job. For whatever reason he’s been bad his last 3 outings. But it’s not just him. Since at least the StL series, I can recall only one inning where the bullpen has had a 1-2-3 inning.
In an alternative universe, Mason Miller closed out this game for the save.
In this universe, he’s closing games for the Padres.
Make that twice as Henriquez had one last night.
Now surgery is planned for Gonsolin.
Again.
Did the Dodgers offend the Almighty? Their toughest foes seem to be the Angels and the Padres.
Right now, I’d say the Padres should be the favorites in the West, given their trade-deadline makeover while the Dodgers stumble with various problems.
But the Dodgers should at least make the wild card, right?
Right?
He had the surgery yesterday. He will be out for 8-10 months.
No theynshouldnt make the playoffs if they don’t right the ship quickly. Did you notice the wild card teams fighting to make the top 3? The Mets are #3 and only have 3 more losses than us. Cinci at #4 has 6 more losses. The way we are playing, that could evaporate very quickly.
Let’s face reality…injuries and no trade deadline closures worth to talk about has put us in jeopardy. Meanwhile, the Pads and Phillies are blossoming.
Nice post regarding the obstacles (injuries) the Dodgers have dealt with this year. A lot of information and things to consider. They definitely rode their bullpen hard last year into and through the playoffs. Does make you wonder how much that contributed to injuries to Phillips,Treinen, Graterol, Kopech.
Selfishly, their struggles are going to make for an entertaining finish to the season. Though AF and the FO won’t admit it, I do wonder if they regret not overpaying for a reliever like Jhoan Duran. Two of these last three losses have been blown saves.
I would like to see them bring Miller or Gervase up and give them a chance. Still not a believer in Alexis Diaz. As a group, this present Dodger pen does not have a lot of swing and miss. A healthy trio of Kopech, Yates, and Scott would really help.
On the bright side, Rushing had a good night with the bat and Henriquez looked good. Honestly, I would give Dean a chance in center tomorrow and give Conforto a day or two to sit. He has hit .125 for the better part of two weeks and looks helpless right now.
The wife and myself are headed to Wisconsin to watch the Loons. A shout out to Tulsa, they were really hard to follow earlier in the season. They received an infusion of talent getting players from the Loons and by the May trade. Don’t know the Driilers record since the trade but it seems they turned corner.
Still Need A Closer. SNAC
A closer with high K ability
But we do have the top rated minor league system in baseball. Not that will do us any good in October. Some consolation. We only have a few Octobers left with prime Freddie, Mookie and Ohtani. If it required an overpay this year, then so be it. We have a lot of prospect capital who will never make it to LA. And with an unlimited budget, it’s not like the Dodgers need young talent to balance our budget like most every other team. The team that went all in is about to take first place from us
Cassidy – hope you’re well
when are you heading over to these parts and if so, are you visiting London?
Headed out Sept 8. We won’t be in London. Headed out to the Cotswolds for a week. Love to meet up next time we’re in London
JD Vance is there now!!
Next time for sure!
I’m not sure scoring 8 would have been enough last night. Looked like if we had the Angels would have scored 9.
EK made a comment last night that I felt myself agreeing with. He said as bad as they have been playing he would still take this team to get to the World Series. I would too. They are not a good defensive team, they don’t run the bases particularly well but I still believe the offense can score and the pitching will be figured out by September.
I also agree the rating of the minor league system means very little to October baseball this season. I would be very surprised if anyone there is on the post season roster. The $400 million roster will win it, or they won’t.
Good morning Boys and Girls. Today in our series Baseball 101 we will discuss the topic of “BASE RUNNING”.
(suitable for Little League and up)
Question – So what is the basic rule for a base runner on a line drive, with less than 2 outs.
a) Run like hell and hope it isn’t caught by a fielder.
b) Advance 1/4 to 1/3 distance toward the next base and freeze
c) Freeze on contact
d) Check the defensive positioning pre-pitch, freeze on contact AND begin retreating to your base until you see the outcome.
The correct answer is d, Mr Rushing. Even c isn’t good enough. A liner caught by a fielder behind you is bad luck. But Do Not advance 1/4 of the way to the next base and turn an unfortunate line drive double play into a more unfortunate, Triple Play.
Geez if the Angel’s announcers (I can’t watch Eric Karros) mentioned it once they mentioned it 15 times that Ohtani is the first league MVP to hit into a triple play since Brooks Robinson in 1965. They made it a huge deal out of that.
What I saw was Ohtani scorching a line drive up the middle that was caught by a well positioned SS who had no problem doubling off the runner at second, who had no change to read and retreat. But then he threw out Rushing at first, who was going where? The play is right in front of him. Why is he 1/3 of the way to 2nd?
It’s not Ohtani’s fault that Rushing had his head up his ass.
Too many of our youngsters get to the Show and make some crazy base running mistakes. Don’t they teach this shit in the minors? Every well coached kid knows this stuff in Little League.
Question # 2 for tomorrow – Why do our pitchers walk so many guys?
a) most of the Dodger pitchers are still knocking the rust off from rehab
b) our pitching philosophy is to “trick the hitters” and not throw strikes until they have to.
c) our pitching coach is a cardboard cutout left over from Covid
d) walks and holding runners isn’t important.
Play better.
It is a fundamentally unsound baseball team. From baserunning to bunting to throwing to the correct base, they make mistakes that losing baseball teams make. When I saw the Brewers play the Dodgers a month ago, the Brewers play fundamentally sound baseball and look to be well-coached. It showed in the way they ran the bases, bunted, and defended.
e). Don’t have good enough stuff to put it in the zone.
After thinking about your comment Cassidy, I generally disagree. So, I did a quick little study of our staff to see if they basically trust their stuff or if they walk too many batters because their stuff isn’t good enough.
And grading their “stuff” is arbitrary. It may lie in the eye of the beholder; in this case me.
I decided to look at walks per 9 innings compared to the MLB average of 3.1 walks per 9.
Ohtani – 2.81, Yamamoto – 3.1, Dreyer – 3.0, Vesia – 3.1, Sheehan – 3.34 and Yates – 3.48 are slightly under or slightly over MLB average; all are under 4 walks per 9.
Sasaki who has had nothing but trouble with walks and arm issues has been a bust with 5.8 batters per 9.
Snell, who has great stuff walks 5.2 walks per 9. He goes into those fugues.
Glasnow who has stuff + is at 4.6 walks per 9. Too many
Treinen with his nasty breaking ball is at 4.5 yet to find it after IL
Banda, 4.1 walks per 9
Casparius and Scott have the least walks per 9 at 2.1.
So, I’m sticking to my original statement. Our pitchers walk too many batters. It’s not a stuff problem, it’s a failure to challenge hitters problem and trust their stuff.
Yeah, I was surprised how far off the bag Rushing was. Also, what in the hell was that in his attempt to get back to first? That could have been a season ending result with the awkward move.
Nomar mentioned after the game (and several times this season) criticizing the overuse of the BP earlier in the season. He doesn’t understand why the team is so quick to pull out starters that are rolling along in a game due to pitch count or times through the order. He feels by letting a starter go another inning or two it would help to not over tax the BP over the long season. The reasoning is usually “to keep the starters fresh for the postseason”. What about keeping the BP fresh for the playoffs? Everyone on the staff needs to pull their weight and do their job!
This has been a gripe of mine as well. The starters pitch normally once a week. If all the talented and well paid pitchers can’t contribute 7-8 innings and 100+ pitches per outing then why are they being paid $31M (Snell) and $27M (Glasnow and Yamamoto)? As Nomar states an inning here an inning there it adds to the BP being overworked and/or injured over a long season. Why a starting pitchers’ outing needs to limited in April, May, and June in order to stay fresh for October doesn’t make sense to me. There are enough days off and IL stays to get them “fresh for the postseason”. To me it’s a bullshit excuse and NEVER has been an effective result come postseason play.
Carry on.
And tonight Ohtani will take the ball with the expectations that he go 4 innings. And of course he has been restricted from stealing bases because he now has to pitch 4 innings a week.
Have him try to go six. His ramp up for the last few weeks is contributing to a over worked BP. If he can’t be extended then why is he pitching? Do not have him DH. It is an opportunity to give Rushing a couple of games in a row to hit. Try it and see what happens. Shake things up!!
Ohtani needs to go at least 5 innings tonight.
He won’t go more than four. We know this.
How do we know this?
I heard it on yesterday’s broadcast, became from Roberts.
Well, I see no logical reason why he can’t go at least 5 innings if he is pitching well and his pitch count is not high.
Yeah, like Roberts never has an issue with the truth. It kind of guarantees Ohtani goes at least 5. Lol
Then they will lose again
or they will win again!
One of those two is bound to be true
I thought one of the advantages of a six man rotation is that we could stretch these starters out more. With so many of them returning from injury at different points in the year, maybe that has something to do with it.
I was taught “back” on a line drive. In fact the entire bench would yell BACK on a line drive. It was ingrained by the time I was a junior in high school. In my opinion neither player last night would have been caught had they employed that tactic, though it would have been close at second.
And you’re right, this shit is clearly not taught in the minor leagues. What is it they are teaching there? For hitters it’s launch angle and exit velocity. For pitchers it’s velocity and spin rate. Defense and base running strategies are clearly not taught.
And why do our pitchers walk so many guys? It’s lack of command. Location and change of speeds is not being emphasized in this organization. Pitchers are hunting edges and they can’t find them. This lack of command forces them to throw strikes down the middle. They can find center cut no problem.
The talent is here. Well, not exactly “here”. Scott, Yates, Kopech and even Graterol will be needed in September. If they aren’t there and pitching to their potential the talented 5 inning starters will probably not be enough, unless of course the team scores 8 a night all the way to November.
We currently suck.
Conforto
I just can’t…
Ya, I got nothing.
Just win today. That’s it
Even the chief narcissist blogger at LADT is now of the mind RVS should be let go. Perhaps the Dodgers will go on a tear and win the NL West going away but AF should not be immune from criticism for some really bad FA and trade acquisitions THIS YEAR (emphasis added).
Teoscar 3 year deal——-D
Conforto————-F
Yates——————F
Scott——————-D
Snell———————C-
Sasaki——————C
Brock Stewart———-D/F (questionable medical and all)
Call————————C-
I realize you can’t win the WS every year but with an aging roster and a WS window still open you’ve got to make trades that move the needle. He went incredibly small at the deadline this year holding onto prospects that, up to this point, he has demonstrated a propensity to “slow play” their advancement.
If they don’t make a serious post season push you’ve got to think Doc and AF will rethink the hitting strategy utilized by RVS and insert a different philosophy. Something has to give.
Damn, Norcal, you stole my Basic Baseball 101 question for Friday; “How many Homegrown Dodger Hitters have improved their hitting using RVS’ approach?”
Right now that would be zero. Obviously, the FA stars would never take any council from that fraud. I think there might be a few on this site could do a better job.
Though, I would not be one of them.
Way too early for end of season grades. There is an awful lot of Baseball to be played before the knives come out. Snell could prove to be a difference maker. I like what I’ve seen in 2 outings off the IL. Yates, Scott and Stewart have ample time to redeem themselves. Do you remember Buehler last season? He was stinking up the joint right about now. That didn’t end too badly.
Treinen was my MVP after Freddie, and he looked better last night and i’m confident he will continue to get better and better. Scott, Yates and Kopech, plus hopefully the Bazooka will solidify the Pen. Plus the non rotation guys like Kershaw and Sheehan will be added for the Post Season.
I like our chances behind Snell, Yamamoto, Glasnow and Ohtani. We were getting closer at the back end of last week, but have taken a couple of difficult to stomach defeats. Hopefully this will only help to make us stronger. I’m really confident we will turn this around.
The one thing that was obvious to me and many others here from the get go, was the overuse of the BP, and many mentioned it here. It was not sustainable and so It proved. Short starts obviously didn’t help but i think it was clear that there would be injuries and loss of form or burnout and so it proved.
However this is really talented bunch and we havnt seen them play anywhere near their best yet! We will be very hard to beat in the playoffs.
The only grades I care about are the October ones
No one cares or remembers how bad the Rangers were going into October in 22 as a wildcard. They remember they were WS champs. This team is plenty good enough to win it IF they can put it together in October. If healthy we have plenty of starting pitching to weather a first round matchup as a wildcard. Still optimistic
Mid semester grades. Not that I necessarily disagree, but mid August grades can be improved upon. I’ll reserve final judgement until the semester ends.
Jeff, you pretty much covered all the aspects of what has happened to this under achieving team so far this season. They seem to get one thing on track and another part of the team has issues. Over a long season that is to be expected.
But, it has excessive for the Dodgers. Ebb and flow. Only now with this recent ebb it may continue into the abyss. It’s very hard to watch this season.
If they don’t make the playoffs it will interesting to see how AF and the front office deal with the issues of excessive pitching injuries and an aging everyday lineup.
The door is starting to close for a team that has spent hundreds of millions of dollars in order to win championships. They’ve won one. Can they somehow rally to win another this year?
I don’t like kicking a player when he’s down but the precedent for releasing Conforto was established last season when Heyward was released.
Could always bring back Heyward to be the left handed bat off the bench no worse than Conforto
Good comp. Again, Conforto must have incriminating pictures of AF/Doc. There is no other logical explanation to play him anymore.
UNLESS, of course, we have Doc Brown’s time machine and went ahead to Nov 1, 2025, to find out Michael Conforto was the 2025 World Series MVP
Heyward would bring solid defense. Peralta is still out there and if you want younger, Alex Verdugo is still a free agent. All fill the left handed hitting role.
Ward is a switch hitter,what do you lose by giving him a chance.he must really be in the doghouse !
He can’t do any worse than Conforto.
Early in this season, when I looked at all our starting pitching, what was easy for me to see was the glaring fact that none of these guys were going to take the ball every 5th day, 32 starts, or even every 6th day, 27 starts. I took the under on 150 innings out any of them. In fact, I questioned 130 innings. When mentioning this I didn’t get any pushback but I didn’t see much agreement either.
Snake bit? On the surface it would seem so, but no one should be surprised by pitching injuries. The numbers are there. Even in his Cy Young years Snell didn’t pitch 200 innings. I certainly didn’t expect him to do it here at age 32. Glasnow’s record is pretty clear to anyone who takes the time to read it. He’s never made more than 22 starts in his 10 year career. Why expect he would do it now? Yamamoto, in his Japan peak years never made more than 26 starts. Why would anyone expect him to suddenly do it in a higher league? Sasaki, throwing as hard as he does, has been injured since he was a teenager. Kershaw is at the end of his career. The rest of our starting staff is made up of surgically repaired pitchers in various stages of recovery, and rookies.
It seems clear to me this team was assembled for October. IF they are all there when the post season starts, the team should do well. IF they are not?
Yeah, there’s been a lot of headwind.
But:
They are the odds on favorite to win the World Series.
They are the defending champion
they are tied for first in their division
They had the top farm system.
They have the top front office
If this is snake bit, I’ll take it every year.
Pretty amazing what a $500MM payroll (including tax) can do. Who cares about a farm system if they cannot use that system to bring up players to augment their team. Use them for trades? But they didn’t when they could have? Top front office? When was the last time a front office won a game? Their job is to build the roster, and $500MM goes a long way to helping that. Developing prospects. And yet the Dodgers have one position player All Star from the AF era. Last position player for consideration in ROY? James Outman and he is no longer with the team, because he forgot how to hit. I am hoping that Minnesota can re-teach him. Can’t count Seager or Belli because they are from the Colletti and White era. If the development team is so good, then why is De Paula and Hope still at Great Lakes. Why is Jackson Ferris still in AA when OKC doesn’t have any SP?
This team was built to win and run away with it. Rember the 120 wins this team was going to get? They will be lucky to win 92. They are now only 5.5 games up on Cincinnati. Pat Murphy would not put up with this level of play. Michael Conforto would not be in the lineup for Milwaukee.
This team has issues and the great farm system and the great front office has not helped them, and the team is only getting older.
This has been my exact opinion for the past couple of years. AF went all out this off-season to put a dominate team on the field by fortifying the offense, starting pitching, and finally the bullpen. Because of injuries, especially to the pitching staff, under achieving offense, and failures with basic baseball fundamentals the approach has been underwhelming so far.
The top ranked farm system in AF eyes….
Yawn
I liked your other rant much better, the logic here gets specious IMO.
Not sure what the teams payroll has to do with anything. The point of a budget is to maximize value from it, not to avoid spending it. Has the team extracted maximum value this year? Of course not, but that’s a reason to criticize how the money was spent, not how much was spent. IMHO, not spending a full budget is the biggest crime in MLB.
I have never understood why people qualify player development as how many homegrown players the team has on their roster. But even if homegrown players did mean more, Will Smith and Pages (not counting Freeland for obvious reasons) are more than 20% of the lineup and one (until his recent slump, maybe) was an MVP candidate! Pages was legitimately in all-star conversation at the break.
But again, I don’t get why homegrown players on roster is a stat worth anything. especially for a big budget team.
Who, credible sources only, thought his team would win 120 games? Seriously. Did anyone with an above room temp IQ?
Of course this team had issues! Of course they are getting older.
But again, if this team was the worst team in baseball. Fans would take solace in having the best farm system.
If this team were just another team at the top of the standings, Fans would take solace (and pride) in being the defending champion.
We as Dodger fans get the best of both worlds!
To nit pick a bit, I believe odds on means better than 50% chance of winning and the Dodgers aren’t that. I believe they are around 20%. If my money were involved at this time I’d take the field,
But I get your point. The Dodgers remain favorites. It’s my opinion the oddsmakers say that because most bettors still believe what you and I believe, on paper the Dodgers have more talent than any team in baseball. With that lineup operating on all cylinders and that staff all healthy and ready to go, who wouldn’t bet on them?
It’s still over 6 weeks to October. A lot can happen in 6 weeks.
every season, at any point in the season, you would take the field over any specific team.
I, most assuredly, would take the field over the Dodgers. I doubt the Dodgers win in the World Series, and I’m extremely bullish on their chances, and like their chances the best.
Are they snakebit? I honestly do not know. I do know that interrupting their usual spring ritual seems to have affected both teams. LA lost their entire starting rotation and a good part of their bullpen last year. Max and Betts were down for significant periods of time. Freddie had his son’s illness to deal with then hurt his ankle at the end of the year, except unlike Muncy in 21, he was able to return for the playoffs. Their deadline acquisitions last year almost immediately began to contribute. Edman, once he became healthy, was a genuine asset to the team. So far, that has not happened with this years additions. And it seems there is no real help down on the farm. Although the reports on Miller have been very encouraging. Gonsolin underwent internal brace and flexor repair yesterday. He will be out 8-10 months. Frankley, their closest competitors made much more impactful trades at the deadline. I think this might be the one year that AF’s reluctance to trade his best prospect trade chips comes back to bite him in the ass. Ownership does not like losing. Might force his hand next offseason going after the Japanese 3rd baseman, Murakami.
Are the Dodgers snake bit. Who knows. But let’s look at last years AL and NLCS teams in the current standings.
Dodgers; tied for first
Mets; 3.5 games out if last wild card spot
Yankees; 1.5 games out if last wild card spot
Guardians; 2.5 games out of last wild card spot
so it’s not just the Dodgers who are underperforming this season.
Could be worse. Could be the Braves or Orioles.
The proverbial excrement has hit the rapidly spinning metal device.
4 Dodgers most to blame for blowing a nine-game NL West lead
It’s certainly an opinion!
But if Friedman gets accolades for the farm system and titles, he should get the spotlight when things go poorly.
Not sure I’d have Roberts or Vesia up there! those are weird placements.
Is Roberts forced to put Conforto into the lineup every game?
Roberts got a lot of credit last year and deservedly so. But he is not to blame for the way this team is playing this year? Not even partially? Certainly a rhetorical question, but do you think Pat Murphy would have this team playing so listless? Maybe this team will be capable of turning it on at the right time. They are 15-20 since July. They had 2 five game winning streaks in June, 1 four game winning streak in July with a 7 game losing streak, and 1 two game winning streak in August with a current 3 game losing streak. What about that tells you that the team is playing with some level of urgency and can turn it on any time they want?
I agree on Vesia. He is not a closer, and when he is put in a position he should not be, it is hardly fair to say he is to blame. I would eliminate him in favor of RVS.
I am an Andrew Friedman fan, but if you do not believe that AF screwed the pooch at the deadline, I think you are hiding your head in the sand. He walked away from more lost $$$ on CT3 than he would with Conforto now. Call the experiment over and move on. I do not fault the signing, but I do fault the lack of recognition that it did not work. Sometimes you have to admit you were wrong.
That was originally a Fansided article he wants to blame Conforto and Vesia for losing the 9 game lead. They built a 9 game despite Conforto and because of Vesia. He conveniently overlooks Ohtani Betts Freeman Teoscar Edman and recently Smith struggling during the same period resulting in losing the 9 game lead. Not to mention Muncy’s injury. Roberts hasn’t thrown a pitch swing a bat run the bases or fielded a ball. He’s been about the same as he has been for 10 years. Not every one is going to be happy with his moves and every manager is going to be second guessed. In hindsight AF should have made a stronger push for a closer and he would probably admit it looking backwards be he can only go forward now. The whole team is under performing can they right the ship? We have about 7 weeks to find out
Fair points Ron.
The overall pitching has been middle of the pack all year. Maybe we should aplaud somebody for keeping the team in first place all year with such mediocre pitching.
Roberts should be in there just for continuing to start Conforto every night.
Look, I can’t understand why Conforto is still in the lineup. I can’t understand why he’s still on the roster. But he’s not the main reason the Dodgers have been middling, he might be a symbol of it, but he’s not the reason.
In fact, I almost feel like he’s turning into a scapegoat. The classics example where all of the village ills and problems are assigned to one unlikely animal.
Nobody said he is the main reason they are underperforming. But, removing him would be a very good first step to improving the team and its performance.
yeah, I mean it’s hard to believe there’s anyone who believes otherwise.
Except for those people who should know Best, presumably.
No, he’s not a scapegoat. He’s 1 big part of the overall problem, however.
He’s not been injured this year (as far as we know). He had a nice 3 week stretch of hitting near .270, and even with that hot streak, he’s still hitting .187
He’s had 321AB this year, including 43 walks. So he’s had 364 at bats. He’s had the 6th or 7th most chances at bat in 2025, and that’s with him usually batting 7th or 8th. This experiment should be over.
I don’t even blame Conforto anymore. Now this is on Friedman, Doc, etc. They need to try something, anything different.
Exactly. This is on AF and Roberts. They can end this idiocy.
There are a lot of criticisms out there, and you know what, I cannot disagree right now, I am trying like the devil to find the good in any of this, but I cannot.
Yes I was against overpaying prospect capital for a closer. It sure looks like I was wrong. The Dodgers would still be up by three games if they had a closer who could shut down the opponent. I liked Alex Vesia in the role he was in, not as a closer. The Dodgers really have nobody now that can close. Nobody. Since the break, 3 blown saves, and 1 other where the pen could not keep the Cardinals from scoring runs in the 8th and 9th. That is 4 out of the 11 games.
I have questioned the development process before, but I usually get challenged by some and particularly by someone who continues to say that the Dodgers farm system is #1. Great, but they do not develop them. If fans are happy because so many of the Edwin Rios, Willie Calhoun, DJ Peters, Brendan Davis, Matt Beaty, Jordan Sheffield, Andre Scrubb, Cody Thomas, Zach Pop, Rylan Bannon, Zach Reks, Jacob Amaya, Andre Jackson, Justin Hageman…have made MLB, good for you. Where are the All Stars that have come through the LAD system, outside of Will Smith and some pitchers?
Great, how many of Josue De Paula, Zyhir Hope, Eduardo Quintero, Mike Sirota, James Tibbs III, Zach Ehrhard, Ching-Hsien Ko, Brendan Tunink, Jaron Elkins can the Dodgers keep in the system?
Management does not seem to care that the LAD MiLB pitchers cannot throw strikes. Is there any wonder why they cannot when they reach MLB. No organization is close to walking as many batters as the Dodgers affiliates do. Why? Why won’t the LAD beat writers ask that question? Do they always have to be on the LAD farm system hype machine?
The same with RVS. Swing as hard as you can, with pull side power and launch. Take a look at Freddie’s Statcast spray chart pages over the years. He used to be so good at going to left center, especially for doubles. The more he is in the LAD system, the less he does. The same is true for Mookie and Teo. Their spray charts show way less opposite field hits this year than in year’s past. Why are these guys in 2+ months slump? Because the hitting coach has no flippin clue how to hit himself. He is a below Mendoza High School hitter, who got lucky with JDM, built that into a MLB job, and he has been trying to replicate that swing with every LAD hitter. Go play computer baseball games. Pull side power, baby!
Organizationally, this is what management looks for. Power slugging over contact skills. Power throwing over pitching and location.
Why can’t this team bunt?
Why can’t this team take pitches on the outside to the opposite field, or at least foul them off. Other than trying to pull everything, rolling over and popping up or grounding into DP. Especially when trying to get a runner to 3rd.
Why can other teams, with a runner on 1st, have a RH hitter hit a single into the hole on the right side and move the runner to 3rd?
Why can’t this team quit swinging at pitches that are balls out of hand. I can understand being fooled once in a while, but Teo and Shohei swing at 4-5 pitches that are clearly out of the zone every night. Why?
Why can’t the LAD pitchers hold runners on?
Why did Michael Conforto and Alex Call forget how to hit?
Why is Michael Conforto still considered a viable starter for LAD? Does AF really believe that Ryan Ward would hit as miserably as Conforto did last night?
Love this post!
From the beginning of the season I’ve been telling everyone here and on other sites that the Dodger’s pitching staff is bad, and has been poor throughout the season. The starting pitchers are unable to pitch more than five innings, and the bullpen is unable to hold leads late in games. Another huge problem, which Jeff has touched on is the pitching staff’s inability to throw strikes. They are issuing walks at an alarming rate. This goes beyond me being too negative, or being a jerk. Yes I am a jerk, but as the losses pile up, and the team continues to blow leads late in games almost on a nightly basis, even the most optimistic of posters are realizing that the Dodgers have a real pitching problem, and it’s not just due to injuries.
The question I ask here, is when did the pitching go so wrong? I don’t actually blame Friedman for this, because he’s been here since 2015, and from 2015-2022 the Dodgers regularly posted the top staff ERA in the sport, and then 3 years ago, the pitching fell off a cliff. What happened?
2018 3.38 ERA 2nd in MLB
2019 3.37 ERA 1st in MLB
2020 3.02 ERA 1st in MLB
2021 3.01 ERA 1st in MLB
2022 2.80 ERA 1st in MLB
2023 4.06 ERA 13th in MLB
2024 3.90 ERA 13th in MLB
2025 4.15 ERA 19th in MLB
what in the world went wrong here?
Relievers ERA
2019 3.85 ERA 5th in MLB
2020 2.74 ERA 2nd in MLB
2021 3.16 ERA 2nd in MLB
2022 2.87 ERA 2nd in MLB
2023 3.42 ERA 3rd in MLB
2024 3.53 ERA 4th in MLB
2025 4.21 ERA 21st in MLB
walks allowed – (Relievers only)
2019 186 – 3rd fewest
2020 75 2nd fewest
2021 269 20th in MLB
2022 178 walks fewest in MLB
2023 216 sixth fewest in MLB
2024 233 19th fewest in MLB
2025 197 23rd fewest in MLB- (on August 13)
as you can see the pitching has steadily declined since 2023, and their pitchers are no longer able to consistently throw strikes. This is why they are losing and possibly falling out of first place.
They went from the fourth best bullpen ERA in MLB last year, to the 21st. This is not complicated. I haven’t even looked at home runs, and stranded runners, and batting average against, and other numbers. Can anyone tell me why the franchise went from consistently putting out the best pitching staff in baseball to putting out this drek?
Ardaya really did well with this: ($$$$)
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6550340/2025/08/13/shohei-ohtani-mike-trout-wbc-rematch/
And on the Farm System ranking:
https://www.mlb.com/news/farm-system-rankings-2025-midseason?partnerID=web_article-share
“The Dodgers just keep winning (two World Series titles in the last five seasons, 12 straight postseason appearances) and keep developing talent. They have the best collection of outfield prospects in baseball…”
Yes they do have the best overall OF talent in baseball, and they all cannot be Dodgers at the MLB level. Why keep all of them? Apparently De Paula and Hope are elite and yet they are not good enough to be pushed to AA? Why? Has any of the crack LAD beat writer journalists asked that question?
“Why keep all of them”? You yourself have answered this. I don’t think the team expects to keep more than a couple.
The team doesn’t seem to see prospects as future Dodgers except in limited cases. They see prospects as assets to me maximized.
Do you really think beat reporters, who have extremely limited time with the front office, are going to ask about how the pitching development systems values walls?
Or about what goes into the decision
making of promoting prospects? I’d be very interested, you would too. but I don’t think most readers would.
That said your great post above asks a lot of other questions that deserve to be asked as well as those two questions. have you reached out to Dodgers PR about an interview with someone? I’m 90% sure the answer would be no, but it can’t hurt to ask. Ask to ask!
Fabian Ardaya and Sonja Chen probably get more time with front office personnel than say someone like Doug McKain. But he asks more questions in his podcast than he does with the LAD front office personnel. Why? Jack Harris probably can get in questions to the AF/BG group. But there are more than just AF/BG who those questions can be addressed, including why does the MiLB organization lead the world in BB? The Dodgers have three very good and well respected assistant GM’s: Josh Byrnes, Jeffrey Kingston, and Alex Slater. There are also those in charge of development: Galen Carr (VP Player Personnel), Brandon McDaniel (VP Player Performance), Will Rhymes (VP Player Development).
BTW, I am not saying that the Dodgers value walks by pitchers, just not sure how much they work on it or disvalue them. But it is a legit question.
I do agree with you that the average LAD fan would not ask those questions, and I would not expect them to. They just want the Dodgers to win. Selfish me…I want more.
Another question. I do not pretend to know very much when it comes to roster construction. Admittedly I do not possess the knowledge to understand how all the dominoes may fall. I have my opinions, but that comes with way more questions that will never be answered. With so many starting pitchers out in May, June, and July which created a lot of bullpen games, why would the Dodgers push Ohtani into a starter’s role knowing he is not going to go more than 4.0 IP for 2 months now. That doesn’t put an undue burden on the pen? We have already been advised that Ohtani will not go more than 5.0 innings at all this year. Why? SP can only go 5.0 IP in the playoffs? Since he couldn’t go through a normal ramp up during the season, maybe the more prudent solution might have been to postpone him becoming a SP until he could fully build up in the offseason and a full spring training. Say 2026? Once he completes 1.0 inning tonight, Ohtani automatically resets his 2-way player status for next year. Is that the goal?
I’m only speculating here, but I think it has something to do with Ohtani himself wanting to pitch again. I don’t think he wanted to wait another year to get back on the mound. He likes pitching and I think he said that in an interview once.
I think this is correct. And it’s compounded by the fact that the front office is very valued driven. I hate to bang the same drum over and over, but when Ohtani is pitching, he’s producing more value.
as we all know, the current thinking in MLB is that stolen bases are not that big of a value
And yet when Ohtani was running last year, the Dodgers were thriving. In August & September Ohtani stole 23 bases and the LAD record for those two months was 37-18.
Stolen bases are not that big of a value? Somebody should tell that to Milwaukee and Seattle and Cubs. I value stolen bases.
The Dodgers are 4-4 in Ohtani’s 8 starts. I guess the value is in marketing, becasue that is not great value in pitching. 8 starts, 19 IP. That is 2.1 innings per start. 293 pitches (36.6 pitches per start) with the most at 54.
I like stolen bases too.
I also wonder if I am wrong, with the new limitations on a disengagements and the bigger bases, I wonder if the analytics thinking on stolen bases has changed.
Does he think that pitching so few innings helps the team? He is an outstanding pitcher, and could very well be a CY candidate next year. But the team has taken a downturn since he started pitching in games. Isn’t that considered? SB was such a big part of his game last year, and it barely is anything this year.
Again I am just speculating but if I were too guess, I would say it comes down more to making money and what drives butts in seats, specifically profit.
The draw for Ohtani is not just that he’s the best hitter on the planet that regularly crushes 400 ft home runs, it’s that he crushes and pitches at the same time. It’s a unique draw that people want to see. I admit, that even myself, rushed to the tv to watch him pitch his first game as a Dodger even though it was only for an inning. I also believe the team is treating him like they do many pitchers, with kid gloves, especially him. They are petrified that he could get injured and require surgery again, and losing his bat would be the biggest loss in sports.
Management probably told him to forget about stolen bases and concentrate on hitting and pitching. Plus as I was saying above, he likes to pitch. I think a big reason why he was stealing so many bases last year was because he couldn’t pitch, and it gave him something else to focus on while simultaneously giving something extra for fans to watch. His 50/50 pursuit was must watch tv last year, but this year it’s not necessary (I’m guessing that’s what the front office thinks) because he’s back on the mound.
The team has taken a downturn because it’s extra innings the mediocre bullpen has to fill, among the rest of the innings that have been forced upon them because the other starters are not able to pitch deep into games. I think management has given up on trying to get the starters to pitch more efficiently because they don’t know how to do it, even though the answer is likely staring them right in the face (less chase, attacking the zone, less non-competitive pitches, getting ahead in counts etc)
I do not disagree. Ohtani is making bank for LAD, and I think that is great. Management’s job is to make enough revenue to put up a contending roster every year. They are contending, but not playing at the level they thought they would be or should be. His pitching this year has not helped the team. Maybe everything will be fine with 5.0 IP in the playoffs. And I concur, he was undoubtedly told to curtail his SB. But does his pitching and lack of running help the team in 2025? 2026 will be a different story for Ohtani and his pitching.
That was a great summary of the 2025 Dodger year to date. Clearly the Dodgers were challenged by the long 2024 season coupled with the short 2025 pre-season that included international travel. Betts may have been the hardest hit.
I didn’t like the Glasnow trade. I would rather have stayed with Pepiot and his 142+ innings to date for 2025 and respectable stats and spent the Glasnow salary elsewhere.
I like the Snell signing and understand his strength is the second half.
I wanted to trade for Lindor and simultaneously traded Seager. At the time I thought Lindor would be an easier re-sign. Yes, it turned out Lindor received an 11 year $34M annual contract and maybe that would have prevented spending so much on Glasnow. Lindor and Betts up the middle for a long time would have been great.
I would have kept Outman and kept his defense in center field and use the same logic that Roberts uses for keeping Conforto in LF. That logic includes the assumption that a blind squirrel will eventually find a nut. And if the offense suffered too much with both Conforto and Outman playing regularly, well then trade for Kwan. Keep Rushing but otherwise overpay as necessary. Why spend $500M and not fix the weak links.
I don’t know who would be better than Roberts but he is too stubborn unless he gets better or more push from the higher ups.
The Dodgers were never going to pay Seager the money he got, nor Lindor, nor Trea Turner. So they went with Lux, and that did not last long. They had NOBODY in MiLB ready to play at the MLB level, so Betts was pushed to that role. He has always believed he was a middle infielder and would have been for Boston if not for Dustin Pedroia.
Now? Alex Freeland and Noah Miller. Nobody at AA or A+. The closest to MLB ready as a regular is at Rancho. Thus the Dodgers are using Miggy Ro, and a pair of utlitly players who are on the IL (Edman and Kim).
My favorite LAD pitcher not named Clayton Kershaw was Ryan Pepiot. Big fan since the day he was drafted. That being said, I am more of a high ceiling guy than a high floor. Tyler Glasnow has the talent and pitchability to dominate. Pepiot does not. If both healthy (and I acknowledge that is the big question), who would you rather have in the playoffs, Glasnow or Pepiot? For me, that is easy…Glasnow.
Outman was never going to play well for LAD. I hope they tear down his swing in Minnesota and he goes off. I agree that Outman should have been given a larger role over Conforto if for nothing else his defense. I can’t answer why Conforto has been given so much rope. They made a mistake. Cut it and move on. But the Dodgers are facing RHP Hendricks, so I expect to see Conforto in the starting lineup. He has hit Hendricks well in the past, but we have said that a lot lately, and that proved nothing.
Koufax gave the Dodgers a couple of championships via domination and Glasnow can dominate if he is at his best. So, if Glasnow were near Koufax like in the playoffs then sure I’ll take him over Pepiot.
It’s like investing in the stock market. How safe do you want to be when investing $136.5M in a single stock that zeros out in 3 years?
Call is starting in left, Mookie is sitting as is Conforto.
Well, maybe things are changing for Conforto. This is a game he would have started before tonight.
Meanwhile, up in SF, Pads are up 10-0 going to the bottom of the 6th.
Barring something ridiculous, we will be half game back when Ohtani leads off later today.
Padres won 11-1. More impressive to me is Milwaukee won their 12th straight game. Brewers are going to be hard to beat in the post season. Might just be their year.
They are good and fun to watch. Could go all the way.
I rethought a post I made 6 hours ago. I spent some time doing some research so I want it read:
In response to a conversation with Cassidy about my statement that we walk too many guys. Cassidy stated that maybe we don’t have the stuff to pitch in the zone.
I did a quick little study of our staff to see if they basically trust their stuff or if they walk too many batters because their stuff isn’t good enough.
And grading their “stuff” is arbitrary. It may lie in the eye of the beholder; in this case me.
I decided to look at walks per 9 innings compared to the MLB average of 3.1 walks per 9.
Ohtani – 2.81, Yamamoto – 3.1, Dreyer – 3.0, Vesia – 3.1, Sheehan – 3.34 and Yates – 3.48 are slightly under or slightly over MLB average; all are under 4 walks per 9.
Sasaki who has had nothing but trouble walks and arm issues has been a bust with 5.8 batters per 9.
Snell, who has great stuff walks 5.2 walks per 9. He goes into those fugues.
Glasnow who has stuff + is at 4.6 walks per 9. Too many
Treinen with his nasty breaking ball is at 4.5 yet to find it after IL
Banda, 4.1 walks per 9
Casparius and Scott have the least walks per 9 at 2.1.
So, I’m sticking to my original statement. Our pitchers walk too many batters. It’s not a stuff problem, it’s a failure to challenge hitters problem and trust their stuff.
Funny, I never thought much of it until Snell’s last start. In that game, I believe Orel kept mentioning how has such dominant stuff, but because he throws so many borderline pitches, he walks a lot of guys and thus runs up his pitch count.
Hence a typical Snell game is 5ip, 2 hits, 3 walks and 8k with 100 pitches. He nibbles way too much.
Tonight’s lineup just posted. Ohtani DH-P, Smith C, Freeman 1B, Hernandez RF, Muncy 3B, Pages CF, Call LF, Freeland 2B, Rojas SS. Pitching for the Angels, Kyle Hendricks, 6-8 4.68 ERA
Muncy scratched Betts to short Rojas 2B Freeland to 3B
Shohei Ohtani, DH
Mookie Betts, SS
Freddie Freeman, 1B
Will Smith, C
Teoscar Hernandez, RF
Andy Pages, CF
Alex Call, LF
Alex Freeland, 3B
Miguel Rojas, 2B
Message sent with the starting line-up. Will it be received? We shall see.