Ist Weekend Observations

It is not fair to draw any conclusions on the first games of ST.  But there are areas that are worthy of commentary. My biggest takeaway from Game 1 was the hopeful change in approach by Andy Pages.

For Game 1, I came away impressed with Pages’ three AB.  In his first AB, Pages struck out looking on a pitch down the middle, but he did not chase. Actually strikes 1 and 2 were 4-seamers middle/middle.  We do not know, but perhaps he was given the Miguel Vargas instruction of tracking the pitches in his first AB.  If his 2^nd and 3^rd AB are any indication as to how patient he will be, we are going to be in for a good summer with Pages.  Pages saw 16 pitches and whiffed at only 1 pitch that might be considered a chase: a half ball inside at the thighs.  He is showing good maturity at the plate as he turned 25.  Pages is a lurking All Star OF.

Teoscar chased a couple, but still had three hits.  He will never eliminate the chase.  Losing a ball in the sun in Arizona does not connote a continuation of last year’s defense. Then again we do not know for sure.  He had sunglasses on and looked like he did not see it until the end.

In game 1, most of the early hits were with 2 strikes and went oppo.  That is a good sign as a team.  Is it a trend?

Luke Fox is going to be a pitcher I talk about a lot this year.  He was another scouting find by the Dodgers.  He was a 17^th round draft pick out of Duke who was recovering from TJ surgery when drafted. He did not pitch at all in his junior year leading up to the draft.  He is a LHSP, so he will join Jackson Ferris and Adam Serwinowski as legit LHSP prospects in the LAD organization.  Like most LAD pitching prospects, he needs better control.  22 pitches and 11 were strikes.  He needs to work on that command.  I am very bullish on Fox, and while I expect him to start the season in AA, he should get bumped to AAA.  I do not want to limit his potential as a SP, but with the LAD depth at SP and at 24 years old, he looks to be more of a LAD relief prospect in the long run, or a good trade candidate.  He did close some games for Duke as a sophomore.

Adam Serwinowski looked good as well in his one inning.  Another nibbler.  27 pitches, 15 for strikes.

I know they were not facing Aaron Judge, but combined they struck out 5 of the 8 batters they faced, with each allowing a BB.

Game 1 had 7 NRI relievers and one on the 40-man who is no more than a darkhorse at this point (Paul Gervase).  They through 7.1 shutout innings, allowing 4 singles, 4 BB, and 13K.  Yes, it was against one of the weakest offensive teams, and one with one of the worst farm systems.  But they competed against what they were asked to face.

Ryan Fitzgerald and Santiago Espinal look to be excellent infield insurance depth for the Dodgers hiding out in OKC to start the year.  Nick Senzel might be too good to hold down.  I do not know if he will make the LAD roster, but he could be traded for a legit lower level prospect before the season.  If not, the OKC infield will be loaded.

Hyeseong Kim had two singles, but then reverted to his chase issue in his 3^rd AB strikeout.  He chased two pitches well out of the strike zone: one high and one low.  He still looks to have more of a loop in his swing than when he was in Korea.  With the ball down in the zone, he has enough bat control to hit it hard.  With the loop, he has more of a problem with the high pitch.  His swing was flatter on pitches up while in the KBO.

Dalton Rushing looked good behind the plate.  He has a new stance this year.  With Freddie understanding that he will sit more this season (even though not liking it), Rushing could get 400 PA this year.

In Game 2, the pitching was still the star.  Bogaerts, Merrill, Machado, Tatis Jr., Cronenworth, and Castellanos were the first 6 Padres batters, and all 6 figure to be in the starting lineup on Opening Day.  Contrast that to Kyle Tucker and Will Smith as the only LAD regulars to start against Randy Vazquez, who will be in the SDP rotation.

Jackson Ferris started and got 2 outs on 6 pitches, before he walked Machado on a 3-2 count and allowed a single to Tatis Jr.  He got Cronenworth the end the inning.

Will Klein made his first appearance since the miraculous Game 3,  4-inning relief appearance.  He retired the side in order on 3 groundouts with 10 pitches (7 strikes).  He looks to be another reclamation project in the same way as Evan Phillips.  Phillips was 26 when he joined the Dodgers, while Klein was 25.  Klein is working himself into the late inning high leverage discussion.

The Dodgers rolled out 7 more pitchers and all pitched well.  However, in the 8^th, Ronan Kopp showed that he needs more PFP work.  He allowed the only run in the game on his throwing error.

My favorite pitcher of the day was Chris Campos.  He retired the side in order with 2 K’s including Jackson Merrill to end the inning.

Offensively Will Smith and Nick Senzel led the team.  Senzel is making some noise as to being strongly considered for a platoon role with Max at 3B.  The two run double was hit 108.1 while the 2^nd double was hit 105.4.  On the 1^st double, the pitch was a high (out of the zone) 95.3 4-seam fastball.  Does he play himself onto the 26-man?  A lot of games to go to impress even more or disappoint.

We also got to see that Josue De Paula can hit the ball hard, but is going to need to produce with the bat, because his defense is not encouraging.  I know fans are hoping he gets a look at 1B, but I have not heard much about such a transition.  He will be part of a BIG OF in Tulsa.

Landon Knack and Gavin Stone are headed to the mound to start the next two games.