Well we all knew that the Dodgers were going to lose again. I did not get to see the game as I was watching my grandson win a tournament his first time out with his new team. Yes, my blog, I get bragging rights.😉
The LAD batters mustered all of two hits (Mookie and CT3), and struck out 14 times. The Dodger batters made Brady Singer look like Jacob de Grom. Singer is already a good pitcher, but is going to be an excellent pitcher. He is deserving of the label KC Ace.
KC is on the verge of becoming a solid team with their “kids”. I have been a Bobby Witt Jr. advocate since he was drafted. Youngsters Nick Pratto, Vinnie Pasquantino, MJ Melendez, Kyle Isbel, Nate Eaton… and with their young starting pitching that is still maturing. Like most every other team, they could use more pitching, especially in the bullpen. Yes, I am bullish on KC, and have been since the George Brett days.
However this is a Dodger blog, but there really isn’t much positive to spin after Sunday’s game. It was still a quality start for Tyler Anderson, however teams are starting to catch on to how to beat Tyler Anderson. Swing early. He is going to try to steal a first pitch strike.
Alex Vesia pitched well in relief, while Craig Kimbrel pitched…like this year’s Craig Kimbrel. Nothing is easy. No such thing as a clean inning.
The Brewers series promises to be a challenge for the Dodger hitters. They get Freddy Peralta, Brandon Woodruff, Eric Lauer, and Corbin Burnes. The Dodgers have handled both Woodruff and Burnes in the past, but Peralta has been tough in limited innings; 1.80 ERA in 10 innings.. But Eric Lauer has been especially tough on LAD. In 52.2 innings, he is 6-0 with an ERA 2.56. This goes back to his SD days.
If there is nothing positive to write after Sunday’s LAD game, that does not mean there wasn’t exciting news regarding Dodgers. A more complete writeup by Harold can be found in the MiLB Summary for 08-14-2022. But briefly I want to highlight a pair of Dodger hurlers that had excellent games of their own on Sunday.
In his final rehab start for OKC, Dustin May completed 5.0 innings. He surrendered a HR to the second batter he faced, but that was it. He allowed just that one run, on 4 hits, 1 walk, and 10 Ks. He appears to be more than ready for his 1st start since May 1, 2021. He is scheduled to start next weekend at home against the Marlins.
The second eye popper was Michael Busch’s 5-6 day for OKC.
A third key performance by an MiLB pitcher was Bobby Miller for Tulsa. This was his best outing in his professional career.
I hope everyone will read Harold’s MiLB summaries.
Next stop…Milwaukee. First game, Julio Urias looks to continue his recent dominance against Freddy Peralta. Milwaukee is on the outside looking in at the final WC spot, so they promise to be a test.
I unlike some, knew they would lose a game sooner or later. The Brewers series will be a challenge. They play well in their own ballpark. But they are 4-7 since the deadline. And they made no real big deal at the break. It seemed they were trying to bolster their outfield. They kicked the tires on both Joc Pederson and Joey Gallo. As much as Cody Bellinger has fallen off, they have the same type situation with Christian Yelich. He is hitting .251 with only 8 homers. Except for Hunter Renfroe, the Brew crew is not getting much production from their outfielders. They are 13th in the majors in hitting and 9th in pitching. Dodgers catching them in a mini slump of sorts, they are now 1 1/2 games behind the Cardinals. Old friend, Albert Pujols hit 2 long balls yesterday.
Well, I was hoping for a new record win streak. I figured we had a great chance against KC and Milwaukee. But, we all knew the streak would end.
I read the OKC box. May with 70 pitches, 54 strikes. A lot of strikeouts yes, but nothing said about his command. You can blow away minor league hitters with good fastballs poorly located but that won’t happen against Major League hitters. Maybe someone knows if he was finding edges.
Speaking of location, that home run against Kimbrel looked pretty fat, and it looked like Pasquintino was waiting for it, almost like he knew it was coming. Whatever, that’s an example of what can happen if you tube a pitches against ML hitters.
I expect the offense to return tonight.
Here is some video.
Immaculate Inning
May has no reason to go back to OKC. He is ready even if he labors a little in the beginning. The Dodgers have a big enough lead to be able to be patient for May to be ready for October.
Buehler is not coming back.
Now what?
More of the same, hopefully.
The team has a better record without him this year than with him. May should make a substantial difference.
The team is being rather vague about the exact procedure, but apparently El Attrache will decide if he needs to do TJ once he gets in there. That decision will determine if we see Buehler at all during 2023.
More of the same? Urias, Gonsolin and Anderson straight through to November?
It will not surprise anyone that I remain dubious about that strategy.
I think most believed Buehler would be back by late August. May and Kershaw should take a few starts, and apparently Grove and Jackson are next up. It might work. Hope so.
Statistically speaking, perhaps the team is headed for a below-average patch.
I decidedly hope not.
Miller looked great.
So has Sheehan.
The Rangers have fired old friend Chris Woodward.
I find the timing to be a bit strange, on top of which the team is performing just about the way they were expected to this year.
Next year is when most people expected them to get substantially better.
I guess we’re at that point where the saying “you can’t fire the whole team” is applicable.
They still have plenty of $ to spend on payroll next year so whomever the new manager is he’ll have a nice team to work with.
Maybe this is one of those situations where the current GM didn’t hire the manager so he wants to bring in his own guy. That said, I feel badly for Woodward. He didn’t have much to work with while he was there and then they fire him just before the team gets better.
Things are happening on the farm.
Miller and Stone promoted to OKC.
Nastrini to Tulsa.
I think we will see both with a ML start or two going forward.