The Dodgers just got off a 7-2 road trip, and experiencing an excruciating 3-6 home stand.
Home Stand
The Runs Scored in the home stand was 43, and the runs against was 41. The run differential was underwater until the last game on the home stand: Dodgers won 10-0.
Batting WRISP on the home stand, the Dodgers were 20-88 (.227).
On the home stand, only 4 games had RA < 6. The Dodgers won 3 of those, their only wins.
Now for the road trip.
The Runs Scored in the home stand was 53, and the runs against was 19.
Batting WRISP on the road trip, the Dodgers were 28-97 (.289).
On the home stand, only 4 games had RA < 6. The Dodgers won 3 of those, their only wins.
On the road trip, no runs against was > 4. Only two games reached 4, and one of those was the ten inning game when the Dbacks scored 2 in the 10th off Nabil Crismatt. The other game the Dodgers lost on the trip was a bullpen game started by Michael Grove. But that was more of a great game by Blue Jays pitcher, Kevin Gausman. BTW, maybe it is time to stop trying to push Grove to more than 1.0 inning. He seems automatic for 1.0 IP, but loses it after that.
The big difference was the starting pitching. Hitting WRISP was much better as well, but the pitching was the big difference.
So now the two teams that were supposed to meet for the last 4 NLCS , but only met in the first two. They are once again the heavy favorites to meet in the 2024 NLCS. The two teams will be meeting for the first time in 2024 this weekend.
The overall offense and overall pitching stats are very comparable. The one area that seems out of whack batting WRISP.
The big difference? Look at the WRISP. This is the same problem the Dodgers have had the last several years. They seemed to have remedied the starting pitching issues from last year, the hitting WRISP still needs to improve. Maybe once Shohei Ohtani actually begins to be mediocre while hitting WRISP, the overall numbers will improve.
MiLB GAME SUMMARY REPORTS
OKC Baseball Club 5 – Salt Lake City Bees 2
Blake Treinen started for OKC and pitched 1.0 inning. He retired the side in order and struck out 2 batters. Blake should be joing the MLB team soon.
Elieser Hernández relieved Treinen and pitched 5.0 scoreless innings. He allowed 3 hits and 1 BB with 5 Ks.
Nick Ramirez and Kevin Gowdy each pitched a scoreless inning. Stephen Gonsalves entered in the 9th and immediately walked the first two batters that was followed by two run scoring singles. After he struck out Chad Wallach, Michael Petersen relieved Gonsalves, struck out his 1st batter and then got a ground out to end the threat and inning.
OKC packaged 5 singles, 7 BB, 3 WP, 1 PB, and a sac fly into 5 runs. In the first, Miguel Vargas drew a walk, stole 2nd, and scored on a 2 out single by Andre Lipcius.
In the 4th, Andre Lipcius opened with a single. He moved to 2nd on a WP and 3rd on a Kevin Padlo single. He scored on a Hunter Feduccia sac fly.
In the 7th, Kody Hoese opened with a single. Jonathan Araúz and Chris Owings each drew a BB to load the bases. The first WP scored Hoese. Miguel Vargas drew a BB to reload the bases. A second WP scored Araúz, and a PB scored Owings.
That was the entirety of the OKC offense. Pitching won this one.
Andre Lipcius had 2 singles for the only OKC player with 2 hits. OKC was 2-12 WRISP.
Tulsa Drillers and Springfield Cardinals game was rained out. The two teams will play a DH on Friday, May 3.
Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (Milwaukee) 4 – Great Lakes Loons 1
Peter Heubeck issued 2 walks and allowed a single in the 1st inning. A run scored on a DP. In the third, a single, SB, and second single scored another run. Once again, walks were a big problem. Heubeck issued 6 BB, 4 singles, and allowed 2 runs.
Franklin De La Paz allowed 2 runs on a BB, HBP, and triple.
The Loons scored their only run and 2 hits in the 6th. Luis Rodriguez singled and scored on Alex Freeland’s triple.
Loons’ pitchers did not allow another base runner in the final 3.1 innings.
Modesto Nuts (Seattle) 13 – Rancho Cucamonga Quakes 2
In the first 5.0 innings, Patrick Copen and Felix Cabrera allowed 7 runs on 8 hits and 6 walks, including 2 HRs. They did strike out 7.
Rancho were being no-hit for the first 7.0 IP. The Quakes had three walks and a sac fly to score a run in the 7th.
The no-no was broken up in the 8th. Juan Alonso opened the inning with a HBP. He moved to 3rd after a Josue De Paula double, the Quakes first hit of the game. Jake Gelof singled home Alonso for the Quakes second and final hit and run.
The next group of Quakes relievers did not do any better. In the final 3.0 IP, the Nuts scored 6 runs on 5 hits and 6 BB from 3 Quakes relievers.
The Quakes are running into a much better team in the Nuts.
Not a game to be remembered.
WRISP has been a sore spot for this team for several years. Their approach with men on base is pitiful. I see way too many guys swinging for the fences, or swinging at the first pitch trying to get something to happen instead of hitting a pitch they can drive. Freddie and Mookie so far are the best in these situations. The seven hundred-million-dollar man needs to learn from these two. Ohtani needs a different mindset with this team than he did with the Angels where it was just him and Trout and a lot of praying.
I would add Smith to Betts and Freeman as good wrisp.
Agreed. Will has been excellent with men on base. Pages isn’t doing to bad either.
Spot on your Ohtani take! Let’s hope he’s smart enough to realize the reality of your last sentence.
LOL
Laughter is good for the heart. I’m glad you found something funny with what I wrote.
👍
The entire road trip, Eric Karros was saying the same thing. “All you are trying to do is get the run in”. “Shorten up and go with with the pitch”. “Quit trying to hit the ball 600 feet.” I beleive he once said something to the order of “you are trying to win a game, not the HR Derby”.
Different era, Eric, and certainly a different hitting coach. He also said that the hitting coaches should be talking about their HR mentality approach in those situations. Then again, I am not sure RVS has any other plan other than swing hard with a 25-30 degree launch angle.
I have been wondering what it would take and when it could happen that the launch angle dogmatic approach breaks.
It’s not the most fun to watch
Innings pitched Starters:
Atlanta 17th
LA 21st
Early comparisons. Make them again after 1/3 of the season.
Read in the paper this month Urias’ case has been settled. He got 3 years probation. He’s a free agent now and some team is going to sign him. His parent club could sure use him.
Use him as a hitter or a pitcher?
Very funny Fred.
If he shows contrition I would bring him back
Okay, I will make them then also. That will be Game 54, May 25. Actually I will have to make it Game 56 as I will be gone that weekend for our 50th wedding anniversary, which we will be spending on the dunes of Pismo Beach. But do you really expect to see a lot of differences.
You have said (and I agree), that we need to wait until the hitters reach 100 AB to know what type of year they will be having. That is Shohei, Mookie, Teoscar, Freddie, Smith, and Muncy (okay only 99).
I suspect we will see Outman and Lux in the first two games this weekend, but not on Sunday. That should get them a little closer, but depending on the pitcher, they could get there next week.
Urias can still be suspended by MLB and if he signed with any team, that suspension would be served while on that team. He also has 365 days of Domestic violence classes to take and some community service to serve also. I think MLB will give him a significant suspension since this is his second offense. In any case, he will not be pitching professionally in the near future, and I doubt the Dodgers would bring him back.
“BTW, maybe it is time to stop trying to push Grove to more than 1.0 inning. He seems automatic for 1.0 IP, but loses it after that.” — Sometimes what is happening is opposite to what should happen. He has been built up as a starter so going 3 innings should be a breeze.
2 innings max. Those middle innings when starters fail to go 6 look like a good spot for him.
I was commenting from memory (which seems to be failing), so I thought I would go back and look at what Michael Grove has done thus far in 2024. Grove has appeared in 11 games for 18.0 IP. 7 of those games were scoreless. In the 7 scoreless games, he has allowed 7 base runners (3 hits and 4 BB) over 10.0 IP.
But in those other 4 games, Grove has been bad. He has allowed 13 runs in 8 innings. But digging a little bit more, Grove had 1.0 bad inning in each of those 4 games, while the other 4.0 innings were scoreless.
MG Game 1, Team Game 1 – 4 runs in his 2nd inning of 2.0
MG Game 2, Team Game 4 – 3 runs in his 1st inning of 1.0
MG Game 4, Team Game 8 – 4 runs in his 1st inning of 3.0
MG Game 10, Team Game 30 – 3 runs in his 2nd inning of 2.0
He has also allowed only 1 out of 5 baserunners inherited to score. Not bad at all.
If there was ever a Jekyll and Hyde pitcher, it would be hard to beat Michael Grove in the first 33 games of 2024. Good enough to stick, but bad enough to know when to go get him.
Someone please tell me what there is to gain by having Knack back at OKC. He pitched well in his three starts, so now they put him on the bus and tell him to cool his heels until someone gets injured?
Since, as Badger has pointed out, Grove is really a one-inning guy at this point, maybe it would make sense to keep Knack here as a multi-inning guy, or at least to fill some role in the bullpen rather than being kicked to the curb after more or less doing everything they asked of him here.
What is to be gained:
OK, that’s what you have to say Andrew, but what does Bluto say? 🙂
I really can’t argue with any of your points, but I’ll bet Knack was disappointed since he always seems to draw the short straw. There are some who think he could have been the first one here, even before Miller, Sheehan and Stone, not that any of those three didn’t deserve to be here and perform admirably when given the chance.
I agree with that. I’ll just say that there is going to be so much load management that Knack will get more opps, let’s hope the team is honest with him and he takes the time to work on his stuff.
No doubt on another team he’d get more of a shot, but no other team probably offers the same development.
Your last statement is absolutely true. I wonder if Knack has had conversations with Pepiot, who is now thriving in Tampa.
More than thriving. Pepiot is arguably their Ace. To get talent at the Tyler Glasnow level, you need to give up talent. I have been a huge fan of Pepiot’s since he was drafted, but I am not upset about the trade. It is doing what trades are supposed to do…be good for both teams.
I look for Nick Nastrini to be in the CWS rotation full time before the end of the season.
I wonder if Pepiot were allowed to start the last playoff game the Dodgers “played” and done really well if he would have been traded.
I was a fan of a long term rotation that included Pepiot, Sheehan, Stone and Miller but if one of them were to be traded, I would have sold high on Miller.
I still say that Knack was sent down because Friedman likes to play with the system. Knack would be unavailable between starts and swapping him for a reliever, adds versatility. I think Knack will be back once the 10 days pass or earlier if someone goes on a scheduled injury.
Baseball America previews the ACL ($$$$). Two Dodgers (both out of the DSL) merit a mention:
https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/10-players-to-watch-in-the-2024-arizona-complex-league/
Jesus Tillero, RHP, Dodgers
… He mixed a four-seamer, cutter, slurve and changeup into a repertoire that helped him allow just 19 hits in 30.2 innings …
Eduardo Quintero, OF, Dodgers
… He’s a plus runner with budding power, oodles of athleticism and a very high ceiling, especially if he sticks in center field as he matures. With a strong turn in the ACL, he has a chance to move quickly through the system’s ranks.
Also Samuel Munoz, who was at extended Spring Training at the tender age of 19 is being promoted to Rancho Cucamonga
Don’t know much about Tillero, but will have to start paying attention to him.
Quintero, on the other hand, really bears watching based on what I’ve read about him. We’re slowly starting to build some stock on promising outfielders. All we need is for three of them to eventually stick and have continued MLB success.
Pages
Outman
Hope
George
DePaula
Quintero
Munoz
Munoz is already at RC, and has appeared in two games. One was last night’s horrid outing against Modesto (2 hits in total – De Paula and Gelof).
I have written extensively on both Tillero and Quintero. Tillero just turned 18 (yesterday) and Quintero is also 18. This will be a huge year for both as they get acclimated to the US and continue their development. If they succeed at the ACL, they both could end up in Rancho at the end of July…as 18 year olds.
The ACL starts on Saturday and will end July 25, not coincidentally just days before the trade deadline.
The rosters have not been finalized, so I was waiting until they were to comment on the team. They will include a bunch of players who dominated DSL last year. That could very well end up being the best bunch of DSL players the Dodgers have ever had. Tillero, Quintero, Joendry Vargas, Alexander Albertus, Moises Brito will be amongst a lot of 2023 DSL talent that should be playing in Arizona this year.
As soon as the rosters are updated, I will discuss. But I am really looking forward to the ACL more than ever this year.
Don’t know how Tillero skipped by me since I make it a practice to read your prospect posts. I’ve definitely heard about Vargas, Albertus and Brito, and of course Quintero.
As I mentioned earlier, all we need is 3 of those outfielders to settle in and have good careers. Is that too much to ask?
Jesus Tillero
The Dodgers had the best clubs in the DSL last year, so it should come as no surprise that they will field an outstanding ACL club. Still just 17 years old, Tillero got on the bump at minor league spring training and was interesting. He mixed a four-seamer, cutter, slurve and changeup into a repertoire that helped him allow just 19 hits in 30.2 innings while striking out 34 and walking just six. He’s not the most physical pitcher in the world, but he has a chance to fit into a big league rotation someday.
Eduardo Quintero
Quintero was the hitting star of Los Angeles’ DSL group, which he led with an outstanding 1.055 OPS, five home runs and 22 stolen bases. He’s a plus runner with budding power, oodles of athleticism and a very high ceiling, especially if he sticks in center field as he matures. With a strong turn in the ACL, he has a chance to move quickly through the system’s ranks.
I know many have advocated a six-man rotation, but in order to do that, you are going to have to get pitchers used to the idea. Being creatures of habit, some will not like the idea especially if you try to implement it mid-season.
The Lakers fired their Coach, Ham. The only take I have on that is my dislike of Reeves deferring to James and Davis. By that I mean, it seemed to me that Reeves too many times almost immediately passed the ball to those two and then ran to a corner and stood there.
Reeves is a great playmaker and when he is allowed to be a playmaker instead of a corner stander, he makes good things happen. If that was Ham’s plan, then I am glad he is gone.
I would like for James to get a chance to play with Curry at Golden State and be replaced with a consistently good shooter. They could also use a Sumo Wrestler to push Jokic away from the basket.
The Lakers got knocked out in the first round with both of their aging “stars” having relatively injury-free seasons. They won’t play as many games next year.
Although I really admire LBJ, I’d wouldn’t shed any tears if he opted out (not likely) and we traded AD and started all over.
It’s more likely that we include Reeves in a deal for a third major player since he’s our only real trade chip and the Lakers always play for now and let the future fall where it may.
They played the defending champions, and still the best team in the West, tough. Maybe if one player wasn’t making a third of the cap they could afford more depth, something Denver has a lot of. At this point just let LeBron pick the coach.
The Mariners took 2 of 3 from the Braves this week. Both close, low scoring games. The M’s have a nice pitching staff and had success challenging the Brave hitters with hard stuff, especially up. But they didn’t nibble around with breaking balls.
Let’s see if our advanced scouts saw the same thing for our staff?
Padres just traded for Arraez.
Marlins get reliever Woo-suk Go plus SD prospects 6, 9, 13 on the MLB Pipeline Top 30 Padres Prospect List.
Good Padres trade.
Dodgers Director of Pitching has one word for Bruns start tonight: