For the most part, we as Dodger fans have become somewhat spoiled. The team has played so well over the last decade, that we expect the World Series every year. Is this realistic?
When you consider the fact that a team must win an additional 13 games if they are the wild card, 14 if they are a play-in team, and 11 if they get the bye, it just is not that easy.
At this point in time, it is my opinion that the bye team is put at a disadvantage with the system as it is. They don’t play for at least five days after the season ends.
This system has been in effect the last two years. Both times, three of the teams with a bye were beaten in the LDS. In 22, three of the four teams with a bye were defeated. Yankees, Braves and Dodgers. The fourth, Houston, went on to win the World Series. In 23, three of the four lost again, LA, Atlanta, and the Orioles. Houston would lose in the LCS, so none of the four made the World Series.
A NL team with 84 wins won its way to the series by first beating the 92-win Brewers, then the 100-win Dodgers, and finally the 90-win Phillies. They then lost the series to the Rangers. Texas got there by beating the Orioles and Astros. The Orioles had the best record in the AL with 101 wins.
Houston is the only 100 plus game winner in this system to advance to the series. For Dodger fans it is frustrating since the team won 211 games the last two years and hasn’t advanced past the LDS.
Placing blame is easy. For many, it is mismanagement by Roberts. For some they blame the front office for not getting the right pieces to put the team over the top at the deadline.
But teams have to be WILLING to trade the piece you want to your team. The Dodgers had a deal in place to land LH starter, Eduardo Rodriguez from Detroit. He used his veto right to reject the trade. Forced to scramble at the last minute, they pivoted to KC and landed swingman, Yarbrough.
I have also heard things from fans like no fire on the team. Not enough attitude. I also saw one fan who said that Freeman was too nice a person, and that he needed to show more competitiveness. Same with Mookie, great player, not very emotional.
Since he took over after the 2014 season, Andrew Freidman has traded for these players at the deadline. 2015: Arroyo, Johnson, Avilan, Peraza, Wood, Morse and Latos. Morse was then traded for Jose Tabata.
2016: Jesse Chavez, Josh Fields, Rich Hill, Josh Reddick. 2017: Cingrani, Darvish, Watson. 2018: Machado, Axford, Dozier. Machado was acquired on the 18th. He was more of a need than most trades since Seager was out for the year. 2019: Negron, Kolarek, Gyorko. I consider this to be one of the weaker deadline deals for AF. In 2020 due to the pandemic, there was only one trade at the deadline, Ross Stripling went to the Jays for Kendall Williams and Ryan Noda.
The Dodgers most important deal was the trade for Betts prior to the season. 2021: Max Scherzer, T. Turner. They also traded for Danny Duffy who never pitched an inning for the team. 2022: They actually started dealing on the 30th of July with the deadline August 2, they got Chris Martin from the Cubs, and then trade for Joey Gallo. Another weak deadline. Since for the last several years, late August trades are not allowed, the deadline is your last chance to get help from another organization.
2023: Kike Hernandez, Amed Rosario, Joe Kelly, Lance Lynn, Ryan Yarbrough. So, it is obvious AF tried to improve the team bringing in those five players. They may not have been the best, but they were the best available.
Rosario did not light up the scoreboard, but he played well enough. I was hoping they would keep him as a free agent, but he ended up signing with the Rays, and he is having a resurgence of sorts, hitting .299 so far. One reason I liked him is because he is only 28, to me, a better option than Kike.
Roberts gets criticized a lot. But you cannot really argue that his teams do not play well. I think my biggest gripe is that the team is not great at baseball fundamentals. They do not bunt, they rarely steal, and the situational hitting is pathetic.
His one strength is communication. He does that very well, and with a team full of superstars, there is definitely harmony in the clubhouse. You can see that these guys really pull for each other.
So, what is the solution to the early exits from the playoffs? Better fundamentals would be a good start. Not swinging for the fences all of the time. Shorten up with two strikes, take the ball where it is pitched instead of trying to pull everything and be the hero.
I believe one major change that needs to be made is that the playoffs be restructured. Make the wild card round first two games a doubleheader. Then play game three the next day if needed. Then start the series on Thursday instead of Friday. Keeps the wild card teams from re-setting their pitching staff, and the bye teams only have three days off, much like the All-Star break.
The only time the Dodgers have gotten to the LCS in the last three seasons is when they had to play in to get to the LDS. Change is needed. Will it come? That is up to MLB.
MiLB Game Summary Reports
OKC Baseball Club 6 – Sacramento River Cats (Giants) 4
This was not one that Dinelson Lamet wants to put on his resume. The first four batters reached with 2 scoring. OKC got some help with Ismael Munguia was thrown out at home in an attempted steal of home on the back end of a double steal. He was able to keep the River Cats without scoring any other runs in his 4.0 innings.
In the 5th, OKC got one back when Jonathan Araúz drew a walk and scored on an Andre Lipcius double (9).
Jesse Hahn came on in relief in the 6th. 2 doubles, 2 walks, and a sac fly later, and the River Cats had a 4-1 lead.
First three OKC batters reached in the 7th loading the bases with no outs. Drew Avans hit a sacrifice fly to plate 1. But what started as what might have been a big inning, ended up with just one run.
In the 8th, OKC turned the game around. Austin Gauthier hit a one out single and moved to 3rd on a Kody Hoese double. Chris Owings singled home both runners, and the game was tied. Chris Okey followed up with a single pushing Owings to 3rd. Jonathan Araúz delivered the 4th consecutive hits, with Owings scoring the go-ahead run and Okey moving to third. Drew Avans had the 5th consecutive hit with Okey scoring the 6th run.
Sacramento failed to score in the 8th, as well as OKC failing to score in the 9th. LHRP John Rooney entered in the 9th to try and close it down for the win. Rooney allowed a one out single to Donovan Walton, but struck out Jackson Reetz and David Villar to end the game with his 1st save.
After dropping the first four games of the series, OKC came back to win the final two.
- Andre Lipcius – 2-5, 1 RBI, double 9
- Kody Hoese – 2-5, 1 run, double (7)
- Chris Owings – 2-4, 1 BB, 2 runs, 2 RBI
- Jonathan Araúz – 2-3, 1 BB, 1 run, 1 RBI
Tulsa Drillers 6 – Wichita Wind Surge (Twins) 5
In a come from behind victory, the Drillers scored 1 in the 8th and 2 in the 9th to get the walk off win, with 2 out.
Orlando Ortiz-Mayr and Ryan Sublette gave up 5 runs in 5.2 IP. Juan Morillo relieved Sublette with a runner on 1B. He gave up a single, but got the final out in the 6th. Morillo, Ben Harris, and Jeisson Cabrera navigated the final three innings not allowing a run.
In the first, Alex Freeland drew a BB and Taylor Young doubled him home.
Alex Freeland hit a solo HR in the third, and Chris Alleyne hit a HR in the 5th.
Alex Freeland gave the Drillers the lead twice, the last was a Walk Off. He hit HR #4 overall & his 2nd with Tulsa & had 5 hits over the weekend. Tulsa won all 3 & he was a huge part of it. Not only did he have the walk off & the 5 hits, he also scored 5 runs over the weekend.… pic.twitter.com/hwPIvW8gJO
— Dodgers Daily (@dodger_daily) May 19, 2024
Down 5-3 in the 8th, Alex Freeland walked, and Young and Griffin Lockwood-Powell followed with singles, with Freeland scoring.
In the 9th, needing one to tie and two to win, Diego Cartaya led off with a single. After Brandon Lewis struck out, Dalton Rushing was HBP. Alleyne hit a ground ball to 2nd, and Wichita was looking for the DP. They got Rushing at 2nd, but the throw to 1st was thrown away, and Cartaya scored the tying run, and Chris Alleyne moved to 2nd. Alex Freeland, the day’s hitting star, on a 2-out 3-2 pitch hit a game winning walk off single.
#Dodgers SS prospect Alex Freeland delivered a walkoff hit for Double-A Tulsa to continue his breakout season at the plate pic.twitter.com/2kDJga3qcH
— Bruce Kuntz (@Bnicklaus7) May 19, 2024
- Alex Freeland – 2-3, 2 BB, 3 runs, 2 RBI, HR (2)
- Taylor Young – 2-4, 1 RBI, double (9)
- Chris Alleyne – 1-4, 2 runs, 1 RBI, HR (3)
Diego Cartaya is showing signs of rounding into form offensively, today he showed off his arm. Unofficially I got a 1.9 on the pop time, which is very good. #dodgers pic.twitter.com/L6h8K59Z5w
— Dodgers Daily (@dodger_daily) May 19, 2024
Great Lakes Loons 3 – Dayton Dragons (Reds) 1
Peter Heubeck got the start for Great Lakes. In 4.0 IP, he gave up the run on 3 hits and 2 walks, with 5 Ks. The run was scored on a single and a one out double in the 3rd.
High A Midwest League Top Pitching Performance of the Day for May 19th
Peter Heubeck, RHP, Great Lakes
5 K, 4 IP, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 H https://t.co/r9bNuM9RE4— James Weisser (@JWeisser88) May 20, 2024
Four relievers kept the Dragons off the board with 2 hits and 2 BB, and only 1 K.
The Loons tied the score in the 6th on a Thayron Liranzo solo HR (4).
Loons Thayron Liranzo crushes his second home run of the game to put Great Lakes up 2-1. @DodgersBeat pic.twitter.com/XH8xnYsvL8
— 🇺🇸 DooM_Sal (@msalas24) May 19, 2024
In the 8th, Liranzo hit his second solo HR of the day (5) for the lead.
#Dodgers C prospect Thayron Liranzo homered twice today, one from each side of the plate
Liranzo lead the Cal League in homers last year and is up to five home runs so far this season pic.twitter.com/UFqmclVjHm
— Bruce Kuntz (@Bnicklaus7) May 19, 2024
Kyle Nevin followed with a single and Chris Newell was HBP. Dylan Campbell lined out to CF, and Nevin moved to 3rd. Nevin scored an insurance run on a Jake Gelof sac fly.
- Noah Miller – 2-4, 1 BB
- Thayron Liranzo – 2-5, 2 runs, 2 RBI, 2 HR (5)
- Dylan Campbell – 2-4
- Jake Gelof, 2-3, SF, 1 RBI
Inland Empire 66ers (LAA) 18 – Rancho Cucamonga Quakes 8
Quakes pitchers were battered around for the third straight game. They have allowed 42 runs over the past three games. In this game, two top RC pitchers, starter Patrick Copen and reliever Reynaldo Yean were hit hard in this one. After 11 scoreless games where Yean did not allow a run in 10.2 IP, and had given up only 2 hits. But in the 9th inning of this game, Yean allowed 4 runs (all earned) on 2 hits and three walks, with 1 K.
- Jesus Galiz – 3-4, 1 BB, 2 runs
- Sean McLain – 2-5, 1 run, 1 RBI, double (2)
- Samuel Munoz – 2-4, 2 runs, 1 RBI, double (2), triple (1)
- Juan Alonso – 3-4, 1 run, 2 RBI, double (6)
- Wilman Diaz – 2-4, 1 run, 1 RBI
- Double – Joe Vetrano (2)
- HR – Jordan Thompson (6)
Dodgers ACL:
There was not an ACL game today, but I found the following on Eduardo Quintero.
Here’s #Dodgers prospect Eduardo Quintero’s 3 run shot from last night. After homering again today his OPS is up to .941 in the Arizona Complex League. Quintero doesn’t turn 19 until September, he’s a high school senior basically 👀 pic.twitter.com/SjgHkucLiY
— Josh Thomas (@jokeylocomotive) May 18, 2024
Ohtani with his first walk off hit as a Dodger. We can hope he has many more. Nice shot by Pages today. He is going to be here a while. Knack was ok through 4, then ran into some trouble in the 5th. Banda looked pretty good, and they got some length out of Vesia. Looks like today’s game with the D-Backs will be a bullpen game for them. Mantiply is starting.
Every year? No. 3 out of 17 trips, with 1 win? Yeah, I would hope for better results than that.
Each year I would like to see at least 1 prospect make the starting lineup. We will see more than that up and down of course, but like Outman did last year, to have a Dodger in the voting for ROY should be a goal for the organization. It has been that way in the past. Pages this year? Who will it be next year and the year following?
How many championships with a different manager? The unanswerable question
Jeff I like that solution,having wildcards play a dh. It’s either that or just start the playoffs with only one wildcard team and they play the top seed.
Great stuff Bear. I too favor ways to shorten the Bye team’s days off.I especially like starting the wildcard round with one day rest for travel to the home site, a double header the first day and game 3 the next day if necessary. Start the next round the next day. Teams travel to sites and play the next day, all the time. That would be 3 days off for the Division winner.
They will likely give the wildcard winner a day off, so 4 days rest. I have made a wild suggestion that the Division winners do something different during their rest period. Maybe consider scheduling a real live game with fans in for free and cheap concessions and play the winner of a quality Independent League, perhaps with MLB vets or an All-Star team consisting of Independent League players. Their seasons are typically done just before that time. Give the Indy players a look in a big arena. It’s better than sitting around playing scrimmages.
I don’t know if MLB would approve that? Probably not.
Hey Badger, regarding our conversation regarding MLB players failing to execute plays we all learn in Little League. How about Lux’s failure to cover first on a sac bunt? Maybe he was surprised that he actually was seeing a bunt in MLB but at every level of baseball when a batter shows bunt, all other responsibilities are off and he covers first.
There’s one exception which I won’t go into but that’s not the case yesterday.
I have enjoyed Lux’s defense at 2B so far. That’s excluding the failure to cover first last night. And, Yarbrough’s lack of awareness that Lux wasn’t within 20 feet of 1B. Two players’ failure with fundamentals and execution. Yikes.
I have a question for Jeff, Phil, or Badger (and everyone else). What is your analysis of Lux’s swing? To me he seems to be throwing the bat at where he thinks the location will be. He doesn’t look like he has a smooth swing at the pitch. I know it’s been described on a hard hit ball the hitter dropped the head of the bat on the ball. But, with Lux it seems to be exaggerated. What am I seeing? And, is it a proper way to hit a baseball consistently? Thanks.
“I think my biggest gripe is that the team is not great at baseball fundamentals. They do not bunt, they rarely steal, and the situational hitting is pathetic.”
“So, what is the solution to the early exits from the playoffs? Better fundamentals would be a good start. Not swinging for the fences all of the time. Shorten up with two strikes, take the ball where it is pitched instead of trying to pull everything and be the hero.”
You nailed it Bear.
By the way, the Dodgers lead MLB in runners LOB with 367.
The Dodgers traded for RHRP Yohan Ramirez from the Mets for cash considerations. Why? His career ERA 4.29, his career FIP (more indicative) is 4.89, and his career WHIP is 1.352. In 138.1 career IP, he has 145 K with 75 BB. His one value pitch is a sweeper (+2 run value). His 2nd most pitched is a sinker with a -3 run value. 4-seamer and curve have 0 run value.
He has no options, so he has to be placed on the 26 man. Who goes down? I am guessing Knack. He has to be placed on the 40 man, who gets moved? Does Brasier go onto the 60 day IL?
But the Dodgers have to make room for Ramirez so that Varland, Vanasco, and Knack can stick in OKC? Yeah, AF loves his veterans.
The Dodgers are Ramírez’s seventh team in the last three seasons, having pitched in the majors for the Mariners, Guardians, Pirates, White Sox, Mets, and Orioles since the start of 2022. He was actually with the Mets twice this season, starting the season with New York before getting traded to the Orioles on April 11. The Mets claimed Yohan back off waivers on May 6.
Banda made more sense because he was LH. But this makes zero sense to me, unless Mark Prior or Connor McGuinness have said they can “fix” him ala Evan Phillips. BTW, when is Phillips coming back? He is eligible now. Joe Kelly? He will be eligible on Tuesday. We never get a straight answer on injuries, so who knows.
Looking at that photo of the trophy with all the autographs, MLB players must have the worst signatures in the world. You can’t read any of them. I got a baseball card autographed by Carl Erskine; you can read his name clearly. I also have a Duke Snider signed 8X10. Again, you can read the signature clearly.