Yamamoto threw a bullpen today and it went well. Freddie, who is not injured, may possibly join the team for this homestand. Mookie is targeting August 12th during their next road trip which starts in Milwaukee. Max and Edman should not be too far behind. Grove and Graterol are close to returning according to reports from the Dodgers. Brasier needs a little longer.
Roberts said that Buehler is going to get one more re-hab start at OKC, and then they will see where he is. Rojas is participating in a sim game this week along with Max and Betts. As these guys get healthy, we are going to see a roster turnover very soon. I feel that Biggio is definitely on the bubble. Nick Ahmed might be on the bubble also. Outman will most definitely be optioned out as soon as the first player is activated. Most likely that will be Freeman.
After those three, it gets a little tricky. Right now, it looks like Chris Taylor is not going to be coming back anytime soon, so he is pretty safe. That leaves the underachievers. You know Rosario is safe. So is Kiermaier. Who goes down or gets released? Pages can be optioned. But more likely he stays and platoons with Kiermaier. If, and only if, Mookie moves back to right, the outfield will be more stable than it has been. Edman can also play some centerfield. To me, it means Kike is very vulnerable. What they can do is put someone on the 10-day, and then recall them on September 1st when they get an extra roster spot. The plus side of Edman is that he is a switch hitter.
My hope for Kershaw is that he can either give them some innings, or even come in against some tough lefties as a reliever. Kersh has done that before. If he doesn’t feel he can contribute quality innings, he might just pull himself from the rotation. He has been such an icon to the organization, they will give him every chance to prove he can be effective. Buehler, I am not so sure about. His velocity is down some, but what is more disturbing is his lack of control. Buehler has always been a strike thrower, now, not so much.
Stone seems to have hit a wall, which should be expected since he is only 10 innings shy of his career high. Glasnow improved a lot from his first outing off of the IL. If Yamamoto makes it back and is anywhere near the pitcher he was before he went down, they will have a solid front three with Glasnow, Flaherty and Yamamoto. They could give Stone a blow and re-call Wrobleski for a couple of starts. But I would feel very comfortable going into the playoffs with a rotation of Glasnow, Flaherty, Yamamoto and Stone. River Ryan could be a weapon out of the pen. Kid has some serious stuff. Kopech has impressed in his two appearances, and I would not feel bad about him getting some save chances.
The bullpen has been porous lately and they need to stop the bleeding down there. There is now news that Freddies boy, Maximus has been allowed to go home. Great news. Bullpen has pitched well in the three-game series with Oakland. They did not allow a run after the first game where Kelly got tagged for one. Since then, the bullpen has not allowed a run. Treinen got out of a bases loaded jam that Ryan had gotten into in the 5th inning.
Minor League Report
OKC 8 El Paso 6: Justin Wrobleski started for OKC and went 4.2 innings. He allowed 5 runs on 5 hits, 5 walks, and he struck out 5. By the time he left the game, OKC was ahead, 7-5. Jack Little relieved him and got the win. He gave up 1 run and 2 hits in his 1.1 innings of relief, one of those hits was a homer by Ornelas with 2 outs in the 6th. Hoese had hit his 12th homer in the third, and Trejo hit his 2nd in the 4th. Brasier pitched one inning of hitless relief striking out 2. Dreyer also pitched a scoreless inning and Michael Petersen got his 5th save. All of the OKC hitters had a hit except for Feduccia, who was 0-4 with 2 RBIs. Trejo went 3-4 and Gauthier was the only other player with multiple hits.
Tulsa 5 Springfield 3: Orlando Ortiz-Mayr got the start for the Drillers. He went 5 innings giving up 2 runs on 3 hits and 2 walks. He struck out 4 while earning his 6th win. Suarez relieved him and had a scoreless inning. Knowles was next up; he got two outs and walked a batter who ended up scoring when Henriquez gave up a single in the same inning. Henriquez got out of the inning without any more damage, he then threw a scoreless 8th. He struck out 2 hitters. Wepf gave up a hit in the 9th, but secured his 4th save. Rushing, who was the DH, crushed 2 homers, he now has 17, and drove in 3 runs. Freeland went 0-2 with 2 walks and scored 2. He has since been promoted to AAA. Lockwood-Powell and Fernandez had the only other 2 hits and both drove in a run.
Great Lakes 3 Cedar Rapids 2: Cedar Rapids scored a run in the bottom of the 3rd, then the Loons answered with 3 in the top of the 4th and made them stand up. In the bottom of the 3rd, Salas tripled and then scored on a ground out, Miller to Nevin. In the top of the 4th, Newell was hit by a pitch. Campbell got aboard on a fielder’s choice. He got all the way to third on a throwing error by the third baseman and Newell scored. Mongelli then singled in Campbell. Mongelli stole second, and then went to third on an error. Nevin then hit a sac-fly to right and ended the scoring for the Loons. In the bottom of the 8th, a couple of walks and a single score the last run for Cedar Rapids. The Loons had 7 hits. Quiroz and Campbell had 2 apiece. Wyatt Crowell went 3 innings giving up a run, on 2 hits and a walk. He struck out 3. Jacob Meador relieved him in the 4th and gave up 1 run on 1 hit and 4 walks. He pitched 4.2 innings and got his 1st win. He also struck out 5. Marinez got 1 out in the 8th, and then Ramirez pitched the 9th for his 5th save.
Rancho 6 San Jose 2: The Quakes made it a clean sweep for the Dodgers affiliates with a win at home against the Giants farm team. They scored 3 in the first and 3 in the 4th to take a 6-0 lead. Christian Zazueta started and went 5 innings for his 1st win. He allowed 1 hit, 1 run, walked none and struck out 8. The only hit was a homer by Cesar Quintas in the 5th. Marco Corcho pitched 1 inning of relief and allowed 1 run on 3 hits. He struck out 1. Josielyn Gonzalez then pitched 2 innings of scoreless relief giving up 3 hits, a walk and striking out 1. Reynaldo Yean then pitched a scoreless 9th striking out 2. Juan Alonso, the CF for the Quakes was 3-4 with 2 driven in. Hope was 0-2 with 2 walks and a run scored. 3B, Wilman Diaz was 2-3 with 2 driven in and a run scored.
Born June 14th, 1948, in Los Angeles California. AKA The Bear
Hope you all had a great weekend. It was good to see the Dodgers win a road series finally. Never fails, you dis a guy for non-production, and he has a good series. That was Kike this weekend. They are still striking out way too damn much. 11 more on Sunday. Doing my best to hold down the fort until Jeff is back.
You are doing a GREAT job holding down the fort!
Roster crunch will not be easy to solve for the Dodgers.
Rushing is on a tear. You can see why the Dodgers did not want to include him in a trade.
Wrobleski was wild, no control and gave up some untimely hits. He looked better with the big league club.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
Thank you, Ram, I appreciate the kind words.
Great job Bear btw any chance you could do a spot on Mrs. cimoli little boy Gino
Sure Sandy, I can do that.
NH Dodgers
I can’t believe I missed this in your post yesterday.
“if we were sitting a Silver Slugger to play a no hit Gold Glove, I would get the frustration.”
That’s a big gap, which tells me you value defense WAY MORE than offense, because it sounds to me you won’t give up a little better defense according to flawed defense stats unless we’re talking about a silver slugger. Like I said before, runs produce + runs prevented for 1 guy vs runs produced + runs prevented for the other guy and it doesn’t need to be a silver slugger to see who is more valuable, if you want to use flawed defense stats. I care a lot about pitching, just like I do offense. Isn’t it the responsibility of the pitcher to prevent runs? If gold glove defense is so important and the Dodgers have several of them when the team is healthy, then why were we all hoping AF would get an impact starting pitcher or 2 and hoping Yamamoto would return? Could it be starting pitchers have the responsibility of preventing runs? Since it’s the responsibility of position player starters to produce runs, then isn’t it the responsibility for the starting pitcher (and any pitcher) to prevent runs? If gold glove defense is so important, then why did some of us want a lockdown bullpen?
Sorry about me carrying this over from yesterday, I was busy all day after the short discussion we had yesterday morning and sorry if this sounds like I’m being an ass, I’m not, it’s just a discussion.
I would argue pitching and offense are the 2 most important things, followed by defense.
I would also argue a good amount of a gold glove defender’s defensive runs saved in his stats came in games that were not tight games, therefore it didn’t matter. I would also argue a lot of times when a gold glove defender came into a game late in the game he didn’t get a chance to save a run, a run that is considered a saved run that goes into his stats as a saved run.
I never hear anyone say in the offseason or trade deadline, man, we need that gold glove player on our team I hope AF gets him.
There are no short discussions with you dude.
Quality response.
My point was not to advocate but rather to explain why the Dodgers were playing Keirmaier, Ahmed, and Hernandez as opposed to some of the other players you mentioned. My explanation was simply that when your offensive options are fairly similar (not very good in this case) – Hernandez, Biggio, Ahmed, Kiermaier, Lux (vs. lefties), Outman, Pages (vs. righties), Heyward, – then differences in their ability to defend became more important. The Dodgers confirmed this Friday when they explained why Ahmed, Hernandez, and Kiermaier were in the line up. I am not saying I agree or disagree. Only that it is a reasonable decision by the Dodgers given their situation. You can disagree with what they did but they clearly value defense more than you do.
I would not argue with you that pitching and offense are more important than defense (at some positions.) I never said differently. Only that if all of your offensive options are essentially the same (in this case below average) then the better defenders make more sense. Not a difficult idea to understand.
Lastly, just because the Dodgers were interested in acquiring pitching at the deadline does not mean they don’t value defense. Of course a large part of run prevention is pitching. That is obvious. But defense is also a part of run prevention. These are not controversial ideas. Since your discussion was over which position players should play and not pitchers my response was about their defensive ability and not pitching.
Lastly, you made way more of the bold-faced comment than intended. My point was pretty clear, I thought. If not, my fault. If this current Dodger team struggling for offense was sitting Mookie Betts to play Nick Ahmed, I would also be frustrated. However, sitting Ahmed Rosario versus a right handed pitcher to play Nick Ahmed is not the same thing. That is all I meant. Nothing more and nothing less.
Well guys, most fans do not consider defense as high a priority as teams do. Teams value good defensive players, especially in the late innings. Joey Gallo was an offensive disaster unless he homered. But defensively, I saw him make several plays a guy like Vargas or Pages would only dream of making. And they saved runs in close games. So, while you might not consider defense an important part of the game Eric, the Dodgers do. Jason Heyward is a gold glove outfielder. His bat this season, partially because he has been injured so much, has never really heated up. But he is still on the team because of his glove and his clubhouse leadership/ Things fans really don’t care too much about.
A wise man once told me that offense wins games, defense wins championships.
I think Bear said that.
Wasn’t me, but I have seen bad D cost a team dearly, and sometimes even when a great defensive player blows it. Willie Davis made 3 errors in the same inning in the 66 series. Dodgers never recovered from that. Trea Turner made a critical error against the Padres in 22. But Taylor saved a game in the 18 playoffs against the Brewers with a great diving catch, and Mookie was otherworldly in 2020. He made some grabs against the Braves that were unreal. And Cody Bellinger taking away a home run from Tatis in San Diego. Ask pitchers how they feel about good defense. Mickey Owens passed ball in the 1941 series cost Brooklyn a game, and they went down meekly after that. In one I really remember, Larry Burright booted a grounder in game 3 of the 62 playoffs against the Giants, extended the inning, and that was that. You know who was the winning pitcher in that game????? Don Larsen.
It was Bear Bryant.
Could not agree more. Almost on cue tonight Pages badly misplays a ball to center field that should have been caught. Costs the Dodgers two runs against the top team in the NL. With an offense like ours that is struggling, those two runs may prove difficult to recover.
My college basketball coach said it all the time. But we never won a championship🤷♂️
NH Dodger
I appologize for my comments. If you knew the history over on Mark’s blog and it wasn’t only Mark. When my forbiden opinions about certain players, that they attacked me for, turned out right, they then hate me for being right and I still get smart ass comments, and the newest one for example, I’m looking at you porpoiseboy, and I don’t care I called you you out, you’ll always hate me for being right after you attacked me for what I ended up being right about.
I have a knee jerk reaction. I thought I was getting the same from you and that’s why I didn’t let it go. I’m sorry and I appologize.
Kike has always been a streaky hitter. I’m not sure if we’ve ever seen him have a season of consistency in his offensive production. At this point in time, I wouldn’t take him off the field. Too hot, but there are plenty of other choices for removal. My first choice would be Biggio. He did well subbing for Freddie and he can play 3B as well, but no offensive game to speak of. With Kike at 3B, Biggio is expendable. If we are concerned about defense, Outman is the choice for CF and can platoon with Kiermaier until a permanent CF can be found. OTOH, Pages seems to have some life yet in his bat. Maybe he would be better for the CF platoon. Kiermaier seems to have zero ability at the plate and wonder if we should keep the platoon of Pages/Outman, or even just Pages. Lots to ponder.
“OTOH, Pages seems to have some life yet in his bat. Maybe he would be better for the CF platoon. Kiermaier seems to have zero ability at the plate and wonder if we should keep the platoon of Pages/Outman, or even just Pages. Lots to ponder.”
Amen and that’s what I’ve been saying. I’d even go with Pages everyday over Kiermaier even though some people think I won’t budge on Outman. Both Pages and Outman have upside, Kiermaier doesn’t. Choose either one of Pages or Outman or put them in a platoon. I like the platoon personally, you get the best out of both of them.
Very good opinion Jeff 👍 👍 👍 👍 👍 I couldn’t find 5 stars, so I gave you 5 thumbs up.
Pages belongs in a corner outfield spot. He is no centerfielder. Edman will get some starts out there.
After today’s blunder by Pages in CF, I’m off him at CF. He misjudged that fly ball very badly.
In 2015, Kike’s first season as a Dodger, he hit .307 in 76 games with 7 homers and 22 driven in. Since then, he has been at .250 or above twice. In 2018, arguably his best full season, he hit .256 with 21 homers and 52 RBI’s. In 2021 with Boston, he hit .250 with 20 homers and 60 RBI’s. He hit .262 as a Dodger last year when he returned. He is a .237 career hitter who is more of a utility player than a starter. His versatility has kept him in the league. He is very streaky. As for Kiermaier, he hit .265 last year. If he can come anywhere close to that as a Dodger, he is a better option than Outman or Pages. Outman is a K machine, and Pages is no center fielder. Kiermaier has played exactly 2 games as a Dodger. I think they will give him a longer runway than just 2 games to access what he can bring to the party.
Probably a good choice.
Mark McGwire started his career as an Oakland A’s player, could we be seeing the next non-steriod using Mark McGwire right in front of our very eyes in Brent Rooker? Meaning Rooker as good as McGwire would have been without steriods.
Rooker is a bit of a late bloomer, while the Bash Brothers blossomed early, with some assistance from modern chemistry.
I was hoping the Dodgers could snag Rooker, but whatever…
The most interesting LF news of late s that Dalton Rushing has been playing out there a bit in advance of his just-announced promotion to OKC, No doubt he’ll be getting more action in the outfield because LA has Will at catcher and Freddie at 1B, and OKC also has Cartaya and Feduccia to catch. If he continues to rake and plays OK in LF, there’s an outside chance he could come to LA soon. Unlikely, but possible.
With Trey Sweeney dealt, SS Alex Freedman also got promoted to OKC, as did RP Edgardo Henriquez, who is said to have thrown 104 mph the other day. Henriquez probably has the best chance of coming up soon, because the Dodgers love to churn relievers.
When he’s not in LF, I hope Rushing gets some action at 3B as well.
I would have been willing to include either Rushing or De Paula–but not both–in a deal for Skubal or a Crochet-Robert package. At any rate, the price for “renting” Flaherty–Sweeney and Thayron Liranzo–proved reasonable, especially to the deals for Kikuchi and Tanner Scott.
In alumni news, Miguel Vargas hit a HR for the White Sox the other day, but it’s been a slow start. FWIW, mlb.com has him listed as a third baseman.
Those poor White Sox, now losers of 20 straight…
Beat me by a few seconds! 😀
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!
Yep, hey Dodger fans, how would you like it if LA was playing like the Sox?
By the way…
While Rushing’s move to OKC and LF rightfully getting attention, I’m struck that Ryan Ward continues to be an afterthought.
Or maybe he’s a never-thought.
All he’s done this season is hit to a .944 OPS with 27 HRS. That production is similar to what Vargas, Outman and Busch did in OKC. Yet Ward has never seemed to be in the conversation for a promotion.
The other day, I watched a recap of the day’s games from Fuzzy, a fairly entertaining baseball YouTuber. He showed Vargas’s HR for the White Sox and said something like, ” Oh, I feel sorry for this kid! Imagine getting traded from the Dodgers to the White Sox.”
I feel happy for Vargas, I feel sorry for Ward.
Will Ward, at 26, ever get a chance to prove himself against ML pitching?
That deal for Flaherty looks like a win for the Dodgers. But Sweeney + Liranzo + Ward would have been OK with me too.
I do not know why the kid has never even got a whiff of the majors. Back in the day, he would most likely get a September call up. But now, I doubt it. I think he is rule 5 eligible this winter.
The gap between the haves and have-nots of baseball seems to be
getting wider. An expansion of Rule 5 might help.
Thanks for keeping the conversation going, Bear.
You may have seen it by now. But the Yogi documentary “It Ain’t Over” is great for Dodger history buffs as a review of Jackie’s steal of home.
Looked to me that Yogi tagged him just as Jackie’s toe hit the plate. One of the great bang-bang plays of history.
Yogi was the one Yankee I liked. One of the reasons was because of Joe Garagiola’s book, Baseball is a Funny Game. The stories about him and Yogi when they were young were priceless. Plus, I had a great respect for Yogi’s service in WWII.
Rushing, Freeland and Henriquez promoted to OKC.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!
We had a discussion about Doc taking out Wrobleski and RR too early. While I felt with Wrobleski he should have stayed 1 more batter because his pitch count was lower I agree RR should have been relieved at 91 pitches. I am more convinced of that after yesterday. Pushing a guy too much can affect the next game. It was terrible timing on both pitchers because it didn’t work out. But yesterday u could c RR certainly didn’t bounce back(c Yamamoto) and wasn’t sharp. So I think Doc got it right on RR.
I know that Kiermaier is a defensive player. But wow. He looks like they grabbed a guy off the street and gave him a baseball bat.
Retirement is calling
He is retiring after the season, but you guys are judging the guy on two games. Over-reacting there boys.
“but you guys are judging the guy on two games”
Reality…..39 for 200 with 66 strikeouts and 0.7 WAR.
2 games as a Dodger. I care less what he did in Toronto. His career numbers say he is a much better hitter than that. Ok, give the guy a chance. If he sucks after 10 games, well DFA him. But I believe he is working his butt off to hit better and show his new team that he is worth what they gave up for him, even if it was Yarbrough, who blew a lead in NY last night. You guys are a tough crowd. You dis Biggio, me too actually, and he has been playing regularly. Not sitting on the bench.
It’s OK to criticize someone and root for them at the same time. That’s life. He was labeled a bad bat when he came here. I saw him bat and it looked pretty bad. That’s all I am saying. I do not wish upon him Armageddon.
Biggio? Ditto.
I am sure they are both great guys. But their bats are borderline AAA. And of course the only reason they are here is because Godzilla visited California and stomped on our roster.
This season has been just plain crazy. Maybe there is a billion dollar karma curse.
Very true, I can understand that totally, I am just saying the guy has had 5 at bats and played 2 games since he got here. It is hard enough to hit major league pitching. Not playing every day makes it that much harder. His career stats say he is MLB average. You don’t play 12 years in the majors with a AAA bat.
I am rooting for every at bat for every player. That is for certain!
LOVED seeing Will get a base hit RBI.
Keirmaier was once a great fielder, but the fact that he has announced his plans to retire–saying something like “you know when it’s time”–suggests that he knows he isn’t as physically capable as he used to be. He is in the process of “checking out.” Is he really up for a last hurrah?
Edman is also a terrific fielder and UT guy, but he’s coming off injury and hasn’t played at all in the majors this year. Will he get into gear quickly? The Dodgers, it seems, are counting more on Edman than Keirmaier.
Pages can also play CF–but he’s better off in a corner…, and his offense has tailed off.
Outman’s defense in CF is more than solid–but his offensive struggles will probably have him back in OKC soon….
So if the Dodgers are concerned about CF–and about striking a good balance of offense and defense at every position–I will again suggest that solution is named Mookie.
Mookie, a subpar defender at SS, would be a plus defender in CF. Rojas for Ahmed are much better fielders at SS. At 2B, the Dodgers could have a platoon of Lux and Edman, who won a Gold Glove at the position.
We are hoping that Max will be ready at 3B: both Rosario and Kike can cover the position, Edman too. Kike’s bat is finally starting to heat up a bit.
Anyway, consider a Mookie-to-CF lineup….
Mookie CF
Freddie 1B
Shohei DH (see what I did there?)
Teo LF
Lux/Edman 2B (Lux is hot… let it ride!)
Smith C (he’s cold;should get better)
Max 3B (ease him back in, perhaps in a platoon)
Heyward/Pages RF
Rojas SS
What’s not to like?
That’s eleven players, which leaves room for only two more.
One would be Barnes, of course.
Hmm…
The other could be Kike, Rosario or Keirmaier. (This analysis assumes that Rojas returns healthy and Taylor is finished for the season. If Rojas can’t play, Ahmed stays while Biggio is DFA’d )
Here’s an option: If Pages (unimpressive of late) is sent back to OKC, both Kike and Rosario stay on the playoff roster–and Keirmaier goes into early retirement.
I still don’t understand why AF hasn’t hired me.
Interesting take Duke.
Gracias…
Breaking news: Biggio DFA’d to make room for Freddie’s return, and Rojas says he’s ready to play, which could lead to Ahmed’s departure.
Sure hope Rojas keeps hitting.
A nice way to finish off the road trip. The BP looks as though it has returned to being effective again. Phillips looks much better as do Hudson, Vesia, and Treinen. With the addition of Kopech and Honeywell and the return of Grove and Graterol the BP should be in good shape for the remaining of the season and postseason. Of course, health will be the determining factor in their success. Oh, and there’s the high wire act of Joe Kelly to be appreciated.
Bear, I have to disagree with keeping Kiermaier on the team. With the return of Edman I think he can provide much more offense and be more than adequate in CF. Kiermaier’s GG defense isn’t outstanding enough to overcome his .190 average, .536 OPS, and 31% K rate. We have enough players with this kind offensive output. I didn’t understand the trade to begin with. Similar to the Joey Gallo trade last year.
Good news with Freddie’s son returning home. Under those circumstances, his return should be when he totally ready to do so.
Bear, you have been doing an outstanding effort in maintaining this site and keeping us informed and entertained. Kudos to you!
Jeff D, I hope rehab is going well for you. It’s quite a grind, but well worth it in the end. Stay strong and consistent!
Carry on.
Vesia looked like he has lost some velocity. His fast ball was at about 94. I have seen him hit 98 several times. But he got outs. That is all you need.
Kermeier is a wasted roster spot. Zero on offense and I know that the sun was tough. He should have gotten an angle to catch the flyball. With his experience he should know that. Then caught stealing. Bad in every respect so I guess he can only get better.
good luck on your knee rehab Jeff.
Hard to get an angle on a ball hit straight up and straight towards you. He wasn’t the only one who dropped a ball and misjudged one either.
Yeah, I think Keirmaier will be DFA’d.
There is little reason to think he’ll improve. When he announced his plans to retire, he said something like, “You know when it’s time.” He knows his body won’t let him play up to his old standards.
Edman was the big “get” in terms of position players, but we hasn’t played in majors yet this season. Rosario is nice weapon too
Still a lot of questions about how well the “walking wounded” will be able to play.
At least the Dodgers have a lot of options to consider.
I doubt he will be DFAd. I believe they value his superior defense. We fans might not, but AF has a soft spot for the guy, after all, he was drafted by the Rays when AF was their GM.
That is true. AF likes him a lot and tried to get him before.
I see we are favored today. Glasnow v Nola.
Is Freddie back?
Phillies are. 2-8. I don’t know what is wrong with them. Dodgers are. 4-6. I do know what’s wrong with them.
Maybe Kiermaier will end up with some +DRS numbers but I haven’t seen them yet. Pages doesn’t thrill me anymore. Neither does Outman. We needed a center fielder and didn’t find a good one. Heyward is a professional but he will continue with bottom of the order numbers. Teoscar is also a professional and I see him maintaining 5 hole numbers.
Rushing in left? Ok, but those minor leaguers we have that clobbered AAA haven’t really adjusted to ML pitching have they.
We need the first string in there and we need them all to hit through October. We also need Wrobleski, Ryan and whoever to fill in for those still standing starters that need a rest. And face it, we need Yamamoto to do what he’s being paid to do or this team will struggle and not just in the playoffs but in the stretch run as well. I see this Division tightening up in August.
Freddies status depends on how he feels about the recovery process of his son, Maximus, who is now at home. If the child is well enough to stay at home, Freddie could be in the lineup tonight and Outman or Biggio on the way out.
This six game home stand against two very good teams is crucial for the Dodgers. They are facing Nola tonight. He is a tough customer. But Philadelphia is now just 1.5 games ahead of the Dodgers for the best record in the NL. Phils have lost 8 of their last 10. The Phillies are also just 4 games over .500 on the road. The Dodgers are 14 over at home. The Pirates are 2 games over .500 on the road. Glasnow, Kershaw and Stone are the starting pitchers for the series against Nola, 11-4, Sanchez, 7-7 and Phillips, 3-1. They will probably face Skenes and Keller in the Pirate series, so some good arms will be pitching for the opposition.
Still not sure why we felt we needed a CF with no stick…albeit, he is good with the glove? I guess he would be a good late inning replacement for us to hold the lead.
I would like not to see Pages play at all….play Kike in RF when there is a LHP. I’m hoping Edman can play CF so that we don’t need the guy who is all glove no stick.
Lux is making me eat my words. I’m glad to eat them too.
By the way, I’m also glad we got rid of Vargas. He is 2-20 on CWS with about 10 Ks. He does have a HR as one of his hits. Seeing him bat lead off is such a joke. Vargas has to go down as a top 10 “Fool ya” prospect. Certain people on that other site just gushed over him….i wanted to believe too.
I’m glad Freddie’s kid is on the road to recovery. Poor little man….he’s too young to have to experience trials like this one. Oh well….that smile on his face in the photo shown to us tells me he is one tough little man and he will recover nicely. I bet FREDDIE gets a rousing reception upon his return.
I hope Glasnow can keep the ball in the park tonight…Philly bats woke up yesterday. Be especially careful to Turner and Harper.
Go Blue….TM
Still too early to make a finaly judgement on Vargas. Wait til the end of the season.
He is playing 3b for them and so far has held his own there.
Go Dodgrs!!!!!!!!!
Vargas is no longer a Dodger, and that is fine with me. If he does well in Chicago playing for that disaster of a team, good on him. Me, I care less about guys who are traded unless they come back and bite us on the ass. Holding his own? He is 2-20 with 10 strikeouts. Yep, he is a keeper.
Hey TM, you’re spot on with your Vargas and Pages assessments. One could add Outman to that list even though he wasn’t considered a top prospect by the FO.
One thing that might be recognized is how poor the Dodger development staff has failed with their position prospects in the last few years under AF. Will Smith. James Outman looked like another until his miserable showing this year.
I think one reason for the poor results might be the Dodgers’ obsession with having damn near every prospect be able to play multiple positions. How about deciding the optimum position for the players’ skills. Especially, when the prospect has plus offensive skills (i.e. Rushing). Now he is going to be tried in LF at OKC. Being he is blocked at C, 1B, and DH for the next few years this seems like a good move. With that being said, play him in LF every day and give him total immersion into the position. If or when he is called up he can concentrate on hitting and a defense position he is comfortable playing. Adjusting to hitting MLB pitching is hard enough without not having to worry about playing 2,3,or 4 different positions. Especially, when they are newer positions.
Look at the way the FO treated Vargas. They had him at 3B, 2B, and LF. Put up to bat with broken fingers. It’s easy to figure out way he failed. Same with Pages. Three different OF positions. I still have hope for him, but it’s fading daily.
Carry on.
Pages is a RF who could also play LF but it’s a waste of his arm. CF is a stretch for him but it’s not a hard no.
Vargas could barely play LF and is probably headed for a 1B/DH role which we have covered.
They moved Vargas around because he was not very good at any position except hitting. He is mediocre defensively. A bat first guy.
Bear your doing a great job. Love the minor league update. I try to keep current with our affiliates but sometimes lose track. Thank you for your work.
Pages is a year ahead of schedule . I expected him to be in OKC all year with a September call up. Outman was so bad that Pages was brought up early and started out well. The pitchers have adjusted to him and he’s having trouble adjusting to their adjustments. I see Outman and Pages headed to OKC as the injured start to return.
I agree Ted trying to make everyone super versatile is a drag on the development of young players. Just look at Michael Busch. The Cubs have put him at fort and left him there and he’s having a good season. Remove Skenes from the equation and Busch is in the Rookie of the Year conversation.
Wasn’t it Badger yesterday, when talking about Michael Busch, who said something like if a guy can hit, the team will find a position of him?
Seems not so with the Dodgers.
In the spring of ’22, the front office anoined Vargas as the second baseman–even though he hit below the Mendoza line during his 50 AB debut at the end of ’21, when he inexplicably was added to the playoff roster.
And that was before he injured his hand.
In the Spring of ’22, the competition for 2B should have included Busch, Jahmai Jones and Luke Williams. (For that matter, it should have included Lux–but he was supposed to play SS before he wrecked his knee.)
The Dodgers brass clearly had so much faith in Vargas’s hitting ability that they were willing to let him be a work-in-progress at 2B. They had so much faith that they apparently didn’t factor his injury into their decisions. At any rate, Vargas failed at the plate andin the field. (A Vargas fan/apologist we all know recently advanced the curious theory that Vargas’s arms and legs are too long for him to succeed in the infield.)
Anyway, I wish the long-limbed lad well in Chicago.
Ted, you and I must have some “mind meld” thing going on. I’m not a big platoon guy so I struggle with the Dodgers need to have platoons at too many positions. And it’s one of the worst things for a skipper like Doc and a GM like AF, who love to have different batting orders and position changes, daily. I stated a couple of days ago how I think this is contrary to what players like; a set routine and predictably. It affects player performance for the reasons you mention.
It sort of reminds me of the novelty acts you’d see in the minors as a promotional gimmick, late in the season. A player would play 9 positions in one game. Very cute and novel, but totally unnecessary.
Let’s look at shortstop this year for the Dodgers. You had Lux, Rojas, Mookie, CT3, Kike, Ahmed, Rosario. Some of this movement was due to ineptitude and injury, but not all. Remember Cory Seager? One guy at SS, one guy at 2nd, everyday, with ONE utility guy to give the a rest. The outfield has been drawing names out of a hat. With everyday players and an everyday line up, you might even have a bench with some power if you don’t have a LHB lineup and a RHB lineup.
It’s a Dodger Thing. “Jack of All Trades, Master of None”
“One thing that might be recognized is how poor the Dodger development staff has failed with their position prospects in the last few years under AF. Will Smith. James Outman looked like another until his miserable showing this year.”
Great post Ted!
Who was the everyday second baseman?
There really was none. His first year, 2016, Utley played 138 games. 2017, Logan Forsythe, 119 games, 2018, Seager was injured, Forsythe played 70 games, rest of the time, Dozier and Utley, 2019, Kike 130 games and Lux, 2020 Kike and Lux, 2021, Trea, Lux. They never really had an everyday second baseman.
The theory behind platoons is to get close to an .800 OPS out of that position. If that was happening I would fully support platoons. It isn’t happening.
I could live with .720 OPS. But we aren’t even getting that.
Thanks Phil. Careful with the “mind meld” that includes this 75 year old brain.
We do seem to be on the same page on many topics and observations. But, I really appreciate your thorough analysis of the finer points of the game that comes from your playing and coaching experiences.
Next year you could add Ward who has 27 Homer’s at OKC and DePaula Rushings Pages and Outman all trying to make the MLB roster in the outfield with the dodgers having two spots open and Ward could be the Sleeper. If they sign Teoscar he could play rightfield and Ward in Lf they still would need a centerfielder who hits constantly. Or we go threw another year of Pages and Outman striking out. Any top free agent centerfielders .Start looking at those.
Spot on Ted. Clap clap
I sure hope this Rushing kid can get plenty of practice in LF while in AAA. OF and 3B are positions that can use a new exciting face, so let’s see this kid be given a chance somewhere.
Yeah, OUTMAN and VARGAS are just about neck and neck for the “Fool Ya” Trophy in 2024…but at least Outman had one good year before falling off the cliff. But you are probably correct….LA didn’t do much to help the poor young lad trying to make him excel in about 5 different positions. -TM
Warning! Any more comments like that and you’ll be labeled a moron and the blog moderators will threaten to shut the blog down. Carry on! (sarcasm intended)
Okie dokie, but isn’t that the other guy???
Noted…..and ignored
Freddie will get a looong standing ovation.
It will be such an emotional moment. I hope he’ll be able to focus on the game!
Freddie has been known to well up, so yeah, the emotions might hinder his play tonight….but also, Mr Nola might have something to do with that too. He can be very tough when on….I expect he will be tonight…..Glasnow hopefully can match him. – TM
I don’t think we want Chris Taylor on the team if you can have keke kiermeir rosario pages rojas Barnes Heyward Gormon as your subs they all hit better then Chris does. It’s who goes down when Muncy comes back maybe Pages.
Taylor is on the injured list. So far there is no timetable for his return. Chris is also under contract for next season at 13 million. I doubt at this point that they will just release him and eat his contract. First man back will be Freddie. Most likely tonight or sometime this homestand. Outman will be the first one sent down to OKC. Mookie should be back next week on the road trip. To me, that means Biggio is gone. Ahmed is vulnerable when Max returns. Kiermaier is safe because he is a natural center fielder and with Outman most likely being sent down, he is the only one on the team. Rosario, Edman, Barnes, Kike, and Heyward will most likely be the bench. Rosario might play second against tough lefties. If and when Rojas returns, then there is a real crunch on the roster.
Nelson really let the A’s ownership have it yesterday. He laid it on the line about how they have let the franchise go down the toilet. But the Oakland coliseum is a dump. Even the fans say so. The Bay area itself is a dump. He kept saying IF they move to Vegas. I believe it is a forgone conclusion they are moving to Sin City. I still cannot stand Jessica Mendoza. She giggles too damn much, and she adds nothing to the broadcast.
Right on Bear. It’s a shame for a once proud franchise that had so many great teams, to be playing in that dump. It’s so old, I once played there in a Major-Minor charity game there. Nelson did blast the ownership.
An interesting thing Nelson brought up was the scheduling challenges of the A’s sharing the AAA ballpark next year with the Sacramento River Cats. As we know the minor leagues play a 6 game home stand with Mondays off. He have no idea how you weave a big league schedule into the AAA schedule.
I’m sure a computer will come up some schedule but I’m sure there will be some idiosyncratic moves.
They should play some day-night, Minor-Major doubleheaders.
Day time temps in Sacramento can top 90 degrees. And as Nelson said yesterday, they are going to install a artificial turf at the ballpark there. Temps on the field are going to be significantly higher and there is no dome there.
Oh well. Perhaps in April and May.
Yes, it could be a miserable place to play–and also watch a game.. Sometimes the temps reach 100 in Sacto…
Just checked:
Temp today in Sacto is 99.
Tomorrow’s forecast is 103, and 101 on Wednesday. The lowest high for the week is forecast at 91.
The A’s 2025 schedule is already up on their website. Everything is TBD. But who they play has already been announced. Just how they will work around the River Cats schedule remains to be seen. I can see the league adjusting the way teams visit Sacramento to accommodate the major league team.
This is pretty negative. I’m trying to stay positive on here but this kind of talk invites personal disagreements. If the Bay Area “is a dump” then Sin City is morally bankrupt. Choose yer poison, cowboy.
Saying The Bay Area is a dump is a compliment. It is no longer policed. Literally. It’s a wasteland. Go on Youtube and search it. It’s like a bad B movie in real time.
brb
Have you been there lately? I used to take loads up to the Bay all the time. It was a dump back then. It is worse now. When my sis and I took our train trip up to Oregon, there were so many homeless camps near the RR tracks, it was hard to see anything good about that area. Sacramento was one of the worst. Portland was a real dump. It is also one of the worst placed to drive around in.
Yes, quite often. I have a lot of California pride and I’m to the point where if someone says they’re moving out of California I’m just assuming it’s because they don’t make enough money to live comfortably there.
You can say whatever you want, but as a writer you have to deal with the side effects of making political or heavily biased comments. What if I said the problem with Oregon is there are too many fat, uneducated white dudes? It’s true, right?
Not as much anymore. I moved out of Oregon.
Made me smile…
That just shows you are clueless.
Bear, to say the whole Bay Area is a dump suggests to me you aren’t very familiar with it. Yes, downtown areas in SF and Oakland are experiencing hard times but even within those cities there are incredible experiences to be had. And cities like Sausalito, Tiburon, Marin, Napa, Sonoma, Palo Alto, Half Moon Bay, Santa Venetia, Fairfax, Mill Valley are not dumps. There are many beautiful places to visit in that area.
Well said Badger.
I’m still pissed at the Giants invoking their territorial rights for not letting the A’s move to San Jose, where I lived from 2000 to 2010 before heading overseas. (We rent out our home there.)
And I don’t understand what happened to the plan cooked up about 15 years ago by the A’s and Cisco Systems to build a high-tech stadium for the the team to Fremont, about midway between Oakland and San Jose.
The Bay Area is easily bashed, but it’s big enough and rich enough to support two ML teams. Just a shame that the A’s are leaving.
I am pretty familiar with the area. And yes, there are some really nice places, Oakland is not one of them. Same thing with LA. There are cities there that are clean, and well taken care of, but there is also trash all over the place, homeless camps right on the 101 freeway. The Lomita Blvd overpass is a pigsty. My sis works downtown at 6th and Spring. I would never walk down there along at night. I am a native Californian, and there was a time when if you dissed my state, those would be fighting words. I was born in downtown LA. I lived through the Watts riots and the crap that happened over Rodney King. People are leaving California for more than just the cost of living. They are leaving because of the state’s politics, taxes, traffic and crime rate. I did leave because on Social Security there was no way I could afford to live there. Do not go to downtown Hollywood. It is a real dump.
The whole Bay Area is a dump?
Large portions are
False.
im there all the time. Around the Civic center and Tenderloin are rough.
the rest of the city and surrounding areas are still quite lovely.
I lived in Napa and Petaluma, had friends in Sausalito, Tiburon and in San Francisco by Golden Gate Park. I really enjoyed my experience there.
I’m glad we got Flaherty and kept our top Prospects and didn’t knit a deal together for Crochet.
I’d sure like to have Crochet in the rotation W. Not sure what it would have taken but we aren’t using any of our prospects for this run, we’re picking up DFA’d guys instead. How valuable are the prospects if we don’t use them at this particular time? It also could be Chicago wasn’t interested in our top prospects.
I saw what you did there. Nice job – knit and Crochet!
Cheers NHD!!!
Things are starting to happen Freddie is back Biggio is a DFA. Graterol and Grove are at Dodger stadium. Rojas says he’s ready to go. Muncy took swings on a velocity machine and feels good could start a rehab assignment this weekend
Freddie is in the lineup hitting third tonight
So since Kershaw looks like he might be a reliever in playoffs then a starter who would be our 5 starters for the playoffs. Glasnow Yamamoto Flarethy Stone and Rivers? Surr would like to have vetran guy like Rich Hill or Zack Grienke or even Bumgardner what help to need someone for three months then work on next year’s rotation in who will be healthy and nit have so many questions in pitching this late in the season I mentioned those three pitchers becaue the been three playoffs before so z am sure there’s some other guys tha are just sitting around rather then put the pressure on Rivers and Stone. Because Kershaw does not look like a starter at all and Buehler either. Can the still pickup players that aren’t playing right now like they did with Ahmed.
For openers you only need 4 starters in th playoffs. Even for as bad as Kershaw has been he’s still better than the three you listed. Grienke and Hill haven’t pitched at all this year. It’s been over a year and a half since Bumgarner has pitched. They are not on major league rosters for a reason.
I think Rivers definitely needs to be in.
My god, looks like Joctober got started in August.
He just hit a 2 run shot in the 8th to give AZ the lead in Cleveland
The latest BP podcast talks about Jackson Ferris:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-baseball-prospectus-podcast-network/id1481597851?i=1000664398188
passan at ESPN.com ($$$) discusses the draft and the coming future of trading picks:
https://www.espn.com/mlb/insider/story/_/id/40698506/mlb-trade-deadline-2024-jeff-passan-takeaways-draft-free-agency
Which makes the moves of A.J. Preller, Dave Dombrowski and Andrew Friedman that much more unique. Preller is the San Diego Padres‘ swashbuckling GM who traded seven prospects for two relievers. Dombrowski is the Philadelphia Phillies‘ president of baseball operations who dealt a pair of pitching prospects for a rental reliever. Friedman, the Los Angeles Dodgers‘ president of baseball operations, saw opportunity where others didn’t and pounced.
Treinen to Il hip. Graterol activated
Why is pages still on this roster? He cannot play cf and he can’t hit especially rhs. At least outman can play d. He was ahead of schedule this year. I feel for Glasnow. Should have been out of the inning. Instead run up pitch count.
Got 1 back. But doesn’t make up.
That isn’t the BP health I was hoping for in my above comment. At least Graterol return.
Watching the game. WTF Pages? You can’t be serious. Philly taking advantage of Dodgers lackadaisical play. Despite all that Glasnow looks dominant.
Welcome back Freddie! Beautiful welcome by the fans. Continued success with your recovery young Maximus!!
Pages as a centerfielder — Enough already! I am sick of how awful he is at making routine plays of balls he has to go back on. This is seriously not major-league stuff — Just awful. Let him play a corner position, but please NO MORE in centerfield — I am literally dumbfounded that he is allowed to continue making these errors (which often don’t get scored as errors — which is even more frustrating). Oy!
Really sucks because there are better options.
Pages in center.
No.
I have seen enough of Pages in center.
This(!) – I like. So good to see multiple hitters square it up in the same inning!
Half a game out of best record in the NL.
wouldn’t know not from some comments…
Glasnow’s line reads 3 earned in 6, 4.5 ERA, but that isn’t right. Pages should have caught that fly ball ending the inning before 2 runs scored. Does that show up in defensive stats?
Good win tonight. And the team just looks different with Freddie back. Now, Mookie and Max.
Glasnow is an ace at his best. Should have only given up 1 run. If u were ever going to use Kiermaier the 9th would have been the time. Agree nice to c Freddie. Doc either had great confidence in Banda or no confidence in Phillips with the Bohm at bat.
Dodgers should not play Pages in CF again. It is not like he is hitting the lights out. Play him against lefties in RF or LF.
That’s a good comeback win, overcoming a very bad inning with some quality hitting and pitching. Would have liked to see Kiké play small ball and try to get Lux to third (rather than swinging for the fences) when it was 4-2 and a single insurance run was needed — Thank you, Ohtani, for taking care of that later on. Great to see to see the bullpen have two strong days in a row. Now let’s go on a tear as we get folks back!