News, Notes, and Observations
Bad luck for Brusdar Tuesday night. He has a grade 3 hammy strain. Chances are he will miss the rest of the season. Michael Grove is almost ready to return to the team. Brasier is not far behind. Watch for a LHP named Jack Dryer. The lefty is 4-1 at OKC this year and earned his first save on Tuesday night. He has 57 strikeouts in 43.1 innings, an ERA of 1.25 and a WHIP of 0.85.
Shohei Ohtani is going to be getting paid by the Dodgers for the next 20 years. I could possibly live to see him end his contract as a Dodger, I would be 86, but chances are I won’t be around when they finally pay that sucker off. Now to my way of thinking, and this is just me, a guy who is arguably the face of the franchise for the foreseeable future, should be a little more clutch than he has been.
Personally, I think he is wasted in the leadoff spot. Yes, he can definitely give them an immediate lead with a leadoff homer. But power like that should be used with men on base. He has driven in 80 runs, in the 2 or three hole with men on in front of him, he would have more. But then he has had several at bats with runners in scoring position and either struck out or hit a harmless fly ball or grounder. To me, he is pretty mediocre when it comes to situational hitting. I would love to see how many times he has left a runner stranded. He was doing a lot better when he listened to Roberts and did not try so hard to hit the ball out of the park when a single would have helped.
Someone asked the other day, I think it was Bradley, how could the Dodgers add players since the trading deadline has passed. Any player in their system can be added after September 1 and be eligible if they have been in the Dodger system. The only way to get players before September 1 from other organizations is through a waiver claim. But waivers this time of year go in reverse order of the standings. In other words, the White Sox would get the first chance at claiming any player put on waivers. Miami and the Rockies would be next. I would think under this system, no player with any real value is going to fall to the Dodgers.
Walker Buehler is going to make one more AAA re-hab start and then that is it. He will be activated and used at the major league level. Doc said pitching in AAA does not really show how he will fare in the majors and the team needs to know how he will do sooner rather than later.
There is virtually no word on the status of Bobby Miller. He AAA stats at this point are alarming. There is one pitcher at OKC with a pretty extensive MLB resume, Jordan Lyles. Lyles has played for Houston, Colorado, San Diego, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, Texas, Baltimore and Kansas City. He has a 72-107 career record with a 5.22 ERA. I do not believe he will get a call to the majors.
Texas catcher, Andrew Knizner was designated for assignment. Tucker Barnhardt was signed to a minor league deal by the Reds. The Giants lost Wilmer Flores for the rest of the year to a knee injury. Luis Rengifo and Chase Silseth of the Angels are both out for the year. Rengifo had wrist surgery and Silseth had season ending elbow surgery. Nick Ramirez, who was outrighted by the Dodgers to AAA, can still choose to become a free agent.
Brusdar Graterol was placed on the IL with a grade 3 hamstring strain, Michael Grove was activated from the IL and James Outman was optioned to AAA as Miguel Rojas rejoined the team. On a sad note, former Brave lefthander, Denny Lemaster has passed away. He also pitched for the Astros and Expos. He was 16-14 in his career against the Dodgers. He pitched 274 innings against the Dodgers, by far the most he had against any opponent. Denny was 85.
Cubs’ pitcher, Albert Alzolay, is going to have Tommy John surgery. He will miss the rest of this season and possibly all of 2025 also. The Orioles signed J D Davis to a minor league deal He was recently released by the Yankees. The Cubs signed Adrian Houser to a minor league contract. Houser started for the Cubs AAA affiliate in Iowa last night. He was released by the Mets earlier this year.
Minor League Report
OKC 8 Round Rock 1: Round Rock scored a run in the top of the first inning, but OKC’s pitchers shut them down the rest of the way for an 8-1 win. Jordan Lyles started and went 3 innings. He gave up 3 hits and one run, he struck out two. Ryan Brasier pitched a scoreless 4th and got the win. He allowed 1 hit. Gamboa pitched 4.1 innings and allowed just 2 hits striking out 3. Jack Little pitched the final 2/3rds of an inning to close out the game. OKC scored their first run in the bottom of the third on Cartaya’s 4th homer. In the bottom of the fourth, with 2 outs, Feduccia walked. Then Cartaya walked. A wild pitch sent them to second and third. Austin Gauthier then hit a ball that the first baseman missed for an error and Feduccia scored. The was it until the bottom of the seventh. Rushing doubled. Lipcius struck out and then the pitcher threw wildly on a pickoff attempt and Rushing went to third. He scored when the pitcher threw a wild pitch. Ward then tripled and Freeland singled him in. Trejo singled. After a pitching change, Feduccia walked loading the bases. Diego Cartaya then hit his second homer of the game, a grand slam to center field to end the scoring.
Arkansas 2 Tulsa 1: Tulsa lost a close contest 2-1. It was their 52nd loss of the year, dropping them under .500. The Drillers took the lead with a run in the top of the 4th. Keith tripled and then scored when the third strike pitch to Newell went wild. That did it for the Drillers for the night. Noah Miller would get their only other hit for the game. Campos went 8 innings giving up 3 hits, no runs and he struck out 9. Wepf would give up 3 hits and 2 runs in his .2 inning and lose the game on a walk off double by Hogan Windish.
Lansing 3 Great Lakes 2: Another tight game played by a Dodger affiliate. The game was scoreless until the bottom of the sixth when Nick Biddison hit his 3rd homer. Lansing scored 2 off of Cabrera who was relieving Copen who went 5.2 innings not allowing a run and striking out 7, but he walked 5 and gave up 3 hits. In the bottom of the 7th, DePaula walked and was doubled home by Thompson. In the top of the 9th, Lansing scored the winning run off of Michael Martinez who was in his second inning of relief.
Rancho 4 Fresno 2: After Fresno scored in the top of the first inning assisted by an error by Kendall George, the Quakes scored 4 in the bottom of the first and made them stand up for their 54th win of the year. George singled and went to second on errant pickoff throw by the pitcher. He then scored on a single by Wilman Diaz. Decker and Rojas singled to load the bases. Meza grounded out and Diaz scored. Munoz then singled and Decker and Rojas scored. That was it. The score remained 4-1 until the top of the ninth when Jared Thomas homered off of Roque Gutierrez. Gutierrez pitched 7 innings in relief, striking out 13, with no walks and just 3 hits.
Dodgers Game Summary
Gavin Stone got the start for LA. He gave up a leadoff homer to Schwarber, and then a single to Trea Turner. But he got out of the inning with no more damage. Tyler Phillips started the game for the Phillies. He got Ohtani to ground out. Hernandez then hit a long drive to left that went off of Marsh’s glove for a double. Freeman then singled Teo home. Miguel Rojas, making his return from the IL then singled Freddie home. 2-1 Dodgers. In the bottom of the second, Barnes singled, Kiermaier was hit by a pitch. Ohtani and Hernandez made outs. With Freeman up, he singled to left field over the head of Trea Turner to score Barnes and Kiermaier. That was pretty much it for the Dodgers. Stone ran into trouble in the fifth inning. Schwarber would double to drive in 2 making it a 4-3 game. Vesia got the third out. In the top of the sixth, Vesia allowed a double to Bohm. Then Stott bunted, Kike fielded the ball and fired to Rojas covering third. It looked like Bohm was out, but the third base umpire, Hunter Wendlestedt, called defensive interference on Rojas.
Dave Roberts came out to argue, and the replays showed that Rojas did not impede the runner, Bohm. He was running to catch the ball and was not camped out on the base blocking the runner. Roberts was tossed from the game. And it went south from there. Joe Kelly came in. Realmuto grounded out to drive in the tying run. Castellanos walked. After a fly out by Stott, Rojas walked. A wild pitch by Kelly scored Marsh. Schwarber then hit a three-run homer to make it 8-4. Schwarber would hit his third homer of the game in the 9th off of Grove, and the Dodgers lost 9-4. With Arizona winning two, and San Diego outlasting the Pirates, the lead in the division is now down to 3 games over both teams. The Dodgers need Betts, Edman, and Brasier back badly. But besides the bad call, the pitchers made bad pitches at exactly the wrong time, and the offense, despite having the starter on the ropes, did not score after the second inning. Shohei Ohtani was 0-5 and left a bunch of runners on base.
Born June 14th, 1948, in Los Angeles California. AKA The Bear
Absolutely brutal game to watch. In my humble opinion, Joe Kelly is pitching his way off of the playoff roster, if indeed this team gets its collective stuff together and makes the playoffs. They might have the second-best record in the National League, but all of the teams in their division, except the Rockies, are playing much better than the Dodgers. And their 700-million-dollar man, is in a deep slump.
Grade 1 Strain, Bear.
Shrug!
Your math is a bit off brother. In 20 years you’ll be 96. I’m quite certain I won’t be around another 20 years.
Well, tonight’s game was yet another gagger. Maybe this will get turned around when Mookie, Muncy and Yamamoto get back. But none of those guys pitch out of the pen. Could be a long month.
I fully agree with Ohtani not leading off. Besides his atrocious slump, that power is generally reserved for #3 or #4 slot. Lux should be leading off, at present.
Second game in a row, the all might Doc pulls his pitcher with 4.2 innings. It’s like an automatic knee jerk to see this coming. They lose both games. Shocking? Nah. It’s Doc.
Forget Kiermaier. Get Pages back at CF until Edman is ready.
The Dodgers continue to punt away games.
The bullpen as currently constructed is not reliable. Too many guys who are not doing their job. Constantly yanking your starter early only because he is in a jam is not the way to go. At some point you have to leave them in and get out of it . Or not. Can not overuse the bullpen in a way Doc does .
Good news on Graterol, only a grade 1 hamstring strain. There is a chance he can return this season. Dodgers bullpen really, really could use him.
I would take a look at that young LHP Dryer Bear mentioned. Maybe put Vesia on the IL to give him a break and get back his velo.
I agree with those you say Ohtani should hit cleanup. Yes, you lose a few at bats over the course of the year but he will hit with more guys on base, increasing our chances to put up a crooked number instead of a solo Hr.
Great game by Cartaya at AAA 2-2,. 2 Hr, 2 bb, 5 rbi. Hopefully he continues to develop.Maybe he can be the backup c next season. Or a great trade chip for a ss or cf in the offseason.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Right now the Dodgers can not get out of their own way. A few games now where they have scored early in a game and then crickets the rest of the way. There are a lot of culprits right now. Reasonable to assume that they are in second or third place once this month ends given their schedule relative to the Padres and Diamondbacks. It is also reasonable to assume that those two teams will cool off a bit.
Ohtani is having an incredible year. The numbers bear it out. But I do agree that he chases a lot of pitches out of the zone and has a tendency to get himself out – especially in situations where there are runners in scoring position. Maybe his approach will change when everyone gets back but Roberts did move Teo behind him recently and it has not changed his approach very much.
I don’t blame Roberts for pulling Stone in fifth. One of the results of leaving Honeywell in for 3.2 on Wednesday was that he had a rested pen with a day off on Thursday. His lack of confidence in Stone to face Harper in the fifth was warranted given Stone’s near 7 ERA over his past several starts. My criticism was in bringing Kelly in with runners on the corners after the ridiculous call by Wendelstedt. Kelly (who AF decided was worth 9 million in the off season) is the last guy I would bring in with runners on base and no one out. But still, that inning is on Kelly and no one else. He throws a wild pitch to bring in the go ahead run, walks two batters including a weak hitting 9th hitter and then throws a change up above the belt to the Phillies hottest hitter. Game, set, match.
Roberts sounded more frustrated than normal after the game when he said that players are not playing up to the Dodger’s standard that has been set and that when everyone is back the best players will play, regardless (or words to that effect). Sounds like it is getting to him when your bottom four in the order are Rojas, Heyward, Barnes, and Kiermaier. I hope that the Dodgers finally separate from the nostalgia gang when this season is over – Kike, Taylor, Barnes, and Kelly have all probably overstayed their tenure as Dodgers.
As an aside, Will Smith is now hitting below .250 on the season. In his last thirty games he is batting .185 with an OPS just north of .400.
There are two relievers in the minors who could get a chance to pitch in September – Edgardo Henriquez and Jack Dreyer. Neither is on the forty man roster which has hamstrung the Dodgers this season. The Dodgers have been adept at dumpster diving for bullpen arms but at some point, it might be better to grow your own.
I am actually looking forward to watching them the rest of the way. If Yamamoto is healthy it is possible they head into the playoffs as a wild card or division winner in much better shape than they have the past three seasons. We will see meaningful September baseball for a change and will find out about this team and its core.
Another winning post on a day the Dodgers lose… Thx, Bear.
For about a year now I’ve fantasized about a lineup that started Mookie, Freddie, Shohei… precisely to take advantage of Shohei’s power.
I still don’t understand why Roberts doesn’t heed my advice. Is he fixated on Shohei’s ability to steal bases? He’s the fastest of the Big 3 (which was briefly a Big 4 before Smith’s slump). Putting Mookie between Shohei and Freddie does provide that R-L-R rhythm,but I think that’s overrated. Given that each of these guys produce close to a .400 OBP, the guy with the most power should bat third.
After tonight’s loss, radio commentator David Vassegh was unusually candid and even a bit harsh in criticizing the Dodgers for allowing the Phillies to “bully” them. He faulted the Dodgers for their tepid reaction to the Phillies aggression after Roberts’ ejection and later Grove hitting Castellano with a pitch. He has complained before about the Dodgers being a team of nice guys who get punked by flinty teams like the Phils. They certainly seemed to roll over and play dead tonight.
Anyway, I’m less concerned about where Mookie fits in the batting order than where he fits in the field. The goal is to create a lineup that maximizes defense and offense.
Roberts says Mookie will play SS, but it’s not yet clear what Rojas’s role will be. Strictly a backup? Before his injury, Mookie would shuttle between SS and 2B, essentially as a platoon partner for both Rojas and Lux.
Will that keystone mashup continue? Or has Rosario’s arrival in a platoon with Lux pushed Rojas to the backup role?
I feel much more confident about Mookie coming back from injury with his game in gear than anybody else. He’s Mookie, after all…..
But Max? Edman? Yamamoto? Can just hope for the best…but not a clue what to expect.
With the Dodgers lead in the West down to 3 games, Mookie can’t get back soon enough.
Gotta score 8 doesn’t work when we give up 9.
The Dodgers need pitching. And where are they going to get it? Beats me. YoYama had better be ok. It appears Kershaw and Stone aren’t. And the bullpen? Yeah, absolutely, try somebody else.
Ohtani is our best hitter so old school says hit him third. His chasing is frustrating me too but I think it’s because he feels pressure to carry the team, which, at his extended cost, he should be expected to do. But, maybe since he’s only making $2 million this year we shouldn’t expect much of him. The last 28 days he’s hitting .242, OPS still reasonable at ,895 but the last week it’s .676. This team needs him but it wouldn’t have mattered last night.
I don’t expect this team schneid to turn around quickly, but I do believe eventually they will play better.
Team still needs a physical/mental reset. Maybe when Mookie gets back they can “start over” and we’ll see them play good ball for a full 9 innings (super rare these last two months). The jumbo regular seasons have not translated into titles, so why not turn the page and redefine themselves down the home stretch and make some noise in the post season!
That said, there is a part of me would not be super-sad if things don’t get much better:
(1) I feel spoiled since 2013 and I don’t really like the idea I can just assume the team makes the playoffs EVERY year — feels karmically out of balance.
(2) I would not mind if “failure” causes the front office to reevaluate strategy wrt position players — would be okay to value slug a little less in return for better defense and team speed, better bat-to-ball skills, and the ability to play situational small-ball when needed.
The Dodgers just aren’t good. The injuries are absurd. I get it. But the players outside of the injuries in general are collectively average.
Roberts is an average manager and that doesn’t help either. He might be panicking a little because he has regressed to the 2020 pitching changes that just don’t work. It’s more like clockwork. Bring X in and they get demolished more times than not.
I don’t know what the answer is. But they are running out of time. No one is afraid of the Dodgers and they shouldn’t be. They do not look like a contender.
I just don’t c any urgency. I think we are fighting for our playoff life. Ohtani is in a bad slump at the wrong time. It doesn’t matter where u bat him he needs to stay in the strike zone. He gets himself out. Smith has fallen off the cliff. If Barnes is our current best catcher we are in trouble. Where would we be without Teo? The worst problem we have is that we are not very good. How could this payroll produce this team?
San Diego and Arizona lineups are better. Their bullpens are better. Their defense is better. Arizona has a better starting rotation. We have some big names but they are not producing. Roberts says the best players will play. Play them now!! Edman was 2 weeks into a rehab with Cardinal minors but with us he will play in a simulated game. Get his rear on the team. Put Kelly on the dl call brasier up and Wrobleski. Take stone out of the rotation n put him in relief. DFA Kiermaier who is a waste. Roberts needs to send a message to quit swinging out of the zone, making dumb base running, get tougher. We are so soft. I don’t think Roberts can because it just isn’t his personality. He needs to make some people uncomfortable or hug harder but shake the team up.
What a total shit call at 3B. Totally changed the complextion of the game. And Joe Kelly is terrible. A waste of $9M.
I’ve said this before, but, and I do want to wait until the season is actually over and we know how the Dodgers will fare one way or another, and I am trying to subdue my Fire Friedman campaign. However after watching that pathetic performance against the Phillies, I think we can all agree that the Dodgers are just not good this year, they are going to fall out of first place soon, and it will be a struggle to stay relevant down the stretch, let alone make the playoffs or even win the World Series.
I think this goes beyond Friedman. I believe the organization needs to clean house and start over. They need to bring in baseball people to run the club, and not finance guys. They need to build the club through the draft, and make smart trades at the deadline. They need to build the pitching staff around innings, length and health. For the offense they need more contact hitting, base-running and less sub .200 hitting utility players.
I think they need to start over. Once they are eliminated whether that’s in the regular season or the first round of the playoffs, Friedman and Gomes and most of the front office should be cleaned out. Thank you for your services Mr. Friedman but we are going to go in a different direction. Roberts should probably go too along with the majority of the coaching staff. Perhaps put in a call to someone like a Nomar Garciappara and see if he would like to manage the club. Make Orel the pitching coach. Let them pick the rest of the coaching staff.
It’s not just me who thinks the Dodgers suck this year…..
From Roger….
The Dodgers just aren’t good. The injuries are absurd. I get it. But the players outside of the injuries in general are collectively average.
Roberts is an average manager and that doesn’t help either. He might be panicking a little because he has regressed to the 2020 pitching changes that just don’t work. It’s more like clockwork. Bring X in and they get demolished more times than not.
I don’t know what the answer is. But they are running out of time. No one is afraid of the Dodgers and they shouldn’t be. They do not look like a contender.
Here is my Post from last night on Bear’s other post….
I hate to say this, but the Dodgers are going to fall out of first place soon. The padres and dbacks smell blood in the water and they are hungry.
This team has little fight this year, and there is a huge void in leadership. Can anyone tell me who the leader of this team is?
I would never want to say this but perhaps missing the playoffs may make guggenheim finally make some changes. And it’s coming. They will have to sit Ohtani down and explain that the changes in the front office and management are for thr good of the franchise and that they are moving into a new direction. If he doesn’t like it then he can leave and go play in New York.
The Dodgers need to get back to preaching and teaching fundamentals. There is very little with this club. They need situational hitting, contact hitting and base-running (outside of Ohtani).
They need to stop burning the bullpen Into the ground and get length from the starting pitchers. Innings and health are important and management has ignored those purposely.
They also need to stop relying on the walking wounded. Waiting around for injury riddled players who are unreliable is a very poor strategy. That seems like their only strategy this year.
There is no urgency with this club. Friedman had a good trade deadline and picked up a few decent players, but it’s not enough to make a difference this season. Management’s overall neglect of the roster this year is mindblowing to me. I’ve never seen a team so unconcerned with winning games before. It’s a new low, and ugly to watch.
The Dodgers are getting worse and in Ohtanis first season it is a bad look. It’s time for a change, and I think it’s time to bring in some new voices. I would love to see what Theo Epstein or Dave dombrowski could do with Guggenheims vast resources.
Sorry guys but they’ve been below average and fielding triple-A lineups since May. I just call it like I see it. Feel free to disagree.
If Ohtani doesn’t like it he can go play in New York. Have fun in the Bronx. Otherwise I am hoping for some kind of meaningful change.
It’s too late now, but just walk Schwarber. He owns us. In the 3 games against the Dodgers, he was 7 for 12. That’s .583/2.310 with 4 homers and 9 RBI.
I’m sure the advanced scouts must have noticed that in the last 13 games, Kyle is hitting .426/1.583 with 8 homers and 18 RBI. Don’t let him beat you.
Don’t say I didn’t warn you about this umpiring crew.
Official Baseball Rule 2.00 defines obstruction as: The act of a fielder who, while not in possession of the ball and not in the act of fielding the ball, impedes the progress of any runner.”
The obstruction at third on Rojas may be one of the worst calls I’ve seen. Wendelstedt just missed the call and lacked good judgement. Rojas planted his left foot, while catching the throw from Kike ie. “in the act of fielding the ball” and Bohm slide into his foot. He did not block the base.
And why would he want to call that? Because MLB has an “emphasis” to call obstruction this year. And of course umpires like Wendelstedt will be all over that. The guy can interpret the rule book but can’t see or use baseball judgement.
Do you know why they implemented this rule? Guys didn’t block bags with their legs or feet before head first slides. Getting spiked was the consequence and no rule was needed.
*But the fact is, bad calls seldom loses the game for you. What they do is put you at a disadvantage of overcome. This shitty call happened in the 6th inning when it was 4-3, Dodgers. Kelly promptly threw it all over the place, ending with, guess what, a homer to Schwarber.
*We got Joe instead of Joseph this time. He’s such a goofball. I like the description that he should have been a left-handed pitcher.
From what I have seen. Kopeck is a closer.
That centerfielder, Johan Rojas, can fly. He looks like Usain Bolt running down a fly ball. On his infield single in the 5th, I had him and a touch under 3.8 to first.
Tough night for Umpires. In the Orioles – Jays game a Skipper got tossed and both dugouts were bitching as Larry Vanover called 12 strikes on balls well off the plate. 76% accuracy. He gave a whole baseball on both sides making it a 24 inch plate.
Edwin Jimenez called 11 strikes on true balls in the Red Sox – KC game.
Well the division lead is down to 2.5 over the Padres as they scored 3 runs in the 9th to beat Pirates. The lead over Arizona is 3 as they play Phillies tonight.
Come Labor Day wouldn’t surprise me if we get passed by both these teams and are in 3rd place if not sooner.
Thought about going to one of the games next week in Milwaukee as that is 3 hours away but decided wasn’t worth my time and money the way they’ve been playing since July.
There’s been some excellent things mentioned today that I agree with 100% I’ll mention some that I can remember after reading 59 posts.
There definitely needs to be a change in the medical staff.
Calls for Kiermaier to be DFA. I said from day 1 he’s a waste of a roster spot.
Doc loves Kike for some reason, I don’t get it and neither does the person here that mentioned it.
I agree that Ohtani should bat 3rd because he’s the best hitter with the best power. I’m mostly, I guess I will call it new school as opposed to old school, but this is an example of an old school thing about me.
Someone mentioned a piggyback for the 4th starter in the playoffs and I agree I mentioned that before.
Someone mentioned Kelly isn’t worth 9 million dollars this year. I would say Kelly has never deserved to put on a Dodgers uniform. He’s a blown game in the playoffs waiting to happen.
Someone mentioned putting Smith on the IL to get a breather, I agree because catchers wear out towards the end of the regular season. That’s why I’m hoping Rushing turns out to be a good MLB hitter and becomes Smith’s back up catcher. A close to 50/50 catching time.
Someone mentioned Rosario not getting enough playing time, Currently I agree until injured players get back and then at that time I see him as a good platoon partner for Lux.
Someone mentioned Heyward and Pages would make a good platoon in RF, I agree and I think in the playoffs too. As of right now the offense is a mess and Pages needs to be used everyday in the outfield until injured players get back even though he’s not very good against RHP, but he’s better than any other options.
Several people mentioning the bullpen not being good enough for the playoffs. I would add especially with Doc managing the bullpen. But someone else said some of the starting pitchers could be used in the bullpen in the playoffs and I agree depending on who they are.
A whole bunch of good things said today and that only leaves me to say Yamamoto is the biggest key to the success of this team and maybe someone else mentioned it.
I’m going to do optimistic and think having to battle hard just to make playoffs is a good thing in getting the fighting mentality going come October which we’ve been lacking last few years. Might be just what the doctor ordered.
Thank you for all of the responses. It is good to generate opinions and comments. But as fans, we do not have all of the facts. I think Roberts pulled Stone at exactly the right time. He was leaving his pitches up and the Philles were not missing many. They had six hits, and of his 84 pitches, only 48 were strikes. He got the second out with a runner still on second, but Harper was coming up. Vesia was the obvious choice. He got out of the inning, and they still led. What happened afterwards was set up by the really bad call at third. But the bullpen did not do its job and they lost a game where they had led. Not the first time this year and not the last.
At this point in time, this is not a very good or well-oiled machine. This team has numerous holes, and we all know what they are. Starting pitching needs to be better, but one can see where a kid like Stone has hit a wall. They are waiting for players to come back. Just how good those players will be remains to be seen. Muncy, Edman, and Betts will all be back by the end of the month. Will it be too late? Maybe. Their schedule is brutal, and the way they are playing is not inspiring.
They will have some hard decisions in the next couple of weeks. I for one am glad I do not have to make them. Guys on the bubble for sure are Ahmed, Kiermaier, and Kike. Edman is going to be playing some centerfield, but he can switch hit, so I do not see him platooning much. Do they keep Kiermaier as a late inning defensive guy? Not sure they will. They traded for Rosario, and he is hitting around .300, so I believe he is safe. It is doubtful CT-3 returns, but Kike is not hitting all that well despite his recent surge. Mookie will be at SS to start off. Pages and Heyward platoon in right, Hernandez in CF. Kiermaier and Pages in center until Edman returns. Smith and Barnes, Lux-Rosario-Rojas at second. Rosario-Kike at third until Muncy returns. If they decide they want veterans over kids playing in the playoffs, now not a lock, Pages could get sent down. Many gears turning at this point. The main goal is to win as many as they can until the walking wounded are back, and then make a run for the finish line. They have 4 with the D-Backs and 3 left with the Padres.
I understand we all have our opinions of Dave Roberts, ownership, and the front office. Some, want to see AF and Roberts gone. Some, like Scott, think there should be a massive shake up in the organization. Some view the lack of World Series wins as a failure of management. I tend to disagree. I would rather watch the winning baseball, even if it is only during the regular season, than watch the kind of baseball they play in Chicago, Miami, Toronto, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Detroit, or Denver, any day. Yes, they have only won one World Series in a shortened season. Not saying anything about 2017, we all know what happened then. They were not the better team in 2018. Boston was much better. The last two playoffs have been brutal to watch, but last year, they were banged up pretty bad and they looked it in the playoffs. No excuses in 22. 111-win teams should dominate. Just the Padres were hot, and they imposed their will and won. In 2018, they had to fight to just tie for first and then beat Colorado in game 163 to win the division. First time they had to really fight for it. In 21, they had to win the one game wildcard to make it to the LDS. And they were missing their 35-homer third baseman. The beat the Giants and then ran out of gas against the Braves, again, minus their two best pitchers, Kershaw-Scherzer. You can say a lot about Freidman, but he has done an excellent job putting together teams that win. The playoffs are hard. The pitching is usually the best, and runs come hard. In 2020, they had to win 13 games to win the title. They beat Milwaukee twice, swept the Padres in three, went toe to toe with the Braves in seven and beat Tampa in six. All teams had to play under the same rules, and hardships, one being no fans. They earned it. It should be no less celebrated than any other they have won. We all want a full season win. It would be great. But folks, it just isn’t that easy.
I have Walker Buehler’s AAA game on. 3 ip, 0hits, 1bb, 3k so far.
His first inning was ok, but his stuff looked much much better in the 2nd and 3rd. In fact he’s around 41 pitches thru 3.
To me, this is by far the best his stuff has looked this year.
Buehler is dominating through 4 innings at OKC. Given up no hits and has walked one. In Tulsa Ferris has given up no runs in his first start in Double A, through five innings. Great news on Buehler, to be honest I was starting to have serious doubts about him. I’m not ready to anoint him as a savior but it would be a huge boost.
Good stuff from the farm, including the aforementioned Buehler:
4 innings of 1 hit, shutout ball from Maddux Bruns today. Walked 3, struck out 3. Mechanics look inconsistent but the stuff is still good enough to get outs.
Hyun–Seok Jang debut tonight in Rancho. Jang has topped out at 98mph. 1.1 IP, 3Ks.
Jackson Ferris with a very impressive Double A debut: 5.2 IP, 4 Hits, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 Ks. Responsible for a pair of runners. Run came in the 6th on back to back soft hits. Was around the zone all night. Slider was a weapon.
Scoreless debut in OKC for Henriquez who works around a single. FB at 99.9!