We finally got baseball again. Well, something that resembled baseball anyway.
I pulled out my scorebook to keep score. 36 position players and 19 pitchers. Ahhhh, spring training. Can the Dodgers win a baseball game without Shohei Ohtani? Did they resemble a 120 win team? Miggy Ro is the strong voice behind the 120 win forecast. Maybe win Miggy Ro plays on Friday, the team will kick it in. Yes! Yes! I am joking!!!!
There were some good and bad moments for the Dodgers. More bad than good, but then again, what can you expect in ST Game 1?
Yoshinobu Yamamoto went the first 1.2 innings. He was not dominant, nor did he pitch poorly. He threw 27 pitches (19 strikes and 8 balls); 14 4-seam fastballs, 5 splitters, 3 curves, and 3 cutters. His two K’s were on a splitter and a cutter. He allowed 1 soft singles on a 4-seamer and a curve. He also allowed a single on a 4-seam fastball from the last batter he faced, Gage Workman.
Ryan Sublette entered in relief, threw 1 pitch, and got the third out. Yamamoto’s day was done, save for some extra work in the bullpen.
The Dodgers offense was provided by Eddie Rosario as he clubbed a 2-run HR in the bottom of the 2nd. Also in the 2nd, after a David Bote single and Hunter Feduccia double, the Dodgers had runners on 2nd and 3rd with nobody out. They got one run when Cubs starter Cody Poteet unleashed a WP allowing Bote to score, and a 3-0 lead.
Then the drama. Bobby Miller came in to pitch, and I was very much looking forward to this appearance. His command and control was not pinpoint. He walked his first batter on 7 pitches, with only two sticking in the zone. Then came the scare. Michael Busch and Bobby Miller moved through the LAD organizational ladder together. Busch lined a center cut curveball off Bobby’s forehead at 105.5 MPH. He never lost consciousness, sat up pretty quickly, and walked off on his own. Busch was visibly shaken. We have learned that Bobby is currently under concussion protocol. I have no idea when he will be allowed to return, but it will be interesting to see how he competes the next time he pitches.
Enter NRI RHP Justin Jarvis. The Cubs tattooed Jarvis, but it is going to be hard to judge him on this outing. He was not ready to enter when he did, and after watching his teammate have a line drive off his head, Jarvis had a very rough inning.
One of the better LAD pitching performances was RHP, Antonio Knowles. 7 pitches and 3 outs later, Knowles walked off the mound a happy reliever.
The only other LAD pitcher who had a good outing was RHP, Giovanny Gallegos. He allowed a hit, but nothing else. AA RHP Sam Carlson allowed 2 BB and a single to load the bases with no outs. And yet he struck out the next batter, got a shallow F8 and then a lineout F-8 to get out of the inning.
Other observations:
- Justin Dean looks like a natural CF. Got good jumps and made good routes to balls in the gap. Nothing special, but effortless, nonetheless. He has speed, but will not hit enough to make the LAD roster.
- Tim Neverett and Rick Monday were effusive with Zyhir Hope’s defense, but IMO, he did not get great reads or jumps on both balls he was credited with great catches. The first one was hit directly in front of him and he broke late and burst at the end making a diving catch. The second one he broke a little late and made the catch before crashing into the fence. Was it the sun? Regardless, he made both catches, and that has to count for something.
- David Bote went 2-2 including a 111 MPH single off Nicky Lopez’s glove.
- Dodgers had a lot of chasing in their 11 Ks.
- Dodger pitchers issued 6 walks.
- Neither Hunter Feduccia nor Chris Okey had strong throws to 2B in two successful Cubs SB.
- Their were two ABS challenges in this game, both made by the Cubs. One was successful, and one was not. We learned that Max Muncy was given specific orders to NOT challenge.
- The Dodgers hit into 4 double plays, while Chicago hit into 1. After Ryan Ward totally misplayed a foul pop up for an error, he later made a good grab at 1B of a ground ball, stepped on 1st and duped the runner to come back to him as he applied the tag for the unassisted DP.
- The Dodgers were 0-4 WRISP, while the Cubs were 7-15.
- Hyeseong Kim did not have any difficult plays, but he sure runs well.
- Mookie made a good play on a ground ball hit softly to the right side of 2B.
Game 2 will also be against the Cubs, but will be played in Mesa.
https://www.mlb.com/gameday/cubs-vs-dodgers/2025/02/20/778869/final/box
A couple of you had different takes on Zyhir Hope’s catches. The end result made the catch look better than it was IMO. I was more impressed with Justin Dean’s reads and routes, and he made them look easy. Just my opinion, and I am a Zyhir Hope fan.
Yes he is athletic.
Just following up from a comment at the end of the last thread from Badger.
Is Tulowitzki coaching with the Dodgers now?
Im rooting for Eddie Rosario
Listening to the commentators and reading various articles, it’s clear that Blake Snell is both absolutely loving his move to the Dodgers, but at the same time is fully engaging with everything and everyone. First he’s mentoring Bobby M, and now he’s working hard with Yamamoto and the two have become very close.
He seems like a really decent dude.
Two former Dodgers pitchers, actually three, landed jobs with new teams yesterday. Ryan Yarbrough was signed to a minor league deal by the Jays, Dylan Floro signed a minor league deal with the A’s. Andrew Heaney signed a one-year deal with the Pirates. Mike Clevinger signed a minor league contract with the White Sox. Rowdy Tellez signed a minor league deal with the Mariners. But the big news is that after 2025, ESPN will no longer telecast baseball games with MLB and ESPN agreeing to opt out of the last 3 years, 26-28 of the 500-million-dollar contract.
I did not really see Hope’s catch, nor Dean’s. By then I was just listening to the game while doing some research on line.
A correction on something I posted much earlier. Rancho will remain as the Dodgers low A affiliate through the 25 season. In 26, the Angels team in the Inland Empire will move to Rancho and become the Quakes. The Dodgers affiliate will then move to a new ballpark in Ontario for 2026. So far, a new name for the affiliate has not been chosen.
I was more impressed by Hope at the plate than De Paula. While DP gives off patient, veteran-hitter vibes with his strike zone understanding and advanced approach, Hope looks like he’s trying to hit the cover off the bat. I saw real quick wrists–thought of Sheffield–and a violent finish. He’s looking to do damage with that slashing swing. I’d take him.
I can’t remember ever seeing a more inaccurate arm than James Outman has.
When you somehow get on the wrong side of the Baseball Gods, they can be cruel. What did Bobby Miller ever do them?
Hoping for a change of fortune this spring, the second hitter Bobby faces, drills him from 55 feet with a 106MPH liner. The scariest play in baseball. Geez, let the poor guy up! Hopefully a mild concession with a wealth off clubhouse jokes coming about his hard head.
I don’t recall actually seeing Rushing live before. He’s listed as a sturdy 6’1” 220. He is put together. His thighs and ass look like a linebacker’s or a fullback’s.(are there fullbacks anymore?) His lower 1/2 should generate some serious bat speed.
De Paula has a stud body as well.
Despite one poor throw, I liked Feducca’s skills behind the dish. Works hard to block balls.
So as they keep “testing” the ABS and Challenge System now in spring training after having years to study it in MiLB, Fall Ball etc. they are again studying it with perhaps implementation it in 26. That is unless it becomes a bargaining chip for the CBA.
Funny, Manfred and the Minions quickly implemented changes with a pitch clock, bigger bases, closer bases, no shifts and 2 pick-off attempts but they can’t seem to employ the ABS.
After watching the first spring game, I get the feeling that any “test” results from Spring Training will be 100% unreliable. tainted, contaminated, useless.
Why?
Because these are exhibition games! We saw one challenge in the very first inning. Then none.
After that, especially after the regulars have retired for the day, does anybody think that in a blow out game into the 6th +, that any AAA or AA player is going to challenge a pitch call?
Ain’t happening. The kid would get heckled unmercifully for extending a blow out game over one pitch.
So, the Brass is not going to learn much of value in the spring games. We call look forward to doing without the ABS System with Challenges until 2027, probably, after the next CBA.
We can all “enjoy” the Marty Fosters and Greg Gibsons missing 15+ pitches per game while MLB drags its feet.
Buck Showalter sounds like a bitter old man. When asked to comment on Roki Sasaki after his first live BP:
Excuse me, but I am not going to put much credence into what a manager who has reached the League Championship Series exactly 1 year in 22 campaigns has to say about running a big league Spring camp, or whether players should be allowed to watch a projected phenom like Roki Sasaki. Showalter reached the post season just six times in 22 seasons. Compare that to Dave Robers who has guided the Dodgers the last nine years, reached the playoffs every year, reached the NLCS 6 times winning 4 NL pennants, and 2 WS championships.
Despite a reputation for building strong teams, Showalter has never appeared in the World Series. Showalter managed the Yankees from 1992-1995. He was let go, and NYY won the WS in 1996. Showalter managed the Dbacks from 1998-2000. He was let go, and Arizona won the WS in 2001.
I am looking forward to watching Gonsolin pitch again.
Miggy Ro getting some work at 3B. Pages getting more work in CF with Edman at 2B.
A disproportionate amount of posts by Jeff and myself (and others!), given the prospect’s standing, have been and are given to Maddux Bruns.
Well! Add Baseball America to that list! ($$$$$)
https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/30-mlb-prospects-facing-critical-seasons-in-2025/
Maddux is the Dodgers prospect facing a crucial 2025.
…Few teams develop pitching like the Dodgers, which makes Bruns’ struggles all the more vexing….When healthy, Bruns has a big arsenal headlined by a mid-90s heater that carries through the zone and a mid-80s slider. Batters missed both more than 30% of the time last year….
Now we can understand why the Dodgers are loading up with great depth at most if not all positions. all it takes is a 105 mph ball hitting a pitcher in the head can change everything. Hell, Bobby has had some head issues prior to this incident, so just because he recovers physically there is no guarantee he comes back mentally from getting drilled in the melon. We shall see