In their history, the Dodgers have had some excellent relief pitchers. Probably the best in Brooklyn was Clem Labine. But before him, they had guys like Whitt Wyatt and Hugh Casey. But in the early days, relievers were usually long men, and starters who could no longer start every day. It would be 1969 before saves became an official statistic. Starters were still expected to go nine.
Pitchers like Ed Roebuck and Clem Labine were LA’s first closers. Roebuck made one start in his entire career. Labine on the other hand made several spot starts in his Dodger career including a 1-0 win in game six of the 1956 World Series staving off for the moment the Yankees winning the series. Labine was traded mid-season in 1960, and Roebuck left in a trade during the 63 season.
In 1963, the closer was Ron Perranoski who had come over from the Cubs. He went 16-3 with 21 saves. Those saves were credited to his stats later after the save became official and historians went back and checked the old box scores. Perry would pitch 8 years for LA and record 100 saves. He is one of only six pitchers who have recorded 100 or more saves for the Dodgers. Jansen, Gagne, Shaw, Worrell and Brewer are the others.
Since the purchase of the Dodgers by Guggenheim, and the ascendance of Andrew Friedman to the top position in the front office, LA fans have complained a lot about AF’s inability to assemble a shutdown bullpen. Look back over the years from 2015, when Andrew became the boss until now. Many have felt the pen was the Achilles heel of the Dodgers. Even when they had their all-time saves leader as the closer.
2015 pen: The Dodgers used 31 pitchers over the course of the season. Jansen, Nicasio, Garcia, Baez, Howell and Hatcher were the busiest arms out there. The pen had 47 saves, and Jansen had 36 of those. The staffs ERA was 3.46 as they won the division. They lost the LDS to the Mets in five games, but the loss was mostly on the starters. Baez was ineffective but the rest of the pen pitched ok.
2016: No reliever other than Jansen recorded a save. Jansen had all 47 of the teams saves. Six relievers, Liberatore, Jansen, Blanton, Baez, Howell and Coleman, appeared in 50 or more games. Jansen, Blanton and Baez appeared in 71, 75 and 73 respectively. LA won the West, beat DC in the LDS and lost to the Cubs in the LCS. Jansen, 2 and Kershaw had saves in the LDS. The Dodger pitchers gave up 24 earned runs in the series, 17 of those came off of the starting staff. Jansen, even though he had 2 saves, gave up 4 runs in 5.1 innings. The staff gave up 31 runs in the LCS and the bullpen was responsible for 21 of them. Blanton alone gave up 7 runs in 3 innings and Baez 6 in 3.2 innings.
2017: The pen recorded 51 saves in 2017, 41 of them by Jansen. The team won 104 games and cruised to the West title. Jansen, Avilan and Baez all had more than 60 appearances out of the pen. The big find for AF was Brandon Morrow. Morrow went 6-0 with 2 saves and a 2.00 ERA. He was the only reliever of note who did not give up a single homer during the season. In the LCS against the Cubs, the pitching staff as a whole, allowed only 8 runs in the five games. Jansen got the only save. But the pen did not allow a single run in 14 innings pitched. Jansen recorded 2 saves in the World Series loss to the Astros, but he got the loss in game five. Morrow, who had given up his first homer of the season in the LDS against the D-Backs, gave up 2 to the Astros. The rest of the relievers pitched pretty well.
2018: The pen had 48 saves in 18, 38 of them by Jansen. Scott Alexander, Fields, Ferguson and Danny Corsino were the other relievers with a save. Maeda had 2. Amazingly, the starting staff and the Dodgers as a team had one pitcher with double-digit wins, Rich Hill. LA had to play 163 games to decide the West beating the Rockies in game 163, All five of the front-line relievers pitched in 40 or more games with Alexanders 73 being the most. Jansen got the only save in the LDS against Atlanta. Alex Wood, pitching in relief gave up the only run by the pen and got the only loss in the series. In the LCS, Jansen got 2 saves and Knebel had one. The pen as a whole gave up 5 runs to the Brewers in the series. The pen gave up 15 of Boston’s 27 runs in the World Series. Kershaw was tagged for 9 runs all by himself.
2019: The team won 106 games, breaking the team record set by the 1953 team. Bullpen was a big part of the success of the team. They ended up with 44 saves, 33 by Jansen. Julio Urias, working his way back from surgery had 4. They were knocked out in the LDS by the eventual WS Champion Nats. Two of the three losses were by relief pitchers. Urias in game 4 and Joe Kelly in game 5.
2020: The pen became super important in the shortened 2020 season. Starters were not built up to go deep into games. And many teams began using openers. The pen had 15 saves with Jansen recording 11 of them, Pedro Baez was the only other reliever with more than 1. He finished with 2. The teams ERA was 3.01, which was excellent. The bullpen gave up no runs in the two-game series with the Brewers. Jansen and Graterol got saves, Urias got a win in relief. In the LDS sweep of the Padres, Jansen got the only save. Jansen and Kolarek were the only relievers to give up any runs, 4, 2 by each of them. The rest of the pen was perfect. The only save in the LCS was by Jansen in game six, a must win game. Urias got 1 win as a starter and won game 7 in relief. Treinen and Urias had saves in the World Series against the Rays, Julio’s coming in the clincher, game 6. Jansen had a blown save and a loss in game 4.
2021: The only season LA has not won the West since 2013; they finished 1 game back of the Giants. They won the wild card game, 3-1 on a walk off homer by Chris Taylor. They then went on to beat the Giants, 3-2 in the LDS. Jansen got the win in the Wild Card game. Kelly and Jansen got wins in relief and Scherzer got the only save coming in game 5. The Braves beat the Dodgers, 4-2. Treinen took the loss in game one, Graterol lost game two. Jansen got the save in game three. Phillips got the win in game five, staving off elimination, but Buehler was knocked around in game six, and the Dodgers went home.
2022: The best record ever in Dodger history was wasted with a first-round ouster by the Padres. LA won 111 games. The best in franchise history. The bullpen saved 43 of those. Jansen was gone, and Craig Kimbrel was the closer for most of those. He had 22 saves. Hudson saved 5 and Graterol 4. Chris Martin got a save in relief in game one against the Padres. But the next three games were all lost on runs given up by the pen. Gonsolin went just 1.1 innings in game three but got the loss. Heaney, in relief of Gonsolin gave up the deciding run. But since LA never tied the game, Gonzo was on the hook for the loss. Game two was tied going into the sixth inning and Graterol gave up the go-ahead run. Treinen gave up another in the eighth and LA lost the game. SD’s pen shut down LA after Darvish left after the fifth. LA led game 3-0 going into the bottom of the 7th inning when the Padres scored all 5 of their runs off of Tommy Kahnle and Yency Almonte. Almonte got tagged with the loss. But Kahnle gave up the tying runs.
2023: Bullpen had 44 saves. Phillips had 24 of those. The front five in the pen all had 49 or more appearances. Graterol and Ferguson had 68 apiece to lead the team. Graterol, 7, Ferguson, 3, and Yarbrough, 2, were the only pitchers with more than 1. Graterol had a 1.20 ERA. LA won the division by 16 games over Arizona, but they were knocked out in the NLDS by the D-Backs in three games. All three games were lost by the starting pitchers. Kershaw could not get out of the first inning in game one. Miller gave up 3 runs in the first inning in game two and LA never got going offensively. Lance Lynn gave up 4 solo homers in the 3rd inning of game three and the Dodgers were done. Ferguson, Graterol, Kelly, Shelby Miller, and Phillips were unscored upon.
2024: The entire pitching staff was stung by injuries during the 24 season. Every one of the starting pitchers ended up on the IL at one point or another. The three healthiest relievers were Phillips, 61 games and 18 saves, Vesia, 67 games and 5 saves plus a 1,76 ERA, and Daniel Hudson, 65 games and 10 saves. Blake Treinen came back from an early season injury to pitch in 50 games with 7 wins, 1 save and a 1.93 ERA. Anthony Banda was rescued from oblivion and pitched in 48 games. He had 3 wins and 2 saves. The Dodgers used 40 pitchers during the season. They won the division by five games over the Padres. Two wins over SD in the last week of the season helped them do that. They then faced the Padres in the LDS. They flipped the script from 22 by winning the last two games after being down 2-1. The pen played a huge part in the LDS winning a bullpen game in game 4, shutting the Padres out 9-0. They then pitched 4 scoreless innings in relief of Yamamoto for the 2-0 clincher in game five.
2024: During the NLCS against the Mets, the bullpen claimed three wins out of the four wins needed. Only Jack Flaherty of the starting pitchers got a win. Kopech, and Phillips won games three and four. Ben Casparius won the clincher, game six. Blake Treinen won 2 games in relief in the World Series. Yamamoto and Buehler won their starts. Phillips was injured and missed the World Series.
2025: The pen has been shaken up quite a bit. Hudson retired, and the Dodgers signed two top notch relievers in Scott and Yates. So far in the 8 wins this season, the Dodgers have 4 saves. 2 by Scott, 1 each by Treinen and Vesia. The pen has given up 6 of the 16 runs scored by the opposition. As they say, so far so good. I have to believe this is one of the most talented pen ever, and they look like the best there will be in Dodger history. Deep and very talented with guys like Phillips and Graterol yet to make their season debuts.
MiLB GAME SUMMARIES
El Paso Chihuahuas (Padres) 12 – OKC Comets 8
In what looked like a miserably cold night, I watched what has to be one of the worst games that I have seen in a long time. El Paso scored 8 of their 12 runs with 2 outs in their victory.
Noah Davis started for OKC and struck the first two batters he faced, but could not get another out. 2 walks and 4 singles later, and El Paso had a 4-0 lead.
Eric Gamboa relieved Davis and pitched a very good 3.1 shutout innings.
OKC got one back in the 1st on a Dalton Rushing triple and Alex Freeland single. Austin Gauthier hit a HR in the 2nd for the Comets second run.
In the 3rd, Rushing and Freeland each singled and then scored on an Eddie Rosario booming double. Ryan Ward singled to score Rosario to give OKC the lead.
The Comets scored another in the 4th on a Justin Dean double and Hyeseong Kim single.
Ryan Sublette followed Gamboa and pitched well for two innings, but that is when the wheels fell off. The usually reliable Sam Carlson finished 0.2 innings but gave up 2 runs on 2 hits and 3 walks and the Chihuahuas tied the game. But Carlson threw 21 pitches, but only 5 strikes.
Joe Jacques got the final out in the 7th with a one pitch ground ball to 1B. But in the 8th he ran into a lot of trouble due to wildness. He gave up 2 runs, on just one hit, but 3 BB and a HBP for an El Paso 8-6 lead. Jacques threw 27 pitches with only 12 for strikes.
OKC tied it up in the bottom of the 8th on a 1-out walk to Rushing and a run-scoring double to Freeland. Three walks plated the tying run.
Jose E. Hernandez came on in relief in the 9th, but was certainly not the answer. He gave up four runs on 4 hits and one walk.
All three OKC batters struck out in the 9th to mercifully end this game. After walking 10 on Friday, OKC bounced back with another 10 walk night.
I know fans want to see Rushing sharing time with Smith next year as the catcher, but he is going to need to get much better behind the dish before that can happen. He does not block balls very well. Too many balls that he blocks, bounce off his chest protector away from him allowing a base runner to move up. He needs to learn to block the ball down in front of him. He did have one passed ball, and one blocked ball that got away that was ruled a WP. A couple of pitches he tried to frame, he forgot to catch first, and they bounced off his glove. No he did not get the call. He had problems throwing out runners. He was successful on just 1 of 5 attempts, with one throw going into CF for an error. On one of his attempts, he did not get off his knees.
I do not know if this was a typical game or an aberration for Rushing. But Hunter Feduccia is a much more advanced catcher at this point. That being said, Rushing can swing it.
Plus, it is quite an adventure defensively in the OF with Esteury Ruiz and Eddie Rosario with Ruiz drawing an error.
- Alex Freeland – 3-4, 1BB, 2 runs, 3 RBI, double (1)
- Dalton Rushing – 2-5, 1BB, 3 runs, triple (1)
- Esteury Ruiz – 2-3, 2 BB,1 RBI
- Austin Gauthier – 1-5, 1 run, 1 RBI, HR (1)
- James Outman – 1-3, 1BB, 1 HBP, double (3)
- Eddie Rosario – 1-5, 1 run, 2 RBI, double (3)
- Justin Dean – 1-4, 1BB, 1 run, double (1)
Evan Phillips will be the opener for Sunday’s finale in a rehab assignment, with Bobby Miller being the bulk pitcher.
Northwest Arkansas Naturals (KC) 9 – Tulsa Drillers 5
The Drillers lost their 2nd consecutive game to open the season. Jared Karros was not effective at all in this one. He gave up 6 runs on 7 hits and 2 walks in 3.2 IP. 2 of the hits were HR, including one from uber prospect Jac Caglianone.
Tanner Kiest allowed 3 runs on 3 hits and 1 BB in his 2.0 IP. Brandon Neeck (1.1 IP) and Christian Suarez (2.0 IP) did not allow a run in their outing.
John Rhodes was the offensive star for the Drillers. He had two HRs, one in the 2nd and one in the 7th. He also had a single for a 3 hit night. Rhodes was a MiLB free agent taken in the MiLB phase of the Rule 5 Draft from Baltimore.
Damon Keith and Yeiner Fernandez each had a pair of hits.
Tulsa was a bit better in the walk department, issuing only 7 BB.
- John Rhodes – 3-4, 3runs, 2 RBI, 2 HR (2)
- Yeiner Fernandez – 2-4, double (1)
- Damon Keith – 2-3, 1 BB, 1 run
- José Ramos – 1-4, 1 run, 1 RBI, double (2)
Great Lakes Loons 6 – Lake County Captains (Cleveland) 1
The Loons got some outstanding pitching to go with early timely hitting to give them their first victory of 2025. Once again, Josue De Paula and Zyhir Hope were at center stage on this one offensively.
Great Lakes jumped out to a 6-0 lead after 4. In the first inning, De Paula hit a one out double and scored on a Hope single. Jordan Thompson put the Loons up 2-0 with a lead off HR in the 2nd. De Paula and Hope were back at it in the 4th. De Paula drew a BB and came home on Hope’s 2-run HR.
Nothing subtle about Zyhir Hope's introduction to the High-A level 👀
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) April 5, 2025
The @Dodgers' No. 6 prospect crushes his first dinger for @greatlakesloons an estimated 427 feet at 111 mph. pic.twitter.com/XZJy6d3ht1
The Loons scored another pair in the 4th without the help of De Paula or Hope. Thompson led off with a BB and moved to 2nd on a Kole Myers single. Both runners moved up on a Nelson Quiroz F8, and then scored on an Eduardo Guerrero single.
Hope would later get his 3rd hit of the night, and Nelson Quiroz got the only other Loons hit after the 4th.
Meanwhile, Brooks Auger made his professional debut. He was the LAD 6th round draft pick in 2024 out of Mississippi St. Auger was somewhat of an oddity in the organization as he lasted 5.2 IP before reaching the 75 pitch limit. He allowed 3 hits, all singles, and 1 BB. He struck out 3 Lake County batters.
#Dodgers RHP prospect Brooks Auger in his professional debut:
— Bruce Kuntz (@Bnicklaus7) April 5, 2025
5.2 IP
3 H
1 R (0 ER)
1 BB
3 K
73 P / 49 S
Auger, a 6th rounder in last year’s draft, went straight to High-A for his first game action. There’s already chatter around him as a mid-round steal pic.twitter.com/wuLG1h6x7L
Three RHRP, Jesus Luna, Reynaldo Yean, and Carson Hobbs, finished the game allowing a single baserunner on a BB. Reynaldo Yean was efficient needing only 12 pitches to retire the side in order with 2 Ks. Hobbs needed only 9 pitches to close out the win in the 9th.
- Zyhir Hope – 3-4, 1 run, 3 RBI, HR (1)
- Josue De Paula – 1-2, 2 BB, 2 runs, double (1)
- Jordan Thompson – 1-3, 1 BB, 2 runs, 1 RBI, HR (1)
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes 6 – Lake Elsinore Storm (Padres) 1
Quakes started their season 2-0 over the Padres A League affiliate. Last year’s 11th round draft pick, Aidan Foeller, started and completed 4.1 IP before the 75 pitch limit. He did not allow a run, but did surrender 6 hits. He allowed 1 walk to go with 8 Ks. He did look good.
Domingo Geronimo relieved Foeller and seemed to tire in the 7th. He got 2 outs with one runner on 1st from a swinging bunt single that Joendry Vargas almost made the play on. A WP, walk, and single followed to plate the Storm’s sole run of the game. Geronimo completed 2.1 innings, allowing just the one run on 3 hits and 1 BB.
Alex Makarewich relieved Geronimo and was effectively wild. In his 1.2 IP, he walked 3 and struck out 3. He got one out in the 9th before giving way to Logan Tabeling who got the final two outs to seal the win, including one K.
In the 4th inning, Lake Elsinore had a runner on 1st who attempted to go from 1st to 3rd on a single to RF. But there was a great throw by Jaron Elkins to throw out the runner at 3B. Elkins hit 3B Joendry Vargas in the chest on his throw, beating the runner by at least 10 feet.
The Quakes struck first with 3 in the 1st. Kellon Lindsey walked and stole 2B. Eduardo Quintero had a one out infield single to put runners on the corners. Joendry Vargas tripled home both runners, and Vargas scored on a Samuel Munoz single.
The Quakes scored three more in the 7th. Quintero opened with a single and stole 2nd. He reached 3rd on a throwing error by the catcher. Vargas followed with a BB and stole 2nd. Munoz grounded out to score Quintero and move Vargas to 3rd. Nicolas Perez drew a BB and stole 2nd. Quintero scored on a passed ball and Perez reached 3B. Jose Meza singled to score Perez.
RC looks like it is going to be a running team. They stole 9 bases in this game.
Kellon Lindsey (2), Joendry Vargas (2), Jose Meza (2), Samuel Munoz (1), Eduardo Quintero (1), Nicolas Perez (1).
- Eduardo Quintero – 2-5, 2 runs
- Joendry Vargas – 1-2, 2 BB, 2 runs, 2 RBI, triple (1)
- Samuel Munoz – 1-3, 1 BB, 2 RBI
- Jose Meza – 1-2, 2 BB, 1 RBI
- Gio Cueto – 1-4, double (1)
LHP Jacob Wright will make his professional debut in a start for RC on Sunday.
RC is the team I am most excited to watch this year. There are some legit prospects on this team.
Born June 14th, 1948, in Los Angeles California. AKA The Bear
Great stuff Jeff. I was watching OKC for a while. They were ahead, so I watched something else.
I remember the days when it was said that AF couldn’t put a bullpen together. Now he can’t put a bench together!😂 I sure hope Hope gets here soon
And AF himself said many times that the bullpen was te hardest piece to assemble. But it looks to me that they have done well,albeit with alot of turnover.
Buying the two top guys available helped
Definitely did. But even that doesn’t guarantee success.
The Dodgers bench has been a sore spot with me for a few years now. The last time they had any pop on the bench was when Pujols came over from the Angels.
Maybe next year Muncy will anchor it 😉
Possible, but who is playing third?
This would be a really interesting piece!
how the role of benches has changed. Almost universally you have ZERO “professional” pinch hitters on the bench and the size has reduced.
Excellent point Bluto. I remember guys like Lenny Harris and Mota coming off of the Dodger bench. Jay Johnstone was one of those guys too. The first that comes to mind in LA at least was Chuck Essegian.
Yeah, active roster spots are just too valuable today.
No pitchers to pinch hit for
Some odd stats after 10 games. Casparius has more innings pitched than 2 LA starters. Edman, with 5 home runs has the 6th best OPS on the team and over half of the 13 position players on the stat sheet have batting averages below .211. And this team has a .900 winning percentage.
We’ve known all along the Dodgers have a very tender starting staff. Only 1 has double digits in innings pitched, Yamamoto with 16 after 3 starts. Yes, it’s very early, but so far the bullpen has pitched more innings than have the starters. AF knew how important bullpen depth was going to be and he planned for it.
Someone here predicted Casparius would finish in the top 5 in IP. Johnny Gentle?
While you are correct that Casparius does have more IP than two starters, I also think it needs to be said that those two starters (Glasnow and May) have only had one start. The rotation got a reset after their return from 2 starts in Japan. The starters have not had a chance to lengthen because of the shortened Spring due to International Travel. Yamamoto is up to 6.0 IP and roughly 100 pitches. Snell and Glasnow will get their soon enough. I am not sure when Sasaki and May will fall into that metric. Sasaki showed more yesterday, and I am encouraged with seeing May not going 1000% every pitch. Yes Sasaki still throws too many pitches, but he has always been able to land the splitter for strikes. He was better at landing them yesterday. By June I think you will see a different Roki Sasaki.
I guess I was wrong about Snell getting to Yamamoto IP and pitch count numbers soon enough. I am used to being wrong often enough.
I am usually wrong.
The bullpen further demonstrates the depth of Dodger pitching. Signing Yates after signing Scott seemed like overkill, especially given the team’s habit of polishing hidden gems like Banda. Did AF sign Yates to prevent rivals from getting him?
Just for fun, let’s assume the impossibility that every pitcher stays healthy. Who makes the postseason?
If the SPs are close to their best, my rotation might be Snell, Shohei, Yamamoto, Glasnow. Sasaki and May can shift to the pen. Some all-star caliber talent may not make the roster.
Nice to see Sasaki bounce back against a tough Phillies team. When will we see Shohei on the mound? There is no rush; the Dodgers don’t need Shohei pitching to win the West. But I still hope its sooner rather than later.
I want the Full Ohtani, not just DH.
And if he’s throwing a no-hitter, I don’t want Roberts to pull him. I want him to have the chance to finish it.
I want to see greatness.
I doubt we see any complete games from Dodger pitching. If it’s a no hitter it will likely be a combined one. And that would be great
My rotation has 6 or 7 pitchers in it All the pitchers you mentioned and Wrobleski, Kershaw, Gonsolin, Miller, some others out of the system as well as a few openers along the way.
And who makes the post season rotation? Whoever is still standing. My hope is it’s Yamamoto, Snell, Glasnow and Ohtani. May and Sasaki out of the pen with Treinen, Scott, Yates, Vesia, Banda, Casparius and Phillips would be great.
You know what else would be great? If the bottom of the order would start hitting.
Assuming a top three of Ohtani/Betts/Freeman
And a middle of Teo/Edman/Smith [I’m moving Edman up here]
The bottom three of Conforto/Muncy/Pages should still be above average
Freeman’s injury shows what happens when your best hitter is out
Edman batting 3rd today
“The bottom three of Conforto/Muncy/Pages should still be above average”
True. I still don’t like Pages right if front of Shohei. Maybe once his OBP improves, and improves a lot, then he can hit there.
So far, Pages is stinking it up on both offense and defense. Changes should be made if he doesn’t improve within the next 10 games or so.
The Dodgers bullpen is so deep that two of the hottest RPs, Casparius and Dreyer, seem likely to be optioned…because they have options and other guys (Scott, Yates, Treinen, Vesia, Banda) don’t. Phillips will be back later, and Kopech and Graterol.
The downside of so much depth?
Back to CF: The brass could have simply signed a proven CF like Harrison Bader instead of trusting Pages or Outman or others to emerge. (My guess is that they hoped Kim would be ready for 2B and Edman would handle CF as part of his utility duties..) Unless Pages improves, the Dodgers could simply have Kike or Taylor in CF, or give Outman another shot. Maybe the new guy Ruiz.
If the CF situation isn’t resolved by midseason, perhaps the brass would simply deal for Bader or another proven commodity.
Could Kiermeier come out of retirement?
That’s a joke. Sort of.
Agree about RC. They have the meats.
Forget Ohtani–supposedly Seattle’s switch-pitcher hit 101 mph from one side and 97 from the other last night in the minors.
That’s like me clowning fools in ping-pong playing left-handed.
This was a great perspective, and how Friedman consistently builds a bullpen is really a wonder to behold.
One small, quibble, statistically speaking it’s much more likely for a relief pitcher to get a loss than a starter. Thus highlighting losses as a negative for the bullpen is a little disingenuous Just a little.
Depends on the situation. If a reliever comes in with men on base, yes, the probability he winds up with a loss is higher. But in situations like the 2020 World Series, Jansen came in with a lead and blew the game. Same with Kelly in 2019 LDS.
It’s OK.
I was totally wrong, again.
Starting pitchers typically receive about 60% of losses, while relief pitchers receive about 40%.
I guess that is off set when the reliever comes in and gets a couple of outs and gets a win. Also when a reliever blows the save and ends up with a win.
Early start today, 10:35PST. Glasnow makes his second start of the season against Sanchez, a lefty. Pages definitely needs to get his bat going.
Facts
Report from Newsweek says Guererro Jr is close to signing a 14-year-500-million-dollar extension.
Up to them of course.
Creates pressure for Cubs to lock up Tucker [they wont]
Well Boras isn’t his agent so they have a good shot. I think they will get a deal done with him. They gave up a lot to get him.
If Cubs don’t, you know AF will not be shy about going for Tucker. If I was Tucker I would want to be a free agent to at least get the Dodgers talking.
I imagine the Cubs will have to make on heck of an offer to get a deal done.
Me the morning after a Dodger win with my coffee and a doughnut!!!
I thought the umpire behind the plate yesterday did an exceptional job
I didn’t. But, maybe compared to others we’ve seen.
Snell to IL, Sauer up.
Bullpen game Wednesday.
Here we go!
Will happen all year.
Yep. Didn’t expect it this early though. Any word on why?
Got it. Left shoulder inflammation.
O/U on KikéPages outs made – 6.
Dodgers pitchers on active roster: 13
Dodgers pitchers on injured list: 12
You nailed it, the two of them were 1-7.
Glasgow totally lost his stuff
I think the condition of the mound had something to do with it. He could not get his spikes clean enough with all the mud.
It was the conditions. They threw that dirt where he stepped and it became total mud. He had no grip on his cleats. I wonder who asked for the mound to be “fixed” before Glasnow came out for the 3rd? I just hope he did not pull a groin.
Snell was scheduled to pitch Tuesday.
You just know Phil is not a happy camper with Harry Wendelstedt calling balls and strikes or flip a coin behind the dish.
I’ve counted 11 misses in two innings and I didn’t start counting right away.
He was missing a ton of pitches.
Gawd Jeff, it’s just a joke……………
I almost forgot that I’m not complaining about umpires anymore as MLB refuses to fix this nonsense.
I wonder how long I can stay with resolution?
I am going to complain until it is fixed. LA would have won several challenges during todays game
I am glad they pulled Glasnow. He was going to pull a groin with as large of a stride as he takes and then sliding even more.
I do not think Wendelstedt called a single pitch that was borderline for the Dodgers. Sanchez seemed to get them all and Glasnow did not.
I totally agree with that.
Come on Pages. That is why you are there to hit lefties. Do it!!!!
Oh well. I was hoping.
He needs a trip to OKC.
I would trade him to someone else.
He is simply not a CF. His tracking of the Harper double was horrible. He is a liability
Reminded me of when they stuck Lux in left field.
Evan Phillips could be on his way back to LAD. He was excellent in his 2nd rehab outing this afternoon. He allowed a bunt single but got the others, two on strikeouts. He threw 13 pitches, 11 for strikes.
It is now Bobby Miller’s game.
I read Ardaya speculate that it will be Knack or Wrobo-cop
Since Snell went down, I would prefer the lefty. Knack gives up way too many bombs
Pages looked absolutely foolish again today on a liner straight at him in center. He seems to be a decent enough corner outfielder but we don’t have a spot for him there. He isn’t hitting, so it’s time to give him some time at OKC.
I’d rather even have CT3 at 2B and Edman back in CF at this point. Taylor can manage to hit .120 and he’s a much better fielder. Or put Rojas at 2B, or Kike once Freddie gets back. Just don’t play Pages in CF.
My goodness. Get him out of here!
I thought we all agreed last year: Pages is a corner outfielder — end of story! He is awful at center. I know the Dodgers have the luxury of “messing around” and experimenting, but this is not a good look. Just why?
Because what “we agreed” has as much importance as a puddle of water.
Ok. I was not being literal – duh – just restating that we were pretty certain this was a bad idea, and for now, at least, it is very much being confirmed.
I know I agreed with you Bison. Perhaps serviceable aa a corner outfielder if he hits. My thoughts all winter that he would platoon to hit against LHP. With that tool he might hide at a corner.
Since he hasn’t hit and can’t play center let’s see how long the leash is.
I still vote for Miggy at 2nd and Edman in center and hope Miggy hits.
The Pages CF experiment needs to end soon. It is ridiculous. Bring Outman up. He can’t hit any worse than Pages.
Remember when they tried playing Joc at first base? This has the same kind of feel to it.
Ouch!
Joc at first, Lux in the outfield, two really bad ideas, Pages in center makes it three.
Bobby Miller has walked 6 in 4 innings
Looks like it’s an organizational thing.
It’s called baseball.
Rats!!! Treinen blew it.
Bottom of the order again did nothing. Time for Pages to go away.
Kim was getting hugs from teammates in the OKC dugout. He’s probably been called up. Tomorrow in DC perhaps we will
learn Pages was sent out, Edman moves to CF and Kim is the 2B or Kim goes to CF.
At this point CT3 should be playing CF. His bat is no worse than Pages and at least he can track a fly ball to the OF. Pages is completely lost and a waste of a big league roster spot right now.
Encouraging news.
Looked at his stats earlier in the day. He was hitting around .273, OPS over .800 but 11 strikeouts.
I am not putting Kim in center. No way.
He goes to second.
Edman goes to center with Kim at 2B….
If he’s being called up, that is.
At any rate, Roberts and others have raved about Kim’s D at 2B. He is getting trained for UT–likely to replace Taylor next season–but right now Edman would be the solution in CF.
I’d prefer to see Outman get another shot. He’s a quality defender in CF. The Dodgers could platoon him with Edman against righties, and Edman could shift to 2B against lefties, with Kike or Taylor manning CF. To fully load up against a lefty, Rojas could replace Max at 3B.
Edman has been crushing it as a switch-hitter.
Batting left, his OPS is .936 with 3 HRs.
Batting right, .737 with 2 HRs.
And Edman is a better hitter from the right side.
Just How Good Is the Dodger Bullpen?
Not so good today.
Today was an anomaly. The rain messed up the mound. But you definitely are not going to win many walking 11 batters.
You can’t walk 11 batters and expect to win. I guess the positive out of this charade was losing by just one run despite playing a top team and walking 11.
Looks like Teo’s bat is waking up. Nice double by Mookie too. Ohtani chases way too many pitches out of the zone. He looked merely mortal today.
Dodgers in second place behind the Giants who have lost just 1 game. SD came back to beat the Cubbies today, 8-7. Kim did not play today at OKC. Rushing did not start either, but he did pinch hit and play left.
Report on Yahoo news says the Dodgers do not have the highest payroll in the majors, that is held by the Mets.
#winning
Never fails, you find something good to talk about, and then the pen implodes. Of course, the rain had something to do with it.