Break Time!!

                                  It is time for the annual All-Star break. Six Dodgers have been selected for the All-Star team. Teo, Freeman, Betts, Smith, Glasnow, and Ohtani. Only four will actually participate. Betts and Glasnow are on the IL. So since after today’s getaway game in Detroit, there will be no Dodger games until Friday, I am going to be doing some research on topics for future posts. Rob will most likely be posting his second draft synopsis. I have one more in the que that I will post on Tuesday. But use this stream for any observations you might want to post.

                                  Any major moves made will probably not be made until after the All-Star game, and most likely if the past is any guide, not before then. AF has only made one significant trade earlier than a couple of days before the deadline. In 2018 when they traded for Manny Machado. And as we all know, that was a trade that was made out of need. I still remember in the All-Star game that year, Matt Kemp talking to Machado at second base during the game. Then on the 18th of July, they made the trade for Machado.

                                One thing most of us should remember, when you trade for a star player, you are not always going to get what he was on his old team. Machado was hitting .315 when the trade was made, and he had 24 homers. He wasn’t nearly as good after the trade. He hit .273 with 13 homers for the Dodgers. Then he totally disappeared when the Dodgers got to the World Series. He only had 4 hits, all singles, and struck out to end the series.

                                   They got much better results from the Turner-Scherzer trade. Scherzer went 7-0 in 11 games with a 1.98 ERA. He also struck out 89 in 68.1 innings. And he threw a near perfecto against the Padres in September. He was 0-1 in the playoffs, losing a 1-0 decision to the Giants at Dodger Stadium on a night when the wind affected every fly ball. Several long flies were outs knocked down by the wind. He started the wild-card game against the Cardinals, giving up their only run. And he got the save in game five of the NLDS. He only pitched in one game in the NLCS against the Braves, then went down to shoulder fatigue. 

                                   Turner on the other hand, gave the Dodger speed and some power. He was playing second base instead of his natural position of SS. He ended up winning the batting title, hitting a solid .328. He hit .338 as a Dodger with 10 homers and 28 driven in. He did not have a great postseason. 

                                   The Dodgers are limping into the break. They have a 56-41 record and depending on what happens this afternoon, either a 7 or 6 game lead over the Padres and D-Backs. They have lost 7 of their last 10 games. 1-5 road trips are not acceptable. Since Mookie went on the IL on June 17th, they are 12-12. In their last 56 games, they are 29-27. That is since Max Muncy went down. Even with all of that, the bad play of the rest of their division has kept them in first place. SD and Arizona are both just two games over .500. The Giants are three games under, and the Rockies are a mess. 

                                 There were a couple of head-scratching moves made by Roberts in the 9th inning of today’s loss. One was sending Ramirez back to the mound in the bottom of the 9th with a lefty, McKinstry coming up, and Vesia warming in the pen. Ramirez had pitched three days in a row. The other was leaving him in after he gave up a triple and then misplayed a bunt allowing the tying run to score. 

                                  The newest Dodger, Brent Honeywell, was the opener, and he did a great job in the three innings he was out there. Unfortunately, Ryan Yarbrough, who has been getting hit a lot lately, coughed up two runs to cut the lead to one, and the Dodgers have not been very good in one run games. Now, they get four days off. Let’s hope they get a second wind, and improve during the last 65 games.