Now, I know that the Miami Marlins are not a very good offensive team, but the three game sweep with the LAD pitching allowing only 4 runs in 27 innings was nevertheless impressive. The Marlins are still ML hitters.
Tyler Anderson allowed 1 run in 7.0 innings, Dustin May pitched 5.0 scoreless innings, and Ryan Pepiot allowed 2 runs in 6.0 innings. The one relief score was a solo HR by JJ Bleday off David Price.
After Friday’s game, Anderson said that he did not have his best stuff. That may be true, but he sure dominated. The one problem was that Miami LHSP Jesús Luzardo was also dominating. After the Milwaukee series, the Dodger bats were quieted a bit. Milwaukee pitchers always seem quiet LAD bats. Was the slumber of the bats or Jesús Luzardo? I am sure the Dodgers will get another chance at Luzardo next weekend.
The Marlins have multiple quality pitchers, but the Dodgers faced off against a rookie making his ML debut, Bryan Hoeing. A pair of 3-run HRs turned the game around. But that was also Dustin May’s return to the ML mound. After 476 days, May took the bump and was electric throughout. May said he was not too amped that he walked two batters in the first. He simply said that he did execute his pitches well. Maybe yes, maybe no.
Regardless, Dustin went on to retire the next 13 in order, 7 via the strikeout. One could say it was the miserable Marlins offense, but if you watched the movement of Dustin’s pitches, you knew that was more Dustin than the weak offense. He will get another chance at Miami next weekend.
I am certain that most considered Sunday’s game to be a throw away game. Arguably MLB’s best pitcher, Sandy Alcantara, vs LAD rookie Ryan Pepiot. Things did not look good at the start of the 1st inning as Pepiot had a 4 pitch walk to Joey Wendle. He struck out Jon Berti on a 3-2 pitch. He hit Jesús Aguilar before striking out JJ Bleday for out #2. Brian Anderson stroked a single to LF and Joey Gallo came up and made a perfect throw to the plate to get Wendle trying to score.
In the bottom of the 1st, Mookie led off with a single, stole second and scored on a new Mr. Clutch, Will Smith single. In the bottom of the second inning, Joey Gallo hit a 2-out triple of the right-center field wall. That was followed by a booming HR (17) by Cody Bellinger. All of a sudden, the Dodgers are up 3-0 on Alcantara.
In the 3rd, Trea Turner, Freddie Freeman, and Max Muncy each singled for a run and a 4-0 lead.
In the meantime, Pepiot is moving along and retired the side in order in the 3rd before walking JJ Bleday to open the 4th. Pepiot got the next two outs, but Lewin Diaz hit his first HR of the season, and the Marlins cut the lead in half.
The Dodgers scored two in their half of the 4th inning. Joey Gallo got his second hit in the game, went to 2nd on a ground out, and scored on a Mookie Betts single. Betts scored on a Will Smith double.
Pepiot retired 6 of the 7 batters he faced in the 5th and 6th innings. After 97 pitches and 6 innings, Ryan had completed enough to get his 2nd win. He did get some help by that man Joey Gallo in the 5th on a Joey Wendle fly ball.
Max Muncy hit his 16th HR in the 7th. In the 8th, the Dodgers strung together 3 singles, 2 walks, and a sac fly for three runs. At the end of the day, Ryan Pepiot and the Dodgers bested Sandy Alcantara and the Miami Marlins for a 3-game sweep. This was the Dodgers 4th sweep in August.
Alcantara will get another shot at the Dodgers next weekend. Before then, the Dodgers will have to face off against Milwaukee and their pitchers that tend to get the best of them. Well at least the first two, Eric Lauer and Corbin Burnes. Aaron Ashby and all of his 0.2 IP against the Dodgers will start the third game. The Brewers will throw 2 LHSP at LAD.
On Sunday we got to witness HRs by both Cody Bellinger and Max Muncy in the same game. I have no idea how many times that has happened, and I have no desire to do the research to learn. One thing that has caught my curiosity is that I have noticed that Cody Bellinger seems to do well on Sundays. What that means????
“Things did not look good at the start of the 1st inning as Pepiot had a 3 pitch walk to Joey Wendle.” Explain that one please.
Of course I can explain it. It was a simple mistake of hitting the 3 instead of the 4. It has been corrected.
You may hae noticed a change in Muncy’s batting approach. A little rocking or shuffling before he swings. Fabian Ardaya at the Athletic ($$$$$) takes a look at this and how it helps:
https://theathletic.com/3520961/2022/08/19/dodgers-max-muncy-swing/?source=user_shared_article
Bobby Miller’s first stat-line from AAA
5.2 IP | 9 H | 5 R | 3 ER | BB | 3 K – 88 pitches/61 strikes
Not a ton of swing and miss through first 5 innings, but was really efficient. Kind of ran out of steam and had some bad luck in the 6th.
The Athletic ($$$$$) on Evan Phillips development into ace reliever.
https://theathletic.com/3510167/2022/08/16/dodgers-evan-phillips/
Keep an eye on Racho’s Yunior Garcia, Friday night was a huge night for the Dodgers prospect. 5-5, 2B, 3 HR, 6 RB. His first long ball from that game was worthy of a rousing applause. Per the club’s Trackman device, Git came off the bat at 110 mph and traveled a projected 489 feet, a reported club distance record.Through 12 games in August, the first baseman/designated hitter has slashed a gaudy .453/.482/.811. His 24 hits match his totals from April and May combined.
https://www.milb.com/news/dodgers-yunior-garcia-hits-three-home-runs-rancho-cucamonga
FanGraphs on the Dodgers’ 22 year old Ben Harris, who they call the best under-the-radar MILB prospect.
Top Korean HS RHP prospect Shim Jun-Seok is not entering the KBO Draft, which would certainly mean that he is aiming to sign with an ML club. Shim is also a Boras Corporation client.
Baseball America’s midseason rankings: ($$$$)
https://www.baseballamerica.com/rankings/2022-mlb-midseason-organization-talent-rankings/
The Skinny: Just as they do in the majors, the Dodgers possess both tremendous star power and remarkable depth in their farm system, and the lower levels of the Dodgers system are loaded with power pitchers, middle infielders with potent bats and power-hitting outfielders.
Justin Choi on the complex problem that is Craig Kimbrel:
From FutureDodgers:
LA Dodgers’ right-hander Peter Heubeck sits 89-91 with the fastball shows good athleticism on the mound and has a solid low 80’s breaker. If there’s a velo bump this guy will be yet another solid arm for the Dodgers
Ben Clemens on the Dodgers injury situation:
Baseball America Podcast on midseason org rankings:
https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/2022-midseason-organization-talent-rankings-podcast/
RHP Edgardo Henriquez, who left his last start with what appeared to be an elbow injury, was officially placed on the IL.Rancho’s game notes stated he’s done for the season—a very unfortunate end to the 2022 campaign for one of the Dodgers’ most exciting young arms.
Ben Clemens Chat:
Joe: I’m pretty sure NYY will be fine…. right?
Ben Clemens: Definitely funny how well Gallo is playing in LA though ‘Joey Gallo is a better hitter than Andrew Benintendi’ is not a controversial take
Matthew: What’s up with the playoff odds loving the NL? Eyeballing the world series vs lcs odds, it looks like all of the NL teams are overrated. For instance, the Mets are favored to win the lcs 27% of the time and the ws 17% (i.e. 60% favorites to win the WS if they make it), the Phillies are at 6.2% and 3.1%, the Yankees are at 25% and 10%, and the Rays are at 5.9% and 2.1%…
Ben Clemens: It’s because any NL team that wins the CS won’t have to play the Dodgers in the WS, while AL teams have to play the Dodgers most of the time. I think it’s just fine? The odds aren’t perfectly precise or anything, they’re not trying to be. Dan runs his separate series-by-series odds in the playoffs to account for hte way the rosters work then. As a rough ballpark, the NL being likelier to win the WS seems fine to me
Mets fan: Assuming Degrom stays healthy and continues to perform for the rest of the season, how much do the last two partial seasons contribute to his HOF candidacy?
Ben Clemens: If deGrom finishes this season at this health level, has one more Cy-ish season, and reaches 10 ML seasons, I think he’s a slam dunk. He’s modern-day Sandy Koufax, with different problems but the same wildly electric peak
Vin: is degrom worth $50 million a year if he’s only going max 90 pitches?
Ben Clemens: Iiiiiinteresting…If I could guarantee he’d make 25 starts, I think so! He’s just soooooooo good
SS Rayne Doncon has been on fire over the last two and a half weeks in the ACL, hitting .396/.463/.875 (239 wRC+) with six home runs since July 30th. He’s raised his season-long OPS 185 points and wRC+ 47 points in that time. Look for him to be at Low-A next season, he’s questionable to stay at SS as he’s split his time (contra Diaz) at SS/2B.
Thank you, Bluto. A lot of good stuff.
That was a lot of words about Kimbrel and now I am more on the side of saves stats. Same with other old stats like RBI and runs. Regardless of spin rate and exit velocity, it’s the results that matter.
I missed the game. I was playing music with some friends. Watched the condensed game later on when I got home. Cracks me up, so many fans ripped AF when he made the trade for Gallo. Check the Yankee record since he came over here. They have tanked. Not saying he is the reason, but maybe he was their good luck charm.
To put some numbers on that. Since August 2, the day of the trade, the Dodgers are 15-3 and NYY is 4-14. Maybe you have something there, Bear.
OB48 – off topic. We listen to Willie’s Roadhouse (SiriusXM) in our car. We have had it for several years. I have yet to hear one of my favorite singers – Johnny Duncan- on XM. Have you ever run into him on the road (no pun intended) or in concert?
I have long past learned to not question what AF does. Who else gets out of players what he does? As Jeff so often says, AF searches out players with a low risk, high reward potential. If we had no game results for 2022 and listed all of the challenges the Dodgers have had this year, I wonder where we would have them slotted in the power rankings.
Yet, there are those out there that continue to question AF and Dave Roberts.
Yeah, I know who Duncan is. I cannot understand why Wilie’s Roadhouse would not have him on their playlist. Duncan was a Texas boy and came from a musical family. He got tired of his label trying to sell him as a pop artist, so he moved to Nashville in the early 60’s. He was a DJ there and kept writing and sending demos to different labels. He wrote hits for the likes of Charlie Pride, Marty Robbins, Jim Ed Brown and Conway Twitty. He did not have a single in the top 10 until 1973 when Sweet Country Woman made it to #6. His first #1 song was a duet with Janie Fricke, “Thinking of a Rendezvous”. They did it again with “It Couldn’t Have Been Any Better.” Those came in 77-78. His one and only #1 song was his 1978, ” She Can Put Her Shoes Under My Bed Anytime” He did not come to California, at least not So-Cal in those days. So I never saw him live, but I did see him on TV a couple of times.
Thanks for that Bear.
I remember all of those songs. I have his songs on vinyl. I also like “Stranger”, “The Lady in the Blue Mercedes” and my favorite Johnny Duncan song, “A Song in the Night”. He had such a strong, clear voice and a good range. He definitely is one of my favorites.
I think he came along a bit late as classic country music was starting to die and they got away from twin fiddles, steel guitars, base guitar and the voice out front and came along with banging drums and squealing guitars, a dirth of lyrics and the music out front competing with the voice rather than supporting it.
Giants have signed Ken Giles to a MiLB contract. Feels like another Farhan reclamation project that he has generally been successful with. I guess the Dodgers had their fill of their own bullpen reclamation projects in Dellin Betances, Pedro Báez, Heath Hembree, and Daniel Zamora. Can’t always count on another Yency Almonte.
Almonte has not yet started a throwing program. It could very well be that Yency gets put on the 60 day to shut him down for the year and pick up another 40 man spot.
Dodgers have picked up Muncy’s 2023 option and added a 10 mil (plus incentives) team option for 2024.
That probably won’t make Fred very happy but at least he doesn’t have a no trade clause Bums.
As a Max fan that looks like a bargain to me.
Looks like they picked up his 2023 team option (with a $500K bonus) and got a new team option at $10MM (plus incentives).
I think that’s exactly what happened. Maybe they figured they didn’t want Max having to wonder if he’d be back next year and thought he’d be better off with this security.
That 10 mil for 2024 is going to be a bargain if he’s anywhere near the normal Muncy that year, although we have no knowledge as to what incentives were built in.
It is the safe thing to do and it apparently works within their payroll projections for the next two years.
As expected, Brusdar Graterol was reinstated from the IL, and Ryan Pepiot was optioned to make room on the active roster. So much for the 6 man rotation that Badger has been calling for. Next one will be Blake Treinen (reported for September 2). He will only need a 40 man DFA to make room. Rosters expand in September to (28), 14 players and 14 position players, so there will not need to be anyone optioned from the active roster.
I will go out on a limb and say that Edwin Rios will be added as the position player.
It’s possible that Kershaw makes it back a few days before Treinen. No need to clear a space on the 40-man for CK but there will be a need to take someone off the 26-man.
There will be a couple of unhappy pitchers come early September.
Urias always looks like he’s working hard to me. 84 pitches last night. I guess that’s a good thing. Could be a long month coming up for this staff if rest isn’t offered.
Miller is sure ranked high for somebody who apparently isn’t prepared to help.