It looks like Scott has already dug the LAD grave.
I like the way Claude Osteen put it…”their brand of baseball just sucks this year”. He did not say the team sucks as Scott says, and says every year. Yes, I agree CO, the current brand of LAD baseball in 2025 does suck. There is no passion, no joy, bad fundamentals, bullpen is imploding, horrendous OF defense, too many walks by pitchers, extremely poor 2-strike approach, and too many swings and chase at balls out of hand by the supposed stars.
After 2023, the complaints were maybe the team in the wild card series has the advantage because they are playing while the bye teams are sitting. I get it. 2 horrible NLDS losses will give way to such a feeling. But now the complaints are that the Dodgers have seemingly played themselves into the wild card, and they need a bye.
OF – I am sorry but it is inexcusable that Andy Pages was not at the fence for Holliday’s HR. Sal Frelick would have been. Heck, James Outman would have been. I do not know if he catches it by leaping at the fence, but he had no chance where he played it. I do not know if Frelick or Outman would have caught it, but I do believe they would have been at the fence. And I do not want to hear he was getting position to play it off the fence. If there was a batted ball that you give 100++++% to make an out on, that was it. Pages does not run back on a ball well. He drifts back. Good OF can turn their back and run to a spot, to the wall, and then be in a position to make a play. Run to the fence to give yourself a chance.
Overall OF defense – Teoscar -9 OAA in RF, Conforto -6 OAA in LF, and Pages in CF +5 but dropping quickly.
One of the solutions to combat the malaise? Release Michael Conforto. Sure. Go for it. Should have been done. I am certainly not an advocate for keeping him. However, is he the reason why Mookie and Freddie went into their funk in early summer? Is he the reason why Shohei and Teoscar swing at pitches that are never strikes? Is he the reason for the pitching injuries? While his defense is lacking, is it worse than Teoscar’s? Did he run into Max’s knee on July 2, taking out the Dodgers hottest hitter, and one of the hottest hitters in MLB? Is he the reason for the re-injuries to the ankles of Freddie and Tommy Edman? Did he give Teoscar the groin injury that has seemingly trashed his season, offensively and defensively? Did he give Mookie the pre-season stomach virus? Yes Conforto is a problem, but he is not THE problem.
The bullpen has been a problem for most of the year, and it is failing miserably at the very worst time of the year. Injuries? Sure. But it is just bad pitching more than anything else. You cannot explain it away, or make excuses. Just bad pitching. But I agree with Bear. Saturday’s loss was all on Treinen. Scott’s pitch to Rivera was well below the strike zone (See below). Rivera did what the Dodgers do not do enough of. He made contact that hit grass.
Maybe the team can follow the lead of Miggy Ro as he is one of the most steady and most reliable LAD players, and has been since before July. He never takes a day off (whether in the game or not). Of course the would be GM said he was worthless last year.
I know Shohei hit 2 jacks on Sunday, but this is what he did on Saturday with runners on 2nd and 3rd with 1 out.
Swings at first pitch out of the zone on first AB, and then swings at two pitches way out of the zone for the 2nd. One was fouled off, one was strike 3. Sometimes a single is all you need. Two singles in those two situations scores 4, instead of the one they did get.
Then there are those who are complaining that the Dodgers did not trade for a closer at the deadline. Yet many of those who are complaining the loudest were the same ones who said the Dodgers HAD to sign Tanner Scott. It is great to be a fan and wanting a do-over if what they wanted did not work out. AF/BG do not have that luxury.
Could the Dodgers have put together better packages than Philadelphia made for Jhoan Duran? That was a good package that Philadelphia gave up. It seems evident that Minnesota wanted a top catching prospect and a top pitching prospect. Maybe Minnesota wanted Dalton Rushing, and when AF said no, they were no longer interested. I obviously have no idea if that is true, nor does anyone who disagrees with that.
Mason Miller – I am sure that AF checked in on Miller. The Dodgers could certainly have bested the Padres package. But is it what the A’s wanted? SD’s package included the overall #3 MLB prospect, and 3 top 17 SP pitching prospects. LAD had no match for SS Leo De Vries, and the LAD top three pitching prospects, Jackson Ferris, River Ryan, Christian Zazueta may not be as coveted by the A’s.
Also, does anyone here know whether Miller’s agent advised the “buying” team that Miller wants to start next year, and AF said he was not interested in that? It has been reported that he wants to start, and SD said they plan to give him that opportunity. We mere fans have no such contacts.
Fans can criticize AF for not making either of the trades, but there is no basis for any understanding what negotiations were actually made. Even the most ardent and knowledgeable baseball journalists are guessing at what the packages MAY include. You can say that the Dodgers could have put together a better package. Sure they could have included prospects with higher ratings, but you are assuming that is what the trading team wants. The Dodgers have a bevy of OF and depth (not elite) pitching. Maybe the A’s and Twins and all other teams were not interested in those prospects.
Of course there are those who think they know better, and criticize every deal AF does and every trade he doesn’t do.
I and many others will perform an autopsy on the Dodgers after the season. But for now, the Dodgers are still in 1st place and I am not throwing dirt on their grave just yet. I am not quitting on them. Scott and others are free to do so. In the meantime, I just ignore his insidious vitriol. Others are free to respond, just no you are not going to win his argument.
MiLB GAME SUMMARY REPORTS
OKC Comets 7 – Sugar Land Space Cowboys (Houston) 1
OKC’s SP, Christian Romero allowed a 3rd inning solo HR, and that was all the runs he allowed in 4.2 IP. He allowed a double, 3 BB, and registered 4 Ks. Both hits were from Sugar Land’s RF, Pedro León.
OKC scored the first run in the 2nd. José Ramos hit a one out triple (2), and scored on a Nick Senzel sac fly.
After the Sugar Land HR tied the score, Noah Miller slugged a solo HR (3) to give OKC the 2-1 lead.
OKC put up 5 in the 6th. Tommy Edman hit a one out single, and Alex Freeland hit a 2-run HR. Ryan Ward singled, Austin Gauthier drew a BB, and Ramos singled to load the bases. Nick Senzel singled to score Ward and Gauthier. With 2 outs, Senzel got caught in a run down and Ramos scored from 3rd before Senzel was tagged out.
Sam Carlson, Paul Gervase, and Bobby Miller finished off the final 4.0 scoreless innings. No hits, no BB, and 7 K.
Wichita Wind Surge (Minnesota) 12 – Tulsa Drillers 11
The final game between Tulsa and the Wichita Wind Surge was as even as the series was all season, as each team rallied from deficits.
Unfortunately, after the Drillers responded to score eight runs in the final three innings to tie the game, the Wind Surge delivered the final blow in the bottom of the ninth when Ben Ross’ walk-off home run defeated Tulsa 12-11.
It was not all bad news for the Drillers. Despite the series-finale loss, the Drillers are in the same position they were when the series began as it relates to the Texas League playoffs. With a 3-3 split of the six-game series, Tulsa still leads Wichita by two games for the final playoff spot from the TL’s North Division. The Drillers magic number to clinch the final playoff spot is five.
In the finale, Tulsa put a run on the board in the first inning for the third straight game. A fielding error set up Chris Newell for a double (23) that scored Kole Myers.
James Tibbs III gave the Drillers a 3-0 lead in the third when he hit his second two-run homer in as many games. It was his fifth home run hit with Tulsa.
The Wind Surge mounted a comeback to take the lead in the bottom of the third, scoring four runs.
After Wichita took the lead, Tulsa starting pitcher Patrick Copen pitched one more inning before his afternoon ended. Copen finished after four innings pitched and four runs allowed on four hits and two walks with four strikeouts.
In the fifth, the Wind Surge added three more runs on an RBI triple, a balk and RBI single that increased the lead to 7-3.
The Drillers brought the score back within two runs in the seventh. They had runners at first and third base when a disengagement violation resulted in a balk that allowed Zach Ehrhard to score. After the violation, Wichita pitcher John Stankiewicz threw two wild pitches, which allowed Myers to advance two bases and score to pull Tulsa to within 7-5.
Wichita separated the score again by adding five runs in the seventh, using a two-run homer, an RBI double, and an RBI single.
The Drillers battled back in the eighth. They used a hit batter, three walks, an RBI single and a two-run JT III triple to score five runs to bring the score back within a run at 11-10.
Tulsa benefited from two more wild pitches in the ninth inning that allowed Taylor Young to score and tie the game at 11-11.
After pitching a scoreless eighth inning, Tulsa reliever Carson Hobbs returned to the mound in the bottom of the ninth, and on the first pitch of the inning, gave up the walk off HR.
Three of four runs allowed by Tulsa in the bottom of the seventh were charged to Christian Suarez. It was the first earned runs the lefthander has allowed since July 6, covering 27.0+ innings pitched.
Tibbs III recorded four RBI on Sunday and nine total in the series with Wichita to lead the Drillers. Ehrhard was a close second with eight runs driven in.
- Kole Myers – 2-5, 4 runs, 2 RBI
- James Tibbs III – 2-5, 1 run, 4 RBI, Triple (1), HR (5)
- Yeiner Fernandez – 2-5
Great Lakes Loons 9 – Lake County Captains (Cleveland) 5
The Great Lakes Loons had three three-run innings, finishing their season with a 9-3 win over the Lake County Captains.
Logan Wagner finished the season as the Midwest League leader in RBI with 76. The 21-year-old belted a three-run home run in the sixth, his 15th longball of the season, and made it 9-2. Wagner played in 122 of the 130 games for Great Lakes, the most of any player.
Josue De Paula completed his second stint and his 150th game with the Loons with a two-hit and three RBI performance. The Dodgers’ No. 1 prospect hit a towering three-run homer on an 0-2 pitch from Lake County’s Alonzo Richardson in the fourth inning.
Great Lakes got on the board in the third inning. Samuel Munoz, in his 20th game with Great Lakes, mashed his first High-A homer. Jackson Humphries would walk two, and the Loons added two more runs off a Jake Gelof RBI single and an error at third base.
Six different pitchers took the mound in Eastlake for Great Lakes. Logan Tabeling earned the win and provided 4.2 innings. He worked around four walks, permitting only two earned runs. Reynaldo Yean collected the final three outs, finishing his season with 10.2 scoreless innings.
The Great Lakes achieved their sixth consecutive winning season with a 72-58 record. The Loons 38 second-half wins are the most in a half since the first half of 2023, when they won the Midwest League East Division Championship.
The 2026 Great Lakes Loons season begins in 208 days on Friday, April 3rd, as the Loons host the Fort Wayne TinCaps. Check out Loons.com and the Great Lakes Loons on social media during the off-season.
- Josue De Paula – 2-4, 1 BB, 2 runs, 3 RBI, HR (12)
- Jake Gelof – 2-4, 1 BB, 1 RBI, double (24)
- Samuel Munoz – 2-3, 1 BB, 2 runs, 1 RBI, HR (1)
- Logan Wagner – 1-5, 1 run, 3 RBI, HR (15)
- Eduardo Quintero – 3 BB, 3 runs
Fresno Grizzlies (Colorado) 7 – Rancho Cucamonga Quakes 3
The Quakes wrapped up the 2025 regular season on Sunday afternoon, dropping a 7-3 decision to the Fresno Grizzlies.
Fresno’s Tanner Thach hit a pair of two-run homers and Grizzlies’ starter Manuel Olivares (2-1) fired five scoreless innings to give the Grizzlies five of six in the series.
Rancho got three hits and an RBI from Landyn Vidourek in defeat. They also got 2 hits from Mairo Martinus. Both Quakes hitters also had doubles. Vidourek hit his 5th, and Martinus hit his 17th.
The Quakes finish the regular season at 70-62 and will now face the Inland Empire 66ers on Tuesday night in San Bernardino, in game one in the best-of-three South Division Finals. The Quakes are home on Thursday, September 11 to host game two.
I will never understand devoting a blog post to a one-sided debate with the site’s commenter but have at it. I’m taking my ball and going to Bluto’s mom’s house.
You have no idea what you are talking about. I started this blog for me to write. I do not get paid. In fact it costs me thousands of $$$ just to maintain and have a host. I write what I want, because that is why I started the blog. If you do not like it, well you are free to leave any time you want.
I have not cut off Scott. He is free to say what he wants. If you want to respond, feel free. I choose not to. And you are right, my blog my choice.
BTW, Scott has his own Dodger Blog. Feel free to go there.
To quote Yogi, no one goes there anymore, it’s too crowded…. But in Scott’s case, it is the sound of crickets.
Bear,
You are correct. Nobody is there anymore. My site has failed. It’s hard to find the passion to continue writing when there is no community or interactions. So you are correct to point out how bad my site is. Although I don’t see the point of kicking me when I am down.
at some point I will probably just retire and stop writing all together. everything nowadays is all about videos and social media.
But I believe the Yogi quote is about not being over until it’s over. But in my situation, it has been over for some time.
Yogi had many. And the one I quoted is one of them. I am not kicking you. I am just pointing out the obvious. Look Scott, your sites demise was for several reasons. One was a lack of control over how bad it got from all the arguing and name calling. You have every right to state your opinion here, you know that. But sometimes my friend, all that negativity is just totally counterproductive. Look, I am as frustrated as any fan out there, and I have been following this team for over 70 years. But I have seen worse Dodger teams and worse defeats. You can’t win all the time. Some fans are starting to sound like Yankee fans who honestly believe it is their birthright to be World Champs every year. Boy did they get a surprise last year. I suffered through a 99-loss season. Rockies fans have seen their team trade its best players and now they are a 100-loss team. I am happy the Dodgers have an ownership group that actually cares about winning, and winning consitently.
Say hello for me.
Bluto is fine by the way. He’s found his way back to where many of us came from. So has Duke and a few other great posters. Why, I have no idea. Would have to ask them.
Duke pops in here once in a while.
It’s bad baseball decisions that have put the Dodgers where they are. certainly nothing I say has any control over how the Dodgers play, or the poor decisions they make.
I think insidious vitriol is a little bit of an overreaction. I just call things as I see them. I don’t like being the bad guy over here, but im not going to praise the Dodgers for playing bad baseball and making poor baseball decisions. All I know is that if I were in charge, I would have released Conforto, Scott, and Yates weeks ago because they are terrible and there is no hope of them miraculously turning things around.
Scott, correct me if I’m wrong, but towards the end of last season didn’t you push for the Dodgers to sign Corbin Burnes?
I don’t think so. But I do not have access to medicals like the Dodgers. I also don’t see how that is relevant.
Scott can’t be released because of his 3yr deal. He’s toast this year, but maybe next year, or the year after, he’ll turn into a good relief pitcher.
Scott actually has 3 years left on his deal Wayne. Read his baseball reference page to see the exact details. My argument with Andes was simple, they have never released a player on a long-term deal except Carl Crawford and that was in the last year of his contract. He replied that MLB teams do it all the time. Well, they don’t. Usually when they want to rid themselves of a contract, they do what LA did back when they got Matt Kemp back, a salary dump trade. LA traded for Bronson Arroyo and also Homer Bailey in separate deals, Bailey in 2018 and 2015. Arroyo was injured when the trade was made and LA bought out his 4.5 option. Bailey was released the day after the trade and signed with KC for the league minimum. LA paid the rest of his 22 mil deal that year and 5 mil to release him from the second year of that deal.
There is a big difference between rarely done and can’t be done. There is no rule that says it can’t be done.
I never debated that it can’t be done Scott. I said LA does not do that and has never done that, so far, neither has any other team. They will try and trade bad contracts, but none of them just flat out release them.
None of them? Well here is one that comes to mind that happened very recently. The Astros released Jose Abreu, who was simply not producing. They flat out released him because he was really bad, and was not producing. No trade. for the record they did this in June….JUNE of 2024.
‘It was time to make a change’: José Abreu released by Astros
“The club released veteran first baseman José Abreu not even halfway through the three-year, $58.5 million deal he signed with Houston in November 2022.”
That means the Astros will have to pay the remaining $30 million on Abreu’s contract, but his presence in the lineup was a growing issue, especially for a team that began Friday eight games back in the American League West and six games out in the AL Wild Card race. Abreu, 37, had a .362 OPS with two homers in 35 games with the Astros.
We tried different things to get him going, like sending him down. As we talked through the process this week, we felt like it was time to make a change.”
“Right now, it’s just time to move on and we have guys here to take over that spot, and we need those guys to step up and produce for our lineup,” Espada said.
He slashed .167/.186/.333 with two home runs in 13 games after rejoining the Astros on May 27. Abreu was 0-for-7 in two games against the Giants this week, and with the Astros slipping in the AL West standings, they couldn’t afford to keep playing him.
I could probably find more instances from around MLB if I look.
well, in hindsight the signings of Scott, Yates, Conforto and the resigning of Teo certainly can be called mistakes. But at the time of the signings they were justified and good signings. Almost every fan and expert agreed the Dodgers won the offseason.
The fact that ALL of the mentioned above have had bad seasons so far was unforeseeable. I do not fault AF and the Dodgers front office for that.
I fault them for not adressing the closer situation at the deadline.
Just bad coincidence. Coupled with all the injuries we are where we are. And that is still first place in the West. It is still the Dodgers division to lose.
Hope is that Muncy, Smith, Edman can bring some much needed juice back to the offense and that at least one out of Scott and Yates can turn their season around and be that shutdown option out of the pen.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
Exactly. Muncy and Vesia expected to be activated today. Edman before the Rockies series is over.
Per ESPN’s article this morning, titled “Real or Not: Why each 2025 MLB Contender Can (or Can’t) win it all”:
Maybe we just don’t want to be wrong like last year, but it’s also true that any bullpen can get hot for a month. The Rangers were 24th in bullpen ERA in 2023, the Atlanta Braves 11th in 2021 and the Washington Nationals dead last in 2019, yet all three teams won it all. The Dodgers still have a talented group that is reasonably healthy now with Treinen and Michael Kopech back from the injuries that had wiped out much of their 2025 seasons, plus a group deep in left-handers that will give manager Dave Roberts maximum matchup options. Don’t be surprised if this pen steps up after scuffling all season.
Jeff, I didn’t see Saturday’s game but I’ve read the following :
The replay angles made Holliday’s Statcast-projected 362-foot shot appear catchable. But multiple Orioles staffers later confirmed that the ball cleared the wall and landed on a black railing roughly four feet behind the fence and about 18 inches higher. That positioning meant Pages would have needed superhuman reach to even touch it.
I saw it. Several times in fact. The ball bounced on top of the padded fence. It was hit high so it looked like it was falling down, kinda like it was dropping, if that makes any sense, We’ve all seen athletic outfielders make leaping dazzling catches on balls that are heading over the fence, and in my opinion Yamamoto deserved a Herculean attempt on that one, even if it did come up short. Pages gave up on it.
Plus the fence was climbable.
Belli would have caught it.
That is what I am saying. Maybe he doesn’t catch it, but you have to try. I don’t remember what the catch probablity was on Cody Bellinger’s catch in CF off Fernando Tatis Jr., but that one looked more difficult to make. In the artcile I linked, there were 8 frames chronicling the leap and catch. There was no way Belli should catch that ball, and yet he did.
I do not fault AF for any of the signings. Most all of us were in agreement on signing the same people. Unfortunately, none have worked out. As far as the deadline I think we really miss Phillips. He was a guy who could pitch often, throw strikes, and pitch any inning. AF got Brock Stewart who has been dominate on righties but he got hurt of course. Call was a good defender who works the count. Unfortunately his strikeout rate has escalated. We got some future pitching and hitting that is looking good.
We have the players they just have to perform. My frustration is we got vesia pitching in triple a when we probably win if he had been here Saturday. Muncy can’t play through the flu. Mb not but he is so fragile. They have had all season to build up Ohtani but still haven’t. Roberts talks about staying in the strike zone n then brags on ohtani when he is probably the worst. The usual strategy of slow playing the team has not worked. I feel the team is constantly being babied. Our guys go on the il where other teams play their players.
i don’t c us winning the division with the schedule we have coming. The Phillies. Seattle, and a hot Giant team. There never seems to be any urgency on our part to win. I think this is a strategic failure on AF and Doc.
I agree with all of that realten. AF secured the talent necessary to win it all again. I thought the off season acquisitions were terrific, most did, though I did take the under on 120 wins.
Things have not turned out like we expected. That’s baseball. I do believe the team will make the playoffs and once there I believe they will be favored in every series. Dodger fans are quite lucky. There are millions of baseball fans out there that don’t have a chance to win a championship. We do every year.
It’s true as fans we do not have the contacts, research, or inside info to know why a deal was/was not made.
That is the reason why we mostly celebrate Dodger signings (Teo, Scott, Conforto) in the off-season– because we trust that Dodger management has done its homework.
That said, some structural elements of the team going into this season were fairly obvious.
The team:
So, the Dodgers sign two (not one) older, poor defensive outfielders. FtR, I loved the Teo signing last year, and he did what most players do in a contract year–put up career #’s. Signing him to a 3-year deal was asking for disappointment.
Signing Conforto was pure arrogance.
Roki was a steal. Snell for the playoffs I can live with, plus his limited play during the season provides innings for young arms to be tested.
In summary, when you don’t address core needs, you give the team very little margin when challenges (injuries, slumps, illnesses) arise. That’s what we are witnessing now.
Roki, Yamamoto, Snell. Scott, Yates. Kim, Kiké, Teo, Conforto. The Ohtani deal. All of that looked good to me. I wanted Miller at the deadline, I think everyone did, but Stewart came with some good numbers.
I agree about a lack of defense being emphasized but I also think Kim would be a Gold Glove candidate if he had an every day position. I don’t know about getting younger. I think the goal of the Dodgers is always getting better, with youth not being emphasized.
It hasn’t gone as expected but I can’t blame AF. I think he knew of the injury elements and that is why he went for depth. That depth just turned into a deep cavern filled with players. The Dodgers have had more lost days to injury, over 2200, than anyone, I think. They obviously planned for some, but nobody could plan for this.
We all hope for a good finish but honestly, can we expect one?
I think we may have terrific samples to see if our coaching staff/ philosophy are problems. Call had a much lower strikeout rate before he came to us, did we tinker with his swing for more uppercut?
I am guessing Brock Stewart was healthy before arriving ( just a guess), did we adjust spin rate/ velocity thus causing injury?
most of our free agent signings during the winter can be justified except I think the extension/ contract for Glasnow was nuts. ( may have been last winter). I was not a fan of signing Teo and Kike (just on October expectations) but I think the rest could have/ should have been good.
Our starting pitching depth makes surviving the playoffs even having to play an extra three games. Relief pitching is like having a red headed girl friend. (I had one for three years.) as Forest Gump would say it’s like a box of chocolates. I have confidence the a couple of the solid arms will raise to the top. My biggest concern is our length and consistency of our lineup. If Muncy can come back strong along with Will Smith and have a surprise like Kike or Rojas, we have as good of chance to win the World Series as any other team. I will never give up the expectation of another WS win until the Dodgers are officially eliminated.
Padres facing the Reds. Lodolo Vs Darvish.
Change the lineup
Betts
Freeman
Smith
Ohtani
Etc
I am usually not in favor of changing the lineup, but there needs to be a shakeup, right? Then again it may force pitchers to IBB Shohei more with RISP than when he has Mookie following him. In 116 PA wRISP, Shohei has 31 BB including 15 IBB. He actually strikes out less (23.3%) with RISP than without (26.0%).
I have long advocated that Ohtani should not be hitting cleanup. Betts has much better numbers there. But they want to get him as many ABs as they can. Which in my eyes means more opportunities for coming up without men on base and also striking out more. If he was more selective, his BA would be above .300.
Good analysis Jeff!
And thanks for running this blog. You and Bear do a great job.
i want to acknowledge again the greatness of Clayton Kershaw. Another solid performance to stop a losing streak.
He is now 10-2 this year after missing the first two months of the season. He took a guaranteed salary of only $7.5 million this year and has more wins than Snell, Glasnow, and Ohtani combined. They have a total of 5 wins this year and have guaranteed contracts of over a Billion dollars. Yamamoto is the ace for me this year, and without him they do not make it out of the first round of the playoffs last year. But the Dodgers would not be in first place this year without Kershaw. The greatest Dodger of all time.
Thank you RC. And I am in total agreement with you about Kersh.
One of the mistakes that was made this year was retaining RVS as the hitting coach. When you strategy is pull side power, you try to pull too many outside pitches instead of going with the pitch. Too many warning track power high fly outs instead of line drive doubles. When Teo was going so good last year (and Mookie and Freddie), they had a lot of oppo hits. Teo not only has the ability to hit into RF successfully, he can do so with power. But when he tries to pull everything, he is making easy outs including a lot of Ks.
The Dodgers were 5-29 wRISP last weekend. They left 24 runners on base (8 each game). In their two one run losses the team was 3-19 wRISP. Do you think a single here and there could have changed the weekend? Freddie hit a HR in the first game for the only run the Dodgers would score.
They did manufacture three runs in the second game, but left way too many in scoring position when a single would have been big. They were 3-14 in Game 2. Shohei got one RBI on a ground out allowing the runner on 3rd to score. Mookie got the other two RBIs with a single after an Ohtani K, and then a triple scoring Ben Rortvedt who had singled. Mookie had hits with RISP twice that produced runs. Kiké had the other, moving Miggy Ro to 3rd where he scored on a 2 out single by Mookie.
· Betts – 2-3 wRSIP
· Kiké – 1-2
· Ohtani – 0-2
· Pages – 0-2
· Teoscar – 0-2
· Call – 0-2
· Miggy Ro – 0-1
It was refreshing to see Ben Rorvedt have 2 sac bunts that put 4 runners in scoring position, and produced 2 runs (should have been more).
In the game they won, they had 3 solo HR, scored one on a throwing error, and then actually manufactured an insurance run in the 9th.
So the team scored 4 runs on 4 solo HR, one on a throwing error, and 4 actual manufactured runs.
If I were an opposing pitcher, there is no way I would give the Dodgers anything but pitches on the outside edge of the plate. If you try to sneak something inside, that is when the pitchers get into trouble.
Excellent post Jeff. You covered miles of territory about what ails the Dodgers. I share many of the complaints of posters here and especially for comments about our hitting approach and RVS. I’m actually not much of a Prior fan either. He brings all the enthusiasm of road kill.
It’s a long menu of things not to like. This team seems stuck in a “storming phase” and they have not worked through to cohesion; playing for each other for a lot of reasons that I will attempt to explain at another time.
My long-standing frustration is magnified by playing Conforto practically every day and not giving Ryan Ward a look. I’m frustrated that the AAA guys we bring up, can’t hit.
I was in on giving Conforto a try, out of Spring Training, even considering that he has been spiraling downward since 2022. Michael had hit .226 with a 28% strikeout rate. That is in over 1000 at bats. Those numbers now look good compared to this campaign. Even with that lack of production the Dodgers and Giants have paid him $48 million.
But my optimism went away. Yet he stays. And plays.
I will admit I am a shameless front-runner. I expect to win. I’ve been that way since I was a kid and I have thankfully mellowed with age. It was stuff like pouring a pitcher of water over my girlfriend’s head when she beat me at cribbage and rubbed my nose in it, that I eventually learned it wasn’t a trait appreciated by everyone in social situations. But deep down, I still hate it.
But the fact is with this team, they just are NO FUN to watch. This should be enjoyable. And it isn’t.
And if I can’t enjoy watching RSV style of hitting, fundamental mistakes, lineups with Conforto hitting clean up, players rehabbing while the Big Club struggles and near no-hitters lost with pitiful relief pitching, than I’m not wasting my time.
It’s a long season. The miles I’ve put in and the life events that have happened since I watched Spring Training last April, seem like a lifetime ago. I’m tired. I know the players must be too.
I will take a vacation from the Dodgers and follow in the box scores until the playoffs. Then I will see if all the optimism with players off the IL and shitty seasons can be resurrected by Kike, Conforto, Teo, Yates, Scott and others and we can actually flip the Magic Playoff Switch.
The Dodgers average 5.79 runs per game across the 89 games Muncy has played this season. In the 54 games he hasn’t played, the Dodgers averaged just 3.78 runs per contest. Nobody can convince me that Max is not a big part of the scoring ability for this team. If nothing else, it lengthens the lineup.
Huh? So Max is successful so RVS strategy is OK then.