It is not fair to draw any conclusions on the first games of ST. But there are areas that are worthy of commentary. My biggest takeaway from Game 1 was the hopeful change in approach by Andy Pages.
For Game 1, I came away impressed with Pages’ three AB. In his first AB, Pages struck out looking on a pitch down the middle, but he did not chase. Actually strikes 1 and 2 were 4-seamers middle/middle. We do not know, but perhaps he was given the Miguel Vargas instruction of tracking the pitches in his first AB. If his 2nd and 3rd AB are any indication as to how patient he will be, we are going to be in for a good summer with Pages. Pages saw 16 pitches and whiffed at only 1 pitch that might be considered a chase: a half ball inside at the thighs. He is showing good maturity at the plate as he turned 25. Pages is a lurking All Star OF.
Teoscar chased a couple, but still had three hits. He will never eliminate the chase. Losing a ball in the sun in Arizona does not connote a continuation of last year’s defense. Then again we do not know for sure. He had sunglasses on and looked like he did not see it until the end.
In game 1, most of the early hits were with 2 strikes and went oppo. That is a good sign as a team. Is it a trend?
Luke Fox is going to be a pitcher I talk about a lot this year. He was another scouting find by the Dodgers. He was a 17th round draft pick out of Duke who was recovering from TJ surgery when drafted. He did not pitch at all in his junior year leading up to the draft. He is a LHSP, so he will join Jackson Ferris and Adam Serwinowski as legit LHSP prospects in the LAD organization. Like most LAD pitching prospects, he needs better control. 22 pitches and 11 were strikes. He needs to work on that command. I am very bullish on Fox, and while I expect him to start the season in AA, he should get bumped to AAA. I do not want to limit his potential as a SP, but with the LAD depth at SP and at 24 years old, he looks to be more of a LAD relief prospect in the long run, or a good trade candidate. He did close some games for Duke as a sophomore.
Adam Serwinowski looked good as well in his one inning. Another nibbler. 27 pitches, 15 for strikes.
I know they were not facing Aaron Judge, but combined they struck out 5 of the 8 batters they faced, with each allowing a BB.
Game 1 had 7 NRI relievers and one on the 40-man who is no more than a darkhorse at this point (Paul Gervase). They through 7.1 shutout innings, allowing 4 singles, 4 BB, and 13K. Yes, it was against one of the weakest offensive teams, and one with one of the worst farm systems. But they competed against what they were asked to face.
Ryan Fitzgerald and Santiago Espinal look to be excellent infield insurance depth for the Dodgers hiding out in OKC to start the year. Nick Senzel might be too good to hold down. I do not know if he will make the LAD roster, but he could be traded for a legit lower level prospect before the season. If not, the OKC infield will be loaded.
Hyeseong Kim had two singles, but then reverted to his chase issue in his 3rd AB strikeout. He chased two pitches well out of the strike zone: one high and one low. He still looks to have more of a loop in his swing than when he was in Korea. With the ball down in the zone, he has enough bat control to hit it hard. With the loop, he has more of a problem with the high pitch. His swing was flatter on pitches up while in the KBO.
Dalton Rushing looked good behind the plate. He has a new stance this year. With Freddie understanding that he will sit more this season (even though not liking it), Rushing could get 400 PA this year.
In Game 2, the pitching was still the star. Bogaerts, Merrill, Machado, Tatis Jr., Cronenworth, and Castellanos were the first 6 Padres batters, and all 6 figure to be in the starting lineup on Opening Day. Contrast that to Kyle Tucker and Will Smith as the only LAD regulars to start against Randy Vazquez, who will be in the SDP rotation.
Jackson Ferris started and got 2 outs on 6 pitches, before he walked Machado on a 3-2 count and allowed a single to Tatis Jr. He got Cronenworth the end the inning.
Will Klein made his first appearance since the miraculous Game 3, 4-inning relief appearance. He retired the side in order on 3 groundouts with 10 pitches (7 strikes). He looks to be another reclamation project in the same way as Evan Phillips. Phillips was 26 when he joined the Dodgers, while Klein was 25. Klein is working himself into the late inning high leverage discussion.
The Dodgers rolled out 7 more pitchers and all pitched well. However, in the 8th, Ronan Kopp showed that he needs more PFP work. He allowed the only run in the game on his throwing error.
My favorite pitcher of the day was Chris Campos. He retired the side in order with 2 K’s including Jackson Merrill to end the inning.
Offensively Will Smith and Nick Senzel led the team. Senzel is making some noise as to being strongly considered for a platoon role with Max at 3B. The two run double was hit 108.1 while the 2nd double was hit 105.4. On the 1st double, the pitch was a high (out of the zone) 95.3 4-seam fastball. Does he play himself onto the 26-man? A lot of games to go to impress even more or disappoint.
We also got to see that Josue De Paula can hit the ball hard, but is going to need to produce with the bat, because his defense is not encouraging. I know fans are hoping he gets a look at 1B, but I have not heard much about such a transition. He will be part of a BIG OF in Tulsa.
Landon Knack and Gavin Stone are headed to the mound to start the next two games.
Good stuff.
It’s funny: I have Klein about 5th on my bullpen depth chart. I think he’s in if he keeps this up.
And Ferris looked the part. Might have to wait 1-2 years, but he’s the LHP starter kit: size, stuff, poise.
It’s crazt how deep we are. Pmayers lije McDaniel or Duran might be viable options in other orgs but they have no chance here.
Love to see Tibbs, Ehrhard, others get a long look.
—“Senzel is making some noise as to being strongly considered for a platoon role with Max at 3B. The two run double was hit 108.1 while the 2nd double was hit 105.4”
And, a ball pulled just foul that cleared the fence.
Senzel has 6 years in the Majors and a .662 OPS to show for it. The Dodgers don’t need him. Espinal has similar numbers. I think Fitzgerald may be better. Freeland is there. Gauthier is still at AAA too. Hopefully none of them will be needed for long but definitely all of them aren’t necessary.
Best case scenario is keeping him in AAA as Muncy’s insurance policy.
I was impressed with Pages going with the pitches and getting hits to the opposite field. Last year would have been trying to pull the ball. If he starts using the whole field and doesn’t chase he could have a monster year.
Agreed
The best way to keep this dynasty going is having some of the younger guys like Pages continue to ascend while we start seeing the gradual expected decline of the older guys.
Pages improving would be monstrous for us.
I think about this subject a lot and I’m starting to wonder how many of our prospects will actually end up filling these gradually transitioning spots. Pages is a great choice to carry forward the bridge to the future. Rushing may be another, and I think this year might give us some info in that direction, Kim and Freeland are definite maybes, as are the big names like JDP/Hope/Sirota/Quintero. We just don’t know.
Safe bet that Teo’s being replaced in a couple years by one of the OOF prospects seems like a good bet, possibly Tucker too. But really, with Ohtani on the team for another eight years, what’s to keep us from trading prospects for a replacement of just signing a FA.
The arms are a little easier to imagine sliding into open roles: Ferris, et al. Injuries play such a huge role here that you have to think able arms will get their chance to perform.
But Freeman, Betts, Muncy . . . your guess is as good as mine who will eventually take over. As much as I hate the principle of it, packaging 3-4 prospects for someone who’s a perfect fit as hard to resist.
Well said.
“what’s to keep us from trading prospects for a replacement of just signing a FA”
That’s exactly how I see it. For at least 5 years anyway. We’ll see a few prospects in the lineup every now and then but most of them will likely be traded.
Conforto signed a minor league deal with the Cubs.
Conforto did nothing but steal money for the last 2 years so what’s 2 million more from the Cubs. Michael got 2 years from the Giants for $36 mililion and a fat $17 million for one brutal season with the Dodgers.
That’s $53 million for a washed up player who hit .238/.740 for those years.
I saw an unusual play today at Camelback Ranch by the Dodgers. One of the youngsters, I don’t recall who, attempted a near extinct safety or maybe suicide squeeze, I assume on his own. The problem was – the bases were loaded.
Might want to work on that one without the bags full.
Conforto illustrated why frugality is not a bad idea even for the mighty fat cat Dodgers. And it showed a flaw in AF’s oft-stated notion that deals done during the winter will avoid lower costs at midseason.
Without that $17m commitment, the outfield in ’25 could have been Teo-Outman/Edman-Pages. Much better defense–and possibly better offense.
If the CF platoon doesn’t work out, a trade could fix it. No biggie. Trade for Bader or ??? earning a lot less than $17m.
A lower payroll enables more flexibility.
But AF’s ego was invested in Conforto and it basically took the entire season for the front office to acknowledge the mistake by keeping him off the postseason roster.
Conforto played so much, however, that he probably “earned” a full share of the WS bonus.
That was Ehrhard. bases were not loaded. Freeland was at third, Hiura walked and Ehrhard came up, he tried to bunt but the ball had backspin and came right back to Knizner who dove back to the plate and tagged Freeland out. Erhard got to first on the fielder’s choice. Tibbs then struck out ending the inning. It happened in the bottom of the 4th when the Dodgers scored their first two runs. As for Conforto, I am not going to bash the guy, it was a bad signing, but I can name several free agent signings by the Dodgers that were much worse. At least he contributed something. He did not play in the playoffs at all, but he still gets a ring. Washed up? He is only 32. His career OPS is .785 which is respectable, his OPS+ is 115 which is above the MLB average. He has never been a high average guy, but he could do some damage in Wrigley. Erhard was attempting a safety squeeze; Freeland was not running on the play.
Thank you Bear for the clarification Ehrhard and the bunt attempt. I must have been sleeping but I swear the bases were loaded. Obviously no box score was available when I wanted to check. But I will take your word for it.
I will never agree with you on Conforto. It was a bad signing especially based on his performance in SF. At worst, we kept running the guy out their when he was killing us.
But you know as well as I do that the Dodgers can get a little full of themselves, with reclamation projects. We are the smartest kids on the block.
Conforto was an all-American at OSU and a 10th pick overall. He was on the USA Team but over time, he never became the player that was projected. His injury and missing all of 2022 didn’t help. He’s spiraled since.
In the 3 years since, the Giants and Dodgers just kept throwing money at him. In the meantime we kept Ryan Ward and perhaps others, from getting a look. Conforto, for 3/4 of the season until we finally saw the light, we still hoping for a miracle.
He’s done. He should be somewhere playing for free.
His chronological age has nothing to do with it. He can’t play anymore.
That is fine Phil, I respect your baseball knowledge and acumen. I still believe though that they have made several free agent signings that were much worse. My point is this, he had more homers and RBI’s than Kike. Kike had a lower OPS+. He played decent defense. Kike’s BA was just 3 points higher. Kike’s value is in his versatility. Conforto was a bust, and yes, Roberts kept running him out there. When the time came for the playoffs, they reversed direction and left him off of the roster.
Which signings do you believe were worse than the Conforto debacle?
I don’t know about Bear but mine are Andrew Jones, Jason Schmidt, Trevor Bauer, Darryl Strawberry, Dave Goltz, Don Stanhope or Kevin Brown. Brown was the worst in my mind because the money he got could have gone to Piazza
Good list there Ron. I would have to agree with you on all but Brown. It was not Browns fault they let Piazza get away. I would rate the names on your list as worse because they were for multiple years. At least the Conforto deal was just one year.
I fault the front office for Conforto…
Getting a good CF to enable Pages to play RF and Teo to move to LF would have made more sense.
On the other hand, the Dodgers might have won 100 games and romped to an easy WS win. We’d have missed out on all that October drama.
Its worth a shot if it doesn’t cost them much. I would not guarantee him more than $2M if he makes the roster.
Do you know what it cost Dodger? It costs a potential prospect an opportunity. Maybe 2 or 3? And this opportunities are everything to a young player.
Like many young Dodgers like Ward and some pitchers, dumping guys from the scrap pile on top of our homegrown kids ruins morale and loyalty to the organization. I want to go where I can play.
Have you followed the portal in college football?
They will all say it doesn’t matter. But that’s bullshit.
A kid waits for his chance and never happens or it’s again delayed by a new player acquisition.
That’s the cost of signing Conforto and playing him.
Just like Kike taking up a roster spot with 5 utility guys.
hear, hear
It is now reported that his MLB contract will be worth $2MM if he makes the Cubs + performance bonuses.
Good deal if it works out and Cubs are out nothing if it doesn’t.
I have often written about former first round draft picks who have never done well at the MLB level continuing to get chances, just because they were first round picks. Many defend the policy. And yet there is still another first round draft pick (8th overall) who gets another chance. Carson Fulmer was an All American at a Blue Chip program, Vanderbilt. The Dodgers drafted his teammate, Walker Buehler, 16 picks later.
While Buehler pitched extremely well for the Dodgers, he tore his UCL a second time, and has not fully recovered. He is a 2X All Star and 2X WS Champion with the Dodgers. Dodgers would not have won the 2020 NLCS without Buehler. He more than deserves multiple opportunities.
OTOH, Fulmer has never pitched well in MLB. He has pitched in 9 different seasons at the MLB level, and yet he has never pitched more than 86.2 innings in any season. He did that in 2024 with LAA as a swing pitcher. His second most…32.1 in 2018. His career ERA is 5.44, and his career K/BB ratio is 1.69 (not good at all). If he was a 10th round pick, he would be out of baseball. Instead he was signed to a MiLB contract with Pittsburgh with a ST invite. Good for Carson.
In 2016, the Dodgers selected another Vanderbilt pitcher, Jordan Sheffield, in the first round (after Gavin Lux and Will Smith). He was released by Colorado after the 2022 season.
Not all first round picks make it to MLB and even fewer become All Stars. The Dodgers have another one: 2021 1st round pick, Maddux Bruns. Bruns continues to get chances that others did not. He is projected to return to Great Lakes (A+) for the 4th time, and Fangraphs’ Roster Resource has him listed as the #8 starter at Great Lakes. At what point does success and merit become more of an determinant than the pedigree of being a 1st round pick? I do not know the answer, but IMO it is a legit question.
Those that make the pick are not in any hurry to admit they were wrong
Starting Lineup for LAD:
Kim – 2B
Teoscar – LF
Pages – CF
Rushing – C
Espinal – 3B
Freeland – SS
Hiura – DH
Ehrhard – RF
Tibbs III – 1B
Knack – P
The polls are about to close and I’m calling the win early. It’s Freeland for 2026.
Way too early Fred. He is behind Kim on the depth chart, and he isn’t replacing Mookie at SS. Real longshot to make the 26-man. Suwinski is wearing #43.
Mookie is safe. Kim and Max?
Max is healthy, has lost weight and has looked good so far in drills according to the video’s I have seen. Freeland is going to open the year at AAA, Kim might too. He still expands his zone too much. Don’t count out Senzel or Espinal who had 2 more hits today.
Kim’s swings did not look good today at all.
Freeland and Kim could be switching places on the depth chart.
Doubtful.
Former Dodger Brent Honeywell Jr. has signed a minor league contract with the Giants.
Giants are really scraping the bottom of the talent barrel. Good luck to him though.
They have to start somewhere. Honeywell got a ring with LA in 24. He ate up some innings and throws a knuckleball.
Dodger pitching has looked very good these first three games. Allowed just 1 earned run. Hurt looked really good today. Nice game for Espinal and Pages.
Didnt get to see Hurt. Good velo?
93-95. He only made 8 pitches, 6 were strikes. Vesia looked pretty good too. He has a full beard now.
Nice
Pitching has been the story the first 3 games. They have allowed just 1 earned run. LA has outscored the opposition, 23-3.
It takes a village.
I still think it’s a crazy stat from last year that at the time of the trade, May was 3rd on the team in IP.
1st was Yamamoto and 2nd was Kershaw.
I wonder who our first half burners will be: Sheehan, Stone, Sasaki?
Ryan, Hurt, Knack
Wrobleski, Casparius, Miller
Casparius will most likely be a bullpen piece. He faded bad in the second half and has not looked that good this spring.
I’m struck that several players have been adding or subtracting body weight this offseason.
Interesting take.
9% body fat is very good. A body builder has 5%. A typical male athlete in good shape would have around 9-14% body fat. At least that’s what it used to be when I was measuring it at Chico State. That was a very long time ago. Maybe those numbers have changed.
Yes, it’s a long season. But these guys play baseball not rugby. Most of a 2 hour baseball game is spent standing there watching or sitting on a bench.
Fellow LADC bloggers I need some answers with regard to my MLBTV subscription. I’ve casually read somewhere that ESPN is now taking the subscription service for MLBTV but largely ignored it thinking it didn’t apply to me.
I’ve purchased MLBTV Extra Innings for over a decade now and rely upon the auto renewal each year. Now that ST has started, I logged into the account and can get the games on my laptop and phone but when I try to watch on my smart TV I am denied access. I stream my TV service via Youtube TV so I can get the Sunday NFL Ticket during the NFL season.
I’ve read where I have to link my MLBTV account with my pay TV provider but Youtube TV is not an authorized provider for the ESPN subscription. I’m not tech savvy and do not want to pay a service fee to ESPN just to have access to MLBTV so I can watch on my TV, even if it might appear to be impossible.
If I have to watch Dodger games on my phone or laptop all year I will do so, but does anyone else have a similar dilemma?
I just downloaded the mlb app on my smart tv and deal straight with them without espn being involved. It has worked out real good for spring training and I called mlb to see if everything will be the same for the reg season and they assured me it would. Customer service for mlb.tv is 866-244-2291. Call them they will hook you up.
I had to do the following with YouTube TV:
Go to the MLBTV app to renew/signup for a subscription. You will be redirected to ESPN.
As you say, there is no listing for YouTube TV. You should see an option to sign into MyDisney account. Click on that and create an account.
Once created, you should see an option to pay for MLBTV. You will also be signing up for ESPN unlimited. However, once your’re signed up you can immediately cancel the subscription so you’re not charged $29.00 after a one month free trial.
After you’ve payed, you will be signed into ESPN unlimited. If I remember correctly, you can go to settings and cancel ESPN unlimited. You will then be good to go.
it’s a convoluted process. Good luck.
That is so bogus the ESPN part
Not quite buddy. I cancel my subscription every year in order to get discounts on the service. So, with this new process, you need to go through the ESPN signup.
I mean it’s bogus you have to go through all that. Take my money please!
Supposedly not if your subscription has been with MLB.TV. I get veteran discounts every year because I cancel and then resubscribe on the first of March. I will know for sure this weekend since my renewal is not automatic and I will have to re-subscribe on Sunday. I prefer to not have to deal with ESPN because they want you to subscribe to the ESPN plus for almost 30 dollars a month after a one-month trial. I can’t afford that and won’t do it.
In the past I’ve had discounts via GovX and the MLBPA. Just like you, I would cancel my subscription every year so I could get a discount the following year. Last year I couldn’t get any discounts but I cancelled last year just in case I could get one this year. Didn’t seem possible as I was redirected from the MLBTV site to ESPN. Hence, my writing of the process I went through. Somewhat convoluted but it worked and I’m watching games.
I can watch games through Saturday. Sunday is when I have to renew.
Badger, what years were you at Chico State? My brother was there from 74-78
I graduated in ‘78. What was his major?
Bear,
you mentioned “. I prefer to not have to deal with ESPN because they want you to subscribe to the ESPN plus for almost 30 dollars a month after a one-month trial. I can’t afford that and won’t do it”.
You can unscripted from ESPN unlimited during the free trial. You will still be able to access MLBTV after the cancellation. So long as you cancel during the first month, you won’t be charged the ~$30/month rate.
I went through the ESPN signup and immediately cancelled soon as I signed up.
I know that I just do not want to deal with ESPN at all. According to what I read, since my original subscription was with MLB.TV I should not have to do that. If I am wrong, well whoops. But 150 bucks a year is still a lot of money for retirees. I am hoping to still get my veteran’s discount.
Freddie makes his ST debut today. Freeland gets the start at 2B with Senzel at 3B. We get to see the LAD starting OF starting today.
Miggy Ro – SS
Kyle Tucker – RF
Will Smith – C
Freddie – 1B
Teoscar – LF
Andy Pages – CF
Alex Freeland – 2B
Nick Senzel – 3B
KIeston Hiura – DH
Gavin Stone – P
The Dodgers get to face a legit top of the rotation starter in Gavin Williams.
Do not trade dePaula. I see now why he’s ranked so damn high! His swing is made for a middle of the order bat
He just needs an oversized glove
Welcome back Gavin Stone!
He’s ready.
Heard his interview and he wants to make the team.
With Snell being slow played along with Glasnow, he has a great shot to make the starting rotation. I was also impressed by Ryder Ryan, River’s older brother. Had another impressive inning.
Dodgers scored 11 runs on 12 hits and 6 walks. They have walked well over 20 times in just 4 games. They still have not hit a homer yet, although Senzel has come close a couple of times, and the pitchers have given up just 1 homer and allowed just 4 earned runs, three of them today. They are on the road tomorrow against the D-Backs.