News, Notes, and Observations
Bad luck for Brusdar Tuesday night. He has a grade 3 hammy strain. Chances are he will miss the rest of the season. Michael Grove is almost ready to return to the team. Brasier is not far behind. Watch for a LHP named Jack Dryer. The lefty is 4-1 at OKC this year and earned his first save on Tuesday night. He has 57 strikeouts in 43.1 innings, an ERA of 1.25 and a WHIP of 0.85.
Shohei Ohtani is going to be getting paid by the Dodgers for the next 20 years. I could possibly live to see him end his contract as a Dodger, I would be 86, but chances are I won’t be around when they finally pay that sucker off. Now to my way of thinking, and this is just me, a guy who is arguably the face of the franchise for the foreseeable future, should be a little more clutch than he has been.
Personally, I think he is wasted in the leadoff spot. Yes, he can definitely give them an immediate lead with a leadoff homer. But power like that should be used with men on base. He has driven in 80 runs, in the 2 or three hole with men on in front of him, he would have more. But then he has had several at bats with runners in scoring position and either struck out or hit a harmless fly ball or grounder. To me, he is pretty mediocre when it comes to situational hitting. I would love to see how many times he has left a runner stranded. He was doing a lot better when he listened to Roberts and did not try so hard to hit the ball out of the park when a single would have helped.
Someone asked the other day, I think it was Bradley, how could the Dodgers add players since the trading deadline has passed. Any player in their system can be added after September 1 and be eligible if they have been in the Dodger system. The only way to get players before September 1 from other organizations is through a waiver claim. But waivers this time of year go in reverse order of the standings. In other words, the White Sox would get the first chance at claiming any player put on waivers. Miami and the Rockies would be next. I would think under this system, no player with any real value is going to fall to the Dodgers.
Walker Buehler is going to make one more AAA re-hab start and then that is it. He will be activated and used at the major league level. Doc said pitching in AAA does not really show how he will fare in the majors and the team needs to know how he will do sooner rather than later.
There is virtually no word on the status of Bobby Miller. He AAA stats at this point are alarming. There is one pitcher at OKC with a pretty extensive MLB resume, Jordan Lyles. Lyles has played for Houston, Colorado, San Diego, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, Texas, Baltimore and Kansas City. He has a 72-107 career record with a 5.22 ERA. I do not believe he will get a call to the majors.
Texas catcher, Andrew Knizner was designated for assignment. Tucker Barnhardt was signed to a minor league deal by the Reds. The Giants lost Wilmer Flores for the rest of the year to a knee injury. Luis Rengifo and Chase Silseth of the Angels are both out for the year. Rengifo had wrist surgery and Silseth had season ending elbow surgery. Nick Ramirez, who was outrighted by the Dodgers to AAA, can still choose to become a free agent.
Brusdar Graterol was placed on the IL with a grade 3 hamstring strain, Michael Grove was activated from the IL and James Outman was optioned to AAA as Miguel Rojas rejoined the team. On a sad note, former Brave lefthander, Denny Lemaster has passed away. He also pitched for the Astros and Expos. He was 16-14 in his career against the Dodgers. He pitched 274 innings against the Dodgers, by far the most he had against any opponent. Denny was 85.
Cubs’ pitcher, Albert Alzolay, is going to have Tommy John surgery. He will miss the rest of this season and possibly all of 2025 also. The Orioles signed J D Davis to a minor league deal He was recently released by the Yankees. The Cubs signed Adrian Houser to a minor league contract. Houser started for the Cubs AAA affiliate in Iowa last night. He was released by the Mets earlier this year.
Minor League Report
OKC 8 Round Rock 1: Round Rock scored a run in the top of the first inning, but OKC’s pitchers shut them down the rest of the way for an 8-1 win. Jordan Lyles started and went 3 innings. He gave up 3 hits and one run, he struck out two. Ryan Brasier pitched a scoreless 4th and got the win. He allowed 1 hit. Gamboa pitched 4.1 innings and allowed just 2 hits striking out 3. Jack Little pitched the final 2/3rds of an inning to close out the game. OKC scored their first run in the bottom of the third on Cartaya’s 4th homer. In the bottom of the fourth, with 2 outs, Feduccia walked. Then Cartaya walked. A wild pitch sent them to second and third. Austin Gauthier then hit a ball that the first baseman missed for an error and Feduccia scored. The was it until the bottom of the seventh. Rushing doubled. Lipcius struck out and then the pitcher threw wildly on a pickoff attempt and Rushing went to third. He scored when the pitcher threw a wild pitch. Ward then tripled and Freeland singled him in. Trejo singled. After a pitching change, Feduccia walked loading the bases. Diego Cartaya then hit his second homer of the game, a grand slam to center field to end the scoring.
Arkansas 2 Tulsa 1: Tulsa lost a close contest 2-1. It was their 52nd loss of the year, dropping them under .500. The Drillers took the lead with a run in the top of the 4th. Keith tripled and then scored when the third strike pitch to Newell went wild. That did it for the Drillers for the night. Noah Miller would get their only other hit for the game. Campos went 8 innings giving up 3 hits, no runs and he struck out 9. Wepf would give up 3 hits and 2 runs in his .2 inning and lose the game on a walk off double by Hogan Windish.
Lansing 3 Great Lakes 2: Another tight game played by a Dodger affiliate. The game was scoreless until the bottom of the sixth when Nick Biddison hit his 3rd homer. Lansing scored 2 off of Cabrera who was relieving Copen who went 5.2 innings not allowing a run and striking out 7, but he walked 5 and gave up 3 hits. In the bottom of the 7th, DePaula walked and was doubled home by Thompson. In the top of the 9th, Lansing scored the winning run off of Michael Martinez who was in his second inning of relief.
Rancho 4 Fresno 2: After Fresno scored in the top of the first inning assisted by an error by Kendall George, the Quakes scored 4 in the bottom of the first and made them stand up for their 54th win of the year. George singled and went to second on errant pickoff throw by the pitcher. He then scored on a single by Wilman Diaz. Decker and Rojas singled to load the bases. Meza grounded out and Diaz scored. Munoz then singled and Decker and Rojas scored. That was it. The score remained 4-1 until the top of the ninth when Jared Thomas homered off of Roque Gutierrez. Gutierrez pitched 7 innings in relief, striking out 13, with no walks and just 3 hits.
Dodgers Game Summary
Gavin Stone got the start for LA. He gave up a leadoff homer to Schwarber, and then a single to Trea Turner. But he got out of the inning with no more damage. Tyler Phillips started the game for the Phillies. He got Ohtani to ground out. Hernandez then hit a long drive to left that went off of Marsh’s glove for a double. Freeman then singled Teo home. Miguel Rojas, making his return from the IL then singled Freddie home. 2-1 Dodgers. In the bottom of the second, Barnes singled, Kiermaier was hit by a pitch. Ohtani and Hernandez made outs. With Freeman up, he singled to left field over the head of Trea Turner to score Barnes and Kiermaier. That was pretty much it for the Dodgers. Stone ran into trouble in the fifth inning. Schwarber would double to drive in 2 making it a 4-3 game. Vesia got the third out. In the top of the sixth, Vesia allowed a double to Bohm. Then Stott bunted, Kike fielded the ball and fired to Rojas covering third. It looked like Bohm was out, but the third base umpire, Hunter Wendlestedt, called defensive interference on Rojas.
Dave Roberts came out to argue, and the replays showed that Rojas did not impede the runner, Bohm. He was running to catch the ball and was not camped out on the base blocking the runner. Roberts was tossed from the game. And it went south from there. Joe Kelly came in. Realmuto grounded out to drive in the tying run. Castellanos walked. After a fly out by Stott, Rojas walked. A wild pitch by Kelly scored Marsh. Schwarber then hit a three-run homer to make it 8-4. Schwarber would hit his third homer of the game in the 9th off of Grove, and the Dodgers lost 9-4. With Arizona winning two, and San Diego outlasting the Pirates, the lead in the division is now down to 3 games over both teams. The Dodgers need Betts, Edman, and Brasier back badly. But besides the bad call, the pitchers made bad pitches at exactly the wrong time, and the offense, despite having the starter on the ropes, did not score after the second inning. Shohei Ohtani was 0-5 and left a bunch of runners on base.
Born June 14th, 1948, in Los Angeles California. AKA The Bear
Absolutely brutal game to watch. In my humble opinion, Joe Kelly is pitching his way off of the playoff roster, if indeed this team gets its collective stuff together and makes the playoffs. They might have the second-best record in the National League, but all of the teams in their division, except the Rockies, are playing much better than the Dodgers. And their 700-million-dollar man, is in a deep slump.
Grade 1 Strain, Bear.
Shrug!
Said grade 3 on MLBTR blame them.
Your math is a bit off brother. In 20 years you’ll be 96. I’m quite certain I won’t be around another 20 years.
Well, tonight’s game was yet another gagger. Maybe this will get turned around when Mookie, Muncy and Yamamoto get back. But none of those guys pitch out of the pen. Could be a long month.
Bear remembers more about the Dodgers than himself.
“5 out 4 people are bad at math”
I am very good at math. See my reply.
No, I said when he ends his career as a Dodger, which will be in 10 years. They pay it off in 20, then I will be 96.
I fully agree with Ohtani not leading off. Besides his atrocious slump, that power is generally reserved for #3 or #4 slot. Lux should be leading off, at present.
Second game in a row, the all might Doc pulls his pitcher with 4.2 innings. It’s like an automatic knee jerk to see this coming. They lose both games. Shocking? Nah. It’s Doc.
Forget Kiermaier. Get Pages back at CF until Edman is ready.
Atrocious slump?!??!?!
Reserve power for the clean-up spot?
Is this serious discourse?
go back to sleep……….I don’t do discourse.
You do however, go off course.
Don’t we all?
It is avoidable with a good sextant.
Doc has pulled several starting pitchers after 4 and 2/3 innings.A starting pitcher has to pitch at least 5 complete innings to be eligible for a win.Just 1 more out and the pitcher could have gotten a win.
The Dodgers continue to punt away games.
The bullpen as currently constructed is not reliable. Too many guys who are not doing their job. Constantly yanking your starter early only because he is in a jam is not the way to go. At some point you have to leave them in and get out of it . Or not. Can not overuse the bullpen in a way Doc does .
Good news on Graterol, only a grade 1 hamstring strain. There is a chance he can return this season. Dodgers bullpen really, really could use him.
I would take a look at that young LHP Dryer Bear mentioned. Maybe put Vesia on the IL to give him a break and get back his velo.
I agree with those you say Ohtani should hit cleanup. Yes, you lose a few at bats over the course of the year but he will hit with more guys on base, increasing our chances to put up a crooked number instead of a solo Hr.
Great game by Cartaya at AAA 2-2,. 2 Hr, 2 bb, 5 rbi. Hopefully he continues to develop.Maybe he can be the backup c next season. Or a great trade chip for a ss or cf in the offseason.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Good observations dodgerram. When Mookie returns, I too, would like to see Ohtani in the 3 spot with Teoscar or Smith (if he can get some time off) hitting in the cleanup spot. It looks like Max will return soon which will help lengthen the lineup. With good health the Dodger lineup could look like this:
Betts SS
Freeman 1B
Ohtani DH
Teoscar LF
Muncy 3B
Smith C
Lux 2B
Pages RF
Edman CF
Cleanup the BP. Graterol can’t be depended on this year. Kelly is too risky for any playoff exposure. Some of the current SP might be used in the BP in the playoffs which should help strengthen the relief staff. This is assuming Yamamoto returns with success. This will give the Dodgers Flaherty, Glasnow, Yamamoto, and maybe Stone or Kershaw available to start in the playoffs.
I give the Dodger medical staff an F for the inexcusable process in which they put Graterol through in order to get him available to pitch. From the original 15 day IL to being lost for most of the season. Sure they got his arm/shoulder rehabbed, but apparently neglected his legs. Which are kind of important when pitching. Four months off and then lasting only 8 pitches and back to square one. What a sad and a pathetic effort by the medical staff. If I was injured Dodger player I wouldn’t let them apply a band aid.
So, as bleak as things appear right now all this can turn around with some good health and better decisions from Roberts (or the front office).
Ted, good point on conditioning with Graterol. What I saw was he was injured trying to pop off the mound on that swing bunt that was foul. He was hurt before his next pitch that went to the backstop. So he may have been fine to pitch but you have to wonder if he did any PFP’s or agility work? He looks heavier to me as well. Could be lack of conditioning or bad luck.
I don’t know about you, but did you ever envision Kike batting cleanup for the Dodgers in a pennant run? I guess if you hit .333 for a week, you move to the 4 hole on this team. He has 20 starts hitting cleanup in his career. He’s at .194/.648, slightly under his current his current .209 average. Not exactly a prototypical cleanup hitter.
Ted you have more confidence in Pages sticking on the roster than I do. There are 4 guys on the IL Betts, Muncy, Edman and Taylor. There’s 4 on the bubble Kiermaier, Ahmed, Pages and Keke. I think Pages will probably be sent down when Edman gets back. When Taylor gets back it’s a toss up between him and Keke.
Can the Dodgers pick up a free agent that is juts sitting at home like a Greinke or Hill since they haven’t retired just working out how does tha work if they are just home when they could diffentky use both of them in the starting lineup then have two rookies in the playoff possible start. There has to be free agent pitchers just sitting at home.
Yes, they could do that, but why would they? Both are way past their prime. Greinke last season with the Royals was 2-15 with a 5.05 ERA. Hill with the Pirates and then the Padres last year was 8-14 with a 5.41 ERA. Free agent pitchers are fair game. All players who participate in the post season have to be on the roster by September 1st. I do not see a single free agent pitcher out there who would make a difference.
Will Mookie save us?
At SS, he is a work in progress. He was below-average on defense, and his injury prevented him from getting thousands of reps (practice and games) to improve. With Lux struggling on offense, Roberts moved Mookie into a quasi-platoon role, sharing SS with Rojas and 2B with Lux.
And it worked.
When Mookie was injured, Rojas held down SS with great success–and surprisingly outhit Lux by a wide margin. If Lux didn’t get hot, he was in danger of losing even a platoon role, as Mookie could have simply returned at 2B.
Rojas has been excellent on defense (despite a stupid ruling by an ump) and that will be important in the playoffs. Mookie needs to be in the line up–but his defense would be better at 2B, RF or CF.
Right now the Dodgers can not get out of their own way. A few games now where they have scored early in a game and then crickets the rest of the way. There are a lot of culprits right now. Reasonable to assume that they are in second or third place once this month ends given their schedule relative to the Padres and Diamondbacks. It is also reasonable to assume that those two teams will cool off a bit.
Ohtani is having an incredible year. The numbers bear it out. But I do agree that he chases a lot of pitches out of the zone and has a tendency to get himself out – especially in situations where there are runners in scoring position. Maybe his approach will change when everyone gets back but Roberts did move Teo behind him recently and it has not changed his approach very much.
I don’t blame Roberts for pulling Stone in fifth. One of the results of leaving Honeywell in for 3.2 on Wednesday was that he had a rested pen with a day off on Thursday. His lack of confidence in Stone to face Harper in the fifth was warranted given Stone’s near 7 ERA over his past several starts. My criticism was in bringing Kelly in with runners on the corners after the ridiculous call by Wendelstedt. Kelly (who AF decided was worth 9 million in the off season) is the last guy I would bring in with runners on base and no one out. But still, that inning is on Kelly and no one else. He throws a wild pitch to bring in the go ahead run, walks two batters including a weak hitting 9th hitter and then throws a change up above the belt to the Phillies hottest hitter. Game, set, match.
Roberts sounded more frustrated than normal after the game when he said that players are not playing up to the Dodger’s standard that has been set and that when everyone is back the best players will play, regardless (or words to that effect). Sounds like it is getting to him when your bottom four in the order are Rojas, Heyward, Barnes, and Kiermaier. I hope that the Dodgers finally separate from the nostalgia gang when this season is over – Kike, Taylor, Barnes, and Kelly have all probably overstayed their tenure as Dodgers.
As an aside, Will Smith is now hitting below .250 on the season. In his last thirty games he is batting .185 with an OPS just north of .400.
There are two relievers in the minors who could get a chance to pitch in September – Edgardo Henriquez and Jack Dreyer. Neither is on the forty man roster which has hamstrung the Dodgers this season. The Dodgers have been adept at dumpster diving for bullpen arms but at some point, it might be better to grow your own.
I am actually looking forward to watching them the rest of the way. If Yamamoto is healthy it is possible they head into the playoffs as a wild card or division winner in much better shape than they have the past three seasons. We will see meaningful September baseball for a change and will find out about this team and its core.
Won’t they lose Henriquez and Dreyer if they don’t move then to the 40-man roster? Henriquez especially seems like a big talent.
I would give both pitchers a shot. What can we lose ?
DFA Kiermayr today to open a spot on the 40 men roster, one spot already open.. Another play in the field he did not make letting the ball go over his head after coming in first and his offensive game is non existent.
Decide between Ahmed and Rojay, do not need both of them. Rather give a guy like Gauthier a look.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You’re a hard audience. It is hardest to judge balls hit right at you. He also made two catches that Pages doesn’t even get to. They can live without his offense. And the double did not cause them to lose the game. I have seen many outfielders have the same problem at Dodger Stadium. As for Gauthier, He is a utility guy, and this team already has enough of them. You want to call up a player, give Ward a shot. 26 homers and 77 driven in. Better than some banjo hitting utility infielder.
No, Dreyer is only in his 3rd year in the organization. He was an unsigned free agent in 22. Henriquez is only 22. They are smart enough to add both to the 40-man if need be.
Thx, I knew there was some technical element that you’d understands.
You don’t think Barnes has turned it around?
His batting average has improved and the Dodgers clearly value his leadership and ability to handle a staff. But his average exit velocity is 86.6 mph which is about his career average. He has 22 hits, 19 of them singles. For a player with so little slug, he also strikes out too much, in my opinion. Plus, he has a weak throwing arm which is a bigger detriment in the MLB of the last two years. Overall, he has been a valuable contributor to their success over the years but that ship has sailed, in my opinion. (If you were saying that sarcastically, sorry for not picking up on it.).
NH Dodger, I agree with your assessment on Henriquez and Dreyer be given a chance. Simple moves to get them on the 40 man. Put Graterol on the 60 day IL and DFA one of the following: Peterson, Kiermaier, Kiki, or Ahmed. There are a couple of relievers that can be put on the IL for a breather to give them space on the 26 man. Enough of a BP littered with other teams DFA’s. Right now the Dodger depth is a fantasy. Widely talked about, but rarely used by the front office.
Another winning post on a day the Dodgers lose… Thx, Bear.
For about a year now I’ve fantasized about a lineup that started Mookie, Freddie, Shohei… precisely to take advantage of Shohei’s power.
I still don’t understand why Roberts doesn’t heed my advice. Is he fixated on Shohei’s ability to steal bases? He’s the fastest of the Big 3 (which was briefly a Big 4 before Smith’s slump). Putting Mookie between Shohei and Freddie does provide that R-L-R rhythm,but I think that’s overrated. Given that each of these guys produce close to a .400 OBP, the guy with the most power should bat third.
After tonight’s loss, radio commentator David Vassegh was unusually candid and even a bit harsh in criticizing the Dodgers for allowing the Phillies to “bully” them. He faulted the Dodgers for their tepid reaction to the Phillies aggression after Roberts’ ejection and later Grove hitting Castellano with a pitch. He has complained before about the Dodgers being a team of nice guys who get punked by flinty teams like the Phils. They certainly seemed to roll over and play dead tonight.
Anyway, I’m less concerned about where Mookie fits in the batting order than where he fits in the field. The goal is to create a lineup that maximizes defense and offense.
Roberts says Mookie will play SS, but it’s not yet clear what Rojas’s role will be. Strictly a backup? Before his injury, Mookie would shuttle between SS and 2B, essentially as a platoon partner for both Rojas and Lux.
Will that keystone mashup continue? Or has Rosario’s arrival in a platoon with Lux pushed Rojas to the backup role?
I feel much more confident about Mookie coming back from injury with his game in gear than anybody else. He’s Mookie, after all…..
But Max? Edman? Yamamoto? Can just hope for the best…but not a clue what to expect.
With the Dodgers lead in the West down to 3 games, Mookie can’t get back soon enough.
Agree, we can do nothing but hope the wounded walking come back soon AND do well when back.If they don´t we are toast.
I would like to see less Kike, Kermayr and more Rosario.
Rosario is hitting close to .300 vs RHP and yet Roberts trots out Kike day after day. Now hitting him cleanup. What a joke even with all the injuries.
Stone is turning into the Stone from 2023.
Need Yamamoto back in the worst way. And maybe the Dodgers can get Miller back so he at least can work out of the pen for 2-3 good innings.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you, Duke, I was up pretty late working on another post. I was also checking the minor league results. Braves DFAd Rosario today, and the White Sox fired Grifol, and made Grady Sizemore the interim manager.
The White Sox problem is they can’t fire the owner.
Neither can the A’s, or the Rockies. Most fans here in Colorado would love to see Monfort gone.
Gotta score 8 doesn’t work when we give up 9.
The Dodgers need pitching. And where are they going to get it? Beats me. YoYama had better be ok. It appears Kershaw and Stone aren’t. And the bullpen? Yeah, absolutely, try somebody else.
Ohtani is our best hitter so old school says hit him third. His chasing is frustrating me too but I think it’s because he feels pressure to carry the team, which, at his extended cost, he should be expected to do. But, maybe since he’s only making $2 million this year we shouldn’t expect much of him. The last 28 days he’s hitting .242, OPS still reasonable at ,895 but the last week it’s .676. This team needs him but it wouldn’t have mattered last night.
I don’t expect this team schneid to turn around quickly, but I do believe eventually they will play better.
Yes, need pitching. Have to try to find dependable arms for the stretch run and playoffs (if we make it, not a given the way this is going).
As stated above give Henriquez and Dreyer a shot, look what they got.
I would put Miller in the pen, make him a power reliever for the rest of this season. I do not have any confidence he will be useful as a starter this season.
A bullpen of Hudson, Treinen, Kopech, Banda, Vesia, Henriquez, Dreyer, Miller ,Phillipps could go a long way.
If Yamamoto makes it back we could have Glasnow, Yamamoto, Flaherty as the top 3 starters, could then go with a Ryan/Wrobleski piggy peg for the Nr. 4 starter spot.
Or maybe Clayton if he continues his upward trajectory. Then Ryan and Wrobleski could be options for the pen.
Maybe even the Bazooka can retrun in time, outside chance for sure.
Just have to find the right combination.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Team still needs a physical/mental reset. Maybe when Mookie gets back they can “start over” and we’ll see them play good ball for a full 9 innings (super rare these last two months). The jumbo regular seasons have not translated into titles, so why not turn the page and redefine themselves down the home stretch and make some noise in the post season!
That said, there is a part of me would not be super-sad if things don’t get much better:
(1) I feel spoiled since 2013 and I don’t really like the idea I can just assume the team makes the playoffs EVERY year — feels karmically out of balance.
(2) I would not mind if “failure” causes the front office to reevaluate strategy wrt position players — would be okay to value slug a little less in return for better defense and team speed, better bat-to-ball skills, and the ability to play situational small-ball when needed.
Maybe they should make it easier on themselves and deploy 9 switch hitters. They are obsessed (or their mastermind computer is) with the R/L batting match ups.
Lux is batting .400 for a month and they pinch hit for him against a lefty. Are you flipping serious? Did the computer threaten your family if he gets that at bat? Who is making these decisions? Was the PH Rosario? Save him to bat for one of the 5 righties that have not hit the broad side of a barn for 2 months.
I think we all agree the brass and the managers aren’t helping. Maybe they aren’t necessarily hurting on a regular basis. But they sure as H aren’t helping either.
RogerDodger, funny you mentioned getting 9 switch hitters to avoid match up problems.
I appreciate the humor in your suggestion but I don’t think there are 9 switch hitters to choose from in MLB.
Rutschman, Lindor and José Ramírez are among the game’s best switch hitters today. But it’s a dying breed.
Yesterday, in the Athletic, Jason Lloyd wrote an article about how switch hitting has become extinct.
You will have to read his reasons, which make a lot of sense, with the state of youth baseball.
Some interesting points are, Latino players comprised about 30 percent of major-league rosters last year. They made up more than 60 percent of all switch hitters. Out of about 140 of baseball’s best prospects listed on FanGraphs’ preseason list, ranging from Class AAA down to Rookie ball, 34 were switch hitters who had yet to debut.
Eight were Americans.
Alex Miklosis is co-owner of BioSport Athletics, a baseball and softball facility in suburban Cleveland. Miklos estimates that roughly half of the players who have trained at BioSport are position players. Out of those 450-500, he said about 10 have asked about switch hitting and only three or four have worked on it consistently.
Ya know I really haven’t thought about it much. There are not a lot of switch hitters anymore are there? Thanks for sharing.
The Dodgers just aren’t good. The injuries are absurd. I get it. But the players outside of the injuries in general are collectively average.
Roberts is an average manager and that doesn’t help either. He might be panicking a little because he has regressed to the 2020 pitching changes that just don’t work. It’s more like clockwork. Bring X in and they get demolished more times than not.
I don’t know what the answer is. But they are running out of time. No one is afraid of the Dodgers and they shouldn’t be. They do not look like a contender.
Betts going back to short well when you employ clowns you can expect a circus thnx Friedman and Roberts
The answer is healthy players that play up to their capabilities. And a manager (or front office) that let starters pitch deeper into games. That should help the BP. Once Mookie returns then put Will Smith on the 10 day IL (ankle). Bring up Feduccia to back up Barnes. This will give Smith a blow. Barnes will improve the offense ( I never thought I would type that) right now. It will give Feduccia a audition for 2025.
It all makes sense but you and I know darn well none of the above will happen. This “metrics” crap is so robotic I think they are using a 1960s AS400 to make their decisions.
You mean this….
The Dodger’s Analytics “Data Lab”
Where are the other 500 employees assigned to analytics Scott?
They are out scouting the next .190 hitting utility player
👍
I just don’t c any urgency. I think we are fighting for our playoff life. Ohtani is in a bad slump at the wrong time. It doesn’t matter where u bat him he needs to stay in the strike zone. He gets himself out. Smith has fallen off the cliff. If Barnes is our current best catcher we are in trouble. Where would we be without Teo? The worst problem we have is that we are not very good. How could this payroll produce this team?
San Diego and Arizona lineups are better. Their bullpens are better. Their defense is better. Arizona has a better starting rotation. We have some big names but they are not producing. Roberts says the best players will play. Play them now!! Edman was 2 weeks into a rehab with Cardinal minors but with us he will play in a simulated game. Get his rear on the team. Put Kelly on the dl call brasier up and Wrobleski. Take stone out of the rotation n put him in relief. DFA Kiermaier who is a waste. Roberts needs to send a message to quit swinging out of the zone, making dumb base running, get tougher. We are so soft. I don’t think Roberts can because it just isn’t his personality. He needs to make some people uncomfortable or hug harder but shake the team up.
Just checking to make sure there’s enough life boats on the ship
When the plan isn’t working u got to do something different. I am not proposing abandonment but dig in harder.
Nice
There are a lot of veterans in this lineup. I don’t think it’s up to Roberts to shake up veterans, they know what they need to do, they just need to do it. I think a quiet one on one talk with Ohtani might help. Take a breath Sho Time, relax and focus on your strike zone. You don’t need to hit every pitch you see to the pavilions, you just need to hit strikes.
Smith looks like he needs time off. But I have no idea if he believes that. As I said yesterday, the Dodgers best hitting prospects have just not hit that well. Until Mookie and Max get back get Rosario in the lineup.
If Miller can throw strikes for one inning maybe the bullpen is a good idea for him. And maybe Kershaw, Stone and Buehler can be considered long relief that start games. How the bullpen will be managed for that plan I’ll leave to others.
It will get better. But probably not this week.
The Dodgers need to figure out a long term solution for Smith. Catchers wear out sooner than other position players and hitting is usually the first thing to go. Prime examples: Johnny Bench – maybe the GOAT catcher was moved to third base late in his career. Posey put up phenomenal offensive numbers until injuries and wear and tear robbed him of his offensive skills. I’d like to see Smith transformed into a third baseman before he completely breaks down.
Wally, for now, the short-term solution for Will is a stint on the IL, as I’ve suggested. Perfect time. Barnes is hitting and Feducca needs some MLB playing time. He may not want to but it’s in the team’s best interest IMHO.
Phil, I’d love to see Feducca get a shot— even if it’s only for a few games. Time to give the kid a chance to show what he’s got.
Roberts is soft, therefore the team is soft.
What a total shit call at 3B. Totally changed the complextion of the game. And Joe Kelly is terrible. A waste of $9M.
Yep. Hope he hears about it from the League office.
Kelly has his moments. You can spot them if you look hard enough. They are the strikes in between all the balls and base hits.
Badger, we can all see he has filthy stuff but he’s just a head case. He should be unhittable with his heat seeking arm-side running fastball. Followed with a snappy slider. So last night he starts with a perfect tight slider. The next pitch was a fastball, I guess, that was a 55 footer in the opposite batter’s box.
Some games he throws exclusively sliders because his fastball is everywhere. Next time his fastball is great and the slider goes to the backstop.
Catching him has to be a day in hell.
And he’s like a bad penny. He just keeps showing up. And overpaid.
Don’t forget the wild pitches.
You might recall I really dislike the rib breaker.
He’s one of ours now.
He sucks. And AF is a dumbass for signing him.
I’ve said this before, but, and I do want to wait until the season is actually over and we know how the Dodgers will fare one way or another, and I am trying to subdue my Fire Friedman campaign. However after watching that pathetic performance against the Phillies, I think we can all agree that the Dodgers are just not good this year, they are going to fall out of first place soon, and it will be a struggle to stay relevant down the stretch, let alone make the playoffs or even win the World Series.
I think this goes beyond Friedman. I believe the organization needs to clean house and start over. They need to bring in baseball people to run the club, and not finance guys. They need to build the club through the draft, and make smart trades at the deadline. They need to build the pitching staff around innings, length and health. For the offense they need more contact hitting, base-running and less sub .200 hitting utility players.
I think they need to start over. Once they are eliminated whether that’s in the regular season or the first round of the playoffs, Friedman and Gomes and most of the front office should be cleaned out. Thank you for your services Mr. Friedman but we are going to go in a different direction. Roberts should probably go too along with the majority of the coaching staff. Perhaps put in a call to someone like a Nomar Garciappara and see if he would like to manage the club. Make Orel the pitching coach. Let them pick the rest of the coaching staff.
It’s not just me who thinks the Dodgers suck this year…..
From Roger….
The Dodgers just aren’t good. The injuries are absurd. I get it. But the players outside of the injuries in general are collectively average.
Roberts is an average manager and that doesn’t help either. He might be panicking a little because he has regressed to the 2020 pitching changes that just don’t work. It’s more like clockwork. Bring X in and they get demolished more times than not.
I don’t know what the answer is. But they are running out of time. No one is afraid of the Dodgers and they shouldn’t be. They do not look like a contender.
Here is my Post from last night on Bear’s other post….
I hate to say this, but the Dodgers are going to fall out of first place soon. The padres and dbacks smell blood in the water and they are hungry.
This team has little fight this year, and there is a huge void in leadership. Can anyone tell me who the leader of this team is?
I would never want to say this but perhaps missing the playoffs may make guggenheim finally make some changes. And it’s coming. They will have to sit Ohtani down and explain that the changes in the front office and management are for thr good of the franchise and that they are moving into a new direction. If he doesn’t like it then he can leave and go play in New York.
The Dodgers need to get back to preaching and teaching fundamentals. There is very little with this club. They need situational hitting, contact hitting and base-running (outside of Ohtani).
They need to stop burning the bullpen Into the ground and get length from the starting pitchers. Innings and health are important and management has ignored those purposely.
They also need to stop relying on the walking wounded. Waiting around for injury riddled players who are unreliable is a very poor strategy. That seems like their only strategy this year.
There is no urgency with this club. Friedman had a good trade deadline and picked up a few decent players, but it’s not enough to make a difference this season. Management’s overall neglect of the roster this year is mindblowing to me. I’ve never seen a team so unconcerned with winning games before. It’s a new low, and ugly to watch.
The Dodgers are getting worse and in Ohtanis first season it is a bad look. It’s time for a change, and I think it’s time to bring in some new voices. I would love to see what Theo Epstein or Dave dombrowski could do with Guggenheims vast resources.
Sorry guys but they’ve been below average and fielding triple-A lineups since May. I just call it like I see it. Feel free to disagree.
If Ohtani doesn’t like it he can go play in New York. Have fun in the Bronx. Otherwise I am hoping for some kind of meaningful change.
Fire Friedman? Wow! This is the epitome of knee jerk reaction.What a failed 10 year run! When the going gets tough just quit and fire everybody. Good plan!
Correct, and then I guess we just let Ohtani walk because it’s in his contract that he can if Friedman isn’t there. Real genius there.
He can stay if he wants or he can leave.
Wouldnt you rather have competent management?
And you think they are doing great right?
My unsolicited advice Cassidy would be just to ignore him and his silly posts
What would be wrong with bringing in some fresh voices?
It’s too late now, but just walk Schwarber. He owns us. In the 3 games against the Dodgers, he was 7 for 12. That’s .583/2.310 with 4 homers and 9 RBI.
I’m sure the advanced scouts must have noticed that in the last 13 games, Kyle is hitting .426/1.583 with 8 homers and 18 RBI. Don’t let him beat you.
Don’t say I didn’t warn you about this umpiring crew.
Official Baseball Rule 2.00 defines obstruction as: The act of a fielder who, while not in possession of the ball and not in the act of fielding the ball, impedes the progress of any runner.”
The obstruction at third on Rojas may be one of the worst calls I’ve seen. Wendelstedt just missed the call and lacked good judgement. Rojas planted his left foot, while catching the throw from Kike ie. “in the act of fielding the ball” and Bohm slide into his foot. He did not block the base.
And why would he want to call that? Because MLB has an “emphasis” to call obstruction this year. And of course umpires like Wendelstedt will be all over that. The guy can interpret the rule book but can’t see or use baseball judgement.
Do you know why they implemented this rule? Guys didn’t block bags with their legs or feet before head first slides. Getting spiked was the consequence and no rule was needed.
*But the fact is, bad calls seldom loses the game for you. What they do is put you at a disadvantage of overcome. This shitty call happened in the 6th inning when it was 4-3, Dodgers. Kelly promptly threw it all over the place, ending with, guess what, a homer to Schwarber.
*We got Joe instead of Joseph this time. He’s such a goofball. I like the description that he should have been a left-handed pitcher.
From what I have seen. Kopeck is a closer.
That centerfielder, Johan Rojas, can fly. He looks like Usain Bolt running down a fly ball. On his infield single in the 5th, I had him and a touch under 3.8 to first.
Tough night for Umpires. In the Orioles – Jays game a Skipper got tossed and both dugouts were bitching as Larry Vanover called 12 strikes on balls well off the plate. 76% accuracy. He gave a whole baseball on both sides making it a 24 inch plate.
Edwin Jimenez called 11 strikes on true balls in the Red Sox – KC game.
I wonder when the last time a player hit 3 dingers off the Dodgers in a game. That stat in itself says a lot about where they are right now.
The Phillies limped into Dodger stadium losing 11 of 15. At this time, there is no better remedy for that than playing against the Blue guys. The 5-8 record over the last 13 doesn’t look terrible on paper. But damn, they are just hard to watch sometimes.
I agree about a cultural shift. What is the definition of madness? Winning 100 games and losing in the playoffs routinely? I suppose it depends on what makes a fan happy. Is winning good enough? Or is the championship a priority? I am voting for the latter.
Like all of you, I love The Dodgers. But right now it’s like saying I love my dog that poops on the floor every 3 days. It knows you will get mad about the poop, but it poops anyway.
April 30, 2018. Dodgers lost a game to the D-Backs in Arizona pitched by Zack Greinke, 8-5. Ross Stripling started for the Dodgers and lost. AJ Pollock hit 3 solo homers. One off of Stripling, one off of Fields, and one off of Brock Stewart. The last one before that came in 2017 on the 4th of September when Arizona beat LA 13-0. J.D. Martinez hit 4.
Oh yeah thanks I remember that now. Shawn Green just popped into my head. I think he hit 4 at Milwaukee.
I like it better when we hit the multiple homers.
The Dodgers are actually one of the better teams at that. LA has done it twice this year, Muncy, and Smith. In 2023. Thompson did it opening day. Betts against the Padres in 20, Pollock and Turner in 2019, JT not Trea, Puig in 2018, Seager in 17, Adrian Gonzalez in 16, Juan Uribe did it in 2013. CT-3 and Kike did it in the playoffs, Kike against the Cubs in the 2017 NLCS and CT-3 in 21 against the Braves
You got the obstruction call right. Wendelstedt is not good at any phase of his job. And a 76%? That’s a C. These guys are supposed to be the best at what they do. If you grade out at a C in this league time to go back to the minors. ABS fixes this problem. And MLB continues to drag its feet.
Yep, Kelly blew it. The Dodgers staff just allows too many runners. You put that many runners on some of them are going to score. With the current offense they have to keep it under 5 to have a chance.
Those who follow the minors closely, what do Miller and Buehler’s first innings look like? And how many options do they have?
Well the division lead is down to 2.5 over the Padres as they scored 3 runs in the 9th to beat Pirates. The lead over Arizona is 3 as they play Phillies tonight.
Come Labor Day wouldn’t surprise me if we get passed by both these teams and are in 3rd place if not sooner.
Thought about going to one of the games next week in Milwaukee as that is 3 hours away but decided wasn’t worth my time and money the way they’ve been playing since July.
Looks like they are going to fall out of first place, and even making the playoffs at this point is questionable.
I think it’s time to bring in some new voices in the organization.
Time to panic.
you must be one of those “Calm down everything is fine” people. Ok well we’ll revisit this in a few weeks. BTW this team is going to fall out of first place.
Who am I to tell you how to react? Enjoy the losing!
There’s been some excellent things mentioned today that I agree with 100% I’ll mention some that I can remember after reading 59 posts.
There definitely needs to be a change in the medical staff.
Calls for Kiermaier to be DFA. I said from day 1 he’s a waste of a roster spot.
Doc loves Kike for some reason, I don’t get it and neither does the person here that mentioned it.
I agree that Ohtani should bat 3rd because he’s the best hitter with the best power. I’m mostly, I guess I will call it new school as opposed to old school, but this is an example of an old school thing about me.
Someone mentioned a piggyback for the 4th starter in the playoffs and I agree I mentioned that before.
Someone mentioned Kelly isn’t worth 9 million dollars this year. I would say Kelly has never deserved to put on a Dodgers uniform. He’s a blown game in the playoffs waiting to happen.
Someone mentioned putting Smith on the IL to get a breather, I agree because catchers wear out towards the end of the regular season. That’s why I’m hoping Rushing turns out to be a good MLB hitter and becomes Smith’s back up catcher. A close to 50/50 catching time.
Someone mentioned Rosario not getting enough playing time, Currently I agree until injured players get back and then at that time I see him as a good platoon partner for Lux.
Someone mentioned Heyward and Pages would make a good platoon in RF, I agree and I think in the playoffs too. As of right now the offense is a mess and Pages needs to be used everyday in the outfield until injured players get back even though he’s not very good against RHP, but he’s better than any other options.
Several people mentioning the bullpen not being good enough for the playoffs. I would add especially with Doc managing the bullpen. But someone else said some of the starting pitchers could be used in the bullpen in the playoffs and I agree depending on who they are.
A whole bunch of good things said today and that only leaves me to say Yamamoto is the biggest key to the success of this team and maybe someone else mentioned it.
I’m going to do optimistic and think having to battle hard just to make playoffs is a good thing in getting the fighting mentality going come October which we’ve been lacking last few years. Might be just what the doctor ordered.
100%.
Thank you for all of the responses. It is good to generate opinions and comments. But as fans, we do not have all of the facts. I think Roberts pulled Stone at exactly the right time. He was leaving his pitches up and the Philles were not missing many. They had six hits, and of his 84 pitches, only 48 were strikes. He got the second out with a runner still on second, but Harper was coming up. Vesia was the obvious choice. He got out of the inning, and they still led. What happened afterwards was set up by the really bad call at third. But the bullpen did not do its job and they lost a game where they had led. Not the first time this year and not the last.
At this point in time, this is not a very good or well-oiled machine. This team has numerous holes, and we all know what they are. Starting pitching needs to be better, but one can see where a kid like Stone has hit a wall. They are waiting for players to come back. Just how good those players will be remains to be seen. Muncy, Edman, and Betts will all be back by the end of the month. Will it be too late? Maybe. Their schedule is brutal, and the way they are playing is not inspiring.
They will have some hard decisions in the next couple of weeks. I for one am glad I do not have to make them. Guys on the bubble for sure are Ahmed, Kiermaier, and Kike. Edman is going to be playing some centerfield, but he can switch hit, so I do not see him platooning much. Do they keep Kiermaier as a late inning defensive guy? Not sure they will. They traded for Rosario, and he is hitting around .300, so I believe he is safe. It is doubtful CT-3 returns, but Kike is not hitting all that well despite his recent surge. Mookie will be at SS to start off. Pages and Heyward platoon in right, Hernandez in CF. Kiermaier and Pages in center until Edman returns. Smith and Barnes, Lux-Rosario-Rojas at second. Rosario-Kike at third until Muncy returns. If they decide they want veterans over kids playing in the playoffs, now not a lock, Pages could get sent down. Many gears turning at this point. The main goal is to win as many as they can until the walking wounded are back, and then make a run for the finish line. They have 4 with the D-Backs and 3 left with the Padres.
Good summary of where we are, with a nice level head. There are tough decisions coming. Ahmed (nice job defensively and I hate to see him go but there’s no room at the inn), Kiermaier (can’t hit a lick), and Kike (despite his popularity, he doest hit well enough to keep a roster spot) has to go. CT3 stays on the IL.
I like the idea of Edman full-time in center but that might be more by default than reality. The guy hasn’t played all year with a bum wrist. No spring training, no reps, no nothing. How long will it take him to get ready? He would need some rehab experience, I would think. Can he live up to the lofty expectations just like that? That’s perhaps more wishing than reality, most likely.
Until then, it’s Pages and Kiermaier in CF, Hayward and Pages in right, Lux and Rosario at 2nd, Kike/Rosario/Rojas at 3rd and obviously Smith / Barnes. (with Will needing an IL stint)
How do you send Pages down when he’s hitting .321 v LHP and Heyward seldom ever hits v LHP. 13 at bats all year. That seems like a perfect platoon.
Don’t get me wrong about the kid, but he has options, no one else does, and he does not hit with much power. Neither does Edman, Heyward or any outfielder besides Hernandez at this point. I just think he was never ready to begin with and he is not exactly my idea of the kind of hitter I wish they had out there come playoff time, which might become a moot point if they cannot get the train back on the tracks. That .321, comes with 2 homers and only 7 total extra base hits.
Bear
Don’t we want someone that makes contact for hits/bat to ball skills and then also don’t we want someone at the bottom of the lineup that gets on base for the top of the lineup to drive him in.
He won’t be in the middle of the lineup, well who knows with Doc.
I understand we all have our opinions of Dave Roberts, ownership, and the front office. Some, want to see AF and Roberts gone. Some, like Scott, think there should be a massive shake up in the organization. Some view the lack of World Series wins as a failure of management. I tend to disagree. I would rather watch the winning baseball, even if it is only during the regular season, than watch the kind of baseball they play in Chicago, Miami, Toronto, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Detroit, or Denver, any day. Yes, they have only won one World Series in a shortened season. Not saying anything about 2017, we all know what happened then. They were not the better team in 2018. Boston was much better. The last two playoffs have been brutal to watch, but last year, they were banged up pretty bad and they looked it in the playoffs. No excuses in 22. 111-win teams should dominate. Just the Padres were hot, and they imposed their will and won. In 2018, they had to fight to just tie for first and then beat Colorado in game 163 to win the division. First time they had to really fight for it. In 21, they had to win the one game wildcard to make it to the LDS. And they were missing their 35-homer third baseman. The beat the Giants and then ran out of gas against the Braves, again, minus their two best pitchers, Kershaw-Scherzer. You can say a lot about Freidman, but he has done an excellent job putting together teams that win. The playoffs are hard. The pitching is usually the best, and runs come hard. In 2020, they had to win 13 games to win the title. They beat Milwaukee twice, swept the Padres in three, went toe to toe with the Braves in seven and beat Tampa in six. All teams had to play under the same rules, and hardships, one being no fans. They earned it. It should be no less celebrated than any other they have won. We all want a full season win. It would be great. But folks, it just isn’t that easy.
My opinion is that Friedman is not the only guy out there that can build winning teams. There are other guys out there that can do it and may be able to add in parts that the Dodgers don’t have, like better coaches, situational hitting, pitching management, contact hitting.
I agree he’s built some good teams, but it seems as if the team is not moving forward, and a few more weeks of this will bury them. You might feel differently if they miss the playoffs this year.
“You might feel differently if they miss the playoffs this year.”
Maybe
I’ll wait until the final out of the season before I suggest throwing anyone under the bus. Personally I think Friedman has done his job. I’m still waiting for the players to finish theirs.
of course, I don’t mean right now.
But honestly, I do not have any confidence this team will turn it around, they’ve shown no evidence to support that they will.
No, I won’t feel differently at all. I have already suffered through the worst teams they have fielded in LA history; I have witnessed 6 championships in the city, numerous great performances and some Hall of Fame players at their greatest. Why would missing one playoff since AF took over the team, and none since 2013 bother me? That is ridiculous. You let it get under your skin too much. Baseball is a game. It is not life; it is a distraction from everyday pressures. I am more concerned about how much my COLA is going to be than if the Dodgers make it to the playoffs or not. You are laboring under a delusion that Dodger baseball is my life. They are a banged-up team missing some of their best players. You think a couple of coaches being replaced in the off-season and a shakeup in the front office is going to change that dramatically? Dave Roberts is soft someone said. Well, hard ass managers are a dying breed. Roberts is in his next to last season on this contract. Maybe they replace him, maybe they don’t. But he rarely makes a move without approval from up above. They believe in the analytics, and the analytics say this guy is toast after 84 pitches. They play entertaining baseball, most of the time. I cannot ask for more than that, especially with the way the game is played now.
You let it get under your skin too much.”
I think you’re mistaking my tone here. It’s not getting under my skin, and for some reason you think I’m angry, or whatever. I’m not angry. Don’t you think I’ve got more important things to worry about in my everyday life than if the Dodgers make the playoffs? Or maybe you think I’m just sitting around angrily obsessing over the Dodgers? I enjoy Dodgers baseball because I love baseball and love the Dodgers, but how they finish does not effect my life one bit.
You are laboring under a delusion that Dodger baseball is my life.”
I never said such a thing. Ever. Not sure how you are getting this.
They are a banged-up team missing some of their best players. You think a couple of coaches being replaced in the off-season and a shakeup in the front office is going to change that dramatically?”
I think bringing in fresh faces that will deploy new strategies and develop pitchers who will go deeper into games can help them win more games. Continuing to do the same things, and doing load management every year is not winning them any titles.
Dave Roberts is soft someone said. Well, hard ass managers are a dying breed.”
I never said this, but hard ass manager are not a dying breed. To me Bruce Bochy seems like a hard ass, and has won 4 titles. Other managers across the league seem like they are no-nonsense, Bob Melvin, Rob Thompson, Brian Snitker, all seem pretty serious. I don’t know, but you are making the same excuses the Dodger management makes. There is nobody available is the assumption you are making so let’s just stay stagnant and never change.
But he rarely makes a move without approval from up above. They believe in the analytics, and the analytics say this guy is toast after 84 pitches.”
He follows orders, and that could be a problem. but do you really believe that every starter is toast after 84 pitches? Seems like you waffle on this from time to time. Do you believe in Analytics? Or would you like to see a balance of Data and baseball fundamentals?
They play entertaining baseball, most of the time. I cannot ask for more than that, especially with the way the game is played now.”
one could argue that they have not been entertaining to watch over the last 2 plus months. Losing most of their series and watching their division lead dwindle away. Losing is not entertaining to me, and neither is 2 plus months of mediocre baseball. But I guess we can agree to disagree on that one.
A. I don’t think you are angry at all, and like most of us, I am pretty sure there are more important things in your life. Personally, I just think you dislike AF and the way he does things, and in your opinion, there should be drastic changes in leadership. Unfortunately, none of our opinions matter to ownership or the front office. No, you did not say Doc was soft and I did not say you did. I just used it as a reference from some posts the other day. I disagree about Bochy. I don’t think he is a hard ass at all, otherwise he might have more championships with the lousy teams he managed. He won with good talent, he lost with bad talent, but he doesn’t win all the time. With basically the same team as last year, where is his team now? I do not see any nonsense in the Dodger dugout. Are they happy? Seem to be, do they play hard? That seems to be the case also. But it is awfully hard to overcome the loss of so many big cogs in the machine. I do think AF was a bit short sighted when he for maybe the first time I remember, did not sign a lot of MLB experienced players to help bolster the AAA team’s roster. Virtually no position players at all and very few pitchers. Usually there are several of those. I said usually they were entertaining, which translated means most of the time. The last couple of months, not so much. But they are still in first place, in striking distance of making it to the playoffs again, and until they are eliminated, I am not going to stress over it.
Personally, I just think you dislike AF and the way he does things, and in your opinion, there should be drastic changes in leadership.
Correct. I believe they can improve in multiple areas.
I disagree about Bochy. I don’t think he is a hard ass at all, otherwise he might have more championships with the lousy teams he managed. He won with good talent, he lost with bad talent, but he doesn’t win all the time. With basically the same team as last year, where is his team now?
He has won 4 championships total. That’s hall of fame level. How many managers have won 4 rings? Roberts has won one in comparison. Where is he now? We can look at the standings but his club are still the defending champions, and where is now is wearing his World Series ring.
I do think AF was a bit short sighted when he for maybe the first time I remember, did not sign a lot of MLB experienced players to help bolster the AAA team’s roster. Virtually no position players at all and very few pitchers. Usually there are several of those.
Correct, and who’s fault is that? Who’s responsibility is it to make sure the club has enough productive players to get through the season?
I do think AF was a bit short sighted when he for maybe the first time I remember, did not sign a lot of MLB experienced players to help bolster the AAA team’s roster. Virtually no position players at all and very few pitchers. Usually there are several of those.
It wasn’t a case of being short sighted as much as small market b s rule changes. Roster sizes were reduced from 185 to 165 total players on U.S. rosters this year. Before you could stash AAAA players in the minors not anymore.
This team has no fire in their gut. A reflection of their manager.
And they don’t do the little things that win close ball games. Especially in the playoffs. Moving runners up with productive outs, putting the ball in play with runners on 3rd and less than 2 outs, and shortening up their swing with 2 strikes. The homer or bust is not going to win a WS.
Are you in the clubhouse or on the bench during games? You, I, none of the fans know how passionate or unpassionate they might be. Yeah, Roberts is a low-key type of personality, but the fact is, his players love playing for him. Very few teams today are very good at the fundamentals of the game. Homer or bust won the World Series last year. Texas hit 8, Arizona 3. 3 of their 5 runs scored on homers in game 1, 2 of their 3 runs in game 3, 6 of their 11 in game 4 2 of 5 in game 5. 14 of the 26 runs the Rangers scored in the series came on home runs. Hard ass managers are a thing of the past, and Dave got pretty fired up about that bad call at third.
Bear
The vets love playing for him. I highly doubt the rookies and 2nd, 3rd year players do.
I think you are probably right.
Bear, I don’t have any problems with you posting (as Phil said and I disagree) a lot.
Thanks Eric, I appreciate it. I value all opinions.
I can agree with this.
I agree with this. They are 100% robotic in their personnel and pre-game decisions and not very good in-game. Put away the spreadsheets and play baseball.
Most fans would say this brass has underachieved in the post-season and they would be correct. I do want championships. If others are fine with winning during the regular season that is their choice. I would argue this team has had the talent to win 2 more WS, at least, over the last 10 years and they consistently fade when the lights are brightest. That is a cultural issue IMO.
I am new in here and I like it. I also like Bear and he can respond to me all day long LOL. He makes sense to me. You guys make smart comments and love the Dodgers, I really like that. At the end of the day we all have opinions. I respect all of them whether I agree with them or not. But they are indeed just opinions.
Let’s hope this team can get healthy and it lights a fire under them. Because right now there is no fire. Only smoke.
This team, as presently constructed (without Betts, Muncy, Edman, Yamamoto, Brasier, etc.) will not turn it around. If they were to play the remaining 45 games or so with this team they are suiting up now they would probably finish third in the West and be a wild card team at best.
However, I definitely believe that the team that has Ohtani, Betts, Freeman, Hernandez, Muncy, Smith, Pages/Heyward, Edman, Lux/Rosario in the line up most every day with a pitching staff of Glasnow, Flaherty, Yamamoto, Kershaw, and Ryan/Buehler/Miller/Stone is definitely good enough to win it all. They have 13 to 17 relievers (counting Dreyer, Henriquez, the 8 active relievers, Treinen, Brasier, Graterol(?), Weobleski and some of the fifth starters ) from which to construct a 9 person bullpen for the playoffs.
I think that meaningful September games will help them prepare well for the playoffs. If this team gets those players back, they are as good as any team in baseball. With Muncy gone since mid-May, Betts and Yoshi out since June 15, and Flaherty, Kopech, Edman, and Rosario added a week ago, their playoff team has never played a game together. That is about 30% of their playoff roster that has only played about 8 games total (combined) for the Dodgers since June 15th.
IMO, way too early to throw in the towel. And definitely too early to talk about a complete overhaul of this organization. No team in MLB has had more success in these past 10 years than the Dodgers. Friedman is not going anywhere, nor should he. It is an old adage in sports but it is particularly true in a long season like baseball, your team is never as good as they seem at their best and never as bad as they seem at their worst. The Dodgers are arguably at their worst right now but there is more help on the way in a week or so.
Yes, maybe there are, but who among them is available to take over? And in reality, does ownership feel as you do? If they do, they have shown no intention to change anything.
I don’t know how ownership feels.
Correct, they have shown no intention of changing their failed strategies, and that is a big problem.
What is so frustrating for me is we sign arguably the best player in mlb, arguably the best pitcher on the market, teo Hernandez , Glasnow, people were so jealous and Dodger fans were so excited! Ohtani will finally get to play in the playoffs.
then, all of a sudden we are decimated by injuries. We have no ss. We have 4-5 guys who can’t hit .200 that are underperforming. Starting pitching went south which burnt out the bullpen. At this point a very disappointing turn to the season. We r 2.5 games up but we r just playing bad baseball. We r facing a grueling schedule while the pads are facing a weak schedule. If the playoffs started today the Braves would be out. We need something or someone to turn this around. Mb Betts will be the ticket.
I agree totally. But no one can predict injuries. Actually, we have a very good SS in Rojas, just not the hitter Mookie is. Ahmed is good glove-no hit. We were fine there even after Mookie went down until Rojas got hurt. It is 3rd base which has been the black hole along with CF and most of the time, right. 2nd wasn’t much better until Lux got hot. Now C is a problem with Smith mired in a deep slumber. Starting staff a little better with the addition of Flaherty. Hopefully Kersh can pitch more like he did Tuesday, than he did against the Padres.
I have Walker Buehler’s AAA game on. 3 ip, 0hits, 1bb, 3k so far.
His first inning was ok, but his stuff looked much much better in the 2nd and 3rd. In fact he’s around 41 pitches thru 3.
To me, this is by far the best his stuff has looked this year.
Good for Walker. Buehler’s final line, 5 innings, 1 hit, 1 walk, 5 Ks and the hit was a homer by Blaine Kim. OKC is being 1 hit also.
Buehler is dominating through 4 innings at OKC. Given up no hits and has walked one. In Tulsa Ferris has given up no runs in his first start in Double A, through five innings. Great news on Buehler, to be honest I was starting to have serious doubts about him. I’m not ready to anoint him as a savior but it would be a huge boost.
I would use him in the rotation. He can easily go at least 5 now.
Bear, I really like what you do and I like you. I think you really care about what you write and research. You care about the Dodgers and the history of the game. You really know your stuff.
And for that reason, you talk too much.
I mean this not in a negative way. It is just a suggestion you can take of leave.
One of the things I like best about Jeff is he doesn’t feel obligated to respond to every post. He lets this site breathe, like a good play-by-play announcer that doesn’t have to fill the air constantly.
For some reason here, as at Mark’s site, you feel obligated to respond to damn near every post. This isn’t really your site and you are not the host. Your voice and thoughts are certainly important and I appreciate what you do.
But there were 109 posts today and 20 were yours. Somedays it’s more.
You can certainly do what you want. But I respectfully request that you are not obligated to carry the ball here, as the moderator. Sit back, let it breathe, and don’t feel obligated to pipe in to every opinion and conversation.
I love your passion and please don’t be offended by my comments
Not offended at all Phil, and you are absolutely right. This is Jeff’s site and always will be. Right now, I am just endeavoring to cover until he is ready to write again. It has been said of me that there are times when I just don’t know when to quit. I will try to be better. But honestly, sometimes it is hard to do. Thanks for your input, I respect you and your opinion highly.
Good stuff from the farm, including the aforementioned Buehler:
4 innings of 1 hit, shutout ball from Maddux Bruns today. Walked 3, struck out 3. Mechanics look inconsistent but the stuff is still good enough to get outs.
Hyun–Seok Jang debut tonight in Rancho. Jang has topped out at 98mph. 1.1 IP, 3Ks.
Jackson Ferris with a very impressive Double A debut: 5.2 IP, 4 Hits, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 Ks. Responsible for a pair of runners. Run came in the 6th on back to back soft hits. Was around the zone all night. Slider was a weapon.
Scoreless debut in OKC for Henriquez who works around a single. FB at 99.9!