Kendall George – He’s doing the things that the Dodgers were hoping that Jeren Kendall would have done. He is so fast. Ground ball up the middle, and the SS had no chance to throw him out. He then steals second base with ease. He still needs work on his routes in CF. But he is 19, and is less than a year out of high school. He will get acclimated to the better bats with more experience.
Josue De Paula – He has such a sweet swing. He handled LHP specialist, Adam Kolarek, with a line drive up the middle that Kolarek caught. Hit was not hit hard, but he got a good 2 strike swing on him.
Mookie Betts – He is looking to get off to a great start.
Max Muncy – Had a good 2-strike approach on his single in the 2nd inning. He was a little out in front but went down and made a good controlled swing. He did not try to hit the ball to Pasadena.
Gavin Lux – Is getting more and more comfortable at 2B. Not one of his throws was an adventure in Game 1 of the Freeway Series.
Austin Barnes – Hold the presses. Austin threw out Jake Marisnick attempting to steal.
Miguel Rojas – He is so good at SS defensively. His glove is great, but his throws from the hole to 1B were special. I think there were three in the hole that he got to, and threw two out. Only Mike Trout beat it out. He is going to be a weapon late in the game.
Trey Sweeney – Keeps hitting. I hope he gets to start at OKC and proves he can hit. NYY has a very good record at selecting quality SS. This could be a big steal from NYY. He is an upgrade over Jorbit Vivas. Vivas hit HRs in 2 of his first 3 PA this Spring, but then went 3-20 after that. Vivas’ OBP is excellent because of his 4 BB and 4 HBP to go with 10 Ks in 31 PA.
WRISP – Dodgers were 2-11 and a sac fly (Kiké). With such a great lineup, why are they struggling WRISP?
Bobby Miller – 4.2 IP and 80 pitches overall. He allowed 4 hits and had 5 K’s against 1 walk. After an 8-pitch 1st inning, he followed that up with a 25-pitch 2nd inning.
- 19 pitch – 3rd inning
- 16 pitch – 4th inning
- 11 pitch – 5th inning
He had too many three-ball counts, and at times could not put hitters away. I believe with more experience, he will get much better at sequencing his pitches, and could get more chase. It was good to see that he was working on the edges with his 4-seamer, and he was just missing. He will begin hitting those edges with more experience. His change his outstanding. Miller is a competitor very similar to Walker Buehler. He has a chance to be special. He is ready to go against St. Louis on Friday.
Michael Grove – He is working into that Ross Stripling and Mitch White role. That might indicate a trade deadline move for prospects. That is especially true if Dustin May is back at that time.
Dustin May – Speaking of Dustin May, per a recent interview with Bill Plunkett:
The right-hander said he was devastated upon finding out that he would need another surgery.
“You have no idea,” the 26-year-old right-hander said with all the weariness that two major elbow surgeries 26 months apart will bring.
“It was definitely not what I wanted to hear when I heard that I needed surgery again. … You can understand the first one. It’s, ‘Okay, I’m going to go get fixed and then I’m going to be fine and I’ll be able to stay healthy and compete.’ Then as soon as I get back basically, the same thing happens again. It’s just a gut-wrenching feeling. It’s like the rug keeps getting pulled out from under my feet. All I want to do is go and compete and I keep being told I can’t.”
May added that it only took a brief amount of time to come to terms with the diagnosis and he vowed to return to the mound as soon as possible:
“I was definitely very frustrated, especially in LA after I got my MRI results,” May said. “I was very frustrated just in the moment. Then it was like – it took me a day and then I was, ‘What am I mad about? I can’t do anything about this. This is the cards I’ve been dealt. I’ve got to go do what I gotta do and hopefully be back whenever I can.’”
Ryan Brasier – I am getting uncomfortable with Brasier’s performances. I certainly did not expect him to replicate what he did last year for the Dodgers. But this does help to explain why AF is not for multi-year contracts for relievers. They are very rarely consistent. He may be another who needs more innings to get his command. I will be patient with Brasier. He was just too good last year to lose it.
Evan Phillips – 1.0 IP, 3 batters faced, 3 K’s. He seems ready.
Sauryn Lao – He is a little older, but he bears following this year. He made AA last year, and I will be looking forward to the Tulsa roster at the beginning of the year.
REgarding Dustin May: with his injury history, I don’t see the dodgers taking a quick evaluation on his permanent status. What do I mean, how can they make a trade after evaluating May on a short observation of his recovery. He is dominant on the mound for sure, he just hasn’t been able to stay on the mound for very long periods of time. To me, he has to be viewed as a bonus, if he stays healthy he is a bonus but it is likely the injury hammer falls on him at any given moment, so you really can’t count on him for the future. Just take what you get from him and nothing more, he is just a BONUS.
Well, apparently we hear sometime today from Ohtani himself about the whole gambling issue
“This is consistent with the biomechanical research that is available: fastballs result in higher torques on the elbow”
Maybe those of you with younger minds can read all those links provided and give a proper analysis, but it seems to me it might be a good idea for May to back off that fastball a bit and work on locating all his pitches. Frankly I would advise Miller to do the same thing. 99? All day? How about 96 on the edges to go with that change?
When Yamamoto figures it out, this starting staff looks to be dominant. Give those first 3 proper rest so they will be ready 6 months down the road, and with the additions of Buehler, May and Kershaw this team appears to be unbeatable. What could stop it? A scandal maybe.
One reason they are so bad right now with men on base, Freddie is struggling. He did not hit a fair ball hard the two-game set in Korea and openly admitted he is looking for continuity. Hernandez and Outman both left men on base multiple times. Outman popped out twice and struck out. Hernandez struck out twice. The team struck out 11 times. Freeman, Hernandez and Heyward each twice. Heyward did hit a scorching double though. Ohtani looked like he was somewhere else. Hopefully that does not continue.
Ryan Brasier; remember he was bad last year, until he was good. Might need more time then most fans will like.
Agree on Kendall George. My god I wish he’d learn from Brett Butler how to bunt and then how to slap the ball thru the left side. Who cares about doubles, when he can hit a 20 foot single and steal himself into basically a double!
He has 100 steal capability in this new MLB (granted he won’t be up for 2-4 years), but with him and DePaula, we have some crazy talented teenagers!
In what could prove to be a very one-sided deal, Clayton Beeter became the 3 member of the 6 player 2020 LAD draft to reach MLB. He has made the NYY roster. This Spring he had 17.0 IP and accumulated a 3.18 ERA with a 1.24 WHIP. He had 17 Ks and 6 BBs in his 17.0 IP.
The Dodgers traded Beeter for Joey Gallo in 2022. Normally I am not opposed to deadline trades and moving prospects for proven players, but Gallo really offered nothing, and I was against this trade at the time. It is not as if the Dodgers did not have enough pitchers to replace Beeter, but it was giving him away for Gallo that I was against. He would undoubtedly be in the same situation as Landon Knack.
Landon Knack should become the 4th player to reach MLB this year. Carson Taylor (C) is now with Philadelphia after being picked up in the MiLB phase of the Rule 5 draft, and there really is very little hope that Jake Vogel (CF) will ascend to MLB. Giving further credence that the LAD draft personnel are good at drafting and developing pitchers but not so much with position players.
I certainly understand the pessimism on Dustin May. I have stated as much myself. He has not been able to control his 1000 MPH approach to pitching. When I say that Grove is a trade possibility with May potentially being available to replace his role on the roster, I am saying it as if May will be a multi-inning reliever/occasional opener in a piggy back role. I do not see May being a starter when he is available…at least this year. With Glasnow, Yamamoto, Miller, Buehler, Paxton, Stone, Sheehan, Knack, Hurt, and potentially Kershaw in the rotation pipeline, May is not needed to start in 2024. Maybe the second surgery will temper his approach and he will become a bona-fide starter option in 2025 along with Ohtani and Gonsolin and Frasso.
If the Dodgers can get a Nick Frasso or Jackson Ferris type return for Grove, who says no? I have also not given up hope for Kendall Williams (return for Stripling). All the publications have, but not me. I am stubborn that way.
I have no opinion whatsoever as to what Ohtani knew and when. And I will not hazard any speculation. But to say that it is improbable that anything like this could have happened without Ohtani’s knowledge, is not accurate. I have conducted multiple forensic audits on extremely wealthy people who learned several years after an embezzlement(s) occurred by very trusted persons in their employee or client financial services. It is very easy to happen. Most financial arrangements for these wealthy individuals can wire transfer funds to pay whatever up to certain amounts. Many have had very large amounts of wire transfers that could occur without the principle’s knowledge. These are extremely trusted people handling the wire transfers.
In every audit that I conducted, the representatives had authority to wire transfer anywhere from $1MM to $10MM without the principal’s authority or approval. Personally, I have had such authority up to $10MM without the principle’s approval.
In this case, Mizuhara’s wire transfer ceiling could have been $500K without Shohei’s approval. Thus, nine $500K wire transfers.
Wealthy people live in a different world than most of us, and do not have the time to approve all wire transfers made on their behalf. Should they? Not necessarily. There are multiple internal accounting controls that can significantly minimize the embezzlement chances. And I have made such recommendations. And I am sure that Ohtani’s representatives will make similar recommendations. However, no internal control system is foolproof. It requires trust.
It is not unheard that an individual who is as trusted as Mizuhara was to have authority to make such financial transactions. Regardless, Shohei is still going to need to find representatives that he can trust. He cannot do it all himself.
I am not saying what did happen, just what could happen, and without not a lot of effort.
I think I will pass on making any further comment on this until it is thoroughly investigated and reported. Conjecture on baseball is one thing. Conjecture on people’s integrity is not something I care to speculate about.
Either this strike zone box is off, of this umpire is horrendous, in favor of us.
I’ve seen him call 5-6 balls on pitches that were strikes against our hitters.