8/24 – AKA Mamba Day – AKA Kiké Hernández’s Birthday – Kiké Hernández’s former number with LAD was 14. The Dodgers have since retired his #14. Okay it was retired for Gil Hodges. I bet Kiké’s grandchildren will only hear about the Dodgers retiring his #14. Instead Kiké selected #8 in honor of Kobe Bryant.
On his birthday, Kiké had a 3-5 game with 2 doubles and a HR.
Just like the Marlins beat LAD in their Game 1 with a lopsided score and LAD came back to beat them in a DH to take the series, the Dodgers come back and beat Cleveland in a DH after losing Game 1 badly to win yet another series. That is 7 consecutive series. They are 19-3 in the month of August.
The hottest MLB Player on the planet is Mookie Betts. He has hit in 27 of his last 28 games, last 12 consecutively. During the month of August, Mookie has been particularly otherworldly.
- 91 PA, 82 AB, .463/.516/.817/1.333, 8 doubles, 7 HR, 21 RBI, 24 runs, 3 SB, 1 CS. He went 5-5 in Game 2 and 2-3 with a BB in Game 3. He is a GG RF, and his playing GG level 2B. I know he still has a mountain to climb to catch Ronald Acuña Jr. For MVP, but he is in the race.
The Dodgers got some bad luck with the game suspension as they lost a chance for Clayton Kershaw to get past 2.0 IP. He was dealing pretty good before the tarp was placed on the field. But they also caught a break. Since this was considered a DH, the Dodgers got their 27th man. That pitcher was Ryan Pepiot. That means they can send him down again without starting the recall clock. He should be back on the 26 man during the Arizona series at home next week.
Relief pitchers who commit the cardinal sin of walks are hard to swallow (for me). Victor González gets two quick outs and then walks two. Plus he doesn’t try to keep the runner close. Both of José Ramírez’s SB were off VGon. VGon was a longshot to make the playoff roster, but he is sealing his own fate.
Gus Varland is looking very much like a keeper, and should be in the consideration for a playoff spot. His confidence seems to be growing.
Ryan Brasier was not a deadline pickup, but he his a huuuuuge addition to that bullpen. IMO he deserves more high leverage situations. After Boston released him, he was signed on June 4, and after 2 relief appearances in OKC, was called up to LAD to pitch against LAA on June 21. He has not looked back since.
- 25 games, 26.1 IP
- 03 ERA
- 76 WHIP
- 25K/7BB
- 2-0, 5 holds, 1 save, 1 save opportunity, 0 blown saves
He has been terrific but has not had a lot of high leverage opportunities. He has entered the game in the 5th (1 time), 6th (7 times), 7th (9 times), 8th (2 times), 9th (5 times – generally mop up), and 10th (1 time).
Caleb Ferguson was the opener, but did not alleviate any discomfort as to where Ferguson is at this time. He did pitch a scoreless opening inning, but he did hit a batter and did allow a single.
Ryan Yarbrough pitched 3.0 innings before Ryan Pepiot entered in the 5th. He was outstanding. His change is getting better and better. He threw 26 of them that generated 12 swings. He got 6 swings and misses on those 12 swings. He also got 6 whiffs on his four-seamer.
Pepiot should continue to be in the rotation, and his turn should come up in the Arizona series.
Michael Busch hit his 1st career HR for LAD. 1st pitch curveball that stayed pretty much center-center, and Busch hit it 99.1 MPH for 401’ dead center.
As the Dodgers were beating his team twice Thursday, Cleveland Guardians president of baseball operations, Chris Antonetti, apologized to Dodgers manager Dave Roberts and GM Brandon Gomes for the performance of one part of the Guardians’ organization…the grounds crew.
Twice in the series — Wednesday night and again Thursday afternoon — the grounds crew deployed the tarp well before any rain arrived, stopping play to the consternation of both dugouts.
The Dodgers now move on to Boston where Mookie will return for the first time since “The Trade”. It is also going to be a homecoming for Ryan Brasier and to a lesser degree, Kiké Hernández. JDM is on the IL so he will not be making his return to Fenway.
Lance Lynn and Julio Urías get the first two games. The talk on the telecast was to push back the starts for Bobby Miller and Clayton Kershaw to the Arizona series, Sunday is currently expected to be another bullpen game and either Emmet Sheehan or Gavin Stone would be the bulk relievers. BTW, I am apologizing now because I know that at some point I am going to call Lance Lynn, Fred Lynn. Fred Lynn was such a long time favorite, that he is embedded in my brain.
I got the following Twitter notification, and it really hurt to watch the emotion of Washington Nationals OF Stone Garrett. It reminded me of Gavin Lux.
Isn’t deployment of tarps the umpire crew’s call?
It was a good day. 2 wins. And, California beat Washington to play Texas with the winner to be rolled by China who has a kid that throws 80 mph.
Does anyone here worry just a bit about the Dodgers peaking too soon? 19-3 obviously is good anytime, but I think I’d rather see it in late September. Who knows, maybe I will.
It is the umpire crew’s call once the game begins. But the word is that the grounds crew chief went to the umpire crew chief and advised him that the rain was coming and coming fast and they needed to get the tarp down. I think it was 30 minutes before the rains came on Wednesday. It rained hard enough that the game would have been suspended anyway, but there could have been 1 maybe 2 innings completed making the suspended game easier to navigate on Thursday.
On Thursday they had one inning to go, and again the grounds crew chief advised the umpire crew chief that the rain was coming and it was a single cell that will be very fast. I do not know how long it was before the rains actually came, but the game was delayed for 72 minutes.
I obviously have no idea what Chris Antonetti had to say to Gomes and Roberts, but the fact that he had to say anything tells me something was amiss.
The grounds crew did the same thing in Game 7 of the 2016 WS. 17 minute rain delay. There was criticism that they acted prematurely then as well.
It worked out. The bulk of the bullpen should be fine for Boston. I would think only Yarbrough would be unavailable tonight. Unless of course there is another DH due to weather, which is considered a real possibility.
Thanks Jeff. Everything I’ve read this morning says the Crew Chief is in charge of that call. It takes only a couple of minutes to roll that tarp out. Antonetti has no say, unless he called his grounds crew chief and told him to do it. The only team standing to gain anything was the home team who was losing. And this was done on a getaway day. Bad form Cleaveland.
80 mph from 46 feet, 14.5 feet shorter than mlb, makes 80 something like 105 mph. I hope he isn’t wild and doesn’t have a change up.
Mookie is hot and Dodgers are winning. If he cools down someone else will have to step up. I can’t say I worry about the team going cold at playoff time. I worry more about not breaking 100 on the golf course.
Forget who first said it, but golf, a good walk ruined. I played a lot in Sedona. Not since moving here.
Taipei. I wonder what the lines would be with that kid on the mound?
Mookie and Freddie are currently the best 1-2 I’ve ever seen. Hope they can keep it going for two more months.
If Antonetti apologized then it’s safe to say he agrees the grounds crew was out of line. What does he plan todo about it?
I am not sure what he actually told Gomes and Roberts. For all I know he may have told them that it was his call, and was giving them an explanation as to why. It does not feel like the grounds crew chief has that kind of pull that he can make that call on his own. Maybe he thinks he does, but as Bums said…not our problem. The Dodgers will not return to Cleveland until 2025.
Not our concern, thankfully.
The pitching injuries are now taking their toll on OKC. The bullpen has now been charged with eight blown saves in the last 10 games.
Jonny Deluca started his Major League Rehab Assignment yesterday. Deluca was placed on the LAD IL July 26 with a right hamstring strain. He served as OKC’s designated hitter last night and went 0-for-3 with a RBI on a sac fly in the first inning.
Miguel Vargas extended his hitting streak to seven games, going 1-for-2 with a double, walk and RBI. During his hitting streak, Vargas is 12-for-27…His 24 hits in August are tied for the team lead with Michael Busch and David Dahl.
Landon Knack was pulled after two innings for what is believed to be injury related. After a walk in the second inning, the trainer and pitching coach went to the mound. Knack convinced them to let him continue and after one pitch and a CS the inning was over. Knack did not come out for the third inning.
I have always had mixed thoughts about chasing after Ohtani. I might prefer trading for Yelich and have an outfield of Deluca, Outman, and Yelich with Betts moving to second base.
My favorite thought would be to obtain Witt Jr. to play shortstop by trading Cartaya, Busch, Vargas, and Lux to KC. The Dodgers would be trading 84 points for 74.8 points.
The Trade Simulator says: Minor overpayAlthough one side of this trade is giving up a little too much, there is still a high probability it would be accepted if each team’s needs are met.
Because Deluca looks a lot like Cey it would be fun to convert Deluca into a third baseman, otherwise sign Chapman for third.
2B Betts
1B Freeman
SS Witt
LF Yelich
C Smith
CF Outman
3B Chapman
DH Peralta/Muncy/Hernandez/Smith/Heyward/
RF Deluca
Needs more Busch
Would you really be willing to risk paying Yelich 26 mil per year for the next 5 years with his chronic back condition? I sure wouldn’t. For that amount of money, we could probably find someone else who is younger and healthier.
Yelich is earning his money this year. Will he do it for 5 more years? I don’t know but I wouldn’t risk it.
Bellinger isn’t coming back here.
The last time we thought about a new left fielder we came up with Lewis. I was a Hanigar fan but he couldn’t and still can’t stay on the field. Yelich because of his salary and down years shouldn’t cost that much in players. If you prefer there is always Pederson.
The Dodgers should have plenty of room below the cap to take on Yelich.
I’m not so much worried about spending the money on him. I worry that we get him and his back goes out on him for half the remaining contract.
Get me Steven Kwan from the Guardians. He’s an excellent outfielder, great bat to ball guy and is still earning MLB minimum.
Someone like say…Cody Bellinger? 😎
He will be a Yankee unfortunately.
EXACTLY 😂
That’s a nice lineup. A lot of Major League talent to give up for one player.
Man, that injury video is sad.
Moreno should make a firm decision and then actually do the opposite.
Now that may be the wisest comment you’ve ever made, Fred.
Somebody could allow Moreno to have both heads and tails on a coin flip and it would land on its edge.
He could fall out of a boat and miss water.
Moreno is worth $4.8 billion. He probably owns a very big boat.
Sell the team Arte.