Been sitting on the sidelines watching and reading with interest.Am lucky enough to be sitting by a pool on the lovely island of Mykonos in Greece on holiday with my girlfriend, and have some time to comment properly.

Firstly, I wanted to say how sorry I was to read about your health problems Phil. On first reading I had no idea that your bladder condition was cancer related. You must have been, and are still going through some rough times. I just wanted to wish you all the best and although I don’t know you, from your excellent posts I can tell you are a fierce competitor and as with your knee recovery, you’ve got this covered. This place is a nice escape from your troubles. Wishing you a full and speedy recovery.

Secondly, thank you Jeff and Michael for the ongoing excellent all round coverage and for me at least, Dodgers and baseball education. This place is second to none, and as a result has attracted many excellent and knowledgeable Posters. I know it must be very trying at times with hearing the same and sometimes wacky comments from certain people (Mark had the same thing) but personally I rather enjoy the different opinions and perspectives, and I know Bradley can push your buttons, but t honestly believe these forums are all the better for some diverse perspectives and for people who push back, and Bradley is always polite, humble and respectful. I am a fan of his.

Which brings me onto your amazing Post on your ongoing battle with the terrible disease that is Depression. I read that Post and felt very humbled but at the same time enlightened. Was a powerful read. The following dialogue between you and Scott was what gives me hope that humanity still exists and humility and friendship can overcome. Was a wonderful interpersonal moment.

Scott, I’ve always read your posts with interest. Although deliberately over negative mostly to illustrate your point, I have normally found myself nodding in agreement with your alternate view.
I knew nothing of your health or life, but I do know that when Mark unexpectedly shut down LADT (hard to believe I know!!), you offered us a place to meet, and you were a warm host. for which I will always be grateful. If I’m not mistaken it was there that I first met Michael.
If i remember correctly, your sister Stacy was involved as was your dear friend who passed.
Unfortunately it gotta bit volatile over there and then of course LADT returned.
Scott, we are who we are, no need to apologise.

So to the Dodgers. I said before the season began that the Dodgers have found through their own mistakes and successes, a way to navigate the season in an attempt to peak at the right time, namely the Post Season, with particular emphasis on the Pitching, and nothing I’ve seen this season makes me believe otherwise.

Injuries are going to happen and that’s why depth is so important. AF is the master of depth, and having personnel who can cover multiple positions. The aim is to get to the Playoffs with the Starters fresh, the Position Players healthy, because their quality should prevail in 5 or 7 game series against better pitching, and momentum. Relief arms are acquired for short but necessary periods then released. It works.

The whole management of Will Smith this year has been around preserving him as best as possible. The prolonged IL stints of Snell and Glasnow were by design, as is the rest for Vesia now some other arms are back.
It’s a tactical decision and requires patience. People were losing their minds last week when Shohei threw a clunker in Colorado. Who hasn’t?? The pitches don’t break well there in the rarified air. Look at his next outing. Almost unhittable. He starts game 3 or 4?for me. This is why we got him, to be a difference maker, and his pitching does exactly that. He won’t be able to pitch for ever. Now is his time.
Let him loose for a couple of years , then let him concentrate on being the best Left Fielder in MLB.

Snell was signed for the Post Season. Yes I know that’s ridiculous, but he’s a needle mover, a game one starter, and Ace. This is when we need him, not in May or June. Glasnow is similar to this. He’s frail for sure so let’s treat him as such because we can, that’s how we are built. He has nasty stuff especially if he’s your *3rd or *4tg Starter.
Yamamoto is more of a workhorse (well once a week), but will probably have a couple of weeks rest before long to sharpen him up.

I read some weird stuff about Shohei giving up pitching!! He is an incredible pitcher, an Ace on most teams and we want him to stop pitching!! Unbelievable!!!

Snell, Yamamoto, Shohei and Glasnow with Sheehan and Kershaw hovering in the BP should things get messy early, is a fantastic starting point for any Staff. Nobody can better that arsenal.
I stand totally corrected with Kershaw. I thought he was done. I was wrong.

So patience. It’s a long season. The Dodgers just play it as such and at times it can be maddening especially Doc’s moves sometimes. However, they are normally for the greater good. Doc is becoming a good manager of the long game strategy.

I see a very deep run into the Post Season in our future. It will be a very good team that beats the Dodgers. Would anyone seriously want to play us?

Hey Phil. I just read your post from yesterday. Happy to hear of the results. It sounds like they have an effective treatment to get you back to a healthy life.
Take care.

Interesting, sure looks like the club is about to get on a roll, and stay in first place. I’m not being positive here, just being factual.

The primary reason why the Dodgers are playing better, as many have said but Scott ignored, is the pitching staff has such high upside. This an a recovering bullpen to close out games. Especially with Treinen returning to form. Other teams know they cannot match up with the Dodgers staff.

Meanwhile on the other side of the ball, even Conforto is making contact. His underlying metrics, as AF mentioned the other day, have been arguably good, but more and more he’s making good contact.

They are back in first, and they should easily make the playoff. Those games are traditional crapshoots, but the more you can avoid excess game the more you avoid rotten luck.

There won’t be a massive change of hitting or pitching philosophy in the winter. Thankfully.

Here’s what we should all take comfort in. The Dodgers are going to be very good for as long as they have the current front office. They will always be in contention for the division and the playoffs. We can take pride in this.

Sometimes teams will have injuries, or slumps, but the Dodgers are going to have the MLB and organizational depth to be where they are now most of the time.

Again, Im sorry if this comes across positive, but Im just being factual.

Interesting, sure looks like the club is about to not only get swept by the Angels, but fall out of first place. I’m not being negative here, just being factual.

The primary reason why the Dodgers are so bad this year as I have pointed too almost the entire season many times, is the awful pitching staff and specifically the bullpen. Not only do they not have anyone to close out games, but there is not one pitcher in that pen that strikes fear in the opposing team. It’s an entire bullpen of below average arms, even Treinen is not what he used to be. Other teams know the Dodgers have a super weak razor thin pitching staff and they smell blood in the water.

Meanwhile on the other side of the ball, management keeps rolling out Conforto, another ohfer and a GIDP. Im surprised he didn’t hit into the triple play.

I do believe that they not only will fall out of first place, but they may not even make the playoffs, and if they do it’ll be as a low wild card seed and they’ll get immediately bounced.

There needs to be a massive change of pitching philosophy in the winter. The pitching staff needs to be rebuilt from the ground up as I’ve said before. Management needs to focus on finding reliable healthy pitchers, who throw strikes, pitch efficiently and challenge hitters.

Here’s the sad part that everyone needs to understand. The Dodgers can’t win the division every year until the end of time. At some point (it’s looking like this year possibly) the Dodgers will not win the division and not make the playoffs. We can’t just assume that everything will work out for the Dodgers every year. Sometimes teams have down years, this reminds me of one, that combined with the mediocre arms on the staff, and here we are.

Again, Im sorry if this comes across negative but Im just being factual.