They started out like a house on fire, 8 wins out of the gate. And then slowly, the wheels started to come off of the buggy. They already were down a few pitchers who had surgery, Stone, Ryan, Hurt. Graterol never made it out of spring training, and he was on the IL. Blake Snell made two starts and was shut down. Glasnow lasted 5 starts before he landed on the IL. Betts was recovering from an illness he contracted while on the way to the series in Japan. Another pitcher that the fans had been hot for the team to sign, Roki Sasaki, lasted 8 starts, and was not all that impressive before he went down.
After a hot start, Michael Conforto went ice cold and hasn’t thawed yet. The starters were barely making it past the 5th inning and the bullpen was throwing more innings than any team in the majors. Andy Pages, handed the starting center field job, was cold with a bat and tepid with his glove. Freeman, Teo and Will were carrying the load. Tommy Edman also got off to a very hot start, he even led the team in homers for a while. The ankle that bothered him last season started bothering him again, and he is just now starting to feel better.
Ohtani hit .287 through March/April but heated up in May. He had 15 homers and 27 runs batted in for the month. Freeman was scorching hot in May hitting .410 with 4 homers and 21 driven in. Pages, who at one point looked like he was going to be sent down, turned it around dramatically and all of a sudden was a force offensively and on defense. All of the bench players were hitting below their career numbers. The team after the 8-0 start was barely over .500 in the rest of their games by the end of May.
Fans were calling for Muncy to be moved because he got off to a horrible start both offensively and on defense. He looked nothing like his old self. The bigger problem though was the starting pitching. Outside of Yamamoto, no Dodger starter was going deep into games. Not helping much was the issue the bullpen was having allowing home runs. Of the top five bullpen arms, Dreyer is the only one who has not allowed multiple homers. Some of the temporary replacements for the injured pitchers have been touched for a lot of homers too. Knack the biggest culprit with 10.
May has allowed 13 in his 16 starts. Yoshi has given up 9, as has Gonsolin. Alex Vesia, usually pretty stingy where it comes to homers, allowed 7. And they have been stung by grand slams more than usual. The pitching ERA sits at 4.16 right now. An unusual spot to be in. LA usually is among the league leaders in ERA. 36-22 at the end of May. Barely over .500 since their hot start. With all of that, they were 3 games ahead in the NL West.
In June though, the team won 17 games and lost just 10. They had a brutal 29-game stretch where every team they played had a winning record. They came out of that winning 17 and losing 12. Since that stretch they are 10-2, have opened up a 9-game lead on both the Padres and Giants. All this despite an extended slump by Freeman, Betts not even performing to his career levels, Conforto contributing very little and a still damaged pitching staff. They have already burned through 34 pitchers, released two long-time Dodgers in Barnes and Taylor, replaced them with rookies, and then the other day, lose their slugging third baseman for about six weeks with an injury.
Yamamoto, who led the league in ERA his first 7 starts, has been victimized by a lack of run support. He has had a couple of games where he was knocked around some, and he was just 1-3 in June with a 4.21 ERA. Not what one would expect from one of the better pitchers to come from Japan. His problems all seem to relate to his higher-than-normal walk rate and his penchant for giving up first inning runs and putting the team behind.
The Dodgers have 35 come from behind victories. By far the most in the majors. They have seven walk-off wins at Dodger Stadium. Even with all their problems and injuries, there are plenty of reasons to stay positive. Conforto has even looked better the last couple of weeks. His BA is nothing to write home about, but he has more than doubled his home run output the last couple of weeks. And he has made a few stellar defensive plays.
The picture might change some at the trading deadline, but I don’t think the Dodgers will be quite as active this year as they have been the last couple. Of course, I could be totally wrong, and Gomes and AF could pull off a blockbuster. One thing for sure, AF will not make any knee jerk moves based on what the Padres or Giants do at the deadline. I am keeping the faith that they know what they are doing, and we are just along for the ride.
MiLB GAME SUMMARY REPORTS
Las Vegas Aviators (A’s) 10 – OKC Comets 6
Landon Knack started and completed 5.0 innings. He allowed 5 runs, on 7 hits, 2 BB and 3 K. He was the best pitcher for any LAD related team on this day.
The lone hitting star for OKC was James Outman. He went 3-4, 1 BB, 2 runs, 3 RBI, double (19), HR (20).
Wichita Wind Surge (Minnesota) 14 – Tulsa Drillers 2
Chris Campos started and lasted 2.2 innings. His line was 9 runs, 10 hits, 3 BB, 3 K, and 2 HR.
The Drillers were down 14-0 when Tulsa scored two in the 8th. No multi hit games, and only Kyle Nevin had a XBH, his first double.
West Michigan White Caps (Detroit) 15 – Great Lakes Loons 1
HBP, 3 K, 1 HR (Grand Slam).
The Loons were down 15-0 before pushing 1 across in the 9th.
The Loons had 5 hits, with no hitter with a multi-hit game. Frank Rodriguez (2), and Jake Gelof (11) with doubles.
Visalia Rawhide (Arizona) 15 – Rancho Cucamonga Quakes 3
The Quakes were down 15-0 before they scored a pair in the 8th and 1 in the 9th.
Jholbran Herder completed 0.2 innings. He surrendered 8 runs on 7 hits, 1 BB, and 1 K.
The Quakes had 7 hits, with Elijah Hainline going 2-5 and the only Quakes hitter with a multi-hit game. Samuel Munoz doubled (16) and Jackson hit his 1st HR for the only XBH.
So outside of Will Smith and James Outman, this was a very forgettable day for anything LAD related.
Born June 14th, 1948, in Los Angeles California. AKA The Bear
Good thought after today’s efforts. Gotta stay positive.
I can not remember a day when the parent teams and all the Dodgers teams/affiliates got beaten with double digit numbers as they did yesterday.
Time to move Casparius back to high leverage relief when Sheehan)Snell/Glasnow return ? He excelled in that role and gets beaten like a rented mule when starting.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!
He will probably go back as you say but I wonder will anything change. Is there really any difference between coming out if the bullpen as a reliever providing bulk innings or replacing Ohtani and providing bulk innings. His numbers having been getting worse over the past month. Are we confusing correlation with causation?
He pitched better as a short reliever. He started getting knocked around when he began pitching multiple innings.
He was pitching out of the pen first multiple innings also. Orel touched on this last night. His thinking was that he is just in a bad stretch.
Yes, he was, and after June 7th, he sucked at it. I give him a pass in KC since he was sick. He is being moved back to the pen with the imminent return of Sheehan.
He had to pitch when he was sick and he was left in a game to take one for the team. Hasn’t been right since.
Agreed KC doesn’t count. It will be interesting how he performs once back to his original role.
Ryan McMahon option one at third base why he is versatile dodgers like that can move a guy around the diamond give others a day off.
Nolan Arenaldo option 2 this would be if they want Nolan to come in to be the third baseman every day and when Muncy comes back have Muncy play second base or have Muncy pinch hit off the bench and play some games at third and 1B giving Freddie some days off in the second half
Brandon Lowe option 3 another versatile player for the Ray’s can play 3b 2b and SS has a good stick a player dodgers like can play different spots and gets on base and team will probable be out of playoff chase.
Brylan Hayes option 4 a 3b starter for the Pirates pretty good bat and fields all right be younger then Muncy but probable better then having kike and Miguel starting over there.. Pirates will be out of the playoff chase so could get him for some players that dodgers have in minors.
Either that or they bring Freeland up to play 6 weeks as starter at 3b until Muncy comes back option 5
Option #6 – play with who we have. Maybe get a look at Freeland but play Rojas, Edman and Kim. Kike is too streaky for me defensively and can’t hit.
What about Eugenio Suarez from the D’Backs??
Do you think the dbacks would help out the dodgers in getting better in the division I don’t think so.
Not likely but everyone has a price.
Suarez is having an excellent offensive year, with 28 bombs, he is just behind Shohei, and he has 71 ribbies, more than any Dodger. But he has more errors than Muncy, and the other big obstacle is the fact that he plays for Arizona. You think they would do anything to make LA better? Not a chance. Teams in the west rarely deal with LA and when they do, it is usually pre-season and fringe players.
We don’t need any of those things.
1. Play Edman there and let Kim cook at 2B
2. Play Keekay there with occasion Rojas starts
3. Call up Freeland to play 3B
We can survive a couple months without a position regular. We’re built for it, in fact.
A fourth option would put Kim at third and Edman at second.
Can Kim play 3rd as badly as he does CF?
Speaking of bad, how’s Teo’s outfield play lately in RF?
I think Pages now looks better in CF than he does at a corner.
About the same?
You really want to put a guy at third who has played just 19 games there as a professional, and who in those 19 games made 3 errors in 26 chances for a fielding percentage under .900??? No thanks.
I do. I am not sure where the sub .900 fielding % is coming from. Per his MiLB fielding page (highlighed), this year at 3B, Freeland has 2 errors in 35 total chances for a .943 fielding %. Career, he has 3 errors in 54 chances for a .944 fielding %. Also reported here:
Alex Freeland Baseball Refernce Page.
Regardless, it is way too small of a sample size to draw any conclusions, positively or negatively.
If he fails, then the Dodgers know that they do not have a 3B to replace Muncy for next year either.
I am tired of Dodgers drafting players, not bringing them up, and letting them waste away. I have no idea if Freeland is a MLB infielder. More than a handful of former 3rd round picks have reached MLB and played well. It is not as if he is considered a non prospect. He is a consensus top 50 prospect in all of MiLB.
He has a .800+ OPS. Leads PCL in BB thus his high OBP
If you wanted a more experienced 3B, the Dodgers could call up Nick Senzel or Kody Hoese.
Was in reference to Kim, not Freeland.
Lighten up
Worry about yourself Fred. I can say what I want when I want. Just voicing an opinion like everyone else on this site.
A. Colorado would never trade McMahon to LA. B. McMahon is having a terrible offensive season. He is a little better as a defender, but his only real second position is second base, and LA has 5 guys who can play there. C. Arenado is not the same guy he was a couple of years ago. Neither he nor McMahon are having very good seasons. Both have OPSs below .700. D. Lowe is having a very good year offensively, but he has never played 3rd base. 1B, 2B, and DH. Not an option. E. Ke’Bryan Hayes is having a worse offensive season than any of them. No power at all. Decent defense. F. Freeland has played all of 19 games at third as a professional player. I am sorry, but there is no way they stick a kid with less than 20 games experience at third base in the middle of a pennant run. Especially when his offense is not all that prolific at AAA. Freeland just hasn’t shown enough offensively to merit that kind of promotion. Kike and Hernandez are superior defenders. LA has plenty of offense. They can live with what they get from Kike or Miggy Ro.
Moving Noah Miller up to OKC makes me think Freeland will be brought up. Maybe after the AS break.
Shut the game off after the 2-run shot by Altuve. Can’t watch games like that, so I switched and watched some old Longmire shows. I also watched some of the firework’s displays from around the country. Fireworks are illegal here, but that did not keep the people from shooting them off. It went on until about 11:30. Games like last night happen. Read this morning that Orel stirred the cheating plot again. Didn’t see a single trash can in the dugout though. I may dislike the Stros for 17, but only two players remain from then, Altuve and McCullers. You have to admit, for a guy his size, Altuve is one hell of a ballplayer.
Happy 31st birthday to Shohei! He will be starting tonight; game is on FOX. Casparius moving back to the pen with Sheehan most likely being called up to pitch on Sunday, and Glasnow most likely coming back next week in Milwaukee. Hard to believe LA’s most effective pitcher last night was Miggy Ro, the only one who did not allow a run. Smith’s BA up to .330. Conforto with another 0-4 effort. This has gone on about long enough.
Dryer was very good. Only reason he gave up a run was because Teo totally misplaced what should have been the third out.
i have to wonder what’s going on with Teo. Since he came back from injury, his hitting and defense have been subpar.
Yes, they have, I had turned the game off by then. But Teo isn’t the only player not playing well.
But Teo is maybe the most obvious. I don’t know if thye later changed the official ruling but he totally missed the fly ball that was miraculously rule a double. Not is first misplay in RF lately and he looks crappy at the plate. He is in an offensive and defensive slump.
He hasn’t been the same since he went on the IL with that strained groin. Having done that before, it takes quite a while before you feel comfortable moving very fast,
Yeah a lot of players aren’t hitting but it seems like Teo is having a rough time in the field. I’d rather have Mookie in RF but that’s never going to happen.
Yes, that is doubtful, but Pages could move there if they decide to get a CF with some pop and defensive skills. Then Teo could move to left and Conforto could go wherever he needs to go.
Dodgers just released Luis Garcia. Who is next>>>>>???????
Noah Davis.
Go Dodgers!!!!!
“A lot of players aren’t hitting.” Our team era is 4.5. Ranked 23rd in baseball. Guess who has the best record in baseball? All I have to say is WOW! What happens when pitching gets healthy and top 4 starts hitting?
A common refrain for most teams
What? Most teams don’t have MVP’s and Cy Young winners returning to form!!
I was a big proponent of Casparius getting in the Dodger rotation after his successful appearances early in the season. Wow, what happened? He was just BP.
My first thoughts were the league had figured him out and he needed to make adjustments. Last night, I watched him get lit up like 4th of July fireworks. Some of his pitches got the fat part of the zone and very hittable but other pitches were good pitches that still got pounded. The Astros were never fooled. Zero off balance swings even on good pitcher’s, pitches. They were sitting on his whole arsenal.
It finally occurred to me after Walker’s homer in the 3rd, that they all looked like they knew what was coming. Was he tipping his pitches? How do they know what’s coming?
A second after I thought that, Orel said the exact same thing.
I don’t know if Orel repeated the questioning after the game, but it sure looked suspicious to me. I know it didn’t count for 18 runs but it sure looked like it did with the 6 Casparius gave up. The Astros maybe just had his number but it looked very strange to me too.
I don’t know who Noah Davis is but he certainly had to fall on his sword in this one.
Time to move on and play better today.
For the life of me, I do not understand all the hesitation from fans to bring up Alex Freeland. This is the perfect time to see what the Dodgers have in him. If the Dodgers do not bring him up, his agent should request a trade so he does not end up like Kody Hoese and stuck. Fans want the Dodgers to get younger but prefer to trade prospects for Nolan Arenado.
Brandon Lowe has never played 3B. Another popular idea is to move the starting All Star catcher to 3B, or his backup who has never played 3B. Ke’Bryan Hayes is a fantastic defensive 3B, but he has a 68 OPS+. I would rather have Kiké or Miggy Ro at 3B. Arizona will not help the Dodgers by trading Eugenio Suarez to them.
The best 3B who might be available at the deadline or next winter is Alex Bregman. And Dodger fans do not want him.
Kiké and Miggy Ro will not be around next year, and we do not know if Muncy can make a full recovery with his knee. I sure would like to know if Freeland is a MLB player or not. We are not going to learn that as long as he is in AAA on his way to Ryan Ward and Kody Hoese status.
Agreed. If this injury is 6 weeks to two months for Muncy, there is no rush to go out and trade for a third base option. The Dodgers know what they have in Kike and Rojas. That is always an option. If the Dodgers are not certain that Muncy will be back before September 1st or at all, bring up Alex Freeland and see what he gives you, especially from the left side, where he has been better. With a comfortable lead in the division, there is very little down side to giving Freeland a chance.
On the other hand, if Edman is an option at third, that should give more playing time to Kim at second. If the Dodgers go that route, I would bring up Outman as a fourth outfielder and a late game defensive option in center. I have no illusions that Outman becomes a consistent major league hitter but he would be the best defensive outfielder on the roster. With Teo’s struggles at the plate (.215 for 6 weeks) and in right field (which is getting almost comical at this point), another option in the outfield is not a bad idea.
I agree with Phil and Jeff, getting younger at this point makes sense. With Pages, Rushing, and Kim on the position side, that process has started. It is a welcome change from rolling the dice on retreads from other organizations.
One of the reasons I wasn’t upset about Muncy’s slow start was because I was hoping to get Freeland get a chance.
My overused mantra has been play Outman and Freeland.
Spot on Jeff.
It is truly amazing how many fans want to instantly look outside the organization when we need a replacement player. Or move the BatBoy to a trial at the position.
And then some boast about the organization’s depth or suggest it’s time to get younger.
Ryan Ward, Kody Hoese and now Outman all appear to be the “Out-Men” when it comes to ever becoming Major League players with the Dodgers.
When was the last time Freeland has gotten a hit. Can’t say I follow it real close though I look at the box everyday. I don’t think Freeland has gotten a hit since Muncy went down. He has played third every game and they brought up the SS from Tulsa. Hernandez and Rojas would be a better choice. If the Dodgers go shopping for a third baseman the price shot way up after Muncy got hurt. Our front office doesn’t pay that game of desperation
He has gone hitless the last two games. He hit in 10 of his previous 12. During those 12 games and 59 PA, he batted .319/.441/.617/1.058, 5 doubles, 3 HR, 11BB and 7K. He leads the PCL in BB and is #3 in doubles. He is a streaky hitter to be sure. He is a .800+ OPS hitter. Outside of Freeland, the Dodgers do not have any player close who can play MLB 3B in their organization. Why not find out if he can play there.
Freeland was also unable to buy a hit while he was on the injured list which he just got off of 2 days ago.
Amen to that. Now is the time. Fate has dumped this into AF’s lap. He should take advantage of the opportunity.
With regard to the Rushing/Smith situation. The Dodgers had him play some left field but seem to have given up on that idea. My question is (and this is for the off season), why not see how Rushing does at third base. He’s already played first base and we know he has a good arm. Seems like that might be the better alternative option than left field for him. With DH and 1B not being viable options for the near future, why not have Smith and Rushing both split time at C and 3B, assuming that Rushing shows some aptitude for that position when given a shot at it.
Other than Smith starting off hot and then cooling down the previous couple of years and his flirtation with concussions, he is the catcher who has earned that spot like Freddie has first base. I’d rather Freeland push Max from third than I would want Rushing to push Smith from catcher. And, without shame, put Outman in CF and Conforto in a pinata along with Kike’ and see which one Friedman picks up off the ground.
Gomes has spoken to this, they think Rushing is best at catcher.
why we assume 3rd base, 1B, LF have not only been discussed by managers and evaluating staff, but also explored in practice and discussed with the player is beyond comprehension
My goodness. We’re eight games up. Give the kid a shot!
No doubt about it Freeland deserves a chance.
Dodgers could trade for Ryan McManhon and plus him in at third base and nit miss a beat and still have kike and Miguel and Kim to play third base plus McMahnon plays around the infield to. Then trade like Landon Knack or a James outman and some pitcher down in minors and a position player pretty sure the Rockies would take some new blood. Then with Muncy out your starters could be this Freeman 1b Kim 2b Betts SS McMahnon 3B Smith C Lf Teo Hernandez CF Edman Rf Pages Dh Ohtani simple bench you have kike rushing Miguel Conforto
Rockies are not going to trade McMahon to the Dodgers. No way they help them at all. And McMahon is not having a very good year. MLBTR reported today that the Dodgers are not going to replace Muncy at the deadline.
Going to need two spots on the 40 as per Jack Harris:
Dave Roberts said Blake Snell and Blake Treinen are expected to head out on rehab assignments after today’s lives
He added that “both those guys should be ready at some point in time shortly after the All-Star break”
Need 2 spots?
Noah Davis, Matt Sauer, Zach Penrod. Take your pick.
I think they like Sauer, but the other two could go.
Heck, all three players may go when Glasgow and Henriquez are also moved off.
That would be a good time to place Yamamoto to have a slight hamstring problem and give him a 15 day R & R.
That would help with the 26-man but wouldn’t solve the 40-man situation.
Braves released Alex Verdugo.
I see that That Tyler Nevin the son of Phil Nevin has moved up to Tulsa from Great Lakes. I’ve always liked him because of his blood lines. He is primarily an outfielder that has played a lot of third base. I’ll regress to Jeff on the scouting report. I have hope for him. Not this year but down the road.
I absolutely despise losing to Houston.