In June of 2016, the Dodgers traded former #1 pick, Zach Lee to the Mariners for SS Chris Taylor. Taylor had been drafted in the 5th round of the 2012 draft. Lee was taken in the first round, #28, in 2010. Nobody knew it at the time, but the trade would be a steal for the Dodgers. Lee never pitched a single game for Seattle, and Taylor became one of the Dodgers best options off of the bench.
Based on what he has done since his stellar playoff performance in 2021, most Dodger fans do not see it that way. To them, he wasn’t worth the 60- million-dollar four-year contract he was given. But the front office felt differently. Kike left for Boston, so Taylor was the one true Swiss-Army knife type player that they had left. At the beginning of the 22 season, Taylor was the regular left fielder. 
But let’s go back to 2016. On June 19th, Taylor was traded to the Dodgers for the aforementioned Lee. He had played just 2 games for Seattle and was 1-3. It did not take long for Chris to write his name in Dodger history. On July 15th in Arizona, He hit his first career homer, a grand slam off of Silvio Bracho. He also doubled and tripled and drove in 6 runs. He was a single short of the cycle. He joined Preston Ward, (1948) and Chico Fernandez (1956), as the only Dodgers to hit a grand slam as their first MLB homer.
He also became the third second baseman in Dodger history to drive in 6 runs. Billy Herman, (1943), and Jackie Robinson, (1949). For the year he hit .207 in 34 games. An omen of things to come, he played SS, 2B and 3B that year in his 34 games with the Dodgers. He did not appear in the postseason. Chris worked on his swing in the offseason hoping to improve his contact and add some power.
He did not make the team out of spring training, and he was sent to OKC. Taylor played in 10 games at OKC hitting .233 in 43 at bats and he was recalled to the Dodgers. Taylor had started working out in center field, Seager was the SS and Chris was not going to play there much. But the Dodger outfield in early 17 suffered losses of Franklin Guiterrez and Andre Ethier, both expected to fill major roles. Joc Pederson was in center and Puig in right. Several others would play out there during the season. 
Most of Taylor’s starts came in the outfield, (96). He made 49 in center and 48 in left. He also played 3rd, SS and 2nd. He played in 140 games, batted .288 with 21 homers and 72 runs driven in. He struck out 142 times in 514 at bats. He got his first career walk off hit on July 6th. He played 15 postseason games, going a combined 15-59 with 3 homers and 7 runs batted in. His best performance came against the Cubs in the LCS. He was named the MVP of the NLCS along with Justin Turner.
2017 was his best season. In 2018, he hit .254 with 17 homers, stole 9 bases and struck out 178 times to lead the NL. He drove in 63 runs and played the bulk of his games, 81, at SS due to the injury to Corey Seager. He would do that until the Dodgers traded for Manny Machado just after the All-Star game. He appeared in 155 games, which is his career high. He only had 3 at bats against Atlanta in the LDS in 18, hitting a homer and driving in 2. He played all 7 games against the Brewers in the LCS, batting .364 and making a game saving catch the Jeff profiled the other day. In a quirky twist of fate, he did not get the MVP award for the series even though he led the team in hits, it went to Bellinger, who batted just .200 for the series.
Like most of the Dodgers, Chris did not hit well in the World Series against the Red Sox. In 2019, he played 124 games, batting .262 with 12 homers and 52 RBIs. He cut his Ks down to 115. He stole 8 without being caught. He played a majority of his games in left field. He went 1-8 in the LDS loss to the Nats. Chris did ok during the shortened 2020 season, batting .270 with 8 homers and 32 RBIs.
He had signed a two-year-13.4-million-dollar extension with the Dodgers prior to the season. He played second base most of the year. He was 13-58 in the post season. His only homer came in the World Series against the Rays as did all of his RBIs, 3. The homer came in the Dodgers game 2 loss. In 2021, Taylor played well, batting .254 with 20 homers and 70 runs driven in. He was selected to his first and only All-Star game.
His biggest moment of the season came in the Wild-Card game against the Cardinals. In the bottom of the 9th inning, with a runner on and two outs, he hit a walk-off homer against TJ McFarland, sending the Dodgers to the LDS against the Giants. Photo above. He was just 2-14 in the LDS against the Giants. Against Atlanta in the LCS, Chris batted .476 with 3 homers and 9 driven in. He became the first player to ever hit 3 homers in an elimination game. Unfortunately for Dodger fans, the Braves won game 6 to go to the World Series. 
That offseason, Taylor was rewarded with a 4-year-60-million-dollar contract. Part of the reason was that Kike Hernandez had decided to go play in Boston as a regular. To many fans, it seemed like a lot of money for a utility guy. At that point in time though, the team’s top brass must have felt he was worth it. The 2022 Dodgers were a juggernaut during the regular season. They won a team record 111 games. Their starting outfield, which had Taylor in left a bulk of the games, was one of the best defensive outfields that they have ever had with Taylor, Bellinger and Betts. Trayce Thompson would also see time there as would Joey Gallo.
Taylor had some injury issues and batted just .221 with 10 homers and 43 driven in. He was 0-7 in the LDS loss to the Padres. Chris went back to his utility role in 23, he improved a bit to .237 with 15 homers and 56 RBIs. On the 15th of June, Taylor hit his 100th homer off of Reynaldo Lopez, a grand slam. He became the first player in history to hit grand slams on his first and 100th homers. He was 1-6 with an RBI in the LDS loss to the D-Backs.
LOS ANGELES, CA – JUNE 14: Chris Taylor #3 of the Los Angeles Dodgers makes a play at shortstop in the game against the Chicago Cubs at Dodger Stadium on June 14, 2019, in Los Angeles, California.
2024 was difficult for Chris, he was plagued with a groin injury and recurring pain in his neck. He batted just .202 for the year with 4 homers and 23 driven in while playing in just 87 games. He got 4 at bats in the LDS without a hit. He played a little more in the LCS due to Lux’s injurie getting 3 hits in 8 at bats and walking twice. He was used mainly as late inning defense in the World Series win over the Yankees, but he did get a hit in his only official at bat. He got his second ring at a ceremony earlier this season.
We all know he was getting very limited playing time this season, and Freidman addressed that when he talked about releasing Chris the other day on the pre-game show. One thing I always admired about Taylor was that he was a grinder type player. He went out did his job and never bitched about where he was playing or how much playing time he was getting. His biggest detractor as a player to me at least, was the fact that he struck out way too much for a player with his skill set.
Taylor always played hard, he made some great defensive plays, and he had some great games with the bat that helped the team win games. A few years ago, if my memory serves, he threw a Padre player out at home for the final out. Just like Mookie made a game saving diving catch to end a game in San Diego, Chris did the same with a great throw from left field. His time as a Dodger is over, but AF said Chris would always have a place in LA. I agree. Taylor was who he was, and I appreciate all he did for the Dodgers.
memories
I feel no emotion when I think of CT3. I try not to linger on memories.
I agree with your point, but my comment does not represent my own thoughts about Taylor. I simply wanted to highlight the misspelled word “memorys” in the title. My “memories” is the correct spelling.
Water-color memories….in Dodger blue.
To me, those would be the Nicolas Volpe portraits we got from Union-76 gas stations back when. I still have several of those.
Noted and fixed thank you.
You’re welcome.
What about CTE?
Okay now that taylor and Barnes are gone keep making team better how about Muncy and Rojas. We need some pitching some starters that won’t get hurt. I bet they wish they would have signed Jack back. With snell and glasnow getting better soothe playoff hope is to have Yamamoto Snell Glasnow Goslin and Kershaw but they need to do something about thirdbase and left field. Lane Thomas possible or Nolan that would help there. But pitching who would be the jack Flarethy to get at the deadline this year. Hmmm.
3B and LF are not concerns for me….we have players on the team right now who can suffice.
Healthy starting pitchers is the only concern for me. Right now we have Yamamoto +3 broken down china dolls (based on the past 2-3 years) + a few coin flip guys. This is clearly no where near enough to go deep into the playoffs, assuming we even make it in. I don’t assume that is a given.
After looking at these last 4-5 games, clearly we have huge pitching concerns. And it is not a given Snell and or Glasnow return healthy, strong, and fixed.m I don’t assume that is a given.
A concerned TM
How can you tell which starters are not going to get hurt? There is no way to tell that. Flaherty has a losing record with a team that has a better record than the Dodgers do. He is 2-5 with a 4.44 ERA and he has given up 10 homers. They signed who they felt would help them win another title. Flaherty was not on that list evidently. Muncy is starting to hit, Rojas is their best SS option behind Mookie right now and has a lot of value in the clubhouse. Arenado? Please, dude has fallen off of the map. His BA is down to .241 after a hot start. He has 3 hits in his last 5 games, none of them for extra bases. He has 1 more homer, 4, than Muncy, and 1 more RBI 19-18. The only thing he improves is the defense, and he has made 3 errors already this year, more than he usually does. If LA trades for a third baseman and a starting pitcher, you can bet they won’t be named Arenado or Flaherty. As for Thomas, his BA is lower than Conforto’s. He is hitting .156 with no homers and just 2 RBI’s. Conforto has been playing much better the last week or so. Do some research before just pulling names out of a hat.
It is impossible to predict injuries.
That said, players have track records. Burnes has probably been the most durable ace in recent years–just as Glasnow may be the most injury prone. There was a point in time when Burnes, Cease and Glasnow were on the market–and that’s how I ranked them on my wish list. Burnes went to O’s, Cease to the Pads, and Glasnow to the Dodgers.
Snell, like Glasnow, seems fragile. I’d have prefered landing Crochet in a trade to signing Snell. Did the Dodgers try to get Crochet? Beats me. My guess is that AF, who has a long history with Snell, knew he’d sign with the Dodgers. AF has claimed that Snell was the Dodgers’ prime target, implying he was prefered to Burnes. But right now Burnes looks like the better investment.
I had thought Yamamoto, because of his physical flexibility and pitching style, would not be much of an injury risk. But he got hurt last season.
Fans are more nervous about pitching injuries than ever before. So much so that some don’t want Shohei to take the mound.
I say let Shohei be Shohei. I want to him to dazzle us all the way through the World Series.
All I have to do is watch the game Michael and go is this the Dodgers playing cuz aren’t they suppose ti be just killing opponents. I’ve seen two dominating pitching performances this year both were Yamamoto that’s not going to be good playoff time. So, I said who do you think they should get since your the old holy wizard and always right? I say the weakness is leftfield and third base and if Miguel Rojas is the best shortstop on team why isn’t he starting at shortstop and put mookie in rightfield and move teoscar back to leftfield and edman in centerfield then on the bench you would have Conforto Pages Hernandes Rushing so for you to say I dont pay attention you can go jump off a bridge. That’s what they should do. But since you want mookie at shortstop then they keep putting him there but as a fan mookie should go back to the outfield.
Paying attention and research are two entirely different things Bradley. I do at least 10-24 hours of research on each post I do. And I do it for nothing except love of the game and the team. I have been watching them for over 69 years, so yes, I know something about the game, but I also have watched how the Dodgers front office works since Freidman took over. He does not do anything without a plan.
He always gets a starting pitcher at trade deadline and a reliever and he will add a bat. Lane Thomas last year in the playoffs waa on a tear he is like Kiki when october gets Here a different player then regular season. Allright then go get Taylor Ward to play leftfield from the Angels since he rocked our pitching staff thats the problem now is starting pitching. This bullpen game stuff gets boring to watch every time. I watch a game it’s two innings from this pitcher. Then another pitcher. When has a Dodgers starter pitched like six innings. Guess Yamamoto. So since the Pirates are probable out of playoffs and Rockies and maybe Baltimore are there any starters that would be worth getting until ours come off the disabled list. Freeland with the Rockies always looks good is he evee had a team that would hit for him.
Lane Thomas hit .222 last postseason with 2 homers and 9 driven in. All of that damage was done against the Tigers. When Cleveland played the Yankees, he hit just .118. Nowhere near Kike’s numbers. Taylor Ward is hitting homers, 13 but hitting just .198. His OPS is .705. He strikes out four times more than he walks, but his biggest drawback is that he plays for the Angels, and Arte Moreno hasn’t made a trade with LA since the Pederson-Stripling-Pages deal was stopped. The Rockies are like the Angels, they haven’t made a trade with LA in years, and their starters and bullpen are worse than the Dodgers. Only position player on that team I would trade for is Hunter Goodman, and that isn’t happening because he is a catcher. Their next best hitter is Jordan Beck; he is a left fielder. Pittsburgh’s best pitcher is Skenes, and he isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. AF does not always get a starter and reliever. AF trades for need. If it is needed, that is what he tries to get. And as I have told you many times Bradley, BOTH teams have to want what the other is offering.
A. Rojas is four years older than Mookie and no longer an everyday player. He was not signed to play every day. He was signed to be a reserve and give players a day off at three infield positions. SS, 2nd and 3rd. B. Left field is a problem right now since Conforto has not played up to what they expected him to be. But Lane Thomas, who you suggested, is no upgrade, in fact he is much worse. Conforto has a 17-million-dollar deal. Do you honestly think they are not going to give him at least until the end of June to turn things around before they make a move? C. Yes, third is also a problem. Nolan Arenado is not the solution. Max has played better in the last two weeks he is hitting .275 with 2 homers and 11 driven in. Arenado is hitting .200 with 1 homer and 5 driven in. Yes, he is an upgrade on defense, but not by that much this year. D. Mookie was moved to the infield because they needed a SS when Lux failed there. He moved back to RF last year because that was where the team needed him. They put him back at SS this spring because they A. signed Teo, who wanted to go back to right where he feels the most comfortable, and B, because Mookie is at the point in his career where he feels more comfortable playing the infield. I am sure if the Dodgers asked, Mookie would move anywhere they wanted. As for Edman, he is more valuable moving around the diamond than he is as an everyday center fielder. Pages has played very well in center. But he probably is better suited as a corner outfielder. Edman did not play center last night because of his ankle. I am not always right, but I am right. The best lineup would probably be Pages in left, Edman in CF and Hernandez in right. The infield would be Max at third, Mookie at SS, Kim at second and Freddie at first. Pretty solid all the way around and decent defense. But all those decisions are not going to be made before the end of June. When they get close to the deadline, we will have a clearer picture of where they really are. But if AF trades for a pitcher, it will be for bullpen help, or an innings eating starter, not for someone’s junk, which at this point is exactly what Thomas, Flaherty and Arenado are.
A minor tweak: I’d put Pages (and his arm) in RF, and Teo in LF. Teo prefers RF, but he’s a team guy and he has played LF a lot. I like Edman in CF.
But there’s another OF alignment I’d like to see: Pages in CF, with Teo in RF and Rushing in LF. He’s had the training, so why not use him out there? On this team, only Shohei hits the ball harder than Rushing. Edman takes his gold glove to 2B.
Consider:
Shohei DH (on another MVP pace)
Mookie SS (he’s warming up)
Freddie 1B (another MVP contender)
Smith C (quietly having a terrific season)
Teo LF (was mashing before his injury)
Max 3B (has mashed with the new eyeglasses)
Pages CF (defense is improving too!)
Rushing LF (let Dalton eat…does anyone prefer Conforto?)
Edman 2B (was mashing before his injury too)
Every player in that lineup can crush the ball. I’m moving Smith back to clean up because his OBP is now .450, better than both Freddie and Shohei. Smith’s slugging is .504, for a .954 OPS. Smith can help ensure that Teo and Max come up with men on base.
Muncy has been crushing the ball since he got his new spectacles. Over the past 15 days, his OPS is .863, including 2 HRs.
Yes, it looks like the Dodgers will need to deal for another Flaherty type. Crazy how so much pitching depth doesn’t look so deep.
The Dodgers pitching staff is abysmal. Every time the Dodgers are in the field I cringe. First innings make me want to vomit in my mouth now.
The pitching staff has zero fundamentals. They’ve built the staff based on chase rates, matchups and analytics. It’s time the Dodgers make a change and go back to basic pitching foundation 101.
1. Starters must go deeper into games. All pitchers in the organization should have this directive. Every Starters goal should be 6-7 innings every time out.
2. No more obsessing over chase rates. Pitching efficiently should be prioritized.
3.getting ahead in counts and not making useless edge pitches.
4. Getting the first out of innings.
5. Challenging hitters when there are two strikes.
6. Limiting walks, and avoiding 3-ball counts. Doing 2, 3 and 5 will help with this one.
7. Limiting home runs will be another priority for all pitchers.
8. Following the recent youth movement, replacement level, AAAA, and non- prospect amateur pitchers should be immediately released from the organization. Guys like Garcia, Trevino, loutos and Noah Davis should never see another inning as Dodgers. All pitching prospects from AA and higher should be called up to eat innings. Wrobleski, Frasso, Copen, etc. All of them should be with the big club until the injured pitchers return.
9. Bring in an old school non-analytics former pitcher to help teach these fundamentals. Someone like Orel Hershiser would help.
10. Focus on finding pitchers who can provide innings at the trade deadline.
11. No more bullpen games or openers.
If the Dodgers want to get serious about defending their title this year, they can’t continue rolling out these pitchers every game. Otherwise they will continue to lose and fall in the standings.
Cannot argue with any of that. I have seen enough bullpen or opener games and am tired of them. I turned the game off right after Knack gave up another bomb. The only good thing from last night’s game was Mookie getting two bombs. But as usual, no one on base.
It is all about injuries and not having the quality we expected too have.
Those guys who are pitching now just are not good enough with the exception of Yamamoto, Scott and Casparius. The rest of the pitching stuff is average at best.
We need guys like Snell, Glasnow, Phillpps, Treinen, Yates,Kopech , Graterol back ASAP or we will be hard pressed to make the postseason this year. Just too many good teams not only in the division but the entire NL.
On a bright side Emil Morales went 3-5 with his 3rd HR already, 3 rbi and a BB last night at the ACL.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yeah, Morales is going to do them a whole helluva lot of good down there.
Average is acceptable for depth, but I’m not sure we have many in that genre. Our pitchers are below average and not showing any signs of improving. Knack doesn’t belong in the big leagues. Doesn’t management know how to evaluate pitchers? I really think they’ve gone off the rails.
Wrobleski and Miller will be next men up.
Lets hope they can deliver.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hope is not a strategy.
Frasso too
Bob Nightengale reports the Dodgers supposedly looking at Ryan McMahon.
Always liked him. Would be an upgrade for sure.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!
McMahon hitting .201 as of today with 6 homers and 11 driven in. Muncy has driven in 18 and is hitting .205. McMahon is just a tick better at third with 4 errors to Max’s 6. And LA isn’t the only team looking, so are the Cubs, and given the chance, Colorado would much rather trade a player out of the division than to a rival. Especially the Dodgers. They haven’t traded with each other in years. Last one I remember was when they got Juan Nicasio.
Not to be critical dodgerram, but McMahon is Max Muncy. Hitting around .200 with a couple of HRs and 11 RBI. And strikes out at a 32% rate. Bats left, throws right and plays 3B. Sound familiar? Who do the Dodgers cut to make room for him? It doesn’t make any sense right now.
No problem and I can see your point. McMahon probably would be an upgrade on defense over MM , not so much at the plate.
Trade would make only sense if they take MM.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!
Much-maligned Max has been producing an .850 OPS since he started wearing corrective lenses. On defense he’s not a gold glover, but he’s better than his reputation.
Today Max delivers the walk-off sac fly when he could have easily grounded into a double play.
When I looked up McMahon’s stats, I was surprised he wasn’t doing better.
I think Max has a better chance to put up offensive numbers than McMahon
4 of our top 5 starters and 5 of our top 6 relievers are out injured. Life will get better
The 30 year old third baseman hitting .200? How would he help the Dodgers score 8?
Though they weren’t scored as such, there were 3 unearned runs given up last night. In the end it didn’t matter. When this team only score 5, there’s a great chance it won’t be enough.
It would appear the needed isn’t going to magically appear. Could a young arm help? Maybe. Is Miller fixed? . Will Glasnow, Snell and Sasaki reappear before the deadline? Who knows.
For now the rest of the West isn’t tearing things up so we float along, still in first place. It feels tenuous but so what. It’s May. This team will look different, in one way or another, come August.
Do you think it is reasonable to expect the offense to score 8 runs or more every game? I agree because the pitching is pathetic.
There is no way any lineup can be expected to put up those kind of numbers. If this is the case all season then this year’s team is not going to go anywhere.
Of course I know that. It’s never been done and this team sure isn’t going to do it. Not hitting solo home runs the way they way they do.
My 3 fave CT3 moments must be:
1) the game winning 9th inning HR vs the Cards in the Wild Card game 2021
2) the catch in Game 7 2018 vs Milwaukee
3) leading off 2017 World Series Game 1 with a HR
I loved the throw that nailed the Padres runner at the plate to end the game. That was cool. Loved the 3-homer game against the Braves to keep them alive in 21. Pollock hit 2 homers in that game.
i know Conforto is in a rut and think he will be given time to come around, but…..
his ability to hit grounders to 2B is both infuriating and impressive
Yeah Bluto, Conforto has the ability to roll over any pitch away, to second.
I’m really not surprised by his poor performance so far.
I watched him in high school, and at Oregon State where he was a star. He was an All-American, College Player of the Year, on the USA National Team and the 10th overall pick by the Mets 11 years ago.
He never became the hitter I thought he would be. MLB isn’t college baseball. He is a career .247 hitter but after missing all of 2022 with an injury, he has hit only .228/.716.
Maybe the Dodgers thought they could turn his sinking career around but that hasn’t happened for the $17 million for this season.
It is entirely possible that we are all waiting for a breakout that isn’t going to happen.
He can do it to almost any pitch! Even middle-in!
If we could stomach Outman the Dodgers best defense could be
C. Smith
1b. Freeman
2b. Edman
3b. Freeland
SS. Betts
LF. Hernandez
CF. Outman
RF. Pages
What indication have you seen that the Dodgers value defense at anywhere near the level to make permanent or semi-permanent changes like this?
I’ve seen zero point zero indicators.
Only expressing personal opinion with a couple of spots that valued offense over pure defense.
McMahon alternative to Max would be a pure defense decision.
totally understand, just pointing out the team doesn’t seem to preference defense.
they believe adequacy plus positional acumen is all they need, for the most part.
Outman legitimately has about a 50% strikeout rate. We can’t live with that.
I’m only talking defense but the occasional home run and walk is more than Conforto has been doing.
Gotcha. Maybe Fangraphs can do a deep dive on: James Outman, is he better than Michael Conforto?
Use baseball savant.
Well the pitching is rightfully getting a good going over here. Our pitchers are either hurt or shitty. This is a good opportunity for guys like Knack to step up and earn a spot. He isn’t good enough.
But until the injured pitchers get back I’d like to see Casparius, Frasso, Wrobleski, Feyereisen and even Miller get a chance to prove themselves and help the club. They can’t be any worse.
Scott has given things a lot of consideration and has a lot good ideas. Injuries alone don’t explain such poor performances.
Now that we have gotten in a position defensively to settle into a more predictable lineup, I hope Doc doesn’t again fall into his lineup du jour mode with a different lineup every day. He seems to love moving guys around like chess pieces.
Second base has been a revolving door for years. Last night I would have switched Kim and Edmon. On a regular basis, I can see Edmon in Center and Kim at 2nd and not the other way around. I have no stats to support that; just my eyes. Kike can move around and give guys days off at multiple positions but let’s settle into a regular lineup for awhile with Freddie, Kim, Mookie, Muncy, and the outfield with Teo, Pages and Edman. Conforto would do more sitting with Teo back, for my money. Pages seems well suited to right so maybe Teo helps us more in left with Edmon left alone in Center.
Feyereisen? He just pitched himself back to the minors. He has been an exceptional failure.
The Dodgers need some healthy pitching right now. Not at the trade deadline, but right now. This BP is already feeling the effects of the awful starting pitching and it’s only May.
I agree with Scott in that something needs to change with the pitching philosophy the team (and most of baseball) is using. I think these younger GMs sit around and try to come up with ways to get a slight edge. They had no concern how it could affect fan interest.
On offense the result was the three true outcome and the complete disregard for the unproductive strikeout. Fortunately, MLB made some rule changes to help add more action for the fans and shorten the game time.
Now it looks like the walk is not a concern. You can’t defend a walk. No matter what the count don’t throw a hittable strike because nothing good can happen when the hitter puts a ball in play. Don’t trust the defense. WTF? Another attempt to make the game less interesting to watch in order to accomplish the front office’s hair brained idea to not allow a hitter to put a pitch in play. “Oh my goodness, we can’t expose our defense to actually play defense.” A strikeout or walk is the objective. Well, it’s a two true outcome when it comes to pitching.
Teach the pitchers to be pitchers, not robots that need an overhaul (TJ surgery) every 2-3 years. With an unlimited number of humans that can throw a baseball hard these days I guess the front offices figure that it’s best to use them and burn them. As a fan it is disheartening not to have a opportunity to have a favorite pitcher that you can follow and cheer for several years. With the Dodgers it seems a fan has a few games, not a few years, before that player is on the IL or having TJ surgery. Kershaw may be the final long term pitcher a Dodger fan can follow. And even he has been limited over the recent several seasons.
Just leave well enough alone. Let the players play the game without all the nerds coming up with ways to ruin the fan experience.
Oh, and get off may lawn!!
Sorry, but not sorry, for the rant.
Carry on.
I think this is somewhat true, but I’m not sure if the blame is directed correctly.
>>I agree with Scott in that something needs to change with the pitching philosophy the team (and most of baseball) is using. I think these younger GMs sit around and try to come up with ways to get a slight edge. They had no concern how it could affect fan interest.<<
A GM’s problem is to win games. Not local popularity, not national popularity.
A team owner’s problem is to turn a profit and have a popular team, locally first.
MLB’s problem is to help grow the sport. Financially and popularity-wise.
Manfred tries to get baseball on TV, he tries to help resuccitate local TV deals after the RSN market collapsed.
I think there is a direct conflict between what is best for teams, and what is best for the sport as a whole, and what is most entertaining for fans to watch on a daily basis.
Right now, probably about 25 of the 30 teams are doing the exact same thing on both pitching and offense.
The starting pitchers are told that at 80 pitches they are being hooked. They are instructed to empty the tank in the 4th or 5th inning, because they do not want them facing the opposiing lineup a third time. All pitchers are instructed to use heatmaps, chase rates, and not throw strikes. The directive means the teams do not want any balls put in play. The goal isnt just to strike out every hitter, but to strikeout by making that opposing hitter chase out of the zone, that way it reduces the chances of direct contact even more. Do not challenge hitters. Do not get ahead in counts. Get them to chase, on every pitch.
Relievers are instructed to mostly throw sweepers and sliders, because those induce chases the most. the more spin, the more chases, the higher chase rates, the better. All 27 outs via chasing pitches outside the zone.
On offense, it’s the three-true outcomes, and launch angle. Get the ball in the air, or take as many pitches as possible to walk. Home run, walk, or strikeout. Base-running and stolen bases are useless to them.
What this does is take away several areas of the game that are fun and exciting for fans to watch.
starting pitching. There are no more starting pitchers, they are all 5 and done guys, if that. Essentially starters are nothing more than bulk guys to open games. (bullpen games and openers are now frequently used). Of course bullpen games and openers are boring to watch. its also boring to watch 7-8 relievers trotting into every game. Starting pitching duels are fun to watch, and having this taken away by fans by obsessive math nerds is sad.
stolen bases. This is an extremely fun part of the game that no longer exists because the nerds do not think it is valuable.
balls in play! We can’t even have balls in play anymore, as the nerds want all 27 outs to come via chasing strikeouts. this is sad.
because of all this, the game has become super stale. There are no base-runners anymore. There is no starting pitching, and with the new rules, like the ghost runner, pitch clocks, etc, the game has become more robotic and less fluid and dynamic.
Manfred has been trying to fight all of this by doing stuff like the three-batter minimum rule, and banning infield shifts, but it’s hard to fight this. The nerds have taken over MLB, and did a while ago. I think that what the consumers want is important, the analytics has gone way too far.
yeah, we all know this and have known most of this.
Your surmising about chase rate is a bit nonsensical, but who cares? The bit part is about how consumer friendly the game is.
And on that, baseball knows it too.
Epstein is on record about making starting pitching more central and heroic. Making it harder to remove starting pitching (tying DH to the starter, when starter is removed the DH is removed) limiting # of pitchers on an active roster.
Hard to see how any of these moves would not result in more pitching injuries, unless under a very staggered implementation.
Take this for what you will:
The 2024 World Series averaged 15.81 million viewers across all platforms, which was the most-watched Fall Classic since 2017.
The 2025 Major League Baseball season is in full swing, coming off a season that hit a home run in attendance and viewership last year.
The league said it recorded its largest attendance in seven years with 71,348,366 at the end of the 2024 season. ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball had an average audience of 1,505,000 viewers, finishing with its most-watched season in five years. In streaming games, MLB.TV set a new high of 14.5 billion minutes watched.
MLB’s international viewership saw an +18% increase, as regular season games were played in Korea, Mexico City and London last year. The league’s social media platforms each recorded double-digit growth from the previous season, including Instagram (+28%), X (formerly Twitter) (+69%), Facebook (+17%) and YouTube (+33%). The 2024 World Series averaged 15.81 million viewers across all platforms and was the most-watched Fall Classic since 2017.
I understand that you will argue with me and disagree with almost everything I say, solely for the purpose to be difficult. If I say day, you will say night. If I say black you will say white. If I say up you will say down. No matter, but the game is doing well in that it is a multi-billion dollar per year industry, that draws millions of fans per year in person and via online and TV. But it is lagging behind the other sports.
There is far more interest and fans in NFL and NBA, partly because those sports listen to what the consumers want. Baseball is the only sport that actively tells the consumers we are not going to listen to you and we are going to give you the exact oposite of what you want.
I still love baseball, but we have to admit this.
Stop making stuff up, for the love of god.
NFL vs MLB: Revenue, Salaries, Viewership and Ratings
this is from a few years ago. I’m sure the gap is even larger by now.
Not that I agree with it. I love baseball, but baseball does not give consumers what they want.
that link does not in any way support these inane words:
“and fans in NFL and NBA, partly because those sports listen to what the consumers want. Baseball is the only sport that actively tells the consumers we are not going to listen to you and we are going to give you the exact oposite of what you want.”
you just love to argue with me.
Do you think fans tell people…”you know, I just love watching 8 middle relievers per game. It’s fun watching reclamation projects like Ryan Loutus and Luis Garcia give up 5 runs in the fifth inning”.
Catch the fever!
Scott, if you would only read and not make things up, it would be so nice. I, and everyone with an above room temperature IQ, knows and agrees the game isn’t as enjoyable.
what we don’t need, and what doesn’t help, is you making things up like “teams are focused on chase rate” or the NFL and NBA listen to the fans more than MLB or baseball doesn’t listen to the fans.
the other day you said “insghtful”, when I was talking about the obsession with chase rates, which you know is true. But again, you just want to argue, endlessly. You must really dislike me. Or just love arguing. Or both. who am I to argue with that. Enjoy…. I guess.
This is exactly what I wrote:
“I think this isn’t 💯 correct, but it really points in the right direction. Insightful.”
But for whatever reason, you think that comment was about Chase Rates.
Let’s look at chase rates over the last decade:
Highest chase rates 2015: 32.8%
Lowest chase rates 2015: 26.5%
Highest chase rate 2025: 30.7%
Highest chase rates 2024: 25.7%
Even though a marginal amount, Chasing has gone DOWN.
The reason your post pointed in the right direction, is that batters ARE NOT CHASING, but pitchers need to do more to get weak contact. This means more foul balls (generally considered weak content or a cousin thereof) and higher counts.
It proves that strategies the Dodgers and other teams are doing with these edge pitches are not working.
Challenging hitters, and getting ahead in counts can lead to as much weak contact as edge pitches.
Now you are into pure opinion, which is fine, and it’s better than making stuff up, but it’s only speculation and opinion.
The problem, Scott, is that “challenging hitters” is a vaccous statement. What does that mean if batters aren’t chasing non-strikes? Throw pitches down the middle and hope the batter misses? I think the answer to that invariably means working towards weak contact.
Again, I agree that usage combined with increasing spin rates is problematic.
If LA is going to make a trade, the team’s most likely dealing at the deadline will be the bottom feeders. Bradley suggested that the Dodgers go after Jack Flaherty again, but the Tigers are a contender right now and do not seem like a team that is going to unload players, rather they might add on. They have a better record than the Dodgers do. LA has had four chances at winning #30 and lost all of them. So, who are the bottom feeders? Colorado in the NL West, unlikely trade partner since they will not want to help a division rival and no major trade has been made between LA and the Rockies for years. Miami and DC in the East. LA has made some deals with both, especially the Nats. Starter wise, they are not going to trade Gore who is their best right now. None of the others are an upgrade. Finnegan is the only reliever who might draw a lot of interest, 14 saves in 16 chances.
They won’t be trading any of their good young players unless they get a lot back. And neither of their third basemen would merit LA trading for them. Miami’s starters are even less desirable than the Nats. It would be the Pirates in the central. LA has been linked to Kiner-Falefa, but he is just Taylor with a better BA. Their best starter is Skenes, but he isn’t going anywhere. Second best is Andrew Heaney. So, we are just going to have to ride this out and see what AF and Gomes have up their sleeves.
There is really no one out there at the present time that is available that would help the Dodgers. I don’t get all the wheezing about 3B and LF. Max is holding his own and has been improving the last 2 to 3 weeks. Yes, Conforto is a weak spot. But the Dodgers have the answer already on the roster if he continues to founder. Edman in CF, Pages and Teo in RF and LF. They can bench Conforto and use him as a lefty pinch hitter. Kim at 2B.
The Dodgers shortcoming right now is the pitching. If they go after anything, it will be pitching.
Scott, you make the point that the NBA gives the fans what they want. For me and a lot of my buddies the NBA has become a boring three point shooting contest. Most players just don’t play hard any more. Few teams run any plays other than the three point line pick and roll and teams don’t play much defense until the playoffs. And players really don’t even need to dribble anymore seeing how refs don’t call traveling. I’m totally bored with the NBA and much prefer baseball.
Really? I don’t follow the NBA much, unless the Lakers are in the finals. Sometimes I’ll watch a playoff game, and or a finals game. interesting.
Cannot stand LeBron, overblown ego and all. Just not the same game.
He’s getting old. I think he’ll retire soon.
I hope he does.
Kershaw will retire before LeBron.
Probably.
and the NFL has taken decisive steps to eliminate big hits, to eliminate end zone celebrations, and to change the rules all, arguably, to the detriment of the games enjoy ability
The NBA was great when the Showtime Lakers were playing the Celtics. Since then, it sucks rocks.
Not if you were a Warrior fan!
Quiz: Who is the only pitcher to hit 3 home runs in a game?
Ohtani
Nope, he was a DH the only time he did that. The guy was Jim Tobin, who pitched for the Pirates, Braves and Tigers over a 9-year career beginning in 1937. He had 17 homers in his career. The weird thing is, he had hit a pinch-hit homer the game before his start. His 3-homers were hit in his next 3 at bats, so he hit 4 in 4 consecutive at bats. His last at bat he hit a ball to the warning track. David Ortiz, Gary Sheffield and Rafael Palmiero, all 500 career homer hitters, never hit 3 in one game.
And Babe Ruth of course.
Ruth never hit 3 homers while he was on the mound.
True, no one has ever done that on the mound. lol.
Nice, did not see that one coming.
True that Jeff, you can’t hit home runs from the mound!
Ok, I know what he meant. Tell us Bear, who was the last pitcher, actually pitching in the game, who hit three home runs, but not while standing on the mound.
Jim Tobin is the only pitcher to ever hit three while pitching in the game. Tony Cloninger is the only pitcher who ever hit two grand slams in one game.
To all:
I understand your frustration.
I don’t dispute your urge to vent. It usually makes one feel better.
Just want to say I’m not at all concerned. We seem to go through this or something similar every year and always come out of it.
This year may prove to be the exception, but until that happens, I’m just going to see how it all plays out and assume that we’ll make the playoffs and quite possibly win our second consecutive WS.
Remember in 2018, they had to catch Colorado to just tie for the division.
Good perspective
White Sox signed SP Adrian Houser and DFAd Yoendrys Gomez.
On paper, LA should have the advantage with Yoshi on the mound tonight. Nelson has an ERA above 5. But that has not worked out too well for LA lately.
Won’t need 8 tonight. 7 solo home runs should do it.
Yoshi with a masterful 5 IP with 1 ER & 99 pitches thrown.
I’ll take six and no earned runs.
Yeah, 99 pitches should get him 6.
Well with all our problems as stated above, that explains why we are at the bottom of the standings and probably no chance to even make playoffs
So everything is all good David? People are commenting on obvious problems. With their talent should they not be playing better?
Regardless of their spot in the standings they have major pitching problems. These issues may not be a big deal right now, but could become a reason they fail in the postseason.
If these issues aren’t corrected soon then your sarcasm about failing in the playoffs may become a realty.
Of course, we all hope your sarcasm prevails.
Old favorite Walker Buehler returned from the IL tonight to pitch against the Mets.
Managed to get himself tossed in the third inning for arguing a ball/strike call.
Gotta love him.
By the way, he was right, the ump blew the call.
Walker Buehler, Alex Cora ejected vs. Mets
Much needed win, they made it exciting
Great, great outing by Yamamoto–probably his best as a Dodger. Six no-hit innings. He’s the ace.
Hoping that Snell, Glasnow and especially Shohei make it four aces.
Not so great outing by Tanner Scott…
The way things have been going lately, I was not optimistic after the Dbacks took the lead in the 10th. But the Dodgers came back thanks to Edman’s double, TWO intentional walks (to Shohei and Freddie), Smith’s HBP and Max delivering the walk-off sac fly. With all the abuse Max takes from fans, I love it when he comes through in the clutch.