Hey guys, I am able to post now. So, let’s see how this works. We all have been a little perturbed at the way the team has been performing lately. They are treading water it seems. One thing that has really bothered me is that you look at their last four losses and every one of them they had no shot at winning. 12 and 9 runs scored by the D-Backs, then 9 scored by the Brewers on Sunday. Last night they took it on the chin from Philadelphia by giving up 10 more.
The news on the pitching front got a little worse when it was noted that Kyle Hurt, a possible bullpen piece down the road, has been shut down due to elbow soreness. Bobby Miller was optioned to AAA OKC today and Ricky Vanasco was recalled. To say the least, the Dodgers’ starting staff is shorthanded and wounded.
With other teams starting to make trades and the Padres already having acquired a valuable offensive piece in Arraez, the pressure on the front office to make a significant addition is rising. Especially in the eyes of the fans. Their best pitcher so far, Gavin Stone, takes the hill this afternoon against a Phillies team that is loaded offensively, and in the starting rotation.
We soon will know what they have in mind, since the deadline is exactly 20 days away. Let us know your thoughts as the team heads into its last 5 games before the break. There have been reports that they have upped their offer to the White Sox for Crochet. Many think he is not really the answer since he has already surpassed his highest inning total.
Glad to finally be able to get this done. I will be working on some new posts, submit ideas if you like. Lets win one for Jeff!!!
I said at the time miller should not have been brought up. He had failed miserably at triple a. He was only brought up because Buehler went on the dl and that was about the only option. I was told I didn’t know what I was talking about and that he was up for good. Well I guess some posters are not always wrong because we have another take.
i feel bad for Miller. I thought he might be our ace this year. He has tremendous talent and if not injured he will be back. Is he injured? His velocity is down his command is not there. I really don’t trust anything management says regarding injury. Gonsolin kept pitching although he was hurt. Kelly gets a hangnail and he is out for months. Hopefully, miller is healthy and will be back. The Dodgers a ton of pitchers on the IL. They have the most. Why? Someone in the organization needs to figure out the answer(s)
Miller wasn’t ready to come back and it was a doubly bad move because he’s tightly wound to begin with and gets even tighter when things go badly for him.
Guys like Stone and maybe even Wrobleski seem to be much more laid back and better able to handle setbacks.
Miller may be the most talented guy on the staff but it doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll accomplish the most.
Saw it in Buehler, saw it in Miller. These two need to be replaced. At least for the time being. Maybe in a month or so they can help.
I’ll say the same thing now I say every year, I want no Dodgers at the All Star Game. Go home and sleep for a few days.
Agree
Ohtani and Freeman can weather this storm.
Miller definitely does not hide his emotions. He would have been bleeped a hundred times already. The one pitcher I can remember who could pitch mad???? Drysdale. The madder the better and you sure were not digging in on that guy. Had he been pitching when Mookie got hit, half the roster of the other team would have been diving for the dirt.
So much for fan opinion.
Wait, does anyone think Miller being optioned is anything but just using his roster spot? He wasn’t gonna pitch again until the All-Star game.
15 days out unless an injury so yes
Right. He wouldn’t pitch until the ASG.
then the next game is the 19th. He could be back the 24th.
that is, more or less, not missing a start.
That’s a good thought about winning one for me, Michael!
Uh, the other Jeff. LOL 😅
That’s the no-neck guy. Funny
Yeah, I saw his photo on X and it perfectly matches Dodger fans whenever the Padres make a trade. There used to be a ballplayer named Walt Williams. His nickname was no-neck.
Another JV lineup for a nationally televised game.
they. Don’t. Care.
If you’re referring to the Dodgers, yeah they don’t care and that’s the problem. It’s not hard to win in the regular season in recent years, and not hard to make the playoffs. You can win 85 games and get in as a wild card. That doesn’t make it acceptable to punt games, and lose on purpose.
But there is no way this team wins the World Series this year, or even gets there. Their usual strategy of pray for guys to get healthy is not going to beat dominant teams like the Phillies, or Baltimore. Almost the entire lineup consists of .200 hitting Utility players. Almost the entire pitching staff is on the injured list.
In order for the club to have any chance at a title this year, they would need to restructure almost half the entire roster, pitching and position players. Thats very difficult to do at the trade deadline. and we’ve seen Friedman’s past trades during the deadline. Anyone trust him to reshape half the roster?
It’s time to see what someone else can do with the club. We’ve seen Friedman for 9 years now, and we know what he can do, which isnt much. I think Friedman and Kasten both need to go. I’m ambivalent on Roberts. He’s a poor strategist, but a great clubhouse and players manager. I like him, but he’ll probably be the sacrificial lamb when they get swept in the wild card round.
Unless you have faith that like 15 players come back from the injured list, healthy and productive. Otherwise they’ll just keep rolling out guys like Cavan Biggio, and kike and Taylor and the rest of those bums.
Oh and BTW here’s Gavin Lux’s current line
.208/262.282 56 OPS+
and the Dodgers keep rolling him out there, day after day after day. The Dodgers are the only team in MLB that would do this. Any other organization would have released or dumped him a long time ago. But I guess he’s an an all-star right?
More losing is on the way.
To be…um…fair, they don’t roll Lux out against lefties.
Remember when he was going to be the Dodgers’ starting shortstop?
The first time he got injured.
The second time he forgot how to throw the ball…
But I’ll say it again: AF should have known years ago that Lux really isn’t a major league shortstop.
To be even more fair….
that was all typical nonsense.
but Scott likes to perform, and there is an audience here to perform for.
shut up Bluto you snobby idiot, none of this is performing. You just think everything is great. Open your eyes and see what’s really going on. It’s happening right in front of you.
If it’s not performing what is it?
fact driven discourse?
well researched content?
fully formed thoughts?
no.
its hyperbolic silliness and stuff that flies in the face of past performances of yours.
Keep going Scott!
maybe your performance will result in someone other than me commenting on your blog!
I’m shutting down my blog dingbat, and yes nobody goes over there anymore. Not even you.
And you are Timmons’ clown.
That’s, at the very least, original!
He’s not a major league hitter either.
To be more fair….Lux is a total waste of space…another can’t miss prospect much like Vargas, Busch, Outman, and Pages. The best one of that lot is not even a Dodger anymore. I guess we like to accumulate young bums to show our farm system is better than it is. -TM
A s a point of comparison, the Yankees have been sucking for the last few weeks. It’s been reported that Brian Cashman is now “ traveling with the team”. This may or may not influence the play on the field but it shows that their organization is finding the current state of the team’s play unacceptable. I guess that’s an east coast thing vs a west coast thing, right?
Im sure they don’t punt games away like the Dodgers.
Add Vargas playing LF is a joke and Andy Pages who will end up with a .220 BA and I haven’t seen him get an RBI in weeks….maybe a missed one somewhere….I haven’t been paying that close attention recently seeing all these one sided losses.
Besides SP we desperately need a bona fide CF who can also hit. May I never see Pages out there ever again once this hero enters the stage. And adding this hero should move Pages to LF, which is a huge step up from overwhelmed Vargas. Hard to believe LA hasn’t produced a bona fide OF since Bellinger. One guy in 10 years….sheesh….TM
Pages has 2 driven in during the last 14 games. He has played in over 70 games and has fewer RBIs than Muncy who has been out for a while.
Thanks Michael for fact checking this for me….I figured he must have had one….shocked he had two….I didn’t recall the second one, so I went back to look at the prior games and yes, he went 0-4 one game but had an RBI when he almost hit into a DP with runners on 1st and 3rd, but he beat it to first…runner from 3B scored…so yes, RBI #2.
Two RBIs in 14 games translates to 20 RBIs in 140 games. Not to mention in these 14 games, he is batting 4th a few times, but mostly 5th. Not to mention his inefficiency as an outfielder….Still count me unimpressed. We should trade both he and Outman to Cubs…I hear they have a very good hitting coach up there. -TM
Last inning the misplay by Vargas is evidence of the reason why the Dodgers were reluctant to play him. Imagine if u r the pitcher. Hard enough to get the Phillies lineup out without giving outs and running your pitchers pitch count up.
the Phillies r an aggressive confident bunch. The Dodgers seem passive, no fire, and like a deer in headlights.
The Dodgers could use Rob Deer right about now.
I remember Deer well. He hit .179 for the Tigers one year and hit 25 bombs. .220 career hitter who had 230 career homers.
What can you say about this outfield? Go ahead, say it.
What the heck was that. Outman told to bunt with a man on second and no one out down by two. That was insanely dumb. All I can say is ?????????
Same old outman k1 k2 k3
stone did a credible job. Vargas messed up, pages messed up, Rojas made an error. I know the official scorer called it a hit. No wonder players don’t make errors the official scorers bail them out. 2 Dodger runners were held up and could have scored because Ohtani was up. Taylor could have scored easily. Ohtani strikes out too much to risk it. Both were less than2 outs.
Everything you said was right on the money….why was Taylor held up? Get that 3B coach a severance package and bid him adieu.
I felt bad for Stone…he deserved better.
please trade Outman, Vargas, Miller, and Pages for one good outfielder. 4 for 1……Just do it! -TM
Outman pinch hitting for Kike was not a good move.
Once you get past Teoscar and Hayward, any ball hit out there is usually an event. Not one of our youth has a natural feel for the OF…..it takes forever to finally move forward on a softly hit ball….and going back is like watching a struggling whale trying to get out of a net. -TM
Outman is a very good fielder, much better than Pages in center.
I agree with that…..but we can’t afford to have his bat in the lineup when the bottom 5 are almost all automatic outs. (Save my man Rojas.) -TM
If you used him in a true platoon, he would be fine. He has an OPS of just under .800 against RHP. Not bad. And the more AB’s you get, you should improve. He had a bad start to the year. One thing he really needs to get under control is his strikeouts. Ks are just wasted at bats. And he needs to be more selective in clutch situations.
It’s almost like the little things matter in a major league game — sheesh.
Like catching fly balls in the late day?
Like attempting to bunt at head high FBs?
Indeed.
Our big guns pooped the bed in the critical situations..
Everybody feel better now that you’ve vented?
I really don’t understand all of this doomsday stuff. Why not at least wait until you see what the roster looks like on August 1st? Then scream your head off if you must.
We’re 9 games ahead of the 2nd place team in the loss column. I’m going to take the Badger approach here. I’m concerned, but not panicked.
But, to each his own.
Exactly.
It’s silliness.
I don’t know if it’s silly Bluto. On June 8 the team was 41-25. We are 14-13 since. There’s plenty of time left of course, and hopefully the pitching will be addressed, but Bear asked us to vent on this thread.
What I found silly was Scott calling you a snobby idiot. That doesn’t belong here. Take that to where name calling is acceptable.
Like when he called me an Idiot several times a couple of weeks back?
Its cool, I still like Bluto he just needs to get his head out of his butt.
It doesn’t sound like you like him. Not blaming you.
You know that Bluto deserves it, Badger. Even Jeff D has called him out on numerous occasions. May you are becoming complacent? Fan passion is still a thing even when you get old.
I find name calling childish.
Yeah, I am getting older. I’m reminded of that fact every day. But baseball is one of the few things in this world I was good at and remain passionate about. Admittedly even baseball is becoming less important every year.
The Dodgers won a championship the year after I moved from Missouri to Canoga Park. I was 11. I was fortunate enough to attend the World Series that year. Sat close to the opening of the Dodgers dugout. Joe DiMaggio was sitting right behind me. Nice man. Was willing to talk to me. At the time I thought the team winning and me going to the World Series would happen a lot. (there were no playoffs then) It of course didn’t.
The Dodgers won and lost a few in the following years, going to the Series 11 times between ’59 and ‘88. And now, under new management, playoffs 11 times in a row Only 1 championship. Since ‘88 the Dodgers have lost in the playoffs 16 times.
It’s true as you age you forget stuff. But being old means you have a lot more experience than the younger generations. I know what I know, and I know I know a lot about baseball. Hopefully I can continue adding something to this board. But I know even that is coming to an end someday. Until that day comes I hope to engage in civil conversation with other Dodger fans. When civility leaves, so will I.
Because its the same thing that’s happened the last 3 years. I’m sure Friedman will acquire another. 220 hitter in a few weeks and a journeymen reliever. All the pundits will rave about it.
The Dodgers will go 20-7 in August and finish with 101 wins, and win the division by 17 games. Then get immediately swept out of the playoffs by the Padres or Dbacks. Rinse and repeat.
and all the experts and Bluto will call Friedman a genius. “Hes the best!”
No thanks.
Exactly. The old dudes on this board can’t remember quite clearly and they all think they know more about baseball than anyone else. It’s clear they’ve forgotten a hell of a lot, too.
I have an excellent memory. I do not think I know more about the game, but I have certainly seen a lot of it. Don’t sell us old people short. We are not dead yet. And as for the name calling, Jeff isn’t here to moderate things and won’t be for over a week. I am not going to delete any comments although I can. What I would like is for all of us to be civil. I know that is hard sometimes, but I am not naming names or calling anyone out. Let’s just make our points and leave it at that.
I’m getting there…still have a little more to release….
The Dodgers lose a 4-3 game on the road to the best team in baseball. Phillies score three runs on a fly ball triple lost in the lights, three low exit velo infield hits and a jam shot into shallow center. A loss is a loss, I get it, but Dodgers ran into some tough luck. Bullpen was solid and Dodgers threatened against Kerkering and Alvarado.
Between now and the trade deadline, keep playing Pages, Vargas, and Outman, give Taylor a chance to see if this resurgence is real or not, and get the information they need to better evaluate their needs at the deadline.
Certainly the front office has some issues to address but this not a five alarm fire nor are the Dodgers in need of a drastic makeover. In my opinion, at least.
If it’s luck, you don’t need a makeover, right?
Right, and the Dodgers problems can’t be solved by a roll-of-the-dice.
Mid season BA top prospect list is out, Knack and Wrobleski are ranked high, Ryan is #10. Frasso, Martin and Casparius are way down the list. I thought they were better than that.
Who might other teams be interested in?
Frasso would be a lot higher except that he’s out with a major injury and you never know how a pitcher will come back from those (ain’t that right!).
Definitely a question that Jeff would be better suited to answer than I am, but I think teams might be interested in DePaula, Quintero, Vargas, Henriquez and Perez, all youngsters in the lower minors at this point. Actually Henriquez was recently promoted to Tulsa, but the others are still very young.
As we know, as Dodger better prospects reach AA and AAA (especially position players) they tend to fizzle out a bit. That’s why I’d like to trade Rushing this month while he still has good value.
Baseball America dropped a podcast on the draft, lots of discussion about the Dodgers and Brody (?) Brecht. A college pitcher with ludicrous amounts of plus stuff and needs a lot of control help.
They were laughing about how much success the Dodgers could have with him.
https://www.mlb.com/prospects/draft/brody-brecht-701679
Hopefully he’ll be of some use at the MLB level before his 2 TJ’s and his shoulder operation. 😎
Okay guys let’s keep it civil. Jeff is not around to moderate. I have the ability to delete stuff like that, but I am not singling out anyone. Let’s just be nice to each other and not let stuff like that escalate. Thanks.
Sometimes it’s good to let the kids fight it out.
No Jeff, it really isn’t in this type of forum. Sites can deteriorate really fast and lose readership. I have seen it and on occasion participated in heated exchanges where name calling happened. I prefer not to be called names, and think it is childish, and cowardly because you are facing your nemesis on a keyboard not face to face. Let’s just not do that here. I no longer will do those kinds of things; it is a waste of time and energy. Discussion that is spirited is ok, but not when it degenerates into name calling. If any of us were baseball genius’s, we would not be here discussing Dodger baseball. We would be out making money working in the game.
“If any of us were baseball genius’s, we would not be here discussing Dodger baseball. We would be out making money working in the game.”
Exactly Michael, but some posters who are prideful of their baseball knowledge can’t help but express supremacist-attitude towards others.
Very true. I remember as a kid how I memorized those numbers on the backs of my baseball cards. Now, everything is at your fingertips on the internet. But one must always remember, as smart as you may be, or as knowledgeable as you might be about baseball, there is always someone who knows a lot more than you do out there. Guys like Badger, and Phil Jones, who have played baseball above the high school level, know a lot more about the intricacies of the game than I do. I am a fan of the history of the game, and I am very comfortable writing about it. But I still need to fact check myself, because there are some things I just cannot recall from memory.
Thank you Michael for starting this thread. It was much needed and appreciated. I’m starting to feel better ….but still have a long way to a full recovery, but I’m getting there. After the Phillies sweep tonight, may I suggest “Vent Part 2” -TM
Sequels usually do not perform as well as the original.