Tyler Glasnow was absolutely electric. He pitched a strong 7 shutout innings. A allowed a pair of doubles by rookie LF Austin Martin, and a broken bat single by Byron Buxton were the only base runners against the 30 year old RHSP. Oh, and he tied a career best 14 Ks in a dominating fashion.
Glasnow threw 88 pitches/65 strikes (73.9%). His fastball was averaging 96, and with his extension, it probably looks about 3-4 MPH faster. The Twins batters were so late on his fastball. There was one pitch that was in Smith’s glove before Carlos Correa barely started his swing.
But what made Glasnow so dynamic in this one is that both his slider and curveball were as dominant as was his 4-seamer. And while it was much improved over his first three starts, he still does not have total command of that curveball.
In his post-game interview, he mentioned that what was so important for him was that his direction was right through the catcher. He did not fall off right or left. That allowed him to have all of his pitches come out of the same tunnel, and he was able to play everything off his fastball.
He threw 3 pitches:
- 4-seam – 45 pitches – 25 swings/12 whiffs. With 12 called strikes, that is 24 called strikes and whiffs.
- Slider – 28 pitches – 12 swings/6 whiffs.
- Curve – 15 pitches – 6 swings/3 whiffs.
That is just about 50% whiff on 43 swings. Plus he had another 21 called strikes.
14 Ks in less than 90 pitches. I am not sure how much more dominant one can get.
To make it even sweeter, he reached 10 years of service after his outing.
Tyler Glasnow ties a career-high with 14 Ks! pic.twitter.com/vgpYe8mapV
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) April 10, 2024
BTW, Glasnow now has 4 starts, and has 24.0 IP. That is averaging 6.0 innings per start. And that is 2 consecutive 6.0 inning starts for LAD. Let’s see if Bobby Miller can replicate what James Paxton and Tyler Glasnow did in the first two games.
James Outman is showing signs of life. After hitting his first HR in the first game at Target Field, Outman followed that with a single up the middle for the first hit of the game, and followed that with a 422 foot HR to CF for a 3 run HR.
Will Smith matched Outman’s 3 run HR with one of his own.
The Dodgers had no need to bring in their high leverage relievers and first brought in LHRP Alex Vesia. After he struck out Willi Castro, he surrendered a Ryan Jeffers bomb, and the shutout was gone. Vesia got the next two batters to end the inning.
In the 9th, RHRP Connor Brogdon came in to make his LAD debut. Carlos Correa and Alex Kiriloff crushed two pitches for HRs and the lead was down to 6-3. He settled down and got the next three batters to end the game.
After the game, Adrian Gonzalez said that Brogdon did exactly what he was supposed to do with a big lead…throw strikes. The two best hitters in the Twins lineup just jumped on them. I have no idea how Brogdon will pitch for LAD, but didn’t walk anyone. He is going to need more time with the LAD coaches to see what they can pull out if him. Keep him away of high leverage situations, and let’s see what he can do.
After the game, one of the journalists was describing how hot Mookie started and what Shohei has been doing, but Will Smith is quietly hitting .400. Dave Roberts was asked if Smith was underappreciated. Doc laughed and said, probably, but that is how he likes it.
Then it was Smith’s turn. Maybe it was the same journalist who previously described the starts of Mookie and Shohei, and Smith was asked if he felt underappreciated. He chuckled but said the exact same thing Doc said. Probably, but that is how I like it.
The Dodgers are 10-4 now. They have a 4.0 game lead over San Diego and Arizona and 5.0 game lead over San Francisco.
MiLB GAME SUMMARY REPORTS
OKC Baseball Club vs Round Rock Express (Rangers) – Postponed
The two teams will play a DH on Wednesday. They will be two 7.0 inning games. Kyle Hurt is due to start the first game against Michael Lorenzen, who is trying to build up his innings as he started the season so late due to his late signing.
Arkansas Travelers (Seattle) 4 – Tulsa Drillers 3 – 12 Innings
Tulsa behind Kendall Williams, Sauryn Lao, and Jack Dreyer had the Drillers in a position to win after 7.0 innings with a 2-1 lead. Juan Morillo relieved in the 8th and gave up the tying HR to Hogan Windish.
Braydon Fisher pitched a scoreless 9th. Antonio Knowles held the Travelers scoreless for the first 2 extra innings. Unfortunately he gave up a 2-out 2 run HR in the 12th to Hogan Windish for his 2nd HR of the game.
Down 1-0 in the 5th, Austin Gauthier hit a 2 run HR in the 5th to take the lead.
Brendon Davis singled home Yeiner Fernandez with nobody out in the 12th. After Brandon Lewis struck out, Lolo Sanchez and Austin Gauthier both drew walks to load the bases. But Chris Alleyne struck out and José Ramos grounded out to end the game.
Our 1st Sofi Player of the Game in the 2024 season is Austin Gauthier!
Gauthier stepped up with this CLUTCH homerun to put the Drillers up 2-1 in the 5th! pic.twitter.com/vEdPD4sXZ0
— Tulsa Drillers (@TulsaDrillers) April 10, 2024
Lansing Lugnuts (A’s) 7 – Great Lakes Loons 2
Noah Miller started the game with a BB. One out later Kyle Nevin doubled him home but was thrown out at 3B trying to stretch. Chris Newell followed with a single. But he would stay at 1B. That was the offense for Great Lakes until the 9th.
Christian Romero was solid but not efficient for the 2.2 innings he pitched. He allowed 2 hits and 2 walks, but no runs. After 57 pitches he was relieved by Brandon Neeck. He got the final out of the 3rd and pitched a scoreless 4th.
In the 5th, Neeck, he issued a BB, allowed a single, WP and ground out scored a run. After Neeck got a fly out for the 2nd out, he was relieved by Joel Ibarra. When Ibarra left the 5th, the Lugnuts scored 5 more runs.
Franklin De La Paz allowed the 7th run in the 6th.
In the 9th Dylan Campbell singled, moved to 2nd on a passed ball, and scored on Kyle Nevin’s 3rd hit.
The Loons had 6 hits. Kyle Nevin had 3. Thayron Liranzo, Yimi Garcia, and Jake Vogel are still batting .000. Jordan Thompson is 1-11, Chris Newell is 1-12, and Sam Mongelli is 2-13. This roster never had the look of a good offensive team. But a team that has 6 players in the lineup that are a combined 4-64 is not going to score a lot of runs.
Kyle Nevin is 5-12 with 4 BB.
Stockton Ports (A’s) 6 – Rancho Cucamonga Quakes 4
In the Quakes home opener, Stockton jumped out to a 6-1 lead after 4. In 3.1 IP, LHP Garrett McDaniels allowed 5 runs (2 earned) on 5 hits and 2 BB. Cam Day was more effective in his 3.2 IP. He did surrender 1 run on 4 hits, but issued no free passes and got 6 Ks.
Jorge Gonzalez finished the final 2.0 scoreless innings. He allowed 1 walk, but registered 3 Ks.
Kendall George was back in the lineup and reached base all 5 times on BB. He was caught stealing and picked off.
The Quakes got close in the 6th. Wilman Diaz led off with a double, and Kendall George followed with a BB. Zyhir Hope reached on a fielder’s choice with Diaz scoring and George moving to 2nd on a throwing error. Jake Gelof singled home George and Hope moving to 3rd. Hope scored on a Joe Vetrano ground out.
- Kendall George – 0-0, 5 BB
- Josue De Paula – 1-4, double (2), 1 HBP
- Zyhir Hope – 1-5, 1 run, 1 RBI
- Jake Gelof – 2-3, triple (1), 1 BB, 2 RBI
- Joe Vetrano and Jerel Perez 2 BB
- Wilman Diaz – 3-5, double (1), 1 run
CNN is projecting the Dodgers as NL West champions.
Wow, they are on top of it aren’t they!!
Jeff, if George walked 5 times, he wasn’t 0-5. He was 0-0 with 5 walks. Got to watch the end of the game. I went with my brother Steve to see the new Godzilla-Kong movie. Pretty entertaining. Great CGI. Game is on early today, I am having lunch with a very good friend, then loading my truck for the return trip home. I should be there in time to watch Friday’s game with the Padres.
Fixed. Too many 5s.
Glasnow goes 7 innings!
Well, that’s one. And it feels like a complete game.
Muncy with a great play. Was it a blind squirrel moment or is he figuring it out?
A posted on the other thread speaking about home plate umps missing obvious calls said this: accountability first, then ABS. My response to this is – wouldn’t it be reasonable to assume they’ve already tried this? All games are reviewed, every umpire’s performance is graded (it’s even published for all to see). Umpires make mistakes calling balls and strikes, you know it, they know it and now with the e-zone shown on tv the American people know it. As Phil said, ABS is not a robot, it’s just technology. It needs to be used. Umpires are a part of baseball. Their jobs are not threatened. They will always be out there.
Maybe with the additional spin rates and mph, it’s more difficult to call balls and strikes consistently.
It’s either over the plate between the bottom of the knee and the midpoint between the belt and shoulders or it isn’t. ABS will get it right far more than these umpires will.
Alex Vesia has made appearances in 7 games now and given up runs in 5 of them.
Huh? Stats say 6 games and 2 earned runs.
Who are you gonna believe Badger the stats or….
OK Snarky. Did you actually look at the game logs?
3/21 vs San Diego 1 ER in 1 IP
3/30 vs St Louis 0 ER in 1/3 IP
3/31 vs St Louis 1 unearned run in 1 IP (2 BB and 1 HBP in 1 IP)
4/2 vs SF – 0 ER in 2/3 IP
4/5 vs Chi – 0 ER in 2 IP
4/9 vs MIn – 1 ER in 1 IP
4/10 vs Min – 1 ER in 1 IP
That seems like 4 runs, one unearned.
4, last time I checked, was not 5.
But fret not, 1 out of 7 ain’t bad.
Didn’t see today’s game. My bad. Still, 3 earned runs in 7 games isn’t horrible. The bullpen started slow last year as I recall and turned it around. I think it will be fine once it warms up.
AS you know, an unearned run doesn’t mean that it wasn’t the pitcher’s fault. IN the 3/31 game, he was charged with 0 ER, but had 2 BB and a HBP. He certainly contributed to the run scoring.
It’s seems like this they just have me scratching my head over Roberts.
His PH decisions in the 9th are mind-boggling. Even worse, todays decisions seem to be both not analytically driven, and not really instinctual either.
I’m generally fairly neutral on Doc, but today he’s got me going crazy.
He takes Outman, who is finally getting hot over the last few games and already has a hit today against a lefty, and uses CT to pinch hit for him. It would be one thing if Taylor was at least hitting southpaws this year but going into his at bat today he had 13 plate appearances against lefties with 7 strike outs. Now that’s 8 in 14.
Absolutely unacceptable.
I think he believes he has to show faith in Taylor so Taylor will find faith in himself. I’m ok with it this early. But if the stink continues, he’s gonna have to put a lid on it.
In potential pinch hit situations I much prefer to go with the hot hitter as opposed to subbing the guy who is ice cold just to show him I have confidence in him.
You want to show him you have faith in him? Start him, don’t sub him for one of your hot hitters in a tight game.
Well you know how the Dodgers are with analytics. Apparently Taylor, a right hander looked better against Okert, a left hander in that situation. Yeah, Outman has looked better lately but not necessarily against left handed pitching. I’m not saying it’s right or wrong, I’m just trying to accept what is, and with the Dodgers what is is matchups. They’ve worked mostly ok for them the last few years.
That said, obviously Taylor looks awful now. But I suspect he will get hot soon, cool off, get hot again and end up like he has in his most recent years, playing multiple defensive positions with somewhere close to 100 OPS+ and 1+ WAR. He’s not likely going anywhere so, get used to it.
That’s a lot of Taylor Kool Aid Badger.
I am used to it. Doesn’t mean I have to like it. And I agree with your analysis of how CT’s season will probably go. Just hated that move in that particular spot today.
{He’s not a great tactician]
STB – I didn’t see the game so I’m not qualified to comment really but I will anyway. Why can’t the Skipper pick his spots when to show confidence in CT3? Maybe pick another time? He’s hitting .043. It’s no secret to anyone that he’s struggling so pick another situation to “boost his confidence”. This is just throwing the guy in the grease. The idea is to win the game.
I know this is going to read as bullshit, but the goal or idea isn’t to win every game.
The goal is to follow a process that enables you to be in the best position to win the World Series even though it’s a total crapshoot.
So if that means sticking with Chris Taylor while he just sucks, that’s what they’re gonna do. They don’t cut players, I think the only player they DFA in a similar position with Carl Crawford way back when…
Remember the team went through this last year with Muncy, Barnes and Vargas.
Not sure if yours is just a general comment or specifically directed toward my comment above, but just to make my position clear, I like Chris Taylor and I’m willing to give him time (maybe more time than some others here) to pull himself out of this.
My gripe is that Doc pulled an ice cold player off the bench in a potential game-deciding situation and had him hit for a guy who was more likely to succeed based on recent results.
It would be like removing Miggy Ro for defensive purposes in the 9th inning (after he had made a few great plays) and subbing in Lux at shortstop for the last inning.
Doc did see the game and still managed to come up with that move.
Therefore, I rule that you’re entitled to your comment even though you didn’t see the game.
I’ve always viewed Doc as a guy who pre-plans every move.
If A then B, if C then D.
I don’t get the idea that he’s good at reacting quickly to situations (strategy wise) so just goes to his book and follows the pre-ordained plan.
That’s why I’d like to create a new position for him, manager of player relations, and let someone else (I know I’m beating a dead horse here) like Utley call the shots during the game. Yes, I know the Grey Fox is currently living in the UK and apparently loves it there, but I don’t care about that. It’s not his choice, it’s mine.
Taylor is OPS’n .772 lifetime against LH pitching.
Outman is OPS’n .646 against LH pitching including .167 this year as a result of 1 base on balls.
Advantage Taylor.
And Taylor is due.
I have to admit I’m surprised at your take on Roberts.
Not sure why lifetime numbers are more relevant than seasonal #s
more than that move was pinchhitting for Lux and not for Barnes.
I believe Smith hit for Lux. Taylor hit for Outman.
If the season was further along and Outman was hitting better than .000 against left handers then I can see leaving him in there. Same logic applies to using Taylor. Too early to judge seasonal numbers. Use history instead.And I’m not saying I would have made this move, I’m trying to explain what I believe was Doc think.