More Rants Than Raves

I was hoping to sit down on my patio deck to watch the Dodgers vs Giants when I realized that I could not get the game on MLB.TV.  I was already in a foul mood when I had to come into the house and listen to Krukow and Kuiper.  I then watch Urias once again nibble instead of going at the hitters.  For the first time this year, I am starting to yell at the TV.  Urias gets out of the inning.  In the bottom of the 1st, Joc walks and Mookie doubles.  Here we go.  Runners on 2nd and 3rd and zero out with Belli/JT/Seager.  They have to get a run, right?  Nope!!

Urias give up the run, and the Dodgers come back with a Mookie HR and score another on a single/error and single.  That was the only hit with runners in scoring position all night.  The Dodgers got three on a pair of HRs (Muncy and Smith) in the 4th, and then loaded the bases with nobody out and score ONE when the SF could not turn a DP in the 5th.  Rios crushes a solo HR (3) in the 8th, but does nothing with runners on base.  Same with Muncy.  He gets his 4th on a solo, but does nothing with runners on.  This is one of the big reasons why the Dodgers falter in the playoffs.  They rely on the long ball and are not productive in manufacturing runs.

Urias can only go 4.0 IP with 78 pitches.  He had not been good all night, so he should not have expected to go out in the 5th with 78 pitches.  If Urias wants to be considered as a top of the rotation starter, he is going to need to start to challenge the batters.  I would have liked to hear what Doc was saying to Julio after he was pulled.

The Dodgers hit 1-10 WRISP.  LOB – Bellinger (4), JT (2), Seager (2), Kike’ (2), Muncy (4), Taylor (3), Rios (3)

The OF play of Joc and Belli was not very GG like.

To make matters worse for me, I am wearing my #5 jersey and Corey Seager needs to leave the game because of “lower back discomfort”.  At the time I am writing this, I have not heard how injured Corey’s back ins.

There were some positives.  Will Smith goes 2-4 with a 2 run HR.  He has certainly earned more starts over Austin Barnes, but I would not expect to see him in tonight’s game with Kershaw on the bump.

Relief pitching was not lights out, but it was good.  The relievers pitched aggressively and were throwing strikes, a different approach than that of Julio Urias.  Dylan Floro had a good inning.  He did give up a hit, but had two strikeouts.  Dennis Santana was used in the right spot, and he was relieved at the right time.  He still has some growing to do.  Scott Alexander looked outstanding with the two batters he faced, both on strikeouts.  Joe Kelly was his usual wild self, but was unhurt.  And Jake McGee looked overpowering in his one inning of work.  But now that is five relievers who will not be available for Saturday.  Hopefully Kershaw will get through at least 6.0 IP on Saturday.

The Dodgers are 10-4 and one half game behind Colorado, and they have not yet started to gel.  Colorado is still playing solid baseball, getting good starting pitching.  Arenado is having his own Bellinger start.  Charlie Blackmon and Daniel Murphy are raking.    Chris Owings and Trevor Story have been mostly productive thus far. 

SF still does not look like a real contender and Arizona continues to struggle.  I do believe SD is a legit contender for at least a wild card.  With Zach Davies off to a good start, and joining Chris Paddack and Dinelson Lamet, that is a good starting three.  Garret Richards is a decent #4.  If MacKenzie Gore joins the rotation, they could be bothersome later in season and playoffs. If their relievers start to produce, they will be in the race.

Even with the excellent win/loss record at the start of the season, there is still a little over three weeks until the trade deadline.  Many on various Dodger blogs are already looking at what help might be available at the trade deadline.  It’s that time of year.  Will the Dodgers have any starting pitchers that will go more than 5.0 IP?  Is Seager’s back going to last the year?  Kershaw’s?  When do you start to get concerned about Belli/JT/Muncy?  Is KJ going to struggle this year?  The team is winning, but they could have won the four games they lost.  Is it the lineups or is it the lineups have holes?  Is Doc “babying” the starters?  Many other teams’ starters are going longer.  Jeff Samardzija had given up 6 runs, but still managed 90 pitches.

I am generally all optimist, but even with the win on Friday night, I was disillusioned with their play.  I do not see guys that are counted on (i.e. Bellinger, Muncy, Urias) making their adjustments.  But while my mood may have had an off day, I see no reason to panic.  No reason to overpay for a rental.  No team is going to trade a controllable Ace or #2, and there is no reason whatsoever to bring in a back end rotation starter to block any of the Dodger young pitching prospects.

I am sure as we get closer to the deadline, the picture will get more into focus, and we can speculate on any potential trades at that time.  But for now, I am hopeful that adjustments will be made and the team can start to roll. Let’s start with a big win from Kersh over Johnny Cueto.

This article has 94 Comments

  1. Woke up in the Netherlands and looked at the box score, 7-2. Urias 4 innings, hmm… but just gave up one run. Bullpen solid as usual, HRs from Mookie (he’s back!), Muncy (finally!), Smith (is he finally rediscovering his offense?), and Rios (third baseman of the future?). Corey out with a back injury (concerning). Overall, nice way to wake up. Then read your post, Jeff. True, I missed the RLSP. That is a problem. We need more situational hitting. On the whole, though, while I share some of your concerns, I think you were in a bad mood. It’s true that this team isn’t yet running on all cylindars, but most games, enough are functioning to give us a V. Look at the amazing throw/catch/tag by Taylor and Smith to end the last game against SD. You can’t help but smile if you watch it. Bang-bang! Think about 3 aces – Kershaw, Buehler, and May! Think about back end – Urias, Strip, Gonsolin. Think about lights out bullpen, something we haven’t had in years. And the hitting hasn’t even hit its stride (pun intended). It’s going to be a wild ride – how couldn’t it be in these crazy times – but we have every reason to be optimistic.

  2. Game looked a lot like a big chunk of our wins from this era. Opposing teams can have success against our pitching and defense, but it’s usually minimal and quickly contained. Offense can look anemic for most the night with squandered opportunities, then someone will hit a home run and it becomes contagious. Before you know it, the final score is 7-2.

    With this particular era of Dodgers baseball, my two main concerns: are the starters getting thru 5-6 innings and are we hitting home runs? If so, then I think we have a chance against anyone. Either of those two wells dry up, and I’m not sure our alternative means are good enough. I think Friedman’s constantly trying to make us more multi-faceted with his constant tinkering of the bullpen and getting a good small ball player in Betts and drafting good contact hitters in Busch/Hoese, but he knows what his bread and butter is.

    I’m not sure what his ideal team would look like? In the long ball era, I’m sure many think this team is as currently constructed. I think he’s probably counting on the probability principle: get invited to the poker party as often as you can and you’ll eventually win the jackpot. We’ll see, but I’m encouraged. The HRs are heating up and guys like Urias and May are approaching longer outings. I’m confident Buehler will be in peak form by the playoffs. It’s not the prettiest brand for my taste, but it’s who we are.

  3. Nice article Jeff. I am also frustrated. I know the metrics say you do not give up an out to move a runner to third from second with nobody out. In a 162 game season, ok. In the play offs little things count. There are many more ways to score from third than second.. last night runners at third and second and nobody out and we do not score. This kinda play will hurt us in the playoffs. You need to practice the little things during the season so you are ready for the playoffs. I blame Doc for a lot of this , but AF is right there with Doc. A ground out or fly ball will score the runner. If these things are not important to Doc or AF, than hey will not be important to the players.

  4. Urias so far has been disappointing to me, I agree with you about challenging the hitters and stop this nibbling,if not he will be of little help in the playoffs.

    1. Maybe someone has gotten in his head and convinced him he has to nibble to be successful. You never know what the organization is telling him, hell, they have told Joc he can’t hit lefties, why wouldn’t they be the ones stressing that Urias must hit spots around the edges?

      Agree JD, this team is extremely hard to watch, they are just so inept at moving runners along, seemingly only relying on the HR. The big problem with that is, in the playoffs you start seeing better pitchers on a game to game basis, the better pitchers don’t give up as many Go-for balls (okay Kershaw does), when that happens the Dodgers offense goes into snooze-mode. I think that HR ball is the most important offensive statistic is being taught and focused on organization-wide. That mentality gives you a team built for the regular season and not built for the post season, as we have witnessed for the last 7 years.

  5. Urias can be sooooo frustrating, but perhaps not because he is “nibbling.” After coming out of the game the TV camera caught him in a conversation with Mark Prior (I think). Urias appeared to be very frustrated, gesturing with his left hand, seemingly to demonstrate how the ball was moving in unintended directions. Whether he is nibbling, or unable to command his pitches, Urias is pitching himself into the bullpen, or perhaps back to USC. With Kershaw, Buehler, May, Gonsolin, Stripling, hopefully Wood sooner than later, Mitchell White, and possibly Josiah Gray, Urias is not needed as a starter.

    1. Good point about Urias SCB. Everyone here seems to think he’s “nibbling” on purpose. Maybe he doesn’t know where the ball is going to go when he releases it (The Kelly Syndrome) . Remember he had serious shoulder surgery, the type of operation that many pitchers never come back from successfully. Hopefully they can find a way to straighten him out or he may very well find himself back in the bullpen. Or maybe he’ll have to start learning how to pitch in a different way than before the surgery. Maybe that operation changed his mechanics in a way that he hasn’t quite been able to figure out yet.

      All of that said, his results have been decent this year with the major downside being that he’s taxing the bullpen. That’s OK for a few games but it won’t be workable for an entire season.

  6. Agree with everything mentioned by Jeff (AC). This team is fun to watch and when they hit HR’s it seems everything is alright in the baseball world. Their consistent inability to manufacture runs, hitting with RISP, and generally relying less on the long ball for runs (seems to be a year-after-year problem) is exacerbated in the playoffs.

    It seems as if we have already seen way too many instances where the Dodgers have had the bases loaded or third and second with no outs and we can’t score a freaking run. Last night in the 1st inning–Joc on third and Mookie on second with no outs. The Giants were playing regular infield defense and would take the out at first base on a ground ball. Three, four and five hitters coming up. This is going to be a big inning but the Dodgers offense failed miserably.

    I love this team and perhaps I’m nitpicking too much, but we just have to be better with the situational hitting and be less reliant on the long ball for the scoring offense.

  7. I agree that I don’t think Urias is ‘nibbling’, Just can’t control the movement. So if he doesn’t know where pitch is going, then neither can hitters. So to me that has been shown in the results. He is ‘struggling’, but not giving up a lot of runs. In contrast to Giants starter, just a matter of time before they teed off on his nothing balls

    1. I think you nailed it. Most of Julio’s pitches have a lot of movement. He can only command them with repetition.

      Two things:

      1. The Ump squeezed him a lot – 8 or 10 pitches were RIGHT THERE in the zone, but were called balls. That affects everything.

      2. His walk rate is much lower than Claytons during his first under 200 innings. His HR rate is also MUCH lower. He has gone 5, 6, and 4 innings this year and has a 2.40 ERA. He is uncharacteristically walking more batters this year, but his stuff is pretty clear to see. Just let him pitch – he will be fine… actually, he will be great!

      Dustin May is more like Koufax.

      Julio Urias is more like Clayton Kershaw.

      He has never been penciled in as a starter before. He just has to get the “feel” and I believe he will.

      1. I just wish Orel Hershiser would shut up. He makes me sick ruins the game. Going to radio

    1. The Red Sox are not going anywhere.

      I would trade Tony Gonsolin, Gavin Lux and Cody Thomas to get Alex back. Please, Pretty PLease!

      You know what I have said about him!

  8. We lead MLB in runs scored, total bases and OPS. We are second in ERA, third in WHIP, third in OBA but way down the list in Quality Starts. We are third in Fldg %. We are also third in MLB in LOB, but first in LOB at home. With a team that is taught to swing for the fences I don’t know that situational hitting is even talked about. See ball, hit ball to Eagle Rock.

    We could have won that game by 10 runs. We only got 9 hits, but collectively left 22 on base. We are 10-4 with both Muncy and Bellinger hitting under .200. We have a +38 run differential and nobody in baseball is close to that. Obviously there are a few things that we need to work on, but I think we are in pretty good shape here.

    Cueto (4.97 ERA) vs Kershaw (0.00 ERA). Who you got?

      1. I got the over on 10 runners left on base. Hell, I got the over on 15 runners left on base

  9. At the beginning of the year I predicted May would get a spot in the rotation and not give it up. And also Urias would become ace like. Still believe by the end of the year he will be. It’s not like he’s getting shelled. It’s his first time as a consistent starter. I believe his command will come and it will be lights out from there. A lot of complaining for a 10-4 team. Tough crowd! Just need Belly, Muncy and Turner to heat up. A lot of very good other players off to a slow start in mlb. Rendon experiencing the Angel curse. And Houston’s top 3 are all Mendoza low. The cream will rise for the Dodgers!

  10. My sense was that last year, the Dodgers finally got past the hit a HR or lose syndrome and learned to hit RISP. I went to Baseball Reference.com and checked – I was right. The Dodgers have returned to their old ways.
    2020: BA RISP .246, OPS .770 (and that’s with a DH)
    2019: .286/.872
    2018: .253/.760
    2017: .247/.789
    2016: .250/.741

    The reason that last year’s team was so good was that while they hit a team record HRs, they didn’t rely on them as the only way to score. This year’s team only scores when they hit HRs (as they did in past seasons).

    Best hitters RISP:
    Joc: .375/.1670
    Rios: .333/1.667
    Pollock: .333/1.267
    Smith: .400/1.100
    Betts: .400/.954

    The worst:
    Barnes: .143/.286
    Muncy: .000/.312
    Bellinger: .154/.368
    Seager: .235/.551

    Just think how many runs they would score if their best hitters actually hit!

    They have to get back to making better contact RISP and quit trying to hit a HR every swing. Bellinger was really obvious about that last night.

  11. AC, nice analysis. Glad for the win last night. Just some thoughts about the game.

    Agree on having to listen to Giant announcers but they were not too bad.
    Urías worries me about not being able to go more than 4 innings, but hope he can extend them.
    Will Smith did well and hope he can continue to do so. Correct me if I misunderstand but at spring training did not Roberts say Smith would get the majority of the games and Barnes more or less a backup? Clayton likes pitching to Barnes who is a fine defensive catcher, but is that because of his skill at framing?
    Relievers were great last night , in particular Floro, Alexander and McGee. (love that good old Irish name)
    My biggest worry about last night was Corey Seager and pray and hope it is nothing serious.
    I can’t believe some posters last night were talking about trading him. Hope they were joking.

  12. I don’t know why Gonsolin is not on the active roster. If there is no room for him then make room for him. He pitched extremely good last season against both sides of the plate and better than a lot of our guys.

    1. Just a question Eric. Why do you think this team needs Gonsolin right now? Do you want him to start? The bullpen is a huge strength right now. The pitching isn’t a problem. Where do you see Gonsolin contributing?

      1. I’m not a fan of Doc’s bullpen decisions sometimes and if you can get rid of the pieces of the bullpen that are the weak links that Doc goes to sometimes in close games, all the better.

        I like Gonsolin as a starter the best, but I like him either as a starter or a reliever.

        I will say this, that among our current 5 starters, if you look at career stats, 3 of them clearly belong as starters and they are Kershaw, Buehler, May. The other 2 are questionable.

        I will also say this, that according to career stats Urias is a massive weapon in the bullpen.

    2. I think the reason Gonsolin is not on the 28 man roster is that he being maintained as the 6th starter. Later on in the season, if he is not needed in the rotation he will likely be brought up as a long man in the BP.

      Wonder if we will see him during this upcoming consecutive game stretch

      1. Gonsolin is not on the 28 man for a couple of reason’s. One is he arrived at camp late and had not been stretched out. The other is most likely they see him as a starter, not a bullpen piece. And right now, they are going with the 5 they have. Had Kershaw been laid up longer than he was, the Cat Man would still be on the roster.

  13. DBM – hope life’s good.

    Unfortunately once Corey had persistent hamstring problems at such a young age, I think AF had possibly already put a line through an extension for him, hence the reported heavy interest in signing Lindor, before the move for Moookie.

    Hamstring injuries are nearly always linked to lower back problems, and they are notoriously hard to cure.
    Not sure his height helps him play at SS with a dodgy back.
    I mentioned a while back that these problems would continue, and it’s a great shame, because he is an exceptional talent, but has already had a number of ailments in a short career.
    Hamstrings finished me off, so I’m familiar with the nightmares they cause. I don’t think they extend.
    There’s some good talent out there.
    Maybe he is a DH candidate.

    Surely they must practice hitting WRISP every day?

    1. I am doing ok, Watford. Thanks for asking. Enjoying being able to watch baseball again. How is your Soccer season doing?

  14. Some thoughts on last night:
    * I fortunately showed some discipline in the bottom of the 1st not breaking my TV. Have you ever seen 3 more horseshit at bats by by the 3,4 and 5 guys?
    * Speaking of discipline, I’m with Bear’s post last night, about the F bombs ringing out in an empty stadium. Was it Joc who rang out the GDF**k? I too know all the words but I just don’t like it. If he doesn’t have Tourettes, he needs a filter and I suggest a fine might help him control the potty mouth.
    * Speaking of discipline, a pitcher needs to adjust to even a bad umpire. Urias did get squeezed a lot but I thought Jim Reynolds was consistent (mostly) not calling borderline strikes. I hate that but he had a small zone. So a pitcher has a choice; he can continue to throw it there and get balls called (and bitch about it) or he can adjust and get more of the zone. (I’m unsure Urias has the command to do this). At some point nibbling around the edges has to end. Also Urias did nothing to “earn” fringe pitches called strikes, especially from a veteran umpire. Had he established anything he may have started to get strike calls.
    * I hate what I just said about umpiring and earning strikes from an ump. I hate small zones more. I now am totally in favor of an automated K-zone or whatever it’s called. Last night was a perfect example why. I also have read the the plate umpire may have the option of overruling the Z-zone. Like the automated system is just a “suggestion”. I so hope this isn’t the case when this starts, hopefully next season. The ump has to have the power to overrule balls bounced through the strike zone that are recognized as strikes. Other than that, don’t compromise the system. That defeats the whole purpose.
    * Mookie Betts is so fun to watch. He is so good in so many ways. And has fun playing the game. He expresses himself all without the swag and show boating of Machado and Tatis Jr.
    * Until Smith cools off he should start every game unless he’d CK’s personal catcher.
    * Put Mooke at lead off and leave him alone.
    * I like Jeff Samardzija. He’s 13 year vet but right now he looks like a guy satisfied to get in his 4 innings every 5 days and cash his check. He’s a “NO Pitch” guy.
    * I’d love to see Rios earn the 3rd base job. He’s a physical Dude and looks to me like a smaller version of Joey Gallo. But his bat-to-ball skills are also Gallo-like. In the bottom of the 4th, Rios swung right through an 89 map fastball right down the can. You really can’t miss many of those.
    * And lastly, I think any fan who bitches about a player who opted out of the season is way out of bounds. That is the player’s personal decision based on many factors. Many can be very personal. So while I understand fans wanting to win, they need to respect a player’s decision and not put their nose where it doesn’t belong.
    Can wait for Cueto and Kershaw.
    Damn I’m glad we are still watching baseball.

  15. I’ll disagree about the cussing. I’m not going to tell professional athletes they can’t cuss. It’s not like they’re using those words in interviews or during locker room privacy. They’re occurring naturally during the the course of the game. I’m sure we all cuss while at home when the Dodgers strand runners, and nobody is telling us to shut up, so why can’t the players do it? They care, so I’m glad it’s good emotion.

    Now, I will agree that it’s not a good look in an empty stadium because everything can be heard. But the simple answer is for TV to have a 5 second delay so they can block out the cursing. It’s an easy fix.

    1. I said that about the 3rd game that I watched on TV. They need to delay so they can bleep the word. I know controlling it would be hard, but they should consider their surroundings and the fact those mics are picking up everything. Or they could simply cuss under their breath. No one would hear them then. Or use an alternative like ” Son of a biscuit eating basketball player! As for Urias, it looked more like a mechanics problem to me. He was not repeating his delivery. Orel also opined that he is more effective out of the stretch. Yeah, he got pinched some by the umpire. But the point was made that he has not shown enough to be given those pitches. Kershaw would get those calls. Simply on his rep. Don’t get me started on the offense. OK, here goes. Simple, they strand too many runners. Their approach with men on base sucks. 2 men on, first inning and no one out. Your 3 butter and egg men coming up. Belli first, result, pop out to 3rd….no problem, we have Mr.Turner, the most reliable clutch hitter on the team, result, pop up to short. OK, 2 outs, one of the hottest hitters in the NL coming up, Seager, result, pop out to short. No runs, 1 hit, 2 LOB. Pitiful. As bad as Samardjiza has been this year they should have scored at least 2. Rio’s is a big powerful hitter. He has 7 homers in 63 MLB at bats…impressive number. He also has struck out 26 times in those 63 at bats. Not so impressive. He is the epitome of the all or nothing approach. Finally, and this at this point is obvious. Neither Bellinger nor Muncy are the hitters they were last year. They both are struggling to make consistent hard contact. Belli’s back with his old stance, but the results have not improved. He did hit a ball to left for a single last night which I thought was a good sign.

  16. I don’t care about the cussing but do understand the call to show some restraint.

    I agree with what Watford posted. I believe AF would prefer Lindor (or some other 150 game shortstop) to Seager and will try to arrange something to get someone else there. Seager as a DH would work but he won’t want that. He’s 26 now, in his prime and he can’t seem to stay on the field.

    Also, solid post phil. Several excellent points there.

    I think Prior should work with Urias at starting all his strike pitches center cut. They will look like strikes from the beginning and move all over from there. High fastballs and ankle curves, chase pitches, would be the exceptions.

    Mark is right, Reynolds strike zone was horrible and I found it to be inconsistent. He’s yet another example of why the game needs an e-zone.

    We are scoring runs without a lot of help from our middle order guys. When they start putting it together, and I believe they will, we can beat anybody.

    I want Gonsolin in the rotation. I want to see what Gray and White can do. Lux is still a Top10 prospect. And…. I don’t want Mark as my GM.

      1. It is not going to happen Mark. We got what we wanted. Verdugo will be a good player in Boston for many years.

          1. Wahaaaa, I want him.

            I will trade Lux, Gonsolin and Thomas for him.

            Make it so Andrew.

            #1. Betts RF
            #2. Verdugo LF
            #3. Bellinger CF

            OMG! Best offensive and defensive OF in baseball.

  17. Today’s version of “Let’s leave 10 guys on base today!”:

    Joc (DH)
    Mookie
    Belly
    JT
    Muncy
    Pollock
    CT3 (SS)
    Kike (2b)
    Barnes

    Kersh

    1. Kershaw likes Barnes so I can understand that/I get that. But just as I suspected Hernandez is starting over Rios and Beaty, and its against a right hander.

      1. Defense, defense, defense Eric. They like the defense of those two better than Rios or Beaty. I am a little surprised that Pollock gets a start against a right handed starter, but he still has one of the hotter bats, so there you are.

        1. And that’s what I mean when I say defense is not a priority to me. This is an absolutely perfect example of what I mean.

          1. It might not matter to you, but it should. The Giants lead the league in errors and one they made last night led to a run. You can bet Kershaw likes good defense, and defense won the last game with the Padres, not the bats. Any good sinker ball pitcher wants infielders behind him who can make the plays. You might not like it, but it is one of the things AF values in the types of players he acquires.

          2. “It might not matter to you, but it should.”

            So you are the all knowing.

            “defense won the last game with the Padres, not the bats.”

            With different managerial decisions the game could have turned out differently.

            “Any good sinker ball pitcher wants infielders behind him who can make the plays.”

            So you are saying that Rios and Beaty can’t make “the plays”.

            “You might not like it, but it is one of the things AF values in the types of players he acquires.”

            So you have the inside scoop, are you his secretary.

            I’m not trying to be an asshole, but your responses deserve some scrutiny.

          3. It may not be a priority to you, but it is for AF. When he first came to the Dodgers, one of his priorities was to correct the defense of the team. He has done that and not surprisingly, the Dodgers have how many consecutive division titles? It’s not all about defense because the sport is not all about defense, but you can’t separate defense from the rest of the game. A team like San Diego makes many defensive mistakes. You eliminate them and you win more. Just math.

          4. In all my years following this game I never met anyone who didn’t value defense. I find Eric’s take both interesting and unexampled.

          5. You really do not get it. My takes need scrutiny? Yours need a psychiatrist. Rios and Beaty are not nearly as defensively able as Taylor or Kike. Oh, they might make some decent plays, but neither have the range, nor do they play the middle infield. It is obvious to most people who watch the Dodgers on a daily basis that defense is a huge part of the game. Since you do not deem defense as a priority, that puts you in the minority. If you sat down and spoke with anyone in the organization, I am pretty sure they would say it is very important. I do not know how old you are Eric, but I have been watching this team play for more than 65 years. The best teams always had great defense. When I was playing the game, I was always trying to be the best defensive player I could be. I have seen mediocre defensive players. Lots of them. But in this day and age, that is not the type of player AF values. And I know that simply because I have seen the type of player he has always went after. Part of the reason Matt Kemp was moved when AF took over was because they felt his defensive skills had deteriorated since his injury. No, I do not think you are an asshole, I just do not think you understand the value of defense to the over all picture.

          6. I never said anything bad about Taylor but you guys keep bringing that up, like I don’t like him. Why?

            Taylor is the back up shortstop.

        1. Cueto is returning the favor today. Kike has not been very good since opening day, that is obvious. With Seager on the shelf, Lux and McKinstry at the alternate site, and no other middle infielders available, Roberts does not have many other choices. Opening day is old news.

      2. You pointed out that Hernandez is starting over Rios and Beaty right? Ok, here is why, and it has nothing to do with defense. Neither of those guys is a middle infielder. Rios mainly 1st and 3rd. Beaty 1B, and 3rd with some outfield play thrown in. Now ol Dave could have put Muncy at 2nd and Beaty or Rios at first and kept Kike on the bench. You will have to ask Dave why he did not consider that. And it probably has something to do with what Mark said, Kike’s great opening day game against Cueto.

  18. I’m thinking if Seager needs more than a few days to recover mckinstry will be getting more time at 2nd with Taylor at short. Looking for Kersh to maintain his higher velo and go 7 innings.

    1. If they move Seager to the IL, McKinstry will probably get the call. He is more ready than Lux at this point in time. In a couple of weeks that might not be the case. I would think they prefer to leave Lux where he is until next year. He is simply at the alternate site to keep sharp with no minor league ball this year. If the minors were going, Lux would be at OKC. Verdugo is the past Mark. You might trade those 3 to get him back, but AF is smarter than that. If they wanted Verdugo, they would have found a way to keep from trading him. Dodger management was supposedly upset with the way they were informed of his injury last year. They also were not happy with his rehab efforts. His attitude may have had something to do with his being available in trade. And how far has Luke Raley fallen? He got a lot of playing time in spring, and some even thought he was going to make the 26 man roster. Nary a peep since.

  19. Per Baseball Reference, the Dodgers are 10th in IP/start at 4.9. The Indians are 1st at 6.4, Marlins last at 3.6.

    Dodgers are tied for 14th in pitches per start at 77; Indians average 96.

    Stripling is 1st among Dodgers in IP/start at 6.0; Urias averages 5.0; May 4 2/3; Buehler 4 1/3.

    Kershaw and Stripling are pros and got ready to pitch and were already built up. May wasn’t expected to start the season in the rotation but he hasn’t had good enough command to pitch many innings. Same with Urias, who was supposed to start all along.

    Unless Buehler had a health issue or some other issue; there is no excuse for his not being ready to start the season. He hasn’t given the team innings or pitched well yet.

  20. For those of you who think our starters need to be going deeper into games, you’re looking at it all wrong. They need to be pitching less. Marlins are 7-1 and are worst in the league for starter innings pitched.

    By the way, speaking of strange things this season, the Tigers had 4 of their first 5 batters homer today, that after scoring 17 runs last night. I’m really looking forward to the Tigers-Marlins World Series this year.

    1. If it’s played in a shark cage I got the Marlins. If it’s played in a Tiger cage…..

      never mind….

      I think it will be Yankees Dodgers and the Dodgers will be favored.

  21. Chris Ianetta announced he is retiring. He was with the Yanks on a minor league deal. Samardzija placed on the IL by the Giants, replaced by lefty Andrew Suarez. Seager’s scan on his back came back clean, and he is feeling better today per Dave Roberts. So the Dodgers are very encouraged by this and he is day to day. Looks like a minor thing.

  22. Who would have predicted that Colorado and the Cubs have the best winning percentage so far.

  23. Interesting comparison of the top five teams with expensive long term contracts https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2020/08/poll-big-budget-long-term-payrolls.html

    Rank Team Total
    1 Angels $651.00
    2 Yankees $612.00
    3 Dodgers $533.36
    4 Nationals $488.68
    5 Phillies $488.50

    See the site for all the players who have long term contracts with each team. I was surprised that Judge was not even on the Yankees list. When is he a free agent? The Dodgers seem to be in good shape and CK and KJ both expire at the end of the year (that’s $51 M )

    1. I watched it. Davis doesn’t look right. Yep, yawn.

      I could hit Cueto. Just sit on that 79 mph change up.

  24. Muncy said he had a broken finger so why do they keep running him out there? Betts has swollen finger and they sit him 3 games. I said early on Muncy must be injured. Mb he is over it.

    Kershaw is now pitching without the fastball. Slider, slider,slider no velocity
    A quality human, classy, and good but “Ace” days are over. Buehler needs to wake up and be the “Ace” the Dodgers need.

    The Dodgers just have no killer instinct vs the giants. It’s embarrassing! They should have kept solano he has killed us.

  25. Horrible outing by CK. After looking so dominant against the D-Backs to looking straight and flat tonight. 85 pitches through 4.1 innings pitched from our ace? Terrible!

        1. Very few players who debut at 29 become stars for a lengthy period of time. There have been some exceptions, but not very many.

  26. Someone said “Today’s version of “Let’s leave 10 guys on base today!”:
    Well, not tonight!!

  27. Graterol attacking the batters, something CK did not do. Leave Graterol in for 2-3 innings, Doc. Fight the impulse to change pitchers!

  28. Since we won’t use the term hate with Giants anymore, let’s just say I DON’T hate how Hunter Pence must be feeling right about now!

    1. 2 hits and one was a gift. Offense is horrible and our SP (as Jeff mentioned) only has 3 quality starts in 15 games. That is not going to get it done. Still too reliant on the long ball for runs. Team does a horrible job of keeping the line moving.

  29. I don’t like losing 1 run games that you change one thing and you change the outcome. But we only need to get a wild card to get to the playoffs this year and we are there and only half a game out of first. I think we will be ok if we can just beat the lowly Giants. Looking forward we have Buehler Sunday and May on Monday. I like my chances going forward.

  30. For some reason, I am not upset at all. It should not have been that close at all. Cueto had them totally shut down. A misplayed ball, and they got lucky. Middle of the order still not hitting. You play like that, you deserve to lose and they did.

    1. I thought you “hate” to lose to the giants?

      But I get it. Some games are actually lost early. Though it was a 1 run game, we were never in this one. One gift inning. One real hit in the entire game. 9 0fers.

      Kershaw 3 home runs in 4 innings. Buehler not ready to go. Wood out with an injury. Bellinger and Muncy hitting .160 this far into the season. Barnes’ average now starts with a zero. It feels like we can be stopped by good pitching. And yet we’re only a game and a half out.

      Forget that one. Move on to the next one.

      1. Yes I do. But I also realize when they have been outclassed. And that was the case. I am more worried about the lack of length of the starters, and Belli’s and Muncy’s continuing slumps. Muncy disclosed to Alanna that his finger was broken in a game during the start up. That would explain some of his trouble. But there is no explanation for what Bellinger is doing right now. Barnes is pretty much a lost cause.

  31. I wonder if Muncy got hurt in the opening series with SF. I think he got hit a few times after hitting 2 home runs. I thought it might be the case some time ago and mentioned it. Do not think Cody is hurt. At least, I hope not.

    1. He has been banged up, but he broke his finger in one of the inter squad games prior to the 3 exhibitions just before the season started. With Cody it looks like it is more bad mechanics, and no confidence in himself right now.

Comments are closed.