The Thot Plickens

Random News From Around Dodgertown

  • Noah Syndergaard says he feels good physically but that his delivery is still out of whack. It may take him a few starts before he finds his delivery and/or release point (if he ever does). But never fear, Gavin Stone will ride in on his white horse. BTW, he has faced 27 batters and struck out 14.
  • The Dodgers assigned Jake Reed, Gavin Stone, and Adam Kolarek to Minor League Camp.
  • The Dodgers are saying that Daniel Hudson will return in May or June.
  • It was good to see David Peralta go 2-3 with a HR and 3 RBIs yesterday. Barring injury, he’s the Left Fielder (at least against RHP. He is a player who should benefit from banning the shift. I am looking for 20+ HR from David.
  • It was also nice to see James Outman get two more hits.
  • Jason Heyward just keeps hanging on with a hit here and there. He is going to make the team, but after that, he is going to have to try to stay.
  • Almonte looks to be out of sync. He should get a couple more opportunities, but he has not pitched much.
  • I am alarmed at how bad CT3 has looked. He has struck out 20 times in 42 ABs! It is not possible for him to be on the team if that continues.
  • Miguel Vargas is only hitting .233, but he has an .843 OPS. When allowed to swing the bat, he has eight strikeouts and eight walks in 30 ABs. Miguel Rojas has one strikeout and two walks in 34 ABs. Last year, guys like Gallo, Bellinger, Thompson, and Taylor were black holes in the lineup. Gallo and Bellinger are gone, and Taylor and Thompson will also be gone if they can’t cut down the strikeouts. They will get some slack, but if they are striking out at such an alarming rate, they have to go bye-bye!
  • AF will either have to trade for some players, or maybe two of Outman, Pages, Busch and/or DeLuca will be ready.
  • Whoever makes the cut for the bullpen is going to have to be very good to keep it because there are going to be some arms at OKC at the ready. Last year’s bullpen was very good. This one will be better.
  • Cody Bellinger is hitting .200 with only five strikeouts in 30 ABs. The Cubs’ idea of “fixing” him involves evidently inducing weak contact. It does not appear to be working.
  • Joey Gallo is also hitting .200 with 10 Ks and very weak contact.
  • Ryan Pepiot is auditioning for the 5th starter spot today… I mean tonight!

This article has 65 Comments

  1. Coming to the end of spring training. Injuries are always a worry. Arizona lost Carson Kelly to a broken arm. He will probably be out a couple of months. Dodgers-Guardians was the better of the two games they played yesterday. The Giants game was simply ugly. I gave Thor a pass on that one since the grounds were wet and he had a tough time gripping the baseball. Mookie and Smith should be back by tomorrow’s game.

  2. We’ve been messing around so much with the LF & CF positions I almost expect a clarifying trade at this point.

    As others say, Peralta is the starting LF against RHP but that is really the only certainty among the two positions.

    Outman, Taylor, Thompson & Heyward are looking like slightly higher-class versions of the failed AAAA types from years past.

    1. That is about right.Maybe at best all of them are 4 th or 5 th outfielders with Outman getting his chance.

  3. I’ve spent the morning reviewing stats. WBC and Spring Training stats. WBC is done. Japan deserved their victory. Good for them. USA went down with a whimper. That’s all I have to say about that.

    Spring stats can be looked at in a variety of ways. The ones I’m most interested in at this point are those for the several centerfield candidates. Heyward does not impress me. He hasn’t for a few years. Thompson hopefully will come around. It’s my opinion if we were a mid tier organization Outman would be our center fielder. We are not so he is not.

    Betts didn’t impress, Smith, in a limited role, hit .200, but had a decent OPS. They have a week to get ready for their roles with the Dodgers. Vargas will need time in grade.

    I think Syndegaard will be fine. He will never be Thor-like again, but I think he will eat up innings and have an ERA between 3.5-4.00. I can live with that. We will see several different starting pitchers throughout this year. We’ll see several different relievers as well.

    I look for trades and acquisitions happening all year. It could be the busiest year that AF has had in a while.

    1. Betts had a .313 BA with 10 hits (tied for most) and 7 runs scored in 7 games played. You are a harsh critic!

      1. Harsh?

        Realistic. Betts had an OPS of .668, 129th in the tournament. If he did that for us, it would be a disaster.

    2. He will be Thor like when it comes to missing starts for injuries. The best outcome possible when he signed was to be known as Bore. A bottom half of staff boring starter.

  4. Only 7 games left and nobody wants CF except Outman and nobody wants half of LF either. Can the Dodgers afford to run a guy out there past his prime that’s a platoon guy everyday in CF. My oh my the thought of Thompson or Heyward out there. They aren’t platoon partners that’s for sure. Taylor has to platoon with someone (probably Peralta) and the thought of that. Can anyone come to the rescue and play everyday in CF that has a bat that works? We’ll see.

    1. Pretty much where I’m at. I’m fine with them throwing them out there for a week or two but I hope they have a Plan B.

      [does B stand for Busch?]

        1. His bat might be. Pitch recognition, etc.

          The point is I hope they have an idea what to do if this plan flops.

          Normally I’d say the rest of the lineup could pick up the slack but we have a brand new SS/2B and Justin Turner is no longer around.

  5. The last WBC was ok. Didn’t get that into it. But this week was a blast. I wish more American fans would give it a chance. Something like 95% of Japanese TVs were tuned into the last two games.

    Spring training is ok, mostly because we’ve gone many months with no baseball. So even crappy games are welcomed.

    But last night! I watched the game at my buddy’s restaurant. It drew a good crowd that was very much into the game. But when Ohtani started warming up and we realized Trout was due to bat third, things simply got crazy. It was definitely a WS/Super Bowl atmosphere. Ohtani v Trout with 2 outs in the bottom of the ninth! Hollywood couldn’t have written it better. Nobody was rooting for Japan, but things went nuts when Trout struck out. It almost didn’t matter that the US lost, it was just how it ended!

    After a few weeks of watching the low energy, mechanical atmosphere that is spring training; last night was amazing. Got the blood going.

    The Trout v Ohtani AB might have single handedly solidified the WBC as a major sporting event. It’s good for the sport. Even if baseball viewership in the US continues to decline, it is growing in popularity around the world. Us old timers might be a little grumpy about change in the sport, but younger fans love this kind of thing. We all fondly reminisce about the great calls Vin made in big games. My son is going to remember Joe Davis making the Ohtani/Trout call like I remember Vin saying “If you have a sombrero, throw it to the sky!”.

    1. I felt the same way. It just seems like last night we witnessed a moment that changed baseball and made it a truly international sport.

      I also chuckled at some of the reactionary provincialism here in the comments yesterday.

      “The stadiums were packed! There’s a lot of energy!”

      “It doesn’t matter if they were packed with fans. They weren’t AMERICAN fans, so it doesn’t matter. MURICA!!”

      The WBC may someday be considered the real World Series and may rival or supplant the popularity of domestic baseball someday. I’m ok with it.

  6. “It doesn’t matter if they were packed with fans. They weren’t AMERICAN fans, so it doesn’t matter. MURICA!!”

    This comment just reeked of an entitled American.

    1. You do realize that wasn’t an actual quote, correct? … that I was poking a little fun at some of the sclerotic cultural chauvinism on display here?

  7. Well the players were certainly all in with the tournament. Maybe next time the top USA pitchers will play. Ex Dodgers certainly aren’t helping the poor Cubs! Can’t wait to see what AF does with the final roster!

    1. I doubt it Cassidy. If this tournament is played in March, US pitching won’t be ready. And as far as the WBC being a real World Series? Uh, no. It’s an exhibition. That is all it is.

      Stadium was packed? Attendance was 36,000. If that packs the stadium, they need a larger venue.

      My take on the ending? Vanilla. The US went do with a whimper. Trout vs Ohtani? Great if you’re an Ohtani fan. I’m not. Might be some day, but not now. Trout looked completely overmatched. Didn’t even make contact. Would rather have seen a drive to the center field fence and a great defensive play to win the game. A weak ass double play and a strike out? Sheesh. Where’s the drama in that?

          1. “Why is wanting an exciting finish to an exhibition considered grumpy?”

            It’s not.

            Saying it’s just an exhibition, that the draw in fans packing stadiums is not anything notable (and besides, dey all be damn fureners anyway – BUILD THE WALL!), that the game play wasn’t anything special (now we don’t like pitchers’s duels? Koufax musta been totally boring baseball), that you don’t like Ohtani, that you don’t like Trout, that you don’t like good pitching versus good hitting, that you just don’t like it.

            Now THAT’s grumpy.

      1. “I don’t care how many of dem fureners show up to the games. It ain’t REAL baseball! Real baseball is in MURICA, played by MURICANS, dammit! The rest of the world ain’t worth a tick on a hound’s hide! Japan ain’t no world champions. Why, back in my day in Iwo Jima, we used to stack dem Jap bodies like cordwood. That Showy Showoff what’s his name ain’t nothin special. There hasn’t been a good player in this game since Duke Snider.”

        1. Neither clever nor humorous.

          I enjoyed watching the few games I saw. I said as much, but that wasn’t noteworthy was it.

          I didn’t like the finish. That’s all. Like I said, in a clutch moment the lights went out for the the US team. As I said many times, I really didn’t care who won it. I just enjoyed the exciting games. That last game had its moments. The 9th inning wasn’t among them.

          And what’s with tagging me with the Umerica and build a wall lines? That was your crowd not mine.

          1. I thought it was hilarious … and apparently over the target, hence the defensiveness.

            Free your mind. Embrace change. Don’t be so Anglo-centric when it comes to baseball. There’s a whole world out there where there is baseball other than Steven Duggar striking out in a meaningless Spring training game.

  8. The WBC will grow in popularity as more players will want to get into it. What if it were left when it was, but that pitchers would be limited to 3 innings and position players to 6 innings? Up the rosters to 40, and don’t put as much stress on the starters. It becomes more like an All-Star Game.

    1. There are pitch limits in place. 65 in pool play, 80 in the quarterfinals, and 95 for the championship round. 65 pitches effectively limits a pitcher to about 3 innings.

      Watching the game last night made me think of something else. I think the pitch clock is a good innovation, but I say you do away with the pitch clock during playoff baseball, or at least maybe the WS.

      I don’t think treating the WBC like an All Star Game would work. Contrary to what the grumpy old guys keep saying around here, it’s not an exhibition. It’s taken very seriously by foreign born players and baseball fans in Latin America and Asia. Yadier Molina said he took the WBC more seriously than MLB playoffs. For players who languish in smaller leagues in Venezuela or Cuba, the WBC is the one opportunity to play on the world stage, for your country and your culture, for something that actually matters. I think 95% of Japanese televisions were tuned in to the final game last night.

      Expanding the roster to 40 is obviously going to penalize countries who don’t have a lot of player depth. How is the Netherlands supposed to get 39 other players besides Kenley Jansen?

      Geez. Just except that the WBC is a big deal to the rest of the baseball world. I have a pretty healthy sense of patriotism, but I’m not so chauvinistic to think that the baseball world has to revolved around the USA all the time.

      1. “Geez. Just except (sp) that the WBC is a big deal to the rest of the baseball world.”

        So is the World Cup. I don’t much give a shit about that either.

        1. Nor do I, but I’m not going to post that the World Cup is “an exhibition. That’s all it is.” when, in fact, it is the biggest, most popular, most consequential sporting event in the world, and I’m especially not going to take that position because I don’t like that some training matches for the LA Galaxy are interrupted. That would be silly.

          You might not give a shit about the rest of the world, but it exists irrespective of us, and maybe that’s the point I’m trying to make with my somewhat provocative ribbing.

          Why do you hate diversity so much?

          1. Because I don’t care who wins a soccer tournament, you accuse me of hating diversity.? Again, your crowd.

            Remember, I’m a socialist, we love diversity. We invented it.

      2. The reason is probably the WBC is less important to US fans because MLB is already international. Some American players never stepped a foot on the country’s soil they’ve represented.

  9. 9:40 PM ET vs Mariners (away)

    SP Ryan Pepiot R
    1-0 2.00ERA 9IP 13K

    Confirmed Lineup
    RF James Outman L
    C A. Barnes R
    3B Max Muncy L
    CF T. Thompson R
    SS Miguel Rojas R
    2B M. Vargas R
    DH S. Duggar L
    1B Ryan Ward L
    LF B. Zimmer L

    Barnes is back from the WBC

      1. I haven’t seen him in CF for awhile though. Hopefully it is believed he can handle it and want to see how others handle it.

  10. They are talking about making it a midseason event like soccer. Every four years. Then everyone is ready to go. I like it because the players are so passionate about it.

    1. How long did the entire tournament last? I suppose mid-season could work, but now the World Series is well into November.

      Do players really need four full months off after the end of the season before they’re playing games again? Take two weeks off, start going to your Driveline or whatever off-season routine you do and start ramping up your fitness to be ready to play in the WBC in March.

      Or maybe start the regular baseball season a couple of weeks early to accommodate a mid-season WBC.

      1. Starting mid-March? Could be a problem for northern cities. Of course the schedule coils be set to accommodate the weather but they don’t seem to do that now.

      2. “How long did the entire tournament last?”

        2 weeks. It was in all the papers.

        It’s only played every 4 years. I really doubt MLB is going to change their schedule to accommodate an exhibition baseball tournament. Too much economy surrounds the game, and it’s already 9 months long.

        1. You still read papers? Those still exist? Didn’t you get the memo that print media is dead?

          You don’t think there’s a potential economy around a world sport where 95% of Japanese televisions tuned in? MLB is declining in viewership and fans. Maybe the WBC is a way to rejuvenate a dying sport.

          1. Read papers? No. I was being snarky.

            I have no real idea what kind of economic influence in-country baseball has in Hispanic and European countries, probably not a lot. I know they love it, and I know they especially love it when one of their own signs a contract to play here. Japan is different. Baseball is huge there, money flows, but they too measure US baseball as the high bar.

            The WBC is far more important to other countries than it is to us. For us it’s a side show until our season starts. If we needed to win it, I believe we would.

  11. Sure was a disappointing ending last night but all in all the tournament was very exciting. Also heard it was the most watched single baseball game EVER. Can try arguing with that but would come off lame

    1. Forrest Gump is also a very popular movie and it’s an abomination. People’s taste can be bad.

      1. That is an opinion, that you are free to have.

        But it’s an abomination to you. .. not everyone.

        Many people would disagree… which is also their opinion.

        1. Brian hates It’s a Wonderful Life, too. Christmas is his least favorite time of year. He recoils at the sight of kittens and puppies. Seeing someone smile makes him physically ill.

  12. Just read that Heyward’s minor league deal comes with an opt out if he isn’t on the major league roster at the beginning of the season. Apparently, he’s the only guy on the Dodgers on a minor league deal with an immediate opt out.

    1. He has been done for years. That’s what you do with old long shots. Freddie will have a good cry and the exercise will be over. Heyward will come back playing for mainland China in the next WBC.

    1. Vargas might be good.

      But you’re right. Those three need to ball out.

      Be nice if Muncy came all the way back.

  13. Dodgers make another round of cuts
    The Dodgers optioned left-hander Justin Bruihl and infielder Yonny Hernandez to Minor League camp on March 22. They also reassigned Patrick Mazeika, David Freitas and Ryan Ward to Minor League camp.

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