What Now?

The Dodgers have 101 wins, and the fact that they were the quickest team to win 100 games in the past 21 years should be duly noted. There are seventeen games left, and it is a foregone conclusion that the Dodgers will set an All-Time Franchise Record for wins. They hardly care. Yes, it will be nice, but the entire focus is on winning the World Series. I hate to say that the 2022 season will be a total waste if the Dodgers don’t win the World Series, but the 2022 Season will be a Total Waste if the Dodgers don’t win the 2022 World Championship. It is what it is! That is the price of excellence!

I think that starting today, Miguel Vargas should play the last 17 games, no matter the matchup (3B, 1B, LF). Hanser Alberto should play just about every day, and everyone should get plenty of rest. Don’t tax the pitchers, but keep them fresh. Austin Barnes should play plenty so as to be sure that Will Smith is truly the “Fresh Prince.”

Dodgers News and Notes

  • Tucker Anderson is the latest edition to the Tyler Anderson Clan, and Tyler will start one game of Tuesday’s doubleheader vs. the D-Backs in LA. Mike Grove will start the other game.
  • David Price has been ridiculed by many Dodger fans and is allegedly retiring after this season, but you have no idea what he is going through, and you have no idea how much he helps the young players. Price said this: “Everything on my body hurts.” OK, leave it at that. He has not made the decision 100%. But you can consider what Dave Roberts says about him: “David’s been great for the guys. He’s a great teammate, and he commands a lot of respect in the room. He’s certainly helped us out — not only on the field, which I think he’s performed really well, but things that people don’t see and helping young pitchers become Major League Baseball players.” Let’s not forget the money he paid the minor leaguers during the pandemic!
  • Kimbrel was nails last night!
  • You can see Andre Jackson’s ability – he just doesn’t trust his stuff… yet!
  • Justin Bruihl has the guts of a cat burglar. He got the last out on five pitches – none faster than 88 MPH. That could be his only save as a Dodger.
  • Apple TV – Yes, the MLB Game broadcasts are horrid (hopefully, they will learn), but there are a lot of good shows on Apple TV, namely See, Ted Lasso, The Mosquito Coast, et al.
  • Want to watch a great baseball movie? Try this:

Winter Ball

Last night, the film “Winter Ball” premiered at the New York Latino Film Festival. Right before the pandemic, my oldest son invited my wife and me and my youngest son to the Dominican Republic to watch him film the movie. It was a great time, and I recommend staying at HOTEL CASA HEMINGWAY. It was fairly inexpensive and simply outstanding. My oldest son, Nick, is a Union Steady Cam Operator, and he did all of the action shots.

We had a great time and got into the games for free as we traveled with the producers and the crew. Baseball is wild in the DR.

Getting ready to put the 75 pounds of gear on.
Shooting the audience.

So, three years later, they have the preview night, and after the Director spoke to the audience and thanked everyone by name, my son stood up and said, “Why didn’t you pay me?” and walked out! Well, they did not pay him everything they owed, and maybe the apple didn’t fall far from the tree. I will still watch the movie as I know my son was the steady cam operator.

This article has 26 Comments

  1. I totally agree with Alberto, Vargas and Barnes, and I also think that Gallo should play “almost every day” and no more than 5 innings or 75 pitches from the starters.

    And why not put Lux in IL and bring Rios or someone else? when Lux returns he will still have a week to play and regain rhythm.

  2. The only difference between Andre Jackson and Devin Williams is command. He’s got the stuff! I hope he decides he would rather pitch in the Majors than be a starter in the Minors.

    Remember, the Dodgers are going to have 5 days off between the last game of the season and the first game of the playoffs. No, we don’t need Vargas, Barnes and Hanser out there every day.

    Doc’s already using a six man staff. We don’t need to limit them further.

    Congratulations Tyler on baby Tucker!

    14 home games and 3 road games remain. Just one more trip out of town to beautiful San Diego, just in time to knock them out of the Wild Card. Unfortunately, the Phillies and the Brewers just don’t seem to want to grab that brass ring.

    In case you missed it, Michael Busch hit his 30th home run last night. He has a 280 BA, 35 doubles, 114 runs and 105 RBI to go along with all those bombs. He also has 162 Ks.

    15 beat downs given to Giants this year. With a sweep of the Padres, we’ll have the same record against them. The Rockies have fared much better with 5 wins so far, but with 6 home games against them remaining a lot can change. The D-Backs are also pitiful. So far, just 3 wins against 11 loses. The Dodgers have absolutely crushed the rest of the division.

    The Dodgers are on pace to blow their best record out of the water. Just five more wins and we’ll tie our all time best season at 106. This team is one of the all-time best with a chance at a top 10 record all time and a top 10 run differential all time.

  3. I was wondering what the tiebreaker with Houston or NYY would be, in case of a tie for best record in baseball, and home field advantage in the World Series.

    That tie breaker, since there wasn’t a head to head matchup with either team this year, is intra division record. So, as B&P laid out above, since we own our division so far with more games to go, we likely would have that tiebreaker in our favor.

    The magic number to have that bye in round 1 and start the NLDS at home on Oct 11 is now 1. We should have that clinched today as well.

  4. Do any of you have any concerns should we play ATL and Freddie does back to ATL?

    He was so emotional last time, I hope it will not affect his play. We’ll need him, we’ll need all 25 to win this thing.

    1. I think he’ll be on a mission to show them what a mistake they made. He’s happy here and is having one of his best seasons ever. It worked out for the best.

      1. I believe Freeman had 4-5 hits in that 3 game series, so I”m guessing it didn’t really affect his play

  5. Nail biter last night even though in the overall picture it did not matter all that much. Anytime they beat the Giants is a good time. 5 games in the next 4 days. I also agree that Vargas should get a lot of time this last 17 games along with Alberto. Gallo should be out there a lot too. Our defense saved us last night. Bellinger, and Betts made a couple of great catches. Made up for the throwing error by Trea.

  6. Should remind people that Jackson is still relatively new to pitching.

    He’s also probably on the wrong side of this coming off-season’s 40 man crunch.

    IMHO, it all comes down to that slider and how legit it’s projected to become.

  7. VERY Brief roundup of…

    Notes From Internet

    The WSJ ($$$$) on Andrew Friedman and the World Series:
    https://www.wsj.com/articles/los-angeles-dodgers-andrew-friedman-world-series-11663507942

    Eno Sarris notes on TheAthletic ($$$$) that spin rates are back up. Innovation is the enemy in this instance.
    https://theathletic.com/3591261/2022/09/14/spin-rates-rise-sticky-stuff/
    “…But it looks like pitchers have found something clear and wipeable that gives them more of a boost than sunscreen and rosin, because spin rate is back up in baseball. Almost back to where it was before enforcement started.”

    The great Jay Jaffe on Trayce Thompson’s redemption with the Dodgers:
    https://blogs.fangraphs.com/trayce-thompson-makes-a-splash-as-the-dodgers-latest-reclamation-project/
    ” a 4.6-mph gain in average exit velocity and a nearly six-point gain in average launch angle. His groundball rate dropped from 45% in 2015–18 to 29.4% since returning

    Baseball America on the AFL ($$$$)
    https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/2022-arizona-fall-league-glendale-desert-dogs/
    …Intriguing Prospects: The Dodgers’ Jorbit Vivas and the Twins’ Edouard Julien have two of the most discerning batting eyes in the sport. In fact, Vivas was among a group of 14 players above the complex leagues who played 60 or more games and finished with more walks than strikeouts”

    Jay Jaffe chat:
    Leland: You’re Farhan Zaidi…what do you do this offseason to make the Giants a Wild Card contender in 2023?

    Jay Jaffe: screw the division, go for the NL West. My biggest moves would be to retain Carlos Rodan and sign Trea Turner (you could also go for Carlos Correa but this keeps Turner from returning to the Dodgers). I think they’re the only likely west coast landing spot for Aaron Judge if he doesn’t re-up with the Yankees but I don’t think you could fit all three of those guys on the payroll…

    Mike M: How much do the Dodgers playoff hopes depend on a healthy Gonsolin?

    Jay Jaffe: They’ll need him to win a World Series unless Dustin May can iron out all the kinks, which is asking a lot given his short track record.

    Appa Yip Yip: How is Ross Stripling being so effective this year? Is it just limiting to two times through, or is there something new going on?

    Jay Jaffe: Offhand it looks like he’s getting better movement on his fastballs, doing a better job of avoiding hard contact, and getting the good defense/luck behind him where Gausman has not, particularly with the shift on.
    Probably worth a closer look, especially if the Blue Jays make it out of the Wild Card series…

    Harmon Ripkowski: Can Gonsolin tie Roy Face for 18-1?

    Jay Jaffe: Doubt it because I don’t see him being built up enough to last 5 innings as a starter in his return.

    Future Dodgers on the Dodgers going to the AFL
    Pages, Ramos, Choi, and Dodson are all Rule 5 eligible this offseason. Choi was the Dodgers’ Minor League Pitcher of the Year last season but hasn’t pitched in a game since April—a strong, healthy showing could put him back into contention for a 40-man spot.

    Pages should be a lock for a 40-man spot and I have Ramos as a likely option to get one after the Cartaya/Pages/Busch trio. Dodson was among the contenders for a spot last year when he was with the Rays, but probably isn’t in strong contention this time around.

    Josh Thomas from Dodgers Digest on the Dodgers headed for the LIDOM draft:
    http://dodgersdigest.com/2022/09/16/dodgers-prospect-notes-three-selected-in-the-lidom-draft/
    On Yunior Garcia:
    “… the exceptionally loud tools are there, and if it ever clicks, look out.”

    Baseball America’s JJ Cooper on Vin Scully ($$$$$)
    https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/in-memoriam-baseball-mourns-loss-of-one-of-a-kind-broadcaster-vin-scully/
    Who’s the best baseball player ever? The question has many defensible answers.
    Ask about the best baseball broadcaster of all-time and there’s only one answer: Vin Scully.

  8. Hey Mark, That looks like a good movie. Hope your son got his issue out of it. At least if he was short changed he got something of family value out of the venture part of it. Seems he’s in high demand with his camera work. Yep the Timmons clan surely made some great career choices and are on top of the competition.

  9. All I want the Dodgers to do is avoid injuries and stay sharp. Couldn’t care less if we play .500 baseball from here.

    And yes, Vargas needs more playing time. I’m still not convinced he couldn’t help in the playoffs. Next couple weeks would be a perfect time to find out.

    1. I am fine with Vargas not on the Playoff Roster but he needs to see MLB pitching for a while to prepare for next year.

  10. 10:10 PM ET

    Diamondbacks (68-78)
    Dodgers (101-44)

    SP Merrill Kelly R
    12-6 3.01 ERA 176.2IP 54BB 155K
    SP Clayton Kershaw L
    8-3 2.44 ERA 103.1IP 19BB 107K

    Confirmed Lineup
    RF Mookie Betts R
    SS Trea Turner R
    1B F. Freeman L
    C Will Smith R
    3B Max Muncy L
    LF Joey Gallo L
    2B Gavin Lux L
    DH Chris Taylor R
    CF C. Bellinger L

    Clear-night
    0% Rain
    71° Wind 7 mph Out

    NO Dodger Minor League Games Tonight
    Tuesday schedule
    5:05 p.m. PT: Tulsa at Wichita (Twins), Division Series Game 1
    5:35 p.m.: Oklahoma City at El Paso (Padres)

  11. The 2022 Dodgers are just the ninth team in franchise history (since 1901) to win at least 100 games. None of those teams won the World Series.

    Most NL West titles since divisional play began in 1969:
    Dodgers 21
    San Francisco 9
    Cincinnati 7
    Arizona 5
    Atlanta 5
    San Diego 5
    Houston 2

  12. Yeah, pretty funny Atlanta being in the AL west as they’d have to be an island to be any further east. Pretty soon there’ll be another expansion probably Buffalo, New Orleans, Salt Lake City and Las Vegas. When expansion happens I hope they get rid of wildcards in the playoffs. Though I can’t believe it’ll be of any concern to me.

  13. Went to see Bullet Train with my brother today, pretty interesting movie. Lots of action and comedy and plenty of BLOOD! Loved it. Go Dodgers!

  14. Kersh is Maddux. But better. He will be amazing until his arm falls off. It’s pitching. When youth and talent are exhausted; it doesn’t matter. Not when you know vastly more than anybody you face.

  15. Well, I’ve been firmly in the Kimbrel camp until tonight. However, after watching Gavin Lux bail him out of a huge hole of his own making, we need to move on. Definitely.

    Good to see Gav with 3 hits and some stellar def,ence, and of course Joey G with a big night.

    Kahnle also could still be a valuable piece for the Post Season.

Comments are closed.