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  1. This should have been the lineup they ran out there against the lefty. Show everybody your not afraid of going lefty on lefty and stick with it. Give the young guys, like Joc and Toles, a vote of confidence and put them in there until they figure it out. I would much rather have Toles and Joc facing a lefty than Kike and Guitierrez. I will take my chances, stats be damned. It’s only the 3rd game and already “The Platoon” is getting under my skin. I guess I better get used to it.

  2. Roger, I agree.

    Do we ever see that lineup against a LHP the entire season? Doubt it.

    If anything, we score 14 runs game 1, when the good mojo is going, why not keep it up? I know, the stats do not support it but it is frustrating, the outcome would not have been any worse.

    1. After the day Joc had, I would have had to put him out there, but I am generally not a second guesser. Doc was the Manager of the Year last year so I will cut him some slack. I manage a lot of people everyday and you can second-guess everything you do, but sometimes you just have to learn from it. Maybe Dave Learned…

      1. I agree. Joc after a grand slam and a second near HR. I would have played him, but early in the season I’m sure Dave is trying to get everyone some AB’s and I can’t fault him for that. Everyone better get used to seeing Gutierrez or SVS in LF against righties. That is why they are on the team and they need AB’s to stay sharp. I want to see less Gonzalez at 1st against lefties because he needs the extra rest this year.

  3. The Dodgers will be facing 2 RHSP against the Pads, then are scheduled to face 2 LHSP (Kyle Freeland and Tyler Anderson) and RHSP (Jon Gray) against the Rox, and 2 RHSP (Jake Arrieta and John Lackey) and 1 LHSP (Brett Anderson). I think we will get a better feel for how Roberts will be setting up lineups in the next two series. At least no Jon Lester.
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    Gutierrez did have one of the hits, and put the ball at the CF wall on his first AB. Kike’ didn’t get the ball out of the infield. Regardless, neither Joc or Toles would have made a lick of difference, offensively or defensively. Game 2 is history, now on to Game 3.

  4. They have brought Gutierrez over for one reason. They have to play him against left handers. I am not a Gutierrez supporter. Kike is the one that surprises me. Maybe Roberts will give Kike at bats to see what he has. I think we will see Taylor soon.

    I am watching Seattle play. Paxton looks great. A few years back there was some talk of the Dodgers trading for him. He would be another left hander. He would be #2 in our staff.

  5. Mark and Hawkeye, totally agree where you guys are coming from, and I would never put any hate on Roberts, who to me could be the Dodger manager as long as he wants to. I know this platoon thing will play way in to the season, but at what point do you just say,”The hell with the stats or matchups, my guy is raking and I don’t care who is pitching,” Just ride the damn wave into shore. I am kinda worried that over the long run some of our young guys are going to be so used to getting pulled when a leftie or righty pitcher comes up, they won’t have any confidence in themselves to be a complete player. Do the other elite teams like the Cubs, Indians, Red Sox or Nationals platoon as much as we do, and at what success rate? Kind of curious about that. ( I’m not going to mention the Giants because we don’t use that word in our household).

  6. Spring Training evidently isn’t Rich Hills thing.
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    Then again, these are the Padres!
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    This guy can spin the baseball for real!

  7. Well, it looks like one of our pitchers with a “long injury history” is dealing tonight. Glad he is on our side.
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    Knights27: “Almost every other ball club has had to tank in order to properly rebuild. Even then, there are no guarantees you get back to a winning culture. I’m a Laker fan and the last 3 seasons have been absolute hell.”
    .
    I am also a Laker fan, makes me appreciate FAZ even more. In the year 2017, Laker management doesn’t even know how to tank in order to properly rebuild. Unbelievable!

    1. Except – the Braintrust didn’t have to rebuild. It inherited a team that had won 2 straight Division titles. Not like the Lakers, Cubs, Astros, etc.

      1. I disagree – they had to rebuild… and they did. The minor league system was middle of the pack. Now they are near the top. Look at the lineups in 2014 verses now. They did rebuild… and won while doing it!
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        15 of the 25 on the roster were acquired by FAZ.
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        I would call that “Winning while Rebuilding.”

      2. I disagree also, Hanley leaving, three $20M/yr outfielders and NO center fielder, lousy bullpen, highest payroll in baseball, crappy catchers, Ryu injured, Haren and Beckett OLD and infirm. Lots of problems!

    2. Hopefully Magic gets the Lakers back to “winnin’ time” I wonder if he’s asked FAZ for advice on the Lakers…

      1. I always thought Kupchak was pretty good, at least until the Nash trade. They needed new blood. I don’t think Magic talked with FAZ. They would have stressed the importance of getting a top three pick this year. Oh well, maybe Magic can work some magic with the ping pong balls.
        .
        Jerry Buss must be rolling over in his grave.

      1. Yaz not being able to get the bunt down cost them a run. Cahill missed his spot and left one out over the plate to Puig. Puig was looking for an outside pitch. If Cahill had actually hit his spot, Puig would have been way out in front – probably grounds out. But because it was down the middle, Puig brings the barrel around and hooks it inside the LF foul pole.

  9. Hill taken out after 75 pitches. I would have liked to see him go 1 more inning.
    .
    Romo comes in and gets a scoreless inning but wasn’t that sharp and gives up several hard hit balls. He has a changeup now to go along with his slider.

    1. I think the rough spring training left him not where he wants to be with his pitch count yet.

    2. Unfortunately, I was not able to watch last night’s game, but I did get a BR alert that Hill was having his wrist X-Rayed after being HBP. Perhaps that is the reason Hill came out and not necessarily his pitch count. I know he was hit in inning 2, but these things do have a tendency to swell, and maybe he was removed for precautionary reasons. I have not been able to see any update this AM.

  10. I liked what I saw from Wood in relief. That could add a whole different dimension in the pen; having a guy with that stuff who can go multiple innings late in a game

    1. It looks like Wood can dial it up to 95+ as a reliever. I agree – he looked pretty sharp for 2 innings of relief.

    3. I know many on this site disagree, but Wood is a good young pitcher (26). He pitched 171.2 (with a sub 3.00 ERA) and 189.2 IP at 23 and 24 respectively. He was inconsistent in 2015 after the Dodgers got him, but he was 24 and away from his Southern roots for the first time in his life. I am ambivalent if Alex starts or relieves, but I am happy that he is doing it for the Dodgers. I think he has a chance to be another version of Andrew Miller, but I also beleive he can be a good mid to back end rotation starter.

  11. Meanwhile, because you know we have to: Today for Oakland:

    Cotton, 4.1ip, 8 hits, 5 ER, 2bb, 4k
    Montas: 2.2ip, 2 hits, 0runs, 0 k

    1. DeJong blows the game against Houston. He had a bit of bad luck with Aoki beating the shift. Then he hung a 2-2 curve that Springer destroyed.

      1. With Daniel Coulombe finishing, that was three former Dodgers pitching for the As. I recognize that it was neither of your intent, but I take no pleasure that both Cotton and De Jong did poorly yesterday. I like both pitchers, but agreed that the Dodgers had a surplus of back end RHSP and could perhaps be moved for someone who could be a more immediate help or fill a need in the organization. I hope that someday Cotton and De Leon go 1-2 in the AL CYA. I always believed that Frankie Montas was the one Beane really wanted, so it does not surprise me that he did well. I am not sure that Chase De Jong is a reliever, but if he is going to stay with the Ms on the ML roster that is what he is going to need to do for now. I hope he does well.

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