More Junkyard Dogism

I have not given up on this season, however, I do think that the problem is with the coaching staff – I think many of the hitters are trying for the long ball when they should be shortening up.  Witness one Cody Bellinger’s success in August after adjusting.  Joc Pederson has done the same thing but has revereted back to many of his old habits lately.

Chris Taylor has 147 strikeouts, but that’s not that bad for a guy who has 31 Home Runs.  What?  Oh, I transposed that number – he has 13 Home Runs?  What the hell is he swinging like that for? I like CT3, but that is dumber than a bag of hammers, but management allows it… evidently?

I blame Roberts and the coaching staff for these repeated failures to hit with RISP – it’s an epidemic! I would not tolerate it.  It’s insane to keep doing the same thing over and over and expect different results. I hear that Alex Verdugo would start for most clubs but hasn’t been able to find a role on a talented Dodgers club. 

WHAT?

TALENTED? 

It’s a whole group of “talented” under-acheivers:

  • Matt Kemp has underformed since the All-Star Break… scratch that, he hasn’t performed.
  • Yasiel Puig has underperformed for all of his career except for 15 minutes.
  • Chris Taylor needs a make over.
  • Joc Pederson is still all or nothing…. mostly nothing.
  • Kike Hernandez laughs and jokes while he can’t his his weight. Fix your swing and then you can smile.  Until then, shut up!

I refuse to include Bellinger as an outfielder because he is a Gold Glove first baseman. Cody and JT are doing all they can,  Yasmani is Yasmani a damn good catcher (TOP 10 in baseball), warts and all.  Manny Machado and Brian Dozier look like little old ladies swinging a purse. Both are “pretty boys.”

I want Junkyard Dogs!  I haven’t used that term this year, because these guys have played like entitled brats, not junkyard dogs.  The Dodgers need more Junkyard Dogism and I am the Pastor of the Church of  Junkyard Dogism. Say “I believe.” Junkyard Dogism is:

  • Battling every pitch;
  • Productive outs;
  • Moving the runner;
  • Strikeouts are a waste of an AB,
  • Picking your teammate who failed, up;
  • Always being aware of what is going on every second;
  • Hitting with RISP and not necessarily the long ball; and
  • Knowing chicks dig the long ball, but baseball fans dig wins.

We need less pretty boys and more Junkyard Dogs.  At the present time, there is only one Pedigreed Junkyard Dog on the roster (yes, Junkyard Dogs are AKC registered) and that is (we need more like him):

 

 

This article has 34 Comments

  1. Great read Mark, but this FO and Robert’s are not going to change their philosophy in season. Maybe some tweeks in the organizational philosophy will occur in the offseason but I doubt it. It will not happen until they stop drawing 3,000,000 and the TV contract nears an end. What is the incentive? Is it to appease diehards like us, we don’t move the financial needle enough for them to care.

    Anyway, I still have hope but I believe they are going to have to collectively get hot, hit home runs like they did in June and encounter some luck( like other teams missing middle middle mistakes from our relievers instead of constantly hammering them for late leads and wins. Don’t like the philosophy much more then the next guy but it is here so here is too hoping they can have a repeat of June. Starts tonight, sweep or bust.

  2. The problem goes beyond the coaching staff and the manager although they play a significant role. It’s partially on the players who just don’t execute and so forth, but this is the design of the team. Anyone who doesn’t think that the Dodgers are what they are by design isn’t paying attention.

    The Dodgers are a SABRdream. Walks and longballs. Isn’t that what’s supposed to win?

    A manager who manages by statistics – a different lineup each day, always playing the percentages. Isn’t that what’s supposed to win?

    Relievers are no good from year to year so just get a new bunch of guys off of the scrapheap each year. Isn’t that what’s supposed to win?

    What makes anyone think that the Braintrust believes in such archaic concepts as the “productive out”, making contact, eschewing the strikeout and so forth?

    The Fangraphs article cited by Adam for the last post pointed out that the Dodgers have the lowest “clutch” score in baseball, including both hitters and pitchers. The article again points out that the Dodgers are a SABRdream, but: “Yet, they have baseball’s second-best rest-of-season team projection. They have baseball’s fourth-best current BaseRuns winning percentage, and they have baseball’s fifth-best current run differential. By almost every indicator, the Dodgers look like the super-team they were expected to be. They’re just not there in wins, because they haven’t shown up with the game on the line. Clutch hitting and clutch pitching — or the lack thereof — might well send the Dodgers home at the end of the regular season.”

    In short, they are the team that the Braintrust has cobbled together based on it’s philosophy of winning games. It’s the coaches and manager; it’s the players too. But you can’t leave out the ‘Trust – the Dodgers are the team that it built based on current theories about how to win based on what the computer tells you.

      1. How many players had career years last year? Wood, Jansen, Bellinger, Turner, Puig, Taylorand probably others had their best seasons last year. I have suggested before that banking on a career year every year is a bad strategy for success unless you are talking about a future Hall of Famer liker Kershaw. You have to assume some regression under the circumstances and plan accordingly.

        And the Astros are not the Dodgers. The Dodgers have the 8th most team strikeouts in MLB; Houston the 28th. They make much better contact.

  3. The swing for long ball is a FAZ strategy, thats why Verdugo is not here because he is not a all o nothing hitter. Looking for relivers who just pitch 100 miles without any sense of pitching is a FAZ strategy. I DONT KNOW IF FAZ IS REDY TO PLAY REALLY SMART BALL. BATTING FOR CONTACT, WORKING THE COUNT AND TRAIYING TO MOVE THE RUNNERS

    1. VERLANDER DID NOT ANY GAME IN THE LAST WS. HE PITCHED VERY WELL BUT NOTHING IN WIN. DODGERS KILKER WAS HOUSTON HITTERS AND ROBERTS HOPERUSING BULLPEN ARMS

  4. Well said dodgerrick, really speaks to this organization’s philosophy and it’s flaws. I really think a shift is necessary if we have any hope of getting back to the series or eventually winning one.

    I truly believe last year success was not due at all to their philosophy but rather career years across the board and two superstars who were not entirely shaped by the three true outcomes, Seager and Turner. My point is they overcame the human factor, doing what the computer says as Rick points out, because of so many career performances. My point is when everyone is doing well then this philosophy can work, it is when players inevitably slump it suffers. They cannot break out of slumps or learn to hit or pitch in the clutch if they are not thrown right back out there after failing. However if the computer says to sit you sit, no exceptions. The slide last August, thst lasted longer then it should have, gave us a glimpse of the flawed and seemingly inflexible FO philosophy,

    I do wonder if a shift in philosophy is possible, FAZ is not reactive ( sometimes a good thing ) and often stubborn, so I am afraid we could be right back here next year.

  5. Totally agree Mark, Turner is the only registered junkyard dog on the team. Used to be Utley last year, but he has aged out. I don’t understand with pretty much the same core of guys as last year, how we got away from our plate approach. Last year we were known up and down the lineup to just grind at bats, make the pitcher throw strikes, and that resulted in a hell of alot of come from behind wins late in the game. This year…. Nothing, just nothing. Something has to change plate approach wise, or the hitters, not the bullpen, are going to send us home early this year.

  6. I agree with Mark. Doc is a great guy but not a great manager. Players can never get into a rhythm because they don’t know from day to day where they will play or bat. Plus there is never any accountability for failure. I doubt there will be a change this year and probably not next year either. But I think it will eventually have to happen for the team to reach their full potential.

  7. DODGERS REINSTATE YIMI GARCIA

    LOS ANGELES
    – The Los Angeles Dodgers today reinstated right-handed pitcher Yimi Garcia from the 10-day disabled list and placed right-handed pitcher Daniel Hudson on the 10-day disabled list with right forearm tightness.

    Garcia, who missed 43 games this season with right forearm inflammation, last pitched on July 3 against Pittsburgh where he allowed one run on one hit and struck out two batters. In 20 relief appearances this season, the 28-year-old has gone 1-2 with a 5.21 ERA (11 ER/19 IP) while striking out 16 batters and walking three.

    Hudson has appeared in 40 games (one start) with Los Angeles this season, going 3-2 with a 4.11 ERA (21 ER/46.0 IP) and striking out 44 against 18 walks. He has also held hitters to a .217 average, including limiting left-handed batters to a .194 mark.

    1. Are you flippin kidding me? Garcia over Fields? Oh well, maybe he will surprise us all this time.

  8. If something does not change, the dodgers will waste Buehler and urias and may , and ferguson
    The way they wasted Kershaw career.

  9. Other line up with Taylor and Kike in row!!! Crazy!! There is something embarrassing BETWEEN kike and Roberts, definitely

  10. Dodgers did not waste Kershaw’s years. They got to the playoffs the last 5 years, and Kershaw showed that he is not a big game pitcher in each of those 5 years. If Kershaw did what an ace is supposed to do, we’d have at least 2 rings in these last 5 years, and not zero. Kershaw is the #1 reason the Dodgers haven’t won these last 5 years.

    Please come up with a better comment than that

  11. 1st Inning:

    JT Moved Dozier to 3B = Junkyard Dog

    Machado = Choke Job

    Kemp= JYD

    CT3 = Choke Artist

    1. thank God the Padre outfielder gifted us a run. We need to take advantage of playing these AAAA teams now

  12. A couple of recent quotes from Dave Roberts:
    .
    ”There’s a little maybe extra, I don’t know, into putting into a bigger swing,” Roberts said. “Shortening up is something definitely we could do a better job of, at times.”
    .
    “We lead the league in striking out on balls in the middle third of the plate,” said Roberts. “That’s not a good thing … that speaks to the swing and a miss … too big of a swing.”
    .
    There is a difference between recognizing a problem, and not holding players accountable.
    .
    The Dodger lineup desperately misses Corey Seager. Last year Seager hit WRISP .361/.450/.583/1.034. With 2 outs… .449/.534/.816/1.351. For his career WRISP .326/.413/.536/.949. With 2 outs… .328/.416/.522/.938. The Dodgers would have been in big trouble with RISP if not for Kemp in May and June. He hasn’t done diddley since the ASG, and neither have the Dodgers.
    .
    I absolutely agree this current team is absolutely horrid when it comes to leverage hitting situations. Well, I guess you cannot get lower than worst in all of MLB. But this is not simply a LAD phenomenon, it is an organizational strategy. Why isn’t Verdugo on the 25 man? He certainly appears to deserve the nod over CT3, Joc, and Kemp…at least if winning is important. Verdugo has never hit 20 HRs in a season while the others have. You do not have to verbalize what is valued, you just have to open your eyes.
    .
    Another example? In AA, DJ Peters has significantly more AB’s (452) than any other player. Why? He leads the league in HRs with 24. But overall his batting line is .228/.314/.447/.761. He also has 175 K’s, almost 75 more than the #2 batter with K’s. Peters is on a pace to strikeout nearly 200 times as a minor leaguer, and yet he plays nearly every single inning of every single game. Another OF, Jacob Scavuzzo, is batting .273/.322/.543/.865 after 304 AB. In nearly 150 less AB’s Scavuzzo has 20 HRs compared to Peters’ 24. Why isn’t Scavuzzo playing more?
    .
    Jeren Kendall was a first round draft choice who slipped all the way to the Dodgers because the scouts were fearful of his pronounced K rate in college. The Dodgers were intrigued with his power potential as that was the key tool they promoted. He has struck out 144 K’s in 450 PA or 32%. His batting line is .213/.292/.350/.642. Most pundits are giving Kendall one more year before they label him a bust. If Kendall had not slipped to LAD, the Dodgers were primed to take a high school CF, Bubba Thompson, who was selected 3 spots later by the Texas Rangers. Thompson has spent most of the year as a 19 year old in the SAL League (Full Season A League) and is batting .291/.346/.455/.800. 88 K’s in 327 PA (27%).
    .
    The bullpen has been discussed quite a bit on this site and on every Dodger and baseball site in the blogosphere. Even Farhan said that the team was approaching the bullpen in a non-traditional way. I am not sure what else he can say when the results are so bad. FAZ had an opportunity to kill 2 birds with one stone at the deadline. They could have moved 1 or 2 of the existing OF’s for a quality reliever. This would have allowed Verdugo, who should be playing everyday in the ML, on the 25 man and got perhaps one or two quality relievers. Didn’t happen. So now we need to hope the HRs return for the next 34 games and that relievers will not be challenged in high leverage situations. I will continue to believe until it’s over. Go Blue!!

    1. AC

      I have just been saying what a job Corey has done, since they put him in that second position.

      And he does all of that very quietly, but I sure appreciate him as a player.

      And I wouldn’t bet against Corey still playing shortstop either.

      1. I have stated on more than one occasion that Corey will be the SS come opening day Thursday March 28, 2019 at home vs the DBacks.

  13. Good things on the farm tonight. Mitchell White 7.0 scoreless IP, 4 hits and 9 K’s. Tulsa shutout the Arkansas Travelers 3-0. Andre Scrubb pitched another scoreless inning in relief.

  14. Love the Keekee reference by Mark. I’ve been thinking the same thing but haven’t said anything thinking I would be vilified. I confess Keekke’s constant antics at trying to be cute grate on me a bit. I like when a player can play loose but he has a tendency to get cute and folksy on an 0-4 3 K night. His .220 (?) BA isn’t anything to write home about but he tends to carry himself like he’s a superstar.

    Just put your head down and grind, be a JYD!

  15. Good win, mo win for this team, the next two will tell where we are truly at. Eflin a decent lefty .v. Wood on Sunday is the big one, if we cannot win Kersh at -400 at home versus the Padres; then we absolutely no business being in playoffs.

    I hope Buheler is going Tuesday versus Rangers which will line him up for Sunday versus Dbacks, a must. As much as like Ryu, he is still rounding back into form, definitely struggled last time out.

    Go Blue.

    A side note about an antiquated stat, but Kershaw has amazingly lowered his career E.R.A. every year since his rookie season, at 2.36 for career and 2.40 for the season, actually has to shot to conitinue a remarkable run of greatness in regards to E.R.A.

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