I wanted to wait and post this after a Dodger loss, for obvious reasons. So, today seemed as good a time as any. Let’s go back to when Kemp, Puig, Wood and Farmer were traded to the Reds, and many garden-variety Dodger fans were aghast. Listen to what they said: Judging The Dodgers Puig, Kemp Trade to The Reds, Possibly One of The Worst in Dodgers History Friedman better go…
If Alex Verdugo can throw a 98.4 MPH seed from LF to Home Plate to gun down a poor defenseless runner, he can probably throw 103 MPH off a mound. The Dodgers should immediately convert him back to a pitcher. Jim Callis and Mike Rosenbaum of MLB.com anointed Dennis Santana as the Dodgers future closer. However, AC and I did that a year ago. He’s the Dodgers future closer unless…
Sunday afternoon Ross Stripling was not fair – he was just very good, so since his nickname is Chicken Strip, he is fowl and this should be a reminder of how very good he was before the All-Star Break last season. I would say his pitch tipping is behind him and he could be a very solid piece in the rotation all season. His ERA dropped to 2.92 as he…
The Midwest League has a strong reputation for being a pitcher’s league. It is easy to get frustrated with lower batting averages in players. Gavin Lux is a great example of a player who could not get untracked in the Midwest League, but has been unstoppable since ”graduating” from low level A Ball. This is generally the first full season experience a player will get, and it is a tough…
Well… at least the pitchers do! All that most Dodger fans remember about Yasmani Grandal were the passed balls. He was regaled, reviled and ridiculed by many fans. “Sure he hit a lot of home runs, but they were in streaks and he struck out too much even though he had a good on base percentage. And on top of that he just disappeared in the playoffs last year”. He…
I was not excited when the Dodgers traded for Joe Kelly, because I knew who Joe Kelly was. Joe Kelly can be very, very good, as the Dodgers saw up close and personal in the 2018 World Series. But he can also, be Very, VERY bad… as we are seeing now. He is Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde… and right about now he is getting under all Dodger Fan’s hydes….
We all know that life isn’t fair and it especially is not fair that Joc has to sit against four straight lefties simply because he can’t hit them. However, it’s unfair to the rest of the team to have Joc hitting against the lefty. So, Joc loses… while the team wins. Simple math… It’s way too early to pronounce that Robert Van Socyoc’s new age hitting direction a resounding success,…
I watched OKC last night and while Clayton Kershaw was obviously a little rusty, he was throwing free and easy. While they don’t show the radar gun in AAA, it looked to me that Clayton was around 90 MPH. He’s ready and I think he will be pitching for the LA Dodgers in 5 days. If Edwin Rios can hit at the Major League level (I am not convinced he…
I would venture that they could give anyone on this board 10 strikes against a MLB pitcher, and they would strike out every time. Hitting a baseball is one of the hardest things for a human to do. Puig could not hit LHP, although it was not always that way. Andre Ethier could not hit lefties very well. Joc has proven he cannot hit lefties. These things don’t go away…
It has already been established by Doc Roberts that left field, first base and catcher will be manned by a platoon. Well, actually, catcher is not so much of a platoon but rather a way to keep Barnes from being overworked, so Russ Martin will catch about 3 days a week or something thereabouts. Since Right-Handers make up about 70% of the pitchers, that means that at 1B, Max Muncy…