Rant and Rave Saturday

March 10, 2018

Kenta Maeda appears close to mastering a changeup, which could help him pitch deeper into games.  We will see. Kenley Jansen did not make his appearance yesterday due to a tight hamstring.  Hopefully it’s just tight and not pulled. The Dodgers have 18 players OPS’ing 1.000 or more.  That’s sick!  Kyle Farmer leads the way at 1.579. Toles and Verdugo have shown they belong although Verdugo wil likely go to…

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Andrew Toles is on the Team

March 8, 2018

It’s probably too early to make roster predictions, but I am going to make one right about now:  ANDREW TOLE HAS MADE THE TEAM… and not only that, he is going to be a big part of this team moving forward.  Alex Verdugo looks ready too, but he will go down to OKC, at least for a while.  It has been said that there will likely be only 12 position…

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Does Chris Taylor Move to 2B in 2019?

March 5, 2018

Many Dodger fans think that Chris Taylor will move to 2B in 2019 after Logan Forsythe moves on.  While that is not a crazy idea, we need to realize that Chris Taylor is a pretty good CF – He is a conscientious Top 10 CF… maybe Top 5 by the end of 2018 (that is to be decided). While I am not against moving Taylor to 2B, who plays Center…

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The Matt Kemp Experiment

March 4, 2018

An experiment is a procedure carried out to support, refute, or validate a hypothesis. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when a particular factor is manipulated. Make no mistake, the Dodgers are going to carry out the Matt Kemp Experiment… and it is truly an “EXPERIMENT.” We did  a few experiments in high school chemistry class, some of which caused violent explosions, but some were pretty…

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How to Get Unblocked

March 1, 2018

You all know the story… in 2014, at age 18, a Dodgers minor league first baseman hit .312 with 3 HR and 34 RBI.  That same year, Adrian Gonzalez, the Dodgers 1B, hit .276 with 27 HR and 116 RBI.  Three years later, that 18 year-old 1B who was 21 by then, hit 39 Home Runs because he seized the day.  Adrian Gonzalez was injured and the Dodgers needed a…

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Are The Kids Being Blocked?

March 1, 2018

AC provided an Always Complete list of the Top 30 Dodger rookies and it’s not hard to see why the Dodgers still have a Top 5 Farm System. The Dodgers have the most depth at catcher of any team in baseball and have a glut of outfielders to go with a plethora of live arms.  Middle infield is the only positions where they have a lack, but a trade of…

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There Is No Battle For LF, But the Bullpen Battle Rages

February 27, 2018

Contrary to what the Dodgers say, I do not believe there is a battle to determine who the starting left-fielder will be.  It has already been decided. When Matt Kemp showed up early to Spring Training 40 pounds lighter and looking to be in the best shape of his life, he had a leg up on the competition and when he blasted a HR in his first game, the deal…

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It’s Only Spring Training, But…

February 24, 2018

It’s nice, but it means nothing… well… I guess it means something, but, not a lot! It’s ONE Spring Training Game.  The first one. That said, what a great game!  Baseball is back. One game means nothing… but if it did, a lot of cool things happened and you might draw the following conclusions: Wilmer Font should be in the Dodger’s bullpen; Logan Forsythe will have a career year; Matt…

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The Sun Comes Out Today!

February 23, 2018

Well, beat the drum and hold the phone The sun came out today We’re born again, there’s new grass on the field A-roundin’ third, and headed for home It’s a brown-eyed handsome man Anyone can understand the way I feel Oh, put me in, Coach I‘m ready to play today Put me in, Coach I’m ready to play today Look at me, I can be centerfield Well, I spent some…

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Secret Weapon #2

February 15, 2018

When a rookie pitcher gets a September call-up, one of three things generally happens: They look bad; They look mediocre;  or They look good! Adam Wainwright of the Cardinals came up in September and put up a 13.50 ERA, but followed that up with a 3.12 ERA the next year. There are many other instances of where pitchers did not impress in their September auditions, but came back and were…

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