I am an unabashed and unapologetic supporter of FAZ. They have built a tremendous team and know how to utilize a full 40 man roster to their advantage because they have the depth to do so. I also believe that a winning TEAM is greater than the sum of the individual players. Clayton Kershaw is special. There is no question of that. But he is one of 40, and I…
When the Dodgers traded Zach Lee to the Mariners for Chris Taylor, my first reaction was: He’s a backup SS – OK, but not great. He’s a utility guy who is a junkyard dog. Chris Taylor is a baseball rat! He’s an over-achieving utilityman. That means I like him. A couple of days later, I wrote: The more I read about him the more I think Chris Taylor is EXACTLY…
It’s almost a foregone conclusion that the Dodgers will be in the playoffs. The Dodgers are now 9.5 games ahead of the D-Bags and 11.5 games ahead of the Rookies. Neither team has the depth to come back. However, right about now we should ask the question as to “Which players will play a role in that stretch run“? If you look at the pitchers, it’s pretty clear that Romo,…
Baseball America just released their Midseason Prospect Report and most notably, Cody Bellinger is no longer a prospect. Go figure – I guess hitting 25 HR for the Dodgers does bad things to your prospect status. This time, the Dodgers have only four prospects in the Top 100. Willie Calhoun jumped from #92 to #73 – That’s what happens when you hit those long-balls. Yadier Alvarez dropped from #26 to…
Nearly 70 years ago, the Dodgers brought in a red-headed announcer who, moment-by-moment, play-by-play and season-by-season, gradually proceeded to set the standard by which all baseball announcers would be measured. They signed Vin Scully before he became Vin Scully. It’s pretty much the same with Scully’s successor. The Dodgers hired Joe Davis before he became Joe Davis, but boy-oh-boy, he is rapidly becoming Joe Davis. As a Dodger fan I…
Moment-by-moment, memory-by-memory, the Dodgers have did it again! Dodger Broadcaster, Joe Davis Joe has made it a lot easier not to miss Vin – he’s not Vin, but in case you haven’t listened to the stiffs and homers other teams use, he is near the top of play-by-play baseball announcers. What a comeback and what a way to kill a snake! Now, back to the things at Hand! If the…
Thursday night’s game was the official half way point in the season. So I thought it was an opportune time to look at what is right, or what is wrong, what can be fixed, or what doesn’t need fixing. With Thursday night’s win, the Dodgers are 53-28. That is a projected win total of 106. They will win 94 even if they go 41-40 the rest of the way. The…
It’s on Kenta Maeda. Kenta signed an incentive-laden contract with the Dodgers before the 2016 season. It’s a very “team-friendly” contract that pays for performance. I’ll spare you all the details, but the more games Kenta starts and the more innings he pitches earns him some very significant bonuses. That’s how Kenta makes his money and his agent gets a percentage of that money. Do you follow where I am…
We all knew that at some point the Dodgers would lose a game or two, but going into last night’s game the Dodgers were hitting against Ricky Nolasco, career journeyman who was 2-9 on the year with an ERA over 5.00. Ricky “Freakin” Nolasco! Nolasco pitched 6.1 strong innings and made the Dodgers look like chumps. OK, it’s baseball and on any given day… but Ricky Nolasco? OK, I’m over…
In a game which saw Brandon McCarthy drop his ERA to 2.87 and the Dodgers score 12 runs, Brock Stewart quietly showed why he could be a very valuable piece in the Dodger bullpen. The bullpen is his role… at least this year. I think he can be a starter in the future, but his exceptional control (1.4 walks per 9 innings in 2016), and arsenal of pitches makes him…