We are going to talk about a couple of my favorite sayings today: “Relievers are fickle;” and “What you see today, ain’t what you will see tomorrow!” Who is buying and selling? It’s not entirely clear right about now, but the Giants are the hottest team in baseball. MadBum says this is the best run he has ever been on. I’m sure Farhan hates it, but he may have to…
I like Austin Barnes. Let me start with that. When Andrew Friedman acquired him, I was elated. In his first full season (102 games) he hit.289 with a .408 OB% and OPS’ed .895. Pretty incredible! However, he hit .205 last year and is hitting .207 this year. In parts of 5 MLB seasons, here is what his BA/OB%/OPS is: 2015: .207/.361/.637 2016: .156/.270/.458 2017: .289/.408/.895 2018: .205/.329/.619 2019: .207/.302/.646 I…
The Dodgers will go into the All-Star Break at least 30 games over .500. We would all be happier if it were 32 games above, but that depends upon whether the Dodger bats wake up or not. It would be great to see Chicken Strip pitch about 7 shutout innings! I still see him as a great trade chip, especially if he can have a good outing today. Teams need…
A month ago, most Dodger fans wanted Chris Taylor executed. Now, they are shocked at his execution. He is one of the hottest hitters in the league. What’s the difference? The LA Times, Jorge Castillo wrote this: In 15 games since Seager was put on the injured list June 13, Taylor was batting .429 with three home runs and a 1.1238 on-base-plus-slugging percentage entering Friday’s meeting with the Colorado Rockies….
Mark and I don’t always agree on everything Blue, although I think we are pretty consistent from a Macro view. But when it comes to the bullpen, Mark and I just do not see eye to eye. I have been a relief pitcher wonk since 1959 and Larry Sherry. Clem Labine would have been my favorite Dodger in the mid 50’s. I am not going to go through the history…
Some people evidently think I hate Joc, so I went with that catchy headline. In reality, I am not a hater. I don’t hate Joc Pederson and I don’t even hate the Giants. I don’t like the Giants but I don’t hate them. I love the Dodgers, but the opposite of LOVE is not HATE. It’s ambivalence. When you hate something, it controls you. If you are ambivalent about it,…
Usually when change is involved, things get worse before they get better. That’s true in just about everything: life, business and sports. Since this is a Dodger Blog, you might be wondering what that has to do with the Dodgers. So, I am talking about three pitchers in general: Joe Kelly, Kenley Jansen and Clayton Kershaw. I think that before Spring Training, the Dodgers had a plan with each pitcher….
I have not been shy about stating how I feel about the bullpen. And I do understand that recognizing that there may be a problem and doing something about it can be and often is two different things. Maybe with the way the starting pitching is performing, this will become less of an issue, but I prefer to plan rather than to react. I have never disagreed with Mark about…
As the game started last night, my wife walked by my office (that’s where I watch the games) and asked who was pitching for the Dodgers, I told her that I was watching Rich Hill and the Dodgers get shutout by Patrick Corbin. She said, “Well that’s negative, think positive.” To which I replied, “OK, I’m positive Corbin is going to shutout the Dodgers.” If you look at the stats,…
Where or where would the Dodgers be without Cody Bellinger? The last time the Dodgers were north of .500 after April was 2017 and was LARGELY due to Justin Turner and his .404/.465/.562/1.026 April metrics. Although, JT only had 1 April HR, he hit 20 from May on, so there is hope for JT’s power to resume when the weather warms up. Those of us who believe that the Dodgers…