From the Dodgers point of view, it turns out that Murphy may have been a optimist. In a week where if something could go wrong, it did go wrong, and then wronger and wrongest! I have always maintained a “glass half full attitude.” The storm generally passes and it’s never as bad as the “glass half empty” people say. Here’s a little more about Murphy’s Law:
Fabian Ardaya of The Athleletic put it this way:
The starting pitching remains brilliant, as Hyun-Jin Ryu worked six scoreless innings in his first outing for the Dodgers since May 2. His season ERA now stands at 1.77, with many others in the rotation not far behind. The bats have produced more than five runs just once in the past week. The bullpen has no clear-cut roles or security. But Wednesday was a splash of optimism in a cruddy week, perhaps put best by Dozier.
“Last I checked, the majority of winning streaks always come after a loss, right? That’s the beautiful thing about baseball.”
Brian Dozier is rapidly becoming one of my favorite players. I called the majority of the Dodgers “Choke Artists” yesterday and I still mean it. Their deplorable lack of hitting against pitchers who throw from the left side of the mound is… well, deplorable. Look, even Ray Charles can see what the problem is: They are horrid when hitting with RISP.
So, change your approach! It sounds simple, but it really isn’t! Change is hard, but the change has to start at the top. It has to start with FAZ, Doc and Turner Ward. Something is “off” with their approach. This team has a lot of talent… maybe too much sometimes, but that is another column.
One of my favorite sayings is “Change Your Thinking – Change Your Life.” I am not a hitting guru, but success at anything is better acheived if you are willing to change your perspective – your outlook – your thinking.
Kenley Jansen looks like he will be back early next week. Ross Stripling is out at least 9 more days. Daniel Hudson may be back tomorrow and Julio Urias has not had any setbacks despite not pitching well last night (it happens when you haven’t pitched in over a year).
Chris Taylor does not need to be sent down any more than Joc or Cody needed to be sent down – he will fix it! Manny Machado is starting to look comfortable and Matt Kemp will come out of his valley. These guys are simply too good… and then there are Justin Turner and Brian Dozier – you know they are ballers.
Yasiel Puig will be suspended two games, while Hundley was fined. Two games is not much, so whether he appeals will depend upon the matchups. The fact that it was only two games tells me that Hundley must have said some stupid $h*7%t.
You all know I love Andrew Toles, but I would love to see Alex Verdugo at the top of this lineup. I think he would be an OB Machine and with JT, Manny, Kemp, Belli and Dozier behind him, it could be a Dodger fans’ dream and a pitchers nightmare. Alex Verdugo’s ball-to-bat ability is very rare!
The Dodgers Will See More LHP
Why? It’s simple: because they can’t hit them. Friday, in Seattle they face Wade LeBlanc, a 34-year crafty lefty and on Sunday they face Marco Gonzales, another LHP. These choke artists better figure it out… and soon, if they want me to stop calling them Choke Artists. I will give credit where credit is due and when I say they are “choke artists” it is becaused I think they are a lot better than that!
The season stretch run starts tomorrow!
Finally, in the midst of all the mayhem, Pedro Baez has shut down the opposing hitters 1-2-3 in his last 3 innings. It’s hard to get excited about el Gasolino, because of his past history, but could he have turned a corner? Well, I have to see it.
Just stop looking for HR, and star to look for contact. O maybe they must short the swing wint two strikes. Every strikeout means a bad hitting aproch
I’ll be in Seattle for Friday and Saturday’s game. 20th MLB stadium on my quest to see all of them. Hoping for a Walker Buehler gem and an offensive explosion. If my seats are close to the field I can’t guarantee I won’t heckle CT 0 for 3, Austin Mendoza line or KeeKKKKKKee Hernandez.
Rose colored glasses, or the emperor has no clothes?
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1 – Kemp has returned to pre-season projections. His BABIP was thought to be unsustainable and his BB rate is low. He will be better than he has been the past 60 PA but may not be the guy he was earlier this year.
2 – Machado has started to hit everything hard. Giants’ broadcasters were scared of him last night and were talking about his “barrels” and suggesting that the Giants’ pitchers walk him.
3 – I’m very impressed with Dozier – his approach at the plate and in the field. I would love to see him playing 2B in Blue next season.
4 – Turner is barreling everything too.
5 – Roberts needs to play the guys who are going the best. Enough with Kike with his .215 BA hitting cleanup. Bring him off of the bench.
6 – Taylor is not going to fix his problem – at least not this season. He’s been doing the same thing all season long. His strikeout rate is alarming, especially for a guy with 12 HR. If he is fixable it won’t be until 2019 that we will see it.
7 – The bullpen has been a problem all season and it was not addressed by the Braintrust at the Deadline. It is what it is. I have no confidence that the Dodgers will be starting a winning streak (pax Dozier) until Jansen returns and even then it’s iffy.
8 – The Dodgers aren’t going to change their hitting approach in August. The team is what it is – a K-prone, solo HR-prone bunch of guys who don’t hit with RISP.
9 – Thankfully the starters have been great. Without this, they’d be playing for 4th.
The problem is that Toles probably has better bat to ball skills, then a few of the players on the major league team, right now.
I love Taylor, but for example, Taylor has already struck out more this year, then all of last year.
Stanton has only 40 more at bats then Taylor, but Stanton has only struck out 14 more times.
But Stanton has hit 30 HRs, and Taylor has only hit 13 HRs.
And Taylor right now, is hitting just below 250, but he has been at about 250, since he brought his average up, earlier in the season.
Taylor stoled 17 bases last year, and was only caught stealing, 7 times.
This year Taylor has stoled 7 bases and he has been caught stealing 6 times.
But Taylor isn’t the only hitter in this line up, that is having issues.
We have to many hitters that are a like in this line up, and that is why this line up struggles to get hits, when runners are in scoring position.
We have a line up that is primarily made up of average hitters, with pop.
And because of this, this team strikes out way to much, when runners are in scoring position.
And because that too, this team has big trouble getting hits, when runners are in scoring position also.
Because most of our players are hitting closer to 250 or lower, then 270.
And when pitchers have runners in scoring position, they pitch much tougher!
And because of that, how many of our average and below hitters, are going to get hits, in these key situations?
Most of these hitters in are line up, are barely staying above 250, if even that!
Don’t for get about O’Reilly‘s law; Murphy was an optimist.
MLBTradeRumors quotes Bill Shaikin of the Times’ interview with Friedman:
“Indeed, Friedman even says he anticipates that the relief unit “will be a strength” down the stretch. That, per Friedman, is why the club set “a high bar for what [it was] looking to acquire” at the trade deadline. When nothing sufficiently intriguing came together, says the club’s top baseball exec, the decision was made to focus instead on boosting the ability to score runs. ”
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As I have said before – forget the bullpen, let’s just bludgeon the other team into submission. How’s that plan workin’ for ya?
Manny Machado wants to be a Yankee? According to Jon Heyman :
“According to Fancred Sports’ Jon Heyman, the New York Yankees very well could be Machado’s preferred destination in the offseason. “…People close to Machado suggest the Yankees might just be his first choice,” Heyman writes. “One Machado friend went so far as to say that Machado — who has professed his love for shortstop — would easily give up shortstop to play for the Yankees.” Heyman continues: “Machado isn’t going to give away his preferences now, particularly while playing for a different marquee franchise, but multiple people say Machado and his family — who live in Miami — are all in on their love of the Yankees and New York, which fits his big-city preference and desire to get back to the East Coast. He’s said to be OK with Los Angeles, but according to others anyway, apparently views it as a stopover.”
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LA a stopover?
Ryu was a bright spot, he was painting the edges. Baez came through as well, a pleasant surprise. Dozier is really a scrappy gamer, love to see him in Blue for awhile.
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To Mark’s point re: facing more LHP-if I was an opposing manager and could get Cody, Max, Joc and Yas out of the lineup and Kike and Austin in I would do that every time I could. And it’s working! Since Doc is not likely to change his approach the team needs the RHH Big 5 of Dozier, JT, Manny, Kemp and Puig to make teams pay for doing that. Toles and Verdugo do not help the lineup against the LHP lineup they like to roll out (though maybe it should)
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Once again the Dodgers were left short of players in an extra inning game. They could expand the rosters to 27 and Doc would still run out. The Sept 1st call ups will at least let him push more buttons.
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I am beyond ready for an old fashioned hot streak-make me believe-score some runs!
If it is just a stopover for Machado then please do something more then hit.275 with 2 home runs and 8rbis in 25 games. Show you are able to hit away from Camden Yards.
The next two series will dictate if we can stay in this thing and potentially win it or if we are done. I believe a 2 and 4 or 1 and 5 record over the next 6 will place us on the outside looking in. I realize that record would only put us 4 back or so, but we are not overcoming that. The two teams ahead of us are starting to play better, and any deficit will be difficult to make up.
So wake up Blue and dig deep and let’s see if we can play some consistent babeball.
Loved the trade, but the results don’t bode well for a contract in LA. Buh bye!
I expect to see Muncy in the lineup while Puig is on suspension.
Other than trying to keep 25 players relevant and less rusty there are reasons to go with an everyday lineup more often than not. Taylor, Muncy, and Hernandez need to play much less and Kemp will tell us in the next three games if he also should join them. That puts the team’s home run leader, runs scored leader, and RBI leader on the bench. In the history of baseball has that ever been done? Probably won’t happen this year with the Dodgers as well.
Dusty Baker in The Athletic on managing today’s game:
To me, it’s easier to manage now because they’ve taken the personalities away from different managers. I knew managing against Tony La Russa what he might do or might not do, but I wasn’t sure. Managing against Jim Leyland, I wasn’t sure. Bucky Showalter. Was he going to try something crazy? Now, you’re managing more against the computer. I’m thinking, “OK, what would the computer do?” I can make you make moves that you might not know I’m helping you make by what I do.
More from Dusty:
One of the worst tips I got was when I first got into managing. A guy who was a good friend of mine told me, “If you’ve got a left-hander warming up in the ’pen, and you’ve got a left-handed hitter at the plate, even if the left-hander can’t get left-handed hitters out, bring him anyway because you won’t be second-guessed.” I said, “Man, I can’t do that.” I put myself in position to be second-guessed because I think that’s the right move. I’m not worrying about you second-guessing me.
Bryce Harper, get somebody that actually has some fire and gives a damn about competition. “We have enough outfielders”, none as good as this one, cut bait.
Outside of Puig, this team is a bunch of push overs.
Utley/Harper campaign 2019
An outfield of Harper and Puig would be the most hated outfield of all time, even by some on here, make it happen FAZ
This needs to be a series where we take 2-3. The ace goes tonight, so hopefully tonight is one of those wins
I am always looking to the future and Christain Santana has 22 HR and 99 RBI at RC. I believe he is second in the minors in RBI. He strikes out a lot, but looks to be improving – watch him… he ‘s at least 2 years away.
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But, back to reality. I would love to see this lineup tonight:
1. Dozier 2B
2. Turner 3B
3. Machado SS
4. Kemp LF
5. Bellinger 1B
6. Verdugo RF
7. Grandal C
8. Taylor CF
I think Santana became the leader last night. I think he passed AJ Reed (Iowa Cubs) to take the lead.
MT -DH??? Muncy, Grandal ad nausem???
Dang, I forgot about the DH that is coming to the NL next year!
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1. Dozier 2B
2. Turner 3B
3. Machado SS
4. Kemp LF
5. Bellinger 1B
6. Verdugo RF
7. Muncy DH (actually hits LHP Better)
8. Grandal C
9. Taylor CF
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But Doc will probably play Kike!
I think Cody and Grandal have to play against lefties almost every time, because that is going to be mainly, who we will be facing.
And tonight it is another leftie, and we will face another leftie in this series against the Mariners, in the game, on Sunday.
But the problem is, some of our rightie hitters, have reverse splits against lefties, so not every rightie in the line up, necessarily hits lefties.
And this year, that includes Kike too!
We have to get hits when runners are in scoring position, if we want to win the rest of these series.
Because pitchers are not going to give up many HRs, when runners are on base, and it is harder to get hits, in these situations.
Because most pitchers pitch tougher, in these situations.
I think its time to get Verdugo in CF. He’s accomplished enough at AAA. We need a guy in the lineup who is going to give you quality AB’s consistently. Taylor is not that guy right now. Kemp hasn’t hit a ball hard since the Atlanta series when he lined the ball back to Moylan so I’m not sure how what signs other than a flare and a broken bat single lead to Kemp coming out of it. I hope he does because he’s a big hole in our lineup right now and he’s losing any value to move him in the off-season.
Great article on Clayton Kershaw’s evolution:
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https://www.dailynews.com/2018/08/16/you-say-you-want-an-evolution-dodgers-clayton-kershaw-has-had-to-adapt-in-recent-years/
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If you want a revolution, the only solution Evolve…
From The Athletic this morning:
“As for the Dodgers, they have 14 games remaining against the Padres, Reds, Mets, and Rangers and the second-best run differential in the league (+93). What they lack, at the moment, is a viable bullpen. That is the exact weakness that can lead to a team underperforming its run differential by so much. Lose close, win big (the Dodgers are 21-8 in games decided by at least five runs), and Pythagoras gets fooled. Indeed, the Dodgers are six wins under their Pythagorean expectation thus far, and the struggles of their bullpen suggest that the difference isn’t just bad luck. ”
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They don’t believe that the Dodgers will win the Division due to the weakness of the ‘pen.
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Friedman was quoted above as stating that the ‘pen is/will be a strength down the stretch. If the Dodgers lose the Division due to the bad ‘pen, he has some real explaining to do.
The “experts” are basing the bullpen performance on the Pen of April, May, June , July and August. By mid next week, the pen will be entirely different and in September, they wil have 76 relievers in the pen.
So forget everything that has already happened this year, forget the truth revealed by your own eyes, it’s all going to be great because the Dodgers will have a whole new bullpen in a week? Seems unlikely to me. A frail reed.
September 1st Bullpen:
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Alexander
Baez
Chargois
Floro
Ferguson
Axford
Urias
Stripling
Maeda
Jansen
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On call:
Cingrani
Fields
Goeddel
Hudson
Garcia
Liberatore
Rosscup
So now Baez is in? In, Out, In, Out–I just made myself hungry for a hamburger.
I would like to see starters paired. Let the better of the pair start and go 5 innings, maybe 6 for some. Then let the second starter start the 6th inning (7th for some). If a reliever is needed to bridge to the 6th so be it. But, let the second starter warm up like a starter and know what inning they will be coming in regardless of the first starter’s pitch count and quality of start.
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That puts less importance on a closer because the fresh second starter should finish the game. Might reduce the number of pitchers on the 25 to a max of 12.
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Kershaw and Fergusson
Buehler and Urias
Hill and Stripling
Ryu and Maeda
Wood and Stewart
And what happens to Maeda? And The Axe just returns from a broken leg no problem? And Urias, who isn’t supposed to pitch this season at all, is the savior of the bullpen?
As was posted the other day; run differential can be a misleading stat.
I haven’t checked this thought out but haven’t the Dodgers struggled more against lefties since Turner returned and Machado and Dozier joined the team? If so, I don’t think that struggle can continue. I was thinking, which bat is always out against lefties and usually in against righties?
I was surprised seeing Baez at bat. He seemed to have little difficulty making contact although it resulted in an out, still I’d like seeing more as I think it may lead to a positive result with his pitching allowing him to be more relaxed on the mound. Why I’m think that I don’t know. Just a feeling. I think he’s better than he believes and that his self doubt is his biggest problem.
LaBlanc is 1-7 against the Dodgers even while Dodgers haven’t hit him that well in 11 games versus. It’s up to Buehler on this one. Under pressure.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoDh_gHDvkk
Funny about your post a few days ago about how bad we are with RISP, Mark. Now the Dodger channel is jumping all over it, with both Jhair and Nomah saying the offense has to pick up the bullpen, way too many guys left on base, putting an insane amount of pressure on our pitchers. Guess you called that shot.
DODGERS REINSTATE DANIEL HUDSON
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LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Dodgers today reinstated right-handed pitcher Daniel Hudson from the 10-day disabled list and placed right-handed pitcher Erik Goeddel on the 10-day disabled list with right elbow inflammation.
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Hudson, who missed the last eight games with right forearm tightness, has appeared in 38 games (one start) with Los Angeles this season, going 3-2 with a 3.92 ERA (19 ER/43.2 IP) and striking out 40 against 18 walks. He has also held hitters to a .217 average, including limiting left-handed batters to a .182 mark.
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Goeddel, who is making his second stint on the disabled list this season, has appeared in 31 combined games of relief with the Mariners and Dodgers, going 3-0 with a 2.95 ERA (12 ER/36.2 IP) and has limited hitters to a .195 average.
Good call Mark on RISP, I too believe our offense is dooming us to a 3rd Place finish.
Why is Kemp still given so much rope when he clearly has regressed to the hitter he was in the last half of 2017. I read a fan graphs article today that he has 1 hit in the last 208 offspeed pitches thrown to him, brutal. Also after hammering fastballs in the first half he seems to be cheating on the hard stuff now. His BABIP and extremely low walk rate were bound to catch up, now that they have Can this FO just phantom DL him until September and bring up Verdugo.
Our struggles against LHP is not likely to get better, either is our RISP like Mark alluded too.
The facts are the facts, our midseason run was fueled by a ton of home runs, nothing more and nothing less. Likely not to be repeated, had we not been 16 and 26 before our run we may have had a good shot at the NL West. The fact was we were ten below so our great run just got us back in the race, now that we have reverted to a .500 club it seems like it will be not enough. One of the two teams we are chasing will play better then that down the stretch and relegate is to our living room in October.
Hope I am wrong, Mark or Ac tell me I am.
Doc throws us all a curve and starts 3 LHH against a LHP, Cody, Max and Joc plus Grandal who will hit RH. I like this a lot even if it is a bumpy ride. Joc especially will never learn to hit LHP if he never faces it. With LeBlanc and Buehler it will probably be a low scoring game and well played. Now let’s work on the RISP problem and get a streak going!
I would like to restrict all Dodgers from being any part of the HR Derby.
… and why?
I’m certain you know my answer, because it seems like it does harm to the rest of the season. Besides, I’m having trouble thinking when the last time a Dodger won it.
A lot of solo HR’s. Cannot do it with runners on.
Al
You know I am with you on that!
We are only 1 for 4 today.
And I don’t think much of that journeyman leftie, the Mariners started.
I always get afraid for the team, after one of these blow out games.
Puig usually hits guys with below avg fastballs extremely well. Dumb to sit him unless you’re going to get the suspension out of the way.
I also don’t get putting Muncy in the field when you have a DH available. He a worse defender than Kemp.
Agree with that!
Hawkeye
I was thinking the same thing about Puig.
They probably sit him, because the starter had reverse splits.
But you play Kike?
Hawkeye
You saw what I thought about that, and I don’t care about the two hits, in the previous game either.
Idaho Al – Say what???
Congrats to Kemp on #200. Let’s hope putting that behind him helps.
All or nothing
Got my pitching gem I was hoping for and the offense came to life. Cody looks absolutely dialed in while watching from behind the Dodgers dugout. Hope we can ride his bat for the next 40+ games
Peter, I will say it every night if they will start hitting HR’s with runners on. You are right Campy. All or nothing. I like the all part.