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, it shows he is 4-9 in his career against the Dodgers with a 3.59 ERA, but in 2018 he pitched 23 innings against the Dodgers and had a 0.77 ERA. In 2017, he had a 5.06 ERA against the Boys in Blue, but have a hard time remembering anything but his recent dominance.
Two of the Dodgers weaknesses were exposed last night:
- #1 – They have difficulty with lefties; and
- #2 – Joe Kelly can’t be trusted.
Tony Cingrani started his rehab assignment last night with OKC and pitched a scoreless inning. He will likely get called up within the next week if he is pain-free. The Dodgers evidently intend to utilize Caleb Ferguson in the pen as well with the plan being to send him to RC for his rehab assignment. I’m no mathematical genius, but how do the Dodgers create room for Ferguson and Cingrani without removing Joe Kelly from the roster in some move?
- Scott Alexander is doing OK with a 2.84 ERA
- Yimi Garcia is actually pitching extremely well, his 4.15 ERA is overshadowed by his 0.92 WHIP.
- Pedro Baez is looking like the “Bridge” to Kenley with a 0.72 WHIP.
- Floro still has not given up and earned run and Chicken Strip and Julio aren’t going anywhere, if healthy.
- Either Joe Kelly is the odd-man out or a trade is brewing… or both.
A couple of years ago, Sergio Romo came “home” to the Dodgers and could not earn a roster spot. Joe Kelly has done the same and looks like he is blowing it too. Of course, he has a career ERA of over 4.00, but his ERA with the Dodgers is 8.80 and he has given up 24 Hits and 16 runs in 15 innings. Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury, I submit that those are capital crimes.
DodgerRick called him “Wild Man Kelly”, but he has walked just 4 in 15 innings. Really, he’s “Batting Practice Kelly”, a hitter’s best friend. I don’t know if he has options, but I doubt that it makes any difference – he will most certainly pass through waivers and if someone claims him, good for Andrew Friedman.
This is the inherent problem with trying to “fix” a player. The Cubs tried it a few years ago when they signed Jason Heyward to that huge deal. After three years of struggles, he is finally doing better, but certainly not fulfilling his contract. The Cubs thought they could re-make his swing… maybe they have now, but he has been a boat anchor in many respects. Kelly’s contract is more palatable but still has been an unmitigated disaster. It looks to me like Joe Kelly is headed out of town.
I suppose they could trade Maeda and/or Stripling, Pederson and prospects for bullpen assets or another RH Power hitter to play LF. You know who I want (Castellanos) but I made another suggestion about one Hunter Pence, who worked all winter to remake his swing. He is currently tearing it up and would be a good option in LF. He would likely be cheap too. Just an idea.
Do the Dodgers really need another bullpen piece, or do they just need Joe Kelly gone and the rest of their guys back healthy? If a contending teams needs a starter, maybe Maeda is just what they need? What do they have to trade? That’s the question.
Minor League Report by DC
Great Lakes Loons – Quad Cities River Bandits (Houston)
The three games scheduled with the Bandits have been canceled due to the flooding in Quad Cities leaving the ball park in Davenport an island surrounded by flood waters.
The Loons are tied with the Lake County Captains at the top of the Eastern Division with a 19-13 record.
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes 0 – Inland Empire 66ers 1 (LAA)
If you like pitching, the Quakes provided it on Thursday. Starter Leo Crawford and relievers Max Gamboa, Connor Strain and Ryan Moseley held the 66ers to two hits and three walks while striking out seven over ten innings. The one run given up in the top of the tenth inning was unearned coming on a Jeter Downs throwing error.
The offense couldn’t tease out a run to win or tie the game although the Quakes had eight hits, three each by Brayan Morales, Devin Mann and Brandon Montgomery. They struck out 15 times and played LOB ball to the tune of 21. They also had two stolen bases.
The Quakes now hold a two-game lead over the Lancaster JetHawks. In the Southern Division of the league.
Tulsa Drillers 1 – Arkansas Travelers 4 (Seattle)
The Drillers entered play on Thursday 1.5 games back of the Travelers.
Right-hander Justin DeFratus started for the Drillers and over 6.2 innings he gave up eight hits and four runs, three earned, while walking three and striking out three. He was followed by Adam McCreery
Who tossed 1.1 scoreless innings with one walk and three strikeouts.
The Drillers lone run came in the top of the seventh inning on a home run by Christian Santana to left center field. Tulsa was limited to six hits, two by Jared walker.
The Drillers fell to 2.5 behind the Travelers in the Northern Division of the league.
OKC Dodgers 7 – Nashville Sounds 3 (Texas)
The Dodgers took the third game of the four-game series with the Sounds with the final game scheduled for Friday evening, fireworks night.
Left-hander Rob Zastryzny, with the most difficult name in baseball to spell, started for the Dodgers and pitched seven innings giving up three runs on four hits and one walk while striking out nine. Left-hander Tony Cingrani and right-hander Josh Sborz pitched the final two hitless innings while walking one and striking out two.
The Dodgers scored one run in the first inning by Daniel Castro who walked and had two wild pitches sandwiched around a double play. A second tally came home in the fourth inning on a Will Smith double followed by a Drew Jackson single. Paulo Orlando homered in the seventh inning while Kyle Garlick knocked in two runs in the eighth with a double. Will Smith capped off the inning with a home run that scored Garlick. Matt Beaty and Will Smith both had two hits.
They are dead last in the Pacific Coast League American Southern Division of the league, nine full games behind the Round Rock Express.
If you’re worried about the roster crunch, it’s not really that hard to “phantom DL” a guy for 10 days, during which time something real is bound to come up anyway. Hell, put Hill on the 10-day IR, skip his turn, and give Strip a spot start.
… but then there is Kelly!
… and Hill needs to pitch to get the feel back.
I don’t think you give up on Kelly yet. Romo was a one-year deal and he ended up finding his form later that season. Remove him from high leverage situations, sure. I guess we could give Kelly a strained neck or back. Tell him to unplug and come back refreshed. No need to panic.
I totally agree that it’s too early to give up on Kelly. His ERA is “down” to 8.80, so he’s improving! The boys were pretty flat last night after going down 3-0. I hate that Doc sat Verdugo. Muncy had a rough one. Turn the page and start another winning streak today.
It’s gonna be pretty crazy when they option Floro and his 0.00 ERA. I wonder if Cingrani’s velocity is coming back. Any word?
Why does a player like Kelly or Taylor who are having real problems being productive not work it out in the minors? Is there some kind of rule that says they should stay on the roster no matter what and work through their problems? They can easily work on it in the minors and not contribute to bringing the team down. If they can be fixed, they can be fixed in the minors, too. Why subject the fans to players like this? Kelly can’t seem to do anything right.
Do either have options remaining? Doubtful.
I’m pretty sure the Hill move is seen as a positive.
Both Players are utility types. Not stars by any way. They can be starters but wont be great. They are useful players but not consistent or productive enough. Taylor did had a very good season a couple of years ago . Kike barely can hit .250 and makes a lot of mental mistakes like that time he forgot there were only 2 outs and running the bases in St Louis and many others that any player can have but he is not as reliable. But i think Taylor should not be starting games too often . He has become a mediocre hitter and tries to pull everything and swing for the fences when he does not have enough power. These 2 guys along with Joc are a lot swing and miss all or nothing types. At least Kike and Taylor can play multiple positions. Joc now basically is only a LF and his defense has decline a lot.
I like Hill. He’s got a wicked breaking ball and he’s clever. But do you see him as really being a starter on this team? He’s getting old, his velocity is gone, but he’s got stuff. Hitters have gotten to him way too often. You can see a similar situation developing with CK. Perhaps Hill should be playing in the bullpen and Strip be given a chance to start. For $16M, Hill needs to contribute somewhere and not on the IL.
Mark, you can add Hill’s troubles to the list of the FO’s questionable signings regarding pitchers, IMO.
The statistics don’t support that position. In his 3+ years with the Dodgers he is 26-16 with a 3.34 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP. He missed some time with blisters, but he can very likely win 7-10 games more this year and 3 years at $48 million is what starters bring. I consider Cueto, Price and Darvish to be questionable. I think Hill is exactly who we thought he was… and the final chapter is yet to be written. It takes him time to find his groove, but with his blisters behind him, I would believe that he will run off a nice stretch of pitching. The questions is: Who should Friedman have signed with that $48 million that would have been better?
Peter Gammons of The Athletic https://theathletic.com/965554/2019/05/07/gammons-how-clayton-kershaw-and-chris-sale-are-evolving-and-what-other-pitchers-can-learn-from-them/ writes “How Clayton Kershaw and Chris Sale are evolving-and what other pitchers can learn from them.
It’s a fascinating article, but ends with: “In other words, when comfortable with two- or four-seamers, sliders, curveballs, changeups — and when healthy —these are two men who are good at any speed.”
Mark, I realize the statistics don’t support my position. Plus, I don’t want to re-trace who I think Friedman should have signed, but my complaint about Friedman has always been he won’t sign healthy, productive players at the height of their powers like Sale. He’s gone out and gotten injured or injury prone players for cheap. Hill did give us 3 good seasons, but my gut tells me at his age and history, he belongs in the BP and we have to develop the younger and up and comers who need to crack the rotation and not be kept in the BP. Maybe I’m wrong. We’ll see.
Sale was traded for and the cost at the time was a crown jewel of prospectdom, Moncada [among others]. Then he was re-signed.
We haven’t even had a prospect of that stature in a while.
Hill in the Pen?!??!?
As a long guy?
That, to you Jeff, would generate more value than an above average starting pitcher??!/??!??1
Exactly !! Only signing Often injured players like Pollock, McCarthy, Kazmir, or potential good ones with bad stats like Kelly, etc. Or crazy signings like Olivera, Sierra, etc. There have been some good bargains but on major FO signings just mediocre players. Machado and Darvish were big Splash trade deadline trades and Hill was good but often injured. Reddick was terrible and Forsythe. Friedman has done good things but the Dodgers already were a good team so is not
Dang, we must have finished last the past 6 years, never gotten to the World Series two straight years and must be last in the baseball power ratings.
What? We are first? How did that happen if Friedman is so bad? Just pure blind luck, I guess!
After Hill gave up 3 in the first, he threw another 4 scoreless, which is what good pitchers do. I remember in the past that he had problems in the first, and he increased his pregame routine. Maybe he needs to fall back on that. He’s been a reliever in the past, and he might again find himself in that role come post-season. Anyway you put it, he’s a pretty good guy to have on the staff. No need to do anything rash with him.
Dodgers traded Paulo Orlando from AAA to White Sox. Making Space for The Bison Matt Kemp ???? Righty Back. Howard Cole from Forbes thinks he would be a good option at this point and very Possible. And Roberts has Kemp in mind. He still has bat and there is nothing to lose here. I am sure he bats better than Pollock.
Minor League Update Report by DC is updated above.
Is McCreery close to being on the major league radar?
Alexander, Urias, Cingrani, Ferguson. That’s a lot of left handed pitchers in the pen, ahead of McCreery.
Maybe he can replace Cingrani in 2020, as Cingrani will be a free agent.
Also, it’s likely Urias will be a starter long-term while the jury is still out on Ferguson.
Developing a LHP reliever would be a smart move. But you’re right–no rush.
He would not be if I were holding the radar. He has pitched in 10 games and his ERA (1.20) and WHIP (1.13) look acceptable. But he is a 26 year old in AA and should be dominating if he were on a radar. He is a multi-inning middle reliever which the Dodgers do not need at the ML level. In 6 of the 10 games he has pitched more than 1.0 inning. In 9 of his 10 games he has allowed at least one base runner, so he is not dominating. He has allowed 4 runs (2 earned). He has 17 K in 15.0 IP, but also 7 walks, and 10 hits. One very positive metric is zero HR.
I think the intrigue with McCreery is 6’9″ 250 pounds throwing 60′ 6″ away.
For me, Scrubb is a much better candidate than McCreery. And Kasowski is starting to heat up. However, he still has control and command problems, and if he cannot spot that fastball he will have problems.
Thank you the response and the info on Scrubb. I’m just curious, why do you say we don’t need a multi-inning middle reliever? Seems like something ideally every team could use.
Edit: Dang, Scrubb is a big boy. He’s listed at 6′ 4″ 265 lbs. Virginia strong.
With the big league team there is Urias, Strip, and Ferguson. Then Santana, Sborz and Broussard at AAA. Plus White or Gonsolin can fill that role if they are not added to the rotation. Lots of options at multi inning middle reliever. The Dodgers need late inning high leverage relievers.
I mentioned Broussard as a name that could help the Bullpen and people here disregarded the comment. He seems to have very decent stats overall.
Looking at some semi-random pitching names from across the levels. Here are four that stood out:
AAA–JT Chargois: 1.88 ERA 14.1 IP 12 H 5/16 BB/K
AA–Marshall Kasowski: 2.38 11.1 IP 7 H 9/22 BB/K
A+–Logan Salow: 2.57 ERA 21 IP 9 H 11/33 BB/K
A—Josiah Gray: 1.93 23 IP 13 H 7/26 BB/K [Since promoted to A+]
Trust me Kelly hurt himself last night and he’ll go on IL as soon as Ferguson and or Cingrani gets healthy
he hurt me too, watching him pitch
He is terrible
I’m not so sure. There’s no reason to rush two left-handers back into the bullpen and there’s no way they’re gonna have 4 lefties in the pen unless there’s a rash of injuries.
How bad was Kelly last night?
0-2 groundball single – Not ideal, but not the end of the world
2-1 fielding error – bad luck
4-0 walk – obviously bad in that situation
So, with the bases loaded…
2-1 Ground ball to 3B – perfect!
2-2 Ground ball to 3B – almost a DP and a run scores – almost out of it, but give up a run in the process
2-0 Fly ball, out of the inning
This isn’t a good outing, but it isn’t horrible either. But, he needs to start putting up some zeros. A hit a walk and an error, a little better luck and it’s a zero. The fastball is good, needs to work on his offspeed pitch.
But, I agree that if it’s me I send him to the DL so he can work it out for a few games in the minors.
Re top prospects, I remember in 2015 or 2016, Urias was ranked as high as the #4 prospect in the game. Have we had anyone ranked that high, or even higher, anytime in the last 20 years? Just curious .
Interesting exercise on trade value of Dodger prospects.
https://www.truebluela.com/2019/5/10/18563320/dodgers-prospects-2019-trade-value-rankings
I have no clue how anyone can rank Dennis Santana over Dustin May. That’s just silly!
The reason the Dodgers lack TOP 10 or 20 Prospects is that they have drafted very low because of their success in the past 6 years. There is an exponential drop off in prospects after the Top 10 or 15. The Dodgers don’t have the luxury of drafting that high.
I had a Cubs fan say to me the the other day that Andrew Friedman in LA has never had highly ranked prospects like Theo did. I said: “Are you an idiot? Of course, he hasn’t. Theo blew up the team and hoarded top draft picks. Andrew was mandated to win while growing the farm. He never had as many or as high picks as the Cubs.”
Don’t think he (David Hood) is ranking Santana above May as a prospect.
He’s ranking them by net trade value which also includes the value of a prospect to the Dodgers. May holds great value to the Dodgers so less trade value (as it is unlikely they trade him as May would be harder to replace)
OK, I can buy that, but I don’t think that way.
Michael Grove is starting the game for Rancho, his sixth start of the season. If you want the definition of “kid gloves,” here’s how the Dodgers are handling their former 2nd-round pick who had TJ surgery 13 months before he was drafted:
https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=grove-000mic&type=pgl&year=2019
It really is not all that different than how they handled Walker Buehler. His first full year after coming back from TJ surgery (2017):
RC – 5 games – 16.1 IP
Tulsa – 11 games – 49.0 IP
OKC – 12 games (3 starts) – 23.1 IP
LAD – 8 games – 9.1 IP (all relief)
Grove is not the pitcher Buehler is/was, but he is highly thought of and should end up somewhere between 80-90 innings for 2019. Based on other pitchers coming back from surgery I would expect 150 IP in 2020, no limits 2021. They have plenty of pitchers ahead of him and they see no reason to rush him. They made sound decisions on Buehler/Ryu/Urias/Ferguson, why not do the same with Grove?
The Dodgers have a good track record with this lately. When pitchers have shoulder injuries, they frequently are never the same. I would say they handled Ryu and Urias just about right.
Buehler, Ferguson and now Grove are also a testament.
When do you think we will see Urias back in the rotation?
I think they will wait until after the trade deadline. I think a spot will open up, or Maeda will go to the pen. I think they have always pointed to August and September with Urias in the rotation. Stripling will be first in line with an injury.
AC,
Maeda to the pen? Not after the way Maeda pitched tonight. Shutout innings. To me, Hill is a better candidate, at this point in time, to go to the BP. Urias comes up and we have lefty for lefty. No loss in dynamic.
How about Joc, tonight? 2 dingers.
How about Muncy at 3B? The guy is turning into a GGer!
Paulo Orlando to the ChiSox for likely cash considerations.
James Loney retires. Was in Atlantic Coast League with the Sugar Land Skeeters
Loney was actually trying to pitch…
I’d forgotten that. Just tell me he wasn’t trying to learn a knuckleball. Those guys seem to pitch forever 😉
Something that is maybe lost on a lot of fans is the Dodgers defense. Fangraphs, Jay Jaffe has an excellent piece on that.
https://blogs.fangraphs.com/the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly-of-team-defense-so-far/
One might think that as much as the Dodgers switch positions with players game-over-game or inning over inning, they might not be great defensively. The opposite is true. They are great.
They are #1 in Defensive Runs Saved and #3 in Defensive Efficiency. That’s in all of baseball. Simply put, the team is elite defensively.
The importance of defense is not lost on this fan. The Dodgers have always been about pitching and defense. I always look at the defense of the player discussed in trades and/or FA. That is why I cannot see Castellanos ever in a Dodger uniform. The player better bring his A offensive game if he does not have the defense (Giancarlo Stanton? DJM?)
We went to an Angels game against Toronto last week. Even my wife commented on the horrible defense. I told her she was spoiled by the Dodgers.
Not lost on this fan, either. I mentioned it last week in a post. For me, winning is about defense first. Preventing the other team from scoring. I agree, the Dodgers have been great on D!
Travis D’Arnaud to the Rays.
25 man and 40 man spot open. Need a RH bat. Is it Garlick time?
Matt Kemp time !!! Trust me ! You will seee
Making a roster spot for The Bison Matt Kemp as righty bat .
More like an elephant than a bison
He will come back ! Count on it. Is one of the greatest LA Dodgers along with Garvey and Company. What about the wild horse then ???
Joking?
Hoping?
Trolling?
That didn’t take long. I gave it until June.
Evening guys.
I’ve watched Joe Kelly pitch the last 2 nights.
On Wednesday he was lights out – absolutely looking like the guy who pitched so well in the post season for Boston .
Last night he was back to being the Joe Kelly of the Dodgers 2019.
He has some high velocity, filthy stuff when he is on it. That is what he is getting $25m over 3 years for.
It is ridiculous Mark, to even think about giving up on this guy.
He is having problems for sure, but his ceiling is so far higher than anybody else on our 25, it’s ridiculous.
This guy is the real deal and he will prove himself to be the go to guy before long.
He has real heat on his pitches, and he will be absolutely fine when he gets comfortable in Dodger Blue.
On a different note, I cannot understand what has just gone on with Travis D’Arnaud?
Surely we haven’t given up on him already?
Maybe it’s ridiculous, but I am thinking about it.
It seems they took a flier on him (d’Arnaund) to see if they could get something of value. Turns out that value was cash.
SCG
Do we need cash?
Well, cash is better than a kick in the ass, and it was a weird fit to begin with, so…
Always
Friedman is doing his old team a favor, Hopefully, they will pay him back when he needs one. It’s that simple.
Here’s the other thing: if you respect the game and you have a guy who has very little chance of playing and another team has a need (TB lost their catcher for 5-6 weeks), you let him go. That’s how the game is played.
Rocky Gale re-called.
Still think Maeda needs to go to the pen? Is it just me or does Muncy seem to be better defensively this year. If that’s the case then less of a need for both Kiki and CT3. Come on AF give Garlick a shot!
Maeda needs to be consistent and he hasn’t. All year he has alternated good and bad starts. His last start before last night was a bad one. If his next one is a good one, then he has maybe turned the corner. I’d like to see him put 3 or 4 good ones back-to-back-to-back. He’s capable, but as Orel says, he has a proclivity to put on the leadoff hitter – a whopping 40% of the time! You cannot be consistent and do that.