Play in the rookie level Arizona League began on Monday, June 17. The league now has 21 teams in three divisions. They play a 56-game schedule in and around the Phoenix area at the spring training facilities of their parent major league clubs. The AZL Dodgers play their home games at the Camelback Ranch complex shared by the parent Dodgers and Chicago White Sox.
The Dodgers for the first time have two AZL entries along with the Brewers, Indians, Padres, Athletics, Giants and Cubs who also have two AZL teams. Thus far they have been dubbed AZL Dodgers 1 and AZL Dodgers 2. Perhaps they can do as the two DSL Dodger teams did in 2017 and play each other in the championship game.
The Dodgers 1 play in the seven-team West Division and the Dodgers 2 play in the six-team Central Division. An oddity is that both Cubs teams as well as both Athletics and Giant teams play in the East Division.
Six teams qualify for the play-offs with the first and second half winners of the three divisions qualifying.
AZL Dodgers 1
First-year manager Jair Fernandez leads a coaching staff with pitching coach Stephanos Stroop, hitting coach Jarek Cunningham and coach Chris Gutierrez.
The Dodgers played their first game of the season against the AZL Brewers Blue on Monday evening while they wrap up their season on Monday, August 26th against the Indians Blue at their home facility.
A number of players are back for a second term. Some, no doubt, are marking time until all of the 2019 drafted players are all assigned and other moves are made in the system following all-star games.
The returning players include pitchers Aldry Acosta (19), Jacob Gilliland (19) and left-hander Jose Hernandez (21). Two catchers also return: Aaron Ackerman (22) and Juan Zabala (19). The only returning infielder for Dodgers 1 is shortstop Albert Suarez (19). Outfielders Ismael Alcantara, Kevin Aponte, Luis Carlos Diaz and Jeremiah Vison are back to start a second year in the AZL.
Both AZL Dodger teams are heavily weighted with players from Latin America. Dodgers 1 has nine players moving up from their 2018 assignment in the Dominican Summer League. They include pitchers Jeffry Abreu (19), Carlos Alejo (19), Jeisson Cabrera (20), Daniel Cruz (21),Carlos De Los Santos (18), Micheal Martinez(19), catcher Andres Noriega (18), SS Yhostin Chirinos (18), 3B Luis Diaz (19) and 1B Imanol Vargas (20).
Three 2019 draftees have been assigned to Dodgers 1 including 3B first round Kody Hoese (21), OF 32nd round Danny Sinatro (21) and OF 35th round Justin Washington (21).
Right-handed pitcher Hyun-il Choi (19) debuted on Monday. He is a native of South Korea. Left-hander Julian Smith, a 15th selection in 2018 as yet to debut. The parent Dodgers seem to be in on the Taiwan
market and right-hander Huei-Sheng Lin (20) may be another find. One other player of interest is shortstop Alfonso Guillen (19) who signed as an undrafted free agent out of American Heritage, a private school in Plantation, Florida.
All eyes will be on Kody Hoese, Hyun-il Choi and Huei-Sheng Lin but right-hander Jacob Gilliand might bear some watching as well as left-hander Julian Smith. Not sure I like the “il” in Choi’s name.
AZL Dodgers 2
First a note on a new coaching staff with the exception of the venerable pitching coach Bobby Cuellar who has served as a bullpen coach or pitching coach with five organizations over 33 years.
Joining Cuellar are newcomers Danny Dorn, Keith Beauregard and David Popkins.
The 34-year-old Dorn is the manager. He was a 32nd round selection by Cincinnati in the 2006 June Amateur Draft out of Cal State Fullerton. He played at all minor league levels, two seasons in Korea and with the Somerset Patriots of the independent Atlantic League in 2018. His MLB experience consists of 30 at bats in which he had five hits in 2015. He played the outfield and first base.
Beauregard, 36, is the Dodgers 2 hitting coach. The outfielder was never drafted and played three years in the Can-Am Independent League. He has served as an assistant coach for two years at the University of Massachusetts and five years as a well respected assistant coach with the Santa Clara University Broncos. He worked with the Bronco hitters and outfielders, and assisted with recruiting efforts. Dodgers minor league catcher Steve Berman was a Bronco under Beauregard’s tutelage.
David Popkins, 29, is the fourth coach. He was signed as a non-drafted free agent by the St. Louis Cardinals in June, 2012 out of UC Davis. He reached as high as AA and played three years in independent baseball in the Frontier League and American Association. He had been signed by the Dodgers on a minor league contract in March.
This new coaching staff with Dodgers 2 also has a mixed bag of young players to help along in their journey.
Ten members of the opening day roster are returnees to the AZL Dodgers: Pitchers Juan Morillo (20), and Riley Ottesen (24), C Cesar Mendoza (22), 2B Aldo Espinoza (20), 1B Meaux Landry (21), 3B Luis Rodriguez (20), LF Aldrich DeJonongh (20), CF Rolando Lebron (21), CF Edwin Mateo (20), LF Frank Sanchez (20).
Thirteen players have graduated from the 2018 DSL Dodgers: Pitchers Israiky Berroa (19), Franklin De La Paz (20),Reinaldo De Paula (20),Juan Gonzalez (18), Emmanuel Marcano (20), Adolfo Ramirez (18), Jose Rodolfo (18), Joan Valdez (20), C Wladimir Chalo (19), SS Eddys Leonard (18), 2B Jorbit Vivas (18), CF Yunior Garcia (17), RF Jaime Perez (19). Franklin De La Paz is the only left-hander among the eight pitchers.
Three members of the Dodgers 2 are members of the 2019 draft class: 38th round C Tyler Ryan, 33rd round 3B Julio Carrion, 4th round 3B Brandon Lewis.
Left-hander Igor Avila (22) debuted with the DSL Dodgers Bautista in early June. His minor league experience consists of 12 innings pitched in the DSL in 2019. Right-hander Orlandy Navarro (20) came down from the Ogden Raptors to the AZL Dodgers 2 having pitched very well in Ogden in 2018. Of interest, catcher Chase Barbary was signed by the Dodgers as a free agent after the 2019 draft. His father is Travis Barbary, the manager of the OKC Dodgers. Braydon Fisher (18) is on the roster with a 60 day IL notation. He had TJ surgery in April.
One would guess that Riley Ottesen is marking time perhaps as he prepares to continue his career in a relief role.
Meaux Landry and Rolando Lebron might break out as hitters while Orlandy Navarro and Juan Gonzalez (not that Juan) are pitchers to keep an eye on. AC has been watching Navarro for some time. It would not surprise me, when roster shuffling settles down, that Navarro moves directly to Great Lakes. Right-hander Jose Rodolfo might also command some attention.
Dodger Rants and Raves by MT
- Cody Bellinger ain’t going back to 1B… well maybe when he’s 31. Who would you rather have – the best RF’er in baseball or the best 1B in baseball? A lot more people can play 1B than RF at a high level.
- It makes perfect sense for Joc Pederson to start working out at 1B. Can he handle the glove there? That is the question. Will moving get into his head? That’s another question. Cody even said that moving around bothers him and he prefers to say in RF. Freese and Joc could be a very potent duo at 1B.
- Not trading Downs and Gray for Merrifield by moving Joc to 1B and Muncy to 2B keeps the farm strong. That is what Friedman wants to do… always.
- I have inside information that David Freese and Justin Turner can’t play every day. My source: Ray Charles. He said that even he can see that!
- Kike just has a knack for the dramatic, doesn’t he?
- Whoever thinks Clayton Kershaw is washed up as an Ace is going to be eating crow. His ERA now sits at 2.85. I predict he will be in the TOP 10 soon. Right now, he’s ahead of Trevor Bauer, Jacob deGrom, Gerrit Cole, and MadBum. He’s .04 behind Max Scherzer.
- Will Alex Verdugo stay in CF when AJ Pollock returns? I did not think Verdugo would be an everyday CF a year ago. I have changed my mind. I would put AJ in LF to make it a little easier on him. Alex is my choice in Center.
- The Rays team ERA is now 3.07, while the Dodgers are second at 3.19. The Boys in Blue are running them down. The Dodger’s starters are now #1 in baseball after Clayton’s 7 shutout innings with a 2.72 ERA. The bullpen is now 10th as their ERA has dropped to 4.13. If Joe Kelly becomes Machine Gun Kelly, everything changes.
Minor League Report by DC
Great Lakes and Rancho Cucamonga had the day off for the All-Star game although some of their players didn’t.
DSL Dodgers Bautista 2- DSL Braves 3
The Dodgers fell 3-2 in 10 innings and fell to a record of 7-8. Five pitchers toed the slab and mostly pitched quite well. Starter Jeremi Rodriguez went three innings and did give two runs, both unearned. Wilken Baez, Heisell Baro and Hendrick Briones each pitched two scoreless innings on four hits and six strikeouts. Andrew Budier had two outs in the tenth but couldn’t escape the inning following a runner starting at second base, a single, a walk and a HBP.
The Dodgers scored a run in the top of the first inning on a Luis Morales single, an error, a ground out and a Jose Ramos single. The second scored in a similar fashion with an Eyner Machin single, a ground out, a wild pitch and a Diego Cartaya single.
DSL Dodgers Shoemaker 4 – DSL Pirates (1) 3
The Gutierrez boys and Rodriguez boys carried the day. None are related. Osvanni Gutierrez went four innings giving up one run while Stiven Gutierrez also was charged with one run. Isaac and Carlos Rodriguez finished up with one run over three innings. On the day the pitchers struck out seven and walked one.
At the dish the Dodgers scored in the bottom of the first inning on a Yohandry single, a ground out and a Nelson Quiroz single. The hit again in the bottom of the fifth scoring two runs with help from the Pirates. Vladimir Perez and Jeans Garcia singled to lead off the inning and two runs scored after that on two wild pitches, a sacrifice fly and an error. The winning run came home in the bottom of the ninth inning without a hit but on a combination of an error, a walk, a fly out, a stolen base, a HBP and another error.
AZL Dodgers (1) 13 – AZL Rangers 4
Markus Solbach on a rehab assignment started for the Dodgers pitching 2 innings with 3 hits and one run. He was followed by a rehabbing Yasiel Sierra who pitched a scoreless inning with 2 hits and 3 strikeouts. Left-hander Julian Smith made his professional debut and things did not go so well as he gave up three earned runs on 2.2 innings on six hits. Jeffry Abreau finished up with 3.1 hitless innings with five strikeouts.
Offensively it was the Kody Hoese show early on as he hit his first home run of the season, a two-run shot in the bottom of the first inning. The Dodgers scored three in the 4th inning ona Luis Carlos Diaz double, a ground out and a sacrifice fly. Three more came home in the sixth inning on a two-run home run by Imanol Vargas and a ground out. Not content with eight rune the Dodgers poured it on in the seventh inning with RBI singles by Albert Suarez, Danny Sinatro and Luis Yanel Diaz.
AZL Dodgers (2) 7 – White Sox 3
All four Dodger pitchers were making their 2019 debut. Jo Valdez started with 3.2 innings with two runs, Juan Morillo pitched three scoreless innings with six strikeouts, Emmanuel Marcano gave up one run in 1.1 innings and Reinaldo De paula finished up with a scoreless inning. Among the four they had 16 strikeouts.
At the plate the Dodgers scored in each of the last three innings. The run in the 7th inning came home on a wild pitch while three in the 8th inning scored on a Julio carrion double and a Jorbit Vivas single. Vivas brought another home in the 9th with a ground rule double and Aldo Espinoza hit a two-run home run.
Ogden Raptors 6 – Orem Owlz 1 (LAA)
At the plate the Raptors started early with a home run in the top of the first inning by Justin Yurchak, his fourth of the season. They scored again in the top of the second with four walks. Jimmy Titus in his professional debut walked in the inning and got picked off third base. In the third inning they came up with a 3-spot on two singles, two walks and a Jeremy Arocho double. One more came home in the 8th inning on a Sauryn Lao double.
Antonio Hernandez started for the Raptors and gave up one run on five hits over three innings. Releivers Corey Merrill, Melvin Jimenez, Darien Nunez and Reza Aleaziz combined for six shoutout innings on one hit. The five pitchers struck out 18 Owlz hitters.
Tulsa Drillers 8 – Frisco RoughRiders 2 (Texas)
Ben Holmes started for the Drillers and pitched three innings of three hit, one run ball. Ryan Mosely followed up with two scoreless innings. Nolan gave up one run his 2.2 innings and Chris Nunn pitched a scoreless ninth. Together they recorded 12 strikeouts.
Zach McKinstry, Cody Thomas, Christian Santana, DJ Peters and Carlos Rincon all had two hits. Peters accounted for the first two runs on a home run in the the 3rd inning. Four runs were scored in the 4th inning on singles by Thomas, Santana, Chris Parmalee and a Frisco error. Rincon and McKinstry put the exclamation mark on the win with solo home runs in the 8th inning.
OKC Dodgers 9 – El Paso Chihuahuas 19 (San Diego)
Not much to say about the pitching except that high leverage Zac Rosscup gave up four runs without recording an out.
When you score nine runs you should win. The Dodgers got two in the first inning on a Cameron Perkins home run and a Shane Peterson double. The scored three in the 3rd inning on an Edwin Rios double, an Angelo Mora single and an Errol Robinson double. Four more came home in the 5th inning on an Edwin Rios home run, a Dennis Santana single and a wild pitch.
“[Joc] is actually more excited about playing first base than I’ve seen him excited about anything, outside of hitting a homer,” Roberts said.
A pretty high percentage of doing anything is wanting to do it. If he really “wants to” then he will do it.
Lineup verses RH:
1. Pederson 1B
2. Muncy 2B
3. Turner 3B
4. Bellinger RF
5. Seager SS
6. Verdugo CF
7. Pollock LF
8. Barnes/Martin C
Against LHP
1. Pollock LF
2. Muncy 2B
3. Turner 3B
4. Bellinger RF
5. Freese 1B
6. Seager SS
7. Verdugo CF
8. Smith C
See what I did there?
Small sample size but last year Pederson had elite stats hitting in the 5th through 7th spots.
Maybe Joc should “want” to hit lefties.
Midwest All-Star results:
Niko Hulsizer 1-3 R
Dillon Paulson 0-1
Miguel Vargas 2-2 RBI
Brett de Geus .2 IP, 2 ER
Jose Chacin .1 IP
Nathan Witt .2 IP, 1 R
California League All-Star Results:
Jeter Downs 0-2
Devin Mann 0-4
Connor Wing 0-1
Donovan Casey 1-2
Will Montgomerie 1 IP
Logan Salow 1 IP 3K
Max Gamboa 1 IP, 1ER
I believe Bluto at the end of the last thread posted how our 1st round pick has had quite the start to his Dodger career. Remember who said he’d be an all star by the 2024 season!!
I am the first person to bash October Kershaw, and claim that if he had been regular season Kershaw in October, we’d have 2-3 rings these past 6 years. And I”ll wait until this Oct to see if he’s changed. However, right now this Kersh is 7-1 with a 2.85 ERA. Does he have a shot at joining Ryu and Buehler in the All Star game??
But make sure you do not compare him to Josh Donaldson. LOL
Or Ron Cey
Minor League Report by DC Update Above
Here is my version of Dodgers system report:
https://www.mlb.com/dodgers/prospects/stats/affiliates?date=06/18/2019
Anyone see this updated Top 100 list from Jonathan Mayo? We’re down to 3 in the top 100:
https://www.mlb.com/dodgers/news/updated-top-100-prospects-list-june-2019
Verdugo graduated and the took Will Smith out.
As Sir Elton John would say ” The Bitch is Back”!!!
Lets climb all over Bumgarner’s ass tonite!!!
Did you ever get the feeling these players read LADT and cop a resentment… (Kike)..
DC – thanks for the great posts on Ogden and the AZL…
I’m thinking of driving up to Ogden and catch a few games, driving to Vegas (rest..you know) and head to Camelback for a few… Damn, retirement is good…
10 and 11 game lead and it’s all DR’s fault…
I thought Pomeranz was pitching tonight for the Giants.
You’re right Rudy… The bitch is Thursday
With the arrival of Encarnacion, Clint Frazier of the Yankees will be sent to minor leagues and possibly be available to trade, since he asked to be traded to another team, should that option be explored or not?
That’s an interesting idea. He’s young, cost controlled, and a right handed power hitter. He’d definitely help balance out our lineup. I don’t know anything about his defense, and if he’s only an OF, or can he play 1b?
He might be worse than Castellanos. Hence the .3 WAR with .283/.330/.513/.843
But wait, there’s more…
On pace for 150+ Strikeouts
Mark I would switch Seager and Muncy in my lineup. More power behind Belli and Smith should be our full time catcher!
I totally agree with you about Seager, I do not think Smith is ready to be a full time catcher, not yet, not now, not in this season. In playoffs you will need experience.
Someone, I do not remember who, made the comment that a fastball in the big leagues is the same in the minor leagues, that if you can hit one you could hit the other. Doesn’t location of the fastball count also?
Also, AC, are you still monitoring Ryan Mosely? Does he have a chance to advance to AAA?
AC will respond I am sure. He has been watching Moseley all season. I have been watching Logan Salow of the Quakes.
Wow! OKC pitching is a disaster. Are White and Santana even regarded as top prospects any longer?
Whatever gets Muncy over to 2B and keeps our utility players on the bench I’m all for. If Joc can play an adequate defense there then good. He can’t be much worse than Freese defensively. However, I do think MLB teams continually undervalue defense at 1st Base. It was a good thing Garvey was there to gobble up all of Bill Russell’s terrible throws. If it doesn’t work, I have no problem putting Cody at 1st if necessary.
I was always amazed that Garvey scooped up so many throws in the dirt on the outfield (away) side instead of swinging at them.
Who writes your material, Bum?
I couldn’t agree more. The added plus, it seems like Kike and CT3 come up clutch off the bench.
I may be wrong, but I think Beaty is a pretty good first baseman also even if there was a miscommunication on the double play ball between him and Urias. Beaty can hit.
OKC pitching is a disaster! Are White and Santana even top prospects any longer?
PCL Pitching, in general is a disaster. It’s a horrid place to pitch.
Notice that at least three former Dodger farmhands are in the top 100 with other teams. That should be encouraging to teams that could be trading with the Dodgers and taking on minor leaguers. The Dodgers have a wealth of talent in the minors besides the “untouchables”.
Hi folks,
Funny thing: If Joe Kelly had stepped on his you know hat last night there would be plenty of call for his head on a platter. So far not a word on how well he did. Did you all not see the game?
I recall two base runners. If any other pitcher had done that we wouldn’t need to give him a compliment for 1 inning of work. Was it progress? Sure, You could see the stuff, but still a WHIP of 2.0.
Not to monopolize this blog, but, will make another comment if that is okay. Even though I wanted and hoped Bill Haselman to get the third base coaching position, I think Ebel is doing a great job there. I find myself watching him sometimes more than the runner.
I agree. I think he makes pretty sound decisions on when to send the runner. e.g., that play where Chris Taylor scored the winning run on a face plant… he wasn’t even at 3rd base when the left fielder Kris Bryant got to the ball and Dino still sent him. Apparently, the book on Kris Bryant is that he doesn’t have an outfield arm. The ESPN broadcaster said “a good throw gets him.” All the Cubs bloggers seemed to be well aware of Kris Bryant’s poor throwing arm. I wasn’t aware of that, but what mattered is that Dino knew that so he didn’t hesitate to send Taylor. Again, that decision turned to to get the the goahead/winning run across.
The game announcers pointed out that the bounce to Kris Bryant was tricky making an accurate throw even more unlikely. Dino is awesome at his job. Woodward was good, Dino is better.
Added plus is that Dino was a farmhand in the Dodger’s system in his playing days.
Dino’s cousin is a friend of mine here in Barstow where Ebel is from as well. Maybe I should see what action I might get for good seats?
That’s awesome! You should.
Mom, don’t be apologetic for anything… You know the old quote “the only dumb question is the question not asked”…
You keep throwing em out…
Your fastball question… I think for a hitter, night and day… movement and location will kill you every time…
Thank you peterj. I was just not agreeing that if you can hit a fastball in the minors it did not mean you could necessarily hit one in the majors. Wanted to know what everyone else thought. Thanks for responding.
I’m not sure if the fastball of Verlander would be the same as the minor league pithchers…
What Peter said. Nothing to apologize for. Also, as Peter said it is not velocity of the fastball, but the movement and placement. ML pitchers start the fastball in the zone, and it moves away, in, up, or down depending on 4 seam or 2 seam, sinker, cutter…ML pitchers can command those pitches while the MiLB pitcher may throw just as hard, but has nowhere near the movement of the best ML pitchers. If speed were the determining factor, Stetson Allie would be a ML pitcher, and Greg Maddux would not be in the HOF. Your observation is correct.
With respect to Ryan Moseley – Yes I am still watching him. As far as him reaching AAA, it is probably a longshot. LAD likes to keep pitchers with ML experience at AAA as “just in case”. While not AS quality, OKC will have to move Quackenbush, Allie, Broussard, Chargois, Grimm, McCreery, Rosscup, Sborz, or Schultz to open a spot. Broussard is on the IL so when he comes back someone is moving down or out. Others on the OKC roster but on the IL are Louis Head, Zach McAllister, and Luis Vazquez. And to make it even more crowded, Yaisel Sierra is on his rehab assignment in AZL. One other consideration is that if a AA reliever gets moved up, I see Jordan Sheffield getting the call before Ryan. Marshall Kasowski will also get consideration once he returns from the 7-day IL.
Bottom line – The rosters are very crowded, and they use the 7-day IL quite a bit, making it hard for someone to move up. Plus with Sheffield and Kasowski presumably ahead of Moseley, it is likely that Ryan stays in AA for the remainder of the year.
Thanks so much AC for the information. One of my goals is to go to ST, then I can see the minor league players in action.
If you live anywhere near a minor league ballpark, even if it isn’t the Dodgers, I would highly recommend that you visit one. They are a ton of fun for a more than reasonable price. Family friendly. You might even get to see a future AS. I cannot count the number of minor league games I have gone to, and I have never had a bad time.
The closest one to me is Raley Field which I have been to and enjoyed some games when they were Oakland’s farm club. I also went to some in SLC and that was a beautiful minor league park. So limited on travel now but love to follow the boys.
Kelly looked very uncomfortable out there last night. He has on confidence and his mechanics are atrocious. He has a long way to go.
Muncy is no 2B. That was an awful job turning the pivot. Duane Kuiper was a good 2B in his day and noted that he is not really a 2B. Of course you have to have his bat in the lineup somewhere …
Dodgers haven’t hit as well with RISP lately. The June offensive numbers aren’t too good. Great to see them break out last night. They miss Seager.
I read where Joc is working at playing first. Joc and Freese would make a good platoon, even though I do not like platoons. However, if Beaty keeps playing like he is, he will have something to say on who plays first.
When Pollock and Seager come back, and the bull pen figures it out, we are going to be very good. The only position is catcher. I would bring up Smith now and let him catch. You got three months for him to get used to calling a game, and pitchers getting used to Smith. You cannot bring him up in Sept and expect him to do much.
I think the Dodgers are going to go more with Russell Martin in the playoffs than Barnes. He is a far more experienced catcher who understands the pitchers. That is not to take anything away from Barnes. Martin has 57 playoff games experience vs. Barnes’ 27. I do not know if Smith would be the right guy for the playoffs. But I agree that if the Dodgers are thinking of including Smith in the playoff equation, that he needs to come up now, and get multiple games with every pitcher, especially with the expected starters and Kenley Jansen.
As a follow to a DC query, AZL 1 will now be known as AZL Mota while AZL 2 will now be known as AZL Laasorda.
How do we keep Floro in his last night’s mojo workin? Man! Talk about filthy!
Floro, just like most everyone else in our bullpen, isn’t bad, he’s just very inconsistent. Sometimes great, sometimes horrible. Just when you expect the greatness they turn horrible again.
With regard to Wild Man Kelly, here’s a link to an interesting article about him by JP Hoornstra:
http://enews.newsletters.ocregister.com/q/j2HshPIg56eP4U0OTCCCuhZ1gQ2OdEYo5OCvMTz6JAZDrpHQCQP4Kxh5I
The Dodgers signed Stanford pitcher Jack Little, their 5th-round pick, and Stanford outfielder Brandon Wulff, their 17th-round pick. Our prospect pipeline just got a little smarter.
I don’t know if they signed over or under slot
Urias will start tomorrow. Likely followed for a few IP by Ferguson and Strip. This pushes Buehler to Friday, then Ryu and Maeda.
Meanwhile, today’s lineup:
Kike (2b)
JT
Freeze
Belly
CT3
Verdugo
Martin
Garlick
Hill
Ryu was previously scheduled to start the last game before the All-Star break. I can see some foreshadowing going on. Ryu will be the All-Star game starting pitcher for the NL.
Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!
https://www.instagram.com/p/By3IUS_B1-C/?igshid=f8xwdlzzmadg&fbclid=IwAR1eh5BgFD_F4PlrS1-Qi3A14YS7RpiJ4_rS_S6XGknoiC3T_aXUBYVkyhs
My son with the camera…
Damn, now with Hill injured, forget what I wrote. Tonight and tomorrow will be a mix of everybody and their mother pitching for us.
We need our offense to make it easy for the pitchers
Might be a good time to bring up Gonsolin to piggy back with Urias tomorrow if the mountain man is headed to the IL. Gonsolin pitched last Friday so the timing would be right. He would have to be added to the 40 man but that’s doable.
Welcome back Chris Taylor! Keep the faith, Mark
Such a huge boost if he finds his stroke
Tell you what, if Machine Gun Kelly ever gets out of his head and starts rollin’, he has filthy stuff. Hits 100 on the gun with low movement in the 8th. Damn. We need this guy to be right come October.
Dodgers have the best record in baseball, are shrugging off injuries, have different guys step up every night (besides Cody) just got an unplanned bullpen game and lit up a leftie starter that had given them problems. This team is special and is going to get better. Hopefully Hill is not missing starts and it is very encouraging to see Mr Kelly pitch with few issues albeit in a low leverage situation. CT3 came alive with a huge game, good to see. Muncy gets a night off and the bats don’t miss a beat. Martin seems a better hitter right now than Barnes, maybe a 60/40 split with Martin getting the bigger share? Kike may be struggling but he does come up big sometimes. With Doc everyone is going to play and everyone will get some rest, it keeps guys fresher and keeps them hungry too. It’s fun to beat up the Giants back to back but let’s keep it going and beat up MadBum tomorrow and take 3 of 4!
I agree Roger, I really like Kelly.
He has the kind of refreshing honesty that Hill brings.
Most of the articles I have read on him, state that he is trying to keep everyone happy, and almost attempting to change too much.
He really does have filthy stuff and will be such an asset if harnessing it.
Forearm soreness does not sound at all good for Hill, especially at this stage of his career.
CT3 should be feeling good about himself.
One last question for the night. In a bullpen game like tonight, how do they determine who is the winner (or loser) when no one goes for 5 innings?
It is a strange way of scoring, but generally, if the team does not relinquish the lead, it is the pitcher that follows the starting pitcher that does not go five. The official scorer does have some latitude if in their judgement that first pitcher following the starter was not effective while relieving. Last night Dylan Floro was the first reliever to come in after Rich Hill did not go five, the lead was never relinquished, and in the judgement of the official scorer Floro pitched effectively.
“It is the intent of Rule 10.17(b) that a relief pitcher pitch at least one complete inning or pitch when a crucial out is made, within the context of the game (including the score), in order to be credited as the winning pitcher. If the first relief pitcher pitches effectively, the official scorer should not presumptively credit that pitcher with the win, because the rule requires that the win be credited to the pitcher who was the most effective, and a subsequent relief pitcher may have been most effective. The official scorer, in determining which relief pitcher was the most effective, should consider the number of runs, earned runs and base runners given up by each relief pitcher and the context of the game at the time of each relief pitchers appearance. If two or more relief pitchers were similarly effective, the official scorer should give the presumption to the earlier pitcher as the winning pitcher.”
“The official scorer generally should, but is not required to, consider the appearance of a relief pitcher to be ineffective and brief if such relief pitcher pitches less than one inning and allows two or more earned runs to score (even if such runs are charged to a previous pitcher).”
There are generalities, but the official scorer has the final say.