I Am Not An Ostrich

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1. Good thoughts, AC. I like you more when you show your annoyance unlike our former host who always wears rose colored glasses and glosses over the most obvious missteps and calculations of the FO, regarding them as ‘holy’.

   I love JT. He has put the team on his back almost every year he has played here with his clutch hitting and his aggressive approach to everything, yet still maintaining his gentle nature even when he gets hit at the plate. He is still the heart and soul of this team and the fate of the Dodgers still rests with him as long as they are playing him.

   I think Seager can be that type of player along with Mookie. Neither give up and both have a lot of poise and talent. It bodes well for the future. Joc, Belli, & Muncy, do not bode well for the future. All have talents, all have problems. When you are invested in Power, you are trapped, even though you have some victories, you remain trapped and limited. It will always be a tug of war with these players as we see it play out each year. I am convinced that the Dodgers will not win the WS this season and will continue to struggle like they have until they change their approach to the game and balance the Power. The HR is sexy but it is not essential to win a WS.

2. Good commentary, and thank you for the defense of the fans. Just reading the comments there are some really smart and knowledgeable fans who comment on this forum. And they really don’t deserve Mark’s condescension. Anyway I hope the Dodgers can regain a confident winning attitude and put together a long winning streak. It was a really a joy to see a couple well executed and productive bunts this evening.

   1. rf Mookie
      ss Seager
      3bTurner
      dh Joc
      lf Pollock
      cf Bellinger
      2b Taylor
      1b Rios or Muncy
      C Smith or Barnes

   2. Spot on Vengeur. Since Jeff nearly quit, I think the conversations on this site have improved greatly in civility. Posters can “disagree without being disagreeable” as our motto goes. Lots of opinions and ideas are exchanged, some better than others, but each poster has a right to say his / her piece without being ridiculed. For the most part, the prime offender is Mark. I love his optimism and support of his team but he just can’t seem to refrain from condescending comments, questioning other’s intellect, other’s drug use etc. It’s unnecessary IMO. Unless you want to debate a point, why do opposing opinions need to be responded to at all, let alone in a negative way.

3. I do try and stir some things up at times… and it works! 😉

   Still, as fans we only know what we see and what the Dodgers want us to know, for example:

   1. We don’t know why Lux was late to Spring Training, but Doc does.
   2. We don’t know why Walker Buehler was late as well, but Doc does.
   3. We don’t know if Cody Bellinger is having girlfriend-trouble, but Doc does.
   4. We don’t know which players are mentally struggling, but Doc does.
   5. I would sit Max Muncy, but there might be some reason not to, that Doc knows about… or not.

   Doc may not be a brilliant tactician, but he is a great communicator with his players… and they love him. I heard an interview with Rich Hill a few months ago on MLB.Radio and he even loves Doc.

   Prior to the Andrew Friedman Era, I was very critical of the Dodgers and criticized Mattingly, Torre, Colletti, and others. I hated the deal for A-Gon, and still do. I was immediately on the same page with AF – I saw what he was trying to do… actually “doing.” The signings of McCarthy, Anderson, Kazmir were just a “bridge” to “growing your own pitchers.” I was ridiculed by many including Jeff (not AC), but I knew what was happening: He was building a “machine” and he is still building it. He has given Dave Roberts a good team and in Roberts 4 years he has averaged over 98 wins, including 106 last year.

   AF made his share of mistakes, like the International signings, but the mistakes he made have not hamstrung the Dodgers. The Dodgers were cheated out of a World Championship or most of you would feel entirely different with the curse off our backs.

   I was very high on this team before Spring Training – I believe it is the best Dodger team I have EVER seen. Why would I change my opinion after 18 games? Cody and Max have been mired in slumps. In July and August of 2017, Mookie Betts hit .243 and .223 in a total of 218 AB’s. Cody has 76 AB’s. I happen to think anyone who wants to trade him now needs some condescension or at least, some medication.

   Yes, I am a positive person, but if you look at the overall situation of this team, there’s a lot to be positive about. After all the complaining and gnashing of teeth, the Dodgers are 1 win behind the A’s for the most wins in baseball. They play them soon! I just find it humorous that fans can come up with such a negative spin on things.

   Last night was just a stepping stone – everyone is not fixed. Max is struggling, but the Dodgers are leading MLB in ERA and are almost 2 runs better than anyone else in the NL! That is a devastating pitching staff. I am not saying that they are back (because they were never gone), but last night was a big step in the right direction.

   Tonight, they need Julio to pitch like Gonsolin did last night.

   1. You were also supportive of Frankie No Nickels Mark. I remember going a round or two with you during that awful time. But, you were right about Friedman. The Dodgers have built something special. The bad news about that is we won’t have a chance to pick the obvious Super Stars early in the draft. We haven’t picked in the Top 10 since 2006. But that’s the price we pay. We build scouting and development, we produce solid Major Leaguers, and we sign the Mookie’s that want to be a part of something special.

      Obviously we benefit from a juiced ball. But then, so does everybody. The goal of every hitter should be to barrel up the pitch. Hit the ball when it’s IN THE STRIKE ZONE, which is directly over the plate, and drive it to a gap. Gaps aren’t necessarily where they usta were these days, and 7 out of 10 line drives maybe aren’t hits like they used to be, but I’ll bet 6 out of 10 are. And I’ll also bet that at least 7 out of 10 bunts against the shifts are base hits. There’s nobody there. It’s pretty easy to barrel up a bunt. Let’s be the team that beats the shift.

      We are a different team team when Cody doubles and Turner goes yard. Get Corey back on the field and help Muncy find his confidence and we’ll be ok.

      As I have been saying for weeks, Gonsolin is in my rotation.

      1. I was a big supporter of Frankie because I dislike corporate ownership . I hated Fox and hoped McCourt could bring some sense to the team. Instead, he plundered and looted and became a billionaire. I didn’t want Guggs either but they have been great.

4. What concerns some of us is the offense by Max, Joc, Barnes, Cody is anemic right now. You highlighted Mookie’s .223 average in 218 AB’s as an example but right about now I would take Max, Joc, Cody all hitting .223 as opposed to .176 (Max), .180 (Joc), .171 (Cody) and .179 (Barnes). Those averages are flat out horrendous

   What also is frustrating is watching hitters take strikes right down the middle and then swinging at strike 3 in the dirt. Yes, I know hitting a baseball thrown by a ML pitcher is hard and because it is so difficult everyone cannot do it, but it’s not just the results that are so alarming it’s the approach that is so frustrating. Hopefully Cody’s oppo double will get him going, but Max looks like he can’t read any pitch and when he swings he misses and K’s. Is he the player the A’s released or is he the player of 2018 and 2019? Was Joc traded because AF knew he had value and was going to regress to what we are seeing?

   19 games does not define a season, but when the season is only 60 games it very well might portend what this team is. A a poorly developed offensive team lacking a balance between contact hitters aka table setters and hitters who are good WRISP vs. HR hitters which very well might mean too many L’s in the loss column at the sake of trying to hit the long ball.

5. As others have been preaching, put Mookie in the lead-off spot and keep him there.

6. Nice to pick up a W. Let’s get another. Now, comments on starting pitching.

   It’s time to let our horses run. Kershaw (okay he can stay), Stripling (wonderful person) he needs to be traded or go to the bullpen for long relief. Alex Wood (always liked him) isn’t getting people out. I feel two of these three could/should be traded. Just do it. Gonsolin showed yesterday he needs a slot. His pitches miss bats. Not so much for Kershaw (he’ll stay), Stripling – be great elsewhere, Wood – all I can say is we tried.

   Gonsolin, White, Grey your time is now. Smart guys need to figure this out!

7. what Rudy and OC said above

   Meanwhile, despite how bad we have looked, we could be in 1st place 14 hours from now

8. Nice victory for the Dodgers last night. Gonsolin looked awesome and should replaced Stripling in the rotation. In realty, he will probably return to USC. Let’s hope not. Like with Kiki, the Stripling experiment, unfortunately, should be over. I really like both players, but they have been given ample opportunities and have failed to solidify their starter status. Very disappointing.

   I don’t understand why Rios has not been given an opportunity to replaced Muncy at 1B. Occasionally, he gets to play there. But, with Muncy struggling Rios needs to play more right now. I know Max had a finger issue, but he is just not seeing the pitches very well. That used to be a strength of his. And, I don’t think a finger affects your eyesight.

   I know hitting is down all over baseball, but some of these stats are crazy for many star players. Some posters insist that everything is all right because our stats are still better than most everyone else. Whether it’s hitting or starting pitching we are near the leaders in the NL or MLB. So, quit complaining. It’s all good. Ah no, it’s not all good in my opinion. I think fans here who do complain (even though the team has a winning record, scoring a lot of runs and hitting many HR’s) are doing so because the team is underachieving in many areas. Hitting with RISP has, again, become a major problem. The starting pitching has not been very good. This just reminds us of our failures in the postseason recently. Those failures were due to lack of hitting with men on base and the bullpen. Starting pitching was, overall, good enough. Now, our bullpen seems to be a strength, but starting pitching is off. I and other “complainers” see this and think that what’s happening now could lead to another failure in the postseason.

   Sure, the Dodgers are doing good relative to the rest of the league. But, I don’t really care about that. What I concern myself with is that as talented as this team is most of that talent is wildly underachieving. I don’t expect all the hitters to be hot at the same time or the starting pitchers to go 7-9 innings and allow no runs. As Mark would say “you would have to be an idiot to think that”. It’s not realistic. In the last five years I have felt that each years team was the best in LA Dodger history. And, I believe that this year. If we had won a World Series or two recently then I think much of the concern and complaining would not be happening. That’s why the Astros’ 2017 WS cheating was to devastating to Dodger history, players, and fans.

   So, let’s hope that the bad becomes at least good because if it does it won’t matter how the rest of baseball is playing. We will destroy the best they have to offer.

9. We’re fans. It’s our right to complain and let the Dodgers know how to run their team. Of course we know better! Belly and Muncy aren’t the only stars struggling this year. Lots of cases including Yellich and Rendon. But that’s the incredible thing about Mike Trout. Wow. I think he goes down as one of the 10 greatest players to ever put on a uniform if he stays heslthy

   1. Oh, I think he’s top 10 now. He keeps going? He’s top 1

10. AC, I could not agree more about your article. The team has a hitting problem, not just certain players. Good stuff. As far as last night’s game goes, Gonsolin was terrific as you say, and I loved the small ball and so would Phil I believe. Barnes , Cody and Taylor showed at least some of the players know how to bunt or beat the shift. I just wish AF and Doc would read your write-up.

    1. Spot on DBMom. I love it. I’m not alone
       “Sometimes, when things aren’t going right, or you’re hitting balls hard and not getting hits, you’ve got to find ways to manufacture runs,” Justin Turner said.
       I loved the “safety squeeze”. One of my favorite plays and indefensible when done correctly.
       I love home runs but situational hitting and small ball has it’s place in winning baseball and shouldn’t be scrapped. I hope we see more when the situation’s right.

       1. When was the last time we saw a safety squeeze from the Dodgers. I do not remember Doc ever calling one. I could be very wrong on that. And it was a heck of a bunt by Barnes. The defense threw to 2nd too late but got Rios because he could not stay on the bag. If they throw Barnes out at first then it goes in the books as a sac bunt and no AB. Instead, they went to 2B and get a fielders choice and an AB. I am sure Austin will take the RBI and sacrifice the AB.

          1. I’ve seen Barnes do it before. Just not often.

11. Did Cody really get his double by going against the shift or was he late on the pitch. I thought it was the latter.

    1. Good point, but I choose to give Cody the benefit of the doubt and think he was trying to beat the shift, and he did, intentional or not.

       1. He was late, but he barreled it up at the back of the zone. That is a very good sign.

          1. The pitch was on the outside and he did not try to pull it . He took some off his swing, kept his head down and hit what the pitcher gave him. If anything he threw away the stubbornness of trying to pull an outside pitch and rolling over on it for easy DPs. I am giving credit to Cody on this He tracked it and went with the pitch. That may have been his best hit all year. IMO it was not a mistake.

             1. I agree.

12. It was a good win.. The Dodgers do have this penchant for tacking on runs late, and they got four in the 8th, after only two in the first eight innings. So the hitting is still a serious issue. The really bright part was Gonsolin, who impressed me last year. He may not have great stuff, but he is a smart pitcher who rarely pitches badly, at least in my memories from his starts last season. Now it may be that the league will catch up with him, but I definitely agree with others here that he should be put in the rotation. He just seems to have a winning aspect about him, and stats cannot measure that.

    Graterol looked great. Jansen was impressive. The bullpen has been our strength so far.. It is better than it has been for the last few years. I hope that if Treinen continues to do well, the Dodgers can re-sign him, but it is doubtful. I said before that I wish that they had taken the small gamble and signed him for a couple of years. f we lose him, the bullpen takes a step back.

    As to Roberts, i am not much of a fan. But AC asks a good question, whom would you replace him with? I don’t think that he is any kind of great strategist, and he really strikes me as a corporate type, always saying upbeat things, not showing any great insight in whom to play, and where in the order. And while Hernandez is a likeable guy, I am tired of seeing him in the lineup so much, as he is a backup-type player who hits only sporadically. Roberts seems to love him. But the Dodgers are always concerned with public relations, and Roberts is the face of the franchise that they want. I would say that if the Dodgers end up getting knocked out early in the playoffs again, they should replace \Roberts–but they won’t. The only Dodgers manager i have reasonably liked her in the last few decades, is Torre, and he was certainly not perfect, but had a good idea of what he was doing, and did manage his way to five world titles, albeit with excellent talent. BTW, he was not fired here, he retired. I was not at all a Lasorda fan, so actually I have almost never seen a Dodgers manager that I have really liked. Maybe that is just me, or maybe we have not hired well in that regard.

    I guess that almost any manager becomes tiresome to fans; there are very few who are universally loved. I have an affinity for smart strategical managers, even though some of them may not have the people skills one would also want. I liked LaRussa, and Earl Weaver, I also liked Gene Mauch, who was a very smart and inventive guy who had the unfortunate fate of being greatly blamed for two seasons, 1964 with the Phillies, and the year with the Angels where he took Mike Witt out and they lost the playoffs. But remember that he took the Phillies from an awful franchise to one which should have won the pennant, and that he did a very fine job with the expansion Expos, and that he won a lot of games with the Angels. I always liked listening to Mauch be interviewed by Vin Scully, who used to interview the opposing team’s manager at the start of any road series. He really knew the game, analyzed it at a higher than usual level..We do not hire that kind of manager, for whatever reason.

    1. If Lux and Seager were available we’d see a lot less of Hernandez. Hopefully that happens soon.

       I think Gonsolin has great stuff. Some of the best stuff on our staff.

       Who would replace Roberts? Geren. But Roberts isn’t going anywhere. He’s just what management wants. One of these years, it’s gonna work.

       Watched the first episode of Hard Knocks. I found it boring. I wonder if they are going to pull this off. Hope so, though the Rams painted themselves into a corner.

       1. As a point of information, if you think Dodger fans are hard on Roberts, that is mild as to how Geren was received in Oakland by the fan base AND players.

          I met Geren in 2000 when I had season tickets to Sacramento River Cats. Geren was the first manager ever with the River Cats. He was very good with the AAA kids. They played well for him. The MLB A’s, not so much.

          I do like Bob Geren, but I think he likes being a bench coach.

          If I had a vote, I would like to see Bill Haselman get the job. But I do not have a vote, and Dave Roberts is exactly what the owners and AF want in a manager.

          1. Spot on, AC.

    2. William, you are right about Torre not being fired. I knew that when I wrote it, but my primary point was that each of the managers since Lasorda have had access to all of the information that Mark says that we fans do not have, and yet none of them are still employed by LAD, and none of them won a championship. The point was that all managers have more information than fans, but that does not make them a winner. It is how one uses that information. So far Doc is no different than any of the other managers. Bochy was different. He won with less. And as you indicated, so was Torre WITH NYY. Not so much with Mets, Braves, or Cardinals.

       1. Jeff, you are very right in that the argument “the manager has more information than the fans,,” while probably correct, does not mean that the managers do not deserve criticism or even firing. They are being paid very well, not nearly so much as players, but enough so that they are supposed to utilize their information effectively. We’ve all seen football coaches who do a poor job, but yet they do see their players every day to evaluate, except that they do not come up with the right evaluations, or just do not coach the games well. Of course, the other teams have coaches, too, just like all baseball teams have managers. So if the other managers are better than yours, then they will get more out of their team than yours will. And sometimes fans actually have better long-range perspectives than coaches and managers; not that they would necessarily make better managers, but that is not the point. There are a few movie critics who are very perceptive in their critiques, and yet they would probably not want to direct or act in movies. I think that Roberts can certainly keep a team together, which is important; but that more often than not, he will get outmanaged in the playoffs against comparable teams, and thus is less likely to win it all than some other managers might be with this talent.

13. 1 – My review of “barrels” stat shows who is hitting the ball hard and who isn’t. Cody may not be striking out but he’s not making good contact either. Check out the stats per the link below:
    https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/statcast_leaderboard

    2 – Rios has a hole in his swing. His K rate has been untenable in the past and this year he has struck out 7 times in 22 at bats which is too often. There’s a reason he doesn’t play more. There many who post here who complain about the all or nothing nature of many Dodgers’ swings but that’s exactly what Rios does.

    3 – The Dodgers’ problem hitting RISP is nothing new. The thing is that it looked like they had solved the problem last year. They did – but just for 2019. They are hitting RISP as bad or worse than at any time in the past 5 years, with one important difference – they have a DH this year. No pitchers hitting with 2 on and 2 out.

    4 – My point about Muncy and Bellinger – if they are #1 and 2 in plate appearances and they aren’t hitting, they need to move down in the order until they start hitting again – or maybe need a day off or 2 to get it together.

    5 – Dave Roberts is a so-so manager. He is a good communicator and gets buy in from the players to the unusual way that the Dodgers have played guys the past few years so that makes him valuable. In the past, the manager was the field general who made the decisions about what to do and now, those decisions are so heavily influenced by the front office and its reams of data that managers no longer are sole or even primary decision makers. If Roberts makes a tactical decision during a game it is certain to be data driven and not the result of some tactical superiority, but it would be the same no matter who managed the team. I don’t see Roberts going anywhere.

    6- The Dodgers had the best team in baseball in 1952 and 53 and were managed by a smart manager (Charlie Dressen), but Dressen liked taking the credit and wanted a multi-year contract so they dumped him and replaced him with a “company man” (Alston) who ran the team for 23 years on 1 year contracts. Alston was quiet and wasn’t out front taking credit for stuff and was willing to do what the team said and so he was successful and long-tenured. Dave Roberts is Walter Alston without the World Series victories to show for it.

    7 – 19 games is 32% of the season. You can’t say it’s early – it’s not.

    1. Interesting thoughts rick

       I think Rios can be had with breaking balls at his ankles. He has a long swing and it’s impressive when he makes contact. He needs to learn pitch recognition. I think he will. Until then I pitch him fastballs up, breaking pitches down and don’t make a mistake over the plate.

       I agree about moving Muncy down. Bellinger too. Move Taylor up.

       1/3 of the season gone. I think I can say it’s still early. We’re a half game out, and that’s after playing meh ball. Colorado isn’t that good, and even with their improvements I think we are better than the Padres and dbacks. Playoffs? Weeks away. I’m not concerned yet.

       1. Rockies pitching came to earth a little against AZ. They won 1 game in a 3 game set, but gave up a ton of runs.

    2. I will say it is late… for as early as it is!

14. On a lighter note—-And I know everyone is down on Ellen DeGeneres now–but in one of her concerts she asked. ‘Is anyone a Vegan? Don’t raise your hand, I know you are too weak’ Maybe we have to check who on the team is off dairy, meat etc… Just sayin’

    1. Elephant, rhino, hippo, gorilla, wildebeest, bison…. all vegans.

       Just sayin’

       1. You forgot the Badger…..whoops……..they eat MEAT !

15. Good points Jeff, and since I am old school I could not agree more. As for us fans, the biggest difference between us and the coaches, managers, front office is that we pay for the privilege of stating our opinions, and they get paid period. They are the pros, so we as fans expect the best from them. And when the best is not forthcoming, we express our disgust and displeasure by raking them across the coals. Whether we know the circumstances for such lousy performances is not the issue. Fans have always expressed their displeasure. We do it peacefully (most of the time) on a blog. If we were in attendance at Dodger Stadium, the boooooooos would be ringing down from the old girls rafters. Athletes who perform at the highest level get criticized. Placing blame after the fact is something all fans are adept at. Let me tell you something I noticed last night, and it might be significant going forward. I saw smiles in the dugout after the bunts. I saw a huge smile, and what looked like relief on the face of Cody after he hit that ball down the left field line. That was what I was looking for. Some semblance of life in the Dodger dugout. Some sense of team. We can sit here and analyze without knowing what is going on behind the scenes because that is what we have done since the game became embedded in our hearts and minds. Some of us love the analytic part of the game. Some like the old ways better. All have opinions. If we were sitting home with no way to express ourselves we might all end up with ulcers! Another old style health issue caused by stress. Gonsolin pitched well. He looked like a sure fire future piece of the rotation. Personally, I think Ross Stripling is getting too much flak from everyone. He may not be the best on the team, but he has basically saved their bacon with 3 wins in his first 3 starts when all the aces on this team were not ready to go. One bad game and a close call do not deter me from saying that he has meant a lot to this club with David Price opting out. Had Price, Buehler, and Kersh all been ready to play and on the roster at the beginning of this, he would not have been thrown into the position he was. Fans forget fast. He did exactly the same thing a couple of years ago, but ran out of gas at the end of the year. Wood made one start and went on the IL. He was expected to be the # 5. SO you lost one of your weapons before you had played 4 games. The anxiety the fans are feeling comes from the shortened season. They will be done with the Giants after they go to San Francisco after the series with the Rockies next week. Done with the Giants with a month to go. That has never happened before. This season is an anomaly. Unlike any other year in baseball history. There will be some quirky things that will happen. My hope is that the Dodgers snap out of their offensive funk, get some solid performances out of their bullpen and become the team we thought they would be. I am really surprised though that no one has mentioned what happened to Smith last night. Even I failed to notice that Barnes took over behind the plate until Joe pointed it out. Smith had stiffness in his neck. Might have come from that shot he took in the mask from a foul ball. Oh, one last thing, Orel carried the cat jokes just a little too far last night. He just does not know when to shut up.

    1. I like some of Orel’s stuff, but he really misses a lot of great opportunities to just shut up!

       1. I actually had a very enjoyable evening listening to the Padres broadcast with Don Orsillo and Mark Grant. I liked Orsillo when he and Jery Remy did the Red Sox games. This crew was very good last night: informative, funny and very respectful of the Dodgers. Not at all shameless homers you get from some crews. It was a nice break from Orel and Joe.

          1. Never, I repeat, never listen to the Rockies broadcasters. They are the biggest HOMERS in baseball. Drew Goodman is the consummate homer. Never hear a bad word about the team, and constantly saying if. If they do this, if they do that. Hey moron, we all know what happens IF!!! I loved Orel when he was pitching. As a broadcaster, I have never been down with his style. And his constant babble sometimes distracts from what is happening on the field. Like Badger has said, sometimes he makes a solid statement, and adds to the fans knowledge of what is happening. But personally I prefer Monday or Nomar as the analyst. I really think Monday should have gotten the TV gig purely on the strength of his longevity on the team’s broadcast team.

16. Excellent post Jeff (I assume this was yours) especially your opinion on RVS and the “one size fits all” approach to hitting. I have seen plenty of “coaches”, especially the private lesson guys who charge by the hour, who have a bag of tricks that they use to teach. They don’t care about what the player brings to the table. Their business is to “fix” shit.
    I have told kids (and parents) for years to be very judicious about who and what you listen to. I encourage kids to listen to everything then take what makes sense and put it into their practice and see if it feels right and works. I encourage pitchers to fool around with all kinds of different grips and finger pressures while playing catch and during flat ground and see is they find something to try during bullpen.
    Everybody appreciates a great kid who’s “coachable”. I contend that a kid can be too coachable and tries to please everybody. Here are 2 stories to support my contention
    * I first saw BJ when he was a 9th grader when he hit a pinch hit salami to beat our very good varsity team that had 2 pitchers drafted. BJ went on to become a legend in our area. He was scouted more heavily than any kid I’d ever seen. He was drafted in the 1st round and signed out of high school. He got to an organization that then set about changing how he hit. It was their “organizational philosophy”. It always amazes me why an organization hunts for the best prospects they can find, sign them and set about changing everything.
    The kid was a good listener and worked hard to make all the swing changes that were suggested. At the time, the popular approach was that stride and glide, slicing the ball technique taught by Charley Lau and Walt Hriniak. It didn’t fit this kid. He lost his stoke. Then his confidence. He never got out of AA ball.
    * My best friend was a legendary high school coach who won 4 state championships in 11 years. His son, as a senior, was the state’s Gatoraid Player of the Year. He didn’t sign and went to the State college. At his first fall game as a freshman, his dad and I went to the game. At his first at bat, he looked entirely different. And he looked awful. After the game we talked about the change. Apparently in the cage right from the start of fall practice, one coach changed the way the kid hit having never even seen him hit outside and off live pitching. This coach, who I know from his playing days and he couldn’t hit, had perfected his approach to make them robots. Dad was livid and had some conversations with the Head guy, the kid went back to what made him successful and he had a nice career cut short by injuries. (sometimes a meddling parent is a good thing if he knows what he’s talking about)
    Jeff, I too love Nick Madrigal. The White Sox thought enough of him to give him 6.5 million in 2018. He is just a good baseball player and has a little Mookie Betts in him without the power – yet. I watched him a lot with Oregon State and had a ton of drafted players and dudes like Adley Reichman, and Trevor Larnich. I think the Sox delayed Nick’s call up to save a year of free agency. But I saw him go 4 for 5 on August 2nd. Then he got hurt, sadly, and is on the 10-day with a separated shoulder. He, Tim Anderson and Moncada should make a great infield in the future.
    * Doc is non-committal right now but how are Dustin May and Gonsolin not in the mix for more starts?

17. Now I will say what I did not say earlier:

    If Doc does not win it all, I will be driving the “Fire Roberts Bandwagon” and I’ll go to the whip!

    1. But how many times have you said it’s not the managers that win games, it’s the players. If you said, if Roberts continues to make bonehead lineups and goofs up when to relieve starters and pull relievers, I would agree with you. But if Joc, Muncy, & Belli, continue their poor play, why fire Roberts?

       Thankfully, this game is in the bag with 3 HR’s from Mookie! Give Roberts an extension. (that was sarcasm, Mark)

18. Loved it philjones. Nice stories and good points. Your last sentence gets a “they should be”.

    1. Thanks DBM. Always a treat to hear from you and get your opinions.

19. Joe Kelly calls out Astros and opens up about suspension

    https://www.truebluela.com/2020/8/13/21366678/joe-kelly-calls-out-astros-and-opens-up-about-suspension-dodgers-mlb-news

    1. Joe Kelly Rocks!

       1. Awesome reading. Mark, I agree.

       2. I second that!!
          One of my favorite dodger manager if not my favorite was tommy lasorda. He made a bunch of mistakes like pitching to jack clark. But, I just thought he was a great communicator! He took that 88 team to a championship and no way they should have won! He won in the Olympics I believe. He was a tremendous motivator and a great dodger ambassador.!! He seemed genuinely passionate about the Dodgers and nobody else.

          Doc has been blessed with great talent and they have won like you might expect. You could have had three fourths of the managers and had the same result. He is so wishy washy and especially when a guy gets hurt he should never comment. I think some of the players get complacent and are too comfortable with him. Lasorda was more combative and I think competitive. Admittedly that is just a personal observation.

          I don’t like docs style and I don’t like his decision making but he must be real likable. I read somewhere doc said he was ready to take kershaw out in the middle of an at bat. I commend him for recognizing that but I fault him for not doing it.

    2. Yep.

20. Kelly is not shy about speaking his mind, And when it comes to the Astros, most in baseball have tip toed around the issue ever since the season started, and none of the Stros have stepped up and said anything remotely apologetic for what they did. My hope is that they continue to suck this year and miss the playoffs. Still no word on how bad Smith’s neck is.

21. Well if the Dodgers don’t win it this year and Belly, Seager, Kersh and Jansen suck again in playoffs r u getting rid of them as well? They’re more at fault than Roberts!

    1. Jansen and Kersh have one year left, Seager has 2. Belli is under team control until after 23. I doubt they get RID of anyone, and yes, the players are the ones ultimately responsible. But it is always the manager who is at fault when given talent and that talent does not produce. Anyone who has watched baseball for any length of time knows that.

    2. BANG!

       Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!

22. Thank you bear. This is my first season. Sarcasm my friend.

    1. Ahh sarcasm.. I knew him well.

       1. I agree with you Cassidy. Yes, Donnie and Doc made mistakes in October. But I guarantee you Bruce Bochy could’ve been manager and we’d still have zero rings, because the majority of our players are April-Sept studs, and October duds.

          Disclaimer: 2017 doesn’t count because we was hoodwinked!!!

          1. Bobby, I want you to do some research on great players. Many are DUDS in the post season and some no name comes along and helps win it all. Brian Doyle and Bucky freakin Dent beat the Dodgers in the 78 series, not the rest of the Yankees big guns. Who won for the Dodgers in 88:? Not thier stars except Hershiser on the mound. Gibson had the one at bat. But the hitting star? None other than utility man, Mickey Hatcher. Hatch hit .368 with 2 HR’s, he hit one all year and 5 ribbies. Kershaw, if you throw out his early starts when he was just beginning has not been all that bad, and except for the one bad inning against the Stros in 17, he was dominant over them. Bellinger on the other hand, even though he won the MVP of the NLCS in 2018, has a lot to prove in post season. Ted Williams hit .200 with no homers and 1 RBI in his only world series. Bonds usually stunk up the place until 2002 against the Angels. Anything and everything can happen in a short series and usually does.

23. Apparently Doc did hear me. Betts leads off and Seager #2.

24. Betts – RF
    Seager – DH
    JT – 3B
    Belli – 1B
    AJ – CF
    Max – 2B
    Joc – LF
    CT3 – SS
    Barnes – C
    Urias – P

    1. I hate that lineup:

       They should have batted by the number on their back!

       Everyone knows that!

    2. Good news to me too Jeff. I won’t have to say “put Mookie at lead off and leave him alone” like I have for about 8 days in a row. I’m still a proponent of moving Belli down in the order, but I’ll take what I can get.

25. AJ is what I thought he was!

    Bad Pickup, AF!

    1. Ouch Mark he’s been one of the only guys to hit so far! And all the talk about where to hit Betts. How about 1 through 9. That will help!

26. Any news on Smith?

    1. Not yet DBM. Barnes is starting again, so Smitty must still be feeling the effects of what ever it was that caused his neck to stiffen. Must not be too serious though. They would have made a roster move had he not been able to play at all since they have no other catcher on the roster. Dave probably wants to give him another day off.

27. I just read an article where he says now is a good time for SD to sign Puig, do you think the Dodgers could sign him? It wouldn’t be expensive, he could help, and in the playoffs he was always a good hitter.
    Someone said that when a batter is in a slump, it is a good option to put him as DH, and if we talk about Bellinger, then who covers the outfield? I don’t think Taylor, Kike are better than Puig coming off the bench

    1. You’re kidding, right? Not only is Puig uncoachable, he doesn’t play 2B, 3B or SS like Kike and Taylor do. The last thing that the Dodgers need right now is a guy who only plays OF and won’t listen to the coaches.
       https://www.latimes.com/sports/dodgers/la-sp-yasiel-puig-dodgers-legacy-reds-20190414-story.html

    2. No need for Puig, Jorge. He fooled us for too long.

28. Joe Kelly cult hero and true American bad ass!!

    Roberts and RVS need to go soon and coaches will be lining up to take their jobs, we could poach anyone. World Series or bust for both, even though I know Roberts will get 2021 for sure regardless, not RVS though! Jeff’s point bears repeating; a terrible high school hitter can not manage a staff of ML hitters with a varying set of issues and problems. The experience of playing the game at high levels is needed, and as Jeff also said maybe he can transform one individual a la JD but not a group. A demotion to consultant would be wise, and the sooner the better.

    Huge statement game tonight, let the Friars know it is our house and will always be our house.

    Trade deadline fast approaching, Lux will be an in house acquisition but we need another bat badly to win it all.

    Wow Mark you criticized a move by our lord and savior, Andrew “tar and feathers” Friedman. I agree Pollack was a mistake, would be nice if we could dump him on somebody, Friedman is a master manipulator and if anyone can get rid of Pollack it is him.

    Rios deserves some more playing time, maybe a platoon with Muncy and some additional time at DH. This would be a great season to determine if his strikeout rate can be tamed at all, fear the long swing could lead to 35 to 40%, but if he could get it down to the 20s watch out league!!

    Wow the future staff looks bright, in a few years Kersh could be on the back end of a fearsome staff. Kudos to our leader for his role in that one, and too all of our figureheads they truly knocked it out of the park with some of their deals and picks in regards to starting pitching.

    1. Rios at this point in time does not deserve more playing time. His strikeout rate is atrocious. You have to earn that. Pollock has been one of the better hitters on this team for most of the 19 games they have played. Bad decision or no, he will probably not be traded. DR is not going anywhere anytime soon. Lux also has to show improvement over what he did in the exhibition games. He looked awful. RVS probably is the wrong guy for this bunch of hitters. But until you see some sort of displeasure from AF< he also is not going anywhere. I do not think they need a bat as bad as they need someone else in the rotation who can go more than 5 innings. The strain on the BP is not that bad since they have so many arms down there. But a solid starter would be really nice, and a lot more production out of the catchers spot.

29. Mookie leading off. Set it and forget it. Bellie will come around. He is to talented and young to give up on. Just his defense in center Is worth the price of a few early season bad at bats. Doc said Smitty was involved in a collision at home plate on the last road trip and is day to day. I think the bats will light up in the Angels series. Their pitching staff has problems again this year. Look for Max and Bellie to heat up in the August heat wave.
    Go Dodgers!

30. Last year the team improved dramatically in hitting with RISP and I seem to remember that most here were applauding RVS. Now, after 19 games, it’s time to get rid of him? Why did you wait so long? Why not just dump him after the first loss this year?

    Maybe he’s giving those guys bad advice. Maybe he’s giving them good advice and they’re ignoring it. Maybe they’re trying to follow what they’re being told but for whatever reason haven’t been able to do so in 19 games. I do not think he uses the same approach for every hitter. As a matter of fact he’s been quoted as saying he doesn’t.

    RVS may ultimately prove to be a lousy hitting coach but geez, give him more than 19 games. He did good work last year, at least most of you thought so. Belli, Max and Joc are hitting horribly this year. Should we DFA them before the game tonight? After all we’ve already played 19 games. Maybe we could bundle them in a trade for a good hitting coach.

    1. Good post

31. I know some have commented but many of us have said from day 1 bat Betts at leadoff. Now doc apparently agrees. I love his reasoning we want essentially our best hitters get more at bats duh!! He didn’t know that based on his career, based on he said he wanted to bat leadoff, based on we signed him to a gargantuan lifetime contract. Another case of doc trying to inject some kind of ridiculous analysis to make himself look smart. Any guy off the street who halfway followed baseball would know Betts is one of the best leadoff hitters in the game. I am glad doc finally caught up.

    Even if Betts goes into a slump you know if you just stay with him he will produce. It’s like him putting joc at first in the middle of the season just practicing in a pennant race. I just think it exudes an arrogant attitude with no respect for the game or opponents.

32. Been saying since we acquired Mookie. Said it in spring training. And said it in summer training. BAT MOOKIE AND SEAGER 1 AND 2!!!

    Now don’t deviate from this if a leftie starting.

    1. True

    2. I said it the day the acquired him and have been calling for it since.

33. Maybe that’s why Julio nibbles.

    Yep. Betts Seager. Should have been, should now stay they way.

    It’s Pollock. And I have no opinion on him.

34. 4 home runs in the 1st. The cardboard cutouts are really getting their money’s worth

    1. 2 homers in the first, 1 more in the second. 2 in the 4th. Betts 2 Barnes, Seager, Pollock

35. Mark, Pollock said that one’s for you!

36. He’s just gonna keep pounding it until you apologize Mark! And everyone is complaining about Julio but he’s pitching just like Kersh tonight!

37. I want some more of those AF mistakes like AJ Pollock.

38. I think the entire Dodger lineup is sending a big middle finger to this board!!

    1. Such ingratitude for all the good advice and motivation bestowed on them.

39. Well the offense is back. Even Austin Barnes.

    1. I refused to criticize our big boppers like Turner Bellinger Muncy Pederson because I knew they would come around sooner or later.

       And I still think the Dodgers are at a place where they don’t need Hernandez anymore considering the guys that are not on the roster right now because there’s no room for them like Lux, McKinstry and even Raley and even a couple other guys that might even be ready too.

       And I’m glad Gonsolin is still on the roster I was hoping before the game yesterday that he would have a good outing to stick around and that’s what happened I’m glad.

40. Don’t you DARE say anything bad about my hero, Austin Barnes!!!!!

41. Finally this offense is listening to all our “expert analysis” and look what’s happened!

42. At the start of the year who had Barnes having a better offensive year than Belly, Muncy and Pederson through one third of the year! At the Mendoza line!

43. moooooooooooooooooooookie! Only 3 players have ever had 6 3 homer games. Betts is one of them.

    1. I’m sorry, but he’s the best player I’ve ever seen wear a Dodger uniform. He does every singe thing well.

       1. Are you talking about Barnes Bobby?

       2. Little premature for that. They have had some very good players. Betts is very talented true, but give him a couple of years in blue first. At least tonight, they look like a championship team.

          1. I’m not saying he’s the best Dodger ever. I”m saying he’s the best player I”ve seen wear the blue

             1. I thought that immediately after I posted it but I am too smug to delete it…sorry, my bad….

44. Brilliant move by Roberts to bat Mookie leadoff!

    1. I heard somebody talking about that same thing. They were talking about putting Mookie at lead off. I don’t know, probably just some know nothing fans. What do they know. Roberts is a genius.

    2. Manager of the year!

45. News flash headline: Roberts Bats Mookie Leadoff, Causes Homerun Frenzy!!!

46. Trade Barnes while he’s got value.

    1. Bad News Barnes . He has a couple good games and immediately you want to trade him! I’d like to see Barnes get hot just to prove me and everybody else wrong.

       1. I would like to see Barnsie revert to the 2017 version that was good enough to supplant Grandal as the starter…that would be fine with me. Trading him not an option with no other catcher besides Smith who has done anything at the MLB level.

47. Venture, it was an attempt at a little sarcasm.

    1. We got it. It was a good one.

    2. That’s two missed sarcasms today bear!

       1. That could be the start of a Sarcasm .Slump

48. Love the composure of Urias after giving up the first inning bombs to settle down, throw strikes and give us 6 good innings. This kid is gonna be a star!

49. News Flash Headline : Ostrich Pulls Head Out!

50. Well that’s the end of the hand-wringing and finger-pointing, right? Right?

51. what just happened?

    one game does not a season make – but – let’s hope that this is just the 1st of several Dodger wipeouts

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