The last time out we perused players who between 1958 and 1970 who were first year players and had some or little impact on the season. The 1970’s was the dawn of a new era of Dodger baseball. Before they were over, Walter Alston would retire, and a ball of fire named Tommy Lasorda would inject a new philosophy into the managers chair. It would also usher in the longest running infield that would stay together for 8 seasons.
1971
The 71 season was another good season for the blue. They would finish 89-73, 1 game behind the hated Giants. They were 1 game out for the last 6 games of the season. The Giants matched them win for win. There had been some changes over the winter. Dick Allen and Duke Sims arrived in trades. Bill Buckner became the regular left fielder and had a decent season hitting .277. Bobby Valentine got into 101 games. 22 year old Steve Garvey was in 81, mostly at 3rd. But his days at that position were numbered. Ron Cey got a very small cup of coffee with only 2 at bats as did Tom Paciorek. On the pitching side, rookie Doyle Alexander was 6-6 as a starter. Bob O’Brien went 2-2. And Charlie Hough got into 4 games.
1972
They went 85-70 and finished 2nd again, this time to the Big Red Machine. More off season changes as Allen was sent to the White Sox for Tommy John, and 4 players went to the Orioles for Frank Robinson and Pete Richert. Alexander, O’Brien, Robles and Stillman. Lee Lacy saw extended time at 2nd. Valentine and Buckner got into over 100 games apiece off of the bench. Steve Yeager and Davey Lopes saw their first action. Lopes was 27 at the time. Pitcher Doug Rau made his debut and went 2-2. The winds of change were coming.
1973
The team gained 10 wins going 95-66, and still finished 2nd to the Reds. Ferguson took over as the starting catcher hitting .263 with 25 HR’s and 88 RBI’s. Leading the team in both categories. 3rd baseman Ron Cey, in his first full season added 15 and 80. Garvey saw his first action at 1st base and played in 114 games hitting .304 with 8 and 50. Robinson had been traded with Grabarkewitz, Strahler, Singer, Valentine for Ken McMullen and Andy Messersmith. Jerry Royster debuted. Doug Rau went 4-2 and Geoff Zahn and Eddie Solomon made their debuts.
1974
The improved by 7 wins and won the West. A trade over the winter had brought 32 year old Jimmy Wynn, the Toy Cannon over from the Astros. The cost was long-time Dodger, Claude Osteen and a prospect. Wynn became an immediate favorite. It was the first year of Garvey, Lopes, Russell, and Cey. Steve Yeager was the starting catcher with Joe Ferguson backing him up. Buckner took over in left. Garvey and Wynn drove in 111 and 108 runs respectively. Garvey and Buckner hit over .300. Garvey, Lopes, Cey, Yeager, Crawford and Ferguson all hit HR’s in double digits. Paciorek and Joshua were important pieces off of the bench. Rau joined the rotation and went 13-11. Mike Marshall, who had come over from the Expos for Willie Davis pitched in 106 games. Charlie Hough was 9-4 in his first extended action out of the pen. Rick Rhoden made his MLB debut. They beat the Pirates in the NLCS and lost to the A’s in 5 games. 1st heartbreak of the 70’s. Garvey won his only MVP award.
1975
They slipped back to 2nd place in 75. But no one was beating the Reds who finished 20 games in front of the Dodgers. The starting lineup stayed the same. Garvey hit .319 to lead the team, but Cey took the HR and RBI lead. Wynn regressed a lot. Overall the team’s entire offense took a step backwards. Henry Cruz, Ivan DeJesus, and John Hale saw extended playing time. But Lacy was the only bench player to get into more than 100 games. The pitching was solid but not spectacular. Messersmith went 19-14. Rau was 15-9 Sutton was 16-13, and new arrival Burt Hooton went 18-7 Messersmith had a very good 2.29 ERA. Marshall only appeared in 58 games due to an injury. Buckner also lost some time to an ankle injury. Rhoden got into 26 games, 11 as a starter. Stan Wall made his MLB debut.
1976
Another 2nd place finish. The last season of Walter Alston’s HOF career. He retired with 4 games left in the season, and Tommy Lasorda took over and went 2-2. Reggie Smith came over in a deadline deal for Joe Ferguson, so he became the RF. Dusty Baker came over in a trade with the Braves that sent Wynn, Royster, Paciroek, and Lacy to the Braves. Ed Goodson also came to the Dodgers as part of the deal. Baker had an abysmal first season in blue, hitting .242 with only 4 Hr’s. Garvey and Buckner hit .300 again. Sizemore, who had returned in a trade with the Cardinals in March for Willie Crawford got most of the playing time off of the bench. Kevin Pasley made his MLB debut getting into 23 games. Also debuting was outfielder Glenn Burke who was in 25 games. Rick Rhoden finally joined the regular rotation and went 12-3. Wall got into 31 games out of the pen. Rick Sutcliffe got into one game. Andy Messersmith was gone, having challenged the reserve clause and winning. He signed as a free agent with the Braves. Marshall was traded to the Braves at mid season for Lee Lacy and Elias Sosa.
1977
Some more changes over the winter. Buckner went to the Cubs for Rick Monday. Lasorda had the starting 8 running together in the outfield prior to games and he instilled a different attitude on the bench. His fiery personality often clashed with the umpires. It was a whole new ballgame in Dodgerland. 4 players hit 30 or more homers for the first time in MLB history, Garvey, Baker, Smith, and Cey. Monday, Lopes, and Yeager also hit in double figures. Smith hit .307, and Garvey and Cey had 115 and 110 RBI’s respectively. Baker hit his 30th on the last day of the season at Dodger Stadium off of James Rodney Richard. Two other Dodgers hit homers that day, the only ones they hit all year. Manny Mota and Glenn Burke. I know, I was there. Tommy John won 20, Sutton 14, Hooton 12, Rhoden 16 and Rau 14. Hough was in 70 games out of the pen and saved 22. Lance Rautzhan was 4-1 in his big league debut and Bobby Castillo got into 6 games going 1-0. They beat the Phils in the NLCS and dropped the series to Reggie Jackson’s Yanks, 4 games to 2.
1978
They won the west for the 2nd straight year. Going 95-67. Bill North and Rick Monday shared CF most of the time. The rest of the lineup stayed the same. Ferguson was back backing up Yeager. Lacy got into 103 games. Jerry Grote was also a backup catcher. 38 year old Vic Davalillo was the primary PH most of the time. He responded with a .312 average. Garvey hit .316 and led the team with 113 RBI’s. Smith led in HR’s with 29. Yeager had a miserable year hitting only .193. Monday hit 19 HR’s 4th behind Smith, Cey and Garvey. Rudy Law, and Pedro Guerrero made their debuts. Guerrero came over in a trade with the Indians. Bob Welch won 7 in his rookie year. Dave Stewart and Dennis Lewallyn also made debuts. The team was rocked by personal tragedy in October when long time player and coach Jim Gilliam passed away. They dedicated the series to him, but ended up losing to the Yankees again.
1979
They slipped under .500 to 79-83, and the Reds won the division again. They had 8 players hit in double figures in HRs including 3 who hit exactly 28 apiece. Lopes, Garvey, and Cey. Baker hit 23 and Ferguson hit 20 off of the bench. Garvey again was the only player over .300 at .315, and with 110 more RBI’s. Gary Thomasson who came from the Yankees in a trade for catcher Brad Gulden got most of the reps off of the bench. He added 14 HR’s to the total. Derrell Thomas became the full-time CF with Monday only playing in 12 games. Rick Sutcliffe joined the rotation and went 17-10 to earn the ROY honors. Ruess came over in a trade with the Pirates for Rhoden. Messersmith returned for a short stint also. Castillo was the closer going 2-0 with 7 saves. Joe Beckwith made his MLB debut and Welch was 5-6 out of the pen.
1980
The new decade saw a very tight NL West race with the Stros and the Dodgers tied at the end of 162 games. A 1 game playoff decided the race with the Astros beating LA to advance. Rudy Law took over as the starting CF, getting into 128 games, Derrell Thomas became the main utility player. Reggie Smith battled some injuries, but Dusty Baker had his best season so far in blue hitting .295 with 29 HR’s and 97 RBI’s. Garvey hit .304 with 26 and 106. Jay Johnstone got into 109 games. Guerrero got into 75 and hit .322. Mike Scioscia, Mickey Hatcher, and Jack Perconte made their debuts also. Free agent pickup Dave Goltz was a huge bust going 7-11. And he lost the playoff game to the Astro’s Don Stanhouse, another free agent also stunk up the joint. Steve Howe was the saves leader with 17 in his first full season. Sutcliffe was 3-9 mostly pitching out of the pen. In September, a 19 year old lefty from Mexico made his debut going 2-0 with a save in 10 appearances. No one knew it at the time, but in 81, he would have his own mania named after him. On the day they lost the playoff game to the Astro’s. I was in the hospital having surgery to help me lose weight. Not wanting to upset me when I woke up, they did not tell me about the loss until 10 o’clock that evening.
Well, that is the second installment. Howe won ROY honors in 80 with that performance. The second of what would be 4 ROY’s in a row.
Spring Training News by Mark Timmons
Jesse Sanchez wrote a piece on Dodgers.com about David rice’s outing yesterday. I’ll just show you what he wrote:
After the outing, Price said he was hoping his fastball would hit 92 mph. He touched 94 mph. He added that he feels like he can be effective with a fastball in the 91-93 mph range in 2021. The left-hander expects to be ready to start the regular season in the rotation with a pitch count in the 80-90 range, if that’s what the club needs from him.
“Right before we signed Trevor [Bauer], I reached out to [Dodgers president of baseball operations] Andrew [Friedman] and said, ‘If it happens, I’m willing to do whatever you guys need me to do. That’s not a problem for me,’” Price said. “’So, just keep me in the loop. And let me know and I’ll be ready for whatever.’”
It’s too early to tell if Price will pitch in the starting rotation or out of the bullpen. For now, the focus is on building up his pitch count. Price is attempting to join a loaded staff of starters that already features Bauer, Clayton Kershaw, Walker Buehler, Tony Gonsolin, Dustin May and Julio Urías.
“I can see him pitching in any role that we have for him and David, being the pro and the teammate that he is, also voiced that whatever role that we see is best for the Dodgers in 2021 is what he wants to do,” manager Dave Roberts said before Monday’s game. “So that’s just a credit to him, but our job still is to build him up for whatever potentially could happen and continue to give us some options.”
So, there you have it: David Price could pitch out of the bullpen in 2021, sort of like an Andrew Miller? Hummm… that could be interesting. Lots of options.
OTHER NEWS:
- Julio Urias went right after hitters at the start of yesterday’s game, inducing weak contact. He only struck out one, but he was very efficient. With his stuff, this should be the way he rolls.
- Right about now, DJ Peters seems too good to be true.
- I like Matt Beaty, but I cannot see him making the roster at the expense of Noisy. Sheldon is a skilled professional hitter and he is RH on a team that needs more RH hitters. I look for Matt to be traded. He could be a nice piece on many teams.
https://www.mlb.com/dodgers/video/sheldon-neuse-s-rbi-single
Many people do not know (especially here in Mexico) that Fernando debuted in the 80, maybe because at that time there was no internet and the news did not fly as fast as today
I wonder what would have happened if Fernando had played at this time?
He wouldn’t have had that many complete games to begin with, and therefore very few shutouts, but he would have played many more years.
Maybe we owe it to Mike Brito that Fernandomania was born!
For some reason I thought it was Sid Monge that taught Fernando the screwball, but a Wikipedia read tell me it was Bobby Castillo. Credit should go to him for helping create Fernandomania. That was his signature out pitch.
Reminds me of a story about Fernando I remember reading in Jay Johnstone’s book, Temporary Insanity. Johnstone was telling a story of a young Fernando just coming up in the minors. The pitching coach didn’t really even know his name and kept referring to him as Orlando. At this point Fernando barely knew a word of English and was hesitant to correct him, so it went on like this for a bit; the pitching coach calling him Orlando until, finally, Fernando, in his imperfect English, said, “I’m not Orlando. I’m Tampa.” LOL.
At some point Price will be part of the leftie duo out of the pen.
It would solve some roster problems.
Interesting thought about Price. I hadn’t considered him as a bullpen piece, but, if he can get his fastball up to 94-95 in short stints, then that would play up. I really liked Alex Wood out of the pen last year, and he had some big innings for the Dodgers in the playoffs, and I almost wished the Dodgers could have kept him on in that role. Price could wind up doing something similar come playoff time.
That’s the thing with this team. I don’t think there will always be set roles. Price could spend the regular season getting his endurance and arm strength up, and he might be asked to take on a different role in the playoffs.
How about a “Bullpen Game?”
Gonsolin – 3 IP
May – 3 IP
Price – 3 IP
Yeah, absolutely. I wrote something a while back about not really having to have clearly defined bullpen “rules.” When I think about it, I don’t really get having a closer just to pitch the 9th to get some arbitrary made up stat. If you have pitcher who is the best reliever on your team for one inning, put him in the highest leverage one inning scenario regardless of what inning that is. If you have pitchers who are great pitching one time through the order, have them pitch three innings. As we saw with Urias in the playoffs last year, you can have a multiple inning “closer.”
If pitching the third time through the order is such a thing that should be avoided at all costs by a starting pitcher (to the point of removing a Snell or Rich Hill when they’re dealing), why not expand on that? Have three guys, each with a different look and pitch sequencing strategy with an opposing lineup, each pitch one time through the order.
Your scenario would allow May to stay at the MLB level and work on his command and secondary pitches, provided the Dodgers aren’t in a very tight division race. Right now the thought is to send him down to AAA to work on those weak parts of his game.
Neuse made a big jump in his game at AAA in 2019. He cut his Ks and developed some pop. I like him. He’s probably a better defender at 3rd and 1rst (and can play second) than Rios.
I remember telling you good points you made about the bullpen pitching when you wrote about it awhile back. So again, good points about the bullpen, you’re on to something there.
Bench:
Barnes
Taylor
Rios
McKinstry
Beaty/Peters/Neuse/Davidson
It has been a small sampling, but I am very impressed with Noisy’s hitting.
Of course, this is impressive too:
Actually, I was impressed with his defense yesterday at 3b, especially in the 6th when Bobby Miller was pitching.
The wild card in this may be Cody Bellinger and his status on opening day. If he is not ready to go as a full time CF, that make open the door for Peters to make the OD roster.
Thanks again Bear for a trip down memory lane. Forgot just how frustrating the 70’s were going up against some great Reds and Yankee teams. I was in the left field bleachers when Fernando made his Dodger stadium debut! We have the starting depth and we want to limit innings this year especially with our young arms. So why not do split games with our young guys like Buehler, Urias and May going 5 innings and closing out the other four innings with Price, Gonsolin and Nelson. And close out Kersh and Bauer with the regular bullpen guys. Keep guys fresh for the playoffs!
I grew up a little later than most here, and my Dodger formative years were watching the teams of Sax, Fernando, Lasorda, Welch and Pedro Guerrero, who was my favorite player. I think Pedro is an underrated player. Had he played more games in 1985 I would’ve been the hands down MVP. I don’t know if folks really understand what a great offensive year he had. To hit for average with as much power has he had, but only strike out 11.7% of the time and walk 14% of the time is impressive.
Those were my favorite Dodger teams. I always say the current structure of the Dodgers team and organization is the best I’ve seen since the 80’s Dodger teams. The World Series of 1977 was my first experience watching the Dodgers. So my first full season watching the Dodgers was 1978.
I’m with you, Patch. I started watching in 1983, and Pedro Guerrero was my first ever “favorite player”
Pedro was also derailed by his ankle injury in spring training. He was a solid hitter and it is hard to believe Cleveland traded him.
Bear, Oh what a delightful chronicle of the decade of the Dodger’s 70’s. So many good years, so many good players come to mind. Sandy Koufax will always be my favorite Dodger, but the 70’s were my favorite Dodger years with guys like Lasorda, Garvey, Cey, Lopes, Russell, Pedro, Monday, Rau, Welch and many many more. Gosh I could go on and on. Thank you, Bear. Very enjoyable.
You are welcome DBM. Working on the next one already. The 80’s were pretty exciting themselves. A little too early in spring to be making roster decisions. Some players have helped themselves and others not so much. Muncy is 1-9, but we all know he will be on the roster. Beaty is leading the team in hits. Lux is more than making his case to be the everyday second baseman. Neuse is doing well, and quite possible could push Beaty off of the opening day roster. One advantage Beaty has is that he has already shown that he can be a pretty good pinch hitter in clutch situations. Reks and Raley have done nothing to advance their cause. I think some here are not reading the reports coming out of camp about Bellinger. He is ahead of schedule and should be in games by the middle of the month. I have no doubt he is on the opening day roster. Pitchers are a little more tricky. Nelson makes the start tonight. The next 3 are night games. Alexander has not been impressive at all. But you always have to factor in experience in games. I think Gonzalez is a lock. Kelly will most likely be on the IL come opening day. He is throwing bullpen sessions now, but is progressing slowly. I do not think Davidson has any chance of cracking the roster, and we know Morrow is not going to pitch in any spring games. I still believe Price will be part of the starting rotation, May will start the year in AAA, and Gonsolin will be the long man. He is better suited to be a bullpen pitcher than May. That’s my story and I am sticking to it. Spoiler alert. If, and that is a big if, he continues to be as patient as he has been at the plate, draw walks and hit, Peters is going to be the 26th man. He is taking pitches he used to flail at and to me has been the most IMPROVED player in camp.
On a different subject, Les Miles ousted as coach of KU amid allegations of inappropriate behavior towards a woman while at LSU. Seems some people in positions of power just think they can do anything they like. Roberts comes out against racism against Asian’s. Some might forget he is part Japanese. And finally, the Cowboy’s gave Prescott a huge paycheck with a 66 million dollar signing bonus…..must be nice.
Bear I agree about Peters. His plate discipline and pitch recognition is light years from last spring. He’s got my vote for 26th man right now. And PS. You need to renegotiate your signing bonus with Mark!
I will triple his signing bonus!
Since I got nada, thanks a bunch. That is ok, I do this because I love doing it and I love the team.
And throw in a flag!
Another fun read today Bear. Thanks for all this work. The 1970 Spokane Indians were the best minor league team I ever saw. That young group who moved up to the big club with the addition of Cey, became the core of Dodger success through the 70’s and was eventually managed by Lasorda. That team was loaded.
Regarding you comments on May and Gonsulin today, “May will start the year in AAA, and Gonsolin will be the long man. He is better suited to be a bullpen pitcher than May. That’s my story and I am sticking to it”
Here was my comment from 2 days ago ” You know Dustin May and Tony Gonsulin are frequently lumped together like they are the same guy. And they both may start the season at the alternate site. I personally see them as completely different. Tony looks like a very capable back end of the bullpen guy. I know he’s started and might be the #6 starter. But I see his stuff, especially the splitter, as valuable bullpen tools. I don’t see any value to him at the alternate site. Put him in the pen and leave him alone, for now.”
“May, on the other hand, is a future starter. He could benefit from some AAA time to gain command and work on his change. Call me crazy, but I don’t see Dustin close to the top of our high leverage reliever list. Maybe he should just be groomed as the 6th starter”. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
You just have to appreciate great talent when you see it regardless of team. Tim Anderson is a treat to watch. I watched him live at CamelBack Ranch yesterday up close and later of the MLB TV replay of the game. TV didn’t do justice to his play. The catch he made in the shift on the humpback liner by Beatty was remarkable. At field level, there was no chance he catches that ball. He looked 3 feet of the ground to snag it, honest. The play he threw away at first on Mookie was a remarkable catch on a high chop at it’s apex. Mookie’s speed rushed the throw. He also went deep in the 6 hole to try a force at 2nd. Few even get to that ball.
Price and Urias were fun to watch from behind home. They dominated many to the Sox regulars. Nice to see for sure.
I’m continuing to root for Peters. He should always be the first guy off the bus. wow
Phil, I completely agree with you on how May and Gonsolin should be used at the start of the season. Gonsolin continues to attack and throw strikes. May needs some time in AAA once their season begins. I’m liking Peters, Neuse, McKinstry, and Barnes for the bench. Peters can play all OF positions and is working on 1B to increase his versatility. Neuse can be used for IF along with Taylor and McKinstry. Gives the team some new blood on the cheap.
Relating to Bear’s article I think Fernando may have become HOF worthy had Lasorda hadn’t incredibility overused him. It would be interesting to see what Fernando’s pitch count was during his time with the Dodgers. I believe he would have pitched for more years and had better stats. I remember watching games where Tommy would never take FV out no matter how bad he was struggling. Why, I don’t know. It was one thing I didn’t like about Tommy was how he handled the pitching staff.
Assuming you add Taylor to the four guys you want on the bench, you now have 4 out of 5 of your bench players hitting right handed. Since the majority of pitchers are right handed, I don’t see that happening.
With no DH this year, there will be more pinch hitting and Beaty has proven to be an effective pinch hitter. I think it’s going to be down to Neuse and Peters for the last spot with Beaty making the squad.
I agree that Tommy was not great at managing a staff. But you also have to consider who he had as bullpen pieces. Fact was, he trusted the baby bull more than most of his relievers. When you compare his innings to other pitchers of that era, the only year he led in innings pitched was his rookie year. His problem was his pitch counts were high due to K’s and a lot of walks. His K to BB ratio was less than 2-1. Not what you expect from a strikeout pitcher. Koufax was almost 3-1. So I would not lay all of the blame on Lasorda. Fact is, he had way too many high stress innings. He averaged well over a runner on base in every inning he pitched. Fernando will probably never go in as a player simply because his stats fall short. He might make it as a broadcaster, or simply because he was a cultural phenomenon. Fact is, LA has not issued # 34 to any player since he left the organization as a player.
Some of those Albuquerque teams were pretty good too. The other day I went back and watched some replays of the playoffs last year, and the regular season. And what I saw from Gonsolin was a guy who could be plugged in almost anywhere. Now he did have a couple of bad games as the opener, for the most part he was very effective. Big difference in the playoffs was that he gave up 4 homers in 9 innings, which was 2 more than he gave up all season. His ERA was pretty good too at 2.31 in the regular season. His K to BB ratio was close to 4-1. May on the other hand was a starter in 10 of his 12 appearances. He gave up 9 homers, and his K to BB ratio was 2-1. May projects better as a starter, and there are some things he needs to work on. At this point in their careers, Gonsolin is the more reliable pitcher.
I also remember that the catcher on that 1970 Spokane team was Steve Sogge, the former Trojan quarterback.
You younger fans should have been around to watch the team in the early to mid 50’s. Reese, Robinson, Snider, Hodges, Campanella, Gilliam, Furillo, etc. Ft. Worth had a great team in the Texas League in that era. Demeter and Gentile were being blocked by Snider & Hodges. Karl Spooner came up to the Dodgers in late 1954 and pitched two complete game shutouts, striking out 15 & 12 . Too bad he had arm trouble the next year. He could have been another Koufax!
There were good players blocked by all of those guys. Pitcher was the one position with Brooklyn that was fluid. Beyond Erskine and Newcombe, the other starters were constantly changing. Podres joined them in 55, but Erskine was beginning to decline due to arm issues. Koufax and Drysdale would not truly flourish until the move to LA. Spooner had he not had arm trouble would have been Koufax before Koufax. He had nasty stuff. When you look at those staffs, they were so thin that their top reliever, Clem Labine was forced into starting a series game. Had they had the kind of pitching the Yankees had at the time, they probably would have won before 55.
I’d like to see the dodgers carry 14 position players and 12 pitchers.
Smith, Barnes, Muncy, Lux, Seager, Turner, Betts, Bellinger, Pollock, Taylor, Rios, Peters, McKinstry, Beaty.
Buehler, Kershaw, Bauer, Price, Urias, Gonsolin, May, Gonzalez, Graterol, Treinen, Jansen, Knebel.
I think with so many starting pitchers the Dodgers have that it will work, considering the starters who don’t end up in the starting rotation can go multiple innings.
I just think those 26 guys deserve to be on the team. I don’t know if it will happen, but I’d like to see it happen.
I am with you 25 of 26. At this juncture, I would rather see Noisy over Beaty!
Santana
My belief at this point is that they will go with 13 and 13. I think May is ticketed for AAA. Why? Simple, he is a starter. He is not going to crack the top 5 of this rotation, so he needs to be pitching in a regular rotation. As good as his stuff is, he has not shown at any point that he is a lock down reliever type. Gonsolin can play both roles, long man and short reliever. I think no matter what there will be 2 lefty’s in the pen and Price and Urias will not be those guys. My guess, at this point Vesia has looked a little better than Alexander. One of those two will be lefty # 2 behind Gonzalez. Kelly, Kahnle and Ferguson will be on the IL> Morrow will be at the alternate site until they think he is ready. He might have an opt out date in his contract like he did last time. Do not sleep on Nelson. He has nasty stuff and if he is healthy, he could crack into this pen. Graterol is being brought along slowly. Simply because of his youth and not much pitching experience. He is also working on another pitch. As for the position players, Beaty is hitting better than anyone on the team right now. Most hits, and is hitting ,500. His success as a PH since he has been with LA gives him a leg up on his competition. Right now none of the other lefty hitters are doing much. And although Neuse has had a decent spring with the bat, and can play numerous positions, I still think he is on the bubble and no lock to make the team. They have 20 more games to make their decisions. Over the last 10 games or so, the scrubs are not going to have as many opportunities as they have now. The need for pitchers during the first month is not as pressing as it will be later. They have 3 off days in the first month of the season. Their longest stretch of consecutive games does not begin until April 22nd when they start a 14 game stretch before an off day. 7 games at home and then 7 on the road before they get an off day after their series with the Cubs and just prior to playing the Angels in Anaheim. But then they get 3 days off between ending the Cubs series, and their second series of a 9 game home stand with the Mariners, Marlins, and D-Backs. Just my opinion of course.
I agree on May if this was a normal year. Unfortunately, with the postponement of AAA until May, there is no AAA season in April for Dustin to pitch in every 5th day, just the alternate site (or whatever they decide to do for MiLB ST). Not sure what they will do with Dustin.
Their season does not start, but the AAA, players will start their spring training on the 1st of April. So those guys not on the roster will be there at Camelback in training. No way those guys are going to sit around until May. Dustin will be at that camp.
If he stays healthy how is Nelson not on the roster beginning this year. His stuff looks filthy. If White gets healthy we could run out 10 legit starting pitchers this year. Wow! The more I see of our staff there is just no room for Kelly.
We don’t need Kelly.
Kersh, Buehler, May, Gonsolin and White. Bauer, Urias, Price, Nelson and Gray. Either staff would be better than a lot of mlb staffs. Certainly better than the Angels!
To tell you the truth I had been wondering why Price was being given a starting spot ahead of the three kids. To me Price was battling May and Goose for the 5th spot and Urias should be a lock. I thought maybe Price could pitch out of the pen considering Gonzalez is the only lefty I trust.
Nelson looking like he might have a spot.
Price is being paid 16 million. He has a solid track record. Just because he sat out because of health concerns is not a reason to not slot him where his talent puts him. May and Gonsolin have 28 career starts combined with 11 wins and 8 losses total combined. For Price, that would be a half season. He is there because of respect for what he has done at the MLB level, plus the guy gives them 3 Cy Young winners in the rotation.