Three back-to-back-to-back Grand Slams and the Dodger would have won that game. Really, only three things went wrong last night:
- The Dodgers couldn’t hit;
- The Dodgers couldn’t pitch;
- The Dodgers couldn’t field.
Other than that. Everything was fine!
OK, never speak of this again!
I wrote about this a few days ago. These are the Dog Daze and the Dodgers are done with Spring Training (in their minds). The good news is that the team is healthy and they have a game today at 12:05 against the Indians. Then, on Sunday they play the Angels at Disneyland and then the final two games of the Freeway Series are back at Dodger Stadium on Monday and Tuesday. That will be EPIC!
Then they have Wednesday off and on April Fools Day the Dodgers open the season in Denver. The Dodgers are sending Bear into Denver with a hairdryer to make sure the snow is gone.
MLB Players are “adrenaline junkies.” That’s what made last year so difficult at times. Professionals feed off the crowd energy and the adrenaline the human body produces in such situations is a key performance factor. I can’t wait for the crowds to return.
Seven Tears of Baseball
Mike Petriello wrote a piece for MLB called the 7 Tiers of Baseball. Oh, it’s not “tears”… OK, it’s “tiers” because there is no crying in baseball.
Personally, I believe that San Diego is better, but they are going to have to show me they are in that top tier. Their fans could be shedding some tears this season.
R.I.P. Mike Bell
Mike Bell, a member of one of the most storied baseball families, who was a third-generation player and coach (Twins) died at at 46 of kidney cancer. The Twins put out this press release:
Life is short and uncertain. Live every day as if it is your last. Someday it will be.
We should be in our own tier.
Atlanta being a little disrespected. They gave us plenty last year.
So the 100 win team will show up next Thursday. Right?
They are already here Cassidy.
Tiers of Dodger talent:
Elite–Betts, Seager, Bellinger, Buehler
Established stars: Kershaw, Turner, Bauer, Price
Risers: Smith, Urias, May
Next gen–Lux
Steady producers–Taylor, Barnes, Pollock
Sorry DL, but I’m not going to call Bellinger Elite until he performs at that level all the time. At his best he is most certainly elite, but how often have we seen him struggle at the plate. So for right now, he’s an Established Star on my list, especially considering his year in 2020.
You are a tough ranker!
Tough love!
Bellinger’s Career OPS is .911.
Mookie Betts Career OPS is .927
Corey Seager Career OPS is .863
As of 2020, Betts and Bellinger are considered Elite. Seager is a notch below.
I got someone who has all them beat.
Will Smith Career OPS is .937 Only 2 year sample though.
Can you tell I’m a big fan of Will Smith.
Belli might have a career OPS of .911 but these are his numbers for his 4 years:
.933
.814
1.035
.789
Elite players are consistent from year to year. Two of those years are at best somewhat above average.
Mookie has 4 years in the .800’s, 1 year in the 1.000’s and 2 in the 900’s. Not much different.
Mookie’s last three years: 1.078, .915, 927
Bellinger’s last three years: .814, 1.035, .789
In all fairness to Cody, he is just now getting to his age 25 season and Mookie’s three years were 25-27. But for the past three years Mookie’s numbers are better as far as I’m concerned, and there is enough of a difference that I’m not ready to call Cody elite yet. You obviously are, and that’s fine.
2020 was a 102 games short of a full season.
One hot streak could have boosted the numbers for Belli and Muncy too (who is overlooked here because Dodgers are so deep!)
Good list…
I’d give Jansen some love too as “established” and Gonsolin and VGon as “risers.”
And maybeMcKinstry as next gen? He might outperform Lux (but I hope not!)
So true Dodger Lover, so true… 3-27-2021, Sweet Sixteen is upon us and on the cusp of the the Blue season opener!!! It just doesn’t get any better than that…
OK, because I wasn’t able to see or hear anything, what was up with Kersh??? Velo??
Aw heck, it’s been a long ST and they’ll be ready for Co.
Back to the 16… It’s been a long road for Mark Few and Gonzaga, but I think they may have a diamond this year… Of course it will be great to see Gonzaga roll over USC in a couple days!!!
On the other side of the coin, this years PAC 12 performance will only enhance recruiting and keep the blue chip locals think about staying around…
No need for the hair dryer Mark. Weather in Denver is predicted to be in the 60’s. But the nights are going to be very cold. 22,000 fans can be at the ball park. The mask mandate in Colorado expires on the 4th.
I think Indiana’s mask mandate expires on the 6th but Indianapolis has extended it within the City.
Hey Mark, this one is for you. Saw it on Twitter yesterday, so it must be true.
Who are the only two players to participate in both the March Madness Final Four and the World Series?
Answer: Kenny Lofton and Tim Stoddard – only Stoddard won both.
The reason this was for you Mark is amazingly both attended the same high school in Indiana, East Chicago Central High in East Chicago, Indiana. I assume that city is located somewhere near Chicago.
Gonsolin will have to be the swingman/smoke jumper this year.
If this were the regular season, he would’ve come in for Bauer.
Why did Bauer go out so early?
He made a lot of pitches in the first, but , during the spring they can come back out and that is what he did. And his last 3 innings have been pretty good.
Thanks I was hoping no injury. When I saw 1.2 innings and Vespa was in there I was hoping no injury.
None at all. He gave up a HR in his last inning of work, but other than the hiccup in the first inning he was pretty good. Once his curveball got working, he looked nasty. Offense still sputtering though.
Is there seriously anybody here worried about this team because of spring training results?
If so, I wouldn’t want to admit it either.
I have seen worse. I remember one spring I think they lost 17 games or something like that. But they ended up in the race all year. Spring is getting ready time, nothing else.
All they have to do is turn the switch on first of April and all is well! End of April we’re a .500 club. You heard it here first!
I wouldn’t sleep on the Braves. I think the Morton signing and a healthy Mike Soroka to go with Fried and Ian Anderson give them a really solid rotation, which they didn’t have last year – and they still took the Dodgers to a seventh game. It was a toss up between the Dodgers and Braves last year as to which team had the best offense in baseball.
Braves are very good, perhaps better than the Padres.
Still find myself wishing Bauer had signed with the Mets. Hope he proves me wrong….
Why is that, Duke?
… unfortunately, polarized politics ruins everything and infects everything, and I think the obsession with Bauer’s … let’s call it iconoclasm … is unfortunate.
As far as performance goes, even if he’s somewhat of a bust, the Dodgers are only on the hook for big money for a couple of years.
If you really want the Dodgers to be perennial WS champs, it’s a great move. If you value other things above winning, maybe not.