I’ll answer that with one word: NO! No one here has ever built a major league bullpen. I have not built one either. However, I have seen them built many times, and I believe Andrew Friedman knows how to do it. Feel free to believe that Dave Roberts just blew the game yesterday. If you believe it, it must be true, right? I mean, he brought Kenley Jansen in for the ninth inning, for the second day in a row to close out the game… and everyone knew he should not do that, right?
Well, actually, by doing that Dave Roberts established that Kenley Jansen should absolutely not pitch on back-to-back days. We can talk about it, but Doc has to live it. Kenley showed that he should not pitch on back-to-back days.
Step 1 of Bullpen Building is Now Done: Others have to be able to close. You have to get this out of the way early. Yes, it is early, but Kenley Jansen has 1 Strikeout and 4 Walks in 3.2 IP. It is very obvious that Kenley is not the closer… at least not the only one, and as has been suspected, he’s really bad on back-to-back days. You have to demonstrate that, however and now the hypothesis has been proven.
Step 2 of Bullpen Building is in Progress: Identifying who the other closers are is Step 2. I will first tell you who they aren’t: Julio Urias and Dustin May. Suddenly, we have five starters who can go six, seven, or even eight innings. That makes your bullpen “shorter.” Corey Knebel and Victor Gonzalez are certainly in the discussion, as is Blake Treinen. In fact, all three may be asked to close. Tony Gonsolin is also in that conversation, when he comes off the DL, but not right away. He will have to demonstrate his aptitude to do so.
Step 3 of Bullpen Building is Going to Take Longer: This involves identifying who the other role players in the bullpen might be and that means discovering how David Price and Jimmy Nelson can pitch out of the bullpen. So far, it has not been good, but Dave Roberts has to keep rolling them out there. He is trying to win “the war” right about now, not “the battle.” Maybe they are the solution – maybe they are not! Only their performance will tell.
The Dodgers have options, such as Mitch White, The Bazooka, and Joe Kelly. I am not holding my breath on Joe, but you never know. He has to be paid, so there’s no reason not to see what he can do. Jimmy Nelson is relatively cheap, but the Dodgers owe David Price $32 Million over these two years. If he can’t pitch out of the bullpen, he needs to demonstrate that he can still start. I have no clue if Nelson or Price will be right in the bullpen (Price is Right…. get it?), but it has to play out.
However, if the Dodgers had a healthy Bellinger and Betts, they would have likely scored more runs and this blown game might not have been an issue. The Dodgers are still OPS’ing over .900 as a team. That’s dang good!
Rob Manfred’s All-Star Error
Yesterday, Fay Vincent wrote an Op-Ed piece for the Wall Street Journal. I am posting that in its entirety:
“The commissioner politicized baseball over a law he likely hadn’t examined.
Major League Baseball decided last week to move the All-Star Game out of Atlanta after the Georgia Legislature passed changes to the state’s voting laws that many, including President Biden, called racist. Activists urged Commissioner Robert Manfred to punish Georgia. By rushing to do so without first protesting the substance of the law, Mr. Manfred made a serious mistake.
The use of “muscle” or financial power to influence policy is an ancient tactic. The term “boycott” has its roots in 19th-century Ireland, where the nationalist politician Charles Stewart Parnell urged his followers not to deal with Charles Cunningham Boycott, a highly unpopular British land agent. A boycott is generally an act of desperation, and the original one was largely unsuccessful.
Organizations like Major League Baseball have sometimes participated in public debates over policy. Moving directly to an economic sanction suggests that Mr. Manfred believed the Georgia law required drastic intervention. But consider what he didn’t do: He didn’t limit the number of home games the Atlanta Braves will play. He’d need the approval of the players’ union to do that, and Braves owner John Malone would surely resist. To move the site of the All-Star Game is one thing; to ignore union and ownership powers is quite another.
The midsummer All-Star Game is an exhibition that benefits only the city where it’s played. It was reported Tuesday morning that Denver will be the new host. The players will get paid no matter where the game takes place. MLB will get the same television revenue. The only people hurt by Mr. Manfred’s decision will be Atlanta’s stadium workers and local vendors.
The talk shows and editorial pages are full of questions. What is the basis for acting so forcefully against Georgia? If Georgia is racist, how can baseball talk of doing business with China? Mr. Manfred failed to spell out specific criticisms of Georgia’s voting law. Now he’s put himself in the awkward position of having to defend Colorado’s voting laws.
During my time as commissioner, I learned that the American people view baseball as a public trust. They want the game to stand for the best and noblest of our national virtues. They see baseball as the repository of their dreams, even as they root for their favorite teams. They don’t want, and won’t accept, anything that separates them from the game’s history and leadership.
Major League Baseball can’t become a weapon in the culture wars, a hostage for one political party or ideology. It can’t be only for the rich or the poor, nor can it only be for one race, as it was until 1947. Baseball must always stand above politics and its dark elements of corruption, greed and sordid selfishness. It can’t go wrong by standing for national greatness.
The situation calls to mind the 2006 Duke lacrosse case, when many erred—like Mr. Manfred has here—by leaping to a conclusion based on assumptions rather than carefully considered facts. I’ve done the same thing, to my regret. Much rides on Mr. Manfred’s shoulders so he must be prudent. Perhaps he now sees how complicated these issues can become. I wish him well.”
Mr. Vincent was commissioner of baseball, 1989-92.
Journalism in this country is no longer “fact-based” but rather “opinion based.” There is an agenda that is being pushed and you cannot be intellectually lazy and get the facts… from either side. However, I think a lot of this stuff is going to backfire. Yesterday morning, I took my daughter and one of my granddaughters to get a pedicure. It turns out that it was in a predominantly Black area of Ft. Meyers, but that was not a big deal. Next to the nail salon was a barber shop and the owner was sitting outside on a bench. He had a Marlins hat on and I asked him where he was from. He said he was from Miami and had been a Marlins fan since they came into the league.
We talked about Gary Sheffield, Devon White, Jeff Conine, Bobby Bonilla, Kevin Brown, and Rob Nen in 1997, when they won the World Series. I told him I was a Dodger fan and we talked baseball for a while. I then asked him what he thought about the All-Star Game and he immediately said, “They are trying to divide our country, They are trying to start a war, man!”
I was prepared to end the conversation at that juncture because I didn’t want to argue then and there, but I said “Who is trying to start a war?“He replied: “The President and MLB – they are the racists, man! He has relatives in Atlanta and said: “Man, this is really going to hurt them. They have so many Black-owned businesses and they are paying the price for MLB’s stupidity!”
I think many people are wise to this and are getting wiser. You can fool some of the people some of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time. More and more people are not believing the boy who cried “WOLFE.”
Unlike every other blog, I will not ignore the 800-pound gorilla in the room. Baseball’s Idiot Commissioner put us here. It’s going to end badly! You can no longer come to baseball and avoid politics.
Kenley yesterday was tough to watch. Bauer had a W become nada. I too believe it will work out. Kenley must earn the trust.
I wanted to provide some depth to Fay Vincent. It’s tough for me to see him be supportive of MLB governance given his situation.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1992/09/08/baseballs-vincent-resigns/4cdc5364-42ff-45d1-bacd-155d9f08e7e5/
I do not blame yesterday’s loss on Roberts or Jansen. I blame it on an offense that missed opportunity after opportunity. Or when it did have the chance to hang a crooked number, it scored only one. They hit into 3 double plays. Same kind of performance that cost them game 1. Guys who usually shine in that scenario did not. AKA Will Smith. Smith stranded 7 runners. Not what you want out of your cleanup hitter. Only Taylor, with one, and Muncy with 0 did not leave anyone out on base. And only those two guys left less than 3. Everyone else stranded at least 3 runners. Turner had 5 and Barnes 6. In the playoffs, scoring with 2 outs was an art with this team. Not yesterday. So lets all lighten up on the pen a little and put the blame where it belongs. On the offense. Give the pen a little breathing room. Also I still dislike the man on second rule in extra’s. And part of the reason they lost that game is that they did not move the runner into scoring position. Rios was out there on second the entire time. 2 fly outs and a K later and you lose your shot to take the lead. Bunt the guy over. He would have scored on the second fly out by McKinstry. Oh yeah, the umpires took one of the balls from Bauer’s first inning of work for inspection according to reports. The new Manfred rule to limit the use of foreign substances in full effect. Cubs gave Joc Pederson a waffle iron as a gag gift after his first dinger. Former USC QB Sam Darnold traded by the Jets.
Many save opportunities will have to defend a one-run lead. The pitcher will have to throw strikes, Kenley didn’t. The closer has to get outs, Kenley didn’t. The offense is a separate issue.
The offense is OPSing over .900 do you expect the offense to OPS over 1000, how about 1500. Is that enough? Face it the bullpen was at fault yesterday and Doc was at fault for not handling the bullpen properly. It was not the offense fault, they have done their job OPSing over .900. The bullpen hasn’t done their job.
Yes it is. But when you have a massive fail by the offense yesterday, 2-21 with men in scoring position, it is really dumb to place the blame on the pitchers. They did not do the job true. But the offense had a more massive fail than the pen. The Giants won a 1 run game yesterday, is their pen better than LA”s? Doubtful. But when you have that many chances and do not get the job done, that is just flat pitiful. Roberts has to use the people he has. Jansen proved one thing yesterday, he cannot be effective in back to back games. But Roberts had few alternatives in the pen. You rather see Alexander, Nelson, Price out there in the 9th. His only really bad move was removing Gonzalez after only two pitches. But he was also handcuffed by the 3 hitter rule. Before that rule, he could have pulled Kenley after the walk.
It is not about THIS ONE particular game. It is about KJ being called up to close out a close game.
HOw many more times does he have to show he no longer can do that ?
There will be many more games like that when the offense can not built a huge lead. Playoff games more often than none come down to the niddy griddy in the 9th inning. We saw it in 2020 when the Dodgers had to rely on Julio. Dodgers would be well advised to either find a reliable closers among the players they already have on board or look outside at the trading deadline. KJ is NOT the solution . That has been proven for some time now.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!
Another political post.
Sigh…
W is right. We can’t help ourselves.
Well, you know where I stand. I’ll add only this:
“According to the Pew Research Center, 53 percent of Americans are “not too” or “not at all” satisfied with the way democracy is working in the U.S. (only 45 percent of Americans are at least somewhat satisfied with it). In addition, 67 percent of Americans think the phrase “most politicians are corrupt” describes their country well.”
I’m with the majority.
For those who don’t want to get sucked into political posts, there’s a great article in today’s LA Times re the new additions to Dodger Stadium.
You can also watch a 4 min video of the additions in this link:
https://www.dodgersnation.com/new-look-dodger-stadium-revealed-new-bars-restaurants-home-run-seats-virtual-photo-op-more/2021/04/07/
Let us know how you like the new remodel Bobby and take some pictures. So jealous! Have fun
Sorry Bear, but you have to be able to protect a one run lead in the ninth. You can blame Jansen for no longer being that guy, Roberts for not recognizing he his not longer that guy, or AF for not getting that guy.
I agree with Mark for most of what he said here. It had to happen, you have to see what you got. I understand Doc’s logic, that he thinks the team is at it’s best with Jansen as closer. This make perfect sense because it allows him to use Knebel, Treinen and Gonzo as setup guys. But, there’s a reason why you don’t see many closers topping out at 91.
There will be games when the offense doesn’t score the runs that they should have. That’s the reason you need a great closer. You have to be able to win one run games. They even keep track of your record in one run games. I have zero confidence with Kenley coming in with a one run lead. Not until he can show some consistency.
On the bright side, we’re 5-2 winning 2 series on the road against a couple of bad teams to start the season. Now, we go home and face a Nats team with more missing players than we have. I can’t wait for this team to play with all of their best players available and on the roster. It might be a while.
Mark, thanks for sharing the conversation you had. It helps prove that there is hope that real people can see what’s happening in our world right now. Enjoy your vacation.
Jansen did not protect the lead. That is a given. And they did not score when they had multiple opportunities to do so. Placing all of the blame for the loss on Jansen is ridiculous. Placing the blame on Roberts for using him in back to back games, well, we all know how that has played out over the last few years. Leaving Gonzalez in to finish the 9th would have made more sense. Even more sense could have been made for using Gonzalez when he used Knebel and saving Knebel for the save. But his options are limited simply because he is missing some key pieces from last years pen. He could have used Trienen, but he went 2 innings on Tuesday. Alexander could have been used, but I can hear the uproar about that already. A perfect world would have Morrow ready to pitch. Graterol would not be on the 10 day IL due to Covid. I am not making excuses for Jansen or Roberts, but yesterday was clearly a team loss. Good thing though that AF did not listen to us and sign Rosenthal or Soria. Both are on the shelf. Kirby too.
A closer needs to be able to protect a one run lead. Treinen threw 18 pitches on Tuesday, same as Jansen.
Hey Eric, if you really wanted to gloat yesterday, you should have mentioned Soria, Doolittle and Watson all are scoreless thus far. 😉
Soria is on the IL, I know a closers job is to protect the lead. It does not matter how many pitches Treinen threw. What matters is whether the manager trusts him in back to back games. And Doc is not yet playing with a full pen. No excuses for the loss. But 7 games in? I am not going to start being picky at this point. Pitching did not lose that game. Missed opportunities did. I totally disagree with what you guys are saying, but we all have our own opinions. Does not mean we are wrong or right. Simply what we chose to see and believe. Soria pitched .2 of an inning before he went down. Doolittle was not leaving the east coast and has pitched in 3 games and 2.2 innings. Watson has pitched 2 innings. Hardly a glowing resume yet. Closer to home, someone they could have retained easily, Jake McGee, now with the Giants is 1-0 with 2 saves.
I was surprised they didn’t McGee back.
I’m not sure why the Dodgers didn’t have much confidence in McGee. He pitched well for them during the regular season and was nowhere to be seen in the playoffs . His current contract is 5 mil/2 years.
Yep, I saw Doolittle’s stats. 2.2 innings 5 strikeouts 1 walk 1 hit 0.75 WHIP .450 OPS. It’s a small sample obviously. He signed for only 1 year same with Soria who is on the IL, but I can’t predict injuries just like anyone else can. Good call Brian Capoccia.
We’ll see how Doolittle and Soria do this year. I’d rather have them than a few of ours.
Also I apologize for gloating. As I said before I’d rather the Dodgers win than be right. I’d rather be wrong than the Dodgers losing.
and treinen SHOULD NOT have had to even throw 18 pitches. the walk he gave up had 3 called balls that were OBVIOUSLY strikes. the ump could not even keep up he was throwing so hard with such late HUGE movement. just what you want for a REAL closer.
I was sitting with my neighbor yesterday for our weekly coffee get together. About an hour into our conversation he mentioned something about the some of the comments on LADT. I said “what?”. When did that start up again? I had deleted my shortcut after reading Mark’s closing article. He was so angry that I thought that was it. I went to the site that morning to write probably my final comment. I was so pissed and figured whatever I wrote would cause me to be band from the site. Well, Mark’s feelings on the situation and what he wrote was how I felt so mission accomplished. And, at the time I had no problem with him closing the site down. I would miss it, but I was done with the Dodgers and especially Dave Roberts. When I saw his interview before the game and he said that he did not know the specifics of the bill, but agreed with MLB to move the game, I thought WTF? There was the reason that I get upset with the progressives and the media. They seem to ignore the facts, come up with a word or phrase of the day and parrot it on CNN, MSNBC, etc. And it get more absurd with each issue. They don’t bother to read the documents that explain the issue at hand. I’ve read the Paris climate agreement which is completely unenforceable and just a virtue event and doesn’t and hasn’t help reduce CO2. I’ve read the green new deal and it doesn’t do anything to create equality or eliminate inequalities. I didn’t read the 1000 page bill, but looked at a summary put out by the legislature of what it covers and what it changes. I was at least familiar with that the bill was trying to accomplish. So, when Roberts admitted he was ignorant about the bill and its issues, but could make an informed decision based on the expected wokeness or lemming mentality I just turned off the TV and was done with MLB and the Dodgers. I will do my best to never listen to what Roberts ever has to say in the future. He’s an ignorant fool.
And, again, Manfred has completely cemented his legacy as the worst commissioner in the history of professional sports. Has anyone wrote on how he made his decision? Was it unilateral? Did he consult with anyone at MLB headquarters? Did he talk to the owners to get feedback from them? Did he attempt to get how the union felt about the subject? If anyone has read how he determined that moving the All-Star game was good for baseball and the country, please, post it here. Thanks.
I think I posted 2-3 days before Mark closed down the site. I don’t know why, but I thought I hadn’t seen a post from Dodger Blue Mom in a while. She was such a sweet soul. The site can get somewhat rough around the edges, but she appeared to navigate her way and provide calm and positive comments. Sometimes I was tempted to use profanity in a post, but thought of DBM and decided that it wasn’t necessary out of respect for her. After reading her obituary she had lived a full and very interesting life. That’s one of the things I enjoy about this site is over time learning more about the contributors and posters lives. We definitely have some very interesting people on LADT.
My condolences to her family and appreciate her husband informing us of her passing and providing information on her extraordinary life. RIP Dodger Blue Mom.
I’m happy that Mark decided to keep the site open. It’s something I read on a daily basis and had missed until yesterday. We have posters that have completely different views on society than I do. Regardless, I read their posts because I’m interested in how they view what’s going on in the country. As of now we still have that right to read what others think. Let’s hope that continues.
Sorry to be late to the fray with the political comments. Dodger comments on the season so far for tomorrow.
Mark, thanks for keeping the site open.
Carry on.
“There was the reason that I get upset with the progressives and the media. They seem to ignore the facts, come up with a word or phrase of the day and parrot it on CNN, MSNBC, etc”. Yes, you would never see that on Fox News.
Fox lawyers admitted in court that Fox is an entertainment network.
“News is rarely entertaining. Entertainment is never news.”
This is completely untrue.
The case to which you are referring is a slander lawsuit brought against the Tucker Carlson Show on Fox by Karen McDougal, who was paid 150k for her story on her alleged affair with Trump.
Her case referred to a segment in which he mentioned her along with Stormy Daniels and referenced an article about the two of them in the NYT. The statement in question is: “Two women approached Donald Trump and threatened to ruin his career and humiliate his family if he doesn’t give them money. Now that sounds like a classic case of extortion.”
He prefaced this statement by stating he was taking the gist of the NYT story and was assuming, “for the sake of argument” that the statements issued by Trump’s attorney were true, while also noting that it wasn’t wise to make such an assumption.
The Fox legal team’s defense was based in part on the argument that viewers clearly understood the distinction between a straight news show, which is assumed to present unbiased facts as fact, and a commentary show, where the intent is to provoke thought and analysis (this is where the “entertainment” canard comes from)
It’s a pretty straightforward and rational legal argument, but you would never know it from the way the headlines and the stories of the legacy media skewed the actual … facts.
…and you will believe it and repeat it, which is why the legacy media does what it does. Repeating a lie repeatedly …works
Of course I fact checked it before I posted it. “No reasonable viewer” quote was everywhere I looked. But then, I’ve had enough discussions with my conservative friend (yeah, I have one) to know you probably don’t believe fact checks sites. I was on the road somewhere around Rio Lindo California, Rushbo fans will know that one, and I heard Rush admit to a caller that his show was about entertainment.
Of course it’s all about numbers. And it’s always been true that people choose to believe what they choose to be true. I choose to believe science and some choose to believe DT, Q, and the voices in their heads.
It was a one-off defense, but I don’t think anyone would argue that Fox is and has shifted from news journalism to Opinion. I mean CNN and MSNBC have as well, I guess.
I don’t watch any of them. But Maddow is as much an opinion personality (albeit less hysterical) as Hannity.
That can’t be controversial.
Maybe a one-off defense, but as the Sandmann case demonstrates, there are those who are willing to pushback and actually win against obvious falsehoods, even with the high bar for proving slander. Having the distinction between straight up news and opinion shows I suppose provides some clarity.
Rush demonstrated that there was a market for conservative-friendly news. At least at the onset there was a pretense of “fair and balanced” and some mostly straight news with Shepard Smith and Brett Baer. As things in general have become more polarized, so has the right-ish Fox and the left-ish MSM. Smith left under acrimonious circumstances, the NYT is undergoing a Woke insurrection and purge (Bari Weiss is a good person to read about this), and CNN/MSNBC have all the subtlety of North Korean communique. The WSJ is still barely holding on to traditional journalistic integrity and is perhaps the one paper still worth reading for straight news … at least the front page, not talking about the editorial section.
When talking about marketing and “user experience” one of the current buzzwords is “engagement.” Countless studies show that one of the most reliable ways to maintain stable engagement in mass and social media is through outrage. I would guess this is no secret to media corps.
That’s mostly right on, except for the important part.
This part:
that viewers clearly understood the distinction between a straight news show, which is assumed to present unbiased facts as fact, and a commentary show, where the intent is to provoke thought and analysis
How many of Maddow, or Hamburg or Carlson’s segment lead with “In today’s news” or “Breaking news”
The opinion part is intentionally presented as news.
I wrote the above, but I’m not sure I should have.
I will attempt, when I have time, to see if there’s data about what % of viewers differentiate the “opinion” people on “News” channels from the newscasters.
I’m not sure that you’ll find it. For that data to be meaningful the polling question would need to be very specific, simply because you’re looking for a very specific answer.
For example, if I watch Rachel Maddow it means I most likely agree with her, which means I most likely believe what she says as factual. I would probably also tend the believe the rest of the MSNBC programming as factual in roughly equal percentages.
I would mostly likely still understand that Maddow is an opinion show and the rest of the MSNBC programming is “straight news.,” but I also might believe that each of these formats is factual in equal %s.
If the question asked is whether each of these formats is factual, it probably wouldn’t tell me very much.
I think it’s reasonable to assume most reasonable people instinctively understand the difference between the two formats. – that one is opinion and one is meant to be objective news. Now the erosion of journalistic standards could make this harder to distinguish, but the formats have been around a long time.
This made me think of the movie Network. It’s worth watching again. Very prescient.
If you take an opinion as factual, are you not sure you’re taking it as news?
Which is my point.
If Hannity says that Biden is merely a puppet, and people watching his show take that as factual. How do you reconcile that with your earlier statement that people are only watching to have their thoughts provoked?
Help me out.
Straight news: “There are many that believe that Biden is a puppet. Newly released documents suggest that Susan Rice has had numerous meetings with top aides to the President, and that very specific policy directives originate with Susan Rice.”
Hannity: “Biden is a puppet”
One is sourced, the sources are vetted (hopefully), and the editor gives the go ahead to run the story based on journalistic standards and ethics that are taught in journalism schools (hopefully)
The other is an opinion. It is obvious it’s an opinion. How specifically it’s obvious, I can’t really tell you. It’s like Justice Potter’s definition of pornography. “You know it when you see it.”
That is such a bad example it almost hurts.
Citing public policy that originates outside of the oval office IS NOT indicative of being a puppet. That’s such a stupid position, not even the dumbest among us would accept it.
By that logic Trump was a puppet for the Abraham Accords which originated out of Kushner’s office. Or he was a puppet for the sentencing executive order, because it came from his daughter.
This is my point. “Biden is a puppet” isn’t straight news in any way shape or form. No editor will run with it, no journalist will write it. No human with an understanding of civics would say it, much less report it.
But if Hannity says it is, his watchers (IN YOUR OWN WORDS) will accept it as news.
To your earlier point. Bari Weiss is usually great. Her recent article on private schools, not so much. WSJ and NYTimes are outstanding, just avoid their opinion pieces.
OMG.
No.
You continually seem to be confused about the distinction between standard broadcast news and a show that is clearly an opinion show. I would think this is obvious.
I described a hypothetical example to illustrate the difference. I wasn’t actually claiming that there were actually documents linking Susan Rice to policy directives, and I’m not interested in having that discussion.
It was a hypothetical example.
I’m done.
Yep. Follow the money! It’s all about making money using “news” as a vehicle to do so. . It’s sad the way it has evolved from Cronkite presentation of the news to today.
Agreed. Entire media guilty parties MP. It’s interesting to see how each of us interprets the information. I appreciate and respect your response.
Thoughtful post. Thx. And thanks for taking the time to actually read bills and read policy and understand it. Pity people have to do that themselves.
Thanks for your comments, tedraymond.
Thoughtful and on point, in my opinion.
I enjoy the different views and personalities on the site and thank Mark for continuing it.
In terms of yesterday’s loss, there were many fingers to point. The hitting with RISP was terrible, the base running was not good(especially Barnes running into an out on McKinstry bunt), Will Smith had a bad game defensively and offensively, the home plate umpire was terrible for both teams, and of course Kenley blew the save.
But an ongoing issue has been Roberts’ questionable pitching decisions.
First of all, I thought Bauer should not have started the 7th inning with a 3-1 lead at 90 pitches with a rested bullpen and an off-day Thursday. And I was surprised they let Bauer throw 110 pitches in his second start of the season.
And once Roberts decided to use Kenley Tuesday night with a 5-1 lead, he should have been only a last resort on Wednesday. Instead, Gonzalez retires the last man in the 8th on two pitches and is removed from the game to allow Kenley to close in back to back games.
It is easy to second guess pitching changes, but Roberts had his entire bullpen available and still chose Kenley to close in consecutive games. Hopefully, he considers other alternatives in the future instead of back to back Kenley.
On the bright side, the Dodgers had 3 fantastic starting efforts in the series from May, Kershaw and Bauer. And once the bullpen gets Graterol, Gonsolin and Kelly back, it should be a very effective relief group.
I agree with Bear and Mark on the bullpen. Roberts is letting Jansen have an opportunity at the closers spot in the pen. He looked very good in most games in the spring so this is fine. As the season progresses Gonzalez, Knebel, Treinen and Graterol will have opportunities to show what they can do. If questions still remain relievers are always available at the trade deadline. He Jansen doesn’t show he deserves a prominent role in the bullpen I believe he will be with a different team before the playoffs.
I think you’re right Jim. We are a week into the season. Everyone down there is earning their their role in the bullpen, including Jansen. We have a few very good arms that haven’t pitched yet and a few months before the trade deadline. At this point I’m not worried about it. RISP numbers are a bit concerning, but even that is likely to improve. My confidence level remains high.
I agree. I do not think or remember if there is a no trade in his contract or not, and we all know AF is not adverse to trading stars.
Seem to recall the Dodgers not putting trade clauses in players contracts. I believe Betts contract has some wording about the Dodgers paying him some huge amount but he can still be traded to any team.
Anyone remember a time when the Dodgers have had as good of a catching tandem, and talent in the Que as they have now? Barnes and Smith are both excellent receivers and Barnes has upped his game at the plate lately. Ruiz is a star waiting to happen. And they have some kids below them who a multi talented. I remember Fergie and Boomer. Great offense from Fergie and awesome defense from boomer. I do not even remember who Piazza’s back up was. Rosey had Piggy and Sherry. Also Doug Camilli for a while. Grandal could not catch with a fishing net. Ellis was a so so stick glove man. Just seems like there is some real talent there now.
Yeah, another political post…
As a certain someone might say: Sad!
And since one bad turn deserves another, I’ll at least try to steer clear of the issues of the day and rather pretend that I’m a debate judge and will focus on the form.
Keep in mind, debaters: Points are not scored, and actually deducted, when there are blanket, unfocused attacks on “the elites” or “the media” or anything similarly amorphous. Which “elites”? Which “media”? It’s actually worse than saying “Democrats suck” or “Republicans suck” because those phrases are at least a bit more specific. It’s much more effective to cite something more specific, such “Astros suck,” because at least we know why.
A few weeks back, I simply rolled my eyes regarding a post that seemed to blame “elites” for unpopular public health measures to deal with Covid-19.
I found myself wondering if the “elites” included my sister-in-law, a nurse who has worked long hours trying to help people through this crisis.
My sis and my brother both work at the same hospital, Harbor General. What they have to deal with on a daily basis would drive me nuts. I would much prefer the solitude I had on the road while driving long haul.
https://techstartups.com/2020/09/18/6-corporations-control-90-media-america-illusion-choice-objectivity-2020/
The Elites own the media. Read the article and then see who have the most invested in those companies. The easy thing to see is that they are all multinational companies that do business around the globe.
Nope, not your sister-in-law Duke. “Most wealth and status”. Nurses make well under $737,697.
Here’s one for you. It’s from Forbes, so, maybe it isn’t considered fact based, but the average cop in California makes $105k a year. Average teacher makes $82k. I must have been way below average when I was a teacher. Of course that was 40 years ago.
Sorry. Your sister. Caught it too late to edit.
Manfred is an idiot. He takes hardly no action against cheating and he is aggressive against Atlanta. Vincent is correct.
There was enough blame to go around for yesterday’s loss. Normally I am a critic of Doc, but I am going to defend him today. Last year it was obvious Jansen was not good on back to back days. He was good with a days rest in between. Doc had to find out if Jansen could go back to back. New year. I will rip Doc if he does it again. Closing by committee is maybe where Doc needs to go. I think there are 3-4 guys who could close.
I wonder how the D-Backs feel about that massive contract they gave the Mad Bum right about now. 0-1 with an ERA of 11 in two games pitched. Over all he is 1-5 with Arizona. His WHIP right now is 2.22.
I don’t how the D-Backs feel, but happy about it. MadBum is not a likable person. It looks as though his stupid off road accident during the season essentially ended his career. The D-Backs wanted to spend 10’s of millions just to make sure. They seem to never learn.
Meanwhile the Orioles signing of Matt Harvey may turn out ok. His first start his fastball ranged between 92-94, 2 runs over 4 2/3 innings. Kind of risk taking AF is known for.
Gotta wonder if that will last. I like the guy but I’m taking the under on him finishing strong.
Will be interesting to see how it turns out. I doubt he will ever regain his former glory. Either way I give the Orioles credit for taking a chance. They’ve got nothing to lose. If he surprises and does reasonably well, they can flip him for prospects at the trade deadline.
The problem in our country is PROFESSIONAL politicians and a system that requires millions and millions of dollars for them to get elected. Not what the original framers had in mind!
Amen to that Cassidy. Get money out of political campaigns, eliminate gerrymandering (done by both sides, I know) eliminate the filibuster and dump the electoral college. Pass the voting rights bill. As I told Bear about 4 years ago, majority rule. Always. Majority rule. And for heaven’s sake unless we have a huge lead don’t let Jansen pitch back to back, multiple innings, or throw more than 20 pitches.
Ok, pick 3 and offer a compromise. Progressives have the majority now. They got the hammer.
EXACTLY! it was intended for congress to be “citizen politicians” who served the people for a short time and then RETURNED TO WHERE THEY WERE FROM & WHAT THEY DID PREVIOUSLY. professional politicians have ruined the country. regardless of party.
cheers
i would have gone with treinen. when he pitched the 8th the other night he was MONEY. he was robbed by the ump on a walk where 3 of the called balls where OBVIOUSLY strikes and orel thought it was because his pitches had so much late movement the ump could not even keep up. he was 97-98mph with HUGE movement. right now, i would close with him over jansen any day. hopefully things will loosen up a bit when brustar & kelly come off the dl.
I generally don’t read the posts here, I’m just here for the community.
I wish I hadn’t read it today. It’s dreadful.
Did someone really write this and think they were making a salient point:
Journalism in this country is no longer “fact-based” but rather “opinion based.” There is an agenda that is being pushed and you cannot be intellectually lazy and get the facts… from either side.
I have no problem with politics, and I think this community is big enough to have discussions expand beyond the Dodgers. Silly proclamations do nothing to contribute to anything.
Well I am pretty sure I said that. Because I believe it! If you really think that is not true, give me links to 5 articles that are not opinion and I’ll give you 50 that are.
I don’t think you can do it.
I’ll even give you two articles on the same subject from opposite “sides of the fence”
https://www.ft.com/content/847c5f77-f0af-4787-8c8e-070ac6a7c74f
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-04-08/michigan-cases-surge-to-worst-in-nation-as-variants-multiply
https://www.wsj.com/articles/biden-outlines-new-gun-control-measures-including-on-ghost-guns-arm-braces-11617902746
https://www.npr.org/2021/04/08/985359064/it-has-to-stop-biden-takes-initial-action-on-guns-calls-on-congress-to-do-more
https://www.propublica.org/article/how-the-maker-of-turbotax-fought-free-simple-tax-filing
It’s stuck in moderation!
I’ll get it in a few. I’m in TSA
Bluto,
The Financial Times and Bloomberg are mostly news, but not always. The same with the WSJ which leans right but has opinion pieces on both sides. I just recently subscribed to FT and Bloomberg and have online subscriptions to WSJ and Barrons.
In my opinion, the least reliable news sources are
6. Fox
5. CBS
4. NBC
3. ABC
2. MSNBC
1. CNN
What is interesting is that the only one making money is probably Fox. They have as much opinion as anyone, but what sets them apart is their ability to turn on their own, like they did with Trump. The thing wrong with the other networks is that when bad news comes out about Democrats, they ignore it… you don’t hear it! They just remain silent until forced to report it. Case in point: Cuomo and all his debacles. It took a long time for them to report it and now it’s just in passing. But, when a Republican is accused of something, they jump on it with both feet. Case in point: Cavenaugh! Why because the media and many on the left have made it out to be that they are good and the Right is evil. I hear and see it every day.
So, here’s more than 50 pieces that are almost all certainly opinion and not fact:
http://www.foxnews.com
http://www.cnn.com
http://www.msnbc.com
I commend you for your reading habits.
That’s false Mark.
CNN makes plenty of money for Time Warner/ATT. The networks print money. Not sure where you heard otherwise. I’m assuming your list isn’t ranked in any order, but it’s accurate. It’s actually the crux of a discussion I’m having elsewhere where most of cable channels are now peddling opinion as news and not thinking twice. But Fox does make more, and has a bigger viewership which makes their silliness more damning.
There’s ZERO chance your ratio of 50 to 1 is accurate. Get off that horse, it’s dead.
Your Cuomo, Kavanaugh (if you’re going to reference him, do it correctly) point is equally silly. Need I say anything more than Hunter Biden?
It’s a pox on both houses.
*I guess Doc didn’t get the memo everybody else did; KJ is not effective in back to back games. You don’t need more proof and piss away a games to prove it
* Dan Bellino was another poster boy for the ABS last night. Horribly inconsistent strike zone, both ways. Different zone in the 5th than the first. No players could trust what was actually a strike.
* I think it was Badger who mentioned the umpires positioning behind the catcher and the ASB last week before the site was temporarily shut down. I was constructing my opinion when that happened. There was some conversation on the nuts and bolts of the ABS. It certainly must adjust with the height of the batter. Even the little zone box on your TV (K-Zone and whatever else it’s called) adjusts the top and bottom of the zones. Altuve (I can even say the name) and Judge are perfect examples.
* For my money, I see too many home plate umps 2 feet behind the catcher positioned on the inside potion of the plate, right or left. I think that position makes it impossible to get a clear look at a pitch low and away. I would prefer the ump get up on the catcher without obstructing him and stand up a bit and be directly over the catcher’s head. Most all of us remember the old balloon chest protectors and the “American League Style”. That’s why the American League was considered a high strike league. In the National League they wore the inside chest protector, moved to the inside portion and was the low strike league. When the inside protector was universally adopted so was the positioning to the inside portion. I personally think an umpire directly in the middle of the plate looking down over the catcher offers the least obstructed view. They can see the low pitch and the outside corner.
* When the ABS is implemented, It’s going to take some adjustments by both pitchers, catchers and hitters. With ABS, pitchers are in the zone and a strike or not. Some pitches that are almost never called strikes now, will be. Back-door breaking balls up and in are usually mistakes and seldom called strikes. Same for hangers up and away. Pitches that miss the catcher’s target by an entire plate almost never are rewarded. Neither are cross-ups. Obviously balls bounced through the ABS with need an over-ruling by the home plate ump.
* What are the umpires, 84%? Bellino was worst.
* While Belino was dog-shit, I think the umpire who’s behind the dish when Bauer pitches on the road is going to hear it all night. Bauer intentionally pitches to spots others don’t, especially with high breaking balls. He seems to love the back-door breaker to the top inside corner of the zone. While high fastballs are back in fashion, Bauer loves breaking balls at the top of the zone. Those were seldom called strikes. When they are (they’re in the box and an ABS strike) the batters bitch, the dugout starts and the fans go nuts. Awhile back those were called hangers and nobody was taught to pitch there. In fact breaking ball locations weren’t called by the catcher. It was assumed the pitcher know to keep breakers at the knees or lower. Not anymore with guys like Bauer.
* Why is the use and data from the ABS experiments in Fall Ball and in the minors a clandestine operation? It’s always spy versus spy with MLB. Why can’t there be an open, transparent exchange of information on this stuff. Where’s the technology? What have the initial reactions been. What have been the pros and cons? Does it work? Instead it’s a secret. Like the baseballs.
*Big opportunity for Rios to make a statement last night in 9th. Didn’t happen.
* Bauer is so preoccupied he doesn’t hold runners at all. Allowing free 3rd base consistently with 2 outs is a problem. Like passed balls for example.
* Turner showed a veteran adjustment last nigh after Bellino called a strike on a fastball 2 baseballs high. The pitcher went right back up there with another high fastball and JT fouled it off. It’s wasn’t hittable but he adjusted to the ump and hung in the count. Instead of taking it for strike 3 and being pissed, he made a veteran adjustment.
* I’ve almost completely conditioned my mind to never, ever think about sac bunting anymore. I now know what a sin it is to waste 1 out. But last night, it popped into my head again. Top 9, Will Smith up, first and second. No outs. Pitcher down 2&0 and laboring to throw a strike. I lapse into the past to think “Take Strike One, and then bunt the baseball”…………………..
This is good stuff. I noticed Bauer’s curveballs were hanging high in the zone in the first couple of innings. I just thought he didn’t have command and was missing his spots. You’re saying he does that by design. Interesting.
I did notice his curveballs were hitting low as the game progressed. I just assumed his command was getting better as he settled in.
Alrighty, we all think that Kenley sucks at closer. I would like to see him make a trip to the DL to get his mechanics straight before he returns and when he does, he can pitch earlier in games with a larger lead or pitch when the team is down. He can earn his job back instead of Doc handing it to him like he did halfway through Spring Training.
The question is who replaces him? My vote goes to the cat man, none other than Tony Gonsolin. Here’s why…
1) He was a closed games in College and in the minors.
2) He fastball used to touch triple digits when he was a reliever.
3) He can miss bats and he can get weak contact.
4) He has an arsenal of pitches.
5) He can use Cat Scratch Fever by “The Nudge” as his walk up song.
Who’s your pick and why?
Committee. Matchups.
Got any examples where that’s worked in the past?
Nasty Boys. Cincinnati Reds
Nope In 1990 Myers was their closer with 31 saves and finished 59 out of 66 games, Dibble was a distant second with 11 saves and 29 games finished. Charlton 2 saves and finished 13 games. They didn’t use them based on matchups. It was mostly Myers with Dibble being a great second option.
Knebel = Myers
Treinen = Dibble
Gonzo = Charlton
Yep, that’s what Doc should do. If and when is another story.
Why do we need examples from the past? We are the Dodgers. Let’s do it our way and let others try to copy it.
You know that some games are saved (or lost) before the 9th. I’ve said for years to treat the 7th, 8th and 9th the same. Match ups. Who has the best shot at these 3 hitters. If the top of the order is coming up in the 7th, wouldn’t you want to make sure your best bullpen arm is out there to stop a rally from starting? Makes sense to me.
1. Matchups
2. Jansen doesn’t pitch back to back
3. See 1.
4. See 2.
Caveat: Gonsolin, Price and eventually Nelson can go 2 innings
So here are the candidates to close games for now:
Jansen – he struggles 2 days in a row. Ray Charles can see this.
Knebel – should get a look now as closer role
Treinen – logical choice if he pitches better. It’s early.
Price – looks like a guy who hasn’t pitched competitively in ages.
V-Gon – middle guy
Santana – don’t know guy
Nelson – nowhere man
Graterol – how obvious is it that we need this arm?
Kelly – who cares
Alexander – match up guy
Gray – not MLB ready but big upside
White – this kid looks great. MLB ready?
So with Gonsulin on the IL, it looks like KJ, Knebel and Treinen in that roll.
What am I missing?
I would love to see Gonsolin take over closer duties, but we might have to wait toward the end of the season or next year. He’s my #1 choice long term. For now Treinen and Knebel should share the closer opportunities and see if one can emerge. Kenley’s mechanics don’t hold up on a consistent basis. Mentally, he thinks he’s awesome which he isn’t anymore. It’s been like this with him for the last four years. He’s like a box of chocolates.
And speaking about umpires, have you seen the end of the Marlins-Mets game? Wow!!
Is Gagne still in shape?
It turns out that Joe Biden’s own state, Delaware, has voting laws that are more restrictive (i.e., do a better job of protecting election integrity) than the new Georgia statute. So a Georgia representative has introduced legislation to conform Georgia’s election law to Delaware’s:
“This law will have five key features to make us like Delaware,” the state representative began. “Instead of having up to 19 days of early voting like we have here in Georgia, we’re going to have exactly zero early voting days, because that’s how they do it in Delaware.”
“Instead of having no-excuse absentee voting, like we have here in Georgia,” Cantrell continued, “we’re going to make you have an excuse to have an absentee ballot, and that excuse will be you’re either sick or you’re disabled, because that’s how they do it in Delaware.”
“Instead of having secure drop-boxes where you can place your absentee ballot in one of those drop-boxes for security’s sake, we’re going to provide you with exactly zero drop-boxes, because that’s how they do it in Delaware,” he said.
“And instead of being able to get food or drink from anyone outside of the 150-foot buffer zone while you’re voting, or being able to be provided water inside the 150-foot buffer area, we’re going to make it illegal for you to receive anything of value at any point while you’re standing in line to vote, because that’s how they do it in Delaware,” Cantrell added.
No word yet from Joe Biden on whether his own state’s election laws are “worse than Jim Crow.”
Also no word yet on whether Manfred intends to continue his membership at Augusta National Golf Club.
The GA law removes the Georgia secretary of state as chair of the State Election Board and allows the GOP-controlled legislature to handpick his replacement. I don’t think Delaware has this provision.
Kevin Williamson, writing in The National Review, founded by William F. Buckley, lays out a defense of making it harder to vote. He says, “Maybe we don’t need more voters, we need better voters.” Yes, indeed. The one problem is, who decides who the “better” voters are? I guess Williamson can pick them out, and let’s get more of those, and less of the ones he does not like.
In France, every single person over the age of 18 is automatically registered to vote. The French value the right to vote, and want everyone who is legitimately registered, to be able to vote. There are people in this country who want to diminish the number of people who can vote. The ones running Georgia don’t even want those people who get to vote, to determine the outcome of an election, it is the Georgia legislature who will determine it for them. What kind of country does that remind you of? But I guess it is a good bill, it should stand; it was a dreadful idea to move the all -star game; and don’t bother to vote in Georgia next time, because the state legislature will pick the winner it prefers. Everyone else is out of luck there.
As to the Dodgers, Jansen indeed should not pitch back to back, but he sometimes gets to do it, anyway. All we need is a legitimate top-flight closer. Maybe one is on the roster, maybe not.
I like Williamson because his prose is excellent and he is thought provoking. I haven’t read his article yet, but I have seen the histrionic uproar, and I’m pretty sure I can surmise what his thesis is:
Is more voting universally a good thing in every circumstance? For example, Bernie publicly advocated for felons to have the right to vote. Do you want that? If you agree, why? If you don’t think it’s a good idea, why? You might say that felons have shown such poor judgement and have been so destructive to society that they should have their say in it’s governance restricted.
Williamson isn’t talking about restricting the existing right to vote, he’s saying we shouldn’t be falling all over ourselves trying to get more people to vote by making it easier or more convenient. Voting is free and a guaranteed right. It shouldn’t be convenient. We don’t need canvassers going door to door to show people how to vote, and ballot harvesters collecting their votes . The right should require some effort. Mark said he spent three hours in line. Tedramond said he’s read though the Paris Accord and the Georgia law and assiduously does his research. Both of them are highly informed voters … because they care enough. Their votes become watered down and irrelevant when a less motivated person casts a ballot.
No one’s talking about making it harder to vote.
“No one’s talking about making it harder to vote.“
You just did. Not only that, you just admittedly valued one person’s life more than another’s. You may want to rethink that one.
Stop being hysterical.
It is not “valuing one person’s life more than another” to hold felons accountable for their behavior. They chose to ignore the laws created by the people’s representatives. Why should they have the right to vote? And why is allowing a legislature, chosen by the people, to select election officials a problem?
When Ben Frenklin was asked what kind of government had been created by the Constitutional Convention he said “a republic, if you can keep it.” Keeping it means, at the least, seeking informed, wise voters. It also quite obviously means only allowing immigrants who understand and love American ideals so they don’t vote for socialist, antiAmerican candidates. We all agree we get wiser as we get older. Why allow teenagers to vote? Because they can be drafted? It’s a nonsequitur. Having the least wise, least knowledgeable and least responsible among us vote is not “keeping it,” it is destroying it.
96% of what you write here is opinion…. and that’s fine, but don’t confuse it with fact. I recommend you read this book before you ask what kind of country this is:
Doc should rely on Gonsolin (on IL right now) and Gonzalez a lot. If Treinen continues to have that late wicked movement then add him to the other 2.
According to the home plate ump Dan Bellino, who wouldn’t know a strike if it bit him on his butt, Trevor Bauer had sticky balls yesterday. They are being examined by MLB today. I could go on, but I’ll stop there.
In a worst case scenario, this could prove interesting:
Bauer – suspended
Price and Nelson – not effective, possibly need more time or may not be of value at all this year
Gonsolin – IL
Gray – spring training shows he isn’t ready
White – not stretched out
Starters remaining: Kershaw, Buehler, Urias, May
I think we’d better trade for Stripling.
Sticky balls? They only took one out of the game. And then they have to prove the substance came from him. I wouldn’t assume much at this point. Pure speculation. Rosenthal had surgery today. Will be re-evaluated in 8 weeks. Bellinger likely to miss home opener and might go on the IL. If Bauer was suspended, Price would most likely go back into the rotation. He does not look like a reliever at all. I think he is out of his comfort zone.
From Bleacher Report:
Umpires in Bauer’s last start collected multiple balls he threw during the game and send them to the league office for further inspection. The balls reportedly had “visible markings and were sticky.”
Bauer responded to the report on Twitter:
“Lol always fun reading desperate and misleading clickbait headlines from national gossip bloggers. To translate fake journalist speak for y’all, “It’s unclear whether” = “I can’t be bothered to look into this cuz it doesn’t fit my narrative.” wonder where the articles about balls from every other pitcher being taken out of play in literally every other game this season are? Also lol to MLB who already has “sources” talking to gossip bloggers about a supposedly confidential process a week into the season thumbs up y’all keep killin it!”
I like his style. Others won’t. Molly Knight is probably already clutching her pearls.