Secrets of a Master Closer – See what I did there? đ
The fewest number of runs a team can score and win is one. That is what the Dodgers did yesterday. The Boys in Blue won 1-0 on a Justin Turner Home Run. JT had 3 of the Dodgers 4 hits, but the HR sealed the deal. Striker Buehler did not have great stuff but he had great control as he was always around the zone.
The Bullpen looked to be solid, if not spectacular as V-Gon, Treinen and Knebel all pitched a scoreless inning. I would have brought in Jansen in the ninth, just to allow him to either sink or swim, but Dave Roberts decided to bring in Corey Knebel who struck out the side! He only threw ten pitches – nine of which were strikes. When hitters are looking for a 95-97 MPH fastball, they have no chance with his hook.
This is a big step towards claiming the closer’s job. It’s not yet his, and Kenley will get another opportunity, but if he blows it again, and Corey takes another step forward, Kenley could be left out in the cold. How will he handle that? Some people can, some can’t. Kenley is a proud man and if he loses the closers’ role, I could see him walking away… and the Dodgers agreeing to pay him to do that. You may or may not know this: But, when Andrew Luck walked away, Jim Irsay paid him $30 million that he was under no obligation to do so. This is just speculation and is way down the road, but it could happen.
I am sure Corey is gaining confidence… and that is a big part of closing. The problem with looking at career numbers is that relievers are notoriously on one year and off the next. IN his 2017 coming out season he has a 1.78 ERA and struck out 126 batters in 76 innings. His only problem was walks. If he can throw strikes like he did last night, he can be devastating.
These things have to play out. I think Victor Gonzalez can pitch in high leverage situations as well… but he needs time to grow into that role. Jimmy Nelson and David Price are the Wild Cards. One of both of them will likely pitch today. This is a process that every team’s bullpen has to go through. When you criticize Doc for his choices this early in the season, you simply show you don’t understand the process.
The Dodgers are bringing on Brandon Morrow very slowly. We know what kind of filthy stuff he has… when healthy. It’s just a matter of being healthy. The Dodgers are not counting on it, but it could happen the second half of the season. I still have great hope for Jimmy Nelson and David Price. They have the stuff to pitch well out of the bullpen. It’s just that they need opportunities to do that and build confidence. This too is a process. It all takes time.
Already fans are complaining about the bullpen when the team is 6-2, which is on track to win 121.5 games! It’s a tough crowd! The process has to play out. You will see Kenley again at the end of the games. Try not to freak out. Remember this is a process.
The Ring Ceremony
Finally!
Rants & Raves
- Zach McKinstry is just a ballplayer… and that is a beautiful thing.
- AJ Pollock looks to have lost a half step but his bat speed is fine and he looks to be getting his stroke back.
- Will Smith has improved his footwork and quicken his release and it showed when he gunned down two runners… one of whom is very fast!
- Yesterday, Max Muncy Muncy paid respect to Tommy Lasorda by wearing a pair of special shoes in his memory. They featured Lasorda’s face, the L.A. skyline, and Lasorda’s iconic quote: “I bleed Dodger blue and when I die, I’m going to the big Dodger in the sky.” You gotta’ love Max Muncy.
- The Chicago Cubs are hitting .157 as a team, and the Reds are hitting .310. The Dodgers are second at .295. It’s way early, but just about everyone on the Cubs is hitting a buck something.
- Kike Hernandez is hitting .179; Joc Pederson is at .095.
Danger: Political Content
If you don’t want politics brought into baseball, then don’t read this. Oh wait, baseball already brought politics into it. I did not spend a lot of time looking, but EVERY SINGLE DODGER BLOG has made NO MENTION of MLB’s moving the All-Star Game from Atlanta. Hummm… well, they get Press Passes and if they know what is good for them they don’t want to piss off the Dodgers and Rob Manfred. So, they say nothing! Well, that and most of the media is liberal, so there is that. The last conservative in the baseball media that I met was Tony Jackson former Dodger’s beat writer and ERSN Writer) who wrote here for a time. A big part of the reason he left baseball was his disdain of the left-dominated media.
Me? I don’t care! The Dodgers have not granted me press passes since I called for the firing of Don Mattingly for many months. You may have figured out that I do not play well with others, but I will give you a voice and you can even criticize me and I will allow that. I still hate what MLB did in cancelling Atlanta, and I may be the lone voice crying out in the wilderness about it, but I won’t stop! Baseball is no place for politics, but they started it… not me!
I’m just waiting for Kenley’s 20 million AAV to come off the books after this year. There’s no reason to keep putting him out there in the closer role simply because he’s a legacy or he’s paid big bucks to be a closer. The Angels would actually be a better team if Pujols wasn’t on it, but there is a certain obligation to keep him on the starting roster because of his contract and because he’s pursuing milestones or whatever. He plays simply because of his performance in the 00s.
There’s no reason to put Kenley out there in a position where he can’t succeed just because of what he did in 2011-2018. Sentimentality doesn’t win baseball games. It actually loses them because it’s the worst kind of judgement.
He can still be effective if you accept his limitations. If you want to look Robert’s decision to put him in a closer situation on back to back days after a five out save the night before as a confirmation experiment, then fine. It’s confirmed he can’t do that. Don’t do it again, Roberts.
Same thing with Price. I’d see how he does in the next few weeks, but if he isn’t really an asset in a role in which he’s not suited, then try to package him in a trade somewhere. The Dodgers will have to eat a big portion of the 16 mil they have to pay him, but they save some money and free up a spot that could go to a Morrow if he’s healthy and dealing. There is the lefty shortage, but that’s something else. In fact, the Dodgers should be prepared to just cut him and eat that 16 million after this year if it comes to that, like they did with Carl Crawford.
Evel Knebel has been outstanding, but don’t get too excited. When you look at his peripherals, his velocity and movement on his fourseamer and curveball are still off from his 2017 year. He’s changed his approach and his throwing a lot more curves as opposed to his fourseamer. He’s getting a lot more called strikes. I think as batters game plan for his change in approach, you might see more hitters squaring up on the curve. Still, he’s getting a lot more ground balls (tiny sample size), and if he can command those pitches, then he could still be really really good.
I just want to compliment you dodgerpatch. You are very articulate on politics and baseball. I enjoy reading your posts. That’s all proceed on.
Thanks Eric. I appreciate that.
Yes, Corey Knebel was spectacular and the Dodgers understand, whether they say it or not, that Kenley is just not the guy anymore. That became very apparent in the playoffs last year. Pride or not, he still has an important role to play and I can’t see him walking away or the Dodgers paying him to do so. He’ll be somewhere else next year.
No question, Will Smith looked great behind the plate, his throws on target. Obviously, he’s worked hard on that aspect of his game.
Once again, Justin Turner comes up big.
I’ve always liked AJ Pollock. His bat will come up big again this year.
Not sure other Dodger sites are ignoring the All Star game issue, the focus is probably more narrow in most cases and they generally stay within those parameters. Always depends on the writer.
But the All Star issue certainly hasn’t been ignored nationally, generated lots of stories and debate. I do agree that baseball should stay away from the political nonsense and certainly Rob Manfred ignored that and thrust the game into a no win situation. Not helpful.
I’m guessing that some of the owners weren’t pleased with what Manfred did. Best to stay away from controversy, if possible. No winners here.
I honestly have no interest in All Star games, just exhibitions anymore, not like the old days when you looked out in the field in the eighth inning and there was Willie Mays, Hank Aaron and company.
It’s good for the city and the fans who attend, generates lots of money for businesses in the area. It will be a big deal for the Dodgers and LA next year. I’ll have the opportunity to get tickets. I’ll pass.
Yes, the Boys of Summer are back and the rings are incredible, featuring two hundred thirty two diamonds and fifty three sapphires.
Winning really isn’t the only thing or even everything. And without sentimentality baseball would bore me to death. A Dodgers fan has to be sentimental to be a long time Dodgers fan and remain sturdy enough through many heartbreaking moments to really feel the reward of winning. Or you can always cheer for the Yanks…..BORING.
I believe Dodger fans right now are just a little bit spoiled. This current ownership has changed the face of Dodger baseball and baseball in general. Teams are employing the Dodger way into their own philosophy’s. AF may not have started the use of analytics, but he has taken it to a different level than any other person in charge of baseball operations has. Beane had some success in Oakland, but still has not gotten his team over the hump. But go back in time, and you will not find any stretch where Dodger teams were this good except the 47-57 era teams. And then they only had to win 4 games to be champs once they got there. As for sentimentality, we are not human if we do not feel it sometimes. I can look back and remember watching the aging Willie Mays struggle for the Mets in his final season. Not close to being the best player I have ever seen at that point. I doubt he was playing to improve his numbers because there was no way he was catching Ruth at that point. Hank Aaron was just a shadow of the player he was his last season in Milwaukee. You can go down the list of great players and most in that last year, or even a couple leading up to it are no where near what they were. They are in there because of what they were. In my lifetime, I can remember two players who went out with very good seasons. Ted Williams, and Roberto Clemente. Williams, coming off of his worst ever season in 1959, rebounded to hit .316 in 1960 with 29 HR’s and a homer in his last at bat. Clemente, coming off of a 1971 season in which he was the MVP of the Pirates WS championship team, hit .312 in his final year. Of course we lost him due to a plane crash. It is the same when our own start to struggle with being what they were. We saw a little of that with Turner last season. There were times when he was not catching up to those fastballs he was crushing before. Kenley has not been a dominant closer since 2017. And he was not the same dominant closer in the World Series that year. He has diminished skills and that is obvious to everyone. No longer is he the automatic end of the game. Sure, there will be days when he is the old Kenley and the ball will move, batters will be fooled, and he will get the save. But today when he comes into a game, fans think more about losing than winning. He just does not inspire confidence in the fan base. Me? I would not give him the ball with less than a 3 run lead. Nope, just do not trust him to get 3 clean outs. Even when he gets a save lately, he rarely has a clean inning. And that is the kind of performance you want from your closer. Oh yeah, while we were discussing all the political crap going on, Joe Musgrave pitched the first no hitter in Padre history yesterday in Texas.
Nice post, Bear. Your reference to legends going out on a bad year (which is the norm) had me thinking — what are some recent great (or good) productive final years for hall of Fame caliber players. I came up with these
1) Big Papi (age 40 in final year) — it was an insanely good year: 38Hr’s 127 rbi’s and he OPS’ed 1.021 (that was nuts), and I think whatever PED’s he may have taken earlier in his career were out of his system. One could add Barry Bonds’ (age 42 in final year) in which he OPS’ed 1.045, but he was roided out of his mind.
2) Chipper Jones (age 40 in final year — and he was pretty banged up, but still really productive when he played) — he had an OPS+ of 124 and OPS of .832 and was good for 2.8 WAR.
3) Gary Sheffield (age 40 in final year– still had unbelievable bat speed) — he had an OPS + of 119 and OPS’ed .823.
He is also tainted by the BALCO scandal.
The only Pitcher I could think of was Mike Mussina. In his final year (age 39), he had his only 20-win season. He went 20-9 and had a 5.1 WAR season. Class act, too!
Anyway, fun to search the memory banks for the exceptions that prove the rule.
Cheers.
Koufax left because of arthritis, but his last year was other worldly. 27-9. 1.78 ERA over 300 strikeouts. But most of the great pitchers you can think of went out less spectacularly.
Koufax is a great call!! Good addition.
I have a lot in common with Koufax:
We both have arthritis… so there is that!
I have two things in common with Koufax. I throw left handed and my elbow is bent because of arthritis. Beyond that, I have nothing.
Luck left football because of concerns for his physical health not because his feelings got hurt. But I donât believe Kenley is a quitter. Heâll be given more opportunities to see if he can turn it around.
Bobby, how was your day?
It was a weird “back to normal.”
The bad: Knowing that there would only be 15,000 people there, I assumed traffic getting in would be a breeze. Yet it was jam packed getting into the parking lot at 11am! By the time we got to our seats, Mark Walter had already started his speech. The concession lines took 1 hour. Sure there was 25% capacity, but it also seemed that only 25% of the concession stands were open as well!
The good: The stadium looks spectacular! The new additions are really nice. There are elevators now down the right and left field lines. People were masked up yet still loud. The ovations during the ring ceremony were really loud. Mookie got a great welcome to LA ovation when he got his ring. The loudest, obviously, was for Kershaw; the entire stadium wanted to celebrate with him.
It was also super easy leaving the stadium after a game (that was odd). I’m sure they’ll get these kinks worked out as the days go.
All in all, it was an honor to watch the ring ceremony and banner unveiling. Next up, May 12 at Staples Center for the Lakers ring ceremony and banner unveiling.
I love a pitchers dual so yesterdayâs game was right up my alley. Great to see JT be the hero. I think Mark is a tough grader with Striker, reporting he didnât have great stuff but great command. That must be based on only four Kâs in 6 innings. But his stuff looked good to me and got him 6 shutout innings at 15 pitches an inning. Iâm unsure how much better stuff he needs.
I have made one wisecrack all spring about Doc and that was about him not getting the memo about throwing KJ in back to back games. I donât think there needs to be more experimentation to gain evidence to that fact. Thatâs an agreement between KJ and Doc that should have been made in spring training. KJ, for his sake and the teamâs sake, is not going 2 days in a row. KJ can still be effective in that role. Preferably not in 1 run affairs as he has a tendency to give up a run. Docâs job is to put guys in the right situation to succeed and itâs up to them to perform like V-Gon, Treinen and Knebel did last night.
To be honest, I know KJ is a long-time Dodger and deserves respect for his contributions. But Iâve been hearing for about 3 seasons now this bullshit about him being a proud man and tippy-toeing around to not hurt his feelings. He can have a significant role on this team but if he loses the closer job he âmight walk awayâ? Wow thatâs a real team attitude. KJ is a long time professional and realizes that MLB is a performance business and Doc is paid to win baseball games.
Price hasn’t pitched since Big Kong was a chimp. Letâs be a little more patient before we cut him loose.
“The problem with looking at career numbers is that relievers are notoriously on one year and off the next.”
That’s not true.
“When you criticize Doc for his choices this early in the season, you simply show you donât understand the process.”
I understand the process, but the process doesn’t need to happen.
“Already fans are complaining about the bullpen when the team is 6-2, which is on track to win 121.5 games!”
The problem is that the 2 losses didn’t have to happen.
I like your politics Mark, but I have to disagree with you on some of your baseball post. But that’s alright.
This comment isn’t for you Mark, it’s just a random comment: When I saw Hernandez as the Red Sox lead off hitter I laughed, I’m glad Hernandez is there and not on this Dodger team.
Feel free to disagree all you want, Eric.
You have a right to your own opinion… and to be wrong.
đ
Another DeGrom gem wasted by the Mets.
If not, it must be one of the most unlucky ones in all of MLB
Dodgers Claim Ashton Goudeau From Giants
By Mark Polishuk | April 10, 2021 at 2:20pm CDT
The Dodgers announced that right-hander Ashton Goudeau has been claimed off waivers from the Giants. Goudeau was designated for assignment by San Francisco earlier this week.
In less than five monthsâ time, Goudeau has now been a member of five different organizations. After making his MLB debut with the Rockies last season, Goudeau went to the Pirates, Orioles, Giants, and now the Dodgers in a series of waiver claims. The 28-year-old has also previously pitched in the Mariners and Royals farm systems during a pro career that began when the Royals selected Goudeau in the 27th round of the 2012 draft.
Someone will have to be DFA or put on the 60 Day IL. Maybe Gonsolin on the 60 Day.
I doubt that happens. He would have to be pretty bad to go on the 60 day. I think some fringe guy will get the boot. But Goudeau has been terrible his time in the majors. He appeared against the Dodgers last year and gave up 3 runs, including 2 HR’s. He was pretty bad in spring with the Orioles. Patrick Corbin is going to start today’s game for the Nats. I would not expect much from him, he has been on the Covid list. No lineups listed yet.
Maybe they 60 day IL Kelly.
Kelly is supposed to be closer to coming back than Graterol. I guess we will know soon.
Lineup just posted, still no Betts. Taylor, Seager, Turner, Smith, Muncy, Pollock, Lux, McKinstry, Urias.
Iâm glad things have settled down a bit. On the politics front. I figured Iâd stay out of it over the last few days. I will say simply this:
I donât agree with MLBâs decision on the AS Game. Makes no sense on a multitude of levels. The most important being that as sports organizations get involved in politics they actual make the problem worse. When they bow to political pressure to take social justice positions they take away one of the few things our society as a whole still has in common. The enjoyment of competition. Supporting your team and enjoying sports doesnât require a political commitment. And it should never.
Im in a growing minority in this country in that I continue to believe that the path to unity and cooperation has to be based on what people have in common. Not what makes them different. When sports becomes yet another aspect of our culture that creates division, we get further from progress; not closer. These days every increasingly complex nuance of any aspect of somebodyâs existence must be parsed, âinterrogatedâ, categorized and intimately used to put us all into some pseudo academic category that has nothing to do with our character as individuals. We must all be judged by our classification. This is incredibly divisive. And now itâs creeping into facets of our culture that weâre once a thing that brought people together who would otherwise agree on little else. I really donât like it. At all.
That said; I am really getting tired of the overreactions. The proclamations. I have friends from all sides of the political spectrum. I judge them as individuals, not some category activists and partisans want to place them in. About the only thing they have in common is their propensity to drastically overreact to politically charged events. Often in a knee jerk fashion with little attention to nuance or alternative narratives. Just rage. A player or two on their football team kneel and they cancel their football package on DirectTV. A person of color is shot by a police officer, they call for civil unrest before any facts whatsoever are even disclosed or reported. Virtue signaling from all fronts feeding off each other like a never ending feedback loop.
I donât agree with MLBâs decision. They are punishing a City for perceived ills of the entire State. Never mind that I donât believe the decision was made based on knowledge of the facts. Rather simply social and political pressure and the increasing fear entities have of angering the Twitterverse and being accused of âsilence is violenceâ.
But letâs not add to the chaos. Letâs not overreact. Because that just makes it worse.
Just my opinion.
This is perhaps the best post I’ve read here on this subject. Outstanding!… and thank you for the thoughtful and reasoned response. It articulates some of my beliefs better than I could.
I don’t think diversity is our strength, but rather the things that create unity in spite of our differences.
Agree!
Jayne Cobb, you always have interesting things to say, whether the subject be baseball or life in general.
A very well reasoned post, for which I thank you.
I will, however, be asking for your banishment. If you can’t yell and scream you don’t belong here.
I only yell and scream after banishment. Which hasn’t worked out. Not sure why.
Very good JCobb, to the point and right on. You nailed it, so you can expect the hate (which is very pitiful that it has come to that). Like you stated, along with a number on here, things are not normal when a society acts and behaves like we have now seen for some time now. If you don’t agree with a University that invites a certain guest to speak, one must throw benches thru the windows of that university. When you don’t like that a historical figure once operated as the rest of society operated in a given period of time, you tear down statues, you rename schools, etc. When you don’t like authority (of any kind) you burn down buildings, you attack and seek to maim and/or kill police (all of which have families and friends btw). The list goes on and on, and the offenses are very often allowed to go unpunished and in many instances encouraged and praised by many in our country’s leadership roles. Here is the big one for me, individuals watch what is going on and come up with a strange, cruel and destructive orthodoxy that they follow and manipulate the words and intent of their opposition and go on to demonize their opponents, we have seen it in here in spades by some seriously troubled individuals, individuals who act like miserable souls that want to drag everyone else into their misery. These are troubling times and many function on a grand scale like some we have witnessed in this blog. It really is a time for prayer and redemption for our country and the world.
If people would put half the effort into building and uniting as they do into destroying and separating us, things would really start to improve. I fear society in general has reached a tipping point from which there is not a U-turn sign on the road ahead of us.
The Truth Hurts, even those who no longer recognize truth for what it is. What is up is down and what is down is up.
That first run scored by Nats is all Seager’s, a good SS doesn’t even have to slide to catch the ball, but he doesn’t have good range and he can’t reach those balls, one out becomes a hit.
Gee, I guess we should get rid of him then huh? That ball was hit at 111 MPH. Positioning has a lot to do with being able to catch the ball, and the run scored on a bloop to right. The pitcher gave up 3 hits, so I am pretty sure he had something to do with it. Does not matter now, they scored 5 in the 2nd off of Corbin….
I’m high on our offense, so this is a minor complaint, but I think if Pollock is going to start he should bat either 7th or 8th, not 6th or any higher.
You like OPS numbers Eric. AJ’s lifetime OPS against left handers is .858 which I would guess is well over 100 points better than the league average during that time.
So how about if we bat him 7th or 8th against righties and move him up a little against lefties?
Youâre right I forgot about that and I forgot that Corbin is a left-hander when I wrote that. My brain has been slow lately.
Reds and Angels are getting beat bad. Dodgers could have the best record in baseball with a win and the 2 other games go the right way.
Iâm sorry Pollock.
Reds lost.
Urias got dinged a little, but the offense bailed him out. DC outhit LA. Soto is one hell of a player. McKinstry has shown some good skills in the outfield. That first inning could have been worse except for his nailing Zimmerman at 3rd with an outfield assist. Beaty still looks lost at the plate.
We all assumed Goudeau would require a roster move to be added to the 40 man roster. Not so. There are 44 players on the 40 man right now. 26 are active, 6 are on the IL, and 12 are assigned to the minors. Goudeau is listed as assigned to the minors. Of the players on the IL only Bellinger is close to coming back. When he does, most likely Raley or Beaty goes down.
When will Gonsolin be back? We need him.