Minor League Report
- JoJo Gray struck out 10 in 5 IP for OKC in his AAA debut, but he also gave up 2 Runs on just 3 hits in what was a pretty impressive AAA debut for a young player. James Pazos relieved him and gave up two more runs in 1 IP, as OKC was shutout 4-0. Raley, Reks, Ravelo, and Burns each had a hit.
- Amarillo paid Tulsa back with a 6-2 win. Casey doubled and Busch hit his 2nd HR in three games. Romer Cuadrado also his his second HR. Michael Grove (19.29 ERA) was lit up like a Christmas tree.
- The Great Lakes Loons had just one hit, but they won 1-0. Miguel Vargas drove in the only run with a sacrifice fly. Cole Percival pitched an impressive 2 innings at the end of the game.
- The Rancho Cucamonga Quakes started Jimmy Lewis who was beaten like a rented mule in the first inning… giving up 3 runs. The Dodgers took Kershaw out for similar, but Lewis came back and looked different in the 2nd inning. The Quakes ended up losing 6-5 on just 3 hits. DeJusus had the only extra base hit (a double).
Major League Report
Well, the Dodgers did not lose yesterday. Of course, it was only because they did not play. This year reminds me of parts of 2017 and 2018. Of course, the Dodgers went to the World Series both years, but at several points during each season, I heard this stuff over and over ad nauseam:
- You can no longer count on Clayton
- Seager is not a shortstop
- Kenley is done
- The Dodgers can’t hit with RISP
- Roberts is an idiot
- The Dodgers will never win with Doc
- Friedman can’t build a bullpen
- The Dodgers will never win with this bullpen
I think some fans have went back and copied and pasted what they wrote back then. To me, it is hilarious! I get a kick out of it. On May 1st of 2017, the Dodgers were 14-13 and went on to win 104 games. 2018 was harder and the Dodgers were 12-17 on May 1st! Both seasons, the Dodger fans were losing their minds to the point that they had none left!
Fans by nature are a little crazy because they are “fanatics” which by definition is “a person filled with excessive and single-minded zeal, especially for an extreme religious or political cause.” So, they are obsessed and irrational when things don’t go the Dodger’s way. They see all the plethora of problems (in fact, they see problems with problems and problems where there aren’t any problems).
So, here it is, May 6th and the Dodgers sit at 17-15. It is what it is: they started 13-2 followed by 4-13. This 2-1/2 week stinking stretch has caused many of you to take leave of your senses. This is still the best team in baseball and at some point, you will be embarrassed by things you are currently saying. This too shall pass. Tonight is a new beginning (Let’s hope). I remain supremely confident. Remember this: Progress is not Linear! Maybe we see some vintage Julio Urias and Machine Gun Kelly.
Winning streak starts today.
I would be a lot more excited about Kelly’s return if it didn’t coincide with Alexander, a fairly reliable bullpen piece, taking his spot on the DL. We need a lot of 4 run leads going into the 8th.
Beaten like a rented mule …
Okay, the Jim Murray award goes to Mark Timmons.
I’ll feel better when The Dodgers start winning games normally like 4-2 with 10 hits and start winning series 2 out of 3. They have too much talent for this to continue on much longer. In the meantime, a little small ball when the situation calls for it wouldn’t hurt. Move some guys to 3rd with 1 out. Maybe start some runners when the defense is in the shift so Seager doesnt just roll over it for a double play or Muncy has to swing at one down the middle to protect the runner. Not calling for fundamental change in strategy, just shake things up a bit and help the boys put some numbers up on the scoreboard without having to always get a key 2 out hit.
I will feel better when…McKinstry and Bellinger are back. 2. When Mookie Betts and Corey Seager resemble the players they were last season and not some shallow shadow of that player. 3 When the bullpen pitches in the 10th inning with the team leading and the runner at 2nd does not go anywhere. 4. When all the pitchers on this team learn how to hold runners on base. 5. When Keibert Ruiz gets a serious shot behind the dish. Guy looks like a keeper. And when Orel Hershiser finally learns he does not need to talk so damn much,
My condolences Bear. You may never feel better again, especially as that regards your points 3, 4 and Orel.
Oh sigh,,,,,one can dream can’t one???
you COULD BE stuck when the dodgers play the rockies with having to listen to the rockies broadcast team. OMf-nG. if i NEVER heard the words “subaru strike zone” and “subaru slo-mo” again, it will be too soon. they suck!
though i must admit it was nice having nomar do the cubs series earlier this week.
cheers
I turn the sound off trust me. Drew Goodman is about the most irritating voice I have ever heard. And one of the biggest homers on the planet.
Bear with all respect. Hershiser’s deserves the right, watch The baseball game and don’t worry about what the announcers say
Those are the kind of things you complain about when you’re winning, we got way too many other things to worry about, Oh and by the way which Belli are we going to get back anyway the one with the big loopy swing that strikes out way too much, or the guy who knows that sometimes you got a hit the ball the other way?
I get it, honestly I do. I just dislike Hershiser’s over analyzing everything. It is beyond annoying.
It would’ve been nice for the Dodgers to just cruise to a new single season win record and win the WS, but MLB is an analog to life – it’s a struggle with its own ebbs and flows. The Dodgers need to learn now to overcome adversity. Right now, it’s more than a faulty bullpen and no offense – they’re just playing sloppy baseball. Playoff baseball is defined by the execution of details- a key defensive play here, a walk in a critical situation there. There would’ve been no ring ceremony this year without a single catch by Mookie.
The guy who has to step up, IMO, is Roberts. It’s fine if he’s a players’ manager and is a Ra Ra guy or whatever, but true leadership emerges when faced with adversity. – think Churchill during the Blitz. So far, Roberts has been a corporate manager, not a leader.
That … and his questionable tactics. Who knows?
Again, baseball is unpredictable. Seager has been just terrible on defense this year. It’s an issue. You wanna know who’s worse? Tatis has been worse. Actually, Lindor has been pretty mediocre, too – offensively, but even his defense hasn’t been as stellar as one would have predicted. Trea Turner is this year’s stud at SS – so far.
I agree totally. Tatis was making an error a game there for a week or so. Padres are playing at the same level as the Dodgers and no one is making a big deal out of that. Giants are over achieving. The Rockies and the D-Backs are what we thought they would be. D-Backs happy that the Mad Bum is finally looking like the SF version. Injuries through out the league are out of hand. Look at Springer for the Jays. He has hardly played at all.
You need to keep in mind that Tatis is playing with a bad shoulder. That certainly gives him a real excuse for some of his bad fielding. I still think Corey might have a physical problem that they aren’t talking about, something that is affecting both his fielding and hitting.
Trea Turner – I would trade Seager for him any day of the week. Turner is the shortstop that I would want over all the other shortstops in MLB if I had my choice, the one possible exception being Tatis.
What did Churchill do during the blitz??
https://www.npr.org/2020/03/30/823830284/how-winston-churchill-pulled-britain-through-the-early-years-of-wwii
According to Baseball Savant, Seager ranks almost dead last in outs above average (29th). In defensive runs saved, Seager slots in at 22nd in the league per FanGraphs. Hopefully his stats do regress to the mean as Hembo suggests.
Seager has to be better with the leather for this Dodgers team to get back on track. He’s proven he can do that, but the time is now.
Destined for the Hot Corner?
Hembo took things a step further with Seager and posed a serious question about his longevity at the shortstop position.
“It is reasonable to have a discussion regarding his viability at the position long-term. He’s listed at six foot four. That makes him one of the biggest shortstops in the history of major league baseball. As these guys approach free agency this winter [Correa and Seager], how much of the conversation, how many dollars at stake, on whether or not they’re going to stay at shortstop, or move to the corner of the diamond?”
He’ll get a mega contract but whomever signs him, even if it’s the Dodgers, will have to ask themselves and the devil himself aka Scott Boras if he will accept a position change.
Everyone in baseball knows your best defensive players must play up the middle and Seager is not an elite defender
Just watched a video from Dodgers Nation – Major Shakeup Options.
Here’s one of the lineups they suggest.
Betts RF
Turner 2B
Seager SS
Smith 3B
Beaty 1B
Pollock LF
Ruiz C
Taylor CF
They could have titled this – Worst Defensive Lineup. With all the struggles defensively, can you imagine Turner and Seager up the middle with Smith and Beaty at the corners? No Muncy?
I wouldn’t mind seeing a shakeup.
Taylor CF
Muncy 1B
Turner 3B
Seager SS
Betts RF
Smith C
Pollock LF
Lux 2B
This would put their overall best hitter 3rd as he should be right now, with the next two highest OBP in front of him. Seager and Betts get sandwiched between Turner and Smith hopefully giving them protection and run producing opportunities. Smith and Pollock have a chance of really cleaning up if Seager or Betts come up with a big hit and Lux belongs in the 8th spot until he continues to show progress.
Of course, once Betts starts being himself again, he goes back to 1.
Whoever “they” is, that 1st lineup is the stupidest shit I’ve seen as some folks are dying tho throw the baby out with the bath water.
Most bloggers and writers write what they know their readers want to hear. Me? I don’t care what you want to hear. I am going to give it to you straight… at least in my opinion… straight!
Sometimes it pisses people off. Sometimes it makes them think, but only morons think the solution is to change the lineup. See the ball. Hit the ball. It’s the same 1-9!
Pretty weird coming from a guy that defends Doc all the time. I’m wondering if you noticed that prior to last year his lineups changed daily.
So let me get this straight, it’s okay to change the lineup daily consistently throughout the season when playing good or bad. But, not okay to change it during a long team-wide slump?
Got it!
Dodgers Nation, in my humble opinion, is a hotbed of inanity and silliness.
I am doing my part to change the Dodgers’ mojo – I am wearing my Don Drysdale jersey (it was the best of all of my Dodgers’ jerseys last year for winning).
Some here want to blow sunshine – well, you know. Things aren’t all unicorns and rainbows right now and pretending that it’s so doesn’t help.
The hitters aren’t hitting. In the past 20 days:
Barnes – OPS .561
Betts – .673
Lux – .500
Muncy – .598
Neuse – .720
Pollock – .871
Raley – .490
Rios – .129
Seager – .606
Smith – .731
Taylor – .848
Turner – .785.
Bullpen has guys like Santana, White, Vesia and Cleavinger who have no business being on the active roster of a team with World Series aspirations.
In short, you don’t have a record of 4 – 13 in the last 17 games without playing badly.
So what are they going to do to change things? Doing the same things the same way and expecting a different result is insanity.
Very simply, a baseball hitting slump occurs because of something that you are now doing that is mechanically incorrect when swinging the bat or it can be something that you were doing correctly and now you are not doing it. In other words, either you have developed a bad habit or have gotten away from a good habit. Hard work, practice, and repeated repetitions are the best remedies for curing a mechanical problem.
That is what they are doing.
I think that there’s more to it than that. Much has been written lately, for example about Muncy’s K rate (which is up) and his OBP (which is .353 in the last 20 days). He’s actually hitting .102! He has become passive and looks to walk and not to hit. He has to be aggressive in the zone and take outside of the zone. Hitting .102 – most of the pitchers can hit that well.
Seager has gone back to swinging at 1st pitches too often again and he’s also swinging at pitches out of the zone.
Some guys just aren’t hitting anything – Lux, Rios (he’s looked awful – the IL is a gift here) and even Betts – they have mentioned that he rarely swings and misses in the zone but he’s doing so now and also is swinging at stuff out of the zone that he doesn’t usually swing at.
The Dodgers basically have 3 hitters (Taylor, Pollock and Turner) that are hitting consistently right now. What happened to all of the lefty power bats that the team has been known for the last few years?
Lat 7 days
Betts .238/.333/.429/.762
Lux .333 /.368/.389/.757
I don’t buy that excuse Mark, I can’t see the hole team having the same problem at the same time. And why not trash the launch angle BS.
* I see that the lovely and talented Angel Hernandez has had a tough week. He has been in 2 incidents where he blew calls and in character, ejected multiple players. The report included information on one game behind the dish where he missed 25 pitches. The evaluation process for umpires obviously doesn’t apply to Angel. He will just sue everybody for racial discrimination instead of attempting to get better. His incompetency continues. My hope is some of these good ole boys will hang it up when the ABS is employed.
* Albert Pujols appears to have come to a sad, unceremonious end to his great, hall of fame career. I appreciate his spirit but it’s time. The Angels are catching some hell over the process but he’s a boat anchor and they need to move on and Albert should know when to quit. I hope the Cards sign him to a one-day contract, let him play a final game at first and let him retire a Cardinal with fanfare.
Just because other stars shortstops are struggling defensively doesn’t make me feel better about Seager and our defense. We all should know that he will never be a rangy acrobatic shortstop. I don’t need Ozzie Smith. I need Mark Bellanger. He just needs to make routine plays, routinely. Both he an JT struggle to throw the ball across the diamond better…………… and HIT.
The Athletic’s Dan Connilly wrote a great article about what the people in John Means’ life were doing during his no-hitter. I don’t pay attention to the Orioles and wouldn’t know John Means from Natrone Means “Business”. But this article was so good at explaining the joy and impact of his no-hitter, it brought tears to my old eyes.
The only possible explanation is that Angel has compromising photos of Rob Manfred! How could someone this bad still be an umpire? He even has his own video:
The problem with Turner and Seager is not their glove or their arm, although Seager has made mistakes in their throws, lately, that is not their problem, the big problem is the range and that will not improve, it is a drain on the side left of the infield, a ball on the ground a few feet away they miss them and they are a hit, that’s Seager and Turner’s problem.
Seager will not be an SS nor a 3B he has the 1B painted on his forehead, a great first baseman in the future … if he wants.
DodgerHorse I disagree. While range is nice it is not imperative to be a quality 3rd baseman Third base is all about a step or two right or left and a dive. Range is really going forward. Turner seldom misses a baseball and in fact makes great picks.He has great hands on hot shots. His problem is throwing at times. He’s a ton better than some guys hidden there for their bats. The Nolan Arrenado’s and Manny Machado’s in the league are relatively new animals at 3rd base in MLB. You have a few super rangy athletic shortstops playing third base.
The athleticism of shortstops now days is like never before. They are allowed to go against traditional fundamentals and throw from any angle, on the run, off balance. The latin kids have redefined how the position is now played. Seager backhanding routine grounders is no longer a sin in today’s game. He’s better on routine plays than he’s shown lately but as long as he hits and wants to play short, he’s my guy. If and when he wants to move to 3rd they’ll have that conversation. No, way he moves to first.
I agree with dodgerrick when he says this:
“Bullpen has guys like Santana, White, Vesia and Cleavinger who have no business being on the active roster of a team with World Series aspirations.”
Per TrueBlueLA:
“Over their last 17 games, the Dodgers’ .208 average is the worst in the National League and their slugging percentage of .345 is the third worst. Luckily for them, they had a game in which they scored 16 and another in which they scored eight runs. If you were to take those two games out of the equation, the numbers would truly be awful.
During this stretch, they’ve scored three runs or less in 10 of the 17 games. For the most part, their pitching has been keeping them in games, it’s just been that their offense has been letting the team down.
The worst part about this stretch is the fact that although LA’s bats have been ice cold, they easily could have won a lot of these games. The Dodgers have lost eight games in the last three weeks by only one run. That’s crazy. If LA just went 6-2 in those close games, they’d be 23-15 and the season would look completely different.
That will likely hold up over 162 games.
Dodgerrick, the best post in weeks.
It seems that we are seeing the worst of Seager. Last season we saw the best
it’s really frustrating
0fer with RISP.
Kelly. WOW.
What does doc not understand about Joe Kelly being an average to below average pitcher? And I am being nice. Might as well add Friedman to this discussion.
Just what the Angels needed! Can the Dodgers play themselves?
Does anyone else notice the injuries? The culprit of the slump is a very poor conditioning and training staff. Time to go get some help before the season gets away. There are 10! Conditioning injuries as of today. Might as well send Kelly back along with Jenson and Urias.
How do you fix this major screw up, Get a new training staff. Way too many injuries to attribute to randomness. Forget about it’s still a long season. Fire the trainers hand get someone good in a hurry or we’ll still be star struck in July. Continuing Injuries will kill the Dodgers Season. The Rick Monday said he couldnt speculate but I can.
1. We started with an unheard of 5 position players on the IR and cant remember the pitching staff.
2. Seagers injuries are obvious, can’t bend orver to make the normal ground ball play then can’t make the throw. Remember the tommy john surgery. lost his swing
3. Turner’s back is also suspect, why give him so much time off in the Chicago Fiasco? Still hitting thank the great Dodger in the sky.
4, Mookie complaining of tightness in back and has lost his swing
5. Dustin May bad luck or poor conditioning. Its not about being in shape. Its being able to use the body correctly
BELLINGER is about the only non related injury due to conditioning. Comment on D.R. he makes the worst decisions in late innings PUTTING IN KERSHAW TO HIT . Ha ha ha very funny it doesntbwrk. Forget about the ‘Its a long season philosophy ‘ all the stars are tarnished from injuries they can’t or won’t talk about. Our third stringers are not compeating. What’s next AA players.
Forever Blue
Please let me know when amateur nonsense ends, so I can start watching games again!!!
Timmons, you have hit an all time low in your moronic posts. I guess if you throw enough shit on the wall something is bound to stick and you will claim victory. You are a legend in your own mind. What an idiot, when you are in a hole, stop digging. I think you should go back to protesting and boycotting the MLB, your return to constant activity in here coincides with the Dodgers latrine dive, how appropriate.
I will let your childish trolling show everyone what you really are.
Thank you for saving me the time.