If you don’t laugh about it, you would probably cry, so I choose to laugh about the Dodgers woes. Some day, we will look back and say “Remember when we thought they were done?”
During this 4-14 losing streak, the Dodgers have only have three problems:
- They can’t pitch;
- They can’t hit; and
- They can’t field.
Last night, the fielding was OK, so the only problems were that they could not hit or pitch. It’s getting better! Mookie is showing signs of breaking out with two hits, including a home run. I will not call anyone who disagrees with me a moron or an idiot. I would just say they have bad luck when it comes to thinking. When you resort to name-calling, it only solidifies the fact that your argument is so shallow that you feel you have to resort to slander to obfuscate your shortcomings. I wonder…
Julio Urias did not look good last night. He wasn’t nibbling – he was just getting hit, so they brought in Gas Can Kelly who looked like he had never pitched… ever! I am not taking anything away from one game, but this will pass at some point. It is a malaise that seems to envelop every aspect of the team. Maybe they gave them the wrong vaccine. I just wish this hurries up and gets over with. Tonight Clayton gets a chance to redeem himself from his last bad outing.
Minor League Overview
- OKC was beaten like a rented mule, 15-6. Estevez and Raley both hit HR and Peters was 2-5. A bunch of batting practice pitchers were cannon fodder. Move on nothing to see here, folks.
- Tulsa beat the Sod Poodles 12-3. Mike Busch was 2-4 with a BB and 3 runs scored (hitting #2). Devin Mann was 3-4 with 4 RBI, and Jeren Kendall was 2-4 with 4 RBI, including a 3-run HR in the first inning. Varland, Zuniga, Ochsenbein, and Washington pitched 6 scoreless innings, but Rooney gave up 3 Runs and 3 BB in his 3 IP while striking out 5.
- Great Lakes lost to the Dayton Dragons 9-5. Pages was 2-4 with 2 RBI and 2 runs scored. Pages, Outman, Vargas, and Ward all doubled. Clayton Beeter pitched the first inning with 2 K’s, not giving up a run, but Gamboa, Little, Widell, and Mokma gave up 9 runs in the other 8 innings.
- Rancho Cucamonga did not lose and they did not play. The game was postponed due to rain.
Seager should his get head out of his ass and stop worrying about free agency and what the payday will be. Some moron owner will pay him top dollar.If he doesn’t agree to change positions,the Dodgers should not be involved and shouldn’t sign him. The DH will be instituted in 2022 and he can move to 3rd or 1st. Turner can DH.He is killing the team defensively right now.If he is hurt now,and he won’t go on the IL,he is only hurting his stats for free agency and the team. He is not the same player he was in 2020. Something’s up!
BA of SS :
Story – .296
Baez – .255
Correa – .254
Seager – .244
Lindor – .175
Maybe the Dodgers do go after Story – he’s the only one who is hitting right about now. I predict that Corey will hit over .300 before it’s all over.
I think he wont Mark . You are looking at the 2018-2019 Seager ! . .275 ish i predict.
Everybody assumes seager can play third base. That is not a given. What we do know is he is a subpar ss. He is only in the lineup for his bat and he is not hitting. I agree with mark that he will hit but 300 is a long shot.Averages are so deceiving. If u hit 150 for 4 months and 450 for 2 the average might be decent but it depends on what month it is as to what hitter you have. I have felt all along that seager would not be re-signed. Why else would the Dodgers have been rumored after lindor over and over. Perhaps AF does not c seager as a future ss but seager does. I would say the giants will be a player. If we could get in the playoffs and we are in the month he is hitting we might benefit before he leaves. A lot of if’s though.
2b is an option too
It’s less about Seager’s hitting than his defense. He’s gone from average to mediocre to weak.
And getting picked off… ugh.
Not sure what the solution is….though Lux and Taylor are inside the clubhouse already.
A while back, I was telling a friend the Dodgers should trade for Andrelton Simmons (this was before free agency) and move Seager to either 3B or 1B. Conventional wisdom has long envisioned Seager moving on from SS–so why not replace him with a gold glover who might bat 8th.
My friend argued that Simmons can’t hit (not really true), but if you like advanced stats, Simmons has more than190 “defensive runs saved,” placing him third behind only Ozzie Smith and Mark Belanger. And he’s adding to that number.
Oh well.
First it was May going down… That really hurt…
I’ve played enough games to understand that crapola like this will happen.. Like I’ve said a couple times before, head out and find a batting cage… Dial it up to 80 and start ripping… And that machine doesn’t have movement… Baseball remains the toughest game to play/succeed..
I’d never thought I’d say this, but here goes… If Seager is talking with his agent or the Blue about $$$ – Let the Trade talks begin…
This game is all about the Benjamins…
Theralten – great words on the Seager conversion to 3B.. Anybody remember Garvey at 3B???
Kike’ Hernandez is on th IL and Joc isn’t hitting. Guess they still consider themselves Dodgers.
I’ve got to wonder if AF signs Seager. Lux has already played one game at SS. If he continues to hit he replaces Seager with Busch taking over at second.
I think Taylor is a must re-sign.
Taylor is under contract through next season.
Ken Rosenthal – “The Athletic – 5/5/21 “For all the talk of rules changes in the sport — the need for more action, more offense, a faster pace of play — Major League Baseball’s biggest problem may be keeping players healthy. A new collective-bargaining agreement presumably will address some of the sport’s aesthetic and competitive issues. But no one in the sport has figured out how to reduce injuries, and the return to 162 games in 2021 from 60 in ’20 represents a particular challenge.”
It’s not just the Dodgers. Loss of playing time, league-wide, is staggering. And fans aren’t interested in watching understudies play.
I’ve talked a lot lately about pitch counts and arm health, in general, being an inexact science. Lots of new technology and theory but no solid medical studies and conclusions.
I think player physical health in general is an area which needs serious study and revision. I’m going to speculate with no credentials to do so. Just what I see.
I have no personal knowledge of what the players do with their trainers in season or off. (not in about 50 years anyway) They can look fit as hell coming into spring training. I hear they lift in season to keep strong. What else do they do? I don’t know.
I have watched spring training workouts when they let us in and pre-game warm ups and conditioning in season.
So, here I go – compared to other sports, baseball players don’t work very hard physically and never practice at full
speed. Ever watch PFP’s and drills in SP? Everybody goes 1/4 speed. Fear of injuries keep players from practicing at game speed.
I don’t know what happens in the morning prior to spring training games on the back fields? I only see BP. But have you watched pre-game stuff in the outfield throughout the season? There’s stretching, sometimes with bands and stuff, for a brief period and then running. Running consists of imitating a steal off the foul line and a jump and semi sprint for maybe 10 yards, max, before pulling up and jogging a few more yards. A few of those with lots of bullshitting in between, and that’s the running. When players have to go game speed, you can hear the hamstrings going off like guitar strings. Compare this running with what rrack athletes go through in a running work out. (I know, JT isn’t a sprinter, but………)
Fungos are hit during BP with players going 1/2 to 3/4 speed for the most part. I never see outfielders throwing to bases. No such thing anymore and “infield / outfield”. Players are busy in the clubhouse.
So, during a long season that’s hard on a body anyway, do players do too much or too little? I don’t know. But somebody needs to. What’s being done isn’t working. And I think this problem needs way more research and a rethink.
Pretty hard to compare baseball training routines with other sports. How often do track teams meet to compete? NBA and NHL play on average 3 times a week. NFL and MLS play weekly. They all have days to do nothing but train. Baseball players play every day. Where’s the time to stretch, build and heal?
I’m not going to pretend I have a solution for this. After all, I have a desk job that keeps in a chair behind a computer for 9 hours a day. Teams are trying new things all the time to increase performance. Maybe it’s reached a tipping scale and we are seeing the law of diminishing returns.
Absolutely true B&P. The grind of playing everyday certainly separates baseball from the sports. That’s why research and change is so challenging. So there is a need to rethink the training or discover that due to the nature of the game, it’s too much for a human body to tolerate for a full season for all but the luckiest. That might be true.
There’s no way to build a team to endure this much injury, period. Mookie is horrible right now, I know he had a hit and a knock, but the knock came after the game was already over. Seager is also horrible. Rios went down recently with injury that he had been playing through. Perhaps that’s what’s going on with Mookie and Seager and maybe others. Now Pollock’s down with a hammy. It makes you wonder if their plan to bring guys along slowly in Spring is backfiring.
I’m thinking that probably all other teams will have to endure similar problems this year. Maybe all these injuries are bad luck. Maybe it’s bad training. Maybe guys took a little more time off in the offseason. We can only speculate, but at some point you have to be judged by results, and the results are really bad right now.
But, to think the talent on this defending World Championship team is so horrible that you have to blow it up or make major changes is mind numbing. Who the F cares if Corey needs a position change? It ain’t gonna happen this year with Muncy and JT entrenched at the corners. No one complained about his defense last year. Not until after the season and people saw some BullCrap DRS numbers. His defense will get better when the entire team stops playing so tight.
Is see a new person every night that people are complaining about. Basically the whole team is playing like crap. There’s one solution and we all know what that it. Oh, he runs a good clubhouse, he’s great with the players, but everyone has always questioned his many mistakes. He sucks, plain and simple. Other managers play chess while Doc is stacking checkers on top of eachother like they’re legos and using the board as a placemat for his lunch.
And lastly, you can have a difference of opinion with the writers on this blog, but present some facts to back up your argument. Present some reason. They may still choose to ignore it like they did with me when I presented the case that the Dodgers will blow past the salary cap any time they want. But, don’t be a name calling A-hole.
Truth Hurts, you come off as being mean spirited, full of opinion and seldom present facts and stats to backup your claims. Do better or go away.
Mark, I like your style, but if you wants others on this site to not call each other names, you have to lead by example. I’ve been guilty of this myself, but I’m trying.
That’s where I’m at. If you present bullshit takes, don’t act surprised when others post theirs.
I am proud of you!
You usually come with facts to back up your opinions. That is the difference.
We all have opinions, but facts support them.
I am probably going to post my companies “Core Values” here.
#10 is “We do not tolerate assholes (snarky, divisive people).”
Corey Seager – Fans impression each offseason:
2015 – The next A-Rod! Can’t wait for him to win Rookie of the Year next season.
2016 – ROY! He’s the best shortstop in baseball.
2017 – Another great season and a Silver Slugger to boot
2018 – Those injuries are bad, hope he can make a comeback. C-Ya Manny, you suck!
2019 – Good but not his former self, will he ever be the same? We need to trade him and Lux for Lindor.
2020 – World Series MVP! He’s back, we better lock him up long term. Thank God we didn’t trade him for Lindor.
2021 – 33 games into the season – He sucks, can’t play short. Screw him, let’s get Story.
Why are we talking next year? 33 games played, 129 games remain.
Exactly!
I’m using some of your material tomorrow.
Tonights Lineup:
1. Betts RF
2. Seager SS
3. Turner 3B
4. Muncy 1B
5. Smith DH
6. Taylor CF
7. Beaty LF
8. Lux 2B
9. Barnes C
DODGERS RECALL OUTFIELDER DJ PETERS
RHP EDWIN UCETA OPTIONED
LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Dodgers recalled outfielder DJ Peters and optioned right-handed pitcher Edwin Uceta.
Peters, 25, will be recalled for his second stint with the club after going 0-for-5 in three games for the Dodgers his first time around. In four minor league seasons, he has hit .269 (461-for-1714) with 92 homers and 271 RBI. In 2019, he split the season between Double-A Tulsa and Triple-A Oklahoma City, clubbing a combined 23 homers and driving in 81 runs in 125 games. He has been with the organization since being drafted in the fourth round of the 2016 First Year Player Draft out of Western Nevada College.
Uceta, 23, tossed 2.1 innings of scoreless baseball last night, striking out one and walking one. In two games for the Dodgers, he is 0-1 with a 4.15 ERA (2 ER/4.1 IP) and three strikeouts. The Dominican Republic native has been with the Dodgers organization since signing as international free agent on July 2, 2016. In parts of four minor league seasons, he has posted a 20-12 record with a 3.73 ERA (137 ER/331.0 IP) and 362 strikeouts.
Okay, Corey Seager is interesting. I like Seager, maybe he plays short or third or first. His bat is really the key. His defense is okay. When he’s hot, he carries the team. I expect him to finish well. Not sure where all this ends up. Maybe some team steps up and unloads big bucks. Always some GM and owner ready to take the plunge. Most of these big deals don’t end well.
But Seager’s current play leaves room for doubt. The early success, the injuries, the big MVP effort, now the slump. Notice he’s swinging and missing a lot on the breaking stuff down and in, just like a couple of years ago. If it continues the contract numbers fall. He’s still young, good seasons likely ahead.
Trevor Story will cost less, probably play better defense, fits better at short over the long term. Will the Dodgers move in a different direction? They tried to sign him early, according to reports, but that was rejected. So, who knows?
For all those who wanted Lindor, how do you like him now? Pressure of a big contract and New York City?
When it comes to injuries, Bellinger’s is the freak variety, nothing you can do about that. Strains and hamstrings are probably a different story. They need to figure it out. Probably has something to do with weights. Players are bigger and stronger than ever, more injury prone than years ago. As for the pitchers, all the pitch counts, less innings and bring them along slowly approach simply hasn’t worked.
Maybe bigger, stronger and well muscled athletes are not the answer over a long season. Look impressive in the batter’s box, not so impressive on the injury list.
It is very simple, all this discussion about statistics, hypotheses and projections, will end when the team wins again. that simple.
By the way . Why not is Ruiz in line up?
Giants beat Padres 7-1.
There’s the offense that I’m high on.
Maybe this will be the catharsis that the Dodgers need to get back on track?
Great win Dodgers!! A little quick but bedtime. Anytime u can beat the Angels it has to be fun. I’m showing a lot of confidence in our bullpen. They may make it close but I am confident they will hold a 13 run lead.
maybe not
So how long do they plan to give the Angels BP ?
Or is it pitching practice
Pretty bush league
Bullpen.
Honestly, Roberts couldn’t let Kershaw go 6 or 7 innings to preserve this crappy bullpen when they have a day game tomorrow?
I would be pretty surprized if
Angels don’t win this one.
Can only imagine how Kersh is feeling.
Tonights bullpen sent up laissez-faire
throwers. Pitiful.
I guess all our “depth” of talent isn’t as deep as we thought!
There is no depth in the bullpen. And never has been.
What a bullpen AF has assembled. Utter and complete hit pile of crap.
This is almost embarrassing. 13-0 lead and now 14-11.
“Honestly, Roberts couldn’t let Kershaw go 6 or 7 innings preserve this crappy bullpen when they have a day game tomorrow?
The above is an example of second guessing. BOTH managers removed key players from this game. Removing Kershaw made perfect sense. Why wouldn’t Roberts take advantage of a situation that gave him an opportunity to limit Kershaw’s workload?
If Roberts didn’t remove Kershaw and he ended up getting hurt, some people would have criticized Roberts for not making a change. He’s damned if he does, and damned if he doesn’t.
I agree – but why did he leave Santana and White in long enough to give up 11 runs!?
Exactly!!
We will agree to disagree. This bullpen is garbage. Due to injuries half of the pen has zero business in the big leagues. I’m not suggesting Kershaw go the distance especially with the long innings but considering they have a day game tomorrow and the way this pen has been beaten around CK could have eaten an inning or two more. Not second guessing at all. I said it here to my wife when Kershaw was arguing with Roberts.
Robert’s needs let starters go longer.
Kershaw 5 innings 71 pitches. When will he learn, he’s has no BP
As long as He’s the Mgr. You will never see a complete game. This guy drives me crasy.
They were up 13 runs at the time. Didn’t seem like a bad decision. Aside from 2020 hindsight.
We need to get rid of Gonzalez. He’s just not a good fit for this bullpen. If it wasn’t for him we might have witnessed the greatest comeback in the history of baseball!
How can the ump call strikes on the outside corner when he positions himself on the inside corner? In the old days they had the chest protector ( American league) and positioned themselves directly behind the catcher. The way they do it now they can’t accurately see pitches on the outside corner. That is one reason for all the horrendous calls missing the outside corner. I’ve complained for years but lately it’s worse than ever.
The Dodgers had a 13-0 lead when Kershaw was removed, and when also key players were removed from the game by BOTH managers. Honestly, an A-ball bullpen should have been sufficient.
My God this redhead on MLBN right now is killing me.
Don’t have mlbn. She hot?
Okay, I can see the logic of pulling Kershaw. They wanted to get guys some work with another off day on Monday. Didn’t want that pen to get rusty I guess. Kershaw’s schedule is very uneven with the short start followed by short rest. I bet he’s pissed because he wants to keep building his pitch count.
White’s 6 unearned runs and Santana is starting to look like he wants to go back to the minors. It’s sucks that his stuff is so dirty, but he command is horrible. Too many fat strikes. I really didn’t watch White pitch since I lost interest after we were up by a dozen.
Gonzalez and Treinen are going to have to carry a heavy load.
Tonight was extra sweet. I watched the game at my neighbor’s house who was hosting my son’s and bride to be’s couple’s wedding shower. It was mostly Angeles fans but split pretty close. Not a lot of trash talking, more like a contest on who’s team is playing crappier.
It was funny starting bottom of the sixth, you could see Orel was starting to worry they would blow it. He could see what was coming.
BTW the Rancho game wasn’t rained out. It’s Southern CA, we don’t have those here. A player on the 66ers tested positive. Game was called about 20 minutes before first pitch. I know; because we were there lol.
They put the Dodger Angel game on the big screen. We stayed for a bit since we were already there. So obviously the night just got worse.
Just left tonight’s Dodger Angel game. The bats woke up. DJ Peters finally got his first hit out of the way (it was a line drive in the box score). Proud of the kid. We were glad we got to see that. But had the Dodgers blown a 13 run lead, I’m not sure exactly what I would have done.
Taken up lacrosse as a fan or something.
Comical is the word all right.
Even with a 13-0 lead, the Dodgers almost found a way to lose.
The game summed up the season: Dodgers blast off to a big lead… and then nearly lose all of it.
And the Rojas tag added injury to the insult.
We could feel Mookie’s pain.
Dodgers have one move and an open spot they can make on the 40 man roster when they put Dustin May on the 60 Day IL after TJ surgery on May 11. Wonder if they sign Greene the reliever or bring up a starting pitcher or position player from the minor league teams? They badly need bullpen help and a right handed bat if Pollock is going to be out for a significant amount of time with the hamstring injury. I’m hoping that Peters can be that guy. We’ll see.
Well I told u the bullpen would make it close. Santana, white, clevinger shouldn’t be in the majors at least all 3 at the same time.
However, I pin most of this on doc. He is so arrogant, no urgency, and dumbass decisions again. 1. Kershaw should have gone at least 6. Knowing he has a terrible bullpen kersh on a low pitch count just don’t assume anything. 2. You cannot leave guys out there to turn a 13 run lead into a save situation. I knew he would. He turns what should have been a happy clubhouse win into an embarrassing save situation. 3. This is the mlb doc don’t try a guy at first base in the middle of the season like he did Joc. Don’t give guys a month off in September and almost blow the division. U could go on and on with his arrogant attitude.
I know some of you say kershaw could have gotten hurt. True anybody can but after going one inning he was well rested and one more inning could be huge. The fact that as usual doc has no urgency to win today. I can hear him now” we competed hard I tip my hat to the guys over there they never quit”
The fact the Angels took players out has no bearing on what we do. U have to know your team and our bullpen is horrible. I will say AF has to take some blame. Put mlb players in the bullpen whether doc knows how to use them or not. Where is floro when u need him?