I returned to Colorado from California on Friday. It has been a busy week so far showing my brother Steve some of our local color. But at night we have been watching the Dodgers. I believed I was a jinx for returning to Colorado and having the Gnats win 3 in a row. But the problem was not me. One thing more than any other I have learned this season is that these are not the 2020 Dodgers. This team has holes and injuries. Lots of them. This is not even the same batch they left spring training with. And the problems are obvious to everyone.
Starting pitching has been a strength but took a hit with May’s injury and Gonsolin not being ready to immediately step into the role. Someone who could have, Price, had not been stretched out enough. But with the off days, they have been forced to have BP games only 4 times. But they lost 3 of those, including Tuesday’s gut-wrenching 3-2 decision. Now we can all sit back and pontificate on what can or cannot be done to right the ship. But those decisions rest with AF.
Bellinger got his first hit since being activated last night and it came in the 9th. But he had an at-bat earlier where he struck out on a pitch he could never have hit. He has not looked ready at all. They miss Seager. That much is obvious. Although Lux has performed well, Seager’s bat is much more dangerous. The lineup is deeper with him in it. Decry his defense all you will, but his bat often makes up for whatever gaff he makes in the field.
Matt Beaty more than made up for his error last night with that game-tying homer. One good thing from the last couple of games is it looks like Mookie might be breaking out of his season-long malaise. He has hit the ball harder than he has in a couple of weeks. And if that fly ball he hit in the 9th had been hit in July, it would have gone out. It was pretty cold at Dodger Stadium last night. The temperature was in the ’60s, so the ball is not going to fly very well.
The 2020 version had the DH. This one does not. So the pitchers have to hit, which has caused some rallies to fizzle. Dodger pitchers are not tearing the cover off of the ball. The bullpen has had some success and some meltdowns. For some reason, Bauer is giving up a ton of HR’s, yet still manages to keep the team in the game. All the while giving the fan base ulcers. Pujols has provided some nice moments, and his walk Tuesday night was crucial since it preceded Beaty’s homer. But one has to wonder how long they will carry an obvious liability on the basepaths and with the glove.
Pollock homered Tuesday night and will be activated for the Braves series. So, who goes down? My guess, Uceta. They are carrying 14 pitchers right now. Some guys in the minors are mashing. Ravelo for instance, but not being on the 40 man pretty much eliminates him from being added to the roster unless someone suffers a really debilitating injury that causes a lot of time on the IL. They will be getting Nelson back soon which will help the pen immensely. Kershaw has had a couple of hiccups, but he is still one of the best in the league.
I believe Urias will keep up his outstanding work and take lessons from his pounding by the Giants. Buehler to me is an enigma. He has some of the best stuff in the league, yet he has only 4 decisions. But I expect that to change. All in all, the team has underperformed according to the fans. I think with all the changes in the roster, the lack of the DH, injuries to very key players, and the underperformance of their catalyst, Mookie, the team has performed about as one would expect missing so many key pieces. One thing we have learned in the AF era is that his teams are always, even last season, a work in progress. You won’t know what the team will look like until it is close to playoff time. 2 games back, 50 plus games in. This team has plenty of time to make a huge run. And will do so in my estimation. If I am wrong, well, I am wrong!
MT’s Dodger Minor League Report
- OKC DODGERS BOXSCORE – Did not play. The Catman goes tonight. I think of Tony can go at least 4 innings, he will get the call to LA on Tuesday.
- TULSA DRILLERS BOXSCORE – Tulsa drilled the Naturals 9-1 and Kody Hoese is starting to finally get untracked. He was 2-5 with 4 RBI, including a 3-run HR. Donovan Casey was 3-5 and is still hitting over .300. Gerardo Carillo went 5.1 innings, allowing 3 hits and 1 Run, while striking out 5 (ERA 2.82). Byran Warzek (2.30), Nate Robertson (2.13), and Mark Washington (O.79) pitched the final 3.2 shutout innings. Justin Yurchak was 2-3 with 2 RBI.
- GL LOONS BOXSCORE – The Loons beat the Whitecaps 5-4, as Miguel Vargas (.321) went 2-4 with a double and HR. Clayton Beeter went 1 inning allowing 3 hits and 2 Runs. Jesus Saved Beeter (see what I did there?) by going 5.2 Innings, allowing 3 Hits and 1 Run. Jacob Cantleberry gave up 2 Hits and 1 Run in his 1,1 IP, and 6′ 8″ Cameron Gibbons (from down-under) went the final inning to get the Save. He has 28 K’s in 13.2 IP. He has only allowed 8 Hits, 5 Walks and 1 R in his 9 Appearances.
- RC QUAKES BOXSCORE – RC lost to the 66’ers by a 6-4 score. Deluca and Leonard homered and Deluca and De Jesus were 2-4. Nothing else to say about this one.
Well, it would have been a sweep if not for a great game saving catch off Mookie’s bat in game 2. It seems that I wrote just about the same thing not long ago.
Bellinger hit 4 balls in a row with 100+ MPH exit velocity. His homer was hit straight up, caught the jet stream and glided to the top of the wall just missing the glove for a grand slam. It seems to have travelled higher than it did farther.
The bullpen wrapped up the game with 3 scoreless. Not bad for AAA players that shouldn’t be on the roster. Somehow Vesia found the plate, 14 pitches and 11 strikes and 3 Ks. He’s gonna be good. Have some patience. Uceta also showed some promise pitching 2 innings and would have faced the minimum if it weren’t for a throwing error by Will Smith playing 3rd base. MT got his wish, but it didn’t turn out the way he was hoping.
The team looks like it’s starting to come together even though two professional hitters and several bullpen arms are still on the IL. Watch out if we ever get near full strength.
Doc says Seager will spend a minimum of 4 weeks on the IL. He was seen running bases and taking ground balls without throws before the game. I think 4 weeks is wishful thinking for a broken bone on a hitters bottom hand.
Doc said that Gonsolin was scheduled to pitch yesterday. With an off day scheduled for OKC, I’m not surprised that Doc got it wrong as he often does. Like McKinstry being about a week ahead of Belli.
With an 11 run lead in the 6th inning I thought the game would be rather routine management wise. No unnecessary double switches, no mid inning pitching changes. However Doc pulls off another head scratching Doc moment as, Bueller picks up a bat with 2 outs in the bottom of the inning just to be replaced in the top of the 7th. Why have your pitcher hit if you’re going to replace him anyways?
Going to Atlanta next to begin a string of 15 straight against sub-500 team. Time to get well before we play the Padres and Giants at the end of the month.
Ill be in Atlanta for all 3. Urias, Kershaw, Bauer….got to take this series if we swing the bats at all!!
Oh, nice. That’s great, except you have deal with that lame tomahawk chop. Unless, it’s been cancelled?
Sloppy game on both sides. It was fun to watch the 1st inning, after that, Orel’s constant inane drone started to irritate the hell out of me. I turned the sound down it was so annoying. Muncy and Barnes only starters without a hit. Doc let Buehler hit simply because he did not want to use Pujols. Pujols was the only position player who did not see action. They will send a pitcher down when Pollock comes off of the IL. Most likely Uceta or Vesia. More decisions loom when Cat Man comes back next week in Pittsburgh. Time to do some business. Off day for travel to Atlanta today. Lakers are toast without Davis. Clippers stayed alive. Did not know the NHL is expanding again. The Seattle Kraken???? Wow.
Presently Gonsolin is on the 60 day IL, so a player presently on the 10 Day IL will have go to the 60 Day IL ,OR a player on the 40 man roster will have to be DFA to free a spot on the 40 man roster. Who will it be Raley,Reks ,Yoshi or someone else? Is a trade possible and in the works? Only AF knows for sure.We’ll all know soon enough.
Orel can drone on a bit sometimes. But he also has A LOT of bball knowledge & I do think he is “very adequate”. I do prefer the off series/games with Nomar more though. But, DUDE you live in CO same as me, and so you must listen to the Rockies team a dozen+ times a year.
They are HORRIBLE, literally. And pretty much all broadcast team ratings I can find year after year bear that out. Dodgers team is always in the top 10, the Fangraphs one I found for this year has them 3rd. I have seen them as high as 2nd and as low as 6th. The Rockies team has been rated from as HIGH as 6th from the bottom, and as low as 2nd from last which is this years Fangraphs. Be grateful for what we have, we will NEVER have another Vin.
Cheers
Rank Team Analysis Charisma Coherence Overall
30 Detroit Tigers 4.3 3.2 4.0 3.5
29 Colorado Rockies 4.5 4.5 5.0 4.5
28 Texas Rangers 4.9 4.3 5.4 4.5
27 Atlanta Braves 4.7 5.2 5.2 4.9
26 Washington Nationals 4.9 5.2 5.4 5.2
25 Pittsburgh Pirates 5.3 5.2 5.5 5.2
24 Philadelphia Phillies 5.0 5.8 4.9 5.5
23 Arizona Diamondbacks 5.5 5.9 5.7 5.7
22 Cincinnati Reds 6.1 5.5 6.3 5.8
21 St. Louis Cardinals 5.7 5.8 5.9 5.8
20 Kansas City Royals 5.9 6.1 5.7 5.9
19 Cleveland Baseball Team 5.5 6.1 6.3 6.0
18 New York Yankees 6.2 5.9 6.0 6.0
17 Miami Marlins 6.3 6.4 6.4 6.3
16 Boston Red Sox 6.2 7.0 6.5 6.5
15 Baltimore Orioles 6.5 6.7 6.8 6.6
14 Los Angeles Angels 7.1 7.0 7.2 7.1
13 Houston Astros 6.8 7.1 7.1 7.1
12 Minnesota Twins 7.1 6.6 7.7 7.3
11 Seattle Mariners 7.1 6.9 7.3 7.3
10 Oakland Athletics 7.2 7.3 7.6 7.5
9 Toronto Blue Jays 7.1 8.0 7.7 7.7
8 Tampa Bay Rays 7.8 7.3 7.7 7.7
7 San Francisco Giants 7.8 8.4 8.2 8.2
6 San Diego Padres 7.5 8.7 8.1 8.3
5 Milwaukee Brewers 7.7 8.4 8.3 8.4
4 Chicago Cubs 8.3 8.2 8.3 8.4
3 Los Angeles Dodgers 8.3 8.3 8.5 8.5
2 Chicago White Sox 8.8 8.4 8.6 8.5
1 New York Mets 9.0 9.5 9.3 9.4
I’m not a fan of Joe Davis – he is as generic as it’s possible for a play-by-play guy to be. Not a fan of the Rick Monday/Charley Steiner pairing either.
I hate the Giants but love listening to Duane Kuiper and Mike Krukow – they are insightful, funny and a kick to listen to – not a Jon Miller fan though – he thinks far too highly of himself.
You’re in the minority on Joe Davis and that’s fine.
I think Joe is great, he will be here as long as he wants.
Agree 100% on Joe. I think he is awesome, I really love all the trivia he gives out when things are dragging & heck, he is good enough that Fox uses him for natl broadcasts. When doing Dodger games on Natl TV, he manages to be pretty neutral, while still being excited when big blue comes through.
Cheers
I feel the same. I like Joe and he’s young and will get better.
Listen to the last call (10:44 spot) and tell me he’s generic. I like him almost as much as Vin.
Joe and Orel are fine. Orel talks and overanalyzes too much but it’s hard talking to the same audience every night. Last night was tough with all that time to fill. Joe lost me with his video game analysis, but I’m old and he plays off the generation gap with Orel. I think basically they are 2 dweebs in the booth separated by a generation.
Kruk and Kuiper are my favorites. Kruk has great pitching insight without the over analysis to convince you he’s really smart.
I think Jason Benetti and Steve Stone are great on the White Sox games. Insightful and very funny.
And I like Dennis Ekersley’s baseball lingo on the Red Sox games but probably every night.
I feel the same way about Orel. He has some good insight at times and I love him as one of my favorite players ever. He also has a funny personality. I always thought he was kinda a choir boy type, but he’s got stories that say otherwise. The downside is overanalyzing at times.
Listen to the Angels and then tell me we aren’t lucky to have who we got.
I think Nomar does a great job filling in for Orel. They should have those two job share. Let Orel be the pre-game sometimes and let Nomar chill with Joe sometimes.
DODGERS ACTIVATE AJ POLLOCK AND JIMMY NELSON
ALEX VESIA, EDWIN UCETA OPTIONED
LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Dodgers activated outfielder AJ Pollock and right-handed pitcher Jimmy Nelson from the injured list and optioned pitchers Alex Vesia and Edwin Uceta to Triple-A Oklahoma City.
Pollock, 33, returns to the injured list after missing 17 games with a left hamstring strain. He played in four rehab games at Rancho Cucamonga, going 2-for-9 with a homer and one RBI. Prior to the injury, he appeared in 32 games for the Dodgers, batting .277 (26-for-94) with five doubles, four homers and 16 RBI. Last season, he finished tied for the team lead with 16 homers and batted .276 with 25 extra-base hits and 34 RBI in 55 games. He is in 10th Major League season and is a career .279 (802-for-2875) hitter with 109 homers and 361 RBI.
Nelson, 31, appeared in 16 games for the Dodgers prior to injury. He posted a 1-1 record with a 2.41 ERA (5 ER/18.2 IP) and 30 strikeouts. He made his lone start of the season for the Dodgers on May 16, going 1.2 innings of scoreless baseball against the Marlins and has not allowed a run in his last seven appearances (9.1 IP). He is in his seventh Major League season and is a combined 34-47 with a 4.17 ERA (302 ER/652.0 IP) in 135 games (108 starts).
Vesia, 25, appeared in 10 games for the Dodgers, going 0-1 with a 5.91 ERA (7 ER/10.2 IP) and 16 strikeouts against 11 walks. The Northern California native was acquired from the Marlins along with minor leaguer Kyle Hurt in exchange for Dylan Floro. In 52 career minor league games, he has posted a 1.62 ERA (18 ER/100.0IP) and 138 strikeouts.
Uceta, 23, pitched in seven games for the Dodgers, allowing five earned runs over 12.2 innings with 13 strikeouts. The Dominican Republic native has been with the Dodgers organization since signing as international free agent on July 2, 2016. In parts of five minor league seasons, he has posted a 20-12 record with a 3.73 ERA (139 ER/335.0 IP) and 368 strikeouts.
Vesia and Uceta both pitched well last night, so here’s the boot! 😉
Yep, I thought they were pitching to keep their jobs last night. 😉
Time to take all they learned and improve on it. Vesia needs to throw more strikes and Ucenta needs to throw more balls.
Nice to have you back Bear. The Colorado trees have to make it refreshing to be home. I hope you had a great trip. Did you travel the Columbia River Gorge?
Some first inning last night. An 11 spot makes life pretty easy. Nice to see Belli barrel up some pitches and Mookie running like he’s healthy. Uceta and Vesia did a nice job before being sent down. The life of a young pro……..
I have some random observations to post as the Dodgers have a day off
* The next 15 games are a time for us to make a move on the field. We’re getting players back and have a schedule that should be favorable. We’re a 1/3 of the way now so it isn’t early anymore. Atlanta is always a tough opponent at their place but they currently have a losing record. The Pirates are in last place. The Rangers are in last place, Than the Phillies and D-Bags who are in last place also. It’s obvious that we need be beat the teams we should beat. It’s no time to piss away any games and to get some swag back before we see the Padres again.
* I was thinking the other day about how you don’t see any great, old fashion, temper tantrums anymore. I think the whole replay system has corrected mistakes and mellowed the players. The only bitching now revolves around balls and strikes. No classic Lou Pinella bags tosses or Bobby Cox nightly ejections. Back in the day some guys had no stop mechanism after a bad call and terrorized the dugout. Nothing was off limits from throwing and breaking shit from helmets to bats to the water coolers. Anything in the tunnel was fair game. Sounds would emanate from the tunnel that sounded like they were filming the Exorcist. If they would have had the TVs, they would have been smashed and iPads would have been frisbees. Nothing was spared. It seems like devices now, thankfully, get a pass from even the toned down tantrums.
* Opinions certainly vary on the use of foreign substances. Some favor the increased grip and control while others think it gives the pitchers a huge advantage. I’m enjoying watching where pitchers are loading up the fingers with whatever their foreign substance of choice. Lots of places, whether in the glove, on their bilI, which seems to be the area of choice, on their arms or from another player. I saw a pitcher recently who had a red glove with a nice patch of black stuff by the web. He fidgeted around and found ways to touch that area with his pitching fingers, repeatedly. You don’t need to be Sherlock Holmes (or Joe West) to see what’s happening.
Of course MLB is “investigating”.
It’s an interesting dilemma and teams don’t want to open that Can for obvious reasons. My guess (and hope) is that the season plays out as it is and MLB can rule for the 2022 season. Maybe a more tacified baseball? I fear Manfred will pull a rabbit out of his hat a a perfectly wrong time for this enforcement which could lead to ejections and suspensions. He can bask in the attention of his strong leadership to improve the game.
* Muncy has become quietly, a very good player. I didn’t know he had that backhand pick and throw in his bag that he displayed 2 nights ago. He’s become a good second baseman and very reliable at first. His defense seems to be a product of lots of hard work to improve. Its nice to see him succeed.
.
Great to have you back Michael and a very fair synopsis to start things off.
Goid insights as always Phil. I was thinking earlier that if this was last season we would be coming to an end now!
I can’t remember who it was, but someone recently mentioned that the Padres would be hitting a sticky patch soon.
Be good to hear from Badger, Bums and. Co
Watford, MLB’s new spin on enforcement can be a sticky wicket with 10 game suspensions. I thought they might add being “tarred and rosined” instead of suspension.
News from Internet:
Keep an eye on Carlos Duran
The nineteen-year-old Duran, is the youngest pitcher on Rancho Cucamonga’s roster, has sixteen strikeouts over his last seven innings spanning two starts for the Quakes. Last night’s line:
4.0 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 8 (!!) SO
Over the still young season, Duran gave up 4R in his first start while only recording a single out. HOWEVER, since then:
4 G, 13.2 IP, 3 ER, 6 BB, 26 K
Jake Mailhot takes a look at Chris Taylor’s 14 pitch at bat in the context of his career path:
https://blogs.fangraphs.com/how-a-14-pitch-at-bat-exemplifies-chris-taylors-second-breakout/
It’s Mock Draft season!
Here’s one from MLB Pipeline: https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-mock-draft-june-2?t=mlb-draft-coverage
Of note for the Dodgers is prep IF Peyton Stovall
“an association we’ve heard for quite some time this spring”
From Jay Jaffe’s Chat
Q: Just how long do you think Pujols will be on the Dodgers roster this season. Does he leave before the season ends? And if so, which player returning is the one that leads to Pujols getting released?
Jay Jaffe: I think the returns of Bellinger and Seager will eventually shake him off the roster unless the quality of his current play offers a convincing case for him to stay
Welcome back to Gerardo Carrillo.
In his last start Carrillo recorded 5 Ks from 5.1 innings of 1 run ball, ( a breakdown, 3 of those K were swinging). This came with zero walks. When we last saw Carrillo it was at A+ Rancho in 2019, and his K-BB% was 8.6%. This year with AA Tulsa, it’s at 22%.
I have no clue what happened to Carrillo, I presume injury. He’s on the 40. WTF.
Baseball America’s 20 hottest Prospects:
11. Diego Cartaya, C, Dodgers
16. Leonel Valera, SS, Dodgers
A great look at the managerial decision to walk the bases loaded:
https://blogs.fangraphs.com/intentionally-walking-the-bases-loaded-a-primer/
Return of the Natives.
It seems like Friday for Pollock and Nelson to be activated. Word is two Pitchers will be optioned, leaving the team a full bench at last.
Old Friend alert:
Rich Hill (a personal fave) is AL Pitcher of the Month.
Under Development:
Here is video of Ryan Pepiot, zeroing in on his sliders from a recent outing. Some were better than others, that’s how it goes! I expect to see more and more of it?
https://video.twimg.com/ext_tw_video/1399898681332015107/pu/vid/1280×720/ZnI33z4brxvSpuqf.mp4?tag=12
From Dan Szymborski chat:
CeddyBReady: When topping my traditional tri-tip chili, I use scallions because I hate the taste of red and white raw onions. Is this acceptable chili behavior. Crema and scallions? Thanks, Chili Dan!
Dan Szymborski: NO ONIONS Beef. Chili peppers. Seasoning. Spoon of masa harina. That’s it. Oh, and a little bit of water.
Another old friend alert:
Did we see that Luke Raley played 1B and hit 3 HRs at Oklahoma City?
AAAA OF Steven Souza did as well.
Bellinger’s hit in the ninth inning against Reyes was very hopeful, the fastball was very hard in a zone that Belli has had problems to be on time with the ball, he is generally overcome, but in that ninth he took his hands very fast and also he took a shorter step and connected a good line, if he is able to maintain that adjustment Belli will have 4 monstrous months. Yesterday Belli continued to show progress as we could see, I think he will be very, very well, I liked those details, from Belli, that I saw in Tuesday’s game and last night.
For those who subscribe to The Athletic, there is a great article by Peter Gammons about Chase Utley’s influence on Kike, something that Kike still talks about and the two families have become very close. Apparently Utley still spends a fair amount of time in the clubhouse so the younger guys are now getting the benefit of rubbing shoulders with both Utley and Pujols.
I’d love for Chase to get bored at home and be ready to come back full time next year, maybe as bench coach or first base coach (or any other position that AF feels would work well). I’m just imagining how great it would be for guys like Lux and ZMac to have Utley around every day.
Utley, along with Greinke and Bauer look at the game in a much deeper way than most other players and, for me, that makes them the most interesting guys to watch.
In other news, MLB announced that there would be a 10 game suspension for any pitcher caught using a foreign substance. Today was Gerrit Cole’s first start since the announcement. He gave up 5 earned runs in 5 innings when he hadn’t given up more than 2 in any start before today. His spin rates were down quite a bit.
It will be fascinating to watch Bauer’s next start, which I believe comes up this Sunday against the Braves. If MLB comes up with strong evidence against him I could certainly believe it, but I could also believe that he has actually found a way to increase his rates without the use of anything illegal. Stay tuned.
What a beauty of play of the SD players, It was beautiful to see how the two stupid collided, the luck for them is that they can no longer be more assholes than they were before, and please do not start telling me that I should not wish them nothing bad to anyone, I do not wish them death, I just loved seeing how they fell!
I guess anyone who tells you that needs to tell my wife and go through me to do it.
When they showed that reply during our game last night she was laughing and clapping.
I got her into this, never knew she was so BRUTAL! 30yrs and never saw anything like that until I got her into bball. 🙂
Cheers
I always get a kick when I see you talk crap on the Padres. I admire your disdain for them. I feel that way about the Giants and the City of San Francisco and pretty much everyone that lives there.
There’s been a lot of talk about the Dodgers bullpen this year. Well, it’s just starting to look a little more like it’s supposed to look even though Alexander, Cleavinger, Graterol and Knebel are still on the IL.
Tomorrow’s bullpen will look like this (ERA and Ave Against next to names)…
Bickford 0.00 / .167
Gonzalez 2.41 / .191
Jansen 1.96 / .100
Jones 2.84 / .130
Kelly 7.58 / .278
Nelson 2.41 / .169
Price 4.00 / .307
Treinen 3.27 / .244
White 2.61 / .244
Kelly is actually pitching much better than his overall numbers. Remember he gave up 4 ER in his first game back in .2 innings. Same thing with Price, 5 ER in his first two games on the season.
I think the pen has been doing a pretty good job lately, but it’s about to get really good.
Don’t believe your eyes or stats – believe fans irrational fears!
I like the giants, because they are necessary, I’m sure the NYY hates Boston, and Boston hates NYY, but one without the other, are nothing, that’s why both teams need each other, the same with LA and SF, besides all of them, they are world series winners, that’s why I hate those talking assholes who without having won anything, without being anything, want to get on the same level, nobody invited them to the party, they invited themselves, so, yes, I admit it, I don’t want them to die (but if it happens, it won’t make me sad) but I hope they stay out of baseball, that they can never play again, that they get injured so badly that they won’t even get up from the bed never, that they go to shit
I wish you tell us how you really felt
OKC has a pretty formidable lineup tonight:
1. Reks LF (.329)
2. Ruiz C (.279)
3. Ravello 1B (.417)
4. Raley RF (.370)
5. Souza, JR. DH (.302)
6. Peters CF (.261)
7. Noisy 2B (.200)
8. Burns 3B (.304)
9. Asuaje SS (.269)
Catman on the bump!
Yep, they’re gonna start pounding other teams.
Damn. Gonso only went 3.2 innings on 60 pitches. Pulled after 3.2.
That lineup scored 8 in 6 innings so far.
Catman got pulled a little early but the Bazooka pitched a clean inning striking out the side.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
According to the Oklahoma box score, Gonsolin threw 60 pitches, 39 for strikes. Don’t know if that was enough to have him activated against Pittsburgh next week, If he is ,a decision will have to made on the 40 man roster because he is presently on the 60 Day IL.
Joe has grown on me some, and I know there will never be another Vin, but he still sounds like a Joe Buck clone. Orel may give a lot of info, but sometimes it seems like he is just talking to hear his own voice. He never shuts up. I prefer Nomar. Less is more in my book. This is TV, not radio, no need to talk all the time, especially about some of the inane stuff he talks about.
MLB to crack down on pitchers using foreign substances to grip the ball better. Should be interesting to see which pitchers are most affected by the scrutiny. 4 minor league pitchers already suspended. Kike and Joc both have 5 HR’s and both are hitting down around .230. Can’t say I miss them.