Not so long ago, the Dodgers signed Albert Pujols. At the time I thought, why? Pujols is way past his prime, and over his contract with the Angels came nowhere near being the player he was in St. Louis. Now a few weeks later, I see an invigorated Pujols being a factor in games he plays. He has 5 HR’s, as many as he had with the Angels, and 1 more RBI, 13-12 than he had as an Angel. He is hitting .268 as a Dodger compared to the .198 he hit with them. His OPS is .888.
Clearly, Albert is a happy camper at this point. Outside of his offensive contributions, he has been a solid presence on the bench. You see him talking to other players all the time. His smile has been contagious, and last night it was fun to see him shake his hands after a weak hit in the “barrels are overrated” tradition. He also unloaded one deep into the pavilion. Rumors of his baseball demise are way overrated. He has been a huge plus.
The Dodgers have done this often through the years, but usually not this early in the season. AF has done this many times since he took over in 2015. He brought Chase Utley in a trade with the Phil’s in August. Utley did not light it up in his 34 games that year, but what he brought to the bench and when he was on the field was a winning attitude. He played hard. His biggest impact in the postseason that year was a slide that ended up as the catalyst for a new rule. You had to slide directly into the base and could no longer go out of the path to take out the fielder.
The next season, Chase was a very productive member of the team slamming 14 HR’s with 52 RBI’s in 138 games. All in all, he played 386 games in LA. His stats are not all that impressive, but what he brought to the team is one of those intangibles all winning teams need. In 2017, Friedman traded for Hill and Reddick. While Reddick was a disappointment, Hill became a major part of the rotation for the next several seasons. In 2017 he picked up Curtis Granderson. Granderson did not hit much, but he did crack 7 HR’s.
The big addition was Yu Darvish at the deadline. Yu did not pitch great but had a couple of impressive performances in the playoffs against the Cubs and D-Backs, but his meltdown in the World Series is still a painful memory for most Dodger fans. In 2018 he brought in Machado right after the All-Star game. It was purely because Seager was out for the year, and they considered Taylor more of a utility player than the everyday SS. Machado was ok, but not the player he was in Baltimore. And some of his actions on the field were not very sportsman-like. He was Ok in the playoffs, but invisible in the World Series.
They also picked up Brian Dozier and David Freese. Dozier was terrible. Freese was huge. He hit .385 in 19 games. He continued that in the playoffs and was one of the few Dodgers who actually hit well in the World Series with Boston .417. Freese followed that up in 2019 with a season avg of .315 with 11 dingers. He also had a solid performance against the Nats in the playoffs. Jedd Gyorko and Kristopher Negron were also added. Negron actually did pretty well in his time in LA. He hit 2 HR’s early and provided solid defense at many positions. Gyorko did not hit for any power and was a wash.
On the pitching side, they picked up Casey Sadler who went 4-0 in 2019. Picking up Betts over the winter before 2020, was the biggest plus. Mookie was their sparkplug. No real additions on the offensive side, but a healthy Seager became a real force on offense all season and throughout the playoffs and World Series. But two pitchers who were picked up, Jake McGee and Adam Kolarek provided solid performances out of the pen. Both were integral parts of a solid bullpen.
Long before AF took over though, Dodger GMs had picked up veteran players were solid credentials to aid in pennant runs, or just to augment the rosters. In 1958 it was Pacific Coast League star, Steve Bilko. Steve was gone the next season. In 1959, it was Chuck Essegian and Rip Repulski to help out in the outfield with Snider and Furillo, not the players they once were. Essegian would hit two HR’s in the World Series against the White Sox.
Over the years, many would follow. Boog Powell, Rocky Colovito, Wes Covington, Manny Ramirez, Michael Young. All had varying success as Dodgers. None had the immediate impact that Ramirez did when he arrived. I do not remember many Dodgers going on a tear as he did. Who will be that guy this season? Maybe he is already here. Who knows what Mr. Friedman might have in mind. For the present, I love having a player of Albert Pujols stature on the team. Every time he gets a hit or an RBI, he sets a new personal high. Not many players have reached the heights he has. Albert is definitely in it to win it. He would love another ring, and I hope he gets it.
MT’s Dodger Minor League Report
- OKC BOX – The Dodgers lost 4-3. They were tied 2-2 at the end of 9 innings, but Pazos have up 2 hits and 2 BB and allowed two runs to score. The Dodgers came back and scored 1 run in the bottom of the 10th, but came up short. Nunez, Graterol, and Quackenbush each pitched a scoreless inning. Noisy and Reks each had two hits and DJ Peters hit a double and that was about it.
- TULSA BOX – The Drillers lost 4-2, but the big news is that Ryan Pepiot went 5 hitless, scoreless innings while walking just 1 and striking out 8. His ERA sits at 1.64. Nate Robertson also pitched 2.1 scoreless innings (1.56 ERA). Feduccia and Mann each had two hits but it was for naught. Mike Busch had a hit and 2 BBs.
- GL BOX The Loons won their second game in eleven tries against the Dayton Dragons by a 10-2 score. Miguel Varga went hitless for the second game in a row, but Andy Pages was 2-5 with 2 RBI. James Outman hit a HR. Carson Taylor was 2-5 and Zac Ching was 3-5 with 2 runs scored. Yurchak and Liput also had 2 hits each. Landon Knack was roughed up for 2 hits and 2 runs in 3 IP. He walked 2 and struck out 5.
- RC BOX – The Quakes lost 8-6. Deluca hit a 3-run HR and Leonard, Vivas, Deluca, and Lao all had 2 hits. Kendall Williams went 4.1 innings and allowed 5 ER.
Bazooka looks to be about ready to be called up again. Another clean inning. Jones after his first few good outings is showing why he is a career journeyman .
Huge shipwreck yesterday with Bauer getting hit hard and the offense not existent. Giants just keep winning. They do it in every possible way. Great pitching. Can they sustain it ? I fear they can.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!
The Nats can’t hit their way out of a wet paper bag. Only the Pirates have scored less runs on the season and they’ve played two less games.
Even a broken watch is right twice a day. Yes, yesterday was a shit show, but Texas is a MLB team and they do have 25 wins, so this has happened 24 times before. The game was close for most of it, but it was a toilet flush in the end. I’m glad I fell asleep when it was 4-0.
WTF Happened? Another lefty magically transformed into Cy Young once again. It was a problem in the offseason and it’s still a problem. There’s really no way around this. We simply have too many left handed hitters and somehow, when we do get a righty, he all the sudden sucks against lefties when he dons Dodgers Blue. (I’m looking at you Mookie!)
Of course, another thing to consider is we are much worse when Muncy, Belli and Seager are all out of the lineup at the same time. Add Lux to that list last night.
So, with a lefty on the bump and three stars in the infirmary ward Doc’s handlers thought it would be a good idea to have an all lefty lineup (except no 8 hitter Z-Mack). Yeah, that seems like a good idea if you’re a kid that plays The Show all day long on his X-Box, or if you’re one of those front office analytic types. But, if you ever pitched in any kind of competitive baseball, you know that this is not a recipe for success. Pitchers know that they pitch to right handers and left handers differently. They also know that this allows them to settle into a groove because they aren’t constantly adjusting to hitters on each side of the plate.
Somebody is going to have to step up with Muncy on the IL. It’s a huge blow to have you’re one healthy, consistently productive hitter go on the IL. We all hope that Mookie would be the guy to step up, especially after all that ink was spilled about what a great game he had with 2 hits, an assist and a stolen base. Nope, 0’fer two days in a row. Albert didn’t want to step up either, and he’s the one guy besides Pollock that routinely destroys lefties. I guess Allard was really on his game.
It’s going to be a long 10 days. Doc said Muncy’s been through this injury before and it’s not as bad this time. It seems like this will be a minimum stint, if you believe Doc. I don’t usually, but this time I’m going to go with the company line and hope Muncy is back for the second game in the upcoming Padres series who will be more or less full strength with their lineup, while we will be without Seager and Muncy at a minimum.
Bauer wasn’t half bad yesterday, but he wasn’t half good either. Mookie with a big error in center field really hurt. If not for that play, Bauer probably just give up two on the home run. There was little need to send Bauer back out in the 7th, but Doc couldn’t see that. (Talk about vision).
Price has been pretty uneven as a bullpen piece. With Gonsolin’s really short start, it makes me wonder if this is really the best configuration going forward. But, we’re on this road now and there isn’t an offramp anywhere in sight. We’re playing Spring Training 2.0 until the All-Star break. With a little luck, we’ll have a healthy and complete team when the second half begins and everyone will settle into their roles.
Belli at first with Raley in the outfield today against a mediocre righty? I hope Bueller is on his game. Maybe Raley will carry his hot streak into the big leagues and help through these next 9 days. If not, maybe they should cut bait. I’m kinda surprised Recks or Ravelo didn’t get the nod.
I am surprised the Dodgers would rather lose Santana than Tsutsugo. Very suprised.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well, I’m not that surprised that Santana was DFA’d. The Dodgers might have broke him by calling him up before he was ready a few years ago. But, Tsutsugo seems about as useless as left handed catcher’s mitt.
Hey, I had a lefty catchers mitt when I was playing softball and catching sometimes. It came in pretty handy. Got it from the sports supply on base at Ft. Bliss. Still the only one I have ever seen.
Sborz was DFA’d by the Dodgers and then traded. Originally picked 74th overall in the ML draft but never really made an impact in the big leagues. Last night he carved up our 2,3 and 4 hitters like a hot knife through butter.
Meanwhile veteran journey man Nate Jones gets lit up and a $32 million dollar a year relief pitcher (Dodgers paying $16 million) David Price looks to be nearly done. $8 million AAV Joe Kelly is unreliable so while we all acknowledge building a BP is tough work, lets pump the brakes on AF being an all-knowing genius. Good?…….absolutely and positively yes, but he has some head-scratchers on his resume as well.
You are supposed to win games against weak teams so they better play well today and win the series. Hoping for just a quick 10 day IL stint for Max, a healthy return by Seager and no more injuries. What’s with the cramps, pulls and strains? I know Joe and Orel were talking about it a couple of nights ago but it seems epidemic
Right.
Handed.
Power.
Hitter.
What do you think it would take to get relief pitcher Giovanny Gallegos from the Cardinals?
Cartaya?, Pages?, Vargas?
Would you trade 1 of those names for Giovanny Gallegos? How about 2 of those names if necessary?
Giovanny Gallegos career .562 OPS, 0.89 WHIP. This year .441 OPS, 0.73 WHIP. He has 3 more years of team control.
If we traded two of those guys for him I would stop following the team.
I agree, 2 of them would be an overpay.
I would trade 1 of them for Gallegos.
I agree with Mark. Those guys would all be overpays. Gallegos is a very good relief pitcher. But, he also has 3 blown saves already this year. Plus, he’s not the kind of guy who generally becomes available for trades at the deadline being 1) Effective, 2) Cheap, 3) Team control for 3 years.
Giovanny Gallegos is a classic example of how “depth” in the farm system pays off. He was a failed starter who will be 30 years old this year. His stuff is not overpowering but he knows how to use it.
Trading Cartaya, Pages, or Vargas for a guy like this is a “dope-fiend move.” Kind of like the Cardinals trading Randy Arozarena for Matthew Liberatore.
I guarantee the Dodgers have several Giovanny Gallegos in their farm system – you just have to let it play out.
Give Mitch White some time.
Diego Cartaya could be a stud C… or a Stud 1B. He is two years away. Ruiz could catch or play 1B. Lots of flexibility here. Pages and Vargas are also about 2 years away. Both have “star potential.”
Pollock comes off the books in 2022.
Max Muncy is almost 31 and is signed through 2023.
2024 Lineup:
1. Betts RF
2. Seager SS (yes, they signed him)
3. Bellinger CF
4. Cartaya C
5. Smith 2B
6. Busch DH
7. Ruiz 1B
8. Pages LF
9. Vargas 3B
There are FIVE unknowns in that lineup. I’m sure Friedman will sign a couple of free agent position players instead of going with FIVE unknowns.
Giovanny Gallegos must have failed as a starter in the minors because he has always been a reliever in the majors.
I hate the thought of trades, I’d rather Friedman sign free agents instead. But this bullpen needs a couple guys that can get the job done and Giovanny Gallegos has proven to do that in his career and is doing it this year too.
Ruiz is gone, or will be gone by 2024.
If he’s not, it’s a criminal misuse of assets.
Nate looks to be ready to skate.
I was somewhat surprised by Santana being DFA’ed and Burns being called up, but we need to understand that these decisions are made by the Front Office who are much more acquainted with each player than we are. Most… if not all of these people are consulted on player personnel decisions:
Andrew Friedman
Josh Byrnes
Bradon Gomes
David Finley
Billy Gasparino
Galen Carr
Will Rhymes
Clayton McCullough
as well as Minor League Managers and Coaches.
If the Dodgers DFA’ed Santana, there are reasons we may not know, but you can bet they have their reasons. The same with Yoshi TuTut – They see something… but they are not always right.
Allegedly the Dodgers are also working with Seldon Noisy on “re-tooling” his swing, ala Will Smith, Keibert Ruiz, Max Muncy, and others. History will be the judge.
I think Rangel Ravelo may be injured, but as fans, we wonder why players like him don’t get called up. Case in point: Keston Hiura. He hit .130 for Milwaukee this year, but at AAA he hit .413 with a .518 OB% and a 1.27 OPS. He got called back up and fell flat on his face again… Go Figure!
Andy Burns is a nice story… but I can’t see him being long for The Show!
Andy Burns IS the The Show.
Bauer’s spin rate decline will be an issue. He has been great … up until this recent crackdown on the use of foreign substances. That was my concern with the Dodgers signing him – what if his big bump in spin rate and subsequent effectiveness is due to the sticky stuff? If the the league cracks down on it, then Bauer reverts to 2014-2017 Bauer, where he was actually mediocre and not a CY winner. There was rumblings that the league was going to do something about it this last off-season, which made his signing risky on AF’s part.
In professional cycling, doping has long been a part of its culture. There was a British cyclist who actually died in 1968 on Mt Ventoux, which was a key climbing stage in the Tour de France. He was on amphetamines, which was the drug of choice back then, and he died of heart failure. in the 70s and 80s, cyclists discovered exogenous testosterone. In the 90s and 2000s it was EPO, and predated Lance Armstrong. He was just very good at it and refined the methods of using it and concealing its use.
Doping in cycling has been cleaned up in large measure because of the introduction of biological passports, which track the changes in red blood cell count, reticulocytes and other biological indirect markers of doping. Any changes or spikes or drops are noted against a baseline and are flagged. I think longitudinally tracking spin rate against a baseline will be baseball’s equivalent, and it has the potential to dramatically change some careers, Gerrit Cole and Bauer being but two examples.
Much as I hate to admit it, I was wrong about Pujols so far. He’s leading the team in BA against LHP. The Dodgers will be relying on him now. Hope his 50 year old body will hold up.
The Dodgers need Seager back. He, along with JT, Muncy (surprisingly), Pollock and CT3 were were hitting better against LHP than RHP. Betts, Will Smith and Bellinger – not so much.
I can’t explain the Giants aside from the intangible factor of just them doing the small things. They are a decent hitting team, but not exceptional. They have castoffs and retreads comprising their pitching staff, but are getting it done. They have what the Dodgers, with all of their talent and top 3-5 hitting and pitching and run differential, do not. They overachieve. The Dodgers underachieve. It’s not always the team with the most talent, but often the team with that IT factor. The 88 Dodgers had that.
If there are two messages by me that are showing, I deleted one when it got hung up in moderation. This blog platform is weird.
Dodgers sign LHP Vidal Nuno III to a minor league deal…again…That is now fixed patch
I watched part of the second Giant’s-Nats game. It went extra’s. What happened was the Giants taking advantage of what they were given. Runner on second, first hitter gets a clean single that scored the runner. The pitcher was a little wild and that runner ended up on 3rd and they eventually scored on a single by Flores. Phils only scored one and it was game over. Dodgers had the bases loaded when it was still close and McKinstry, who has not been very good since his reinstatement from the IL, grounded out weakly on the first pitch. Give the Rangers pitchers some credit. They all did their jobs, and Allard kept the Dodgers off balance and induced weak contact. In fact the only balls hit hard were by Turner.
Well Bauer was instrumental in the league reviewing foreign substances. He has continued to run his mouth and now he can’t pitch. Go figure. He seemingly has no command. His pitch count is always high. He is a homer machine. Last night he can’t get the worst lineup in baseball out. Stolen bases are automatic. For a guy making 40 million u would expect a shutout occasionally (6 innings) since guys can’t actually pitch 9.
What is Doc good for? The team does not exhibit good fundamentals. The team doesn’t seem motivated. Last night with a home game, a chance to get within a game of the lead, playing the worst team in the majors, an ace on the mound, and this is the kind of effort you get. We just go through the motions. This team doesn’t seem to have pride they are not ready. If a player was not embarrassed after last night u r not likely to get embarrassed.
This too shall pass but it is ugly. The Giants are winning every way possible. As soon as somebody on the starting staff gets injured they will start to stress. Anybody could have had wood, gausman, and Descafalina, and they have performed.
Schwarber just hit a 95 mph fastball at his eyes off the second deck facade. 4-0 against SF.
One game back after today if this secondhand crew can win.
5 and 3 now on what I consider an important stretch of games prior to the Padres.
I mentioned yesterday that I would put Pollock in left and leave him alone. I feel the same about Mookie in right. Put him there and leave him alone. He’s the best in the game in right field, so play him there.
Put somebody else, like McKinstry in center so 2 positions aren’t weakened. Better yet, find another day to give Lux a day off and play CT3 in center.
This wasn’t my favorite Dodger’s lineup.
Is this the NEW substance free Trevor Bauer?
Just a stinker of a game. Turn the page.
Take a look at this:
CF Mookie
SS Gavin
2B Chris
1B Matt
LF AJ
3B Zach
RF Luke
C Austin
P Walker
Bench JT ( scheduled day off), Will, Cody, Burns and Albert
The no power here lineup unless Mookie gets untracked. Taylor leads this bunch with 8 dingers with Mookie’s 6 the next best. But one plus, Buehler is a beast at Dodger Stadium and if anyone can handle this collection of AAAA players, it is Bullet Buehler.
Wow, people really see things a lot differently. With Bauer, Mookie f’d that inning and Doc and Price F’d the 7th. It could just have easily been 7 innings and 2 ER.
Bauer hasn’t been bad since he stopped sticking. He’s been bad since the 126 pitch game. His bad isn’t that bad. In fact, he hasn’t given up as many earned runs in a single game than Clayton has (5) on three different occasions. Yeah, they also make the same amount of money this year.
I saw a comment yesterday about the lack of impact type position players in the minors, then I see offering them up in a trade for a relief pitcher. Go figure.
Eric is obsessed with the bullpen. I’m wondering if he only watches the last 3-4 innings of every game.
It’s hard to say a team is under achieving when said team hasn’t played, but one single game together.
If you thought yesterday’s lineup looked off, don’t worry today’s lineup looks just as crappy. Get used to it and check in after the All-Star break to see the real LA Dodgers.
I just identify the weakest part of the team and would like it to be improved. If that is being obsessed then so be it.
I think the 5th starter is the worst spot on the entire team. Seems obvious to me. How about we improve there? I still see some pretty good relievers on the 40 that will be back this year. I don’t see any starters that will be back.
Maybe the simple solution is to get a lock down lefty reliever and just swap Gonsolin and Price. Gonsolin has a good amount of experience in the pen since he was a reliever in College and started out that way in the minors. Let him have a shot at the rotation next year. Price is used to starting and is being a team guy trying to adjust to the pen. He doesn’t look used to coming into a game with runners on and seems to look rusty after being limited to a couple of innings in a bullpen game, then resting him for a week until the next bullpen game.
I wonder if the Nats are ready to trade Hand yet? Hader is a pipe dream.
I have confidence in Gonsolin as the fifth starter. Then in the playoffs we don’t need a fifth starter. So again it’s the bullpen.
I don’t have confidence at all in Price.
Well, your confidence in Gonsolin makes me feel a whole lot better about things. Never mind starting the season on the IL with a sore shoulder and not being able to pitch past the 4th inning in any rehab start. I feel so much better knowing you have confidence in him instead of relying on his performance so far this season or his lack of experience.
I know what you mean but I don’t have access to his medical records. If he is healthy he is solid.
One thing I would like to make clear. I wouldn’t have as big a problem with our bullpen if there wasn’t a three batter minimum rule.
Well Gonsolin had a pretty good year in 20 as a starter. Why mock Eric over liking the Cat Man? His stuff looked good in his first outing. He was just rusty and lacked command.
I am at this point not worried about what the pen will look like come playoff time. More concerned about high pitch counts by the starters, lack of consistent offense, injuries to key players. Dodgers leave too many men in scoring position lately. They had the bases loaded and could not score last night. We all have to know that the roster right now is not going to be the same come September. They will get 2 extra players then. I have to believe there will be some changes, maybe a trade or two, and maybe a callup. I would bet Ruiz is one of the 2 players added in September.
Well Bear once again some dumba.. base running by mckinstry. He needs to go back to 3a until he gets right. Same ole Raley. We just don’t have the quality depth to weather these injuries. U r right the starting pitching rolls up the pitch count quickly. Buehler can’t seem to finish anybody. Once more .180 hitters are stroking us and picking guys off.
Depth is not as deep as some think.
That is more like it, dinger from Mookie and a 2 out hit.
Way to battle back, Buehler.
Kenley’s game now, Bickford’s worst outing so far.
Kenley Jansen is still elite!
I can finally breathe again !
My first thought is relief!! Dodgers close to within one game of the Giants! Jansen has been getting it done. I will repeat no lead is safe with this bullpen. Bickford has been pitching real well just not his day today.
Current Bullpen
Jansen
Treinen
Gonzalez
Nelson
Kelly
Price
Bickford
Jones
Bullpen in September
Jansen
Knebel
Treinen
Gonzalez
Nelson
Graterol
Kelly
Price
I would say that is a great guess. Not sure it will look like that. Alexander is close to a rehab assignment.
Well I think the Dodgers are hoping kahnle might b ready. Gonsolin would b a possible. Highly doubt but mb Ferguson. I would think Kelly and price would b on the bubble. Urias would most likely b a starter but mb bullpen. Also the trade deadline might bring a pitcher.
Like a daytime hooker, it wasn’t pretty, but it got the job done. We’re one game out. We finished off the series without Seager, JT, Muncy and Belli. The Phillies are a 500 team on a streak up next, then we get one of our favorite whipping boys in the D-Backs.
I really didn’t mind this team with one star down, for that brief moment when only Seager was on the IL, our lineup looked deep and capable. It was nice to see our “Depth” take care of business even if our worst reliever currently on the staff made it really interesting. For the record, Bickford had 9 consecutive games without allowing an “Ernie” until he completely imploded today. His ERA went from 2.25 to 5.63 and his average against went from 214 to 290 in a single outing. Another example on why it’s hard to evaluate relievers. Bickford is just 25, he has pedigree being an 18th overall pick and last I checked, he has options. He may just be a great reliever one day and he’s worth holding on to from what I’ve seen so far, prior to today. He may wind up being the next Giovanny Gallegos who had a 4.87 ERA with the Yankees at the same age.
Second best record in the NL. Just gained a little on the Giants and created a little space with the Padres. Doing it with depth and several regulars not playing or on the IL or both. Do we still have a lot to complain about?
I think it’s becoming clear around the league that the Dodgers are great even with stars on the IL. Sure, the sports writers will find reasons to rank other teams higher in the Power Rankings, but everyone knows there no change to lose the division if we can get healthy.
BANG!
This site is better than TBLA. I’m SandyIsTheGreatest there but it’s dead.
I live in NYC, have a nephew and niece, and work early in the morning in international finance. My favorite quote is “LOL.”
Tomorrow you will have n amazing treat!
I am so excited. It is awesome.
Don’t tell me you’ve got Trump to write a piece
Uh, do not think he is a Dodger fan……..being from NY< and today is also his birthday....
Jansen kept me from having a heart attack. Now if they can beat the Phils tonight on my birthday, I will be a happy camper. Wins on my birthday are special. I remember one year the Lakers won the title on my birthday.