Wheelin’ and Dealin’

This article has 211 Comments

1. Outstanding article, Jeff! I am glad you are with us again!

   What’s next? I am hoping for Kimbrel… maybe Bryant, but the Dodgers would have to take Heyward too…

   If you haven’t read this, you need to:

   https://www.latimes.com/sports/dodgers/story/2021-07-20/vin-scully-tries-to-make-the-most-of-each-while-mourning-the-loss-of-his-wife

   1. I wouldn’t make that trade.

   2. The only names I’m interested in are Kimbrel, Scherzer, Bryant.

   3. Mark

      You keep getting on my case about complaining about the bullpen. Well what are we all talking about today? The bullpen, specifically Jansen. I’m glad you are now recognizing something needs to be done about the bullpen.

2. Without a healthy Mookie and Seager.the Dodgers chances to repeat are slim to none. AF should consider this fact at the trading deadline.

3. One small item from last night’s game that caught my ear during the broadcast. In last night’s game there was a whole new umpiring crew from the 3 previous games and low and behold a controversial ending transpires.

   1. I heard that too, Zeke. I tried to look up where Wednesdays crew ended up and where they brought lasts night’s crew in from but had no luck. I’ll try again. I too found that an interesting switch.

      1. Zeke, I tracked down the umpire crews that were changed from Wed to Thursday. The Wednesday night crew that ran Doc had Thursday night off and the crew that replace them last night, came from Cincy, where they worked Wednesday night. I don’t know if that switch was scheduled or in response to the mess Wednesday night by MLB.

         1. Thanks for finding that out Phil. Not sure the reasoning behind the umpiring crew switch, as that wasn’t mentioned in the game from what I recall.

4. That is indeed a moving article. It really puts a game in perspective.

   Bill Plaschke has taken some heat in the past but I really appreciate how he turns an emotional type phrase.

   Jeff- this is another double grand slam and a perfect game all in one. Thanks. I hope AF is paying attention to this.

   Twenty-year-old Jose Ramos made his debut with the Quakes yesterday and went 2-5 with a home run while leading off.

   Eddys Leonard continues to rake. 2-3, 2 walks and his 13th home run.

   Brandon Lewis hit another home run for the Loons. He is one of AC’s picks.

   1. I used to follow Jose Ramos while he was in DSL. He is smallish, but so was Jimmy Wynn. His numbers were okay, but there was just something about him that I kept searching for his name. I am glad that he was pushed to Rancho. He is 20, and should be able to play at that level and succeed. The ACL was just not much of a challenge for his talent. Jose needs to be pushed.

      Like Miguel Vargas, Brandon Lewis can just flat out rake. And he is hitting better in a less hitter friendly league and venue. For the season at Rancho and Great Lakes, 20 HR and 60 RBI in 251 AB. Like Ramos, he needs more experience to improve his plate discipline and pitch recognition. I would not be disappointed to see Vargas pushed to AAA and Lewis to AA in September.

5. Once again you hit the nail on the head my friend. You just can’t make this stuff up. My choice for a closer type would be Iglesias. I have watched some Angel games and the guy throws strikes and does not fool around. I felt that they had a lot of the holes you spoke of during spring training. None of us could have imagined the havoc injuries would cause this team. But the fact is that the Giants have had injurie problems too. Mostly with position players though. Our starting pitching has been decimated with the injury to May, Kershaw’s injury and the Bauer debacle. They definitely need an innings eating starter, and although I have always liked Hamels, I doubt after 2 years dealing with injuries that he could be that. Duffy is injured, Scherzer is not only going to cost a lot, he will want a extension and I am not sure AF would be down with that. But I also feel they need a more experienced bench. Right now it is Pujols, McKinney and McKinstry and Barnes. And that is if Betts gets back in the saddle. If Betts, who would have been perfect Pinch hitting for Neuse after the meltdown, cannot hit, field, or run, what in the world is he doing still on the roster??? Get a healthy body, preferably someone with some pop and defensive skills in there and let Mookie heal on the IL. Having a player on the bench you cannot move, well that is counter productive. Also I have a question, when Max’s baby arrives, do they like have paternity leave for the players? I cannot remember if they do. Then they could at least call up a warm body to replace him.

6. Great summary. You mentioned Pineda but didn’t get into any detail. His numbers are quite pedestrian so I guess a mention was sufficient.

   As for.McKinney. At worst he is a placeholder and defensive replacement. And yes defense wins championships.

   1. Pineda is simply a name that continues to be discussed. The Twins are a seller and at one time Michael Pineda was considered a top prospect. He is someone that is seemingly discussed every year like Matthew Boyd. someone will take him. I agree, that his numbers are pedestrian, and he would not be much of a consideration for me, but someone will take him.

7. The Dodgers are not going to win without getting healthy and mb not then. You cannot b elite with minor leaguers playing in the majors in a pennant race. We have blown plenty of games do to a lack of a Mlb roster. We could b up 4-5 games but we did not have the necessary depth. This is not a blame game just true.

   The Dodgers philosophy is to play the long game with no urgency. Right about now how has that worked this year? It is just the arrogance that we’ll we will rest for the playoffs. The playoffs may never come. I think we have the players without a move but I don’t have any confidence that Robert’s can make the decisions necessary to get the dodgers over the hump.

   I was struck by the reactions of 2 different situations. When smith hit the homer the dodgers were euphoric almost disbelief.. when mediocre Flores hit his it was like yeah we expected this. Farman has outmaneuverd the Dodgers and this Giant team expects to win. We have the biggest payroll in the majors and when it counted the most we didn’t have one minor league starter we could even try. So embarrassing for a world champion team.

   I have heard all about Robert’s win percentage blah blah blah. He has had exceptional talent and we have been fundamentally weak in some areas. It is up to him and his staff to improve the fundamentals which apparently was the difference in last nights game. I must admit I didn’t watch because I saw a repeat coming. No way Jansen should have been in but I knew he would. Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result is INSANITY!!!!!

8. The Dodgers will surely get something good and adequate, AF has done it before and they know how to do it but assuming they get a great starter and a great reliever if the team doesn’t improve their defense (to me defense is just as important as pitching and offense) and if they don’t avoid the SBs the Dodgers will come up short in October. When two similar forces face each other, the thread breaks because of the thinnest and the weakness of the team is its defense and the inability to avoid the SB which is also part of defense.
   I’m not worried about this team about pitching or offense, the team is doing well and will be better, there is too much talent, the Dodgers will win the division by 4-5 games.
   Jansen? nahhh it won’t even be the closer in October.

9. Sorry I forgot to mention in my post above, another outstanding article Jeff, you are truly an amazing writer and I always look forward to your lead articles. They are well thought out, articulate and are truly paid content worthy.

10. I’m at a loss this morning. I can no longer defend Roberts.

    It’s a simple concept really. We talked about it yesterday. Phil gets it. Others get it. Why doesn’t Roberts? NEVER two nights in a row. And 33 pitches? Are you crazy?

    Did he deliberately set Jansen up for failure? I find it inexcusable. Jansen is now damaged goods. He’s only good for the 7th and only in low leverage situations.

    7 for 34. 1 for 7 WRISP. Buehler with a wasted gem. Sigh.

    AFV is right. Mookie is the leader of this group. You can’t lead from the bench. Seager? Where tf is he?

    Gut check time.

    1. If want to win the war, and aren’t worried about the battle, I think you have to throw Kenley back out like they did last night. Sink or swim!!!

       He sank!

       Move on…

       Knebel and Nelson will be back in August, but I think last night sealed the deal. AF is going to get a closer.

    2. One more thing:

       I said earlier in the year I thought this bullpen could be historic. Turns out I was right. I just read this is the first time in Dodger history the team has blown three consecutive games with a 9th inning lead. Congratulations. That will be a record that could stand for decades.

       1. SHHHHHHHHH, no jinxing dude, we still have to get through tonight.

    3. I agree mostly, but I really did not have an issue with letting Kenley pitch. But why not let Treinen take the 1st batter on, his stuff was good. And after either 3 or for sure 4 batters, why was Kenley still in there? After that call at 2nd was overturned there is NO WAY he still should have been in there. And after 27 pitches the night b4, there is no way Roberts should have let him go over 20.
       cheers
       pb+

    4. And yet, had CT3 and Nuese done their job or had the umpire done his job, a different song would be sung.

       1. It is correct they would have won in the cases you put out. However, confidence in Kenley would STILL be in the crapper.

       2. Absolutely 2D2. The fickle finger of fate. The Neuse play was especially damaging. That was his 6th game at 2nd all year. My high school second basemen knew 5 plays (turns) at the bad. Number 1 was becoming a first basemen on a close play, ESPECIALLY with 2 outs. Waiting for that throw was inexcusable.

    5. Dave Roberts is a horrible manager. Why would you send KJ out the second night in a row after a horrible performance in game 3. KJ is not the answer for a closer. How can you have confidence in a manager who would bat Albert Pujois second and Cody B. leadoff in a game? THINK ABOUT IT.

11. So Belinger can struggle night after night, but Kenley dips below All Star performance for 3 games and he’s finished.
    With some help from Noisy and the 1st Base Umpire it woulda been a different story.
    He had some much better movement and decent heat last night – I thought he was unlucky.

    Strange how you’ve changed your tune on the basis of one evening’s work Mark?
    How come Roberts gets a free pass?

    1. I have seen this too much in similar situations. It’s a tightrope act. I don’t think Kenley is finished… he’s just finished as a closer.

       Yes, he was unlucky last night, but it seems that he loses every time when he’s unlucky!

       Belli and Kenley are two different cases. Bellinger continues to impact the game with his stellar defense and base-running. He is coming back from surgery and another layoff for injury.

       When Belli struggles like he is now, you can still have hope (at least I do). But, Kenley has cut out the Dodgers Hearts FIVE TIMES this year!

       I guarantee that the Dodgers Players are rooting for Cody and rooting for Kenley not to close!

       I have changed my mind based upon changed circumstances.

       1. You make your own luck. That inning started with a base hit.

          He should not have been out there.

          Umps have been lousy all year. Neuse shouldn’t be here. This team is bleeding. What’s the answer? 3 against the Rockies might help. giants should hold serve against the lowly pirates.

          Work your magic Andrew. Farhan is working his.

       2. The other difference to me is that Cody is still in the beginning of his career, but no matter what you say Kenley is getting near the end of his. And I do not see him as anything BUT a closer. Not unless he can change his slow delivery & inability to hold runners on. That used to be fine in the 9th when he typically mowed dudes down & rarely had to deal with runners, but in the 7th when he is a guy who if someone gets on there is a very high chance they can get to 2nd & at least an even chance they can steal 3rd on him. That would relegate him to an inning eater in low leverage games, either being way up, or way behind. We would be paying A LOT for a pitcher who is only good for that.
          cheers
          pb+

12. Farhan is executive of the year. Kepler is manager of the year and Posey is MVP. It’s mind boggling what the Giants have done this year and they have had a ton of injuries as well. They just about swept us and their entire starting infield is injured and out! Their”depth” is crushing our “depth”!

    1. … barring a total collapse! (which is still possible)

    2. The giants replacement players are better than ours.

       1. Well, they AT LEAST certainly believe in themselves more. It is obvious to anyone who pays attn that they are more confident in themselves than the Dodgers replacements are.

          1. Eso es totalmente cierto Marsopa, creen más en si mismos Acaso se le acabó la magia al cuerpo de entrenadores de bateo? que pasa con aquella racha de juegos de anotar muchas carreras con2 outs del año pasado? se la llevarían consigo Kike y Joc ?

             1. No estoy seguro José, pero siguen siendo un buen equipo de 2 outs, pero no lo parecen en las últimas entradas. ¿Tienen siquiera un entrenador de bateo? si es así, aparentemente Bellinger aún no lo ha conocido. ¡atentamente!

             2. Joc echo de menos, kike perdió mi apoyo cuando afirmó que fue alex cora quien lo convenció de ir a los sox luego de ser una de las voces más fuertes contra las trampas de los astros.

13. Wow, there’s a lot to break down here. Thanks AC, for putting together a complete list of just about every possibility. It’s always a pleasure to read your thorough analysis.

    WTF Mark? As I wake up with my eyes burning, it isn’t bad enough to rehash last night’s nightmare, you have to make me cry my posting that Vin Scully article. As a married man of close to 30 years, I can only imagine the pain that Vin must be feeling.

    My disdain for Roberts is well documented. I don’t really give a crap about CT3’s misplay, the call shouldn’t have been overturned. It looked like a tie at the very least. I don’t give a crap about the check swing call either. At that point Kenley has already faced most of their lineup and any decent closer would have never got into that predicament in the first place. It was criminal to leave Jansen in for as long as he did. Nothing good could have come from it.

    My biggest problem is to continue doing the same thing with Kenley even though he looks like a bull in a china shop and a deer in the headlights simultaneously. He doesn’t look like someone that the confidence necessary for the job and he doesn’t even look like a pitcher that has the control or command to pitch at the back end of a ballgame. Even when he was effective earlier in the year, the ball would seldom end up where the catcher’s glove was initially placed. You just knew it was a matter of time before he’d implode and he did so in a big way this past week, with a gascan in one hand and a road flare in the other.

    This type of meltdown is what many of us feared even going into the season. I felt pretty good about having Kenley insurance with Knebel and Treinen on the roster and taking a flier on Morrow. That insurance is looking thin right now, but once Knebel and Nelson return it will look much better. Unfortunately neither are available now, seemingly taking a rest rather than nursing injuries that most would have recovered from by now.

    I took a moment to watch the postgame interview where Doc deflects that horrible choke job, essentially doubling down on Kenley and places blame on CT3 and the check swing. This guy has the balls of mosquito. How are you supposed to have the trust required to motivate your players when you throw your All-Star utility man under the bus when it was clear that Kenley didn’t do his job? Doc’s character is not that of a leader. He’s a small man in a big job and has been coasting on the backs of others. Yes, the team wins in spite of him. I don’t care about his lofty record. If he managed any other team, it would be a tire fire.

    MT, I wanted to give you a big THANK YOU for running this site. It proved to be cathartic last night giving your loyal user base a place to vent. I’m sure people said things in the heat of the moment that they may not feel so strongly about when clearer heads prevail. But, it sure is nice having a forum to think out loud for others to hear and to hear from others with similar thoughts, effectively talking us down from the ledge.

    This last series didn’t do anything to convince me that SF was the superior team. All it did was solidify what we all were thinking deep down, but didn’t necessarily say out loud. I’m sure many of us feel the same way about Kenley. Deep down, we love him. He came up as a Dodger and was great for a while. But, none of us felt that we could fully count on him during the offseason. We all wanted to believe in him, but he let us down in the biggest way, hopefully for the last time. This series loss is 100% on Kenley’s shoulders. If you can’t protect a one run lead at home against your division rival, you are not a closer on a Championship team. If you can’t even get a single freaking save in three freaking tries after having time off during the break, you’re not a freaking closer at all. It’s time to move on.

    Thanks again to AC for listing all of the possibilities. Hopefully AF can work some magic and bring in reinforcements. But don’t forget, Doc said that Kenley is still the closer in last night’s post game and it’s not entirely his decision. That decision is made by a group of people and AF is in that group. Although AF is a great GM, he really needs to stop micromanaging and let a manager do their job and hold them accountable if they can’t.

    July’s soft schedule was a missed opportunity to create a lot of space between us and the inferior competition in our division. This team will now have to do it the hard way. If we can get healthy, I’m sure the cream will rise to the top.

    Hopefully, the bright side will be that they learned that they can’t count on Kenley by exposing him during the regular season when they still have a chance to do something about it. Hopefully, this is the silver lining in the dark cloud that hovers over Chavez ravine right now.

    1. Good stuff BP. For me it is simple. With a lockdown closer, we would VERY LIKELY has won the last two and for sure one of them. It is that simple to me, the rest is just pre & post mortem. Kenley is no longer a lock down closer.

    2. ” Estoy seguro de que muchos de nosotros sentimos lo mismo por Kenley. En el fondo, lo amamos. Surgió como un Dodger y estuvo genial por un tiempo. ” B and P, Es precisamente ese detalle que lo hace más doloroso.

14. Good column, Jeff.

    After another Kenley Jansen meltdown, I’m guessing bullpen help is a must, although Corey Knebel is getting close to returning. Rehab assignment next week? Expecting a Craig Kimbrel deal is probably a bit of a reach. Look for one of the lesser names and maybe a reliever no one is talking about.

    Probably a starter is a must. Lot of competition and the farm system will take a hit. Will Keibert Ruiz be included in a deal. Short term gain, long term loss. I like Ruiz and switch hitters don’t grow on trees. The bat is impressive.

    After listening to an interview with Andrew Friedman the other day, no question the Dodgers will be active, probably two or three deals will be made. But at this point what that will look like is just a guess. Doors will open, doors will close. The unexpected will happen. Hey, it will be fun.

    But two things seem clear. Trevor Bauer is probably a lost cause and Jansen is a basket case. I cringed when I saw Dave Roberts bring him into the game last night. I really like Dave, but you can like your players too much and make bad decisions. We should just admit it, KJ is a mess. The second straight night of being booed., the chorus growing louder. Two great starts by Urias and Buehler down the drain.

    The Dodgers can’t trade for good health which is what they need most. But they still need to address some flaws and holes in the current team.

    As Friedman pointed out, what that looks like isn’t exactly clear.

    Again, good write-up, Jeff, always enjoy your work.

15. I think our magic is in hiding this year. It will return I just don’t think it will this year. As such, (IMO) let’s drive up the prices of key options and allow the crack to be ingested by others. Keep our prospects and chart our course for how to handle Corey, CT3 and Cody.

    I would have liked to see Blake try for 3 more outs last night!

    The last few games have taken their toll on all Dodgerdom. I’d be thrilled to be wrong, I just think we need to recharge our magic for next year and beyond.

    Keep our assets…..

    1. Kelly and Bickford did not pitch the night before. It’s 3 outs with a 2 run lead. This is the bullpen you’ve been given. Use it properly or pay the price.

16. The Cleveland Indians new name is the Gaurdians.

    1. Dammit…… I was just browsing through b4 posting that. YOU WIN!
       I bet their fans are pissed. What a stupid name. Virtue signaling at its finest. I would have re-named them ( only if I actually HAD TO rename them ) the ROCKERS. Cleveland is the home to the rock & roll hall of fame. Why not tie your name to something that everyone recognizes as uniquely “CLEVELAND”?

       1. I don’t think so. Have you forgotten John Rocker? Best go with Rollers.

       2. Guardians is unique to Cleveland and is very popular with the folks who live there. It refers to the Guardians on one of their bridges, the Guardians of traffic. What may sound stupid to you makes perfect sense to the folks who live in the Mistake by the Lake.

          1. But still opens them up to ENDLESS trolling by everyone NOT related to Cleveland. I guess maybe they are used to that with all their pro sports success.

             1. The Bridge outside of their ballpark is lined with the Guardians. I would guess they care less about the trolls. Same way I feel when I see all those Giant fans trolling the Dodger stream on Twitter and trying to get a rise out of Dodger fans. One was really mouthing off about the Dodgers “Fake Ring” I reminded him that the Dodgers in 2020 had to get more wins during the playoffs than any other Championship team before then. 13. They had an extra round of playoff games because they had to play the Brewers adding the Wild Card Series to the NLDS, NLCS and the World Series. I also opined that had the Giants won, he would probably be bragging his ass off. And this morning I reminded a couple of them that their team was put together by an exe Dodger exec, and their team is managed by an exe Dodger front office guy. Remember that Kapler was the head of the minor leagues for a season. And then I reminded them that 3 exe Dodgers have made significant contributions to their on field success. Wood, McGee and Solano.

       3. The R&R Hall is a complete joke though. Should have gone with spiders.

17. More Dodgers Bad News: Max Muncy Will Not Be With the Team This Weekend
    It’s looking more and more like ” Let’s wait till next year”

    1. We knew that. My wife was on somewhere his wife posts. She specifically held back until now so he could finish the midgets series. I think they are inducing now so he will be back for the next midgets series.

       1. Be there for delivery then back to work. I did it twice. There’s no reason to miss more than 1 game if they’re inducing.

          1. DUDE, that is a quick turn around. He has to fly to AZ and back too. Not that it is not doable, but my money is on him being back in San Fran., I doubt sooner.

18. Ok I will bow out after this until the Colorado series is over. We could easily get swept here. We will be facing free land who we haven’t solved, Gray who we have struggled with and we have price and Gonsolin up with Muncy out. This could get ugly quickly if the page is not turned. Let’s face it without our regulars we are not very good. We struggle to consistently score, our defense subpar and our starters outside buehler and Urias very beatable, and the bullpen well enough said. I would not lose any prospects over this team. On the plus side we still have Robert’s!!! Yay!!!

    1. They beat Freeland in Denver. He is 1-4 just off the IL a while ago. Their pitcher Friday, is Gonzalez. He opened one of the Denver games and was pounded. I see no way they get swept. Gray is the best we will face and he is trade bait. We will not see Marquez. Price beats Gonzalez, and I think Gonzo has a bounce back game on Saturday, and we get to see our Gray against their Gray on Sunday. Urias and Buehler open the series with the Gnats.

19. Today is Bauer’s hearing date.

    1. You’re right. It hadn’t crossed my mind until you mentioned it. I’m lamenting Roberts bungling while I watch the Opening Ceremonies.

       This isn’t over. We are still a playoff team this morning with over 60 games to win the Division.

       1. 54 left Badger. They are 59-39 and that is 108 games out of 162. Giants have 56 left. Today is also the birthday of Dodger greats Pee Wee Reese and Don Drysdale.

          1. 59 + 39 is 108?

             Damm. Colorado math?

             1. Damn, bad eyesight…and even worse addition skills. So they have 64 left and the Giants 66. I stand corrected professor. It’s called a Rockie Mountain high….we all have it.

             2. Understood. Frankly I miss being high. My home in Sedona was 4600’. This sea level living feels heavy.

             3. Cannot be, must be east of the cont divide in CO math.

    2. I am not even worried about Bauer, he is at this point non existent. Lets see if he gets charged or not and if the complainant wants to pursue a civil case. His suspension is up on the 27th. So we should know something by next week.

20. As Buehler went deeper into last night’s game with a manageable pitch count it became apparent that Doc would be forced to have a plan for the ninth. This was playing out like a good suspense novel. Who does he go to based on the night before? Would he risk going to KJ again in the 9th or would it be Treinen or Kelly or who? Would Doc have the huevos to actually go back to Jansen with the game on the line. especially after the fan reaction from the night before. Would he consider that or trust KJ?
    The exact scenario faced Gabe Kapler the night before with Tyler Rogers. Rogers had a blown save on Tuesday, his 5th. Sure enough, Kapler put Rogers right back on the horse the next night? He did and Rogers earned his 11th save. Rogers later spoke of his gratitude to Gabe for showing trust in him. Now Doc was faced with the same choice.
    So I paused the game after 7 with Striker at 95 pitches and I asked myself, what would I do now? Would I stay with Buehler, go with Treinen and close with KJ? Do I listen to the fans? Remember the old saying “if a skipper listens to the fans long enough, some day soon he will be sitting with them”.
    I was happy to see Doc stay with Striker in the 8th. When he got a baserunner, Doc predictably went to Blake to close the inning. Now what?
    Holy shit, Batman, KJ was the choice for the 9th. And we all saw the results. It could have been a Cinderella Story had KJ closed the deal. He would have redemption, so would Doc and the fan base could eat crow. And we win a great game. But the fairy tale ending was not to be. A very tough walk and a very bad play by Neuse at 2nd, not stretching for Taylor’s throw from short that would have ended the game, and another walk, set up the 2 run single. Another blown save. Doc replaced Kenley to a shower of boos and the happy ending was shattered.
    To add salt to the wound, a guy the Dodgers let walk, closed the game with a save.
    It is a cruel game.

    1. How he can continue to trust Jansen in high leverage situations is beyond me. He just has not had it his last 3 outings, and even his last save was shaky. Rosenthal reporting that the Dodgers are very interested in Texas closer, Ian Kennedy. Again, before you start snickering, check his stats. He has been very good, and he would not cost a whole lot.

       1. Well even more than that, how did he leave him in after the 4th or 5th batters?

21. Done with Roberts and Jansen. enough is enough.

    Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!

    1. Fire both. Both Stink

       1. I agree both should be gone. How in the world could KJ make the statement he got snub from the all star game?
          He sucks.

22. A little thing but these are the things the Dodgers are not doing this year. Kapler praised Vosler for getting a huge secondary lead at first being the reason he beat the throw to second. And the rest is history! Thought that you Phil would appreciate that one.

    1. The giants do the little things right. They have to.

       I’m still looking forward to seeing this team at full strength. We’re still a playoff team, and down the stretch we will have plenty of opportunity to prove we are the best team in the NL.

       1. Totally true, and they capitalize when the other team gives them an opening. Next spring, not a Dodger pitcher leaves camp without a solid course in holding runners. Their caught stealing pct is abysmal, and most of it is because only a couple of the pitchers have good pickoff moves. Jansen has one of the worst.

       2. They also have great pitching and they lead the league in homers. This is a legit team and one that’s better than the Dodgers right now.

    2. Yeah Cassidy, I do appreciate that; small stuff matters. And Neuse not becoming a first baseman and stitching for the throw was huge. It’s his 6th game at 2nd. Good play by the Giants. Bad play by the Dodgers.

23. Another outstanding and well researched report Jeff. Your time and knowledge is very much appreciated.

    It’s going to be a tough call for AF on what to do with this team. With all the injuries and the recovery times up in the air (for us fans) what to do? Having Betts, Seager, Lux, Bellinger being injured or playing injured we still should have won 3 of 4 from the Giants. We still have Muncy, Taylor, Turner, and Pollack playing well. You look at the Giant players they put on the field against us it’s hard to comprehend how can can lose to them. As mentioned above their starting infield is out with injuries.

    I’m sure the front office knows if Mookie’s issues are going to linger the rest of the season. Then you have the question of whether Seager is going to be productive on his return. Is Kershaw coming back and if so how effective will he be? Will the BP ever get healthy before the season ends? Will Bellinger come out of his hitting woes? If the determination is maybe or negative to most of those questions then I don’t think AF is going to spend anymore treasure and prospects this season. The Dodgers are very good right now even with all the injuries and blunders. When healthy no one can touch them when it comes to talent. So, why go out and trade for some high impact player(s) when it will probably not get the team to the WS? Like Mark often states “it’s execution by the players”. And, for whatever reason they aren’t executing right now.

    Roberts should seriously be a candidate to be replaced after the season. His act is getting old and the players probably feel the same way. He is a weak leader and is a terrible game manager. Like I’ve said for years he’s nothing more than cheerleader and a camp counselor. philjones wrote he even looks like a fool when arguing with umpires. It’s like he checks his in game book and sees “oh yeah, this is when I go out to argue a call”. His press conferences are nothing but a bunch of BS and clichés. They add absolutely nothing. I know he has a great record, but there are probably a dozen managers out there that could have done what Roberts did and most likely better. I find it strange how they rely on analytics so much, but when it comes to crunch time analytics go out the window. You can’t tell me analytics called for Kenley to pitch last night after pitching poorly the night before and had thrown 22 pitches.

    It’s been a very frustrating season so far.

    1. I agree about Roberts, and you are right about other managers being able to do what he does. And there are so many managing now that I never even heard of like the guy running the Mets. I had never heard of Snitker with the Braves until they hired him. Frustrating and maddening also. There are times I have felt like pulling my hair out, and I have precious little to spare. Last night though I was so damn angry, I was ready to fire the entire coaching staff. I think Belli needs to sit down with a hitting coach who is going to advise cutting down that massive swing and just meet the ball. Reggie Smith comes to mind, or have him sit with Albert Pujols for a few hours every day discussing hitting.

    2. “I know he has a great record,”

       Yes. Yes he does.

       He has one glaring flaw, he trusts his players.

       I think he learned a lesson last night. Hopefully the Dodgers did too. The umps? Not a chance. MLB needs to make a move. Either drop the ezone from the telecast, fans won’t like it, or go to ABS.

24. Dodgers in on Ian Kennedy

    This isn’t terribly surprising news, as every contending team is always interested in improving their pitching arsenal as the trade deadline approaches. What is surprising is that the Dodgers find themselves three games behind the Giants in the NL West, a team that few picked as division favorites at the start of the season. And that divisional alignment is at least somewhat attributable to the fact that the Dodgers have lost to the Giants by blowing ninth-inning leads the past two nights.

    Overall, the bullpen hasn’t been a glaring weakness for the club this year. The Dodgers’ relievers, as a whole, have an ERA of 3.73, the 10th best in the Majors. But they’ve also taken some hits lately, with Jimmy Nelson and Scott Alexander heading to the Injured List. David Price has also had to move from the bullpen to the rotation, in order to cover for the recent injury to Clayton Kershaw.

    For Kennedy, it seems to be a foregone conclusion that he will be changing jerseys in the coming week. He is a free agent at year’s end and is currently playing for a Rangers team that is 35-62, behind every team in the American League except the Orioles. Thus far, he’s pitched 31 1/3 innings for Texas, accumulating 15 saves with an ERA of 2.59. Advanced metrics are somewhat skeptical, with xERA, FIP and xFIP pegging him at 3.40, 3.80 and 3.88, respectively. But he has excellent strikeout and walk rates of 26.8% and 5.7%.

    Kenley Jansen has been the Dodgers closer for a decade now, and will probably continue in that role. But there are reasons for pessimism in his profile this year. Despite 21 saves, an ERA of 3.05 and a strikeout rate of 27.2%, Jansen has a ghastly walk rate of 16%, more than double his career rate. That’s probably why some advanced metrics think his ERA is a mirage, with xFIP placing him at 4.79 and SIERA at 4.56.

    It’s possible this is just small sample noise, since we’re only talking about 38 1/3 innings and Jansen’s Statcast profile still looks quite healthy. But since Jansen is in the last year of his contract and will be 34 years old by season’s end, the Dodgers don’t have to be invested in Jansen for the long term and could certainly pivot to an alternative such as Kennedy if they felt they had to.

    On the money side, Kennedy’s is playing on a salary of $2.15MM this year, leaving less than a million still to be paid out. The Dodgers don’t have to worry about tiptoeing under the luxury tax, since they’ve already blown past the top threshold of $250MM. (Roster Resource currently has their luxury tax calculation at $262MM.) But that means that they’re paying a whopping 62.5% tax on any additional salary they take on, which could make a modest contract like Kennedy’s more appealing than a costlier addition such as Craig Kimbrel, who is still owed over $6MM of his $16MM salary this year.

    Credit MLB Trade Rumours

25. Just go for Kenta Maeda and get ride of Bellinger.
    Enough of the same shit that Bellinger is “just starting his season” or “He had surgery” or keep waiting for him to “get back to his 2019 MVP form.”
    He has never been a great hitter and he never will be …
    Everything is:
    Grounded out to first
    Strike out
    Fly ball to RF
    Strike out
    Grounded out to first
    Oh wait… Grounded out to second
    Again strike out
    Grounded out to first
    Oh wait… Hit between first and second
    And then…. you understand.
    Every fucking day I read the same….

    1. Maeda is not having a very good year, 4-4 ERA over 4 . We have rode that horse before, and now it is a nag. No thanks. Maeda is not worth any prospects. And Jorge, they are not going to get rid of Bellinger. No way. He has just now barely played 40 games. His timing is off, he probably has lost a lot of confidence, but at least the last couple games he is at least getting the bat on the ball. He wasn’t even doing that a week ago. Patience grasshopper.

26. After last night’s awful game, I was absolutely convinced that the Dodgers will not win the NL West. To my amazement, the odds still favor the Dodgers, who are -250, to the Giants +175 It looks like a bargain, but the oddsmakers are sharp. However, I have read that they were overweighted on the Dodgers.

    My thought is that we will not win more than a game in SF, and that the rest of the season will just be “preparing” for the Wild Card game with San Diego. Not an optimistic prospect, as it looks like we do not have enough to win the pennant; and then we face next season with some very important players gone, and nothing much in the minors to be excited about. We could easily be the third best team in the division, and miss the playoffs for the next few years, looking at our prospective roster. Not enjoyable to contemplate. We had our window, and it stayed open at least partially because our division was so bad, but that is not the case now, and most of our key players are either near the end of their careers, or have injury issues.

    Obviously, I cannot suggest to the front office what to do, but I hope we make deals with a focus on building the best team for next season. We do need a starter, but it has to be someone whom we really want to have next season, too, not an innings filler type of guy. We absolutely need a closer, but a first-class one, not another person for Roberts to use erratically in his mix-and-match style. Someone who can close down a game at least most of the time, and in commanding fashion. That is what you usually need to win a title, and we have not had that for a few years; we managed to win one last year, even so, but it is rare, and we basically circumvented Jansen’s role.

    This Jansen aspect is an example of where the informed fans actually had a better perspective than they are given credit for. Kenley has not really been impressive for years. In 2019, despite saying that he remained the closer, Roberts did not use him in any crucial situation in the games against Washington. Last season, he was not a key bullpen piece, though he lost Game 4 of the World Series. During the offseason, many of us said that we absolutely needed to trade for or purchase a closer, as well as a top righthanded bat, but the closer was imperative. We got neither, and so the Dodgers went out there with Kenley again. He was better than last year, but rarely dominating. And now he has blown three straight saves, last night’s with a two run lead. The Dodgers gave the Giants only two total runs in the 16 innings prior to the ninth in the last two games, and then Jansen gave up eight runs total, ruining all the great efforts of Urias and Buehler.

    We like Kenley as a person, but this has become some kind of human interest saga, where they just feel compelled to not upset him. Roberts wanted everybody to know that this was not Kenley’s fault. Yes, Neuse did not make a good play by somehow not stretching to catch what would have been the last out. .Yes, the half-swing non-call was just wrong. But the fact is that it should never have gotten to that situation. Jansen actually got the first batter out, but then gave up a double, then loaded the bases. Then after the non-call, he gave up a two-run single, and that was the game. Great closers do not do that. All closers fail sometimes, some much less than others, but Jansen should never have been in that position this year, but somehow he has been. And it may be too late to do anything to salvage this now.

    So I blame Friedman for standing pat with Kenley, and I blame Roberts for continuing to be so protective of him, wanting to keep his confidence up. The issue is not confidence, it is velocity and movement, those don’t get fixed by just putting him out there. Of course, we do not really have a closer; Treinen is not what he was in Oakland, but is pitching better than Jansen. Kelly is interesting, but still erratic, liable to walk three batters in a row, like he did against Washington in the deciding playoff game; maybe one was a hit batter, same difference. Friedman did not adequately shore up the bullpen; picking up injured players like Nelson and Knebel was a low-risk way to try.

    So here we are, three games out, having to play three in SF soon, where they can make sure that we cannot rally to catch them.. And the rest of the season may be a slog where our playoff situation is already determined. I think that we should either make a big trade where we pick up someone who is a major piece, or let it go. Likely we will do something else, which is make a few deals for middling players who will help a bit, but not likely enough to change us from a Wildcard team to one with the home field advantage throughout the playoffs.

    1. Disagree about Kelly, you are referencing him with a cyst or whatever that was back then to today. They should give either him or Treinen a shot …… though that seems quite likely now.

27. I disagree, They will be having their best pitchers going the first two games in SF. Urias and Buehler, and as long as they stay away from Jansen, I feel they will feel some urgency and play a lot better. Max will be a new dad, and not be waiting for the child to be born, so he can concentrate fully on being the Giant killer he has been all year. Have faith brother. All will be revealed soon.

    1. I’ve calmed down from waking up pissed. Roberts is consistent. He f’d up last night, but nobody’s perfect. That mistake won’t be made again.

       Our replacement players are just that. 0 WAR or less players. I have no suggestion on how to fix that other than to get the varsity suited up and playing every night for the rest of the way.

       Sure, I’d like a lockdown closer. But is it really necessary? We put too much emphasis on that one inning. It’s just one inning. Aren’t we a “next man up” philosophy team? If you’ve got the lead it’s next man up. 7th, 8th and 9th. Who’s turn is it? Last night it was Bickford or Kelly’s turn. Or give them the 8th and let Treinen finish it. Or better yet, go 3 for 7 WRISP instead of 1 for 7 and make it a non save situation.

       This is a team sport. Relief pitchers are just 1 inning guys. When it’s their turn to pitch, let them pitch!

       Or go get help…..

28. Our old friend Rich Hill was just traded to the Mets from the Rays.

    1. I’ll always remember Hill for the comedy routine he did with Roberts. Hill: “I thought you WANTED me to come out of the game. I wanted to stay IN!”. Roberts: ” I thought you wanted to COME OUT. I would have left you IN” . Funny as hell Abbott Costello type routine.

    2. I just read that. He was traded for Tommy Hunter, who is on the IL and AA catcher Matt Dyer. Eric Sogard was DFA’d by the Cubs, opening a roster spot for Duffy, Matt who is coming off of the IL> Most pundits expect the Cubs to be very busy this next week trying to unload guys like Baez, who will not discuss an extension with them, Bryant, Kimbrel and even outfielder Jason Heyward, although they might have to pay down some of his contract. One Cub who is attractive to me is Rex Brothers who has struck out 58 in 36 innings and has a 1.17 WHIP. He would not cost a lot. And he is a better BP option than Alexander, Gonzalez or Cleavinger.

       1. My neighbor is a huge Cub fan. He told me his favorite player was Baez. Man that’s not going to go down easy with the fans if they unload him.

          1. Nope, just like Rockie fans were pissed about Arenado, difference is the Rocks paid 50 million to get rid of him, just like the Sox paid 36 mil to dump Price. And D-Backs fans were not thrilled with the Goldschmidt trade either. Rocks fans are already pissed that Story is also sure to leave.

             1. Oh you are right about Goldschmidt. A friend of mine was a huge Dback fan. And when they got rid of Goldschmidt he was so pissed that he has become a Cardinal fan.

             2. I have a friend in Arizona that can’t get over them trading Scherzer. They’ve made quite a few boneheaded moves. Must be the PHX heat.

29. Kenley Jansen has had bad luck, I know that, but here is all you need to know about it:

    Kenley Jansen has faced 14 batters the last two nights and retired just three! 3!

    1. I think that I would argue the opposite.

       I certainly haven’t watched every game, but the games that I have, it seems Jansen is most always in trouble……of his own making. Too many outs come on balls to the warning track, etc. Tough to have a closer that walks way too many, isn’t dominant at all, can’t hold a runner on for anything, and has to have mental roadblocks at this point.

       People can whine about the bad call, and it was a bad call, but the fact is Janson shouldn’t have been in that game, and should have never been in that game for as long as he was while Roberts stared wide-eyed (again) and it falling apart. Janson couldn’t even put away the kid up from AAA. Jansen also hugely benefitted from a poor call from the home plate ump as well. Wasn’t a game ender but still.

       Janson, and Roberts, blew the game. Period. Not the ump.

       Depending on what, if anything, happens at the deadline, I don’t even see a role for Jansen. He is somewhat of a crybaby at times and I feel he would be a problem WHEN they demote him.

30. How about that Dodger alum Kike’Hernandez tying that game with two outs in the ninth with a two-run double. I’ll always love Kike’no matter where he goes

    1. He has done some good things for the Sox, but he still is inconsistent although for the first time in quite a while he has his BA up around .240 . He has not been as good a defender in the infield as he was in LA> He already has 10 errors at second base. Face it, he was never going to get as much playing time in LA as he is getting in Boston.

       1. You know another guy I see because I watch the Reds games is Kyle Farmer. He’s really become pretty good shortstop and it’s been getting a lot of playing time. Hitting unfortunately a little inconsistent.

          1. Farmer will always have a warm place in my memory for that walk off double he hit down the line to beat the Giants his rookie year. I have fond memory’s of Kyle Garlick too who is battling injuries. Joc off to a rough start in Atlanta. But he is wearing # 22 to honor Kersh. We see the Braves pretty soon.

    2. I lost interest in Kike after how vocal he was ( and rightly so ) about the whole Astros debacle. Then when he goes to the Sox he says it was CORA that convinced him to go there. Seemed a bit hypocritical to me. I mean, even IF true, why would a former Dodger even reference that?

       1. I agree. I can’t even watch Boston while the ringleader, cheater, Cora is managing. He deserved a lifetime ban as far as I’m concerned. Same with Hinch and Detroit. Those bastards got off easy and I hope they lose every game.

31. Excellent points, Phil.
    Certainly this was a game of inches and a blown umpire call literally changed the outcome of the game. If the first base umpire makes the right call, the game is over. However, you can’t control bad calls, and good teams overcome them.
    The Dodgers have been terrible in close games this year, and their defense has been subpar. Neuse should have stretched more, and he has been a defensive liability this year, even though Roberts seems to think he is a defensive wizard. And Neuse defensive mistakes have cost them at least 2 other games this year. He booted an easy DP grounder against the Padres with a 7-1 lead that would have ended the 7th inning of a game that became a 8-7 loss. He also made an error against the Marlins that extended an inning that resulted in a 3 run HR in a 3-2 loss to the Marlins. And even on Wednesday night he was at 3B in the ninth inning when Flores hit a grounder down the line that Neuse bobbled but was called foul. At the time the foul call seemed like a break, until Flores proceeded to homer in the at bat off Jansen. And last night, after Neuse caught the ball, it looked like he may have lost track of the outs as he looked home after the out call.
    But in addition to Neuse not stretching, other Dodger mistakes on that play were made. Taylor did not charge the ball and took his time fielding. Taylor also should have known that the runner on first would have a big lead, and the better play was probably first. Justin Turner made a futile attempt at the ball and then did not cover third base which would have been an easy option for Taylor also. And as always Kenley’s slow delivery allowed the runner to get a huge jump and beat the throw.
    A lot of mistakes on a potential game ending play by several players. And the Dodgers not doing the little things well, has been a problem most of the year.

    1. Yep. Well said. This is not a good defensive club. Never has been really. Our thing is to put up mercy rule numbers. But we need Mookie, Seager and Bellinger to do that consistently.

       Bellinger has looked lost most of the year. He hits with 2 strikes damm near every at bat. But I stick with him. He’s an integral part of our Blind Squirrel Squad. He’ll find his nuts eventually.

       Mookie. Is he finished? Hip injuries in athletes can be consequential career course careeners. Roberts said an IL stint is “certainly a possibility.” Gulp. Seager. Hims pinkie still hurts. Cowboy up Corey.

       Hey Bum, want to trade Corey for Gleyber? Gleyber OPSd over 1.000 this past week.

       Gleyber. Sounds like a Mayberry character.

       1. No.

32. From The Athletic:

    The Dodgers entered Thursday ranked third in defensive efficiency, the simple measure of being able to convert balls in play into outs. Their defense has largely been sound but vulnerable to some rather notable flubs, like Thursday, when they had the game won until they didn’t.

    1. Ranked third but subject to notable flubs.

       Again, not a good defensive club.

       1. Exactly. One of those places where the optics say the stats do not tell the whole story. As in “you only eff up when it really counts”. No way to measure that, but the optics scream it out.

33. My new attitude to the Dodgers is really simple. I don’t need to to know how great your record is. Or who is out for what reason . Or so and so isn’t hitting because. No , I just want to know WHAT DID YOU DO LAST NIGHT? DID YOU WIN?

    1. Well Arizona won their last game!

34. Just read an interesting story on ESPN .com. MLB will begin testing a pitcher-catcher communication device in the California league next month. It would make hand signals obsolete and lessen the chance of stealing signs or location. The device will be worn on the catchers wrist, like the little card they use to decide how to pitch a certain hitter, and will be available in Spanish and English versions. The pitchers receiver is designed to fit in the liner in his cap. Will be very interesting to see how this works. MLB thinks it will shorten the time between pitches, and speed up the game.

    1. How does that quicken things up? Sometimes I think MLB is run by guys who never played the game.

35. Mets To Acquire Rich Hill From Rays
    By Steve Adams | July 23, 2021 at 11:41am CDT

    The Mets have reached a deal to acquire lefty Rich Hill in a trade with the Rays, tweets Jon Heyman of MLB Network. Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports that the Mets will send veteran righty Tommy Hunter (currently on the injured list) and minor league catcher/infielder Matt Dyer to Tampa Bay in the swap (Twitter links). MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo first reported (via Twitter) that the two sides had engaged in discussions, and Fansided’s Robert Murray reported that a deal was close. The trade is pending medical reviews of the players involved.

    1. I am surprised that the Dodgers did not try and get Rich Hill, but he has about 100 innings and 135 is the most he has pitched in the last 18 years.

36. What a weird, wacky season so far. There’s some bizarro world traits to it. The 2nd tier guys are either playing at expectations (Turner, Smith) or exceeding them (Pollack, Muncy, Taylor). Prior to the season, if you’d have told me the 2nd tier guys – which have tended to be a little up and down in the past – would be performing as they have been, I’d have figured we’d be threatening the Seattle record for most wins. On the flip side, the superstars – the guys that are supposed to be steady, dependable – have been anything but.

    When you purportedly have three of them on offense, maybe one of them has a down year once in awhile. All three at once is bizarre, and (aside from the mass injuries) I believe the true culprit of why the team isn’t meeting expectations. There’s a Friedman quote I’ll always remember coming off the Boston W.S. loss (paraphrasing), “we feel we’ve built a deep, balanced, and talented roster filled with good players. What we’re missing are great players.” A few years later, we capture a title based strongly on the play of Belli, Mookie, Seager who all played like superstars last October. Now, they’re nowhere to be found. Bless Turner and Muncy, who are trying their best to replicate the same effect, but it’s not the same thing. Those guys are respected leaders for sure, but I don’t believe they inspire hope or confidence the way the trifecta can. I think it’s that production and presence gap that is our main issue.

    If they return to form before the end of the season, then maybe we can make things interesting in the post season. Unfortunately, all three returning to form this season or ever again may be a pipe dream. Seems a pessimistic view, considering they’re all 28 and younger in the prime of their careers. Yet, this level of MVP drop off with Bellinger is unprecedented and Seagers litany of injuries at ages when his body should be the strongest and healthiest it will ever be, is unsettling. I am optimistic with Mookie, but hip injuries are one of the scariest injuries to have. Pragmatically, just having one return to form could make a huge difference. All three is a luxury and a dynasty maker. I think the objective view, is we’re a little like those pre 2019 Dodgers teams void of a great offensive player. A good team that can make some noise in the post season if a lot goes right. A lot going right would be quite the bizarro scenario for this season though.

37. Great post Jeff. What a great comrpehensive, well researched list of potential pitching help. Thanks for taking the time and effort.
    * We have a lot of pitching needs and it dawns on me that it’s compounded by what a dip-shit Bauer is for getting us farther into this situation. I’m not commenting on his quilt or innocence, but on the poor judgement on stuff he has admitted to. Thanks Trevor, I hope it was worth it.

    * I actually thought Badger might mention this but he didn’t. But I will. Bottom of 2 Orel talked specifically about Bellinger’s head movement on the pitch, especially the head dropping. He offered a visual comparison to JT. I’m not trying to get folks to think I’m smart but I have been pointing that out for a very long time. In fact I’ve never heard that mentioned by anyone else until last night. Just recently, Badger and I were comparing thoughts on his hitting. Badger has great ideas and focus on his bucket foot and my thoughts on a moving head dip. So, maybe a couple of old coaches really do have some clue on how to hit. The fact that he refuses to change, cut down and go the other way and God forbid, bunt the ball is another story. Anyone remember Mantle’s remedy for breaking a slump?
    * Interesting play on the ball over McKinney’s head in right. He picks up the ball looking for a normal cut guy to be in a normal position. Instead due to Muncy playing rover in shallow right, Muncy followed the ball and ended up about 30 feet from McKinney who was so startled he spiked the throw. It looks ridiculous for McKinney but no way would he expect Muncy to be there. Muncy probably has to retreat in that scenario of just run out of the pictures to allow a normal cut-off throw. Just another by-product of a the shift, which I really hate.
    * Another interesting call by the announcers on the Bunt rule. Walker jerked he bat back on a bunt attempt for strike 3. The announcers said he didn’t pull his bat back in time. The fact is you don’t have to pull the bat back, ever. The hitter just has to NOT make an attempt to bunt the ball. Where the bat is doesn’t matter. That’s a rule that the announcers and fans get wrong every time.
    So I was intrigued by the conversation about how our deep minor league system has offered immediate help to the Big Club due to injuries mostly. Some of the replacements have replaced other replacements. I haven’t taken on the pitchers yet. That’s a bigger job.
    So I began with our starting lineup day 1 with CT3, Barnes. McKinstry and Beaty who I figured would be on the opening day roster. I added Pujols now as a platoon starter. I took the rest of the players we’ve seen come up and down as position players and compiled their offensive stats.
    We’ve had these replacement players in 133 games. They include 8 guys: Burns, Neuse, Tsutsugo, Raley, Reks, Peters, Sousa and Rios who I didn’t know what to do with. I think we had some hope that one of these guys would step up and seize an opportunity to earn a spot in the near future of draw attention from another organization. It hasn’t happened. Nobody with 10 ASB’s has hit over .200. The combined BA of this group of prospects is .149 in the ig Leagues. Even if you include Beaty and McKinstry’s 72 hits, it’s still .201 for that group. Not 1 has really stepped up. That’s why you see guys get PT from guys like McKinney.
    So, I guess we could all speculate some things:
    * None of these guys were ready for the Bigs (despite some in their mid 20’s
    * It’s too small of a sample size for many and they need more opportunity
    * The players were collectively overrated and therefore the depth in the Minors
    I actually could have guessed these stats pretty closely from the eye test without actual numbers and doing all the research. You can draw your own conclusions.
    I may take on all the pitchers we’ve gone through, all 27 of them, but the eye test works here too. While inconsistent, we’ve had some nice relief pitching, Kj excluded the last 2 nights. The bullpen has been very good considering all the stress of having 2 starters now, bullpen games and the groups being overworked. That will get much worse if we don’t get some guys back, Price and Gonzo stepping up or through a trade, which 2D2 has pointed out. This bullpen game stuff isn’t sustainable. We all know that.
    * It will be an interesting decision. Do we go for it sort of blindly or does AF try to keep valuable prospects in a year where breaking the bank may be unwise. I think Mookie is the key answer to that question long term as well as CK.
    Sorry for all the rambling.

    1. That was fun.

       I didn’t have the exact stats but I assumed our replacement players added up to 0 WAR. I consider McKinstry a bench player. The rest of those guys can go.

       I think you may want to revisit that third strike rule. The batter must, in the umpires judgment, intentionally meet the ball with the bat, causing it to become foul to be considered a third strike. 509 (a)(4). Otherwise, great post. Love reading your stuff. I’d be your bench coach any time.

       1. On your advice Badger I did review the rule on what constitutes a bunt or bunt attempt. Here’s what I found but I can find the specific passage in the rule book itself.
          509 (a)(8) says that the batter is out if he bunts foul on a third strike. I know that one. I don’t think I explained my thought very well. I’m referring to what constitutes a bunt attempt, strike 3 or otherwise. If Buehler fouled the ball off than this doesn’t matter but I didn’t see that he fouled off the ball and the pitch was out of the strike zone I thought.. I might have missed that.
          But what most people don’t realize on any count is that there must be an attempt by the batter to contact the ball. He can put the bat over the plate and make no attempt at contact and the pitch is in the zone and a strike or out and a ball. The batter does not have to pull the bat back.
          Bunt Ruling Called Balls and Strikes
          Officially, it’s a ball if a batter holds the bat over the plate, the ball is outside the strike zone, and the batter makes no movement indicating an attempt to contact the ball. If the ball is inside the strike zone, it is a strike whether the batter attempts to contact the ball or not.

          2.00 A BUNT is a batted ball not swung at, but intentionally met with the bat and tapped slowly within the infield.

          2.00 A STRIKE is a legal pitch when so called by the umpire, which:

          a) Is struck at by the batter and is missed;

          b) Is not struck at, if any part of the ball passes through any part of the strike zone;

          So, there is intent required in both definitions, AND if there is no attempt, and it was not in the strike zone, it is a “ball”.

          Myth:

          If the batter does not pull the bat out of the strike zone while in the bunting position, it’s an automatic strike. A batter must make an attempt to contact the ball with the bat (to “offer” at the pitch) for a pitch that is out of the strike zone to be called a strike. In the bunt position, a pitch that does not pass through the strike zone, and which is not offered at, is a called ball. If in the strike zone, it is a called strike if not offered at, or a “swinging” strike if offered at whether in the strike zone or not. The defense may appeal if the plate umpire calls a ball and the defense believe the ball was offered at. Definitions (strike)
          So, since I saw the ball out of the zone and not fouled off (I might be wrong on both) Walker didn’t have to pull yje bat back for the pitch to be a ball.
          I love these conversations Badger

          1. Yeah me too.

             I umpired a few years up in NorCal and never saw that happen. If I had, I wouldn’t have called strike three. No attempt was made. It’s the same as if he bails and it hits his bat. No attempt.

38. The Cleveland Guardians of the Galaxy
    

39. The Indianapolis Indians have no plans to change their name. They told me that they have had a few Karens complain, but that the support for keeping the name Indians has been overwhelming!

    I just bought 5 Rows of 10 Box seats for a company outing for $700 in August. Best ticket in town.

40. I will call them INDIANS. Nothing wrong with that

    1. I think they prefer American Indian or Native American. I doubt they much give a damm what a bunch of Indiana crackers call a minor league baseball team.

       1. Hey, where’s the outrage? You’re gonna let me get away with that?

          I’m disappointed.

          Karens. Crackers. Shoe. Other foot.

41. Just to show you I’m still here, I will say, losing the last two has hurt….a lot. So I’m glad i am able to chat with my fellow Montreal Canadiens friends about all that is going on with the NHL.

    I don’t like to talk much after a loss, especially gut wrenching last inning losses…..I get no comfort in reliving the anguish. But I will add my two cents on last night’s loss while I am here:

    I blame Robert’s more than Jansen. KJ threw a lot of pitches the night before and again last night. He should have gotten him out of there with 2 outs and us up 3-2. Also, our 2B, who is not really a 2B, didn’t help, as well as the umps. So, I’m not wanting to crucify KJ over that one. But I will conclude this topic with this….we ain’t winning any playoff series if KJ is our closer.

    I do wonder one thing….Did Doc make the call in the WS to not use Jansen to close and to use Urias instead ….or was he following orders? Doc’s use of bullpen guys to me is where he is most found wanting.

    Lastly, Cody Bellinger….too bad he couldn’t catch the ball hit over his head. He can’t hit, so I was hoping he could do something spectacular in the outfield. Oh well, I guess not. The dude did it hit it pretty well.

    Hopefully I can return tomorrow after a win.
    TM

    1. A totally disgusting ending at the ballpark last night. I really couldn’t believe it when Roberts put Kenley into the game. I am so fed up with dumbsh*t DR that I told myself last night I would not come back to the stadium this year if he is still our manager. I have repeated this many times that he is not capable of leading this team going forward. He has shown over the course of his tenure with our team that he is clueless in managing a pitching staff….especially our bullpen. I don’t want to hear from any of the roberts supporters out there….that is if there are any left…that anybody can justify bringing Kenley into the game last night. Because if you do you are 100% wrong and are just as stupid as Dumbsh*t roberts. Unfortunately, I now have the feeling that this is just not going to be our year to make a solid run in the playoffs with a manager that continues to make poor decisions. Friedman should be looking for a change of the manager position instead of making roster changes….we have plenty of talent inhouse just not the right leader!!

       1. While I agree with most if not all of what you said, it’s pretty hard to fire a manager who just won the WS.

          1. Although plenty have been fired after losing it, and Roberts is only 1-2.

          2. you are probably right so I guess if I want to watch Dodger baseball any more this year it will be from my living room. I don’t think I will miss the hour to hour and a half drive to the ballpark. I am so frustrated that it doesn’t do me any good to continue to second guess the decisions of the POS manager in person….at least I can just turn the TV off. I was once hopeful but now facing reality that this isn’t our year.

             Wow what a lineup tonight….could it be any worse????

42. I am not too knowledgeable about the career of Ian Kennedy, but I recall him throwing at our hitters when he was at Arizona. He was with San Diego, other teams. He had potential as a starter which he never reached. Now he is in the bullpen for a bad team. His stats are pretty good, but does not seem to be anything near a top closer status, nor is he that consistent. He would come here and maybe have a few good games, and people would get excited, and then he would have some bad ones. And then we would have him next year, as an excuse for not having a top closer. I don’t want the bargain shopping for a closer, we need someone who can come in and consistently hold a lead in the ninth inning. If we added Kennedy and then maybe Iglesias or Kimbrel, that might do something to save our shot at a championship.

43. Another Ex-Dodger was DFA’d today. Jose De Leon was once, I believe, in the top ten Dodger prospects not too long ago( 5-6 years ago). He was traded for Logan Forsythe. He has had a lot of injuries so perhaps AF would be interested.

    1. He was in the Dodgers Top 5 at one point. I saw him pitch in Lancaster and he was electric. He gave up a first inning HR to Brett Phillips (yes that Brett Phillips), and then shut them down. He was awesome that night. He quickly became a favorite for me. I was ecstatic when he made his MLB debut on September 4, 2016 at Dodger Stadium against San Diego. Just by chance, I was in LA for the Labor Day weekend visiting friends, and when I learned Jose was starting, I bought tickets, and was at the game. Again by chance we were several rows directly behind his parents (Jose and Ady), and they were so proud, and the fans around them were so happy for them. As it turned out, Jose got the win going 6 innings. I just checked, he pitched 6.0 innings, 86 pitches, 4 runs (3 earned), 9 Ks, and 0 BBs. BTW, KJ got the save that day (his 41st).

       When he was traded to Tampa Bay for Logan Forsythe, I admit, it hurt. I do not think I felt more attached to a MiLB player other than my son. I was following Caleb Ferguson intently in 2016, and he soon thereafter filled that role for me. I know it is not healthy getting attached to MiLB players. Most never make it. De Leon and Ferguson did.

    2. He was released hours ago.

44. I think Kennedy is a good choice. He’s seasoned, pitching well, hasn’t thrown a lot of innings the last 3 years. Ok. Make it so.

    Now, we need a starter.

45. I think the last three games that Kenley has pitched have probably convinced Andrew, once and for all, that Kenley should not be invited back. With that in mind, unless they decide that Treinen will be next year’s closer, they need to try to get someone now that will also be under control for at least another year.

    Kimbrel fits that description, as does Rodriguez of the Pirates, but there are others that we may not have even thought about, who might be available and who now pitch for teams who won’t be competitive for the next two or three years. That’s where you can pay prospects for a closer, depending upon exactly how much AF is willing to give up.

    Kennedy and Iglesias are both free agents this year so unless they would be resigned, would not help going forward.

    1. I like Ian Kennedy. He is a good option for a rental. 15 saves against 1 blown save. Altuve beat him. He’s done that to a lot of closers; some without cheating. The Dodgers could do far worse. Josh Hader was automatic until July, where he has 2 losses, 1 save, and 1 blown save (his one and only). Besides, Kennedy is a Trojan. How can I not root for him. It might as well be as a Dodger.

       Craig Kimbrel is about as automatic as they come. He does have three losses, but all were extra innings with a runner starting on 2nd. 22 saves against 2 blown saves; none since May 15. His first blown save was against the LAD when Max Muncy hit a game tying HR with one out in the 7th inning of the 2nd game of a DH in early May.

       35.1 IP, 12 Hits, 6 runs (2 earned), 12 walks, 61 strikeouts, and one HR (to Max Muncy). He has inherited 12 runners and none have scored. 0.51 ERA and 0.679 WHIP.

       He is going to be expensive in both $$$ and prospects. But he IS a difference maker. AF may have to outbid both Preller and Zaidi, but you cannot invest $250MM this year and not go for it. Git ‘er done.

       1. I’ve always liked Kimbrel. Always wanted the Dodgers to get him.

          1. Eric, the problem is, so does everyone else. What is it going to cost? I think we are going to find out that cost in the next 8 days. I am guessing that the Cubs are going to force teams to keep bidding until 1:00 PM next Friday.

             1. I think you are right.

             2. As I mentioned a few days ago, in a game of chicken I always expect Preller to bid the highest. Maybe things have changed a bit since he’s traded so many of his prospects, but it appears as though LA, SD and SF are all in about the same spot with their farm systems, so it will just come down to who wants a guy like Kimbrel the most. And of course Dave D. in Philly isn’t to be ignored either.

                You mentioned Graveman above and I know we’re both fans of his. I guess Seattle’s decision on whether to sell might also come down to Thurs/Fri. This is sure setting up to be the wildest deadline in many years. We may be disappointed if a lot of the teams on the cusp just stay there through the end of the month and decide not to trade their guys.

46. Not sure if this was posted – TB trial gonna drag (not that we’re not surprised) – need get another SP

    **The news involving Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer and the sexual assault allegations he’s been accused of took a step forward today. Bauer and his representation had their day in court on Friday as they argued his side for the first time in an ex parte hearing. The hearing is to determine whether or not a temporary restraining order obtained by the woman with which he had multiple sexual encounters will stay in force.

    What we’ve learned so far is that the hearing is expected to last “two to three days” but those days will be spread out over several weeks. The court was recessed at about 2:10 pm PT on Friday with the hearing set to resume on the morning of August 2nd at 8:30 am. August 3rd and 19th are scheduled as well

47. I would kick around with Friedman and his staff the idea of trading Bellinger to Seattle for Lewis. And, if Mookie were out for the year, then I would also kick around adding Hanager. The latter could cost the Dodgers another good young player.

    It has been assumed that Scherzer would not waive his no-trade clause without getting an extension but his agent recently said that might not be the case. I would think if the Nationals told him they would compete to sign him as a free agent before trading him that Scherzer, knowing he could return to his Washington home in 2022, would be willing to live in a 5 star hotel for a few months in exchange to an opportunity to win a ring. But, if he wants a 2 year contract extension as part of a trade to the Dodgers, all the better. Bye Ruiz.

    The Phillies have been rumored to be willing to exceed the payroll penalty line and want rotation and closer help. Welcome Kenley to the City of Brotherly Love.

    Lewis
    Seager
    Turner
    Muncy
    Hanager
    Smith
    Lux
    Pollock

    1. The Phillies would jump all over that.

       1. If Kenly and Belli were traded and Roberts fired, this site might be rendered mute.

    2. Need get back more for Belli – never sell low !

48. I’d drive KJ to airport !!! 🙂 🙂 🙂

    1. He can HAVE my Durango as long as he points it east & keeps going.

49. Tonight’s very weak lineup:

    SS Taylor
    RF McKinney
    3B Turner
    C Smith
    CF Bellinger
    LF Pollock
    1B Beaty
    2B McKinstry
    P Price

    1. Considering the pitcher they are facing, it won’t matter much. Gonzalez is a slug.

50. In order to acquire a 41 year old Boomstick, Tampa Bay traded two Top 17 prospects in arguably the deepest and best farm system in MLB. RHSP Joe Ryan (age 25) was the Rays #10 and RHSP Drew Strotman (age 24) was the Rays #17. Both were starting at AAA (Durham) and had good numbers. Ryan is now #6 prospect for Twins, while Strotman is #13 prospect. The Rays also received a 25 year old lottery catcher in the deal. That is what the Twins received for Nelson Cruz. The Rays did this early to keep the price down. Apparently the Pads were going hard for Cruz. What will it take to get Jose Berrios? Kenta Maeda? Taylor Rogers? from the Twins? What is Joey Gallo going to cost, who is not a rental? Starling Marte, who is a rental?

    Both SF and SD are discussing Joey Gallo. Giants are very interested in Starling Marte.

    LAD has 3 consensus Top 100:
    Keibert Ruiz – 41 (MLB), 39 (BA), 61 (Fangraphs)
    Josiah Gray – 42 (MLB), 52 (BA), 21 (Fangraphs)
    Michael Busch – 81 (MLB), 67 (BA), 99 (Fangraphs)
    Other Non-consensus (4):
    Diego Cartaya – 87 (BA), 115 (Fangraphs)
    Bobby Miller – 99 (BA)
    Andy Pages – 112 (Fangraphs)
    Jacob Amaya – 117 (Fangraphs)

    SD has 4 consensus Top 100:
    MacKenzie Gore – 6 (MLB), 33 (BA), 30 (Fangraphs) – LHSP
    CJ Abrams (8) (MLB), 6 (BA), 4 (Fangraphs) – 2B
    Luis Campusano 31 (MLB), 59 (BA), 20 (Fangraphs) – C
    Robert Hassell – 46 (MLB), 45 (BA), 76 (Fangraphs) – CF
    Other Non-consensus – NONE

    SF has 3 consensus Top 100:
    Marco Luciano – 12 (MLB), 8 (BA), 6 (Fangraphs) – SS
    Joey Bart – 17 (MLB), 25 (BA), 65 (Fangraphs) – C
    Heliot Ramos – 63 (MLB), 64 (BA), 46 (Fangraphs) – RF
    Other Non-consensus (5):
    Hunter Bishop – 65 (MLB) – CF
    Seth Corry – 84 (MLB) – LH Middle Inning Reliever
    Kyle Harrison – 84 (BA) – LHSP
    Luis Matos – 94 (Fangraphs) – CF
    Gregory Santos – 96 (Fangraphs) – RH Middle Inning Reliever – Currently suspended by MLB (80 games) for PED

    AJ Preller has already intimated that he is not going to move any of San Diego’s top 4. He is willing to package a quantity deal with the next tier of prospects.

    Apparently, for SFG, Joey Bart is the most likely top prospect to be available. I do not follow the Giants farm system very well, but they have certainly built up the farm and have a good number of Tier 2 players they can package. Bart is considered a better prospect than Ruiz. His numbers this year at AAA:
    .321/.383/.553/.936. Keibert – .293/.367/.582/.949. Extremely comparable. Both play in a hitters park. Bart is rated a potential GG catcher.

    IMO, LAD will have to be overwhelmed to part with any of their top 5. But Andy Pages and Jacob Amaya could be in play. Outside of maybe Ryan Pepiot and Miguel Vargas, I would think that all Tier 2 prospects would be in play. The Dodgers (40) have more players with a Fangraphs FV grade of 40 and above than SD (27), or SF (36). So they potentially have more prospect capital they can leverage.

    Do the Dodgers need Kody Hoese, Miguel Vargas, Brandon Lewis, and Alex De Jesus, all 3B (although De Jesus is still playing SS)? They have 12 RHP in their top 30. They are not all going to play for LAD. AF needs to be smart, but he does have capital to expend.

    1. Keith Law came out with an updated Top 50 Prospect List yesterday and he’s included some players from the recent draft. Dodgers had one player in the top 50, Cartaya. No Ruiz, no Gray.

       You say that Bart is rated a potential GG catcher. I always thought that they were concerned about his catching skills. As a matter of fact they drafted Patrick Bailey last year, supposedly because they weren’t sure they wanted to keep Bart at catcher. And now they’re letting it be known that he could be had in a trade, so I’m not sure that a little bloom hasn’t come off that rose.

       1. They like Bailey very much. It is now presumed that SFG is going to exercise Buster Posey’s option or get a two to three year extension to bring Bailey along slowly. Some in the organization believe that Bart was rushed which led to some of his defensive woes at the MLB level. He is not having those problems In Sacramento. I think he has thrown out 28% of base stealers, and is now being praised for blocking balls, handling the pitchers, and calling a good game. Bart will be a big ticket target for teams in a rebuild or who desperately need ML ready catching. Washington desperately need catching. Scherzer????

51. Kenley Jansen is still a good closer compared to most out there at the moment, what happens is that we compare him with the old Kenley of a few years ago when he was the best and that is unfair even for Kenley himself, that was a HOF level closer.
    It will be difficult to find someone of great quality to replace him for the remainder of the season. When they hired Knebel it was obvious that in the course of the season he was going to take over the role, it was insurance, and there is always the possibility of Treinen, I prefer that to bring Kennedy, Kennedy is not the solution to the problem.
    I’m not concerned with pitching or offense, what concerns me is defense and the inability of pitchers to avoid the SB which is also part of the defensive game.

    1. 3 blown saves in a row and one with having ONE STRIKE to end the game 3 times is not better than ANY kind of most. Kenley has been dodging bullets to get where he is stat wise, WAY too many walks. Cannot hold a runner to 2nd OR 3rd most times and never has. He HAS TO BE the Kenley of old for those reasons and more. It did not used to matter whether he could do those things, as he had been mostly a 3 and out guy. Not even close to true this year even in his saves IMO. AND he is not post season material either. He has FOUR blown saves in World Series games to boot.

       1. I’m not worried about Jansen he won’t be the closer in October, oh and I prefer the insider options, Treinen or Knebel, for the closer role than something like Kennedy; If they are going to go for external help they have to go for superior talent and at the moment Krimbel is the best option that will be very difficult to get and it will also be expensive; if not Krimbel then I prefer a combination of Treinen and Knebel.

    2. Kenley is still a good closer…..are you kidding me??? What Kool-aid have you been drinking? I would like to know what he has on Roberts? I would like to drop both of them off the pier in HB and hope they can’t find their way to the shore!! I am very concerned with all of the above….pitching….offense…..defense….manager!!!

52. Article in ESPN.com about how badly the Angels have been treating their minor leaguers. Conditions so bad, some players have retired or are contemplating retirement. One player said that 6 of them were living in a 3 bedroom apt, sleeping on the floor on mattress’s. Another said the pay was so low that they could not eat right and some players lost as much as 5 pounds in a week.

53. Brandon Lewis another home run tonight with the Loons. That is seven in his last eight games

    Jonny Deluca debuted with the Loons tonight. Has a single and home run in his first three at bats.

    James Outman debuted with the Drillers. Has a two-run single in his first AA at bat.

    1. At OKC, Keibert Ruiz has hit two more HRs tonight to give him 15, tied with Matt Davidson for the team lead. Souza Jr. hit his 7th. DJ Peters and Cristian Santana hit back to back 2 out doubles off Pedro Baez. Baez should be ready for LAD when the Cheaters play in LA first week in August.

       1. Okay, Ruiz had three HRs tonight and 16 for the year. He went 4-4 with 5 RBIs. In addition to Souza’s 7th, Reks got his 10th. Keibert now has a 1.026 OPS.

54. Nunez and Graterol recalled, Muncy to paternity list, and Cleavinger optioned back to OKC.

55. Quite a bit of chatter about NYY interest in Trevor Story. Trevor Story to NYY just makes too much sense.

    1. I read about that too. I wonder what the Yanks might have that would interest the Rockies. The Kennedy rumor seems to be gaining some legs. But as always AF is as tight lipped as ever. Won’t get to watch the game. Rockies blacked out in this area.

    2. Jeff, did you see Blake Harris’s blockbuster trade suggestion this morning at True Blue LA? Does it make any sense to you? It more or less did to me. Bryant, Davies and Kimbrel end up here.

       1. I did not, but I will look at it. Bryant, Davies, and Kimbrel would certainly qualify as a blockbuster.

56. A little more than a week ago the narrative was that it was unfair that Jansen was not in the ASG, some put the numbers and made comparisons with Melancon and that Jansen deserved it more, today after a little more than a week some want him to be go to Curaçao, there is no doubt that baseball is a very difficult game, baseball is hard !!!

57. I t appears that the cure for Belli is to face Chi Chi Gonzalez.

    1. He owns Chi Chi..just pretend every pitcher is Chi Chi, problem solved. Pirates up 3-1 on Giants in the 3rd.

       1. I decided to wear my #35 jersey before the game. I think I am going to keep wearing it.

58. Bauer’s hearing postponed until August 2nd.

    1. It could stretch out even further.

       I don’t know if Price is looking good or the Rockies are looking bad. Both I guess.

       1. Exactly, but his pitches have been in good locations except the HR ball to Diaz. They are celebrating the 81 team on Sunday. Monday has been talking about it a lot on the radio. Looks like only Lopes from the record setting infield is not attending. Darrell Thomas will be there. Maybe he can teach Belli the Basket catch. I think the Bauer mess is going to stretch deep into August.

59. Yes Price looks good, being efficient. Hope we don’t see KJ in the 9th to spoil it all.
    ( yes still feeling ugly )

60. Ruiz has 3 HR’s tonight for OKC.

61. Bellinger with 2 extra base hits tonight, one of them, a triple off of a lefty.

62. Tulsa threw a 4 pitcher combined no-no tonight.
    Clayton Beeter – 2.0
    Bobby Miller – 5.0
    Jacob Cantleberry – 1.0
    Cameron Gibbens – 1.0

    1. Cool. Pirates up 6-3 on the Gnats in the top of the 8th.

    2. You mean Great Lakes Jeff

63. F’en Roberts and his analytics !!!!!

64. Graterol comes in and gives up a run, Nunez in now. Bellinger pulled. Muncy’s have a baby girl. Max will rejoin the Dodgers on Tuesday. Giant game now in the 9th. Game tied, and run charged to Graterol as the pen blows another lead. Can’t blame Jansen for this one. Nunez picks off McMahon. Smith, Neuse and Pollock due up in the bottom of the 8th. Giant game is in the bottom of the 9th. Belli removed for hammy tightness

    1. Great he can’t hit and now he can’t stay on the field

       1. He hit pretty good tonight and scored 2 runs, drove in another. And tightness is something they all have now and then. Little early to even know his status for tomorrow.

65. So far I’m not enamored with Nunez I think he needs a little more seasoning he can’t handle big pressure situations in the major leagues

    1. Not on Nunez, Graterol was the one who allowed the runs and the runners.

       1. Still not enamored with Nunez

66. Giants lose. 6-4. McKinstry grounds out weakly to end the threat. This is maddening.

67. The ballyhooed Dodger depth was fake news.

    1. What depth?

68. That just sucked. Bullpen has been nothing short of crappy. Lousy pitch. If this holds, they will lose ground to the Padres, but not to the Giants. What is most frustrating, and pisses fans off the most, they have had multiple chances to gain ground on the Giants and lost every time. You give up a HR to a guy hitting .130???? wow. Just really bad pitching.

69. But Nunez reminds Doc that he’s a little Aroldis Chapman….hyperbole much Doc. SMH!

70. Bullpen more like the bullshit pen
    Give Eric his props

71. Dodger 9th…Barnes will PH< then Taylor and McKinney. Not exactly striking fear in the heart of the Rockies closer.

    1. Those guys got it done. It was Smith, Neuse, and AJ who could not.

       1. Yep, that was just frippen pitiful. Smith was over anxious.

72. I want to hear again how great this LAD bullpen is. Nine in the pen and only Treinen and Kelly are reliable. And who knows if Kelly is even available. I still do not think VGon is healthy. Graterol and Nunez are just not ready. As I said above Graterol throws hard, he just does not know how to pitch yet. Right now Alex Vesia has to be considered a high leverage late inning option. Who else?

    BTW, this plate umpire is just horrible.

    1. Yes he is. Neuse not ready for prime time. By the way LA is 1-9 in extra innings. Not very inspiring.

73. Pathetic! Bases loaded and nobody out and we can’t win this game! Please enough of Noisey. Whatever it takes to lose!

    1. It was worse than pathetic. And now they are behind again. With another runner in scoring position. Monday lamenting on the lack of crisp play by the Dodgers. Need to keep this at one run or they are going to lose again. Well that is the nail in the coffin. I am shutting this crap off.

       1. Without a huge come back it’s lost. WTF
          It seems whenever they score early they lay down after that it’s become a trend. It just makes me sick to my stomach

          1. If this isn’t a shit show it will sure do till the real shit show gets here

74. This season is over! Can’t stand to watch this shit show any longer!

75. The infamous Dodger depth just sucks! Both on the mound and at the plate!

76. Yup, we can lose even without Jansen.
    Seems easy enough.

77. Yep, this is one great bullpen. Along with the great clutch hitting, the Dodgers are now a game and a half ahead of the Padres. The Dodgers are now 1-10 in Xtra inning games. Stellar pen. That along with the stellar clutch hitting, this team is ready to roll. 4 for 15 wRISP.

78. “Season is over” Oh contraire Cassidy… I need the math, thus I will suffer during the interim…
    I’m pissed, disappointed etc. etc.
    LAD health issues have me mumbling to myself… Wife is concerned… She’s afraid a Corona and a horizontal mirror will show up… Thank God she never saw me during my dark days..
    We can’t seem a catch a break, like maybe a set line up… Many of these guys are just not ready for the bigs …

79. Last 6 games: 1w – 5L, all games lost by bullpen.
    Another thing that lousy defensive player is Mckinstry, it hurts the eyes to see him play defense

    1. Guardians beat out Spiders, I guess. Spiders was a cool and historic name, but kind of odd. I can imagine Cleveland really doesn’t want to be identified with arachnids. (For a long time I had no idea why the LA Dodgers were called the Dodgers. At least I knew why the Lakers were the Lakers.)
       I’m not sure why the Rock & Roll Museum is in Cleveland, but I could have imagined Rockers, though games with the Rockies might have been confusing.
       Still, I think Riverflames would have been great, given the history of the Cuyahoga. It’s caught fire about a dozen times.
       Oh well.
       Just don’t feel like discussing the Dodgers right now….

80. Just another fine job by our POS manager who obviously doesn’t know how use his roster to put the right players in position for us to win the close games, SOS different day!!

    What a trade we made. We pick up a OF McKinney from the Mets who is hitting around 200 and we bat him second. Now how does that make sense??? I forgot if you saw him last night against gnats his fielding was a joke and you would be LOL if u saw his throws from the outfield.

    Maybe there is good news coming….if we keep losing wouldn’t dumbsh*t roberts be fired!!

81. My heart is broken for Cody Bellinger and us fans. He found his swing and reinjured his hammy. Not fair!

    Phil Jones made some very interesting comments about our inability to develop talented position player prospects. That’s been the case since Corey and Cody graduated. There’s a definite pause before the next top graduates arrive.

    About Kenley, he seems to need to find the “feel” and won’t be right until he does. He should be never go over 20 pitches, where he really unravels. And never pitch on consecutive nights. And always have bullpen backup. And damn Roberts for not pulling him as soon as he starts to wobble! And damn Roberts for, well, a number of other things…

    Of course, the logical explanation for all of this is that we’re just plain cursed and should resort to witchcraft to restore the cosmic balance!

82. Stick a fork in them, Dodgers are done. Too many injuries, too many players not playing up to their talent and a manager who makes too many in game bad decisions.
    Why not go for the suicide squeeze with Neuse ? Taylor runs fast and Neuse hits below the mendoza line anyway. Better chance than having him hack and striking out.

    If I am AF I think long and hard about being a seller. This team has no chance to win a title and just making it to the wild card round is not worth dealing Ruiz or other top prospects. Better to think about trading guys like Kelly, Jansen (though I doubt a contending team would want him ), Pollock maybe even Taylor if he can not be resigned. Retool and go for it again next season.

    Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

83. It’s 2:30 in the morning and I have finally calmed down a lot. Still frustrated and angry over what I listened to on the radio side tonight. I could not get the broadcast because Rockies games are blacked out here, and there is no local station that carries their games anymore. I am glad I did not have to watch it, I might have smashed my TV. Reminded me of watching a playoff game against the Phillies when Stairs hit the HR late to beat them. Tonight it happened in back to back innings and it doubled the outrage. What in the world was Nunez doing on the mound in the 9th in a tie game? How can you let a .130 hitter crush a ball the way Hilliard did? When the first 3 hitters got on in the 9th and Turner was up, I thought for sure they would win. Even after he walked and the game was tied I felt there was no way Bard was getting out of this mess. Bases loaded, no outs, Smith coming up. I knew Neuse was the on deck hitter, but I did not even consider Smith would not at least hit a fly ball and game over. The infield was in. The first pitch was a legitimate strike. But Bard was wild and I thought for sure Smith would make him throw another. NOPE. The next two pitches were out of the zone and Smith swung at them both. I expected nothing from Neuse and that is exactly what we got. Pollock was our last chance, hot hitter and at least he knows the strike zone, unlike the ump, who was all over the place all night. But AJ could not connect and the Dodgers big chance died with a whimper. Considering the fact that they have a terrible record in 1 run games, and they were 1-9 in extra’s, I was not confident of their winning a game that should never have been that close. Jimmy Sherfy, who had been ok in his first couple outings is immediately handicapped by the dumb ass runner on second rule, which will be gone next year hopefully. But Story singles, Blackmon homers, their 4th of the game, and the Dodgers go down meekly in the 9th. Gilbreath, who he, gets the save. The guy has an ERA north of 6 and they don’t even get a hit off of him. The pen gave up 5 runs over the last 3 innings of the game. There is little positive that comes out of this game except Bellinger’s bat seemingly starting to find the ball, then he has hammy tightness and is pulled. Being short one position player on the bench, they have to stick with Neuse in a critical moment. He of the .180 BA. I am liking that trade less and less. Of course Mookie is on the bench, and supposedly available. I am sorry, I send Betts up with the bases loaded and one out over Neuse any day. He at least is a professional hitter and all they needed was a fly ball. They stayed away from Kenley, Kelly, Trienen and Gonzalez. And the new kids on the block could not get through the game unscathed. Well, it was a debacle through and through. And even after calming down quite a bit I am still peeved. I do not think the season is over by a long shot. What I do think is that they need to shake things up and to do it quickly because if they wait around until the deadline and lose these next 5 games, or even 3 of them, they are going to be in a hole that it is going to be hard to get out of. The Padres have now won 3 straight. They are lucky Pittsburgh held on and got some late heroics of their own to beat the Giants or they would be 4 back with the Padres breathing down their necks. I do not think the pen is bad because of the arms, I think one of the problems out there right now is guys with little experience. Not Jansen, Kelly or Trienen. But Graterol, who has not been the same pitcher this year as last, and his fastball, while a plus pitch, is straight with little movement and they teed off on it. Bickford has good days and some not so good. He gave up 2 hits when what was needed was him to slam the door shut. There were 2 outs. Vesia did a nice job in the 7th. Graterol and Nunez gave up the lead. And then the offense stalled when all that was needed was a simple fly out. In my humble opinion, AF needs to strike now, not on Thursdays off day when there will be a lot of competition for the top names. I have not advocated that they trade for a rental. I really hate that, but, since there are maybe 3 players in the minors who I believe could help, Ruiz, Pepiot and maybe Jackson, I am open to trading anyone else to get some legitimate MLB arms and a hitter in return. The trade proposal made in True Blue sounds fine to me. Bryant, Kimbrel and Davies for 2 of our top 15 and a couple of other lower prospects. Then trade for Kennedy for a couple of the lower tier guys and you get 3 MLB ready arms. The payroll is way over the limit anyway, and you have Kenley’s replacement in Kimbrel already here for 2022. But he really needs to do something sooner than later. If I never have to see Neuse up in a situation like that the rest of this season, I will be a lot happier. Roberts is getting roasted on Twitter, and this time I think it is justified. If Betts cannot play, put him on the damn IL and get someone up here who can contribute. Or trade with the Pirates for Reynolds. Kid can hit and has decent power. I am totally fed up with this kind of baseball. McKinstry has skills, but he is not doing the job right now either.

    1. Neuse and McKinstry are no Joc or Kike. Not as hitters and not in the field. Neuse alone has cost us the last two games , one with the glove, one with the bat.
       Why DR did not call the suicide squeeze with him and one out I still do not understand. Put the damn ball in play.

       Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!

       1. Maybe he cannot bunt worth a damn. And maybe bunting a 97 MPH heater is not all that easy. I would have loved to see a drag bunt there. They would never have caught Taylor at the plate. But my final word for tonight is this. AF< the time for excuses is over. It is time to take action. The scrubeenies you have assembled are not getting the job done. You need to either go all in to win, or fold your hand and stick with those who you brought to the dance. It is on you kid to either fix this mess, or let it stink up the joint some more.

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