Carry on!

Posted By on September 9, 2021

Last night I posted an outrageous blog with the plan of taking it down this morning. It is gone, but I hope the effect remains. This is a blog where you can express your feelings on anything Dodgers and you do not have to agree with anything I say. For example, DodgerRick and I seldom agree but he has well-thought-out comments. If you come he just for the purpose of complaining and blaming Dave Roberts or AF for things, that is fine, but when you do it, over-and-over for a year and say that AF does not know how no build a bullpen and what you would do differently… and then it turns out you were wrong and AF was right, and yet you continue on-and-on… that get’s old! When you blame DR for the sun coming up and the spread of COVID, and cancer… it just gets too much to tolerate.

None of us do this for money. We are Dodger fans, but we do not want to hear irrationality ad nauseum… over-and-over, blah, blah, blah! I put up an outrageous blog to show you what it is like to be around just crazy stuff. It has reached the point where some of us (myself included) question whether we want to continue. However, there are many fans who have been here a long time that we appreciate. We are going to continue… for now. We are not saying you cannot be critical. We just don’t tolerate lunacy.

It was a disappointing loss last night… no doubt. The Dodgers are now two games back and the Giants have not faltered all season. I do not believe they can keep it up… but so far I have been wrong all season.

This article has 148 Comments

  1. I do this because I love the team and the game. I do get frustrated with the team at times like I am sure all of us do. But I also get frustrated with the constant attacks on certain players and Doc. Do not get me wrong, I have been critical of some players, and questioned Roberts moves on more than one occasion. But when it is the same thing day after day and the same old rhetoric, well then it gets real old real fast. The games is at 10:15 LA time today. Gonsolin vs Woodland.

    1. I rarely go on these message boards because most people don’t want to discuss true baseball. They want to defend players and manager’s feelings and candidly I just want to have the best chance to win. So here goes.

      Roberts is great in the clubhouse but a terrible strategic manager. He has always been that way. He sticks with players because he is too stubborn. Playing Bellinger now is absurd. Batting him 5th today is a joke and letting him hit in the 9th in a one run game is criminal. Do any of you realize that the MLB record for worst batting average in a season is .168 set a few years ago by the Orioles Chris Davis. Bellinger is batting .158. That is the LOWEST batting average in Major League History by a position player.

      1. Right on You are correct. He is a robot. I think it is an ego trip for him to march to the mound a make a pitching change. Bring in the right hand pitcher to face the right hitter. Never giving any thought to how the current pitcher is throwing the ball. When a pitcher is doing well let him keep pitching. How many relief pitchers have been on the IL in the past few years? This strategy, if it works at al,l may work over the course of the long regular season but will blow up in the post season. As for Bellinger, sit him down. Nothing else will change his crazy selfish approach at the plate. Swing as hard as you can every time. He has proven he has no concept of team play. Beaty was hitting .262 when they sent him down.

    2. My Prediction:
      Sunday’s pitching foes: Scherzer vs Snell will be a
      precursor of the starting pitchers in the WC game.
      Dodgers 3
      San Diego 1

    1. If it gets to be a pain is the butt, he just might. Look how worn out Jeff got after just a couple of months. Mark has been doing this for years.

      1. Mark just not post the same BS comments that are posted over and over, You and Bear, are doing a great job entertaining us Dodger fan’s with all the knowledge and tours down memory lane.

  3. Since I have been reading these Blogs, Has there EVER been a manager that fans are happy with? Not counting those on other teams

    1. I think the last popular Dodger manager who rarely got ripped was Tommy. I could not stand Alston. I actually liked the Torre hire, but was not too keen on Mattingly. I wanted Wallach. I also thought they really messed up not keeping Scioscia in the organization. I would not have wanted Maddon no matter what he did in Tampa and Chicago. Guy has some nutty ideas. Of course there are fans who blame Tommy for misusing Fernando. But the same thing could be said of the way Baker handled his staff in Chicago and SF, His Astro staff is having it’s own problems.

  4. Ah man, I missed it! You should have left it up a little longer, It’s only 5:30 PDT!

    I was little pissed yesterday that they sat JT, but with a day game after a night game today, and JT’s recent interview saying that many of the players are feeling the dog days, I know that you have to rest guys from time to time.

    The Dodgers seem to rest their guys more often than other teams. It’s frustrating at times, but they seem to find it more important to give rest knowing their pretty much guaranteed a post season spot as a Wild Card at a minimum. They way Max and Walker pitch in big games (Sans Bueller’s last start against the Giants) it makes a lot of sense to go about it this way.

    Last night was a winnable game. CT3 made a couple of misplays yesterday and both lead to runs. The first play was in the first when he playing practically on the warning track and just missed catching a fly ball coming in. It lead to a three run homer with 2 outs. The second one, he turned Molina’s single into a double, then Yadi moved to third on a wild pitch and later scored. Mookie was thrown out at the plate. If any of those things don’t happen, we most likely win the game.

    It’s frustrating to lose a game like that. Mitch White did a good job rebounding from the rough first inning and the bullpen mostly got the job done after Graterol walked a tightrope and Greene gave up a solo shot. Feliz pitched another clean inning on just 8 pitches.

    I knew it was going to be a tough day against Wainwright. He’s a command guy and the Dodgers seem to have a tough time against guys like that when the umpire is giving him extra strikes out of the zone. Bellinger, once again, shows off warning track power with nothing to show for it. With Pujols, CT3 and Smith wearing the collar, the bottom of the lineup was a black hole.

    A few weeks ago, I was a little concerned that CT3 might be slowing down after playing the most out of any player up until that point and having never coming close to playing this much in his career. It’s showing now, not only with the bat, but also with the glove.

    It is what it is at this point. We still have way too many injuries and Pollock going down was more misfortune for a team full of misfortune. The rotation still has just 3 reliable arms and it’s not going to look a whole lot better with Gonso and Kersh returning from lengthy IL stints. They just aren’t built up enough to expect them to do much better than all the bullpen games. We’re running on fumes.

    The bright side is there’s still more than 3 weeks to play and the offense will eventually wake up from their funk and the pitching has been excellent overall. Baseball is a crazy game. Literally anything can happen, so I’m not going to cry because we’re two games behind. Teams have made up more ground than this in a shorter time, many times throughout the history of this game. It’s making for a very exciting pennant race and the team is forced to learn to play through adversity.

    A new game to play today, early as Bear mentioned. Then, we’re back home with our big three lined up to play the Padres who are one game up on the Reds in the WildCard race. It’s going to be a nail biter down to the wire.

    With the two misplays by CT3 yesterday, it’s easy to see the value that Bellinger brings with the glove. It would be another story if there were acceptable replacements for his bat, but there aren’t. As far as Doc goes, I don’t see constant attacks on him. I see people questioning his questionable moves. When there aren’t any, I just don’t see people making things up to complain about. What I do see is irrational defense of him when he does screw up.

    Carry on.

    1. He basically ripped a couple of people a new one. The umps K zone was pretty bad at some points of the game. First strike call in Mookie’s first AB was horrible.

      1. Mookie seems to be a guy that is targeted. Almost every at bat there are calls that are clearly out of the zone. This particular ump was missing strikes too but that doesn’t seem to happen with Mookie.

        Taylor just looks exhausted. His play in left was sloppy and his at bats look weak. He too is having his strike zone expanded and guys who swing like him are not as adept at protecting the strike zone.

        Every night I think Cody is ready to launch one. Every night it’s warning track power

        I too am tired of the weak arguments regarding management but it’s easy for me to ignore them. We’ve been hit hard with injuries and look where we are. We are throwing Mitch White against Adam Wainwright and making a game of it. We have 2-3 bullpen games a week and are still competitive. Half the team is slumping and has been for a month and yet we have a winning record during that time. This team has heart. I am grateful to be a Dodger fan during this time. I feel for guys who choose to suffer during win streaks. Go ahead, be miserable. Doesn’t bother me. Mark is strung a little tighter but I don’t see him shutting this down. I would like to encourage the positive voices here to post more often, but I realize it’s all a personal choice.

        Anybody know how Kershaw, Duffy and Gonsolin are feeling this morning. I know it’s early here but it’s 9 in the Midwest.

        1. Gonsolin is going to start. Kersh was in the dugout talking to Roberts yesterday. He is supposed to start sometime early next week and is expected to throw about 60 pitches. No report on Duffy yet.

    2. Cody should be playing in OKC, not LA until he works out his problems. He’s as close to a guaranteed out in the line up – pop ups, ground outs to 2nd, strike outs, and an occasional fly out – as the weakest hitting pitcher would be. I really seems like there’s something in his contract that forces the team to play him. Put Mookie in center, play CT3 in left and Souza, McKinstry or Beatty in left. And get rid of Billy McKinley too.
      A .165 hitter playing center field for a contending team is ridiculous. If they could get Sherzer and Turner, a quality out fielder should have found somewhere.

      1. McKinstry and Beaty are in the minors. There is no clause in his contract that says he has to be played. It is managements decision to keep playing him period.

      2. Wow David, you’re full of great ideas. Souza is hitting 179, McKinstry 215 and Beaty is the worst outfielder on the team.

        1. Also, in center field, Mookie would have to cover much more ground than he does in right. With his balky hip, they do not want him running all over the place.

    3. Our less than stellar D on one hand, their steller D on the other. That relay throw that cut Mookie down was perfect. Also shows the advantage of a perfect relay vs. trying to make a perfect bomb straight from the outfield.
      cheers
      pb+

  5. It’s an emotional game watched by emotional fans. The blog is entertainment, it’s a 21st century medium where people go to stay connected, to read a box score rather than waiting for the morning newspaper, to share views, to get news from around the world in seconds in what use to take days.

    Who cares if someone posts a “wing nut” post without enough factual data (at least to the satisfaction of others) to support their emotional response (eg. CT3’s bat looks slow, Bellinger strikes out too much, Doc should have never used KJ in that particular situation) .

    Is my life impacted greatly by a post that tells us TB should never have been signed, or Belli sucks right now, or KJ can’t pitch on consecutive nights, even if the same poster tells us the same thing every day? No, my life goes on whether I agree with the post or whether or not it was written as eloquently as someone else or even if it’s the same old story but different day. Perhaps some here are a bit “thin skinned” and get “wrapped around the axle” a bit too much.

    It’s entertainment and the different perspectives is what makes the LADT unique.

  6. Can’ t we all get along? Following Dodger baseball is NOT life or death, but a way to get away from life’s every day’s problems. This is the best Dodger forum with the best writers with the most passionate fans. As a newcomer this year, I’ve learned to express my opinion and move on. Our opinions will not change what Andrew or Doc do or don’t do as intellect and worthy as they may be. We’ve been extremely fortunate the last 8 years as Dodger fans and even this year under the most difficult circumstances with injuries. The sun will rise tomorrow and we all will be better people with less vicious behavior.

    1. Amen brother.. You are preaching to the choir. Just seems some people want to do nothing but complain.

    3. Good point AVF. I am a relative newbie to this blog too and I have sensed the tension around here pretty quick.
      However this is nothing uncommon in internet forums or blogs.
      Everybody relax a bit, step back, take a deep breath and respect the opinion of the other and all will be fine.

      After all we are all die hard Dodgers fans, bleeding true Dodgers blue. A fraternity for eternity.

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

  7. Dodgers are going to face Musgrove, Paddack and Snell this weekend. Our starters have not been announced yet, but supposed to be Urias, Scherzer and Buehler. Today’s lineup not posted yet.

  8. Today’s Afternoon Baseball Lineup:

    2B Mookie Betts R
    1B Max Muncy L
    SS Trea Turner R
    3B J. Turner R
    CF C. Bellinger L
    LF Steven Souza R
    RF B. McKinney L
    C A. Barnes R
    P T. Gonsolin R

    No Taylor, No Corey, Mookie in the leadoff spot ,Cody batting 5th

    1. wow, after JT all of our hitters are below .200 or just a hair above. I do not expect a lot of runs today.
      Catman better have his A stuff going.

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

      1. HITTERS H-AB RBI HR SB AVG
        M. Betts2B 101-378 47 19 9 .267
        M. Muncy1B 108-420 79 31 2 .257
        T. TurnerSS 162-507 58 21 26 .320
        J. Turner3B 128-458 74 23 2 .279
        C. BellingerCF 45-280 33 9 2 .161
        S. Souza Jr.LF 5-28 3 1 0 .179
        B. McKinneyRF 51-263 27 9 2 .194
        A. BarnesC 39-177 20 6 0 .220
        T. GonsolinP 2-12 0 0 0 .167

        1. That lineup ought to make the nay sayers go nutso. Cardinals pitcher is 2-3 with an ERA north of 4. Hopefully the top of the order goes bonkers and the bottom produces some.Feliz DFA’d. White sent to AAA, Gonsolin activated and Jackson recalled. Still playing with a 4 man bench. Do not like that at all. They need some offensive players on the bench.

          2. Do not understand the Feliz DFA. I really like what he was doing with the Dodgers and also at AAA OKC. like his stuff better than Greene or Phillipss.
            And they need offensive players in the lineup too, not only on the bench.

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

          3. Well they need to have someone who’s offense has been solid somewhere on the bench, and right now there is not one guy there with those kinds of credentials. McKinney and Souza both under the Mendoza line in MLB play. Barnes has been their best pinch hitter. Pujols kills lefty’s, but is very bad against RHP. So there is not much to chose from. Beaty still at AAA as is Lux. No one else down there tearing the league up although simply because of his power, I would consider calling up Davidson. But they haven’t. Feliz is another one of those disposable pitchers they have signed over the last few months. His stuff has played well, but they keep moving guys around.

  9. Morning everbody. Early game , so a took a work meeting 8am and put activities to my team in order I can enjoy the game 12.15 in México. Of course I hope Dodgers win so 1.5 games rear . Enjoy the game to everybody

  10. Right now it might be a bad time to do the following but here goes:
    Shut down site for 4 days…
    Allow DC, Bear and Badger to relax a little… We need these guys!!!
    This applies to MT also… I will once again say that I believe MT incites a lot of the crap posts we see… MT throws chum in the water and attracts crapola… I’ve found that I feel better when I see a poster’s name and just skip over the content…
    GO BLUE…
    P.S. – AVF hit the target with his post…

  11. Bellinger, McKinley, Consolin – 3 almost automatic outs. Almost looks like Dave is throwing in the towel and hoping to win the wild card game. And that’s not likely to happen with this line up.
    With 3 weeks to go, why are they resting guys like Will Smith? He’s young. If he needs rest from the stress of catching then bench Cody and let Smith play Center Field.
    At this point, you’ve got to go with the best not the rest.

  12. Let the people Say what they want or think. Just no Say Bad or atack words…every acept yet that have not internal information, we are no agent o couchers so averybody are morons, me the first…just enjoy or suffer the game, by the way very bad lineup, I hope they can hit

  13. I rarely read other Dodger blogs because when I do it’s usually a disappointing experience. In the past I have expressed that LADT provides some of the most thorough and insightful writing in sports writing whether professional or in the blogosphere. There is no other source that can provide information on the Dodger minor league prospects than LADT.
    And, the spectrum of personalities and opinions on the site is incredible.

    My understanding of a blog is for a subject to be presented and then posters having the opportunity to opine on the subject. Mark does a good job of creating activity on this site. He has even admitted to posting a opening articles with a controversial topic in order to spur some unhinged comments. I’m sure I’ve been sucked into such a scenario. I read LADT almost everyday and usually every baseball comment. The political comments are tempting to respond to, but I realized it was a waste of time and energy. If I don’t agree with a comment on the topic of the day it’s no big deal. Baseball is a game. It’s not healthy to let the results or moves in a game cause such over the top reactions. Getting frustrated is understandable. Life is full of frustrations. Having the opportunity to write on this blog to help alleviate those frustrations can be a good thing. That may be the reason many of the posters write what they write. We all have the option of not reading the comments or be selective in what we read. Or, not read the blog at all.

    Mark has provided us with a fantastic platform to discuss and opine on everything Dodgers. I have learned so much about Dodger history from Bear’s fantastically researched and well written articles. With Jeff and DC’s incredible articles on the Dodgers of the future. And, of course, Mark’s interesting rants and opinions in his opening articles and comments. It’s all good. LADT should be a positive vehicle for us all. If a poster or an issue bothers you to the point of ruining your LADT experience then maybe try to avoid those situations.

    Note to Bear. I’m going to be visiting your fine city next week. A good friend has moved their recently from the LA area. I’m going to check out his new place. I was last there about three years ago. Nice town. My friend loves it there and is thrilled to be out of LA.

      2. Yeah, I won’t be in Canon City until next week (Wed afternoon the 15th through the 20th). I’m assuming you’re having dinner this Friday the 10th? Thanks for the invite. That would have been cool to meet up with you guys.. Bear, if you have time for a meal on one of those days I’m there that would be cool. Have Mark give you my email and we try to work some thing out.

  14. “ Some people “ complain alot about some people complaining. How about we all ignore what some people like and focus on what we each like without complaining about them? My 2 cents adjusted for inflation.

  15. DODGERS ACTIVATE TONY GONSOLIN, RECALL ANDRE JACKSON

    LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Dodgers activated right-handed pitcher Tony Gonsolin from the 10-day injured list, recalled right-handed pitcher Andre Jackson, optioned right-handed pitcher Mitch White and designated right-handed pitcher Neftalí Féliz for assignment.

    Gonsolin, 27, was placed on the injured list on July 31 with right shoulder inflammation. He returns from his second IL stint this season and he is 2-1 with a 2.78 ERA (1 ER/35.2 IP) and 42 strikeouts against 26 walks in 10 games (nine starts). He made one rehab start with Low-A Rancho Cucamonga, going 2.1 innings, allowing one run on three hits with one strikeout. The Vallejo, CA native was originally drafted by the Dodgers in the ninth round of the 2016 First Year Player Draft by the Dodgers out of Saint Mary’s College.

    Jackson, 25, returns for his third stint with the club and is 0-1 with a 1.04 ERA (1 ER/8.2 IP) and seven strikeouts in two big league games. The former 12th round pick of the 2017 First Year Player Draft out of the University of Utah has split the season between Low-A Rancho Cucamonga, Double-A Tulsa and Triple-A Oklahoma City and is a combined 5-3 with a 3.42 ERA (31 ER/81.2 IP) and 88 strikeouts.

    White, 25, made the start last night, allowing four runs on five hits in 5.0 innings. On the campaign, he is 1-3 with a 3.92 ERA (19 ER/43.2 IP) and 47 strikeouts in 19 games for the Dodgers. He has spent parts of the season with Low-A Rancho Cucamonga and Triple-A Oklahoma City, going a combined 3-0 with a 2.02 ERA (8 ER/35.2 IP) and 42 strikeouts in 10 games. The former second rounder out of Santa Clara University is 2-3 with a 3.66 ERA (19 ER/46.2 IP) in 21 career MLB games.

    Féliz, 33, pitched 2.0 scoreless innings in his second stint with the Dodgers, allowing one hit. In three games with the Dodgers this season, he has tossed 3.0 scoreless frames, allowing one hit with one strikeout. The 2010 All-Star has spent 10 years in the Major Leagues with Texas (2009-2015), Detroit (2015), Pittsburgh (2016), Kansas City (2017), Milwaukee (2017), Philadelphia (2021) and Los Angeles (2021), going a combined 21-20 with a 3.55 ERA (155 ER/393.1 IP) and 107 saves.

  16. Thanks to Mark, Jeff, Bear, Badger and all for running the site and providing interesting content.
    I appreciate all of the regular posters, and welcome a variety of opinions whether I agree or not.
    We can all choose to ignore posters or viewpoints we don’t like, but it is a slippery slope to censor out comments that we find wrong or unsupported. Clearly, Mark has the power to remove any comments and set any ground rules he chooses, since he has created the site. But allowing a range of views and opinions, even inaccurate ones, seems the better option. I have posted many wrong predictions here, and voiced many unsupported opinions. But part of the beauty of the blog is disagreeing, observing, and venting.
    Hope the Dodgers squeak out a win with that lineup today!

  17. Random thoughts:

    * Considering how many of Belli’s shots are warning track these days instead of leaving the yard, that just seems to give more credence to the fact that his shoulder isn’t completely right yet. Time cures…………………………….

    * They don’t let me make the lineup out, but if they did, I’d bring back Beaty, have him play left field (at least against righty pitchers) for 3 or 4 days, and let CT ride the bench and rest for a few days. He’s still a very important cog to the team but seems totally exhausted.

    * Looking forward to a starting 5 of Scherzer, Buehler, Urias, Kershaw, Gonsolin within the next few days.

    * The Padres will probably decide who wins the West (10 left against SF, 6 against LA)

    * Some have suggested that Mark shut down the site for a few days. I think we should use the Roberts plan. Figure out who the best commenters have been over the last 2 or 3 days and ban them for a couple of days. 🙂

    * Today’s lineup – if Doc felt the need to start this group, I would rather he have done it with Max or Walker or Julio on the mound, rather than Gonsolin who, considering his lack of starts this year, is likely to give up a few runs. Why not start that kind of lineup when you have a starter who might just keep the other team from scoring.

    1. Maybe we can take a poll and whoever gets the most “ban” votes gets a 48 hour suspension. That should help ease tension in here, right? I’ll start the voting. I say OD should continue his time off. And maybe if I tried to ban SLO Tim, a friend of mine, he might come back just to give me a piece of his mind.

      Cody’s long fly outs appear to be hit to the biggest part of the yard. If he could get his hands in and out front, the way Smith and Turner do, he might could hit something over a closer fence. I think he’s close, but I’ve thought that before.

      Almost game time.

  18. Wainwright is a comfy 0 fer. He showed us how a 16 year veteran with 90 and a 74 can still get guys out. He slowly carved us up like a Thanksgiving Day Turkey for 8 innings. I don’t like losing but his performance was surgery.

  19. I don’t like today’s lineup, but I realize that Seager needs a break as well and Will Smith isn’t going to catch a day game after a night game. CT3 had a shit game yesterday, probably rested him a day late. It is what it is. At least everyone will be available against the Padres who are clearly a better team. So, would you rather rest guys against the lessor team, or against the better team?

    Bellinger is going to get a hit today. I can feel it!

  21. I’ve always like the Cards.

    But I really like them now with 3 of my favourite players among them.

    Goldy
    Nolan

    And Molina. What a classy welcome to old friend Albert the other evening.

    Busch Stadium is s great place to take in a game.

    Hell, I even like the uniform.

    Ps great time for a game to start

  22. For what it’s worth, which is probably not much, I rather enjoy the massive Egos on here colliding from time to time.

    Who seriously gets offended by any of this stuff anyway?

    It’s always been this way since I started contributing about 9 years ago. It is what it is!!

  23. Please don’t shut it down. People can agree to disagree!!
    I am very far away, have never been at Dodger Stadium, and read this blog regularly to know things I don’t know and hear what other people think about Dodgers status. It’s a well informed source.
    Never felt offended in any way.
    Keep going. Go Dodgers

  25. I don’t want to go there really

    But – was I the only one watching that and thinking I’d probably PH for Cody?

    Sorry

    Just being honest

    3. With Pollock out, the choices are limited. And it was only the 3rd inning. He is not PH for Cody that early in the game and weakening the defense.

  27. I really feel bad for Bellinger. Nothing he does right now is working. O for his last 22. Kershaw is going to start on Monday.

  29. I was ready to make a comment about CB batting 5th, and then I looked at the BA of the next 4 hitters. .167, .192, .218, 154, that along with Cody’s .160 means that more than 1/2 of our batters are at less than .200 with one exception. It is hard to generate much offense at that rate. If it weren’t for our pitching we would be in deep dodo.

  30. First of all I think we all agree that this is a great site. And for an old time Brooklyn Dodger fan like me., Bears historic articles are great. Ok. So this is not an official LADodger public relations site, so just post your opinions and if someone is a ridiculous a**hole there is no need to reply to them. And if this is getting you down, I say stop saying 10 times that you are thinking of stopping. Stop the whining and pull a Naomi Osaka (or Simone Biles) and do what is right for you and find something else to do that will make you happy.
    Ok And for Beli, I think we all agree he is a great guy, great teammate, trying hard, not sulking etc. But lets face it he is the WORST hitter in Baseball for this season. He is NOT in a slump like Taylor or Muncy. Ok with Pollock out he probably has to play. And it is up to management to decide if his defensive skills outweigh his crappy offense. And to say that they see improvement because he had an RBI by grounding out to short, or flies out to warning track. Well ok for you. If you disagree. Great. post your opinion. And everyone can discuss.
    Finally for those who complain about ‘ordinary fans’ posting stuff that they know nothing about because they never played professional sports!!! If that bugs you I suggest you start another blog and get peoples resumes before yopu allow them to post. You can call it ‘LA Dodger Professional Athlete Site, No One Else Welcome’

    1. >>ridiculous a**hole there is no need to reply to them<<
      Totally agree. To me, if someone posts something "controversial" and no one replies at all, that tells them more about what is thought of their post than a ton of expletives thrown at them. Not saying a well placed expletive is never appropriate, heck, sometimes I cannot help myself. Just that a lot of times ignoring those you might consider trolls is the best policy.
      cheers
      pb+

  31. Cards aren’t much better their last 4 batters are, .228, .198, .182, then they pinch hit for the pitcher, . 083 with Carpenter at .171. Where have all the hitters gone, long time passing? Where have all the hitters gone, long time ago??????

  32. After 4 1/3 innings from Bellinger (5) down has 3 1/3 innings worth of outs. That’s serious middle bottom of the order suckage.

    Team is 4 for 19 after 5. We stink.

    1. He knows he’s going to be late (for all the reasons repeatedly pointed out here) so he’s in swing mode early. Don’t know what to say at this point. Choke up and hunt fastballs.

  34. A good time to offer Bellinger a 5 year $60M contract.

    Bellinger needs to bunt more until his shoulder is at full strength. Also, when he is not taking a big full swing, he actually has very good bat to ball skill that could be used to hit line drives to beat the shift.

    1. You’re absolutely right I’ve seen him do it. He just doesn’t like to do it and won’t keep repeating it.
      Just like his half hearted bunt attempts

  35. Notes from Internet:

    Great stuff from keith law below

    Hyun Choi had a rough outing, FanGraph goes a little into it:
    Hyun-Il Choi, RHP, Los Angeles Dodgers
    Affiliate: High-A Great Lakes Age: 21 Org Rank: 17 FV: 40+
    Line: 4 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 0 BB, 4 K
    Notes
    Hassell struck out swinging twice against Choi, but the righty wasn’t able to keep the rest of Fort Wayne’s lineup at bay, giving up a season-high eight hits. More reassuring was the zero in the walk column, which hopefully indicates a return to the unflinching command that had become his standard at Low-A, where he walked just seven batters in his 65.1 innings of work, good for a microscopic 2.8% walk rate, before his early-August promotion. In his last three starts before Wednesday’s contest, however, he nearly matched that season total, issuing six free passes in just 13.2 innings.
    On Wednesday, Choi’s struggles had more to do with his inability to miss bats in the zone, rather than missing the zone itself, which could conceivably (and perhaps correctly) be interpreted as swapping out one problem for another. If he can harness his splitter as a more consistent out pitch, I’m willing to chalk this rough patch up to growing pains.
    From FanGraphs’ look at pitching for the playoff stretch run:
    For the Dodgers, future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw’s fastball sat mostly 89-91 last night and touched 93 in a 3-inning, 50-pitch rehab start at Triple-A Oklahoma City.

    Keith Law Chat:

    Pj (Jersey City): What is wrong with cody bellinger at the plate? He looks completely lost.
    Keith Law: My guess is it’s a lingering effect from the shoulder injury. He’s getting beat on fastballs. You don’t just forget how to hit a fastball.

    Bill S.: Keith, (accidentally hit send too soon, I’ll try again). The Dodgers organization has clearly been successfully through the minors with player development. However, does their perennial contender status actually hurt them with the final stage of player development – young players in the majors?
    Thinking about Gavin Lux, and to a lesser degree Zack McKinstry this year. To finish their development young players need to play regularly in the majors. Yet, the Dodgers divisional race makes it hard for them to roll out players who are not fully baked. How should they handle Lux, as well as other talented minor leaguers that will eventually come up and need regular time? Thank you!
    Keith Law: It’s a reasonable concern, especially for players who come up at positions where the Dodgers have established regulars – Lux (Seager), Keibert (Smith, plus Cartaya behind). Easier on the pitching side because they can always work in those guys in long relief first. I think the Dodgers are among the top 2-3 organizations for drafting & development, but even they can’t ignore those structural issues and it may mean certain players don’t develop fully unless there’s an injury.

    C-Note: Best guess….% chance Bauer pitches in the MLB again?
    Keith Law: It sounds like 0%, and I’m fine with that.

    Matt: I have a really hard time believing Bauer won’t pitch again. He may be suspended for all of next year and by 2023, I could certainly see some team hoping the public won’t remember what he did and take a chance on him because of the talent. If he was a lesser player, his career would be over, but I have to think some team will think it’s worth whatever PR hit they take.
    Keith Law: I don’t think so.
    Keith Law: He’s always been a headache. Now he’s a headache who has admitted in court to violent behavior towards women.

    Jesse B: Andy Pages is striking out 30% of the time albeit with big time power. Do you think that’s something he can improve or will he always be a 3 outcome player?
    Keith Law: He’s striking out 24% of the time, and with everything else he does, he’s a hell of a prospect.

    Great, great, great stuff from this Dan Szymborski Chat
    L west enjoyer: is this year’s NL West the most difficult division ever?
    Dan Szymborski: I’ll say yes

    Guest: What’s the change in Bellinger’s ZiPs from his post 2019 MVP numbers to now?
    It’s crazy how bad he’s been.

    Dan Szymborski: His velocity numbers have been distinctively meh. Dude just doens’t turn on fastballs anymore, like he’s 35

    https://blogs.fangraphs.com/the-2020s-have-been-rough-for-cody-belling…

    Towson Town Center Floor Fries: Which team in each league is best set up for a 7-game playoff series?

    Dan Szymborski: Dodgers

    John B: Dan, I get frustrated when I see bWAR and fWAR vary by so much. You basically can see players that are 1 WAR off in a world where most players are 2-3 WAR. It seems to undermine the metric to have such wide variances. I leave out WARP, but I’ve seen similar issues. Why can’t there be more consistency to a stat that we all use every day? Why doesn’t MLB weigh in on how they want their official data presented ?

    Dan Szymborski: The thing is, you don’t count WAR. You *calculate* WAR. And you’re going to run into different philosophical concepts of establishing value

    If you visit 8 doctors with a stomach ache, you may find that the recommended treatment isn’t identical either. Some might recommend X medication, some X and Y, some may also make a point to suggest diet changes, some may see a need for further tests. But it doesn’t undermine the practice of medicine that approaches are different.

    You should think of statistics as an *exploration* of an answer, rather than something that will give you the One True Answer. And sometimes, it’s complicated. Like pitch framing.
    Nice look at the former Dodger Prospect AJ Alexy
    https://blogs.fangraphs.com/two-prospects-both-alike-in-big-league-readiness/

    Baseball America on Vargas ($$$)

    https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/baseball-america-prospect-report-september-9-2021/

    Miguel Vargas, 3B, Double-A Tulsa (Dodgers)—Vargas has impressive bat-to-ball skills, but before this season his power lagged behind. He added strength during the 2020 shutdown and …..

    Baseball America on prospects excelling vs. older competition ($$$):

    https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/10-mlb-prospects-excelling-against-older-competition-in-2021/

    Dejesus, Pages, Bolivar and Jose Martinez get mentions.

    Dominican Winter Ball draft:

    https://www.winterballdata.com/draft

    These four Dodgers were selected:
    Rd 2 (9th overall pick): Eddys Leonard
    Rd 6 (31st overall): Alex De Jesus
    Rd 9 (51st overall): Ismael Alcantara
    Rd 16 (95th overall): Carlos Duran

    Super-Heliumy Jose Ramon is at Rancho and crushing

    Via @jokeylocomotive
    Jose Ramos has homered on back to back nights for Rancho Cucamonga, it’s his 7th since being promoted from the Arizona Complex League, and it was absolutely crushed

    Bobby Miller is now at AA:
    Via @FutureDodgers
    Bobby Miller faces the minimum in his first Double-A inning. He allows a leadoff single, but the runner was caught stealing and he then induced a couple of groundouts.

    Rough second inning for Miller. After a flyout, he allows a single, walk, triple (line drive deflects of Outman’s glove after a dive), and homer, for four runs total. He got the next two batters to end the inning. Fastball consistently 96-98

    Apropos of past discussions here, here’s a slightly (SLIGHTLY) more informed debate on Bellinger:

    Do the #Dodgers have a better option than Cody Bellinger on the roster / in the organization? I chatted with @FutureDodgers about the alternatives (Beaty, McKinney, McKinstry, Lux, Souza Jr., Reks, Raley, Neuse) in AJ Pollock’s absence.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HU1ciYFlL8

    Two minor league pitchers to note:
    Gavin Stone
    Emmet Sheehan

  36. 3 things that are not going to happen!!
    5 yr 60K contract offer
    Beli bunting
    Beli going other way

        2. In a one run game and they are giving you first base you are obligated to take it. I’m thinking he doesn’t he even work on bunting. The one time he tried he did it all wrong.

          This is an organizational order. Swing hard and swing up. Live with the launch, die with the launch. Right now they are dying. 0 for 29. Yoiks. Bellinger, Souza and McKinney all hitting under .200. Taylor 2 for 25. Muncy 4 for 22. Mookie, 8 for 42. Sigh.

          I think they will snap out of it. Hopefully sometime this month

          3. We’re 2 1/2 out with 21 to play. It’s not time to be thinking Wild Card yet. A lineup with Mookie, Turner, Seager, Turner, Muncy and Smith can still score enough to compete. Our pitching seems to be fine. If Kershaw can go 5 we might be able to hang in there until the last week

          4. I would like to see our lineup in that exact order. Muncy does not hit for a high enough average to create opportunities or manufacture runs. You need guys at the top of the order that can do more than walk or hit HRs. The speed that Mookie and TT possess, Seager is likely to see a lot more RBI opportunities. I trust Seager more than Muncy with a runners in scoring position.

        3. I would like to see our lineup in that exact order. Muncy does not hit for a high enough average to create opportunities or manufacture runs. You need guys at the top of the order that can do more than walk or hit HRs. The speed that Mookie and TT possess, Seager is likely to see a lot more RBI opportunities. I trust Seager more than Muncy with runners in scoring position.

          1. “I trust Seager more than Muncy with runners in scoring position.”

            Right now I do too. Seager is hitting. But if all are doing what they are capable of doing you could fill out a lineup by pulling names out of hat. Just don’t put Bellinger’s name in the hat.

  37. I don’t THINK they are going to snap out of it, I HOPE they snap out of it.

    No doubt that they CAN, no guarantee that they WILL.

    And yes, it’s FRUSTRATING, VERY FRUSTRATING.

  38. Perhaps, the Dodgers have decided to play their luck in a game against Walker vs. Snell. at the risk of Tatis Jr. having a great afternoon and hitting 3 homeruns

    1. No way they are thinking that. Not with 21 games left and the Giants playing a very tough 10 game stretch against the Padres, then Atlanta and then the Padres again while the Dodgers are playing the Reds, Arizona and then Colorado. If they are 5 back with 5 to play, then they might be thinking that way. Race is not close to being over.

  39. I used to think that the word impotence referred to something else, but now realize it refers to our offense.

  40. I have never played professional baseball so I won’t comment on that. I have been using the toilet since I was very young, a long time.
    The guys looked like crap today ! Can I say that?

  41. Put TT, and Saeager together (one after the other) in lineup. so maybe they’ll have hit after hit, once or twice in a game, putting TT on 3th base After all the injuries they have had, Pollock’s may end up affecting more

  42. It’s a sad state of affairs when you’re resting players and have to bat a guy 0-23 in the 5th spot in the batting order now batting .158 with no other options to choose from with a team payroll north of $250 million.

    1. I don’t care about him going 0-4 with two Ks. All I want to know is this…..did he hit the ball hard those other two times? I didn’t see the game. (Eating popcorn)

      2. Scrap the Mendoza line. The new standard is the Belli line. Below -160.

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

  44. Bring on the one game playoff! I’m not scared of you.

    I hope we pitch our bullpen too…that way we can save Scherzer for game one.

  45. Just looked at the box score and I can not say I am susrprised. MOF I called exactly what would happen today. No production from 5-9 in our batting order and 1 run scored.
    What a shame and Yes, I blame this on Roberts. Can not trot out a lineup like that when you are in a tight pennant race middle of September. Just can not do it. At least if you are trying to win the divsion.

    This will end up in a one game playoff vs either the Padres, Mets, or Reds.
    Padres can throw Snell at us who has absolutely dominated us even when our O was clicking. Mets have DeGrom. Enough said. Reds can trot out Miley. Probably the least formidable of the three but still having a great season.

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

    1. Not optimistic about the Dodgers chances in the post season with our total lack of hitting. Are we just going to turn it on? Doubtful

  47. Buckner may be the poster boy for warning track power but he still won a batting title. Make contact Belli.

  48. For all the current or former all-star talent in the lineup, the Dodgers are notably unable to hit good pitching. There have been a few exceptions, but in almost every game with one of the better teams, we struggle to score runs. Of course this is why they are good teams with good pitchers, but you have to be able to occasionally have big games against them; otherwise we are vulnerable to any team we would meet in the playoffs. Today we scored one run. Yesterday, one in the first seven innings.

    We have a very good record, so one shouldn’t make too much of it, but our lineup seems to lack synergy, the kind which teams like the Giants or Tampa Bay seem to have, where the sum is greater than the parts. We do not often put together innings where we score three or more, except for the occasional games where we score 14 runs which we did not need. Some of this may be due to the fact that we don’t play hit and run, do not try to aggressively take charge from the outset. And we have too many at bats where we do not hit the ball hard, so that we rarely even get someone from second to third with a fly ball, much less score from third on one.

    And as many have mentioned, we have hitters are are mired in very bad slumps. I doubt that the team will suddenly put it all together, and start scoring a lot of runs. Our pitching has been quite good, even with the loss of Bauer and Kershaw. I have my concerns about the ability of Kershaw to be a major factor now, but we have to try to let him be. We can still win the division, but we do not look impressive as a team, even when we were edging the Braves at home, and certainly not against the Giants or the Cardinals.

    1. Dodger hitting wows can be directed to the hitting instructors, this BS launch angle for the long ball needs to be scrapped. Contact hitter is what’s needed.

  49. Just to add, to look at the Giants’ rally yesterday, they are down one in the ninth. Posey is just about the most dangerous hitter in the league in that spot, and he draws a 3-2 walk. Then a base hit through the infield, the Giants specialize in those. Then an infield single hit to the right spot, to load the bases. Then a line drive single to score two runs. A strikeout. A double steal with the next batter, unless it was a wild pitch which got them to second and third. Then another base hit. Five batters, all but one hit the ball, and none of the hits went more than 150 feet in the air, but all were well placed. I don’t think this is just good luck, it reminds me of how Bochy’s teams won. Also, many pinch hits, sometimes home runs, to turn games around this year. Not too many late game rallies for us.

    1. If MLB had a “losses against replacement” stat, Bellinger would lead the NL.

      They need to sit or send him down until he figures out how to hit major-league pitching again. How many games have the Dodgers lost by a run when he popped up or struck out every at-bat? Even his last two RBIs were on a pathetic infield grounder and his now-trademark flied out.

      I have two suggestions for him: (1) level swing. He is always uppercut-swinging, and at a steeper angle than anyone else I’ve seen hit recently. Nothing wrong with a line drive. (2) Take some batting practice right-handed and learn how to hit the ball level against a slider and curve from that side of the plate. The learning experience will be illuminating.

    2. We can only hope because today, he looked totally lost at the plate, and then totally defeated every time he went back to the dugout. Of their 4 losses on this trip, 3 were by one run. The other by 2. All winnable games. The games they won they scored 5 or more in each. Inconsistency in the offense has been the big bugaboo all year.

  51. Hard to believe the last 5 guys in our lineup today were all batting under .200 except Barnes at .217.

    No wonder we made the mediocre Cards pitching staff look dominant.

    Just for fun, does anyone think the SF Giants would have rolled over like good little puppy dogs like we did, leaving St Louis without getting one base hit in the last four innings of a 2-1 game and going down 1-2-3 in both the 8th and 9th inning without even a whimper?

    Like me, I’m sure most of you don’t think SF would have done that. Their resume says otherwise. We have only won one game coming back from being down in the 9th. They have done many times. Regretfully, this is why they are better than us this year.

    But, the good news is…..things can change….it’s possible our hitters could turn it around and become more clutch hitters from here on out. People can change, right?

    1. You cannot really count the pitchers spot as a hitter. The last 4 offensive players were very mediocre. But the Cardinals used the same kind of lineup. Their last 3 hitters were pretty bad. Difference is they got 2 hits and an RBI from their catcher, who was hitting .188 out of the 8 hole. Dodgers got nothing from the bottom of the lineup. And once again a late HR proved to be the winning margin. Anything is possible in baseball. They have 21 games left, 12 at home. And they are a better offensive team at home than on the road. The Giants have a very tough 10 game stretch coming up where they play the Padres, Braves and then Padres again while LA is playing Arizona, the Reds and Rockies. Padres are capable of taking 5 or 6 of those games from the Giants. And the Dodgers are very capable of sweeping the D-Backs, getting 2 of 3 from the Reds and the same with Colorado. They need some help and they need to play better. Hopefully it starts at home against the Pads this weekend.

  53. So I guess Roberts was resting Seager so he’ll be ready for that wild card game.
    I see zero reason to think the Giants mojo will suddenly disappear. They have been the best team all season—and they added Bryant. I see even less reason that the slumping and battered Dodger hitters will get hot. Remember when we were waiting for Lux to take flight? Now Belli is even worse….Before the trading season commenced, I was hoping AF would grab Starling Marte and Scherzer. He topped that by getting Trea in that deal. Turns out he should acquired Marte too. I mean, how could McKinney and Souza both be starting at this point in the season….Geez…
    Oh well. Nice to have Gonsolin back—and the bullpen continues to produce.
    Those “run differential” stays don’t mean squat with Dodgers back in the habit of losing one-run games.

    1. Have to agree on Marte. They are over loaded from the left side with really mediocre LH bats right now. Makes you wish Joc and his .238 BA was here right now. He has more HR’s than Bellinger, Souza and McKinney combined. Hell, Pollock has more than those 3 combined. They really miss AJ’s bat.

  55. Dodger hitting woes can be directed to the hitting instructors, this BS launch angle for the long ball needs to be scrapped. Contact hitter is what’s needed.

  56. Dodgers would have been well advised to not give up on DJ Peters with Belli and his season long slump.
    Peters would have been able to provide almost the same good cf outfield as Belli and he has some much needed RH pop (now 9 dingers with the Rangers) while his average is hovering around .200. Still better than anybody we trotted out yesterday.
    I did not like the move when it was made and I like it even less today.

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

    1. Yeah, I was impressed with Peters during preaseason….a .200 average is about what we have on our team but like you said, he does Jack one every so often. I mean he has 9 in the few games he’s played. How many does Cody or McKinney have in those 30 games?

      1. McKinney has one total, and Bellinger has 9 this season, 1 less than Peters has combined with Texas and the Dodgers. Belli is so lost up there it is really hard to watch him hit, especially when he is making weak contact. He has also hit in a little bad luck because the few times he has torched the ball, it has been right at someone, or only to the warning track. If they had a replacement, aka Pollock, I would sit him down.

  57. Notion that the Cardinals might bring Pujols back for a final season next year is gaining a lot of steam. With the distinct possibility of there being a universal DH, Pujols could easily slip into that role with St. Louis against LHP. It would also only be fitting that he and Molina, who has already announced that next season will be his last, would both be eligible to enter the Hall at the same time in the same uniform. And it would be a double farewell tour. The public relations benefit for the Cardinals would be huge. To me it is more than logical that they do it.

  58. Beatty is on his way and will be activated today. There is no need to carry 16 pitchers when the big 3 will be pitching this weekend. Because of the short bench yesterday Doc let Knebel hit after pitching an inning and giving up a precious out.

    1. Doc was not going to waste a pinch hitter in a tie game with the pitcher’s spot, Knebel leading off. Especially that early in the game, it was the top of the 5th inning. That transaction of Beaty being activated is not on the Dodger or any other site yet. If such a move is made, it will not be until later this afternoon. Beaty is in Salt Lake City with the OKC team, so he could be in LA very quickly. Lux was 0-5 but scored a couple of runs. Neuse was 3-5 with 2 HR’s, a double and 5 ribbies. Davidson went 4-5 with 2 RBI’s in OKC’s 12-8 win. Now, if I was going to bring up anyone it would be Beaty and Davidson. I would dump McKinney and Souza. Davidson is mostly a 1st baseman, but has played some outfield in his career. Souza and McKinney add nothing. I would also bring up Lux to add some speed to the roster. That would give you 13 position players and 15 pitchers. Jackson would be the logical choice to go down with Kershaw set to return on Monday and Gonsolin already back. 2 of Davidson’s hits were doubles. Reks and McKinstry had triples and McKinstry was playing SS.

      1. If only AAA success translated. It does not.

        Lux. Whahappin? In my plan he was OPS’n .780 and playing solid defense.

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