Yawn! The Dodgers can’t win. Milwaukee can’t lose. Neither can KC. I guess it is time to throw in the towel… unless Spring Training Records don’t mean anything… because they don’t! I have always said that your Spring Training record means nothing, but you can observe the “game-within-the-game.” The Dodgers lost yesterday (again), but what have we learned so far? What have we seen that is not reflected in the box score?
- Clayton Kershaw touched 90 in his first outing and just might be healthy.
- The Dodgers have some good AAAA PLayers on the team: Burns, Martin, Alvarez, Lamb, Romero, et al.
- Ryan Noda might have a future as a 4th or 5th outfielder for the Dodgers.
- Mike Busch and Miguel Vargas have that “look” that screams, “I am a hitter!”
- James Outman has been lucky… and good.
- Cody Bellinger and Max Muncy look healthy… even if the results do not indicate that.
- There are a lot of live arms in this camp.
- Nick Robertson is a rather large human.
- Cabeb Ferguson looks to be recovered from Tommy John.
- Carson Fulmer is tantalizing… at least so far.
- We get our first look at Striker Buehler today.
- We are lucky to have a backup catcher like Austin Barnes. He’s perfect!
- We learned that CT3, has elbow surgery in the offseason and appears none worse for the wear.
- We learned that David Price wants to “prove himself.” Uh, OK…
- We also learned that the Dodgers wanted Kenley Jansen back, and were willing to give Kenley a two-year deal, but wanted him to wait until they shed some payroll. In the meantime, the Braves offered him $16 bmillion and gave him a few hours to decide. End of story!
- We learn more today against the Reds!
What Really Happened…
I have had this blog for 20 years and while it was always posted that there were to be no politics, a few commenters frequently did what I call “drive-by shootings.” They would make a statement or a comment in passing that could be a double entendre or just plain political and a jab at the other political side, After years of listening to that crap, last year, I decided to give the commenters a big dose of other own medicine. Of course, they tried to call me out for what they themselves had done ad nauseum. They found out that “It ain’t no fun when the rabbit has the gun!” Of course, most of them left the site, which was my “end game” anyway.
Some people can dish it out but they can’t take it. Their weak arguments will not hold up to scrutiny and so they resort to attacks on the person who presented the arguments. When one’s character is attacked, the battle has been lost and the loser is the attacker. I have always understood that!
At any rate, I let everyone vote and we no longer allow political discourse. This is a baseball blog. A Los Angeles Dodgers Blog, to be specific! I just thought you should know what my “endgame” was!
Life is good!
Carry on…
I believe it was the impersonator Rich Little, while in personating President John F Kennedy said,
“ it’s my ball we play by my rules “.
Had to look up Rich Little to see if he was still around. I haven’t heard that name in a while.
Actually that was Vaughn Meader. The quote is from an album called “The First Family”. The Kennedy’s are playing football in Hyannis Port and when Bobby complains, JFK retorts with it’s my ball and we play by my rules. Rich Little did a great Nixon, but doing Kennedy by the time Rich came around was not considered very classy.
Found it interesting that Andrew Friedman said the Dodgers could go past $290 million in payroll this year. Currently at about $285 million.
I’m guessing they won’t know until MLB makes a decision on Trevor Bauer. How much longer can they drag that out?
Sounds like ownership is all in, whatever it takes to land another World Series title. Revenue wise, the Dodgers are apparently doing quite well. If the Braves cleared a hundred million, no doubt the Dodgers did better, TV contract and higher attendance, generate big dollars.
Not to mention other revenue streams.
Yes, Vargas and Busch look like hitters.
Carson Fulmer certainly has talent. Hopefully, it rises to the surface in ’22. Wouldn’t be all that surprised if it happens.
Max Scherzer going five innings was impressive. Still wonder how he will hold up during that contract.
Thought the Dodgers were wise to pass.
Hoping the Dodgers extend Trea Turner this spring. That may depend on the Bauer situation.
I don’t think Trea has anything to do with the Bauer. The Dodgers can afford to lock up Trea even if they’re on the hook for Bauer for the next two years.
With that said, I think they would rather see what they have with Lux during the season before they commit to Trea.
I would’ve signed Kenley for 2/20, and I think he would’ve taken it. I’m not sure what he meant by the Dodgers asking him to wait until they shed payroll. Were they thinking of a 1 year deal and signing another deal next year? … or, are they anticipating something with Bauer getting suspended and/or traded and getting out of that commitment?
Treinen can probably close. It would’ve been nice to have Kenley. I still don’t trust Brusdar in spite of his natural stuff. Ferguson will help. The Dodgers have lost a lot of their relief corps from last year and, although AF is good in putting relief staffs together, I think it’s a little thin.
Bellinger may be healthy, but he still looks late in getting around on fastballs. With this long swing he’s always going to be a timing hitter who waits for mistakes. I don’t think he ever gets back to his 2019 level.
The Dodgers have five young, homegrown starting pitchers well under 30 who could form a starting pitching core for a long time.
2024 rotation –
Beuheler (age 29)
Urias (27)
Dustin May (26)
Bobby Miller (24)
Gonsolin (29)
I think we’ve done a pretty good job of sticking to baseball and keeping politics out of it lately. I know Badger was very good at subtly and snidely and condescendingly injecting his beliefs and poking sticks at people, but it appears he’s moved on. I’m not sure where that last paragraph came from, but would you say it was, itself, a drive by? Were you poking a stick? Making a subtle jab? Let sleeping Mustelidae lie.
They lost Kenley, Knebel, Nelson and Kelly. If you add them all together, you get 167.2 innings. Can we get that 167.2 innings from Hudson, Kahnle and Ferguson? That’s just 55 innings each. More innings for White, V-Gone, Brusdar, Vesia, Cleavinger, Bruil, Bickford, etc. We should be just fine.
I have a good feeling about Kahnle being really good, and I think he’ll be this year’s Jimmy Nelson. Not so excited about Hudson, and 55 innings is more than Ferguson has ever pitched. V-Gon still has to find the control he had in 2020 that he completely lost last year (which was what held him back as a prospect), Brusdar still only strikes out 7/9 innings and had a 4.5 ERA.
If EVERYTHING goes right then this will be a really good pen. It’s very rare that everything goes right. It’s a Murphy’s Law thing.
Murphy was an optimist!
There’s a ton of talent. I don’t think it’s an EVERYTHING goes right situation at all. I remember last year when everyone was complaining about the bullpen. Oh, how that changed and most of those guys are returning.
And this is a better place for it. Thank you!
You forgot Beau Burrows. I was really impressed with his outing.
Some years, I’m a little more interested in Spring wins. Not so much this year. Not this early. The lineup is full of veteran All-Stars and MVPs, they will be fine.
I’m not that optimistic about Kershaw. He started off well enough last year, sans that first start in Colorado, and we all know how that worked out.
The rotation situation is NOT the best. Two reliable arms and a bunch of question marks. Manfred obviously out to screw Bauer and the Dodgers.
The bullpen is deep with live arms.
The Dodgers will undoubtedly manage the rotation with new ideas to start the season due to the short Spring and lack of proven pieces. I’ll expect a lot of short starts, piggy backs and openers at the back end of the rotation.
When will David Price make his debut? It’s kinda weird that Kershaw was “behind schedule”, but made the first Spring start and we still haven’t seen Urias, Gonsolin, Price and Buller who is starting (today).
Well if the Dodgers don’t soon turn this thing around then it’s time to scuttle Robert’s new contract and move on!
Less than a week of ST and you’re ready to fire Roberts?
Nobody cares about ST record.
I’m always ready!
Welcome Kevin Pillar
Signed him to a minor league deal. Hit’s righty’s better than lefty’s. Has bounced around the league a lot the last few years.
Pillar is a good pickup. Given his ML experience, I’d place him behind Taylor in OF depth and ahead of the prospects. But all considered, I’d prefer that a younger players like McKinstry and Outman prove they really belong in the big leagues…but then I remember I had the same hopes for DJ Peters, Luke Raley and Zach Reks. If any starter goes down with injury, the veteran could fit nicely. (Lamb could be a similar fit for the infield.)
It’s interesting that Pillar, at 33, is still talking about how he thinks the Dodgers coaching can improve his game. Nice to think that’s true, but he’s an old dog by baseball standards.
Pillar is an interesting option. He’s been a starter in the past. Above average outfield glove. Decent pop. Doesn’t walk, which hurts his offensive ceiling. Agree with switch to looking for players with a track record vs. unproven prospects. The Dodgers got burned with DJ, Reks, Raley and Neuse.
I think you have it backwards.
https://www.fangraphs.com/players/kevin-pillar/12434/splits?position=OF&season=0
Never too early to be a negative nilly! Just trying to toughen up Doc for the upcoming season. By the way AF when are you going to resign Roberts? Hopefully before we really start calling on you not to!
Thanks Old Bear, as a kid our family had that album. Very funny stuff as I recall. Didn’t recall it was Vaughn Meader, didn’t connect it was him, ( thought Rich Little ) but nonetheless,
funny stuff. And so I think Mark can say….
“ it’s my ball “ and although there was an end game in the plan there was also an expression of democracy, let’s take a vote. ( but, it’s still my ball )
* I’m a ball cap guy. Always have been. My dear Mother, God Rest Her Soul, claimed that ball caps wore my hair off. Nice story, but every male on her side of the family looked like a que ball. I’m never outside without a hat on. I have a major collection and all of them mean something to me. They are either a team I played on, a golf course I loved or a logo and color I like. My Dodger WS cap. The Dodger St cap from a couple of years ago with the script “D”. Master’s hats, Pebble Beach hats, A Phillies Spring Training hat from a couple years back with the Liberty Bell and “PHIL” on the logo.
I look for a cool Spring Training hat every year – but not this year!
Retro stuff can be cool but this year, for God knows why, they have broken out an $50 dollar, fitted pro cap, with a shiny nylon mesh back. That’s right – NYLON MESH. The 59Fifty has a normal fabric crown (I like low profile) with a MESH back . Mookie Betts makes $30 million a year and he’s wearing a MESH cap. Who came up with that? It’s straight from the 1980’s when you got a foam rubber crown and a mesh backing. It’s a hat you’d expect to buy at a Love’s Truck Stop for $4.95 with a John Deere logo or the name of the tavern that sponcored your slo-pitch softball team. I’ve already heard it being called the Trucker’s Hat.
There are couple of things I would do in this cap but one of them isn’t put my head in it.
* “what we’ve learned so far?” Okay:
* Is Andrew Heaney healthy? Is so, he could be Bigfoot. I’ve heard he’s out there, but I never seen him.
* Bellinger is back on the plate with the noticeable difference of choking up 3 inches. That’s about it. He continues to be tardy and swungs from his ass every time. No contact. Struck out 5 times in a row before putting a ball in play, which was a deep fly to center. He’s made first contact.
* Jake Lamb looks great and could add a nice bench piece if he can hit.
I have a lot of caps also. Being a former trucker, I hated mesh caps. So I guess they call them that because so many truckers do wear them. Not me. Most of my caps are either baseball related or patriotic. I do have a Quakes camo hat. It has the elastic in it so it stretches to any size. Got a Memorial Day cap from a few years ago. And a Brooklyn hat I wear when I wear my Robinson jersey. Also have an LA hat that has CK’s autograph and number stitched into it. Have a Dodger winter wool cap that can be worn in cold weather. Also have a Russian army cap that has the ear flaps you can pull down when it is really cold. Lamb has not impressed me much. His homer yesterday came on a hanger. Yeah, Belli has struck out 5 times, but he has had all of 8 at bats. I do not expect much in the early going, you shouldn’t either.
Bear, I can see that angst beginning already with the Bellinger. factions. He’s is going to be an interesting subject. Here’s what I don’t want to see. I don’t want constant arguments between the Belli defenders and the Belli critics. His supporters are never going see any flaws and the detractors will continue to point out what’s wrong no matter what. Only his performance is going to calm the argument.
You really don’t need to tell me not to jump to conclusions. I didn’t. I stated exactly what I’ve seen.
Mark started it with the “what we’ve seen or learned so far” Notice the “SO FAR” part. I’m just sayin what I have seen so far. No speculation. No analysis. No conclusions. Just fact, so far. Bellinger has swung as hard as he can nearly every swing. Other than choking up, I’ve seen nothing different when he was reported to be injured. He’s tardy and and swinging right through fastballs. As we all know, with his complicated swing, timing is everything and he is not on time. If that’s a conclusion I’m jumping to, I’m guilty. I have a tendency to believe what I see with my eyes from about 45 feet from the batter’s box.
Lamb today looked good again. While you are not impressed with him he’s looked good to me. He’s in great shape and swinging nicely. Maybe our hitting group can help him like we’ve done with others like CT3. I like the kid and would love to see his MLB experience and LH bat off the bench and at a corner if needed. But it’s a dog fight right now with the majority of games PT played with non-regulars and non-roster guys.
There was a Harney sighting however. He is not Bigfoot. He did have the distinction of being a pitcher pulled from the game and returning to start the next inning.
You kidding? A mesh hat without the strap and the cutout? Count me in. I’m calling my local hat guy today.
I love the mesh hats when the weather gets hot. It allows the breeze in.
I only have 2 baseball caps. I have a Dodgers’ blue “LA” cap and my favorite, Dodgers’ blue, Brooklyn “B” cap.
I’ve always wanted, and never got around to getting the B cap and also the D cap. I have more than a few Dodgers hats, forest cammo, desert cammo, 4th of July logo, classic blue, black WS, a couple of striped trucker and a black WS trucker all in the rotation right now.
Today’s Freddie Freeman’s Dodger Debut Lineup with Spring Training Stats:
HITTERS H-AB RBI HR SB AVG
T. TurnerSS 3-8 0 0 0 .375
J. Turner3B 1-5 0 0 0 .200
F. Freeman1B —– — — — —
W. SmithC 0-4 0 0 0 .000
A. PollockLF 0-3 0 0 0 .000
C. BellingerCF 2-8 0 0 0 .250
C. Taylor2B 1-4 1 0 0 .250
E. RiosDH 1-4 0 0 0 .250
Z. McKinstryRF 1-6 1 0 0 .167
Walker going 4.2 innings today ? In his first ST game ?
Wow!
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!
DR, I was at the game and I was very surprised when Doc sent Walker out for the 5th. He had looked outstanding until then giving up just the dinger to India, who can really hit. If they wanted more pitches I thought Doc would have him finish up in the bullpen. He didn’t and it didnt turn out well. I would have preferred Walker finish with a better taste in his mouth. But that didn’t happen. He was the first guy I’ve seen go past 3 so far.
Andrew Heaney has a career 4.72 ERA and outdid himself with a 5.83 mark last year.
While I am certainly cognizant that this was his first Spring appearance and as Mark has repeatedly stated, Spring games don’t mean anything, 5 ER in 2 1/3 IP is not an auspicious beginning!
I said when they signed him that he has an 8 year major league track record and has never had a good season. He has surpassed 100 IP thrice and in 8 seasons has managed 5 WAR. Geez!
I was shocked that AF paid so much for Heaney. Anderson was the better signing.
One MLB.com writer projects that the Dodgers’ rotation in the first month will include both of those guys, which is why I wonder if there’s still a chance to trade for Montaz or Manaea.
Baseball bringing back the ghost runner. Also the roster will be set at 28 until May 1. So for about 2 weeks they will have 2 extra players. Outman, Beaty and Smith homered today. Pitching did not look too good except Buehler.
Anyone know if both the extra roster spots can be pitchers or will they limit that somehow?
They really shouldn’t and should let teams add two pitchers if they want.
14 and 14 most likely. Then again because of the short work up, they might allow teams to carry 15 pitchers. They want to save the arms.
Keep an eye on Zuniga. He has twice stranded two inherited runners.
Zuniga looked great. Who is that masked man?
Kid has some nasty stuff. I think he was at high A ball last year.
He was with the Drillers. He struck out 49 in 35 innings, walked 13.
From Cartagena, Columbia, he was one of the 12 Atlanta Braves international prospects made free agents in November of 2017 by Major League Baseball after improprieties from former general manager John Coppollela.
The Dodgers signed him on December 6, 2017 with a reported $205,000 bonus, although as part of the agreement to make those former Braves free agents the first $200,000 did not count against the bonus pool.
Zuniga, now 23, originally signed with the Braves on July 2, 2016 for $350,000, a bonus he got to keep.
Trea Turner avoids arbitration. He just signed a one year deal to cover his last year of arbitration. $ 21 million.
Julio Urias just signed a 8 million dollar deal.
As usual, good observations above. Enjoying watching the spring games. The pitching prospects are always interesting for me. Last spring I noticed and liked the big guy Robertson. He was out there yesterday and unfortunately, gave up a HR. I agree with above comment on Zuniga. Impressive outing. I remember Jake Lamb killing the Dodgers in 2016-17. He seemed to get a game changing hit every time the opportunity arose. But, with his injury history he has fallen off the radar as a productive player. He seems to be solid defensively and it would be nice if he could make the team out of spring training especially with the rosters going to 28 the beginning of the season. Nonetheless, the Dodgers will have a far superior bench than the one they had in 2021.
I think the BP will have plenty of depth this year even with the loss of Kenley and Kelly. Both were kind of high wire acts most of 2021 so that aspect of their outings have been eliminated. A closer will evolve as the season progresses or it will closer by committee.
I’m more concerned with the rotation. If either Urias or Buehler go down for any amount of time the Dodgers could be in trouble. Erlin and Fulmer have had nice outings. Anderson appears to have a shot with a starting spot. Lots of past non productive pitchers in the mix which has been AF’s MO in putting together a rotation and/or BP.
Who is Beau Burrows?
Two weeks until the race for the World Series begins. It should be an interesting and exciting season.
Carry on.