1-2 Start – What… Me Worry? Rants & Raves

Posted By on April 11, 2022

  • Do not try and make any sense of the last two games. There is no sense involved.
  • Cody Bellinger is making progress, he is getting close… he is starting to hone in. He still is not where he needs to be, but I think he is on the right path. Stay tuned… Now, it is all about timing. This is true with Muncy, J-Turner, Freeman, Smith, and others as well. The best hitters are often “rhythm hitters” – they just have to get the “feel” of it.
  • Tyler Anderson is a nice piece for the bullpen… or rotation… or both. So, is Mitch White.
  • Kendall Williams was allegedly the centerpiece in the Ross Stripling Trade, but it appears that Gus Varland (the throw-in) has surpassed him right about now.
  • I have it on second-hand information that Aaron Oshsenbein was allegedly hitting 95-96 MPH for Tulsa. IF (Big IF) that is true, you will see him at a Ravine near you THIS year. If it is not true, it becomes more unlikely. He still could add a couple more MPH if he just relieves.
  • Let me remind you that this site is not about Recaps, Daily Reports, and such things. It’s about seeing a different perspective. If Jeff and Harold keep up the Minor League Report on a Daily Basis, that is a Great Place to read daily: www.LAdodgerChronicles.com. We will have a link there soon as I am re-doing our Dodger Dashboard and have some really cool additions coming.
  • The Dodgers could start out 1-9 and I will remain unfazed! I do not think that they will start out like that, but it is possible.
  • I think Mark Prior has a different philosophy of ramping up pitchers than Rick Honeycutt did. I think he is very protective of pitchers’ arms and wants to ramp them up slower… and with the shortened Spring Training this philosophy is just exacerbated! Stay calm! We saw that the fastballs of Buehler, Gonsolin, and Urias have a few less MPH on them in their first three starts. I suspect you will see this tick up slowly as April Showers bring May Flowers.
  • Gavin Lux is the hitting hero, so far… and only one of two players on the team hitting over .231 (.375 to be precise). It’s a small sample, however.
  • BTW, CT3 is hitting .571… AJ who?

Prospect Profile – Jose Ramos

Baseball America has two Dodgers in their Top Five Minor League Outfield Arms: Andy Pages is #5 and Jose Ramos is #2 behind #1 Joey Wiemer of the Brewers. Ramos recorded 20 assists In his first 112 outfield starts. Yes, he has a canon, reminiscent of Yasiel Puig! Physically, he resembles Andy Pages as he stands 6′ 1″ tall and weighs a little over 200 pounds. He will likely fill out a little more as he matures. He is 21 right now, having turned 21 on New Year’s Day.

He was signed by the Dodgers out of Panama when he was 17 and last year was really his first full year. He has played CF, but a corner outfield position is where he will play in the majors. In parts of four seasons, he has a .308 BA, .384 OB%, and .a 883 OPS. His power will come, probably THIS year as he matures. Baseball America has this to say about him:

“Ramos is a strong, aggressive hitter who feasts on fastballs. He has a smooth, rhythmic swing with plenty of bat speed and strength. He turns fastballs around 400-plus feet with his plus raw power and posts some of the highest exit velocities of any Dodgers prospect. Ramos struggles to recognize breaking balls, but he’s adept at working himself into fastball counts and playing to his strengths.“

Jose has a very compact, efficient swing and is already an excellent fastball hitter. If he can develop the ability the recognize breaking balls, he has a chance to be a very good corner outfielder… most likely a right-fielder. He is at Rancho Cucamonga this year and will likely move up to Great Lakes if he can continue his progress. I like Ramos a lot and would say he is at least 2 years away.

This article has 33 Comments

  1. Billy Mckinney former Dodger now with the Oakland A’s has as many homeruns as the entire Dodger team, one. Coors Field is an awful place to play a baseball game. Hopefully the Dodgers get out of their Spring Training funk and start playing quality baseball. I really think that last year’s grueling try to win the division against SF took a lot out of the team emotionally and physically and there is still a hangover from it.

  2. Gus Varland was acquired by the Dodgers from the A’s in the Neuse/Varland swap for Cody Thomas and Adam Kolarek, not from the Blue Jays in the Stripling trade. …..just an FYI.

    1. I stand corrected. I evidently forgot to take my dumbass vaccine this morning.

  3. Ryan Noda slugging OF/1B now at Oklahoma City age 26 batting .400 OPS. 1391 with 2 HRs was the second player added in the Ross Stripling trade with the Blue Jays. 29 HRs with Tulsa in 2021.

  4. “but he’s adept at working himself into fastball counts”

    There is no such thing at the Major League level.

    This looks like a summer team. Kinda like the Over 50 tournament team I played for up in Napa. It needs to warm. But not too warm. And not windy. And not early in the day. But not too late either.

    This team isn’t woke yet.

    Yeah, I said it.

    Cincinnati looks different.

    Rhythm huh? Cody’s out of rhythm. Ok. I googled it. Put “Got To Give It Up” on a loop during his hitting practice. Personally I’d go with Talking Heads, but, I was raised on the see ball hit ball philosophy so what do I know about rhythm hitting.

      2. Good choice BP

        Actually, both are good choices.

        We may ask ourselves…. how did we get here?

        1. I must confess, I am a music lover. Anything from the late 70’s and early 80’s new wave, punk, post punk is right up my alley.

      1. You ever tried them? LSD? Peyote? Marijuana? Ayahuasca? Mescaline? Salvia Divinorum? Have you tried anything other than copious amounts of alcohol?

        I think Colosucko would benefit from a roof. Minnesota without one is nuts. Baseball is a summer game. Summers in Denver and Minnesota last about 4 months.

          1. True. There was a line I didn’t cross, but that was down a long street and around the corner. I really got into the psychedelics for a few years there. Concert after concert, for about a decade. My addiction in the 80’s brought an end to it all. Bouncing off the bottom is often what takes. I bounced hard.

  5. It is a new day. Onwards and upwards. Do check out Jeff’s new site. I read his report on the minor leagues and it was very informative. OKC seems to have their hitting shoes on for sure. McKinstry is off to a hot start too. Will be out of the loop for a couple of days starting Wednesday. I will be on my way west. Some snow expected on Monarch Pass. I have some posts in the que, and a couple in the planning stage. Lets win one tomorrow, if they play!

      1. When I watched Pages in the last game he looked like a different hitter. He seemed to be really under control at the plate and looked really relaxed at AA ball. He has already drawn five walks compared to two strikeouts.

        1. Hey DC, long time. Glad to see you around and I hope everything is good with you.

          I got confused with Noda for a second. Noda is on a tare. Pages looks like a blue chipper in the making.

  7. In general it’s way too soon to comment about how any player is playing or how the team is playing for that matter. The question that I have is whether the way that the Dodgers went about preparing for the season on short notice has put them behind the eight ball a little bit.

    The Dodgers played 33 Spring Training games (including split squad games and ties). Eddie Alvarez played in the most (15 games). Betts played in only 8. Most regular position players played in 10 -12 games.

    Kershaw was the only Dodger starter to pitch 4 times. Buehler pitched twice (9 innings); Urias 3 times (8 innings total). David Price managed only 2 innings all Spring. Treinen 4 innings; Heaney 2 games and 5 innings. Kimbrel pitched 3 times for a total of 2 innings.

    The Dodgers got off to a slow start this Spring and have carried it over to the regular season but it might have helped if they had more of a chance to get ready for the season.

    1. Every MLB team started and ended ST the same time. Nothing but excuses when referencing the shortened spring training. Or if I was a Colorado fan maybe I say too bad we didn’t have more ST we might have swept them boys from LA.

      1. Wow, you really missed his point by saying that. Yes, all teams have the same schedule, but the way they choose to get their players ready is entirely up to the management of each individual team.

        Mookie was probably the last regular to even see game action. Does he look ready to you? He started Spring the same as everyone else, why wasn’t he in any games for the first two weeks?

  8. I’ve always given a lot of credit to those kinds of pitchers who when they don’t bring their stuff right, find a way to minimize the damage and give their team a chance to fight the game.
    I liked what I saw from Gonsolin, no shot worked for him but he defended like a cat facing up, he minimized the damage, I liked that he hit 95 mph and there is more to that gun, I think he is healthy for the first time in a long time .

  11. Never have used any drugs except the ones the doc says I have to use. I did drink a lot until 1990. But I quit, and have never regretted it. I am not panicking over a series loss in April. Besides, we can make the Rockies look like crap when we sweep the last series of the year which is 6 games. No longer get to play them 19 times a year after this year, so enjoy it while you can. I think MLB should have a rule that all players need to have names everyone can pronounce. I have heard four maybe five different pronunciations of Pages. Urias at least three. I had trouble enough with Smith.

  13. That Blue Jays team is so much fun to watch, on every play those guys play with a lot of intensity, I think they’re going to bring back the big crowds at that stadium in Toronto.

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