Last year the Giants won 107 games with a rag-tag bunch of never-were’s, some has-beens, and a few wanna-be’s. Players like Brandon Belt, Buster Posey (now retired), Brandon Crawford, and Evan Longoria (has-beens) all come back to play at a high level. Then, players like Lamont Wade, Jr. Wilmer Flores, Darin Ruf played out of their minds at times.
If you went position-by-position, it would have been very difficult to pick any Giant position player over a Dodger player at the same position, but yet the Giants won more games in 2021 than the Dodgers who had a former or current All-Star at just about every position. Simply put “The whole was better than the sum of the parts.” Now, this season, their magic has faded (somewhat), but it has not gone away! While not playing at the level they did last season, the Giants are still a tough team to beat.
I have wondered why that is and I have come to the conclusion that it is simply “a mindset.” The Dodgers are a team composed mostly of stars or those who have had a modicum of success in MLB, while the Giants are nowhere near that level, but somehow, Kapler and Company get them to play like they are. Maybe they play with a chip on their shoulder, or maybe it is just simple desire. Maybe it really can’t be quantified because if you couple “package” it, you would have plenty of customers ready to buy it.
Whatever it is, it is real, and tangible, and it makes the Giants a “force” in the NL West. Yes, the Dodgers won last night, but it wasn’t a walk in the park. Don’t sell these guys short! We have to play them 18 more times and it will be a chore. At any rate, I will take it. Let’s do it again today! Alex Wood goes for the Giants and the Dodgers may re-shuffle their starting pitchers due to additional off days. Stay tuned.
Dodgers News & Notes
- Kasowski pitched 2 hitless, scoreless innings with 2 K’s last night, and Hagenman pitched 1 with 1 K at OKC.
- Tulsa and Great Lakes were postponed last night.
- Diego Cartaya hit his 5th HR and took a walk to raise his BA to .242. (.914 OPS).
- Damon Keith (1.169 OPS) continues to just rake.
- Big Ronan Kopp went 2 innings, allowed 1 hit, no BB, and struck out 3 (0.87 ERA).
- He now has 22 K’s in 10 IP! WOW!
Hey Bear, here’s an MLB player that most know nothing about that you might enjoy researching…..Moses Fleetwood Walker. Some interesting history.
Mark, there’s some force of negative energy that always tugged at dodger players jerseys or maybe they are just too comfortable where they’ve gotten themselves and lost that loving feeling. But there always seems to come bad stretches where they just do not play good baseball. And this team simply should not lose to the teams they lose to . It’s funny how power is different in different shapes and places on maps but as far as I know maybe it’s Rice a Rony.
Walker was covered in the story I did on the Negro Leagues. Nail biter last night. But they got the W.
Hey Bear, if you’ll still be in town, the DBacks play in LA on Wed May 18 at 1pm
Please take my two tickets as a thank you for all the work you do for this board.
I will be here until July 1st. Will let you know about the tickets.
Last night’s game was pretty uneventful, that often happens when a pair of lefty aces face off against each other.
Rodon was as advertised. Unfortunately for him, a couple of walks, a wild pitch, and a clutch hit from a player that often delivers in those situations was the difference in the game.
Belli got robbed by one of those deflated baseballs. He hit it with a 104 exit velocity and a 30 degree launch angle. .790 expected batting average on the hit, but it dies at 390 to dead center. It was a chilly night, in July that one is gone!
I read that Lux retrieved a couple of foul balls and they were inconsistent, as the seams were raised much higher on one and flat on the other. I can’t believe MLB can’t get this right. It seems like the ball changes year to year and I’m not sure the humidor is solving a problem. It seems that this commissioner reactively tinkers with everything without any foresight.
Badger bought up a theory about innings pitched for Dodgers starters. The difference between the most used staff was less than half an IP per start, but that staff’s ERA is more than a full run higher. Doc pulled Urias after 6IP and 65 pitchers. This is more likely by design than a reflection on skill or performance.
Like last year, most games between these two teams have been decided 1 or 2 runs and last night started the same way. Both teams have very good pitching. The Giants work hard to manufacture runs. The Dodgers philosophy is to stick to the script, the process and good things will happen. That was apparent last night when the good guys worked the strike zone for a couple of walks and a knock. That wild pitch helped.
TM has been very quiet trying to put together a case against Belli. We’re 22 games in after last night’s win. Sunday morning should be fun.
Patch says that Mookie’s hip is still bothering him. You wouldn’t know it after watching him come up with a game saving catch in the gap last night. His 3-0 in base swipes also goes against the narrative.
I’m wondering if the Dodgers would be better off with CT3 at 3B, Muncy in LF and JT at DH. 3rd base is a shit show with poor defense and little offense. I would really like to see Rios out there, but that would relegate one of JT or Muncy to the bench. Maybe not such a bad thing.
The Giants lined up two lefties against the Dodgers and I’m wondering if the Dodgers are doing the same thing in order to keep Joc on the bench. Today’s starting pitcher is listed as TBD. It’s Gonsolin’s turn, but I can see them possibly going with Anderson tonight and then Gonsolin to start the Cubs series. That would break up the two righties going forward.
It’s crazy that Cartaya’s OPS is north of 900 after his slow start. 6 hits with 3 bombs and a double in your last 8 ABs will do that early in the season.
Bear, if you want an emergency exit for the venue on Saturday, we should go to My Place. Long Beach sounds closer, but My Place is very close to the freeway so it would be a better place in case you get an emergency call and have to leave.
https://myplacesportsbar.com/
5452 Commercial Drive
Huntington Beach, CA
Patch, we’re meeting up to watch the game. I can give Watford your phone number if you want and maybe you can meet up with him afterwards. Let me know.
Hey B&P
I’ll be at the above venue for 11am on Saturday morning.
Unfortunately not around in the evening as am heading to West Hollywood with the guys.
Be great to meet you and Michael
Sounds good Watford. I’ll be there.
Me too. Will get there as soon as I can. I will be wearing my Dodger jersey.
Yeah, send it over to Watford.
I have a morning group bike ride that I lead on Saturdays. I’m usually finishing up in Irvine by 12:30 or so, so I might catch the last three innings of the game if I hurry. It’ll be a stretch.
I agree Mark that some players are just “winners”. They have that mindset. Sometimes it doesn’t make sense. You can’t quantify it. But they add to their club in so many ways; from the clubhouse to clutch performances. Put enough of these guys together and you get synergy. The success feeds off itself and it becomes expected.
All successful teams undergo 3 phases; Storming, Forming and Norming. All 3 have to take place in that order to be ultimately successful. Norming is individuals, with their play and attitudes, becoming cohesive as a winner. You hear phrases like “they said we couldn’t do it” and “we’ve overcome so much”. Some teams have flaws in their characters and get stuck in the Storming phase. They eat each other.
Winning is definitely a mindset and those special teams are sometimes hard to explain like last year’s Giants. But it’s a cool place when you get there.
Surprised Doc took Julio out with only 65 pitches
Almost cost him big.
And we still don’t take advantage of small ball when it is right there on a silver platter.
2 on , no outs and TT at the dish .
Why not let the fastest man in baseball try to lay one down and advance the runners?
We could have used an insurance run or two.
In the postseason when rubs are at a premium I would
have screamed at the TV and cursed Roberts.
Good to see Cartaya heat up.
Go Dodgers!
We now have a home run mentality team with warning track power. Whether it’s the balls or the dew our offense needs a reboot. All the preseason hype about our lineup we look more like the 60’s Dodgers than the 27 Yankees!
Why can’t the reason for the Giants being good be that they are good? It’s not a mindset, it’s a collection of talented players doing well.
It’s exactly what the Dodgers have, albeit in slightly different form-factors (more platoons, less $$)
… to say nothing of much less impressive stars and awards. If you were starting a team today, how many position players would you take who are Giants (over the Dodgers corresponding players)? Who?
Couldn’t you flip that, and say wouldn’t you rather have the Giants roster because it enables financial flexibility and spending on big free agents like Soto?
That is a different measurement than which play is better at each position. The fact that they have more roster maneuverability is a valid issue but a different analysis.
Because tautologies don’t really provide insight or answer vexing questions.
The Giants, on paper, aren’t particularly good, but they continue to win. Why?
The Dodgers are pretty good on paper, but not particularly so. Why?
The most important reason we want a reason is because this is a baseball blog. Pontificating is what we do here.
Well so far Joc’s bat over any of ours
Is this a surprise to you? Have you seen this before from Joc? How does it usually end?
Same thing with platoons. We’ve been bit in the ass with platoons for years, now that we’re less reliant on them, the Giants are the model to build an offense based on platoons?
I’m not surprised that the people who constantly complain about our players are infatuated with the Giants.
Objectively, the Giants have a good pitching staff, but I wouldn’t want DiScalfani, Woody or Cobb. Their bullpen is good like ours. They field the ball well, but their offense is basically crap. Their luck will run out this year.
I hate to say it without proof, but I think the magic that Posey and Crawford had last year had BALCO written all over it.
FAKE NEWS
The Dodgers have an Allstar type of team. Whenever an allstar team plays an established team, they usually have a hard time beating a team thats played together as a unit. I think our boys in blue will prevail over the course of the season and like Dave predicted they will achieve their goal.
Ira
Bumgarner. Don’t people understand he doesn’t like to be looked at? Who was it he wigged out on? Alex Guerrero? … Oh wait. He had a meltdown when Guerrero did a little hop in frustration after popping up. He also had a meltdown when Puig made eye contact with him.
I miss him on the Giants. It was so much easier to hate them with this man child on the team.
https://twitter.com/JomboyMedia/status/1521900317864079364?s=20&t=AtJaBOvEx169m1j6GSAsTA
SP Tony Gonsolin R
1-0 1.59 ERA 13K
Confirmed Lineup
RF Mookie Betts R
1B F. Freeman L
SS Trea Turner R
C Will Smith R
3B Max Muncy L
DH J. Turner R
CF C. Bellinger L
LF Chris Taylor R
2B Gavin Lux L
Clear-day
0% Rain
73° Wind 6 mph Out
As Davis would say, Just win baby!
In case you don’t think I don’t see what Lux does:
Did you see the catch he made in RF at the seats and the absolute seed he threw to 3B. Right in line.
He has a great arm, but that kind of catch and throw is not where the yips surface.
That was a fantastic throw.
Right. The problem comes when he thinks too much and doesn’t simply react. On his yippy throws you can see the uncertainty in his body language.
Oh good… Muncy just made it 9-1. He’s crucial.
By the way, I noticed that Cartaya hit one of his HRs off Blake Snell. Cartaya is so young, but already looks imposing in the highlights.
This offense isn’t all that scary without Muncy, JT and Bellinger in it.
Dodgers up 7-1 as I write this. …
Maybe the underachieving offense is coming to life. The pitching remains solid.
Meanwhile, the Angels continue to offer hope for an October Freeway Series. Unheralded Taylor Ward–ranked as the Angels’ 4th or 5th outfielder in the spring–continues to outhit Trout, who is back and having a typically terrific season. He blasted his 6th HR tonight and his OPS is up about 1.200.
And it really seems out of the blue.
Can Ward keep it up? It’s a different story, but it reminds me a bit of Belli’s breakout season. It has taken much longer for Ward to deliver on his promise. He was a first rounder, after all, but had been eclipsed by Walsh’s emergence, and the hot prospects Adell and Marsh. (Belli, in contrast, was never an afterthought.)
Sure, it’s early….
But it’s a good time to be rooting for a Dodgers-Angels showdown.
Another outstanding turn and throw at 2B by Lux.
Like I said, he’s gonna make some great plays and if he throws one away here and there, those great plays will even things out. It’s definitely much better than when he first started playing second base.
Just two small observations, which I find unbelievable, which make me extremely excited just to imagine when this team plays something close to its potential:
1 In 23 games, Dodgers pitchers have only allowed 57 runs, leading in MLB. The giants, a team that arrived with more than 100 runs scored, could only score two in the mini series, the Dodgers pitchers made them look like tame lambs.
2 The Dodgers’ offense is among the best in runs scored, they have 114 but the detail is that they have achieved it with only FF and CT3 doing what is expected and Will Smith, Trea and Lux performing adequately but not at the level than is expected of them, the rest far below what is expected. Imagine what this line up will be like when your players, or most of them, have a close performance, what is going to happen, what they expect, that must be very scary for their rivals!!!