In a word… NO! What we see over the past few games is how the Baseball Gods even things up in their own due time. Dodger pitching was so far ahead of all the other teams in ERA that it wasn’t even close. It wasn’t until yesterday that the Dodgers fell out of the Team ERA lead to the #2 position in all of baseball. You give up 21 runs in two games and that is what happens.
Striker Buehler had an off game, but let me remind you that his ERA is still 2.81! He is learning to be a different type of pitcher than he was. He is trying to evolve to a pitcher who does not rely on power to blow hitters away. Buehler is not a big guy and if he wants to achieve longevity, he cannot be a “max effort” pitcher all the time. You are going to see Walker sit at 95 to 96 with his fastball, and just like Orel said last night (Orel talks to these guys every day) Walker is trying to pitch deeper into games and not use up all his pitches on strikeouts. In the past, Walker was determined to beat you with his best stuff. Now he is trying to pitch to the hitters’ weakness. I think that is a sound plan… but he won’t perfect that overnight.
The implosion of the bullpen the past few games is more concerning. Let’s look at what is happening there:
- Blake Treinen is on the IL, and for all we know, he may be gone for the year. That puts the biggest strain on the bullpen.
- Brusdar Graterol might be better served by not throwing a 101 MPH straight arrow fastball. Instead, how about a 4-seamer with movement and a cutter? He only needs two pitches and maybe he needs to go back to AAA to learn that. You know what insanity is. He does not miss enough bats to pitch at the end of the game. It’s time for a drastic overhaul of his repertoire.
- I am worried about Alex Vesia. His fastball is 2 or 3 MPH off of last year. It just is. He is not as effective there.
- Tommy Kahnle is getting his sea legs back, but it might be another month before he returns to form – If Treinen is out for the season, Tommy could settle into his role.
- I think Phillips and Bickford are fine and will have ERAs in the high 2.00s. It’s a long season.
- We don’t know yet, but Yency Almonte looked to be very useful as could Carson Fulmer.
- Then, there is David Price, Mitch White, Reyes Moronta, Daniel Hudson, and Justin Bruihl.
- Danny Duffy and Dustin May should return in the next couple of months.
- Garrett Cleavinger and Caleb Ferguson are at the ready, but it is impossible to predict what they will do right about now.
- Andre Jackson has the stuff to be a reliever, as does Ryan Pepiot, and there are a bunch of other live arms at AA and AAA – you just have to see who can and who can’t get the job done.
Andrew Heaney should be back in early June, but there are no guarantees. Remember the reason the Dodgers bought them cheap and stacked them deep is that relief pitchers are a fickle bunch. You never know what you might get year-over-year. Now, the Dodgers have to sort out the pretenders from the contenders in the bullpen.
It seems likely that Clayton Kershaw will miss the minimum of time. I am sure he is already on anti-inflammatories (which won’t hurt his arm, shoulder, and back as well). He should be locked and loaded at the end of the mandatory IL stint.
The Knee-Jerk reaction of fans is to run around like your hair is on fire, spewing doom and gloom. Feel free to do so, but I will just yawn and say “This too shall pass.” The underpinings are there for the Dodgers to have an excellent bullpen. You just have to kiss a lot of frogs to find the princes. Feel free to think about trades, etc., but I think we have plenty in house to be the best pitching team in baseball. I refuse to panic!
Also, some fans are going to rag on Bellinger and Muncy after last night’s game, but the last I saw, they did not pitch. I remain hopeful!
Dodger Minor League Highlights
- OKC DODGERS
- OKC won 6-5
- Miguel Vargas was 2-4 and is now batting .307.
- Caleb Ferguson pitched 1 inning and struck out 2 with a hit and a BB. He is getting closer.
- Justin Bruihl pitched 2 innings, allowing just 1 hit.
- Justin Hagenman pitched a perfect inning, striking out the side.
- Carson Fulmer got the save (1.98 ERA).
- TULSA DRILLERS
- Tulsa lost 8-6.
- Mike Busch was 2-5 with a double (.301/1.088).
- Jacob Amaya was 2-5 with his 8th HR (.322/1.169).
- Kody Hoese was 2-4 and is starting to act like he might hit.
- Landon Knack’s line: 3 IP/4 H/3 ER/2 BB/5 K
- Andy Pages is still struggling with AA pitching (.217 BA).
- GREAT LAKES LOONS
- The Loons lost 4-3
- Jorbit Vivas was 2-4 (BA up to .200).
- Cole Percival pitched four strong innings, allowing 1 ER run on 4 hits.
- RANCHO CUCAMONGA QUAKES
- The Quakes won 11-10.
- Jake Vogel was 2-5 with 2 RBI (.212 BA/651 OPS)
- Luis Rodriguez was 2-5 with 3 RBI (.289 BA/.856 OPS)
- Carlos De Los Santos pitched the final inning and got the win to go to 2-0.
Dang Pennsylvania! Ok Mark, how much longer do you give Bellinger before you make the switch with Pillar? If he hits .200 in OKC then his time is over with the Dodgers and maybe a new city will can unleash his potential. Does he have any trade value? Only ex Dodgers had a worse day than the current Dodgers yesterday!
That is not even on my radar now.
Unless you drop your arm slot, 2 seamers are the ones that move. Move thumb to seams under a ball to go left or right and down. 4 seamers ride up, or in Graterol’s case ride straight down the middle. Hershiser had one of the best I’ve ever seen. Get him with Graterol.
I think we have a plethora of relief pitchers, including 2 that are currently in our rotation. 3 if you count Price, 4 if you count White. 5 if you count Pepiot. Every one of our minor league starters being mentioned are all 3 inning pitchers at this point. Against weaker offenses Pepiot could get 4.
It’s May, not time to panic, but it is time to plan. We will likely have some bullpen games coming up. Figure them out.
You’re right Mark, no guarantees. But as you know, I think it’s time to have Plans B and C on the drafting table. A little early for trades. With expanded playoffs more teams will be holding for a couple months. Those that know they are in rebuild mode will be in the drivers seat. For now? Bullpen games. And stack 3 inning starters is certainly one that I’ll be watching closely.
Are the Dodgers becoming the MLB version of the Vikings? Oh well, blame it on Friday the 13th.
No, we always win our first playoff series. 😉
I read AC’s article at Badger’s suggestion. I didn’t think it was one of his best, but he called out Badger by name, so I can see why Badger called attention to it…
Yep, there isn’t anyone available that’s much better than what we have. When guys are available, they will cost a ton. Decreased supply due to expanded playoffs.
Buehler pitched a bad game last night against a very good offense. It happens. I don’t need to do a deep dive. His velo was up, but his results were down. I think it was just a bad game.
On the pregame show, Doc said that this is the same injury that Clayton has had before. It’s his same chronic back problem that he never got fixed and the plane flight did him in. Again, he doesn’t expect him to be out long. We’ve heard that before so there’s no need to make plans based on Doc’s revelations.
The trade deadline is August 2nd.
Dustin May had TJ on May 11 last year. By the time the deadline comes around, May will be at almost 15 months past his surgery. Recovery time is supposed to be 12-14 months. He’ll be the best trade deadline pick up this year. Unlike most of the people here, I don’t see any reason why he can’t start. I don’t see Verlander pitching in relief.
Heaney is supposed to be back at the end of May and he’ll be the first to come in and try to settle the rotation and give a breather to the bullpen. If they can use Anderson as long relief, this will stabilize the pitching staff.
The David Price situation is really weird to me. It sounds like Doc has little confidence in him. If Doc can’t use him as a starter during this stretch, what’s the point in keeping him around? And who is going to be willing to trade for him and eat any of his salary if he isn’t trusted as a starter on a team that has holes in the rotation?
I’m not as doom and gloom as some are about the rotation because all along this offseason AF was talking about not wanting to block guys that are nearly ready. I trust that he knows what he’s doing.
Nearly ready rotation options include…
Ryan Pepiot
Bobby Miller
Mitch White
Andre Jackson
Michael Grove
Beau Burroughs
That’s an entire rotation for a team like the Marlins a couple of years ago.
Yes, right now things look a little grim. Bueller sucked last night when we needed him to step it up, but his velocity was actually the best we’ve seen this season. He nearly touched 97 3 times (The gun clocked them at 97) and about half his 4 seamers were 96.0+.
Bueller, Urias, Gonsolin, Anderson and Pepiot is what we have right now and it isn’t enough considering the lack of off days and the looming double header on the schedule.
In a couple of weeks it will be Bueller, Urias, Kershaw, Heaney, Gonsolin. Better? They might even be able to keep Pepiot around for a 6 man rotation through this tough stretch.
In a few weeks after that it will be more interesting as minor leaguers develop and Dustin begins throwing.
Then there’s the name that shan’t be spoken. He’s still technically on the roster, so…
The name that shan’t be spoken’s first day of his appeal is set for May 23, just 9 days away. I know that all the reporters are saying the benevolent Dodgers won’t bring him back. Well, with the crap that will be available at the trade deadline, maybe we might just get something for him? I mean, he’ll be the only Cy Young caliber pitcher available. Maybe he’ll come back and beat us in the playoffs. That doesn’t sound like an AF move.
Remember, MLB offered him time served. He’s going to pitch in the MLB again at some point. If you think otherwise, you’re delusional. This season is going to be as taxing on pitchers as last year due to the condensed schedule. Someone is going to want “The name that shan’t be spoken” to come in and take down some innings and save the bullpen and put his team in a position to win a game.
Every team is going to have problems with pitching this year. It looks to me like we have a lot of options, especially compared to other teams. When we traded Jo Jo last year, he didn’t look ready either. He went 4 innings with the Dodgers in his first game and gave up 4 ER. Then he went 4 again and gave up 2 ER. Then he went to the Nats at and went 5/1ER, 5/1ER, 6/3ER, 6/2ER, 6/2ER before hitting a wall. So, I’m not gonna get pissy because Ryan Pepiot only lasted 3 innings his first time out. He’s got better stuff than Gray, he’ll improve eventually.
This is just bad timing and bad streak right now. It will pass. You don’t go from best pitching staff in baseball by almost a full run to crap overnight.
Details matter. It’s Buehler. And I strenuously disagree with your overnight rotation being one that’s nearly Major League ready.
I mentioned Jeff’s column only because it’s the one addressing the issue. My name has nothing to do with it. It was not that long ago someone here, maybe you BP, said I was addressing a problem that didn’t exist. I believe that is simply incorrect. Mark likes to call it vision. I told you early Kershaw would take his yearly IL break, and there he is. I would not count on him for a while, but hopefully he will help this summer. We now have 2 solid starters, Buehler, who averages just under 6, and Urias, who averages 5. Gonsolin who is averaging less than 5 can be great at times but just can’t seem to keep his pitch counts in line. He needs to step up and complete 6. Anderson is a wild card here but is most certainly not gonna provide many quality starts. None of the minor leaguers you mention have been stretched out yet and to think they will carry this team is, in my opinion, insane.
Maybe we’ll be just fine, but what is happening was predictable and in fact predicted. This staff looks vulnerable.
Okay then, time to put your nonsense to the test. You’re bashing on Buehler and Urias not going deep enough. Low and behold, Buehler was SECOND IN THE LEAGUE IN IP LAST YEAR. Urias was 10th. They go plenty deep.
When you have two guys in the top 10, you can’t really expect to have more innings eaters on the same staff. So, I think we’re very good there, unlike you’re nonsensical opinion that isn’t based on facts. This year has probably more to do with Doc and AF preferring to slow start their pitchers.
Everyone on this site knew that CK was going on the IL, so don’t act like you’re some kind of savant. I said it many times before they signed him. But, we all knew they would eventually sign him, so there isn’t a whole lot you can do to offset this signing other than get a couple of guys you think can help carry the load. They did just that by signing Heaney and Anderson. It’s bad luck that Heaney and CK went on the IL at the same time.
If you look around the league, you’ll find that most teams don’t have a guy as good as Gonsolin as their No. 3. Let’s test that against NL teams with winning records.
Gonsolin 6 starts, 27 IP, 1.33 ERA
Pads Manaea 6 starts, 36 IP, 3.75 ERA
Giants Wood 6 Starts, 30 IP, 3.60 ERA
Mets Bassitt 6 Starts, 36 IP, 2.45 ERA
Brewers Peralta 6 Starts 28.2 IP 4.40 ERA
So, it seems that we are at least solid 1-3 against the rest of the good teams in the NL. So, just another bad opinion. After being injured last year, Gonso will be brought along slowley, but his IP are comparable to Wood and Peralta. His ERA is not. I would rather have .5 less IP per start with elite ERA, than .5 more with less than satisfactory ERA.
I never said any of the guys in the minors would carry the team (I don’t think you’re paying close detail to what I’m writing). I don’t think there are many teams that expect their No. 7 and 8 on the depth chart to do so which is exactly where these minor leaguers are on our depth chart. But, I also don’t think many other teams have the kind of depth on their roster to have as many guys to help out.
If you think this staff looks vulnerable, you should look around and see what other teams are working with. In comparison, we’re about as good as it gets. If you paid attention to detail, you would know this.
I might add, it’s really bush league to lead your response by correcting a typo. If I did this for a living, I would read over and edit before posting. I don’t do that because this is a hobby.
BTW, you missed a comma and predictable and predicted are pretty redundant in the same sentence.
I’m not concerned about “other” staffs. I’m only concerned about ours. Yes, I think our staff is vulnerable. It’s my opinion.
You said:
“Nearly ready rotation options include…
Ryan Pepiot
Bobby Miller
Mitch White
Andre Jackson
Michael Grove
Beau Burroughs“
Nearly ready? Ready for what? Guess we’ll see.
It wasn’t a typo. It was a misspelling. Several times in fact. No biggie really. Thought you might want to know. He is our ace.
“predictable and predicted are pretty redundant in the same sentence.” Says who? The guy that didn’t predict it?
I believe Buehler and Urias will likely be fine. Knowing our season doesn’t end after 162 games I would prefer they don’t start over 30 games or pitch near 200 innings. I don’t see either one as thoroughbred wire to wire over 180 games studs. I just don’t. There are a few in this league who can do that, but even one of the best, Scherzer, had a dead arm at the end last year.
We see things differently. Pretty much always have. I’m ok with it.
B & P, The Voice of Sanity:
“This is just bad timing and bad streak right now. It will pass. You don’t go from best pitching staff in baseball by almost a full run to crap overnight.”
Pitchers are creatures of habit. Starting Buehler on 4 days rest was not needed. This isn’t the playoffs. I put this on Doc. This could have been a bullpen game which ended up being anyway . I think Jackson or Fulmer could have been brought up for a spot start. I like how the batters kept battling back and kept us in the game.
Buehler pitched last Sunday against the Cubs:
1. Monday
2. Tuesday
3. Wednesday
4. Thursday
5. Friday
That was on 5 days rest! Everyone likes to blame Doc for things they make up!
The offense is not there when needed the most. I agree a bullpen game would have been better and kept the starters on schedule. Urias is moving up to pitch tonight. Bases loaded, no outs, a rookie in his second game on the mound and you score only one? Pitiful. Good news, JT seems to be coming back to form. Bad news, Betts still struggling, especially against mediocre pitching, Muncy and Bellinger look lost. But Belli’s defense has not suffered. Muncy booted an easy play last night and he argued a strike call when the ball was plainly right over the middle of the plate. Speaking of the plate. The home plate umpire did not know it’s location on two straight pitches that were more than a balls length outside on Trea in the 10th. The umpiring has been terrible this year.
Time to panic?
Absolutely.
You ask Why?
I say Why not.
It’ll make everyone feel better. Give people something to talk about or a soapbox to rant.
It also allows Mark a chance to explain these things happen. It’s baseball. It’s really a stupid game. A hitter fails seven in 10 times and they’re considered elite. MLB keeps messing around with the ball. Who knows what’s real and what’s not.
Consistency is probably the biggest problem facing the game today. Probably always been that way. Just seems to me that they pay a whole lot of money to watch some players swing and miss in big situations. What ever happened to adjust to the situation and circumstances? Frustrating. Maybe baseball contracts should be based on contact, putting the ball in play. Strikeouts in key scoring opportunities produce nothing.
There are days I’m hopeful for Cody Bellinger. Incredible talent. But this season will no doubt weigh heavily for Cody moving forward. I’m pulling for him.
The Dodgers are scoring runs. Then again they’ve flamed out at times. They do go through something like this every year. As to the bullpen, weakest link leads to blowups. But it’s still frustrating because we all see the potential for an epic run.
Good write-up, Mark.
I think by definition panicking does not and should not lead to happiness.
Relief maybe?
Article today saying Roberts is considering moving Muncy down in the lineup. Wow. brilliant. Just should have been done a couple weeks ago. I care less how many times he walks. The guy is paid to drive in runs. Dave is two eggs short of a dozen and his loyalty to his players and his thinking that they will produce if given time is annoying to say the least. Yep Watford, someone else managing this team and they have at least two more series wins.
Many of you are comedians and manufacturers of Straw Men.
Look at other teams. How many pitchers average 7 or 8 innings?
Max Scherzer averages just a tick over 6 IP this year.
Ditton with Corbin Burnes.
Gerrit Cole averages 5.2 IP.
Carlos Rodon – 5.8
Shane Bieber – 5.3
Zack Greinke – 5.3
The Dodgers and maybe other teams have DELIBERATELY built up their starters slowly. As the season progresses, the innings will increase.
Everyone knew that Kershaw would have 2 or 3 stints on the IL. Ray saw that!
BTW, Dinelson Lamet was optioned by the Padres. Just a couple of years ago, he was almost Cy Young.
Heck, I can do that too:
How many Dodger pitchers are in the Top 10 in IP?
None
How many Dodger pitchers are in the Top 75 in IP.
Two. And one of them is on the Injured List.
Just pointing out the obvious here.
When the rumors got intense that Freeman might be a Dodger, I looked up his stats and was able to confirm something I already knew:
He’s a great player but… he’s not a great RBI producer, today that he’s with the Dodgers he’s the same player, an incredible player, a great hitter but he only has 13 RBI, that amount of RBI doesn’t correspond to the great amount of hits he hits, he should be over 20 RBI.
He is outperformed in RBI by players who have not reached the level we know them as: JT-23 RBI, TT-22, W.Smith 16, Betts 14, CT3-13 RBI (tied). .
Freddie barely beats players who are struggling like Bellinger and Muncy both with 12 RBI.
He has only exceeded 100 RBI twice in his career, with that large number of hits that he hits 100 RBI year after year should be something usual for him, but it is not, he is a great player but he is not a great producer of RBI.
RBIs are a worthless stat for most in this age of baseball
I like ‘em. Without runs baseball would be boring.
Exactly. RBI’s mean a lot. No runs, no wins.
Freeman. What a bum! He’s only hitting .292 with risp for us. Maybe if Belli, Lux and Mookie would ever be in scoring position he’d have more RBI’s! Pick on anybody else but Freeman has been our only consistently good hitter!
Bellinger playing well below his level offensively and hitting lineup behind Muncy and JT already outranks Freeman (13) in RBI (14), Freeman hits a lot behind Betts and Lux who have a better OBP than Max and JT, In the Dodgers’ lineup among regulars he trails only Muncy (12 RBI) and Lux (6).
Freeman has a lot of qualities but bringing runners to the plate isn’t one of them, he’s not a great RBI producer. He will end the year with a high avg, lots of doubles, HR and Hits but will have 70-75 RBI
Hersheiser made a comment last night just before Buehler got hammered in the 4th that he had shaken out his arm and grimaced and that he didn’t like the look of it. He proceeded to get mashed. Anyone here concerned that maybe Orel noticed something that affected Buehler and might have long term implications?
Yep. I do.
His fastball is getting tagged. The talk was backing off it and getting these Phillies sluggers out on soft stuff. I say again, this staff needs to be handled with kid gloves. It’s a very long season.
Good points by Mark. No time to panic.
But Three losses in a row with great comebacks wasted by bullpen is frustrating!
There is still a long season ahead with a deep roster and minor league depth. Time to let the young pitchers have a shot. And With expanded playoffs, the Dodgers have more leeway to make the postseason healthy and ready to win a World Series.
With the Phillies in town, it is a chance to revisit the Dodgers passing on Bryce Harper as a free agent in 2019. While the Dodgers plan B that year was signing AJ Pollock, the real alternative was to trade for Betts the following year. Surprisingly, Betts and Harper are the same age, both born in October 1992. And the salary for Harper is $25.3 million per year until 2031 compared to Betts salary of $30.4 million per year until 2032.
While Betts has the higher career WAR at 51 vs 41, Harper has a higher career OPS+ of 143 to 133.
And Harper had an incredible year in 2021, slashing 309/429/1044 in winning the mvp.
I think Harper is the better hitter, but Betts is a much better fielder and base runner. Also, Betts provided some RH balance to the lineup and by all accounts is a great clubhouse presence.
But when you factor in Harper’s lower salary, and the cost in players and Price’s contract to acquire Betts, in hindsight the better value may have been signing Harper. And I think having Harper in 2019 would have definitely helped beat the Nationals in NLDS.
With the Dodgers finances, it would have also been possible to sign Harper and trade for Betts the following year.
What a lineup they could have had with Harper, Betts and Freeman in the same lineup!
Tough game result after scoring 10 runs and not getting the win. The Phils never stopped their offensive onslaught that began on Thursday night. A couple of days ago I had complimented the pitching staff on their amazing efforts so far this season. I ragged on Chris Taylor’s lack of pitched ball contact. I had predicted a turn around season for Cody. Lux was going to be a steady, solid major league player. I begged for Muncy to swing at a strike and/or for Roberts to bench him for a few games. Well, those thoughts and predictions got the George Costanza treatment. Sans Mr Muncy, the opposite happened to them all. And, I mean just like that. So, to do the opposite of what I had wrote and get things back on track here I go. Chris Taylor sucks and will never make contact with a baseball again. Cody will continue to change his stance weekly, swing as hard as possible at every pitch under any circumstances, and never hit another HR in his soon be shortened career. Max Muncy will have his role as a everyday player and DHing reduced to being a pinch hitter for the pitcher, but only in a low stress situation. Gavin Lux record for the shortest unsuccessful throw on a sacrifice fly (popup) will stand for decades and will be the only thing he will be remembered for. The starting pitching staff will use approximately 15 pitchers in 2022. All the Dodger pitching prospects will prove to be highly over rated and thus the Dodger minor league system will be rated #23 starting with the 2023 rankings. All the ranking publications will be cancelled by the public and suspended by Boob Manford for 5 years with no opportunity for an appeal. It’s going to be a real shit show folks.
And if there was any doubt, my attempt at humor.
Carry on.
Good write up.
Definitely not time to panic.
However, the last a few days have sucked gargantuan, malodorous equine gonads.
Painful to watch
Time for that horse to be seriously concerned.
No need to panic. Just the need to plan ahead.
Hey guys, I haven’t posted in awhile, but I have been reading this website the whole time. The reason I haven’t posted in a long time is that I have been dealing with chronic depression. I hope everyone here is doing OK.
I am glad the Dodgers have Kimbrel instead of Jansen. It looked like the pitching staff was carrying the Dodgers up until the last few games. Has Mookie Betts put up the numbers that a 30+ million dollar guy should since getting that contract? I don’t think so, just my opinion. I’m not thrilled with Hanser Alberto and his career .679 OPS taking up a roster spot that a homegrown Dodger player could have been given.
I haven’t been looking at stats much like I used to, so I don’t have a lot to say. But I wanted to say hi to everyone and say a few things that I think are obvious.
Eric,
We are pulling for you and hope you are getting help. It’s a good thing to do.
I’ll second Mark’s comment, Eric. Wishing you all the best.
Chronic depression is no joke. Focus on your well-being!
We are here for you Eric. Maybe commenting will help.
Dodgers are promoting Michael Grove for tomorrow’s game although they haven’t announced if he’ll be the starter or come out of the bullpen.
No other roster move announced at this point.
Phillies (16-17)
Dodgers (20-11)
SPJulio Urias L
2-2 2.10 ERA 23K
Confirmed Lineup
RF Mookie Betts R
1B F. Freeman L
SS Trea Turner R
DH Will Smith R
3B J. Turner R
LF Chris Taylor R
CF C. Bellinger L
2B H. Alberto R
C A. Barnes R
Clear-day
0% Rain
82° Wind 5 mph Out
I am looking forward to Grove.
Here we go again. 3 unearned right out of the gate.
My goodness, I think it’s time for give BHarper the Barry Bonds treatment.
Seems Saturday the 14th could be worse than Friday the 13th.
The malodorous equine gonads obviously are sticking around for another day, if only the Dodgers could resist munching on them.
JT error hurt. Julio got no mojo tonight.
Wow! I’m panicking now!
You would. Giants and Padres lost and they are still in first even if they lose
About a week back, I was saying there was no great need for another SP.
That was before Kershaw got hurt (again) and Buhler, Anderson and Urias all got rocked.
Not panicking…. not just yet….
But perhaps Montas or Castillo would be worth a couple of prospects.
In happier news, the Angels’ Taylor Ward had another big night, pushing his average to .384… Three hits, including his 8th HR and two walks…. Just insane for a guy who in the spring just looked like a 4th outfielder.
A truly stupid move by the Dodgers to move up Buehler and Urias in the rotation when Kershaw got hurt as both pitchers were torched. Instead they should have used a bullpen game on Friday night and kept both on normal rest. Needed help is going have to come from somewhere sooner than later. Yo can’t wait till the trade deadline. We’re not winning the West the way it stands now!!!
Why couldn’t have Grove pitched Friday night instead of today?
Why is it a bad move to pitch Urias and Buehler on regular 5 days of rest? I fail to see how that is a stupid move.
Grove would not have been on 5 days rest! That would be stupid!