Playing in Major League Baseball is Hard

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1. “Tyler Anderson is very crafty and has learned how to pitch to his strengths with a 70’s Curve, 89 MPH Cutter, and his 91 MPH 4-Seamer?….you didn’t even mention his best pitch THE CHANGEUP!!

   1. That’s always been his bread and butter, but he used his fastball too much in the past, but as you say, his change is exceptional…, especially last night!

2. I’m pretty sure I could have played AA. I say this with confidence as several guys I played with and against made it that far or farther. As it turned out I played dodge rockets with the Marine team. I was pretty good at that too.

   I am surprised by Anderson’s success. Is it sustainable over 32 starts? Guess we’ll see. What I’m not surprised by is Heaney and Kershaw on the IL. My concern is, who’s next?

   The Dodgers score runs as well as anyone. They’ve proven that year after year. What they haven’t proven is they are best team over 180 games. They were the best team over 60+. And they did get cheated out of one, but the fact remains they’ve been in the playoffs a lot in the last 15 years or so but have only sealed the deal once. Once. Yeah, it’s hard to win it all in MLB. Boston has done it a few times. St Louis won it a couple of times. SF won it 3 times. Heck, Kansas City has as many championships this century as the Dodgers do.

   So what’s the secret? Clearly it’s how you finish. Last year, after trading for Scherzer, he ran out gas on the last lap. Hate it when that happens. That happened to Kershaw a couple of times too.

   So what to do? Keep reloading I guess.

   1. Process > outcome

3. I had 2 buddies who made it to AA. They both came home with drinking problems and one died soon after in a drunk driving accident. Back then it was even worse than today. Those long bus rides were a killer. Literally! Don’t think you missed anything special Badger. Of course anything was better thanplaying with grenades in a far away jungle! I’m thankful for a high draft number.

4. And another thing I’m grateful for is that I’m not a Nats fan. They’re aweful! So glad to be an ungrateful and complaining Dodger fan!

5. I was broken down as a Sophomore in High School! Bad knees and shoulder. I was somewhere between above average to good before that!

   Muncy doesn’t need a DFA, he needs a sit on the pine for a while until he starts attacking pitches in the zone. At least stop batting him in the middle of the order? I don’t think that unreasonable. Speaking of DFA, I don’t think Hanser is close to that status either. He’s a useful piece that doesn’t get to play very often.

   Of course it didn’t take long for people to step on Rios. I wonder what he can do if you give him a “runway”. 2 games in a row isn’t a runway. It looked like he was swinging for more playing time yesterday, trying to do too much. He was swinging out of the zone a lot.

   I don’t think Tyler’s going to have to make 32 starts with 10-12 starting pitchers on the 40 man. But, he sure looked good yesterday. How long did his perfecto last?

   Glad to see CT3 bounce back after some bench time. It’s Muncy’s turn now.

   I was just thinking that the Dodgers are blessed with great pitching coaches over years. Hitting coaches, not so much. Just wait until they “fix” the baseball again, and they’ll start coming around.

   It’s been a relatively mild Spring this year. Not many Santa Ana wind days. This probably has a lot to do with baseballs not going out. The crazy thing is that the ball just seems to die. Hard to remember many homers hit to Center Field this year.

   Here’s a fun video talking about the balls…
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8InFV3_AQc

   I won’t be able to watch the whole game tonight. Going to 555 steakhouse in Long Beach.

6. Predictions of Muncy’s benching have been greatly exaggerated. Muncy currently leads the MLB in BB rate at 19.5%. He’s a walk machine.

   About this time last year he had a BB rate nearly identical. I think he broke 20% last April. He was also mired in a horrible slumping start last year.

   Eventually he began to walk less, became more aggressive, and hit 10 HRs in May with a .330 AVE. He wound up with a BB rate of 14% on his way to hitting 36 HRs (led the team) with a wRC+ of 140 (third best after Seager and TT) and leading the team in WAR.

   Roberts is going to give Muncy every opportunity to regain his confidence and aggressiveness at the plate, even if it takes all year. He kept Bellinger in the lineup without exception all of last year, too. Being terrible in April and May is acceptable as long as you’re playing at a high level in September and October. That’s how Roberts manages.

   For those clamoring for Muncy’s banishment, you’re going to have to deal with disappointment. Rios will be rotated in the lineup with more frequency because he’s performing, but it won’t be a straight swap with Muncy. It will be a little more like what we saw yesterday.

   Yes. Players get injured in a long season, especially starting pitchers. I’m not sure what the near constant hand wringing over this potentiality really accomplishes, except for providing an I-told-you-so opportunity for the Nostradamus’s here. Is the Dodgers predicament any more dire than any other team’s?

   To this point, I read somewhere that average inning per start is down across the league. Roberts is reducing the workload on his pitchers, which is his MO, but so has the rest of the league. However, we did see the limits of this strategy when Bruihl and that Yency guy were put in high leverage setup and closer roles – even if you want to rest your starters, eventually you run out of relievers.

   But who cares? April and May are extensions of Spring Training tryouts. By Roberts throwing guys like that Yency guy out there, maybe he becomes this year’s Phil Bickford. Building a relief corps for the playoffs is a little like throwing spaghetti against the wall to see what sticks. It’s ok to make a little mess in the first half.

   1. Banishment is a little strong patch. Nobody wants him disappeared, just some bench time to heal that battered elbow.

      What Rios needs to realize is this is an opportunity to get at bats. Do what Muncy does, don’t swing at balls, but also do what Muncy doesn’t do, crush strikes. Listen up Ed, nobody is going to throw you a strike if they don’t have to. You can earn sacks of money by taking walks. Take them.

      1. Is his elbow “battered?” I think the issue is that he’s looking at called third strikes on off-speed pitches down the middle.

         1. That’s the excuse to sit a while. I thought that was obvious. Apparently not.

            And by the way, in his last 41 plate appearances he’s walked 4 times. So much for that 19.5%. The word is out. Muncy can’t hit get me over strikes. No need to pitch to the edges on this guy.

            1. Cute

         2. Well, he did go up against the railing with the elbow yesterday and was massaging it quite a bit afterwards. If not battered, it’s at least in the back of his head and still affecting his play. Not 100% whatever you want to call it.

            Everything else you said is pretty spot on, especially with the pen. You don’t become a leverage option without being put in those situations.

         3. He’s also looking at fastballs for strikes one and two….
            He’s missed a lot of opportunities.
            He’s been too productive a hitter not to improve. His track record is much stronger than Belli’s, after all. He’s a grinder like Justin Turner and not nearly as gifted athletically as Belli, Trea or Mookie…. I think a rotation with Justin Turner and Rios between 3B and DH makes sense, with Max also taking starts at 2B.
            That said, there is, I’ll admit, a small, guilty art of me who would be OK with a minor injury to somebody that gives Miguel Vargas a shot…

7. UPDATE ABOVE – AAA REPORT

   1. Great stuff Mark!

   2. Dodger Poke? Who is that guy? Didn’t he ever read Lonesome Dove, or any McMurtry novel for that matter.

8. I just returned from a week vacation in Jackson Hole, WY to visit cousins. I was not able to watch the Dodgers, but somewhat followed them via MLB app on my phone (excellent by the way). I know B&P doesn’t like it when posters make comments from reading a box score and not from watching the games. Lol. So, now that I’ve returned I have a few things to comment about.

   It’s amazing to me that the Dodgers have the largest run differential in MLB right now. This is with JT, Bellinger, Muncy and Taylor underachieving. With CT3 and Cody having K rates of 40% and 35% respectfully. Max has a no contact rate of 60%. And, even though JT is hitting only .207 he’s at least driving in runs and making contact.

   The Muncy situation is the most troubling. As I and others have mentioned he started last year with the same MO – lots of walks and watching fat pitches in the strike zone. But, he then got back on track in May and ended up with his best season offensively. This year he has not got on track. Why? The injury to his arm of course. Like with Cody last year. I don’t buy it for this reason. Max says he won’t be 100% until next year. Therefore, he must be injured. Why would Roberts keep trotting out an injured player day after unproductive day if he was injured? Especially, when you have Rios or Alberto to replace him. I don’t know what Max’s defensive stats reflect, but to me he’s an average at best at 2nd and below average at 3B. I would like to see him on the bench for PH purposes with an occasional DH appearance for the time being. If he’s injured then a stint on the IL should be of benefit. Call up Pillar and see what his right hand bat can do. Odds are it will be better than Max is providing right now. If he’s not injured then some time to recharge and reflect could be helpful for him.

   With the team as a whole let’s let things play out until closer to the trade deadline before making a move. With the shortened spring training the pitching has been thrown off somewhat. I think Buehler and Urias are close to gaining some consistency. Gonsolin is rounding into a nice #3. An unexpected performance by Anderson should lock him in as a solid #4/5. With Kershaw and Heaney, hopefully, returning soon to help round out the starting staff. Add in a couple of potential minor league prospects to the mix, if necessary, there may not be a need to trade for an additional starter. With the hope that some of the offensive laggards get it in gear the Dodgers should be in great shape to win their division and be set for a strong postseason run.

   A get feeling better shout out to phil jones. I know it isn’t fun to rehab and recover from your surgery. Your insight and comments are always appreciated.

   To conclude, I’m OK with the current Dodger play. The only moves would be to sit Max and maybe Taylor for a bit. No trades or dope fiend moves necessary right now. Can the Bauer nightmare come to a long awaited end? The handling of the Bauer situation and the moving of the All Star game should be enough to end the terror reign of Boob Manfred. The current registration and early voter turnout in Georgia proves that his knee jerk reaction was made in error costing many minority business owners in Atlanta millions.
   Carry on.

   1. As for Muncy. Plenty of guys play with injuries or when they are not 100%. With the idea that playing won’t make it worse. So if that is the case, and we are scoring all those runs I guess the strategy is send him out there , we win every day anyway and hoping he gets it together eventually. And yes we can’t count on him walking like he did when he hit 35 homers, because every team knows he isn’t swinging and/or can’t hit. So unlike Belinger he is not someone who can get by because he is a plus fielder.
      Anyway this is a great site when we can talk about Dodger Baseball. But I don’t think its necessary to post every few days that ‘I am right you guys were wrong’,’ Baseball is a hard game’ , and AF knows what he is doing’. Just sayin’

      1. I said that yesterday. Did I say it today.

         1. I think so. lol

            1. I said AF knew what he was doing.

               I also said that I did not initially agree with signing Anderson.

   2. Enough companies have to find out the had way that bowing to political mob pressure hurts their own business before the tide begins to turn. It’s starting to dawn on Netflix.

      1. No politics! Even from the better side. Fascist! 😉

         1. But I said companies bowing to politics was bad. See!! It was anti-politics!

            … you’re right. I’ll abstain.

            1. See how easy that is Cassidy, Bluto, Mushers? No arguing, no name calling. No trying to deny what you’re doing. Watch, learn what a civil society looks like.

            2. Was Cassidy being political? I didn’t think so. At least not from what I saw.

            3. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.

            4. And I quote:

               “Passive aggressive shit starter like always. Maybe we should meet up sometime. I wonder if you would speak to me in the same manner that you do when you’re alone in your mom’s basement on your computer.”

            5. So, before things begin their retaliatory spiral down the drain, how ’bout we cease and desist?

               I enjoy a little drama as much as the next person, but the other day was unpleasant to read …and dumb.

9. I know I had skills when I was 11. BUT after that, it was all downhill. Little league stars are not always ticketed for major league stardom. I know the game is very hard, that is why stars are successful only 30 percent of the time if they are Hall of Famers for the most part. Longevity can lead to being in the Hall. Guys like Sutton, who were steady but not really spectacular made it. Mazeroski, a great glove so so hitter. So I give Muncy a little slack since I do not believe he is fully healed. I also think his confidence is at an all time low for him. Bellinger has actually been raising his BA and getting some key hits. Taylor took a ball to right center for his triple. All good signs. But we as fans have no clue what is happening behind clubhouse doors. Only the players, coaches and staff know Muncy’s true mental state. Badger is right. The Dodgers are an in season wrecking crew. Bringing the title home, they are more like the 90’s Braves.

   1. Hard to deny they’re walking in the Braves’ footsteps. Let’s see what happens with Bauer and see if they want to keep being the Braves, or being like the Yankees who take on players that the media says are bad and win rings with them.

      1. Winning the World Series is pretty hard. It takes a lot of luck. Dodgers should’ve won in 17, Boston was just better in 18. Roberts blew it in 19 – and the Nats peaked. Last year the Dodgers ran out of of gas and the Braves peaked at the right time, and their trade deadline pickups came up big.

         Actually the Nats and the Braves are interesting examples. I think they both had losing records in the 1rst half and, in the second half, the pieces all begin to come together. It’s impossible to be at your peak for an entire baseball season and playoffs.

      2. I wasn’t trying to be political but if B&P declares it to be so then it must be so! He sees all and knows all. Hail Caesar!

         1. Got it Cassidy. The 1 time out of 100, you weren’t trying. Mea culpa.

            1. What are you talking about? What political statements have I ever made that would make you conclude that you know me at all?

10. * Don’t you love the crafty left-hander who can add and subtract, Just keep em guessing. Shades of Jaime Moyer. Joe Davis made a statement that I was thinking all night: Anderson’s fast ball is his change up. It’s refreshing to see guys get outs without throwing 100.
    * Bellinger had his best swing of the year. He took an outside pitch and drilled it opposite field. It wasn’t because he was tardy or had no legs and flicked it out there. He let it travel and drilled it. A thing of beauty.
    * Now Muncy could use a little of that technique. When is the last time Max took an outside pitch and hit it where it was pitched. I know plenty of HOF’ers who were dead pull guys but Max right now is incapable of hitting anything to the left side. He rolls over every pitch that is on the outter half, if he makes contact at all. He gets “outside” of all those pitches. We know Doc’s loyalty and that he will stay with Muncy until the cows come home. But in return for the loyalty (don’t laugh) maybe Max could consider doing something to help his team – like an occasional bunt base hit attempt. Maybe with a runner or 2 on so at worst he moves a runner. It’s totally there but he prefers to “pull” his way out of his funk. And that surprise bunt may be better suited to batting in the 9 hole. I know I had a flashback and actually mentioned bunting as a weapon. My bad.
    * Thanks for the words of encouragement Tedraymong.

11. Interesting point about batting coaches. As Dodger fans I think we have a tendency to become a bit myopic and focus largely on issues with our team and our team alone.

    Taking a step back, here is what we know that has changed across the league:

    Home runs are down. Batting averages are down. ERA’s are lower.

    Lots of reports about the ball being different. Some say, substantially so.

    Muncy isn’t the only star level player who has had massive struggles this season. He actually isn’t even close to the worst. And some big name big dollar free agents are starting off very slow. Trevor Story, Javier Baez and Carlos aren’t exactly earnings their pay checks, so far, this season.

    But there is having a slow start and then there is Marcus Semien. The guy broke the home run record for second basemen last year. A 7+ WAR player. He’s making $25M this year. He was suppose to slide in next to Seager and be half of the most productive double play combo in the sport.

    Instead, he and Amber Heard are becoming famous in 2022 for what they do to beds. In 150+ ABs he has no home runs. All of 8 extra base hits and .476 OPS.

    So my question, insofar as Max Muncy (and to a lesser extend CT3) is concerned; is there a possibility that the performance of this new ball is killing the benefit of some of these recent trends in coaching? Is launch angel no longer beneficial? Maybe potentially a detriment? Are players like Muncy having trouble adjusting to hitting a ball exactly like they hit dozens of HRs in the past, only to see it die on the warning track? If that is the case I could see that getting into a players head, in a bad way.

    Or maybe some players just lose their mojo for a while. Some may not ever get it back. I don’t know.

    Just putting this out there. I wish I had answers. Has anybody tried giving Max a Snickers bar?
    https://youtu.be/GkAnLtqWDhc

    1. https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/max-muncy-571970?stats=statcast-r-hitting-mlb

    2. My theory: Slumps happen.
       It’s the rare player who rarely slumps.
       That said, we should keep in mind how the 2022 balls (evidently all stored in humidors) are apparently depressing offense. The batting and pitching stats show it, and the anecdotal evidence abounds, such as players certain they hit it out…only to have it die into a glove on the warning track. (I do wonder if the humidors will remain the norm if the fans clammor for more offense. )
       At any rate, the evidence also suggests we should perhaps be even more impressed with Mookie than we are. He’s the one Dodger hitting homers with regularity. I would really prefer that Belli or Max or Freddie would be leading–but it’s Mookie Freakin’ Betts leading the way.
       Again.

12. 7;05PM ET
    Dodgers (28-13)
    Nationals (14-29)

    SPWalker Buehler R
    5-1 2.89 ERA 46.2 IP 39K

    Confirmed Lineup
    RF M. Betts R
    1B F. Freeman L
    SS Trea Turner R
    C Will Smith R
    2B Max Muncy L
    3B J. Turner R
    DH E. Rios L
    CF Chris Taylor R
    LF Gavin Lux L

    Cloudy
    9% Rain
    59° Wind 7 mph R-L

    FACING EX DODGER:
    SPJosiah Gray R
    4-3 4.36 ERA 43.1IP 46K

    1. Buehler will have a BIG game tonight with an extra day of rest(5 rather than 4 in between starts). He last pitched Wednesday May 18th against Arizona.

13. Excellent food for thought Jayne. Throughout all of the modern, advanced hitting techniques, I personally haven’t strayed from what I consider the basic fundamentals of hitting. I can watch Trea Turner, Mookie and Freeman (Nelson Cruz) bat all day and appreciate how they do business. It just looks like how you hit.
    I’m at a major disadvantage if I was coaching today. I have no idea how to teach the RVS way. I wouldn’t know where to start. It’s totally contrary in many ways from what I was taught. “don’t drop your back shoulder and swing with an uppercut”. Anybody else hear this in the 60’s?
    The new awing has worked for many. Others not so much. But the fact that the new baseball makes the fly ball launch method less effective is very interesting. Inevitable it all comes back around to guys who can just hit; Rod Carew, Tony Gwynn, Bonds and current guys like Tim Anderson.
    We’ve seen the evolution of hitting techniques come and go; punch and judy, Teddy Ballgame, Walt Hriniak, Charlie Lau, stride and glide, rotational, lift and separate. It’s like the golf swing evolution. I think the Founding Father of Todays Modern Swing is……………..Sadaharu Oh.
    What’s next? Maybe Rob decides Chicks don’t Dig the new baseball.

    1. PJ,

       Good to have you back. Hopefully, you will be leaping tall buildings with a single bound.

       1. Thanks Mark. Trying to get a little better every day 🙂

14. Heard on the broadcast last night that some of the players (Lux and Bellinger) were starting to take the Freddy Freeman approach in batting practice. His dad made him take the 1st pitch to left, the 2nd pitch to center, the 3rd pitch to right, the 4th pitch hit it where it’s pitched, and then start over when they hit as a young kid. Seems like a good way to build on how to hit to all fields and build muscle memory.

15. As been said. love is mainly just memories. And comes a time memories get replaced with current events, Max has to do something to change his current play. Yes we all fell in love with Max when he was clutch and started rallies and have hopes every at bats he comes up and mostly find that the memories are fading. Why does him saying it’s gonna take till next season keep him playing a season earlier than that in a lineup we’re supposed to win it all? Can’t sail a boat with the anchor down and ships don’t sail on yesterdays wind usually. I hope he can turn things around but hows he gonna do that when he believes that won’t be till next season?

    1. I have looked for the alleged quote where Max said he would not be healthy this season.

       Until someone shows it to me, I call it “Fake News.”

       1. that could very well be as someone said that here is where I read it.

       2. IIRC, it wasn’t Max.

          It was Muncy giving an update or something similar to that and then people extrapolating out from that date that he wouldn’t be healthy.

          1. As I recall it, a reporter asked if Max if he was fully recovered and Max said something like “I don’t really know” or “I’m not sure.”

       3. As reported about 2 months ago;

          Muncy met with reporters on Saturday and provided an update on his elbow.

          “We’re definitely not at 100% and we may not be at 100% for a while, but it felt good. You know, first day seeing the ball moving is always a little weird, but we’re making progress.”

          The slugger also said that the overall health of elbow might a “little higher” than the 80-85% that manager Dave Roberts had previously assessed. Roberts did state that Muncy will be available for Opening Day, but was unsure whether he’d be ready to start at first.

          Remember that was 2 months ago. Can’t say what that means now.

       4. It was in The Athletic, March 12, Fabian Ardaya.

          https://theathletic.com › 2022/03/12 › dodgers-max-munc…
          Mar 12, 2022 — “We’re definitely not there (at 100 percent),” Muncy said. “It’s one of those injuries that may not be back to normal until next year, …

16. I don’t see any problem in Muncy’s approach to hitting, that approach is the same as always, it is the one that has led him to be the best in the team in recent years, he is a patient player with a very good knowledge from his strike zone.
    Where I think the problem is in the hard contact, I think this year he is not hitting the ball so hard, he is hitting a lot of ground balls.
    The penguin is good at extracting data, has Muncy’s hard contact decreased compared to other seasons?

    1. It’s all pretty bad. Here are the categories where he’s having career lows omitting his Oakland years…

       Barrel%
       Barrel/PA
       Exit Velocity
       Max Exit Velocity
       (Launch Angle is up at 19.6 vs. 15.2 last year)
       Sweet Spot %
       XBA
       XSLG
       XOBA
       Hard Hit %

       Basically, everything is career worst across the board.

       1. https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/max-muncy-571970?stats=statcast-r-hitting-mlb

17. 05/23/22 Los Angeles Dodgers traded RHP Jean Herrera to Arizona Diamondbacks.
    05/22/22 Los Angeles Dodgers traded LHP Andrew Shaps to Detroit Tigers.

    1. One way trade, or did they get anything back?

       1. No players listed going back to the Dodgers in either trade.

18. If Gray keeps this up, even though they don’t want it to be, this will end up being a bullpen game for the Nats.

    1. might be a bullpen game for the Dodgers too

    2. Might almost be a bullpen game for us too. Both these guys are almost pitching batting practice at this point.

19. That was a JTurner error, right?

20. Buehler throwing a diet of curveballs and sliders from the first inning, as if he had already gone around the Nats’ lineup twice, then he throws two fastballs and gets two outs easily.
    Why don’t you trust your fastball?

    1. He’s a junk ball pitcher now. His fastball is ancient history.

       🙂

       1. Mark says he throws 94-95 mph because it’s a plan, that if Buehler wants to he can throw 99-100 mph like he used to.

          1. I can see that.

             He’s had a TJ already.

             If true (reasonably big if) let’s hope it works

          2. If that’s the plan, then the plan clearly ain’t working. His fastball is getting torched.

             1. Patch,

                He’s 5-1 with a sub 3 ERA. He’s the 24th best pitcher in all of MLB according to FanGraphs!

                If this plan isn’t working, perhaps your expectations are unreasonable?

             2. If the plan is to deliberately throw his fastball 3 MPH slower to pace himself over the course of the season and “pitch” rather than “throw” then that plan isn’t working because his fastball isn’t statistically very effective.

                Is he relying more on his secondary pitches and cutter as part of this overall longevity plan, or because his fastball isn’t as good?

                Chicken or the egg – but the fastball isn’t as good.

                This is irrespective of his overall stats.

             3. If a tree falls in the woods and the tree counters don’t notice it.

                Did it really fall?

          3. No I say he can throw 97-98.

21. First it was Walker Buehler, now Striker Buehler, and then Tommy John Buehler?

    1. Rules only allow one walker and Muncy stole it. Belli stole striker. Thus TJ.—–all in fun!

       1. TJ Buehler is good. Sounds like a cop show that would star Chuck Norris. However, I think Junk Ball Buehler rolls off the tongue a little more mellifluously.

22. The honeymoon is over for Edwin Ríos, MLB has already discovered him, he cannot hit off-speed pitches, a diet is coming for him in each AB of off-speed pitches, the future is black for Ríos if he cannot make the adjustment.

    1. That happens to a lot of players so why not just cut to the chase and start newbies off with off-speed stuff?

    2. DodgerHorse full of optimism, where is William?

    3. Maybe you’re right, or it could be like someone said yesterday, that Rios feels pressured and wants to impress, that’s when you only get one chance to shine. Unless they promise him that he will play for a whole month, that he can adjust, because sitting on the bench it will be a little less than impossible

    4. Well, he just hit a curve ball to the opposite field. Baby steps.

23. Well with Catman and Anderson at the top of our rotation we can afford to keep Buehler around at #5.

    1. True

24. Wow, this guy we got from Boston for Verdugo may work out! Healthy hip brings Mookie right back into Trout’s shadow!

    1. As Mookie goes….
       I forget who it was, but a couple years back some commentator pointed out that, with the DH added for the covid schedule, the Dodgers effectively had replaced the pitcher with Mookie Betts.
       Then he added:
       “Mookie Freakin’ Betts!”
       Just a few weeks ago people here were lamenting his contract. But now he’s (again) the best player on the field.
       As I said before, I think of him as a mini-Mays. He just does everything well.

25. Excellent AB de Ríos, he made the adjustment very well, hopefully he can do it most of the time, if that is the case the team has a legitimate DH. Nearly $30 million could come off the books if the Dodgers don’t option JT and Muncy, that money going to Trea.

    1. What would it take to sign Trea T.I think we really need him for the future.

       1. Something similar to Seager, but he loves Florida, and Florida does not have a state sales tax. Last I checked, California did and it was steep.I read that Seager would have paid $75 Million more in taxes with LA.

26. So like it is said nowadays, Max Muncy AVOIDED the bases loaded SO!!

27. We better hope Buehler does not need a second TJ because if he does, that is the end of the line (most likely).

    His lower velo may be mechanical or a result of trying to be less max effort.

    He wasn’t great, but he was OK.

    1. As per some of the peeps here, I believe there have been prognostications for a Kershaw TJ, a Urias TJ, a Trienen TJ, a Jansen TJ and now a Buehler TJ.

       Sooner of later, some uninformed soul will get one right.

    2. Washington sucks. Buehler looked like he’s looked most of the year. He was working hard against a meh lineup. 92 pitches 59 strikes. I don’t think he looks right but I’m certainly not suggesting TJ is needed.

    3. This was always my fear. He used to just throw really really hard.

       It’s early to suggest that is the problem, but that always was concern of mine in the back of my mind.

       1. Mine too. He should be able to blow that lineup away. He didn’t.

28. You have said several times that he throws the ball at 94-95 because he has a plan, that if he wanted he could throw 99-100, you have also copied and pasted publications from other sites to endorse that, now you say that it can be something mechanical, Which tells me he’s changing his narrative and accepting that he’s not the 99-100 guy anymore. Let’s just accept that he no longer has the fastball he used to and that he has adapted by throwing a lot of curveballs and sliders.
    Of the team’s starting pitchers he has the worst WHIP 1.23 and the highest AVG against .250, he also has the worst IP/H ratio but he has six wins, leading the team.

    1. Wins on a team like the Dodgers don’t mean much. He could have given up 7 runs today and still got a W.

       We can all see our #1 has lost about 3’ on his heater. That won’t play against the better offenses in this league.

       There’s something happening here, what it is ain’t exactly clear. There’s a man with a gun (radar) over there, telling us we got to beware.

    2. I believe that he could hit 100 – many pitchers can, but they can’t keep it up. When I threw that hard, my arm always “tingled”, so it seemed better to not throw that hard. If you have never pitched it is hard to understand, but Buehler has “more” – the question is should he use it?

29. I don’t think he had a single swing and miss on his fastball all night!

    1. Meanwhile, down on the farm…
       While OKC’s veterans and prospects both keep hitting, Cole Percival threw 5 shutout innings for Great Lakes. Among the Dodgers pitching prospects, I’m not sure Percival even makes the top 15… but he might be one to watch.
       Does anyone know if he is Troy’s kid? Troy Percival was a terrific closer.

       1. Yes, someone knows.
          I mean, yes, he is.

30. I always liked stats as a kid, but nobody computed OPS back then (at least not in the newspaper).) OPS is, I think, the best measure of a hitter.
    Anyway, Mookie’s power surge has moved him into the top ten in MLB in OPS at .963, just behind Bryce Harper. It’s pretty much the usual suspects up there: Trout, Judge, Machado, Jose Ramirez, JD Martinez, Goldschmidt…. Freddie is the next Dodger in 19th position, at .862.
    Mookie’s 12 HRs are tied with Trout and Yordan Alvarez, behind Judge’s 17. (Egad…. He hit the humidor out too).
    While the Dodgers, as a team, have the major’s best ERA and WHIP, no Dodger pitcher cracks the top ten in those categories. But given the team’s record, it’s not surprising that Buhler is now tied with the ageless Verlander with a 6-1 record, while Anderson matches Musgrove’s 5-0 record.
    BTW, Verlander’s been ridiculously good : a 1.22 ERA with a .72 WHIP and a .161 BA against.
    If only Kate Upton had insisted they live in LA…

    1. “if only Kate Upton had insisted they live in LA…”
       That was a good one!

31. If the Dodgers knew or thought Buehler had arm problems, do you think they would continue to let him pitch?

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