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1. Looking ahead the struggles of WB do not bode well for the Dodgers quest of another WS title.
   In most postseasons you need that ace starter if you want to win it all. A guy you can write in as your starter in 3 games of a best of 7 series where you know you will likely get a gem.
   Walker was that guy for us since he came up, always delivering in the playoffs when asked with the stakes high.

   Mets probably will have two of that kind of pitchers in deGrom and Scherzer. They are already a powerful team and will get only better with those two aces on the mound.

   Gonsolin and Anderson are looking great but I have some doubts they will be as formidable all season long and in the postseason.
   Urias has his own problems and Kersh ? Well, he is always only one step from IL.

   Its a long way before the postseason but at this moment I would call the Mets the odds on favorits to come out of the NL to play in the fall classic.

   Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

   1. I would not have confidence that Scherzer will be any better this Sept-Oct than he was last year.

      1. Both deGrom and Scherzer will have considerably less innings on their arms than last season.
         Both should be fresh for the postseason IF they come back physically okay.

         Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!

         1. Okay then, so will May. Good to go.

   2. Way tooo ooooooo early to be talking about a WS title in June. Lets see where they are come September. They have barely completed a third of their season.

2. Not sure what is wrong with Walker, but when your team gives you a 4-1 lead and your labeled as the “ace” the expectation is you run with it and get it done. To give up four runs the inning following your teams offensive outburst is not “ace” like.

   Mechanics, poor pitch location, loss of MPH on a FB, sequencing or whatever ails Walker does not portend well for his immediate future and it’s now time for the pitching braintrust (Pryer and McGinnis) along with Walker to put their collective heads together and get this figured out. One of Walker’s problems last night was first pitch strikes, he was only 6/13. with just 5 swinging strikes in his 2.1 innings pitched.

   Thank goodness Catman and Anderson have pitched some quality games because Walker and Julio have been underwhelming of late. Let’s hope the return of CK and Heaney give the rotation a lift with Walker getting skipped in a start to reset and figure it out.

3. I am not sure what fans are thinking, but deGrom has not thrown a pitch this year and he pitched just 92 innings last year. He is 34 years old and is on the IL as we speak with major injury concerns. I would not be the least bit surprised if he does not throw a pitch this year.

   Sherzer is also on the IL, so I don’t know what a person has to smoke to have more confidence in deGrom and Scherzer than what the Dodgers have.

   Pitchers have slumps the same as hitters. If Buehler is not injured… and he does not appear to be… then I would liken what is happening to him like what happened to Mookie earlier in the year. How did that turn out?

   Buehler’ fastball hit 95, 96, 97, and touched 98 MPH, but threw his fastball a lot less. He either doesn’t trust it, has lost the feel or is possibly trying to change something… I have no clue what?

   Patience Grasshoppers!

   1. Mets are very optimistic about both pitchers to return this season.
      Mets have no urgency to rush them looking at the standings and the way this team is playing.

      IF both guys are physically okay , then YES, I have more confidence in both of them than any of our guys . Because even when Urias and WB are phsyically okay they both do not look like aces. At least not currently.
      And you dont have to smoke anything to see that.

      Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!

      1. The Mets were optimistic about deGrom last year on several occasions too. They were optimistic in the off season, in Spring Training. Later and now. I just don’t think you are measuring with the same ruler.

         1. The rest of the NL contenders can only hope the Mets hopes are in vain.
            Because if not the Mets will win the pennant.
            Everyone knows what deGrom and Scherzer can do on the mound when they are on their game.
            If physically right the best 1-2 punch in all of baseball.
            We will find out soon enough.

            Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

            1. Fernando was good till he wasn’t. Back then it took longer to learn how to hit against certain flavors of pitchers and I believe WB has been the main focus of scouts and they got a jump adjustment wise and he hasn’t counter adjusted yet. The view we fans get on our TVs ain’t a great tell aside from which pitches are strikes. It’d be cool if they put a camera on the catchers masks. Learning how to hit filthy pitches takes some studying and it may be his stuff ain’t as filthy without sticky fingers. Can see the worried look he has. Roberts got him out of there quickly so it seems clear they ‘ve been discussing the issues whatever they are. Just not with us.

         2. Mark, you are sharing your optimism for Buehler as did the Mets last year for deGrom. I am not as optimistic as you but I also don’t dwell on gloom re Buehler. It will be what it will be. We are not asking Buehler to do something he has never done like we are with Anderson.

            I think Smith will get back to what we have begun to expect from him.
            I don’t have the same feeling for Muncy.
            Bellinger can’t get worse given his pedigree and should get at least a little better.
            Lux should hit second. Shocking right?

            Betts
            Lux
            Trea
            Freeman
            Smith
            Bellinger
            Justin
            McKinstrey
            Taylor

            1. Bums,
               The difference is that deGrom was injured. Buehler is not

4. Great stuff Mark. The Dodger Poke Report is an excellent source to view Dodger prospects at all levels and learn about the ones we haven’t heard much about. The Dodger minor league system is loaded with high quality talent at all positions.
   Hoping Buehler and the pitching gurus can figure out what’s wrong with the poor results we’re seeing.

5. One of our ‘jobs’ as fans is to come up with fan-tastical ideas for trades and acquisitions that we know will never happen. Like saying we should try to sign Freddie Freeman. But if the trade deadline were now, and standing were like today, perhaps these players would be available. Pollock, Kike, Jansen, Joc

6. I was more amazed at how Alonso hit that 2nd HR off Graterol.

   Either way, whatever, win today and we take 3-4 from the 2nd best team in the NL

7. I had a great time at the Rancho game yesterday. It was great seeing Mark, Jayne and OldBear and also Mark’s son Stephan. What a nice young man you’ve raised.

   It is a very nice little stadium with great views of the mountains with tall pines all along the perimeter of the outfield wall. The game was minor league baseball in a sense that you just don’t see balls dropped in the outfield in a major league game like we did last night.

   There were some very loud swings with resulting big flies die in the outfield under the cool, damp air. Damon Keith looks like a ballplayer. He’s well built and athletic. Luiz Rodriguez smacked a couple of doubles. His swing looks really good and he’s got some speed on the bases. Vogel got the speed. He also has a nice swing, but he’s a little undersized. If he fills out, watch out. Luiz Diaz and Ken Betancourt also stood out with good looking bats and some well hit balls.

   It was more baseball and less flash and noise than you see at Dodgers games. I’m really going to start making it a habit to go to more games there. The fireworks at the end of the game was a nice treat and the Carne Asada Fries at the very end of the night really hit the spot.

   It was really fun to sit with Mark and Jayne for about an inning or so and just talk baseball with a couple of baseball rats. Even better, we chose a great time to miss the Dodgers game. What a debacle!

   On the bright side, Walker’s velo was up as was his spin on a few of the four seamers he threw. Only 7 of his 4 – seamers where less than 95.5 with 23 of them at or above that mark. Walker averaged 2472 on his 4 seamer last year. He threw nearly half of his 4 seamers at or above 2400 rpm last night with one topping out at 2572. It looks like progress to me and sometimes you need to take a step backwards in order to take a couple of steps forward. Right now he doesn’t look good, but he’s got plenty of time to figure it out.

   It makes me wonder if they tweaked his mechanics / delivery to make his secondary pitches more effective and it had an inverse effect on his fastball. Hopefully, this is the low point of his season.

   Today, we’ll see our other troubled pitcher, Skinny Julio try to convert a 1PM day game into a series win. I sure hope he’s getting back to his old diet and we see a little more umph on his fastball. I’ll be smoking a rack of baby backs during the game and will enjoy and lazy Sunday afternoon at the house today.

8. I have a feeling that if DeGrom and Scherzer were on the Dodgers roster, people here would be extremely “concerned” or “worried” about them being available or effective in the post-season. But, since they’re on The Mets, the same people are concerned that our pitchers aren’t as good.

   I’m not sure where this comes from when Max laid an egg last year while on the Dodgers and DeGrom is basically the same age as Clayton. DeGrom is currently nursing shoulder and forearm injuries. Yes, shoulder AND forearm. So, maybe The Mets get really lucky and he comes back healthy, is effective and his health stays with him throughout the post season. Max seems to have some recurring hamstring issues and is currently on the IL with an oblique injury, which never seem to heal and it’s also reported that his pitching hand was bitten by a dog!

   McKinstry started off very hot last year, went down with an oblique injury and was never the same. But, 82 year old Max will be just fine.

   So, very injured Max Scherzer and Jacob DeGrom are going to pitch like aces throughout the rest of the year and post-season. But, healthy Bueller won’t be able to get his fastball back, May and Duffy will only pitch in relief. Clayton will probably suck now. Julio won’t be able to get his mojo back. Anderson and Heaney aren’t for real and Gonsolin will regress. And forget about all these minor leaguers with filthy stuff putting it together and being ready to help.

   1. All true what you say Bulldog.
      But IF deGrom and Scherzer come back healty who would you prefer ?
      WB and JU or those two guys ?
      If all 4 guys were healty I take deGrom and Scherzer every day and twice in a game 7.

      Sorry, just my opinion.

      Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

      1. When you consider pure talent a their peaks and fully healthy? Still even hard to say since Julio and Walker haven’t even hit their peaks yet and Scherzer and deGrom haven’t been fully healthy for post-season games in years and they aren’t getting any younger and they’re both going to miss significant time on the IL this year.

         Consider this. Walker and Julio are 27 and 25 respectively. Max wasn’t consistently good until his age 28 season and deGrom made his first start in his age 26 season.

         If I were building a team, I would absolutely take a 27 and 25 year old that just came off seasons when they were in Cy Young contentions over 37 and 33 year old coming off of seasons where they both spent time on the IL.

         So again, I don’t understand why you’re spilling so much ink about two guys that are currently on the IL with pretty concerning injuries. If one of my pitchers was on the IL with a shoulder and forearm injury and the other with an oblique injury, I would be VERY concerned.

         Sure, there’s brand name value with Scherzer and deGrom, but no one has a bigger brand name than Clayton Kershaw and he’s not even in your conversation. So, sorry. Your arguments make zero sense to me.

         1. I am just talking about THIS season.
            Not building for the future. If that is the intention you take WB and Julio. No question.

            And if THIS season deGrom and Scherzer return healthy I take them over WB and julio in a big game without hesitation.

            Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

9. There is an article in the Athletic that pretty much tells you what I have been saying for weeks. Maybe you just need to hear it from them, because I already told you. Of course, some of you experts said that wasn’t it.

10. Willie Calhoun DFA

11. Maybe I’m wrong, but I have the impression that since the day Walker pitched the complete game, since then it started to go down, I don’t know, but maybe that’s the reason why they don’t allow them to pitch as many innings anymore, and that’s why I’ve always totally agreed (On this) with Roberts…

    Reminds me of the time a left-handed pitcher from SF (forget the name) was throwing no-hitters against LA until Seager hit in the ninth, then he was pulled after over 100 pitches, and since then that pitcher has never been the same

12. Go back 5 weeks and read all our comments about Mookie and now he’s the league MVP. I think in 2 months time the same will hold true for Buehler. His stuff is still elite. Those 2 pitches Alonzo hit out last night we’re not bad pitches. He’s just that good. Tip of the cap.

13. 4:10 PM ET

    Mets (36-19)
    Dodgers (35-18)

    SP Julio Urias L
    3-5 2.89 ERA 53IP 42K
    Confirmed Lineup
    RF Mookie Betts R
    1B F. Freeman L
    SS Trea Turner R
    C Will Smith R
    DH J. Turner R
    CF C. Bellinger L
    LF Chris Taylor R
    3B Eddy Alvarez S
    2B Gavin Lux L

    Clear-day
    0% Rain
    76° Wind 10 mph Out

14. If it was a game 7, I will choose whoever is the guy with the Dodgers in his uniform.

15. Interesting that Alvarez is starting at 3rd today and, if I’m not mistaken, he pinch hit for Alberto last night. Is Hanser injured?

    Add me to the (short) list of people here who aren’t particularly worried about Buehler. He definitely isn’t helping us now but by playoff time (actually I would say by All Star time) I expect he’ll pretty much be back to the Buehler we expect to see out there.

16. Another cheapie by TT!

17. I agree with those who point out Mookie’s season. He was being labeled a “boat anchor” contract after the first month (it still might end up a boat anchor, but I don’t see that for a lot a years).

    Above all else, the Dodgers ran face first into a guy named Pete who could probably hit one out and drive in 4 runs blindfolded, shoelaces tied together and with a cracked broom handle instead of a bat. Give credit where credit is due.

    Baseball is like running a business, in a sense. Nothing is ever perfect. Something is always going wrong. It’s a bit like playing Wac-A-Mole. Something pops up, you knock it down just so something else can pop up again. When our pitching staff was un-hittable early In the season, Mookie was in a slump, Lux couldn’t throw a ball into a trash can from three feet and our entire lineup after Trea down had dreams of simply being over the Mendoza line. Yet we were the best team in baseball. Mookie and Lux fixed themselves. JT started hitting. Then our pitching staff became the problem between injuries and giving up home runs like they were handing out tiny sausage samples at Costco. But we are still winning more games than we are losing.

    This too will get better. Two starters will come off the IL, Walker will figure it out and I’m sure Julio will start pounding down some milk shakes and a dozen donuts everyday for breakfast and be the portly 20 game winner we know and love (or maybe he will find another way, IDK).

    And when our staff is “fixed”, something else will go wrong. And when that’s fixed, something else. And I’ll bet we will still be in first place by the AS break.

    It’s baseball. And this is the Dodgers.

18. The clean up spot has been a black hole for the Dodgers this year! Time to give Smith another slot. Next man up. I like Alonso!

19. Bad base running and lack of situational hitting costing the Dodgers. Again.
    Alvarez had a double with his speed but he stopped at first. Would have scored on FF single.
    Runner at 3rd with one out earlier and can not score.
    In close games things like that will cost you eventually.

    Kersh with a good outing at RC. 4 IP.

    Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!

    1. Was that Alvarez’s decision or did the first base coach play it safe? Alvarez was clutch in the 9th.
       I followed the game online and haven’t yet looked at the high/lowlights. I’ll just remind everyone that the 2021 edition had a really hard time winning extra-inning games.
       Possibly a statistical fluke. Possibly something else. I mean, Lux on second with the top of the lineup coming up—and nada. Sheesh.
       In other unpleasant news, the Angels have lost something like 10 or 11 straight, and so hopes for an October Freeway Series are, as usual, bleak. And to think…. just a few weeks ago Detmer was throwing a no-hitter Halos were rolling and named 5th in the MLB “power rankings.” Oh well.

20. You could see this coming. Mets moving runners over and in, Dodgers do not.
    Dodgers not a good team with the small things.

    Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

21. Very odd decision to use Graterol for a second inning today. He got clobbered last night and even Ray Charles could see the very predictable outcome with Lindor leading off the 8th inning and having Graterol face Alonzo again.

    Some at LADT are occasionally critical of Doc and his decision making. I generally defend him but the use of Graterol on consecutive games (especially after his outing on Saturday night) with the top of the order coming up was odd and not particular good management. Yes, it’s up to the players to execute but it’s a managers job to put his players in the best position to succeed, and Doc failed miserably with that decision.

    Where’s Freddie’s HR power?

    1. Graterol still hasn’t figured out how the get left handed batters out. In the 3 batter minimum rule era that we are in, that is not a good thing.

22. Another game with missed opportunities. Why the hell Lux did not bunt after Alvarez got his single is beyond me. Play baseball and quit looking for the 2 run jack. When Mookie is ofer, they do not win very often. Pillar out for the season with his shoulder needing surgery. Bullpen has not been good the last two games. They really mis Treinen and Kahnle.

    1. There were two outs so I can undertand they let him swing away in that situation.
       And he hit it very hard, if that line drive finds the gap or the line Dodgers walk it off.

       Small ball was availabel several times today in other situations and every time Roberts decided against.
       always playing for the 3 run HR is Roberts when other than Mookie our lineup does not hit the long ball this year.

       Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

       1. No, I am talking about after his first hit in the 5th inning. He led off with a single. Lux then flied out to right. Moving the runner over would have been the smart move since the Mets had scored a run in the 3rd inning on Martes homer. Betts popped out to second, and Freeman singled Alvarez to third. Had he been on second, he would have scored on Freeman’s hit easily. So there were not two outs in the situation I was talking about. Get your facts straight before saying I am wrong.

          1. U should have made it clear in your original post that you were talking about the 5th inning. Look at the time you made your post. How should I know you are talking about the 5th, when the game was already in the 9th and we had the same situation (Alvarez single , Lux coming up).

             Other than that I defintely agree. Lux should have been bunting back in the 5th.

             Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

23. Eddy Freakin’ Alvarez!

24. I’m back in Indy and watching from my mancave.

25. Exactly told a friend that Dodgers could tie the game, but only to see Mets score 3 in the 10th and lose again!

26. Runner on 2nd, nobody out, Betts, Freddie and TT coming up and we can not get one freaking run across.
    Maddening.

    Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!

27. Great to see Ferguson back. He is going to be a HUGE asset once he gets back in the groove after his debut.

28. Very disappointing end to series. How many balls were inches from being fair, I counted at least 3 that could have broken the game open. Then we have the 8th inning, make of it what you will. Losing these close games in the 8th inning and later are heartbreakers to say the least. On to the White Sox and Giants.

29. Not a good game. Julio was solid. Not great. But solid.

    I had a great weekend. We aren’t Angel fans. I have many friends who are… and they are about to find a virgin and an active volcano to toss her in.

    I have great friends. Met more this weekend. I count my blessings. One of those blessings is being a Dodger fan. And having a new faith in the next generation. Which yesterday gave me more faith.

    Leif

30. Clayton Kershaw Expected To Be Activated From 15-Day IL Next Weekend
    By Mark Polishuk | June 5, 2022 at 10:55pm CDT

    Clayton Kershaw tossed 59 innings over four innings of a minor league rehab start today, and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya) that Kershaw will be activated from the 15-day injured list for his next outing. This would put Kershaw in line to start against the Giants next weekend, as the two NL West rivals clash in a big series.

    1. Should be 59 pitches.

31. Mark, can you include at the top of the page our 3 minor league teams playing in the Arizona Complex League(1) and Dominican Summer League (2) starting today June 6th.

    1. Yes, I plan to do that today.

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