As you know, a couple of weeks ago I went to Ft. Wayne to see the Great Lakes Loons play the Ft. Wayne Tin Caps and interview some future Dodgers. Earlier this week, I posted the interview with Future Dodger Manager Austin Chubb (I just made that up, but who says it won’t happen?). This interview is with RHP Emmet Sheehan and next week, we will show you Diego Cartaya. If the Loons play in the playoffs at Ft. Wayne, I will have some more interviews for you, but right about now the focus is on Emmet Sheehan.
Emmet Sheehan is a very engaging personality and generates elite swing-and-miss rates on his running 97-98 mph fastball out of his low arm slot. He struck out 34 batters in 15.2 innings in his pro debut, largely on the strength of his plus fastball. He was drafted in the 2021 Draft, in the 6th round as the 192nd pick overall out of Boston College. He has been picking up velocity and has jumped from 92 to 98+ since he was signed with the Dodgers.
He claims to have confidence in all four pitches and at 6′ 5″ and 220 pounds, he is very strong and projects to add 15+ pounds over the next couple of years. That’s a starter’s body, but his control will dictate that. He reminds me somewhat of Gavin Stone, but Gavin has an additional year of experience, having been drafted in 2020. Enjoy the interview:
If you happen to be interested, here is another Interview with Emmet about Transforming Passion to Profession:
Emmet Sheehan likely will spend the rest of 2022 at Great Lakes as a starter. They are keeping his pitch limit at around 50, but in 2023, I can see him starting at Tulsa. He is certainly a pitcher to watch and if he can continue his progress, he could be in LA by 2024.
The Catman May Never Lose!
Here’s why: (1) He has stopped walking batters; and (2) He stays within himself and doesn’t try and do too much or overthrow. Occassionally, someone runs into one, like Morel did, but he keeps damage to a minimum by not allowing Free Passes. Now, of course, I know he will lose again, but he’s not going to do it often.
- I was “underwhelmed” when the Dodgers acquired Trayce Thompson. So far, he has been an amazing acquisition… and a “feel good” story of what persistence can do.
- Mookie Betts is truly a superstar – he is now showing his pedigree!
- Gavin Lux is steady, if not spectacular, which is all you can ask.
- They say the Bazooka just had a “cramp.” Cramps in your side can be problematic. I would not be shocked if he was IL’ed.
- Trea Turner is the best SS in baseball!
- It was nice to see Bickford have a “clean” 2/3 of an inning.
- Kimbrel takes one step forward and 2 steps back, but Vesia saved the day. Kimbrel is worrisome. This is the Craig Kimbrel I was afraid the Dodgers would get.
Mike Brito: R.I.P.
I did not know Mike well, but when we passed each other he always spoke. He always nodded, as if acknowledging “I remember you.” There were baseball people who did that like Mike, including Sweet Lou, Tommy Davis, Don Newcombe, Carl Erskine, Tommy Lasorda, Vin Scully, and others. Many more did not and I will keep those names to myself. R.I.P. MIke! Juan Toribio of MLB.com wrote an excellent eulogy about him.
Future Dodgers Down on the Farm
- OKC DODGERS won 11-2
- Eddy Alvarez was 4-5 with 5 RBI including 2 HRs.
- Miguel Vargas had 1 hit, and made an outstanding catch, and played LF as he prepares for his MLB debut shortly.
- Mike Busch was 3-5 with a double.
- Jamie Martin hist his 17th HR.
- Dellin Betances allowed 2 earned runs without a hit, as he walked 2, and had a wild pitch. His ERA at OKC is 5.06.
- Marshall Kasowski struck out 4 in 1.2 innings, but I do not consider him a prospect anymore.
- Tulsa won 3-0
- Gavin Stone was nearly unhittable as he pitch 6 scoreless innings, calling but 3 hits – none for extra bases and striking out 8. Now, here’s the bad news: He walked 6! Cut that crap out Gavin!
- Kody Hoese was 2-5 and Leonal Valera was 2-4 with a BB. Valera is moving ahead of Eddys Leonard and Jorbit Vivas as a “super-utility” prospect.
- Great Lakes lost 10-1
- Diego Cartaya was 0-4 with 2 Ks
- Eddys Leonard was 2-3 and that was it.
- Never talk about the pitchers involved again! 😉
- Rancho Cucamonga won 10-6
- Yenier Fernandez was 3-4 with a HR and 5 RBIs.
Very Interesting Video
Earth, Wind & Fire
We are going to see these cats tonight. Carlos Santana is supposed to headline too, but he passed out earlier this week at a concert – he’s 156!
Great interview Mark. It looks like another quality starter and quality person the Dodgers have drafted. Love to hear that the Dodger system is second to none in improving mechanics and velocity, Hope we see Emmet in the Show in the near future.
Kimbrel deserved better. Couple of soft contact bloopers and Wisdom put up a good ab. I think he’s gonna be better in 2nd half. Not giving up on him. We’re going to see Santana when he comes to Charleston in August. Let me know what you think of his show. It’s incredible how much young pitching the Dodgers develop!
Wow, Santana will be an awesome show. Have fun. Kimbrel got pinched again. Should have rung up Wisdom.
New Years Eve 1969 saw Santana and the Greatful Dead in San Francisco and then went to the old Fillmore and saw a group called Pentangle. I was staying at a crash pad on Divisadero in those days for a short period. Back pages. A lot happened in that year, 1969 that is. BB King, Led Zepplin, Jethro Tull and many others I saw then. Hoyt Axton was super nice and shared his wine and let us in for free. But tickets were never over $7 even for the biggest anywhere.
100% Agree and a healthy Mookie catches that bloop in RF.
Kimbrel will be better but lets figure this out now and not in October. We will have plenty of candidates to close games if he cant. I still have faith in him.
Santana collapsed on stage about a week ago. Hope he is recovered enough to do your show. Profar involved in a collision last night and collapsed when he tried to walk off of the field. Nice to see SF 12.5 games back. Take that Joc.
They just announced that Carlos Santana was playing.
The only problem is rain, but we have pavilion seats. It’s at Ruoff Music Center:
This white boy did a lot of jammin with my basketball brothers in high school and college listening to that awesome band.Man,they havebeengreat for a long time.Me Too. LOL
Mark, nice job on the Sheehan interview. Both of you just looked comfortable talking shop.
Gonso didn’t have his best stuff and delivered 7 innings anyway. No walks! That’s the key for him. I might have even seen him sneak a 95 in there in the later innings.
The offense is impressive in that it seems that different players have been stepping up each night. Last night, all the scoring came from big flies. Mookie with a couple of solo shots and JT added one. Lux tapped into a big bomb with a runner on. Muncy and Belli forgot how to hit again.
4 relievers for two innings isn’t ideal. Special thanks to Vesia for finishing it off, but not before a sketchy full count.
Another one bites the dust. We’ll see if Graterol’s cramp turns into an oblique injury.
RIP to Dodgers Legend Mike Brito, the Panama Hat wearing, cigar smoking, radar gun pointing hero that brought us Fernando, Julio, Puig, V-Gone and others.
Wow Kody Hoese has really figured something out the past month. Great to see.
It’s progress. He has not yet produced much power
Albert Pujols, Miguel Cabrera Selected To All-Star Game
By Anthony Franco | July 8, 2022 at 10:10am CDT
Albert Pujols and Miguel Cabrera have been selected to the 2022 All-Star Game, MLB announced this morning. They’ve been selected as the National and American League’s respective “legendary” nominees.
Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic reported this week that the new collective bargaining agreement permitted the commissioner’s office to select one or more players from each league to participate in the All-Star game. The honor is in recognition of the player’s career body of work, not their 2022 performance.
“I am delighted that Albert Pujols and Miguel Cabrera have agreed to participate in the All-Star Game,” commissioner Rob Manfred said in the league’s press release.”Albert and Miguel are two of the most accomplished players of their generation. They have also represented the baseball traditions of the Dominican Republic and Venezuela with excellence for the last two decades. Albert and Miguel are two all-time greats whose achievements warrant this special recognition.”
Nice interview. I wonder where the Dodgers brain trust ranks Sheehan among their SP prospects. Miller and Stone are now 1-2, but who rounds out the top ten? Off the top of my head I can think of Knack, Beeter, Nastrini, Hurt, Kendall Williams…. who am I forgetting?… Maddux Bruns!….And when we think of “depth” we can add newly minted major leaguers Pepiot and Grove.
And that brings us to MLB.com suggesting that Luis Castillo is a good fit for the Dodgers.
Certainly the Dodgers don’t NEED another front-line starter, but with Montas injured Castillo is clearly the class of the market now. He’s at the top of his game now. Heading into the playoffs, expecting to battle the mighty Yankees in the World Series, would you rather have Mitch White or Castillo on the roster?
So how about something like White + Grove + ???…. Maybe Kody Hoese or Outman? Throw in Andre Jackson as a change-of-scenery candidate. (I think Castillo is under contract for another season, so he wouldn’t be cheap.)
Injuries happen. Buhler and several relievers are down. Heaney has proven very fragile, and you never know when Kersh will go down.
Kimbrel may have some bad luck but he still makes me nervous. One strike away from a clean save, and then there’s two hits and a walk….. gulp.
He earned a lot of respect from me when he got taken out of the game was still into it on the bench and was really excited Vesia got the final out.
I love Kenley but no way would he have been this way.
Good Look Craig, we’re rooting for ya.
Well said
DITTO
* Nice interview MT.
* RIP to Mike Brito. He was a fixture behind home with his radar gun back in the day.
* Muncy looks like he’s trying to go 5 for 4 again.
* The home plate umpire, Jose Navas is a giant. He’s listed at 6’6” but looks taller. He also misses pitches at critical times. Kimbrel got a gift in the 9th. He has had run ins with the Phillies and others, as he chokes in the clutch.
* Kimbrel does give up more clinkers than most guys. And tons of foul balls.
* His inconsistency is so interesting. He will get ahead and then throw totally non-competitive pitches until it’s 3 and 2. Then who knows?
In the old days we had those iron mike pitching machines. The old slingers. They would have a tendency to throw three or four good pitches and then get out of whack and throw the next one to the backstop or spiked into the batter’s box. That’s Kimbrel. Each release point is an independent event. How can he look razor sharp on some pitches and miss by 4 feet on the next? Initially this year, I thought he was doing that as intimidation but now I think he’s just that wild. He’s really Ricky Vaughn.
No lead is safe. Is it time to move Phillips into that roll? Many here say stay with him. I would not.
I’m going to say Ferguson for closer.
The Dodgers being good neighbors should trade Kimbrel to the Angels.
Caleb is not under consideration.
Especially after all the shit talking to the media. Why hasn’t he seen game action since coming back? Oh, I think I answered that already.
Yeah, I probably sound like you when you predict Bellinger would replace Gonzales at first and Grandal would hit 45 home runs. I’m just trying to be Mark Jr. Same with Bellinger becoming a Tommy Davis hitter but with Willie legs.
I don’t remember predicting 45 for Grandal, but Bellinger did replace Gonzales didn’t he?
I was commenting on Mark’s post. I was making the point that he hasn’t pitched since being called up, implying that they’re mad him for running his mount. Probably not ready to give him the closer role, sore arm and all.
For Ohtani and Joc no doubt. No mind that crappy teams don’t get closers on expiring contracts at the deadline.
Since you can’t resist taking a jab at me about Joc even when only you bring him up, I will share my thoughts on your recent Topic Post. First, thank you for stepping up. You were informative. And you did it only using the proper pronoun “I” 45 times.
At least he didn’t use we they or them to describe himself. 🙂
So, I used “I” about half as many times as you proposed Joc trades to bring him back?
Kimbrel is interesting. For those here who are saying he’s the victim of bad luck, there’s actually some truth to that. He’s always had control issues. Even in his successful years, his walk rate can be around 4.0-5 / 9 innings. This year it’s 4.18. What’s killing him is BABIP, which is .414. He’s historically kept it under .300. He’s getting burned by dinks.
I’m not saying I’m really comfortable with him as the closer, but if you look at his fundamentals, he’s about what he was with Boston in 2018 – pretty good regular season (pretty dismal in the playoffs).
Patch, I’m not much interested in how Kimbrel pitched in 2018. If he pitched the same in Boston, he must have made every outing an adventure as he does now. I was hoping all the suspense that KJ created would be greatly reduced with his departure. It hasn’t turned out that way.
It keeps us watching to the very end! Unless you’re me at Truist Park.
If you were there Sunday night and left….. man I feel for ya.
I stayed till the end and what a glorious end it was. Probably the best reg season game ive ever been at.,
Not for the first 8 and 2/3rds of that game! Next year we should get an east coast contingent and go back to Atlanta.
That’s why you ALWAYS stay till the end.
I hit ATL every year….
Go Dodgers.
I looked at Kimbrel’s 2022 stats because I was curious and I found that his problem is against LHB.
Against RHB his slash line is .151/.258/.245/.503, that is excellent.
Against LHB his slash line is .367/.424/.517/.941, that is horrible.
I have never seen that big of a difference between RHB and LHB with a big enough sample.
10:10 PM ET
Cubs (34-49)
Dodgers (53-29)
SP Tyler Anderson L
9-1 3.09 ERA 84.1IP 73K
Confirmed Lineup
RF Mookie Betts R
SS Trea Turner R
1B F. Freeman L
C Will Smith R
2B Max Muncy L
3B J. Turner R
DH Jake Lamb L
CF C. Bellinger L
LF Gavin Lux L
Clear-day
0% Rain
74° Wind 6 mph Out
Wow, the computer that spits out the lineup must be broken. Three lefties in a row! Is this a first for Doc?
Trayce has reverse splits by a wide margin this season and is hitting righties to the tune of .296/.387/.481/.868.
Are we showcasing Lamb, or are we trying to win games?
Trace as DH?
Well, if it was me Trayce would be in LF, Lux at Second and JT and Muncy can share 3B.
Mookie and Trea are starters for the NL
I will be the guy at Dodger Stadium throwing my Dodger Dogs at Altuve and any other Trashtro
I hope Mookie gets an appearance in the All-Star Game, is recognized for his greatness, gets an AB, 2 innings and gets some time off his feet before we start the 2nd half. He looks like he could use some rest.
I liked last night’s line up the best of the 80 line ups +/-, that Doc has thrown out there. Tonight’s, not so much. But we will still win, hopefully, despite what Doc does.
I finally figured it out for Bellinger. He had long hair back in 19. Grow your hair back long Samson!
Very pleasing win.
6 games up.
Nice hops from Muncy!
And Phillips comes through in the 10th. (Nice to see Dodgers winning in OT.)
Yes, a very pleasing win.