Is Your Mind Open or Closed?

I do not read many other Dodger Blogs, but I do read www.LAdodgerChronicles.com. Jeff Dominique is a source of great knowledge, as is Harold Uhlman. I only comment here because I do not have that much bandwidth, but I read it every day. It’s at the top of this blog for a reason. There are six or seven people who comment there, and I am thankful that only a few of them comment here because I would have to lose a few more IQ points if Bumsrap did, and God Knows… I cannot afford that. Stay there Bums! We are good! PLEASE!

Jeff, Harold, and Rob do not like conflict and controversy, and that is why they left this blog (they might say otherwise – like “Mark is a dumbass“). I invite controversy. I am OK with that. I like it. I love it. I want some more of it. I like dissent. I happen to disagree with them and believe that controversy spawns discussion and more deep thought. If you want to sit by a campfire and sing Kumbaya, then go there by all means.

Badger is a friend of mine and he posts there. He started a lot of shit here and decided to leave. I’m OK with that – he’s still my friend. End of discussion. We have a lot of differing opinions on this site and it’s great when we can disagree without being disagreeable. HINT: Don’t be disagreeable!

As this season winds down, things are becoming more apparent, like the fact that Craig Kimbrel should not be on the playoff roster. He says he is going to prove he is worthy of being on the playoff roster. What is he smoking? Craig, you have had a wonderful career, but for the past 5 or 6 years, you have struggled mightily at times. It’s time to call it a career! If Andrew Friedman puts Kimbrel on the playoff roster, Kasten should fire him immediately!

Mookie is down to .267 in his batting average. One thing we have seen this year is that he is really hot or really cold. He can carry the team or be a boat anchor. I like Mookie, but his consistent performance seems to fall a little short of what he is paid! He is a good player… not great… except on occasion. Hopefully he has a hot streak in the playoffs.

On the bright side, Tony Gonsolin pitched two strong innings for OKC last night. He allowed 1 hit and struck out 2 with no BBs. His velocity was down a little as he hit 94 once and was around 93 with his fastball. Now we wait to see how he feels.

I hate losing to the San Diego Clowns.

This article has 54 Comments

  1. Nobody likes losing to those assholes, least of all the way they lost last night. But no problem, the pressure is on them, for the Dodgers it’s just practice to stay in shape.

    How many losses or blown saves does Kimbrel have when he starts with the ghost runner on second?

    I commented not long ago that I thought Kimbrel was better or less worse when he didn’t come in a save situation, that it would be better if he came in the seventh or eighth inning, But…

  2. After last night I have had it with Kimbrel. The man should not be on the postseason roster . Case closed

    Today they will call up Almonte. Lets hope he pitches like before he went on the IL. Would be huge for us.

    Catman looked good last night, was hitting 92.6 on average on the 4 seamer. A little uptick would be good.
    May says he is very positive he can return to the postseason roster. Doc says it is not only the physical part with him but consistency and command.

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

  3. If Kimbrel is on the post season roster I’ll eat my hat. I would rather have Bickford than Kimbrel, at least Bickford throws strikes.

    We need Mookie to go on a roll in the PS, his ABs look horrible at times and non-competitive unlike TT and FF.

    If the Dodgers are to win it all someone will need to step up and be a catalyst to make it happen ala Eddie Rosario or Corey Seager. Who will that be? I’m thinking it will be TT.

    1. TT postseason stats are terrible. I hope you are right however.. We are going to need someone to step-up.

      All 25 on board!!

    2. I agree about Kimbrel and Bickford and was thinking the same thing this morning. But, don’t forget all those bombs that Bickford allows.

      I also agree that our Eddie Rosario will be TT. They just need to let him play and Trayce Thompson will deliver!

  4. Kimbrel did us a favor last night. Not only is he showing Andrew he doesn’t belong on the post season roster, but if they decide to activate VGon, someone will need to be lopped off the 40-man.

    Yes, it wouldn’t be a disaster to dfa Bickford or Bruihl but they actually have some trade value this winter. They wouldn’t bring back a Hall of Famer but we might at least get a lottery ticket /low minors guy for them.

    Kimbrel has no trade value whatsoever, so if he isn’t going to be on the post season roster, he should be the first guy to be dfa’d.

  5. Even when Mookie isn’t hitting much, he wins games with his glove and his legs. The idea that he can be “an anchor” is supported by what evidence?
    A couple days ago he delivered the game-winner as a pinch hitter. He failed today but the whole team did, going 1 for 17 with runners in scoring position. On the plus side, we can hope that Kimbrel solidified his spot off the playoff roster. Hmm. Gavin Stone can throw strikes, right?
    Mookie and Freddie are now tied for second in the MLB (behind Judge) with 112 runs scored — but Mookie has played 16 fewer games, mostly due to that collision with Bellinger. (Mookie has also played hurt.) And while his BA is down, I think most of us understand that OPS is actually a better measure of a hitter–and Mookie, at .874,
    is significantly higher than both Trea and Will Smith, now tied at .821.
    One plus from today’s game: Kimbrel solidified his spot off the playoff roster. And the outlook for Treinen isn’t positive.
    Hmm. Gavin Stone can throw strikes, right?

  6. Baseball America’s recent report that surveyed managers, scouts and executives saluted some of the usual suspects in the NL:
    Best Hitter –Freddie
    Best Defensive 1B–Freddie
    Best Baserunner–Mookie
    Best Defensive OF–Mookie
    Best OF Arm–Mookie
    Fastest–Trea
    Most Exciting–Trea

    I would quibble with that last one. Trea certainly has the smoothest slide, but I find Mookie more exciting, mostly because of the memorable web gems. He also has more HRs than any other Dodger by a wide margin.
    Oh–just noticed that Mookie was rated by BA as the second most exciting National Leaguer…
    Ohtani, by the way, was judged as most exciting in the AL. No quarrel with that.

  7. We blow right now. Kimbrel’s not the only one running on fumes. Whatever.
    Madres still suck like a ‘roided out middleweight jumping weight class and wacking around some overweight, out of shape heavyweight tomato can. Not impressed at all with Preller’s mercs.

    Skipping the Covid discussion, some good stuff there but…,I’m done with those days. I had a rough year back then,

    Any Tom Clancy fan is prolly amped up now on this Nord2 pipeline bizness. I’m keeping score.

    Our Chief laying it out in 2/7/22 presser:

    https://youtube.com/shorts/FVbEoZXhCrM?feature=share

    A bag of bitcoin and C4 and look what we get. CIA or rogue hire? Stay tuned

  8. Kimbrel will be in the playoffs, at least in the first series…. With the game 7 runs up or down, they won’t want to use the best pitchers, and they won’t use Alberto to pitch the ninth inning either, but someone has to pitch: Kimbrel

    Do you really think that Víctor González will have a couple of innings at the end of the season and that will be enough to include him in the playoffs?
    Or Stone?

    Good luck!

  9. Kimbrel walked in the winner that is a fact. It is also a fact that the offense and defense sucked wind in critical situations last night, so that loss is not on Kimbrel alone. A couple of clutch hits and that game never would have gotten to extra’s. They left the bases loaded guys. Way too many times in the one run and extra-inning games they have played, they have not gotten the job done. They couldn’t even get the runner home from second with no outs in the 10th! That blown game is not all on Kimbrel. Should he be on the playoff roster? Probably not, but I will eat a boatload of tacos if he isn’t.

    1. Bear, I agree 100% with you that yesterday’s game was lost due to a lack of timely hitting, but I can’t shake the feeling of danger when Mr. Kimbrel throws, as someone already said, “I prefer to lose with a good hit from the rival, than with a base on balls from us”, and it is made more acute by yesterday’s hateful rival.
      On the other hand, and subject to internal information that we do not know as fans, the problems of Bellinger and Taylor’s lack of hitting, whether physical or mental, should already be resolved at this point in the season, it is impressively sad to see how he is eliminated. a former MVP (K after K after K), imagine a mediocre rival catcher (Alfaro), hits better than four of the last 5 in our lineup yesterday. Sorry, but the negative feelings generated by poor performances in general like the one yesterday, revive ghosts of previous postseasons where we have been tired, unmotivated and finally overcome by mediocre teams in the regular season that heat up at this time.

      1. I get it, I totally understand. I was merely pointing out the fact that the game should have never gotten to the point where he was a factor. Why don’t the Dodgers bunt more? Padres used it in the 10th to get that run into scoring position. The bottom end of the lineup was horrible last night, but the top of the order, except for Turner, really did not do crap either. Smith was 0-5 with 2 k’s and left 8 men on base all by his lonesome. Betts hit came in the first inning and he died there. Then in the 10th, he was caught looking at strike three and the bat never left his shoulder. What ever happened to protecting the plate with 2 strikes? The two runs came on a fielder’s choice by Muncy and a single by Taylor who is starting to be the Dodgers version of Kurt Bevacqua who Tommy said could not hit water if he fell out of a boat. Kimbrel is a mess, of that there is plenty of evidence. But the so-called best team in the majors sure did not look like it last night once Snell left the game. Taylor has struck out 158 times in 390 at bats. Sorry, for a player with his skills, that is way too many. His type of hitter should never be the team leader in K’s, You can talk about Bellinger striking out a lot, but in 86 more at bats than Taylor, he has struck out 15 times less. Not great, but better. And up until last night, he looked pretty good the last few games.

  10. Last night was a dress rehearsal for how we will lose playoff games, when we do:
    We faced a good LHP on the road in a playoff environment. We have a built in excuse as some will say the game meant everything to the Padres and nothing to us. I disagree.
    * We only got production again at the top or the order with 4 hits. The rest got 1.
    * 7-9 went 2 for 14 with 5 K’s. We only scored in 2 of the 10 innings and left 14 runners on base. We had ducks on the pond in 6 innings and never score.
    * We did not manufacture any runs or try to. Don’t risk getting hurt.
    * Maybe the lineup will be different but it’s the usual cast of characters at the bottom.
    * CT3 is lost. Since mid September he’s hitting .121/.428 with 15K’s. And he can’t catch a fly ball in the 8th.
    * Thompson is slumping during the same period hitting .161 with 13 K’s.
    The bottom of our order concerns me with poor hitting and lack of contact. Barnes is the lone bright spot when he’s in there.
    * It was good to see Phillips, Fergy, Martin and Kahnle’s stuff in high leverage situations. Only Fergy flunked. And of course Kimbrel singing his rendition of “What’s New?”
    * Kahnle is so interesting. His fastball is his changeup and everybody knows it. He will need to take advantage of that as long as he can because if the heater isn’t 96-97, the 89mph change doesn’t play. It’s an unusual and fun pitch mix.
    * I can’t stand the Padres. Everything they do is designed to irritate opponents:
    In a typical Padre hot dog move, Grisham comes in as a replacement and immediately delays the game while the world waits for him to tie his shoes. Like he didn’t have time to do that earlier. Look at ME!
    * I don’t live in SoCal so maybe I don’t have all the information but they are now billing Snell as “Snellzilla”. Like Godzilla. It’s the Snellzilla Train.
    That has to be the most contrived, lamest nickname ever. I hope some marketing nerd got paid handsomely for “Snellzilla”. I like it when Snellzilla is Dogshitta, but he wasn’t.
    * Yankee’s Judge watch – I’ve pretty much seen enough of Aaron Judge getting walked. Like 11 times in the last 6 games. Boston walked him when it was 11 to 1.
    I know the Jays are trying to win but I would impose a rule that after the 4th walk to Judge in a game, the Skipper has to have his testicles removed.
    I’m pretty grumpy today. I hate losing and especially to SD, clinched division of not.

    1. I’m with you, Phil. The back end of our order (excluding Lux) is going to be a problem come October.

      CT3 and Gallo have had over 300 at bats each and continue to pile up k’s.
      Trayce has had over 200 at bats and has done the same.

      Vargas has had 39 at bats. Why not let him play every game from now until the end of the season? Who knows, he might just show us that he’s worthy of a playoff roster spot. After all, he’s supposed to be a bat-to-ball guy who doesn’t strike out much. He took a while to get going at every stop in his minor league progression. Give him some at bats up here and see what he can do.

      1. Way too much emphasis on the last three in the batting order. Where were you all when they won 3 games last week? What do you think other teams have for their bottom three? Such a tired conversation. I’ll take Lux, Gallo and Belli as the last three over just about any team. Show me a team with better options.

        1. With Lux in the lineup that only leaves two potential problems, but why not try to improve those two. There are games where our good and great hitters go ofer and every spot in the order becomes important.

          My main point wasn’t that we can’t survive Gallo and Belli in the lineup, it was that had Vargas been given regular at bats for the month of September, he might have become the hitter he’s going to be going forward and been a better alternative.

  11. Mark,

    I didn’t get a chance to comment yesterday on your question regarding vaccine requirements at Dodger Stadium.

    The short answer is this; it’s a cluster f**k. Has been and continues to be.

    I work in the immunology and my team, just last week, had our first manuscript clear peer review and was accepted for publication on the immunological effects of the original covid vaccine. We have a second paper that we plan to submit next month. I have broad knowledge on the subject. I work with people who understand more than just about anybody in the world about the virus, it’s variants and the efficacy of the vaccine. So you know what that means?

    Absolutely nothing!

    Nobody listens to actual experts. This became political. On all sides. The public policy, as well as the resistance to it, hasn’t resembled anything remotely close to scientifically based logic from very early on in the pandemic. It became a drunken brawl between people screaming “comply, grandma killer!” and those screaming “FU you communist hippy!” I don’t even engage people anymore on the subject. My information comes from scientific research I am actively engaged in. Labs. Blood tests. Mathematical models. But I’ve been told many times I don’t know what I’m taking about because…. Youtube.

    So it shouldn’t be surprising that policies are dictated largely by whatever political pressure is bearing down on those who implement the policies. And that is also largely dictated by the “where” and the “who”. LA county has a very specific political base. Very different than, say, Tampa Bay. Most businesses simply want to avoid as much conflict as possible. So they comply with whatever side is less likely to cause them problems. It shouldn’t surprise you where Dodger stadium falls in that category.

    You are largely correct regarding the vaccine. At least in terms of the last 8 months. Omicron changed everything. The vaccine is shown to reduce severity of symptoms (even to Omicron). Which does have an effect on how much virus an infected individual sheds. Which has an effect on how contagious that individual is. The problem with Omicron is that it is so contagious that virtually anybody who leaves their house has been and will continue to be exposed to the virus. It’s endemic at this point. Vaccination will reduce an individuals risk of severe symptoms. That’s certain. But vaccines being a tool to stop the spread is, in my opinion, largely useless. The virus is in the population and it ain’t going anywhere. Our immune systems will adapt (and the vaccine helps with that, a lot) and Covid will be (and it’s almost there now) just another respiratory virus circulating through the population. I am very pro vaccine. It will reduce hospitalizations and deaths (just like the flu shot). But it won’t stop the virus from spreading. It’s already too intrenched in the population. But, that’s just my educated opinion. Nobody cares.

    I see people walking down the street in the sun, in triple digit weather wearing cloth masks (which are useless) to this day. Why? I don’t know.

    My guess is the Dodgers and MLB don’t want to deal with paranoid employees who are freaked out (to this day) or the political pressure of lifting vaccine requirements. This isn’t about science anymore. It’s more about not wanting to deal with the BS. So they pick a policy that they think will bring about the least.

    1. Thanks for that very concise and informative post, JC.

      A brief, simple, easy-to-understand explanation of a major problem. Any chance you could develop an anti-politics vaccine?

      1. Before they do that, they need to develop a Dumbass Vaccine.

        But, as the great intellectual Jimmy Buffett says “there is no dumbass vaccine.”

        1. An anti politics vaccine would be nearly as effective as an anti-dumbass vaccine. The two problems are significantly related.

    2. Blaming both sides or all sides really doesn’t constructively address the issue.
      It’s like pretending that right and wrong are equally to blame when, to use your phrase, the result is a clusterfuck.
      One side promoted absolute nonsense, claiming that the covid was no worse than the flu, would simply vanish “like a miracle.” Et cetera, et cetera. We should all remember the look on Dr. Birx’s face when the POTUS at the time suggested that ingesting disinfectant could help.
      That’s the sort of “leadership” one side was delivering.
      Was there politics on both sides?
      HELL, YES! I SHOULD HOPE SO!!!
      People who actually care about public health did not bow down to the utter nonsense that led to 1 million American deaths–a mortality rate about triple that of Canada. No other country politicized the crisis like the USA. But who really got it wrong?
      Let’s a remember how, in taped telephone conversations with Bob Woodward, the former POTUS admitted that he played down the threat because he didn’t want to cause panic.
      Dr. Birx has written that hundreds of thousands of American lives could have been spared if the US public policy had been effective.
      As I mentioned before, one of those lives belonged to my wife’s uncle. He was in his 50s and left behind two boys still in elementary school. Millions of Americans suffered and grieved unnecessarily because of catastrophic leadership.

  12. Wow we lose one game and people freak out. Calm down everyone…..

    So we want ATL to win the East right?

    1. Yes, we do. I did not freak out at all, but the put Kimbrel’s head on a spike crew were out in force. Thank you for the inside info there, Jayne. Nice to know that someone actually knows the inside poop.

    2. Matt, I will stand with my observations and it’s absolutely not over one game. I’m not freaking out. I don’t freak out or panic. I don’t need to calm down.
      How we lost last night is very indicative of how we lose games. There are holes in the lineup right now that need to get fixed. I say again, too many strike outs at the bottom. I want us to play better and the bottom of the order concerns me. It’s easy to read how this is the best team ever assembled and quote all the stats where we lead the world in all kinds of meaningless shit that matters not in the playoffs. It’s rat poison. I guarantee you our playoff opponents aren’t going to be reading the press clippings about how invincible we are. Pretty soon everything is all even again.
      This can be a very good team and can win it all but not if we play like we did last night with plays not made, errors, runners not moved, no timely hitting, and a bullpen asked to do too much.
      And then there’s Kimbrel, which is an easy fix.

      1. The season is 162 games yeah we aint gonna win em all and you know what there will be games where we just aint good….thats the way it is.

        Ill go to battle with this team over anyone in MLB……some people just can never be happy…

  13. Last night was a tough game to watch. They played flat again. Snell, to his credit, seems to have our number. It’s just one of those things, he pitches well against us. The Dodgers followed the game plan and got him out of there early. It was a winnable game until Kimbrel came in, got a couple of outs, then lost the zone again. He’s an enigma this year. He pitches just well enough that you want more, then turns around and lays an egg.

    Maybe Doc brought him into that situation intentionally not wanting to go deep into extras. Brilliant move if that’s the case. We don’t need to wear out the pen. The win wasn’t necessary or important. Maybe Doc wants the Pads to win that Wild Card series knowing we’ll crush them in the playoffs when he decides to put the A team on the field.

    Tryouts are one thing, but at this stage of the season it seems like minds should be made up for the most part, especially with the starting lineup. I can understand the pitching staff being slightly undetermined, but the hitters should be in there getting ready. Rest or Rust? You decide.

    I think it’s absolute nonsense that Lux isn’t in there playing every day. Why so much effort to get CT3 going when Lux is the clear answer? Is this the Dodger’s brass trusting the vets? Bring CT3 off the bench from here on out and let him get used to that.

    I don’t want to see Muncy starting at 2B in the playoffs. I don’t want to see Lux platooned. I don’t want to see CT3 starting anywhere on the field.

    Mookie is down to .267 in his batting average. One thing we have seen this year is that he is really hot or really cold. He can carry the team or be a boat anchor. I like Mookie, but his consistent performance seems to fall a little short of what he is paid! He is a good player… not great… except on occasion. Hopefully he has a hot streak in the playoffs.

    Mark, that’s an interesting take on Betts. He leads the team in extra base hits and will probably be very close to 80 when the season is done, provided that he doesn’t get a hot streak rested out of him. I’m not sure what the bar for a great player is for you, but Mookie is staring at you right in the face. He is the best all around player on a team full of great players. The contract is a bit inflated, but not out of line with his production compared to players with similar contracts. Maybe 900 OPS is the your Mendoza line for great players, but I also know you’re a WAR guy and Mookie is sitting at 6 right now and climbing. Still, I think he might just age like Carl Crawford, so I would still trade him before his 5/10 rights kick in.

    1. B&P, I completely agree on Lux and platoons. Put Lux at 2nd and leave him alone.
      Everybody has earned their “letter” at this point so let’s put guys down the stretch, in the positions where they will play in the playoffs. I don’t need to see the old line-up du jour crap again. Doc/the Wizard knows at this point who’s going to play where. Get to it.

    2. I agree BP.

      Not that WAR is “all that”, but the current leaders among all MLB outfielders are..

      Judge
      Betts
      Trout

      Mook might have his ups and downs over the season. But he’s still one of the best in the games. Not everybody can be as consistent as Trea and Freddie. They are remarkable in that regard. Even Judge had a couple protracted slumps this year. Some pretty bad 10-15 game stretched. Mookie contributed even when he’s not hot. He is more than just his bat. When he is hot he can carry the whole team.

      1. .293 – April – .230
        .311 – May – .342
        .257 – June – .193
        .333 – July – .248
        .289 – August – .330
        .423 – September – .198

        Batting average by Month -2022

        Aaron Judge is on the left. Mookie is on the Right.

        1. As somebody who lives and dies by statistics, given the sample size… I won’t even go there. If I ran that through my typical statistical models… I’m guessing that would come out as pretty much random. Sorry. I could toss that out to my statistician. But he’s expensive and typically tells me what I already know. Given that peer review isn’t an issue here, I’m confident saying….

          Mookie is damn good.

    3. To me, superstars like Betts should be more consistent and hit.300, not .268. He’s a very good player – I said that… he just falls a little short of being at the Top.

      On Lux: There you go again… hoping to blame Doc. Lux is still experiencing neck pain, and they do not want to risk irritating it too badly. They are limiting his PT.

      1. There you go again, imagining that I’m slighting Doc again. I clearly attributed this to the Dodger’s brass if you read the following sentence.

  14. 9:40 PM ET

    Dodgers (106-48)
    Padres (86-68)

    SP Julio Urias L
    17-7 2.25 ERA 164.0IP 38BB 157K
    SP Joe Musgrove R
    10-7 3.12 ERA 170.0IP 36BB 169K

    Confirmed Lineup
    RF Mookie Betts R
    SS Trea Turner R
    1B F. Freeman L
    C Will Smith R
    3B Max Muncy L
    LF Joey Gallo L
    2B Gavin Lux L
    DH Chris Taylor R
    CF C. Bellinger L

    Clear-night
    0% Rain
    74° Wind 5 mph Out

  15. I agree. It’s time to get all the players used to knowing who they can count on being there to make the plays. Trust is important for any player to relax and adjust to the same way drilling helps teams make those double plays. The team has to be ready to avoid errors. Just having a team of all stars doesn’t mean much if they ain’t used to playing together. Rest is on the schedule so put the A team on the field

  16. Thanks, Jayne, for that unbiased, non-political, truth from an educated expert who actually “did his own research”

  17. DODGERS ACTIVATE YENCY ALMONTE

    LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Dodgers activated right-handed pitcher Yency Almonte from the injured list and placed right-handed pitcher Phil Bickford on the injured list with right shoulder fatigue.

    Almonte, 28, has been out since August 7 with right elbow tightness. On the season, he owns a 1.15 ERA (4 ER/31.1 IP) and has one save in 29 games. He made three rehab starts for Triple-A Oklahoma City, going 2.2 innings, allowing two runs on two hits with three strikeouts. He has spent parts of four seasons in the Major Leagues with Colorado (2018-2021) and Los Angeles (2022) and he is a combined 4-4 with a 4.46 ERA (77 ER/155.1 IP) and 143 strikeouts. He made 11 appearances for Triple-A Oklahoma City this season, going 0-1 with a 3.52 ERA (6 ER/15.2 IP) and 25 strikeouts. He was originally drafted by the Los Angeles Angels in 17th round of the 2012 First Year Player Draft out of Christopher Columbus High School.

    Bickford, 27, heads to the IL for the first time in his career. On the season, he is 2-1 with a 4.72 ERA (32 ER/61.0 IP) in 60 games for the Dodgers. He has been in the Majors parts of three seasons with Milwaukee (2020-2021) and Los Angeles (2021-2022) and he is a combined 6-3 with a 4.13 ERA (52 ER/113.1 IP) and 128 strikeouts against 33 walks in 118 games. He was claimed by the Dodgers last season on May 3 from the Milwaukee Brewers. He was originally drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the first round of the 2015 First Year Player Draft out of College of Southern Nevada.

    1. Kahnle and he got the job done. Close game. Glad my hair is already gone or I would have pulled it out AAA season is over. Busch and Outman both finished with more than 30 homers between all levels. 107 wins. New team record. Congrats boys.

  18. Today’s highlight: The return of Yency Almonte!
    Pretty cool video of him striding off the mound. To amateur lip readers, it looked like, as he pounded his chest, he was saying, “I’m effin’ back.”
    Well, not really effin’.

    1. Close. My favorite moment of the night was when Urias gave Machado a huge grin when he walked off of the mound after shutting them down in the 6th. Lowered his ERA .07.

  19. Gallo should be replaced on the playoff roster by Rios or Outman. Too many strikeouts in key situations. We have enough of those type players in Taylor and Bellinger.

    1. Also Vargas should be on the playoff roster rather than Alberto. He is definitely a better righthanded option. Alberto can be a cheerleader in the dugout.

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