Who is Jahmai Jones… REALLY?

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1. Nice info on Jones. Thanks. Has my curiosity up. And good to hear about Galvin was unable to watch. All this talk about crapshoot got me to thinking about format. All the way back to 69 four teams made playoffs so would have to win two rounds to make series and now with all wildcard teams have to win three rounds except two division winners with best record like LA and Atlanta last year get a bye so they still only have to win two rounds. Not a whole lot different other than more teams involved. Am I missing something

   1. In 2020, this is what the Dod gers did to win:

      

      It’s possible to have to play one more round.

   2. Then along came Jones

      https://youtu.be/-yYQ8CwZ1k8

2. My bad it was 93 when started having to win two rounds to make series. In 69 started LCS only having to win one round. But still 30 years of having to win two like us last year

   1. To get to the series, they would have had to win 2 rounds in the playoffs, and then the series. NLDS, NLCS and then the series. So the team with the best record still needs to win three series to be the champion. Two gets you into the World Series.

3. Yes in 20 was much harder which makes that championship something to be even more proud of for sure. Of course can say some luck involved but no one can tell me we didn’t have the best team

   1. We did have the best team in 17, 20, and 22. IMHO.

      1. I’d add 19 as well

4. With all the right intangibles going, playing like determined to be champions we were. Getting chills thinking about it cause that’s what it’s all about

5. Nice piece Mark! I keep hearing all the talk about ohtani coming to the dodgers. I look at our team today. 3rd base will need an upgrade, ss will need an upgrade, at lest one outfield spot will need to be addressed, and depending upon luxs health, 2nd base. I know we have deep minor league system, but we know only a handful will make an immediate impact! I would rather spend on 2-3 position players and maybe a starting pitcher than give ohtani 500 million at 30 years of age! We have stone, Miller, may, and for god’s sake resign urias. We don’t need ohtani. Now a package for Trout, I’m all in. If we (AF) spends that much on ohtani, we’re 10 years into him, with maybe 1/2 of that at a high level. And if he has Tommy John we losing a bat in the lineup. I just don’t see Friedman dishing out what it’s going to take to sign him. 5 years at 40 million a year? Yep do it

   1. I still have high hopes that Max Muncy will regain his touch and hit 35 HR with 100 RBI and a .900+ OPS. He is pressing now, and his defense is suffering. He gets another 40 games before we evaluate him. In 2024, could we see this lineup?

      1. Vargas 3B
      2. Betts 2B
      3. Freeman 1B
      4. Smith C
      5. Muncy DH
      6. Pages RF
      7. Outman CF
      8. Busch/LeDuca
      9. Lux/Rojas – Ease Gavin back in and see if h can handle the position.

      1. Seems plausible if Vargas keeps his on-base percentage among the league leaders.
         I’d forgotten that Matt Chapman will be a free agent. He’d be a great fit–a gold glover with some pop. So imagine that lineup, except with Mookie and Vargas staying at their current position. With Max at DH, Chapman would essentially be replacing JDM’s bat but also providing the defense with a big upgrade. (And Smith could be a partial platoon at DH.)
         So maybe….

         Vargas 28
         Freddie 1B
         Mookie RF
         Max DH
         Will C
         Outman CF
         Chapman 3B
         Pages LF
         Lux SS

         I share your optimism about Max and I think Lux will make a successful comeback. It was nice to read about him hearing from encouragement from Chipper Jones, who tore his ACL but returned to make the HOF

         1. That’s what I think the Dodgers should do go After Chapman in off season to sure up third base keep Vargas at second base and you got Freeman at first base. Shortstop you see if Lix can handle it is he can’t then do you go after another free agent in Rosario at shortstop and get some starting pitching for Lux trade him that way are infield is set. Freeman Vargas Rosario Chapman. You then have Muncy at DH and put Pages in LF Outman in CF fulltime and then Betts in RF. Smith at catcher and trade Barnes bring up Cartaya thats what they should do for 2024. Whatever they can get for LUX Barnes and the pitching they have in minors goe a quality starter and go after Matt Chapman and Armed Rosario and get two starting pitchers in the off-season.

6. Max Muncy was considering retirement before he got his shot with the Dodgers. I wonder whether Jones had such thoughts amid his struggles, but it’s great that he’s still plugging away and maybe the Dodgers system will bring out the best in his game. Rooting for the guy.
   Right now, Busch and Jones are competing with each other for the attention of Dodger brass. If both succeed, it will make it easier to trade one or the other. Last season, it was McKinstry who got traded for that relief pitcher from Coldplay, I mean the Cubs. Chris Martin certainly served the Dodgers well and prospered as a FA, not unlike the SPs Anderson and Heaney.
   BTW, a couple weeks ago somebody here said the Cubs “gave up on” Zach McKinstry, as is he was DFA’d.
   Um, no. The Cubs traded him to the Tigers for a pitching prospect–and McKinstry is still playing in the majors.
   I just don’t understand why some players get dissed here. Dylan Floro was another target after he was traded for Vesia and (I think) Hurt. This was after Floro did a fine job helping the Dodgers to the 2020 pennant, including a big K of Randy Arozarena, then the hottest player on the planet.
   You could argue that the Dodgers “won” the trade because Vesia, then unproven, has been good. But the Marlins didn’t lose the trade, as Floro provided veteran stability for a team looking for a sure thing. Both teams got what they were seeking–a win-win trade.
   We don’t even know yet whether the Dodgers “won” that Matt Beatty trade for River Ryan–but I’m sure glad that happened. Still, Beatty remains in the majors, having joined Farhan’s former Dodger club in San Francisco. But of course we’d all rather be cheering for River Ryan….someday.

   1. It takes years to learn who “won’ a trade… if ever!

      1. Oh I think we lost the Pedro Martinez trade!

         1. We lost the Josh Fields trade

7. “Practically all catchers wear cups. Then again, most outfielders don’t. One coach specifically said that he believed that around 25% of all baseball players don’t wear cups.“

   Damm. That’s nuts.

   1. A peanut sat on a railroad track,
      His heart was all a-flutter.
      The five-fifteen came rushing by–
      Toot toot! Peanut butter!

8. If they don’t win the championship their not the best team period no matter how much you want to fantasize. Winning 111 games, leading the league in team era and runs scored don’t mean diddly squat without a ring. Calling it a lucky crapshoot is just a lame excuse

   1. A Lame Excuse? It’s actually reality. Don’t tell me you believe in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny too…

      https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2022/06/23/mlbs-new-playoff-format-does-best-team-win-world-series/7693802001/

      https://bleacherreport.com/articles/88331-lord-stanleys-cup-hardest-trophy-to-win-in-professional-sport

      If you want to keep believing your fantasy, don’t read the above articles. They will ruin it for you!

   2. You’re actually 180° wrong. Yes, the ultimate goal is to win the WS, but very often the best team does not pull that off.

      1. And we covered all this months ago after the Dodgers were bounced from the playoffs. We looked at the odds of the best team in the regular season winning the WS, and they weren’t that much better than any other team. It was like 20% or something. So that’s an 80% chance that the team with the best record in the regular season doesn’t win the WS. So the best team, statistically speaking, is going to be “lame” 80% of the time.

   3. So you are saying that that San Diego was a better team than Dodgers? When you claim the post season is all that counts why watch regular season games? You know, win 1/3, lose 1/3 and the other 1/3 is what makes a team good or bad. Not the post season.

9. Some early season data analysis assessments of the pitching performances of some Dodger starters and some familiar names. PitchingBot Stuff and Stuff+, which are some new metrics which assess pitches based on factors such as velocity, vertical and horizontal vertical movement, release point and spin rate, are available and, in today’s article on Fangraphs, a couple of Dodgers were mentioned.

   Some takaways:

   1. Ohtani is a stud. His “stuff” rates as the highest among all starting pitchers, and, as good as he was last year, he’s gotten even better with the introduction of a new and devastating slider to go along with his dominant fastball and nasty forkball. Mike Trout saw firsthand that slider on the final pitch of the WBC.

   2. Dustin May ranked 15th/16th among all starters in pure “stuff.” We know he had that pretty wicked high MPH two seamer that has all of that arm side run into right handed batters. He never really has had a high strikeout rate, however, and I’ve always thought he needed to throw a good four seamer on in the zone. He is now throwing a hard, high spin four seamer to go along with ridiculous high RPM curve. If he can settle down and keep his command consistent, he could be one of MLB’s top starters.

   3. Syndergaard. Their measurements echo what many of us have been saying here. His pure stuff just doesn’t play anymore. He doesn’t have the velo or the movement on his pitches that made him an all star. His “stuff” just isn’t that good anymore. However, he can be effective if he maintains command, locates his pitches well, and Prior works with him on effective sequencing to hide his weaknesses and maximize his strengths. He can still be good. I don’t have huge confidence that his typical start will be like the one he had the other night.

   4. Josiah Gray. The stats just don’t care for his stuff. Poor Josiah. I rooted for him while he was a Dodger prospect, but he was a good trade piece. He could probably use a good pitching coach like Prior to iron out the flaws in his repertoire.

   https://blogs.fangraphs.com/early-season-pitch-modeling-standouts/

   1. Interesting! Yes, Dustin May stuff is filthy (so says Manny Machado)

      Can’t wait to see Dustin tonight

10. MLB Draft bonus pools are out, and the Dodgers in 2023 will have much more to spend on amateur players than in recent years. This year’s draft will be in Seattle in and around the All-Star Game, which will be played at T-Mobile Park. The draft will begin on Sunday, July 9.

    Jim Callis at MLB.com and Carlos Collazo at Baseball America have all the details on the 2023 draft bonus pools, which are the total of every pick within the first 10 rounds of the 20-round draft. The Dodgers’ bonus pool this year is $7,274,600, up a whopping 72 percent from last year’s pool of $4.2 million.

    Last year’s signing of Freeman to a six-year contract cost the Dodgers’ their second- and fifth-highest picks in the 2022 draft. But they also gained a compensatory pick after the fourth round when Corey Seager signed with Texas, so the net loss was essentially a pick near the end of the second-round, which under last year’s numbers had a slot value of roughly $1.07 million.

    This year, the Dodgers lost two free agents who received qualifying offers, with Trea Turner inking a $300-million deal with the Phillies, and Tyler Anderson signing with the Angels. The Dodgers get two picks after the fourth round in the 2023 draft, which are back-to-back and have slot values of $942,700 in total.

    There’s also inflation, with slot values up this year roughly 9.88 percent from the same picks in 2022.

    The Dodgers, like last year, see their top draft pick drop 10 spots for spending more than $40 million over the 2022 competitive balance tax threshold. This year, that means pick number 26 (which has a slot value of $3,065,000) becomes the 36th pick, with a slot value of $2,362,700.

    There are a few contributing factors as to why the Dodgers have much more to spend this year. For one, they didn’t sign a free agent who declined a qualifying offer this offseason, unlike when they signed Freddie Freeman in 2022 and Trevor Bauer in 2021.

    1. The Dodgers will have $5.925 million to spend next year on international players, in the middle of the pack among MLB teams, per Carlos Collazo at Baseball America, with the next signing period beginning on January 15.

11. If Jones bat can play at the MLB level he could definitely be a useful utility player. I remember when Jones came up in the CA league, his first season with the 66ers he played almost exclusively CF in 2016. He started 2017 again with the 66ers. That’s when they converted him to 2b. But it wasn’t because of his play in CF was lacking. In 2016 the Angels drafted Brandon Marsh in the 2nd round and Joe Adell in the 1st round of 2017. Both play CF. The Angels figured they would have a log jam of outfielders. Which is why they moved him to 2b. From what I saw he was a very capable OFer.

    I hope he keep up this hot start.

12. Just all opinions mark like yours I don’t agree with and there’s millions of fans who disagree with you also on who had the best team in the years you stated. There’s no championship for best regular season record or for who had the best stats. The best is one who plays well enough in regular season to make playoffs and performs the best in playoffs. There’s no championship for someone’s opinion on who’s the best team or has the best regular season numbers. You and your cronies can put out all the numbers and articles you want I still don’t agree and never will. Call me a moron all day long I don’t give a shit what ya think

    1. Always good to hear from you Michael!

13. Personally I think a lot of what you say is idiotic moron garbage for losers to use as pacifiers

    1. Real nice guy! It may not be all luck, but you can have 3 dominate starters and not much else and win it all.

    2. Michael, now you just sound like my wife!

       1. And she doesn’t know anything about baseball either

14. Cassidy you sound like my dog when it’s barfing. And of all the posters on here you know the least about baseball and I totally agree about having elite starters. If got three that are that good and a defense to back em up. A couple that can score runs then got the best team

    1. Coming from you, Michael, I take that as a compliment. And can you blame the poor dog? Look who it’s living with.

15. Then I might barf too! But you’ll have to get in line. B&P has first crack.

    1. I’m getting B&P vibes. Same personality type, but B&P was somewhat intelligent and had things to say.

16. To the readers on here I’m sorry for letting myself get upset and talking stupid. Have a nice day. Go Dodgers

17. OK>>> That’s enough!

    1. Ya think

18. Damn Michael.

    I recommend less alcohol and more marijuana; you’ll be in a much happier place ! (Badger and I can vouch for it)

    1. Don’t forget the raisins

19. Geez, I hate to have to weigh in here….but it needs to be done.

    Cassidy: you are a hoot. Often very funny, keep on sharing.

    Michael: Your postings are inappropriate. Stop

    Mark: You make every effort to avoid 86’ing anyone. B&P, while caustic at times, had a lot of pertinent Dodgers comments. Michael, not so much.

    1. Bingo. B&P knew baseball and had good takes, at least. Eventually, his personality and behavior … he wore out his welcome – twice.

       Bradley at least doesn’t take himself too seriously and takes his lumps without getting too defensive. Eric is sincere and is passionate.

       There’s a few posters, though, that I don’t even read very much. It’s just noise. I don’t really read Michael’s stuff and skim past. If he’s acting like this, I wouldn’t hesitate to give him a quick 86.

       1. Thank you for the kind words about me dodgerpatch I appreciate that.

          I’m still defensive with people when I detect a possible Bulldogs like comment towards me.

          I agree Bulldogs knows baseball good, I always liked reading his posts and I agreed with his takes 95%-99% of the time.

          Thank you again for the kind words.

          1. You’re welcome, Eric. Your posts and your takes still irritate me, but you are passionate about the Dodgers and you get a lot out of the community. You are decent, at least, and that goes a long way.

          2. Knows baseball good? The guy who argued till he was blue in the face that kimbrel was better than kenley last year? Cmon now.

20. I like B & P and Eric. B & P just needs hit in the mouth, and Eric needs a little slap! 😉

    Michael will come around.

21. No worries people I 86 myself. Been so long since I got this upset forgot how much it sucks and just isn’t worth it. Enjoy the games

    1. I don’t even understand what you’re upset about. Someone said something about the playoffs being a crapshoot and you start dropping F-Bombs? Really?

22. Can’t we all just get along? This is not life or death. These are opinions. This is suppose to be a release from the real world we all face each day.

23. 10:10 PM ET

    Dodgers (4-2)
    Diamondbacks (3-3)

    SP Dustin May R
    0-0 .00 ERA 7IP 4K
    Merrill Kelly R
    0-0 .00 ERA 3.2IP 4K

    Confirmed Lineup
    2B Mookie Betts R
    1B F. Freeman L
    C Will Smith R
    3B Max Muncy L
    DH J. Martinez R
    LF D. Peralta L
    CF James Outman L
    SS Chris Taylor R
    RF J. Heyward L

    In Domed Stadium

    1. NO Vargas;

       04/04/23 Los Angeles Dodgers signed free agent CF Ben DeLuzio to a minor league contract.
       04/03/23 Los Angeles Dodgers signed free agent 2B Dayton Dooney to a minor league contract.

       1. April 4: SS Miguel Rojas and 2B Miguel Vargas out of lineup
          Vargas was hit by a pitch on his right thumb on Monday and woke up sore, which is why the Dodgers decided to keep the Cuban infielder out of the lineup for the series finale against the Rockies. Manager Dave Roberts said the move is more precautionary and the team hopes to have Vargas back in the lineup on Thursday following the off-day.

          Rojas is dealing with a slight groin injury, one he suffered on a defensive play on Sunday against the D-backs. Rojas has missed back-to-back games with the injury, but should be ready for the upcoming series in Arizona.

24. Recovering from my stroke and I’m reading hostility over what, someone doesn’t agree with someone else, on LADT. No man, it’s not the way to handle it.
    Just say, oh well he’s another moron, or maybe I am, and move on.
    Nothing to it.

    1. When an argument is based upon emotion and not logic or fact, that person lashes out because they have no argument… only emotion. So, they attack because their argument is devoid of logic and try to obfuscate the facts with vitriol.

    2. I hope you are recovering well and that you come back 100%!

25. Postings like these today are why I have mostly stopped. Not worth the irritation. Life’s too short. The Dodgers are for fun. Lots of real life and death happening.

    1. To me, that is like not eating dinner because you don’t like brussels sprouts, but then you don’t get to eat the Lobster, Steak, Mushrooms, Rolls, Mashed Potatoes, Corn, Sweet Potatoes, Key Lime Pie, and the rest of the cookies.

       I skip past the brussels sprouts and jump in and get the rest.

       I skip over the idiots (brussels sprouts) and read the ones I like. Otherwise, you end up with a blog with 5 people or less.

       1. You’ve never had roasted brussels sprouts with a lemon-balsamic glaze sprinkled with Parmesan cheese?

          1. Lemon? Brussels sprouts should be cooked with bacon and salt. Nothing else is acceptable.

             You’re a monster.

             Let’s fight or, something something.

26. Uh oh. I love brussels sprouts!

    1. Only a true idiot wouldn’t.

       They are part cabbage, part broccoli. All delicious.

       Cut off stem and halve. Stirfry in olive oil until browned and crispy. Sea salt and freshly ground pepper all you need.

       1. I can eat Brussels Sprouts but generally choose not to.

          I prefer raw veggies: Tomatoes, potatoes, broccoli, olives, cauliflower, carrots, and celery. I like cooked peas, zucchini, lima beans, and collored greens.

          We don’t have to like the same things.

          1. Sorry Mark, anybody that doesn’t love brussel sprouts is dead to me. But then, you saved yourself with the comment about collard greens. So I will withhold my profanity laced tirade.

             Let me tell you, it was going to be juvenile and epic. There was going to be an exclamation point and everything! You lucked out, my friend.

27. Pillar started for Atlanta tonight. Good for him!

28. May looks on point through 2.

29. JD’s bat looked really quick on that base hit. Great sign

30. Brussels Sprouts are a matter of perspective.

    Not everyone sees the same game.

    It’s all about perspective!

    1. Cheers and Happy Passover!

31. Nice recovery by May in the 6th after a cutter that didn’t cut. Impressive! If he can better locate his curve then lights out!

32. Thanks Mark, yes recovering well. Think I will be back 100%

33. Nice win tonight. Bickford did a great job getting out of his jam. Vesia ineffective again.

34. Dodgers are off to a great start, albeit against mediocre competition. The only losses were one-run games that the Dodgers perhaps should have won.
    Some early thoughts:
    –So far, so good with Heyward. Assuming he keeps it up, he makes Peralta redundant. It’s too early to make a move, but I think the roster would be better with Peralta out and either Luke Williams or Yonny in to provide more versatility. I don’t like the idea that Outman will lose ABs to keep Peralta, Trayce and Heyward sharp. Speaking of Outman….
    –He and Vargas could both be in the ROY hunt, which would be fantastic. Every successful AB that Outman has –like the had two singles and a walk today–demonstrates how the Dodgers braintrust was too conservative–and stubborn!– in 2022. Outman should have been on that playoff roster, not Gallo. Why didn’t he get more of a chance?
    –JD Martinez should never try to take an extra base.

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