Michael Joseph Piazza was born in Norristown PA on September 4th, 1968. His father and Tommy Lasorda were friends. His dad was a high school dropout, was a self-made man. He worked in car sales, as a real-estate investor and a entrepreneur. His wife took care of Mike and his four younger brothers. He grew up a Phillies fan and studied Hall of Famer, Mike Schmidt’s, approach to hitting, His family had season seats in the second row behind the Phillie’s dugout.
When he was young, baseball was his singular focus. He would hit baseballs at a mattress propped against a basement wall. Eventually his dad built a batting cage in the backyard where he hit about 300 balls a day, even in the winter. In 1984, his father Vince, arranged through a friend of a friend for Ted Williams to visit their home before appearing at a local card show. The Hall of Famers reaction to watching Mike hit was ” I guarantee you, this kid is going to hit. I never saw anyone better at his age.” Before he left, he autographed Mike’s copy of his book, “The Science of Hitting.” Follow the book kid and I’ll be asking you for tickets.
Vince was also friendly with Tommy Lasorda, the Dodger manager. One day he was invited to be the Dodger bat boy during a game with the Phillies at Veterans Stadium. One of the perks was being able to take BP with the team. He hit one into the seats. He was later invited to do the same thing at Shea Stadium in New York. He hit one out there too. He was 13 when he hit the one in Philly and 14 when he hit it out in New York.
Mike started in high school as a first baseman and hit .442 with 11 homers, breaking the school record. Still he received little attention from major league scouts who did not think he could hit or run. He also was not getting any offers from major colleges. It took a call from Lasorda to Ron Fraser, the Miami baseball coach, to get him a chance to play. He was the backup first baseman his one year at Miami. He then transferred to Miami-Dade North Community College and batted .384.
His strong year still did not convince MLB scouts to consider him a prospect. So the Dodgers selected him in the 62nd round of the 1989 draft simply as a favor to Lasorda. Lasorda still had to convince Ben Wade to sign him after the draft. Wade believed the Dodgers had better 1st base candidates. Lasorda asked, would you sign him if he were a catcher? Wade said yes, Lasorda said ” Sign him, he is a catcher!” Wade signed Mike for a 15,000-dollar signing bonus that day.
He spent his first season with Salem and after the season, volunteered to go to the Dodgers baseball academy in the Dominican Republic, becoming the first US born player to do so. He spent 2 seasons in Class-A ball before moving up to AA San Antonio in 1992. A little over a month later, he was promoted to AAA Albuquerque. He hit .341 with 16 homers. He was a finalist for the USA Today and Sporting News minor league player of the year award.
He was called up to the Dodgers on September 1st and immediately inserted into the starting lineup. He went 3-3 with a double and 2 singles before being removed for a pinch runner. He also walked. His first MLB hit, a double, came off of former Dodger, then a Cub, Mike Harkey. I was at that game sitting down the RF line. He finished the year with a .232 average, one homer and seven driven in. The best was yet to come.
Lasorda named him the everyday catcher in 1993 and he was rewarded with a Rookie of the Year performance by Mike. .318, 35 homers, 112 RBI’s. The 35 homers were the most ever by a rookie catcher, and the 112 RBIs were third most by a rookie up until that time. With Eric Karros winning the award the year before, LA now had two in a row. There would be three more.
Mike was a great hitting catcher as demonstrated by his 10 silver slugger awards, 6 in a row in his first 6 seasons, all with the Dodgers. But defensively, well, he was no Mike Scioscia or Steve Yeager. He also went to six consecutive All-Star games. He was simply, the best hitting catcher in the game, if not all time. Unlike Bench, who combined excellent defense with power and very good hitting, Piazza hit for power and average. Over his parts of seven seasons with the Dodgers, his BA was .331 with a .572 slug and an OPS of .915. This is pretty amazing since the only batting stat he ever led the league in was OPS +. And he did that twice. He never won the MVP award but finished second twice. 96-97. The Dodgers standing in the league had something to do with that.
The Dodgers only made it to the playoffs in two of his seasons and were eliminated in 3 games both times. He kept pounding the ball and racking up numbers. By 1998 he had racked up 168 homers in Dodger blue. But it was not all peaches and cream between him and the team. He was due to be a free agent. It is my belief that if Peter O’Malley was still the owner, Mike would have been signed to a long-term deal.
But O’Malley sold the team. Almost everyone was shocked by this. But Peter’s reasoning was solid. None of his children had any interest in running the team. The added reasoning was if they inherited the Dodgers, the estate taxes would be gigantic. So, the Dodgers, who had been a family-owned franchise were bought by Ruppert Murdoch for his Fox Corporation. Murdoch had no interest in running the team, he was just adding to his entertainment empire.
Fox installed non baseball people in the front office. Fred Claire was still the GM. Fox authorized him to offer Piazza a 6-year, 80-million-dollar deal. Piazza turned the offer down to test free agency. Some members of the team were upset, notably, Brett Butler who stated, ” Piazza is the greatest hitter I have ever been around, but you can’t build around Piazza because he is not a leader.” Tim Kurkjian wrote ” I do not think Piazza was very happy being a Dodger by then. If he was, he would have happily taken that deal. So I think he was ready to move on. I do not blame him for that. I also do not blame the Dodgers, it was time for some new chemistry on that club.” Sounds a lot like some felt he was a cancer in the clubhouse.
To be fair to Mike, the Dodger clubhouse was different by then. Lasorda had a heart attack and was retired in 96. Bill Russell took over the managerial reins and the club was totally different. Russell was no Lasorda. And a few times he had run ins with some of his players.
So, with no contract in place, and with GM Fred Claire completely out of the loop, the Fox guys worked out a trade with the Florida Marlins sending Gary Sheffield, Charles Johnson, Bobby Bonilla, Jim Eisenreich, and Manuel Barrios, to the Dodgers for Piazza and Todd Zeile. This happened on May 18th, 1998. Mike had 9 homers at the time of the trade and a .282 BA. Sheffield, who was the obvious center of players going the Dodgers way, was at .272 with 6 homers. Johnson was supposed to replace Piazza behind the dish with Bonilla replacing Zeile.
Johnson was a superior defender to Piazza, but no way was he the same type of hitter. He was hitting .221 at the time of the trade with 7 homers. Bonilla was on his way down at age 35. Eisenreich and Barrios, who never donned a Dodger uni, were strictly fillers.
So, Piazza headed to Miami. But the Marlins had zero intention of keeping him. They were dumping payroll and cleaning house after their 1997 Championship year. Piazza’s stay in Miami would last exactly 5 games. He never homered in a Marlins uni. On May 22 he was traded to the New York Mets for Preston Wilson, Ed Yarnall and Geoff Goetz. The trade shocked everyone, fans, media and Todd Hundley, the Mets starting catcher who was on the injured list. Mets GM, Steve Phillips had stated he was not interested in trading for Piazza. But team owner, Nelson Doubleday was. And he no doubt had a hand in making it happen.
At that point thought, Dodger fans were furious with Fox for having unloaded one of the fans favorite players. And not many warmed to the idea of a catcher who couldn’t carry Piazza’s bat with a big rig. Sheffield was pleased to leave, but the fans were not that excited about having him. But there was no going back. Johnson would be gone the next season as would Bonilla. Sheffield spent four years in LA. He posted an average over .300, .312, hit 129 homers and set the record for most HRs by a RH hitter until Adrian Beltre hit 48.
Eisenreich suffered from Tourette’s Syndrome and retired after playing 75 games in LA. Piazza in the meantime, energized the Mets team. He made an immediate impact on the field and in the clubhouse. He hit .348 the rest of the season with 23 homers for the Mets finishing with a .328, 32, 111 line. The Mets did not make the playoffs, but their fortunes were turning for the better.
They would go to the playoffs the next two seasons. They lost to the Braves in the NLCS in 1999. Piazza did not hit well in either series and only had one homer. In 2000, they won the NLDS and the NLCS. They then would meet the Yankees in the World Series. Piazza was so so in the NLDS, but hit .414 in the CS against the Cardinals.
Tensions were high between the Yanks and Mets. Roger Clemens had hit Piazza in the head when the two teams had played in July. In game two with Clemens on the mound, Piazza fouled a ball off, and the splintered end of it pinwheeled towards Clemens, as Piazza ran towards first, Clemens threw the end of the bat at him, Piazza pivoted, ran towards Clemens shouting ” what is your problem? ” He got no response and Clemens asked the umpire for a new ball. Piazza grounded out. Clemens later claimed he thought it was the ball. The Mets lost the series in 5 games and Piazza, in his only appearance in the World Series hit .273 with 2 doubles, 2 homers, 4 driven in and scored 3 runs.
While his productivity was not what it was in LA, he continued to be one of the best in the league. He also became embroiled in more than one controversy. The first one was about his sexual orientation, he said he was heterosexual, but that he had no problem being on the same team with a gay teammate. Then he admitted taking androstenedione, which was legal at the time, but later banned by MLB. He said he only took it for a short while and then quit when he saw no change in his muscle mass.
More controversy in 2003 when he learned the team planned to try him at first base in an attempt to move him to a less demanding position. He said he would do what the team felt best, but it was not something he liked. He would end up playing a total of 69 games there for the Mets. 2003 was a down year for him. He played in only 68 games. His game time would diminish as his time as a Met wound down. 120 in 04, and 113 in 05.
On May 5, 2005, Mike homered at Shea against the Giants to pass Carlton Fisk for the most career homers as a catcher. Fisk had 351. Mike would finish with 396 as a catcher and 427 overall. He also got married in January of 2005 to Alicia Rickter, as of 2015 they had three children.
On October 2, 2005, Piazza played his last game as a Met before a near sellout crowd. He was feted with a 5 minute tribute late in the game. He signed a one year deal with the Padres for the 2006 season. It was for 1.25 million. A far cry from the 6/82 he signed with the Mets in 1999. He had decent numbers, .283/22/68. He then moved to the AL, staying on the west coast with the A’s. Appearing in 83 games he hit .275/8/44. After the season, he retired.
Mike had an audience with the pope in 2002. This was very important to him with his strong Roman-Catholic beliefs. After he announced his retirement, he stated that the Mets fans were the best in the world and one of the hardest things he ever had to do was walking off of the field at Shea and saying goodbye.
Throughout most of his career, Mike was considered a defensive liability. But some analysis show him in a different light. Sean Forman of Baseball Reference made a case for him as one of the best for keeping the ball in front of him. In 2013, Max Marchi of Baseball Prospectus said pitch data showed Piazza as one of the best pitch framers of all time. The most telling statistic is that Piazza was the number one catcher for 11 pitching staffs, 10 of which finished in the top five in ERA. Mike Scioscia stated you had to see Mike from the beginning, where he worked so hard to be the catcher he was later on.
He was elected to the Hall on his fourth try garnering 83 percent of the votes. Only Cochrane and Dickey have higher career BA’s. Only Bench and Berra more RBIs. Only Berra and Fisk more hits.
Scully-Piazza Feud
In 2013, Mike Piazza had a new book called “Long Shot” In this book he accused Vin Scully of stirring up Dodger fans against him for his last couple of weeks as a Dodger because he supposedly turned Piazza’s word against him. Piazza had given the Dodgers an ultimatum on his stalled contract talks in 98. He claimed the way the whole contract drama looked to the fan, and they were taking their view from Scully’s statements, was that by setting a deadline and insisting on so much money, he was demonstrating a conspicuous lack of loyalty to the ballclub. Scully was crushing me he said.
All of this was tied to a spring training interview in which Scully asked Piazza about his contract situation. Now, who keeps a record of a spring training interview? Well someone did and the LA Times posted the interview and what was really said. The closest thing to criticize Piazza that Scully said was, ” ultimatum is a heavy word, you know that’s the kind of thing, if you don’t do this, we bomb you.”
Piazza actually gave a solid response to the incredible grilling to which Scully replied, ” well said. So, the city of Angels turned it’s back on Piazza. A few planets away from Scully is crushing me. But he had imposed a Feb 15 deadline. That was later relaxed, but negotiations did not go well during spring training. After a loss on opening day, Piazza was interviewed and his statement is pretty telling.
His statement was this ” I am not going to lie and say I am not concerned about this, that I am not confused and disappointed about the whole thing, because I am. I am mad that this has dragged into the season, and that it now has the potential to become a distraction.
How can I not think about this? If they say they have the intent to sign me, then sign me. But if they don’t have the intent to sign me, just let me know. Just let me know, so at least I’ll be able to start to think about having a future somewhere else after the season. But what they are doing now, the way it is going, I just don’t get it. “
Obviously, Mike was beyond upset. I believe he was pointing a finger at Vin because he just could not understand why the fans turned on him. All that happened in 1998. In 2013 when the book came out, Mike still had not softened his stance that it was Scully who turned the fans against him. For myself, I do not believe Scully would do that to any former player. But Piazza’s ego was bruised and to this day, it has not healed. He turned the team down when they wanted to give him a night and his own bobblehead. Now that Vin is gone, the rift has no chance of being fixed.
Thanks Bear. Another home run. It’s a shame the rift has not been healed. His career is such an incredible story and he never should have been traded.
Your welcome. I wonder if Mike felt bad that he could not make up with Vin. I know Scully held no animosity towards Mike. The fans really jumped on Mike after that book. What is weird is that he used to live in Manhattan Beach. Why stay where you are supposedly despised.
Comparing James Outman to Joc Pederson is not even a close comparison.
1. Outman is dramatically better defensively.
2. Outman can hit LHP (.308BA with .888 OPS)
3. Outman is much faster than Joc
But both have a flair for the dramatic. That said, the next 15 games are critical for JO. He is hitting .174 in the past seven games and .224 in the past 15 games. He needs to adjust… I think he will.
Miggy Vargas is adjusting (although maybe it’s just that he is healthy) as he is hitting .321 in his last 7 games and .293 in his last 15.
Player who should be moving up: Kyle Hurt. Last night he went 4 innings, allowing 2 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BB and 10 K’s. His ERA sits at 1.17!
I’ve made comparisons between Joc and Outman, but mostly in the sense that you can’t judge a rookie by his first month or two in the league. For better or worse. Joc put up some pretty amazing stats in AAA (1.000 OPS) and was an absolute beast in his first few weeks in the show. Only to get demolished shortly after. He struggled to adjust. Ultimately, he settled in to be a pretty damn good MLB player, but not a star.
Outman certainly brings more to the table and thus far has solid splits. But the jury is still out and what kind of player he will be long term. I’m certainly rooting for him to make the necessary adjustments that are always required once you come under the opposing pitcher’s microscope.
Vargas has unique bat to ball skills. He relies less on his athleticism than his natural hitting acumen. And yes, I agree that his improvement has more to do with being healthy than adjustments. He doesn’t offer pitchers much in the way of holes in his swing, when he can effectively swing.
The next few weeks will be interesting for both of them.
I don’t think Outman’s bat-to-ball skills are advanced enough yet to overcome his recent hitting malaise anytime soon. But I really like his demeanor and I’m rooting very hard for the guy to prove me wrong.
Mark, hope you’re getting better! Question. Would you inquire about a trade for Dillon cease and Tim Anderson from white Sox if they continue to drop in their division ? Rojas is a good defensive ss. But the bat is way below average. Anderson is less defensively than Rojas but his bat is far superior. Cease makes a lot of sense . I’m not optimistic about Dustin may at all! I’m starting to feel so sorry for trace Thompson. It’s almost like he has to completely hit rock bottom before they do something.He doesn’t have much farther to fall. Big game tonight! Would be sweet to take 3 out of 4 before heading to Atlanta and Tampa. Gonsolin becomes more pitch efficient he is money! Enjoy the weekend everyone! Took my 8 year old granddaughter to father daughter dance last night. ( her dad couldn’t due to prior commitment) I may be bias, but she was the most beautiful girl there!!
Well, you always inquire, but Cease would cost at least three good prospects (I am talking Stone, Miller & Busch), and I do not think Anderson would be a Dodger Clubhouse fit. I would stay the course and let the youngsters develop. If not now… when?
Hated the Piazza trade. Just hated it.
I was puzzled by the early comparisons of Joc and Outman, in part because of the reasons you cite: the glove and footspeed. But even if Outman was more like Joc, well, how bad is that? Joc has had a long and successful career, winning a few rings on his journey.
I hope Outman has a long and successful career and wins a few rings too, all with the Dodgers.
Outman’s HR robbery of Goldschmidt (the reigning MVP) was truly special, up with the best of Belli and Mookie. It prevented the Cards from tying the score and preserved the shutout. It’s the kind of play that gives the team (and its fans) an emotional lift.
FWIW, the statcast projections pegged that play for a .810 BA. Put another way, 4 out 5 outfielders don’t make that catch–or at least four out five times that’s a homer.
Join the club, that was the closest I ever came to not rooting for the team. I despised FOX for a long time. Then McCourt cam along and I found a bigger enemy!
Ya, it took a couple weeks before my jaw wasn’t firmly planted on the ground after that trade. That began many years being a frustrated Dodger fan. Especially watching Piazza and Pedro become HOFers on other teams.
And Outman become a Joc with better defense and better splits vrs LH pitching would be fine with me. I’m certainly hoping for more, but that wouldn’t be a terrible outcome.
Only guy from those 5 straight ROY’s that spent a long time in LA was Karros. His kid is pitching in their farm system now.
If Outman continues to swing through mid mid and upper mid fastballs that’s not a good sign. Last night he seemed late on lower 90’s fastballs Right now he just needs to lay off anything spinning and sit on fastballs. And Anderson’s bat is just weak this year. I wouldn’t give up anything for him. I’d rather have Mookie at short and bring up Busch’s bat
Haha this is to Bluto from yesterday as comments are closed. I have won many beers by betting new American friends met in bars that I can name a higher percentage of US states than they can Canadian provinces. Have never lost, ok once, a fellow born in Germany owned up that he had lived in Montreal for awhile before moving to New York. And Manitoba is two “providence’s” over from Alberta, Saskatchewan is in between.
Bear – thanks again for another masterpiece – made my morning coffee, – your research greatly impresses me, doesn’t seem possible Vinny would be part of something like that.
Cheers from Alberta – GP
I’ll trade you Alaska for Quebec
For Alaska, he would have to throw in British Columbia and Nova Scotia.
Size matters?
Oil matters?
Maybe, but Quebec has beautiful women everywhere.
At my age, women are irrelevant. Beer and rest are the order of the day.
You are welcome.
Cheers!
Moved from Winnipeg when I was six. Haven’t missed it…..
Much.
Once you heard Piazza barrel up on a fastball – boom – you were onboard.
He had that drive Tom Brady did – 1600+ guys drafted before Mike.
Those were strange times. Tommy retires, Piazza leaves, new owners – bad taste.
Thx Bear. He was a Big Star my b-ball universe. We wuz robbed!
Good info on his catching metrics – he was no Bench but hardly a liability.
Will is Mike- like: great bat good enough catcher.
Will doesn’t have Mike’s power, especially to right center. I cannot tell you how many times he went that way. Piazza is also the only Dodger to hit a ball out of Dodger Stadium. And he did it unconventionally. Stargell, McGwire and I think it was Tatis, hit the ball onto the pavilion roof. Mike’s went over the LF bullpen.
Great article Bear! Big mistake to trade Piazza.
A nice win by Dodgers last night. They need to scrap and find a way to get some wins on this road trip.
Joc Pederson is a pretty good comparison to Outman for me. First of all, Joc has had a really good MLB career with 176 HR and career OPS of 805. Joc made it to the MLB at age 22, while Outman debuted at 25. People are forgetting how athletic Joc Pederson was as a young player. Joc stole more than 25 bases four years in a row in the minors and came up as a good CFer. Outman did not have any minor league years with greater than 25 SB. Now Joc gained weight, declined defensively, and became more of a power hitter, but initially Joc was a great athlete. In high school, Joc was a great WR at Palo Alto high. He was so good, that the second best WR on his football team was Davante Adams, who is now the best WR in the NFL.
Thanks, I appreciate it. When he first came up Joc was more than adequate. He had speed and he ran great routes so he did not have to make really difficult plays. Big difference so far is that Pederson never has hit left-handed pitching with any consistency.
Joc voted most exciting play in minors two years in a row.
Kershaw said he had best biceps on Dodgers.
Then he hung out with Lasorda at restaurants and poof
Yankees designate Aaron Hicks for assignment. Padres now in 4th place in NL West 7.5 games back. Ain’t life grand??
Hi OldBear. I believe the Padres are 8.5 games behind. Thanks for your article today. I really enjoy reading about Dodgers history. Of course, you and I and many others on this site have lived through a lot of it. 🙂
You are correct, I had read the one above, the Giants who won a 1-0 game against Miami today. Meanwhile Texas is clubbing the Rocks again. Seager, just off of the IL is 3-4 with a homer. He is hitting .360 with an OPS over 1000.
Friday scores
Oklahoma City 7, Sugar Land 6
Tulsa 10, Corpus Christi 1
Great Lakes 3, West Michigan 2
Visalia 8, Rancho Cucamonga 3
Saturday schedule
3:05 p.m. PT: Great Lakes (Jerming Rosario) vs. West Michigan (Jack O’Loughlin)
5:05 p.m.: Oklahoma City (Wiliam Cuevas) vs. Sugar Land (TBD)
5:05 p.m.: Tulsa (Nick Nastrini) at Corpus Christi (Franny Cobos)
6:30 p.m.: Rancho Cucamonga (TBD) at Visalia (TBD)
3 of the 4 Dodger Minor teams are in 1st place except Tulsa which in second place 1 game behind
Phillies claim P Dylan Covey off waivers from the Dodgers
7:15 PM ET
Dodgers (29-17) 1st place
Cardinals (19-27) last place 6GB
SP Noah Syndergaard R
1-3 5.94 ERA 36.1IP 26K
SP Miles Mikolas R
2-1 4.91 ERA 47.2IP 41K
Confirmed Lineup
RF Mookie Betts R
1B F. Freeman L
DH J. Martinez R
3B Max Muncy L
2B M. Vargas R
LF D. Peralta L
CF J. Heyward L
SS Chris Taylor R
C A. Barnes R
Clear-day
0% rain
73° Wind 9 mph In
Cringe-worthy bottom order. Peralta and Heyward need marked offensive improvement SOON.
Check out stats from last 7 and 15 games.
Barnes and Thompson are much more needed! At least Peralta & Heyward have good at bats.
Peralta and Heyward have been hitting the ball really hard but right at someone.
David Vassegh
@THEREAL_DV
#Dodgers Right Handed OF prospect, Johnny DeLuca from Agoura High School, is having a great start to his season:
AA Tulsa: .279/.380/.590 10 HR and 9 SB.
He was promoted to OKC this week and has played 3 games (4-11) 2 doubles 2 SB 5 RBI including 4 RBI last night.
Dodgers sign Ken Giles to a minor league deal.
He’s been working out with Driveline for the past month.
He’s the latest member of the “Let’s Throw This Guy Against the Wall and See if He Sticks” Club.
If he is right, he is a lock down reliever.
As promised, here is a list of former Dodger pitchers who are in other organizations on a 40 man roster. either in the minors or hurt. Orioles, D. Columbe Bsn, Jansen, C. Martin, Tor, Ryu, Pop, Y, Garcia, M. White, W. Sox, J. Kelly, KC, Greinke, Min. DeLeon, Maeda, B. Stewart, Angels, T. Anderson, Texas, N. Eovaldi, A. Heaney, J. Sborz, Atl, J. Chavez, Niani, JT Chargois, D. Floro, Mets, M. Scherzer, E. Uceta, Phils, C. Kimbrel, D. Covey, Wash, Gray, Pitt, R. Hill, SD, Y. Darvish, SF, S. Alexander, A. Wood, Stripling, Yankees, T. Kahnle.
Covey is still with OKC.
Not according to the Phillies 40 man roster list.
Cool list…. I assume this includes only guys who were on the LA roster. The O’s also have Dean Kremer, acquired in the Machado deal.
At the start of this season I thought the Dodgers should deal from their pitching depth to upgrade other areas. But now with Urias joining May and Pepiot on the IL, I’m not so sure.
Perhaps there’ll be a silver lining. Perhaps Stone or Miller or Knack or ??? will make an impressive debut. Perhaps. Signing a wily veteran like Rich Hill to eat innings might have been a good idea.
Yes, today’s finish was ugly. I would like to see an analysis of whether a home team tends to benefit from late calls. In the middle of a game it’s easy to shrug off the mistakes and assume it all evens out. But now I think, yeah, bring on the technology!.
Bring on the technology!
That last strike call on Mookie was criminal.
DODGERS RECALL WANDER SUERO
LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Dodgers have recalled right-handed pitcher Wander Suero and placed left-handed pitcher Julio Urías on the 15-day injured list with a left hamstring strain, retroactive May 19.
Suero, 31, returns for his second stint with the Dodgers after appearing in three games his first time with the club. In three games, he allowed three runs on one hit in 4.2 innings. With Triple-A Oklahoma City, he was 3-0 with a 1.32 ERA (2 ER/13.2 IP) with 11 strikeouts and was 6-for-6 in save chances. He has been in the Major Leagues parts of four seasons with Washington (2018-2021) and Los Angeles (2023) and he is a combined 14-13 with a 4.64 ERA (98 ER/190.0 IP) and 204 strikeouts in 188 Major League games. He was originally signed by the Washington Nationals as an amateur free agent out of Sabana Larga, Dominican Republic on February 2, 2010.
Urías, 26, pitched on Thursday, allowing six runs on six hits in 3.0 innings. The left-hander is 5-4 with a 4.39 ERA (27 ER/55.1 IP) and 53 strikeouts in 10 starts this season. In eight seasons with the Dodgers, he is a combined 54-21 with a 2.95 ERA (215 ER/655.0 IP) and 646 strikeouts in 147 games (111 starts). Last season, he led the National League with a 2.16 ERA after posting a 17-7 record. He was originally signed by the Dodgers on August 17, 2012 as an international free agent.
Does MGrove in the taxi squad?
Grove has been sent to OKC to start a rehab assignment.
THAT is why they signed JD.
Wow! Another game decided by the ump. Full ball off the plate.
For those of you who want umps to continue calling balls and strikes to keep “the human element” in the game, this is why we can’t continue to have them do this job.
Not even close and it costs us a chance to win the game.
They might just as well pick calls of balls and strikes out of a hat.
And that wasn’t the only bad call. I don’t recall if it was Betts or Lux, but that wasn’t the only ball that was called a strike that inning. And it was one of many that I’ve seen lately. Umpire ineptitude seems pretty common lately.
I’m tired of hearing that B.S. about the human element. In fact, it’s humans that created the technology to enable there to be an electronic strike zone. The idea is to get the call RIGHT.
It definitely wasn’t Lux. 🙂
There was a bad call on Smith before he hit the sac fly.
Probably Muncy. Oh you’re right, he f’d Smith with one too. Anyway there is nothing Major League about the horridly abysmal strike calling. I’m convinced it is designed to have us demand the automatic system. You can honestly say that game was stolen by the Ump.
There was a horrible third strike call on Muncy. This guy sucks.
I must have been thinking about Lux in a different context, since it could not have been him, given he’s out for the season. Just another mistake that I can chalk up to old age.
However, just another example of umpire ineptitude, which is becoming all too common.
I knew the Ump was going to help out the Cards in the 9th, but that was so over the top as to be a “fix”. They had to cheat to beat the Dodgers. Hats off to the Dodgers to come back the way they did.
I don’t think any study would find that the umps have it in for a particular team. They screw all of them eventually.
In the Minnesota series, a bad ump call helped us win a game.
But the technology is available. That would be like saying the Dodgers could have flown to St. Louis but buses were here first so they have to take a bus. Use what’s available to make the game better!
Someone only commented yesterday about how durable Julio has become.
Kiss of death….
The ump only needed to pee
Lakers are as good as gone.
“LAKERS IN SEVEN!”
Quoting my son. A few days back, he was saying, “LAKERS IN FOUR!”
Having Barnes in the lineup as the starting catcher, the Dodgers are 4 games under .500. Definitely a problem with his .094 BA, .301OPS, 0HR 3RBI. With those stats ,he doesn’t belong on the roster, being Kershaw’s personal catcher, a great teammate or not. He has been given ample time to get his act together.