It sounds like the Dodgers might get The Knack soon. Great, I used to love the Knack. They had several great songs, like this one:
What? It’s not “The Knack?” Is it Landon Knack? Oh, him… who knew? My bad!
Well, actually… I have an opinion on this, and I think that just like Michael Grove, Landon Knack should bypass AAA and go directly to Chavez Ravine! He’s so much more ready than Michael Grove was, more ready than Ryan Pepiot was, and more ready than Bobby Miller and Gavin Stone are! Landon Knack is so much better a pitcher than Michael Grove was.
Now, it’s not like Landon Knack is a prototypical baseball gym rat or saint! Through the 2022 season, Landon Knack was a classic “underachiever” who may not have always been in the best physical shape and who worshipped at the Throne of Junkfood! While I have no inside information, it appears to me that someone with the Dodgers had a “Come to Jesus” meeting with Landon Knack after his underwhelming 2022 season. It went something like this:
Dodger Brass: “Listen up, dumbass! You have a world of talent, and you are squandering it. You are fat, you have poor workout habits, poor sleep habits, and you eat tons of junk food while you avoid conditioning like it is leprosy! You could be a Number One, and right now, you are like a Number Nothing.”
Landon: “You are hurting my feelings.”
Dodger Brass: “You are hurting your own pocketbook. You could make millions!”
Landon: “What? I could make millions if I wasn’t fat, lazy, quit eating junk food, and trained hard?”
Dodger Brass: “Yes!”
Landon: “Well Dang, I am going to get busy. Can I work out all winter at Camelback Ranch?”
The rest is history. Landon Knack worked all winter at Camelback, developed better conditioning and sleeping habits, worked out and trained hard, and it has paid off. Landon had a 2-10 record last year with a 5.01 ERA at Tulsa with a 1.41 WHIP. He missed a lot of the season with injuries… probably the fault of poor diet and conditioning! This year, he is 1-0 with a 1.32 ERA (with about 2/3 of the total innings he pitched last year) and a 0.80 WHIP. He is ready for the Show! Michael Grove had nothing close to those stats when he was called up! Call him up now, Andrew!
Landon will be 26 in July. In 2020, the Dodgers drafted him in the second round in the shortened 2020 draft (No. 60 overall) and signed him for an under slot $712,500. Knack impressed in his pro debut, but his stuff and control regressed in 2022 as he battled injuries and conditioning issues. He was ranked the Dodger’s #7 Prospect in 2022, but due to his bad year in 2022, he is now ranked #22. I think he has come back to the Top 10!
Landon has a fastball that is 94-96 MPH and three other pitches. He throws strikes and has great control as evidenced by his 0.80 WHIP. He is of a solid, stocky, build and, while he may not be a Number One for the Dodgers, he is destined to be a solid middle-of-the-rotation guy! This is the new and improved Landon Knack. Here are highlights of a game at the end of April when he struck out 11 in 5 innings:
Other Dodger News
- I hear that Julio Urias’s hamstring strain is really bruised badly, which tells me that it has to be at least a Grade 2, if not a Grade 3, and that means he might not be back until July… we shall see!
- OTOH, Michael Grove is progressing, while Ryan Pepiot is not. There is no timetable for Ryan.
- Jonny DeLuca was 3-5 with 4 RBI last night at OKC. If he can get hot, the Dodgers will consider him after the All-Star Break.
- Wander Suero is back at OKC.
- Jose Ramos hit his 10th HR for Tulsa last night.
- Diego Cartaya is hitting .171, while Kody Hosse is at .164.
- Kyle Hurt has 50 Ks in 27 IP at Tulsa with a 1.33 ERA.
- Tonight we see the Rays with Thor pitching. I have no predictions…
- Those of you who are giving up on James Outman are very premature. This is baseball. This is a game of adjustments. I cannot conclude that he cannot adjust. In fact, I think he can… and will! He is still OPS’ing over .800, and if he keeps that up, he has to play.
- I have heard the rumor that the Dodgers signed Ken Giles to a Minor League deal, but cannot find him on any roster. It seems a little sketchy.
The Dodgers are missing the Ray’s two top pitchers, McClanahan and Eflin, but will face Glasnow who is coming off the IL tomorrow facing Kershaw.
Rays lead the majors in stolen bases.
Depending upon how many guys Thor puts on base, we could see a new single game stolen base record.
Outman’s season up to now, is a tale of two DIFFERENT seasons.
His current pretty-good .800+ OPS’ing (and other stats) are exclusively the result of his blazing-hot raking for about 4 wks in April, when ALL his numbers were much higher than they are now. But for over a month since then, he’s been a completely different iceberg-batter with all his stats WAY BELOW his current numbers.
Yes, it’s wrong to “give up” on JO, and he should continue playing so he can hopefully make the adjustments to right his ship. But until he does that, Heyward–who is better defensively and on the upswing batting the last few games–should regularly man CF, while Outman’s role for now should be platooning/part-time work in the outfield.
With their current situation, that’s the sensible course for both Heyward’s and Outman’s development ..esp. if the Dodgers are truly trying to maximize wins now.
What you say in your first paragraph can’t be denied. But there’s more to developing a young player than just numbers. As Yogi said baseball is 90% mental and the other half physical.
I think you have to give Outman a little longer leash to try to get out of his slump, so as not to hurt his confidence
I get your point on Outman’s mentality, but other realities exist too. Other players development besides JO are necessary also if the team is to get better this season. Heyward is one of those players, and his recent batting surge suggest all the work he’s done with his swing might be leading to better production at the plate. ..or maybe not. But let him play CF full-time and see if his recent success means he’s about to take his offense to another level. If it happens, then the Dodgers will be a much better team come playoff time!
And I really don’t think relegating JO to outfield platooning will hurt his confidence at all. From afar, the guy seems very “centered” to me.
Hi NoNicName.
Can you explain your handle? Is it intentionally ironic?
Both of my brothers had nicknames. I don’t know how it came up by my Nine year old granddaughter asked me what my nickname was and I told her I didn’t have a nickname so she said your nickname is no nickname
Nobody calls me by that, but I just decided to use it as a handle for the blogosphere
Sorry it’s not more interesting than that
I love it!
I love that it’s part no nicname, and part nickname.
It’s awesome.
Whoever has the better arm between JO and J-Hey should man R/F and the other C/F. That way Mookie gets to play more at SS! Win-win!
I think the next few weeks it will be interesting to see which young guns rise up to the opportunity to pitch for the big club before the trade dead line with Julio, and May on the IL.
Miller’s swag reminds me of Alex Verdugo… wanna-be gangster! But if his pitching backs it up, its all good!
Rookies are going to struggle and a player like Outman, who is prone to striking out, is going to struggle more than most once pitchers figure out his holes. And so far, the last several games, pitchers are following the book on the kid. How he adjusts to this will tell just how good or how bad he is. Bellinger never has seemed to get over chasing those fastball’s low and away. And his kryptonite was high fastballs. Outman’s is the same.
The Dodgers have a lot of tough decisions to make about players that they didn’t half to make last year. All we can do is hope for the best and trust the powers that be to make the right decisions.
Hopefully it all works out. And if it doesn’t, we have LADT to turn to and complain about it.
The Dodgers activated Clayton Kershaw off the bereavement list on Friday ahead of the left-hander’s start on Saturday against the Rays at Tropicana Field. On Thursday, the Dodgers optioned reliever Tayler Scott to Triple-A Oklahoma City.
Double-A: Starting pitcher Ben Casparius (2.68 ERA, 29-percent K rate) and reliever Antonio Knowles (1.53 ERA, 34.7-percent K rate) were promoted to Tulsa from Great Lakes. Left-hander Lael Lockhart was placed on the development list.
High-A: Starter Yon Castro was activated off the developmental list. Right-hander Hyun-il Choi was assigned to Great Lakes from extended spring training.
Thursday scores
Oklahoma City 11, Sacramento 4
Tulsa 2, Northwest Arkansas 1 (11 innings)
Great Lakes 2, Peoria 1
Lake Elsinore 3, Rancho Cucamonga 1
Friday schedule
4:35 p.m. PT: Great Lakes (Jerming Rosario) at Peoria (Alex Cornwell)
5:05 p.m.: Tulsa (Nick Nastrini) vs. NW Arkansas (Andrew Hoffmann)
6:30 p.m.: Rancho Cucamonga (Payton Martin) vs. Lake Elsinore (Henry Baez)
6:45 p.m.: Oklahoma City (William Cuevas) at Sacramento (Drew Strotman)
Any word on when Frasso will pitch again?
No word.
Thanks
I just asked Mark if he could get some info for us on Frasso.
Your thoughts: Barnes, Taylor and Cartaya suffer impingement of their shoulders. They are sent to Camelback to rehabilitate. Thompson is DFA and promised a coaching job when his career is over. The Dodgers bring up Mazika to back up Smith (Mazika will be DFA when Barnes comes back)
The Dodgers are a better team with Barnes and Taylor. They need a mental break and revisit on their swing. Cartaya and Feduccia could be the catching tandem next season when Smith gets moved to third base.
I can’t imagine what Barnes, Taylor and Cartaya are at mentally but it has o be in a dark place.
Never trade a possible elite pitcher for a quick fix. Pitching wins championships.
Sorry John. Cartaya is no where near being ready by next season. There are other catchers in the system with much better numbers than he, Carson Taylor, and Dalton Rushing. Rushing has the added plus that he hits lefthanded,
Excuse the grammar errors. I should proofread before sending.
Welcome JD!
6:40 PM ET
Dodgers (31-20) 1st place NL West
Rays (37-15) 1st place AL East
SP Noah Syndergaard R
1-3 5.88 ERA 41,1 IP 30K
SP Cooper Criswell R
0-1 7.94 ERA 11.1IP 13K(Bullpen game)
Confirmed Lineup
RF Mookie Betts R
1B F. Freeman L
C Will Smith R
DH J. Martinez R
3B Max Muncy L
2B M. Vargas R
CF James Outman L
SS Miguel Rojas R
LF D. Peralta L
In Domed Stadium
Maybe it’s been done before, but my first time seeing Peralta batting 9th, interesting.
Would’ve preferred Heyward somewhere in the line-up.
Dodgers claim Zack Burdi off waivers from the Rays. He will be placed on the 40-man roster. 28 year old RHP. Yankees released Aaron Hicks, and Sox DFA’d Marisnik
Mark, from your Dodger sources, can you find out the status of Frasso, the pitcher from AA Tulsa who was removed from the game with an apparent injury 3 weeks ago ,but is still listed active on the roster?
I have tried. No one knows, but he is active – not on the IL.
That was my point from yesterday. Cartaya shouldn’t be our top prospect. If Rushing and Taylor for example went around him and they are relatively close in age, … Thst is why I think it would be fun for Mark and Old Bear to reorder at least the top 10-15 prospects every six weeks. Would make for fun conversation I believe Cartaya needs to hit the reset button with Taylor and Barnes in a non pressure venue
Will look into that
Wow Outman should be benched or platooned huh. Last time I checked there are 3 outfield positions.
1) Do you want 2 of Heyward, Peralta, Thompson against RHP everyday in the outfield along with Betts everyday? Who’s going to platoon with 2 of Heyward, Peralta, Thompson? Do you want to bring up 2 John Doe’s from the minors? Then who are you going to DFA? If Outman is going to platoon with 1 of them then DeLuca is an option to platoon with the other. So that would work out. But then you would have to DFA one of Heyward, Peralta, Thompson or 2 of them if I’m getting confused.
2) Do you want Rojas at SS instead of Betts? Because if Betts plays SS do you want all 3 of Heyward, Peralta, Thompson against RHP everyday in the outfield? If so who’s going to platoon with all of them? Do you want to bring up 3 John Doe’s from the minors to platoon with all of them? If Outman is going to platoon with 1 of them then are you going to bring up 2 John Doe’s? DeLuca is an option so you’re still going to have to bring up 1 John Doe. Then who are you going to DFA? it’s going to have to be more than 1 player.
3) Rookie Vargas was in a slump for longer than rookie Outman has been now. Were you calling for rookie Vargas’s head on a platter? If not then why not? And why rookie Outman now? Since you’re bringing up Outman’s rookie status.
4) Outman hasn’t been in a slump for OVER a month.
Sorry if this is confrontational Mark, but some people don’t think it out before speaking.
Just my 2 cents.
I forgot.
1) Outman has hit RHP like crazy in the minors, so are you going to give up on that?
2) If you want Rojas starting at SS instead of Betts bumping Outman from starting then you’re basically saying Rojas’s bat is better than Outman’s.
Before or after his swing makeover?
I already know.
But, it’s a small sample.
What’s a small sample? Outman hitting RHP like crazy in the minors? He did in AA and AAA that wasn’t a small sample.
By the way all of this wasn’t directed towards you Mark it was someone else. Just to clarify.
In May, my bat would be better than Outmans. A .600 OPS!
You can’t compare Vargas and Outman.
Vargas’ struggles were because of injury.
Outman is not going anywhere.
I’m not comparing them. Somebody brought up maximizing wins. And says benching or platooning Outman will maximize wins. Well when Vargas was slumping wouldn’t it have been smart to bench him or put him on the IL to maximize wins?
And I was using Vargas name because they’re both rookies.
Can we find a platoon pitcher for Syndegaard?
Shoot! We need to use the ABS system for pitching….. Anybody But Syndegaard!
How much longer do the Dodgers stay with the Syndergaard experiment?
I suspect he’ll stay in the rotation because of the SP
Injuries but he is simply nothing more than Bickford light.
All-Star Break
DFA time! It’s like batting practice when he pitches. Bring up ANY young guy to take his place!
Not yet, but he looks really bad!
Ok. I’ll give him another inning! Those Tampa Bay OPS numbers are outrageous!
Don’t look now but our power hitting 3rd baseman is hitting .199 and was 0-4 today w RISP. If he’s gonna bat 4 or 5 in the lineup, he needs to produce at a higher rate. He’s become a rally killer. Yes, he will 3 HRs in one game and we’ll all smile, but we could be in Thai game today and we could have swept the Braves if Max delivered in the clutch. He needs to bat 6-8.
Outman was player of the month for the Dodgers in April. Maybe he can rally in June and be player of the month again-in OKC!
LOL!!
Mookie v Bonds comparison:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CsuR2JdOB8M/?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==
Well, that was embarrassing. Forget about it and get ready for tomorrow.
Who knows if the Rays can keep this up all year, but they sure do look like a dynamic team
Unlike the Dodgers, the Rays batting line-up looks deep & well-rounded.
good news. Only 2 pitchers used today
Just to clarify for Eric –
1) I never postulated “benching” Outman, just platooning.
2) Speaking of which, Mark too has suggested platooning him, not just me.
3) Outman’s major league AB’s is now large enough to essentially relegate his minor league stats to irrelevance.
4) I realize there are no easy answers to fix JO’s now-fully-established bat-to-ball shortcomings, but something must must change SOON or else he WILL (at minimum) have to sit for awhile.
I said this about Thor a month ago: “Syndergaard won’t finish the year. The Dodgers are magicians at squeezing the last drops if greatness out of past their peak players, but Thor is all squeezed out. ” It was true then and it’s STILL true.
Too bad the Dodgers are so desperate for SP that they can’t DFA’d Thor now.