Kendall Williams is a 23-year-old, 6′ 6″ RH Starting pitcher who was acquired in the Ross Stripling deal. He just started his first game at OKC last night. It did not go well (6 IP/6 H/5 ER/5 BB2 K/2 HR), but since it was in Albaquacky (I can’t spell Albuquerque), maybe he really did pitch pretty well. Bunts routinely end up being 440-foot home runs there (I exaggerate only slightly). The OKC Dodgers lost 7-0 as Michael Busch and Miguel Vargas did not play. Kendall Williams will end up playing at five different levels this season:
- June 5th – Due to an injury, Kendall Williams started his 2023 season with the ACL Dodgers.
- June 16th – Kendall was assigned to Great Lakes.
- August 2nd – Kendall was assigned to Tulsa.
- September 22nd – Williams was assigned to OKC.
- He will next be assigned to the AFL Desert Dogs.
The Dodgers are fast-tracking Kendall Williams, and he has started 16 games this season with a 3-7 record and a 3.73 ERA. His WHIP is 1.26, and he allowed 61 Hits in 80 IP to go with 62 strikeouts and 39 BB. Kendall’s fastball can touch 96 but typically sits in the 93 MPH range. He has a hammer curve, and his changeup and slider are a work in progress. He is a candidate for the Dodgers’ rotation next year, and I suspect that they will be working with him in the AFL on his change, slider, or a “sweeper.” He is not a “top-of-the-rotation” guy but could be a solid, innings-eating #4 or #5. Those guys are important, too.
I have seen Kendall pitch several times in person and feel the same way now as I did the first time: He can be a solid “back-of-the-rotation” starter. Now, we get to see him in the AFL. The AFL rosters and info are out, and by clicking on UPDATED: 2023 ARIZONA FALL LEAGUE at the top of this page, you can have all of the information at your fingertips. Opening day in the AFL is October 2nd. So far, these are the Dodgers slated to play this fall:
- Ben Casparius – RHP
- Ronan Kopp – LHP
- Jake Pilarski – RHP
- Ryan Sublette – RHP
- Kendall Williams – RHP
- Yenier Fernandez – RH 2B, C
- Damon Keith – RH, OF
- Jake Vogel – RH, OF
The Desert Dogs play their home games at Camelback Ranch.
Dodgers – Giants
Never speak of last night again! Actually, Gavin Stone and Ryan Yarbrough looked good… until they didn’t, but the Dodgers could not jump out of a boat and hit water! Shawn Freaking Manaea beat them, for crying out loud! Did I mention to never speak of last night again?
Will Smith 2023 Splits
From previous thread. I agree it would be nice to drop Will down in batting order. Who knows how many injuries he has now. I read he played earlier with broken rib, from being hit by pitch. Just some tweaks to think about
I have an UPDATE ABOVE.
It shows Will Smith’s Splits this year, and it ain’t pretty.
Will is an above-average Catcher (not great), but he could be a very good hitter if he was not always beat up. Will is not built for catching and it beats him down. Maybe he should go to LF or 3B next year!
Amen! Trade for Salvador Perez till Rushing is ready. Really can’t fault dodgers last night, hitters couldn’t see anything but hair! Lol
This is a terrible idea.
Perez loves KC and wants to retire there. He has a World Series Championship, so it would be tough to pull that off.
He is signed through his age-36 season in 2026. I’m not saying it could not be done, but…
Perez won’t be traded. And he is too old to catch everyday no matter how good he is defensively. The Dodgers look to get younger, not older.
I don’t see Will catching past 2025 season. He will too beat up. If not Perez,who? Rushing probably 2 years away. And please don’t say Barnes! He’s not a mlb starting catcher. If he’s there next year , ok . But not past 2024!
Don’t write Cartaya off just yet!
Big or small catchers get beat up as the year goes on. They don’t report when they have all those broken fingers etc. So hard for a catcher to be healthy in Sept. So is Will hitting any better than Barnes the last month or so? I don’t think so.
Or anybody else. Is Mookie in ‘slump’. How has he been since last injury. Its just part of the game. Everyone says they are ready to go.
Maybe it would make sense to not have a regular DH and allow Will Smith to limit catching to three or four times a week in order to keep him fresh. Of course having JD Martinez as the full time DH has worked out very well.
Maybe Will could start playing some third in 2024, but that’s probably in the future. A lot depends on what happens this winter. He has been injured, which, no doubt impacted his hitting. The Dodgers do have some skilled catching prospects, but they may be a year or so away. But I wouldn’t panic and try to find instant fixes. Those usually don’t work.
The Dodgers need to see how it goes in the playoffs. They have a plan. Is it a good plan? Depends a lot on the bullpen, which is only as good as the weakest link. If the link snaps, everything begins to unravel.
LA desperately needs a Parade. Clayton Kershaw needs a Parade. The fans need a Parade. That means they need peak performances and a lot of luck. Who will step up with the bat. In 2020, they had Mookie, but they also got a lot of big hits from Cory Seager. Maybe it will be Freddie Freeman, who passed 200 hits last night. Be nice to see him get 60 doubles.
Now that Acuna has reached 40 homers and 40 steals, I’m guessing he has wrapped up the MVP.
40 hr and almost 70 steals. That is a ridic number, and that feat alone likely gets Acuna the MVP.
Barnes plays once sometimes twice a week so you can’t compare his hitting with Wills. He’s a lot healthier than Will. If he was a better hitter he’d probably play more and rest Will more.
I’m not saying Barnes is a better hitter. Just the nature of the position. All catchers are beat up this time of year.
As for Playoff plans—All plans sound good. Now the guys just have to execute. Or someone steps up–Like Heyward or Rosario or Kike.
Mike Tysen once said, ‘They all have a plan until I punch them in the face’.
Sorry, didn’t mean Barnes was better than Will as a hitter, just if Barnes was a lot better as a hitter Will could rest more, that’s why I would like a different backup next year.
You never know, but Barnes may hit .275 next year. You never know.
Emmet Sheehan made history on Thursday night at Dodger Stadium. Sheehan, who threw 4.2 no-hit innings before getting pulled, became the only MLB pitcher in the modern era to go at least four innings without allowing a hit in back-to-back starts against an opponent, per OptaSTATS.
Everybody, I’m concerned about the Dodgers’ offense. I’ve noticed throught out the years that the Dodgers dont score a lot of runs at Dodger Stadium. If the Dodgers hope to win the WS they must score runs. LOTS OF RUNS. Another 5-1 loss at Dodger Stadium last night! ( Same score as the final game of 2017 and 2018 WS)!. the Dodgers Offense just does not know how to score runs in big post-season games, especially at Dodger Stadium. Anybody can explain why?
Too reliant on home runs.
Then ATL is more reliant on them.
The Dodgers have the best offense in the NL with 2 outs, so they have shortened up their swings this year… especially with two strikes.
Last year’s playoff debacle also had Bellinger, injured Muncy, Gallo, and Trea Turner. All are gone.
No comparison.
Yeah I agree Atlanta is reliant on them too. We do have 3 guys in Muncy, Kike and CT3 that strike out slot and seems like they are three true outcome players.
We need to play small ball too when the time arises and seem to get away from that in October. We will find out shortly.
Uh, totally wrong. This year they have scored 409 runs at Dodger Stadium in 79 games, last year they scored 422 in 81 games. This year and last year they have scored over 400 on both the road and at home. Now, early in the season, it is hard to hit homers at Dodger Stadium due to the marine layer that makes the air moisture higher. It is harder to hit homers at night at Dodger Stadium. By the way, if the pitching is good, and Manaea was good last night, that has a lot to do with it. If you noticed, almost half of Manaea’s outs were on fly balls. And several of those died on the warning track. Pitching beats good hitting. Last season they scored only 3 more runs on the road than at home. They have won 54 games at home this year. Last year they won 57. You don’t win more than 50 games at home if you are not scoring runs.
I agree good pitching beats good hitting so yeah that is a part of it. But like I said to Mark, we have 3-4 guys who swing and miss and strike out a lot in Kike, CT3 and Max. Plus we don’t play very much small ball in October so not totally wrong at all.
BS, how can you be worried about one of the better offenses in the league? ATL k’s a lot too. 5 guys with over 100 K’s and another three closing in on 100. SD six with 100 plus. Giants only have 3 and Joc has K’d only 85 times this year. Phillies have six over 100 and Schwarber has struck out 207 times with a .198 average. So , I would not be sweating Muncy or any of our guys. Freeman has struck out over 100 times. The team leader? None of those guys you mentioned. Outman with 172 whiffs.
I didn’t say I was worried, all I did was reply to the original question with an opinion and you twisted it in another direction. Whatever, I notice you do this a lot with some of the replies.
Zeke, I was basically replying to both of you. You because of the guys you mentioned. Most teams have high K guys these days. I did not twist what you said, I quoted the stats.
Question: I know the Dodgers , so far, have hit 11 grand slams this season. Does anyone know how many were hit at Dodger Stadium? I’m guessing not many. Because the Dodgers had a low team batting average with the bases loaded last year (0.280) tied with the Washington Nationals for LAST place. As much as I love the Dodgers (been a fan of them since 1977), I don’t see them doing much this upcoming post-season because of the Offense. The other players have to do more contributing in run production instead of depending on Mooky and Freddie on run production. Dodgers MUST work on every weakness they have before post- season play gets underway because their opponents , whoever they are, will exploit them to the fullest extent. “DODGER BASEBALL” will not cut it in the post-season.
I am not sure what planet this is from, but here on Planet Earth, the Dodgers have the second most potent offense in baseball. Here are the facts:
They are 19th in strikeouts – they were 15th last year!
They are second in runs scored in MLB and already have 12 more runs scored that all of last year.
They are 2nd in HRs to ATL (296 to 238)
They are 2nd in OPS
They are 2nd in OPS+
They are 2nd in OB%
They are #1 in runs scored with 2 outs
They are not been lucky as their Pythagorean W-L is identical to their actual W-L record.
They are also ranked as one of the top defensive teams.
The bullpen is awesome.
The problem is starting pitching, but they may have a solution to that.
I think you are worrying too much without facts to support that worry.
I haven’t a clue where you are coming from. As Mark pointed out, there is only one team in the game that wouldn’t trade their offense for ours. The Dodgers have vastly improved their offense, especially with respect to the “3 outcome approach”. Their situational hitting is better than it’s been in years. We lost Seager, Justin Turner, Trea Turner, Bellinger; and we are scoring more runs per game without them! Making anecdotal comparisons from Dodgers teams going back a nebulous amount of time is a worthless exercise. The only consistent factor is the stadium. The Dodgers score fewer runs at home because Dodger Stadium is a pitcher friendly park. But it is inconsequential because other teams also score fewer runs because Dodger stadium is a pitcher friendly park. See how that works?
Thr 2023 Dodgers are not the 2017, 2018 or 2020 team. Very different team. And our offense is our greatest strength. Our starting pitchers are our greatest weakness. That is the complete opposite of the dynamic of Dodger teams in the recent past. For years we’ve been going into the playoffs with one of the best is not THE best pitching staff in baseball. This year we’re going in as an offensive juggernaut capable of scoring double digits any given game with a lock down bullpen.
So when you say “Dodger Baseball won’t cut it in the post season”, I haven’t a clue what that means. The current incarnation of the Dodgers (who just won their division by double digits, again) isn’t really similar to the teams fielded in recent years. The opposite, actually. Yet we have the 3rd best record in baseball despite losing what amounts to an All Star team due to free agency and injuries.
This Dodger baseball is winning games. And in a very different way than in the recent past. There is no “Dodger Baseball”. There are Dodger teams. And this one finds ways to win in very different ways than previous teams.
Let the kids pitch. Let the hitters hit and let the bullpen shut down teams. THAT is 2023 “Dodger baseball”. And it will play in the post season.
Three of the 11 were hit at Dodger Stadium. Dodger Stadium is traditionally a hard place to hit homers especially at night. There has been exactly one opponent’s grand slam there this year. Acuna hit one off of Lance Lynn when the Braves were here. .280 with the bases loaded is not a bad batting average. You have to factor in how many outs were there. Like last night, there were two outs when both Freeman and Smith came to the plate with the bases loaded and they went 1-2. Mookie and Freddie? Cmon. Muncy and Martinez both have 90 ribbies or more. You are sadly mistaken if you think this offense is weak. But their main problem heading into the playoffs is their lack of experienced starting pitching.
What I don’t like and biggest worry is clinching way to early and having five days off before first playoff game. At least don’t have six straight meaningless games against the lowly Rockies at home this year to end the season and get even more out of zinc. Would feel better having something to fight for towards the very end and a couple less off days to keep ‘em sharp and battle ready. Other than JD seems offense is sputtering already since Mookie and Freddie got their day off
Agree, but you have to play your cards as dealt.
Live Scrimmages!
Methinks you are worrying too much. Everyone centers on the Dodgers getting beat by the Padres after the five-game layoff. But three one-hundred-win teams, Mets, Dodgers, Braves, all got dumped in their first-round games. Padres beat the Mets, then the Phillies beat the Braves and the Padres beat the Dodgers. Padres beat two teams with a combined record 212 wins! And they beat a team who owned them in the 22 season. So, give a little credit to the Padres. They played excellent baseball and the other two teams did not.
The Braves, who play in one of the better parks to hit homers in, have actually hit more home runs on the road. And they are only four long balls away from hitting 300. The Dodgers have hit 236 homers. Not even close to the team record with 9 games left. But they have scored 859 runs, only 40 less than Atlanta with less hits, and a team BA almost 20 points lower. They have more doubles and more walks. The best park for homers? Cincinnati.
That’s a launching pad.
I have tried to become a Reds fan, but ownership and management are a confederacy of dunces!
Ball park with the most homers this year???? The Rangers home stadium.
9:10 PM ET
Giants (77-77)
Dodgers (94-59)
SP Ross Stripling R
0-5 5.40 ERA PRIM
SP Clayton Kershaw L
12-4 2.52 ERA
Confirmed Lineup
2B Mookie Betts R
1B F. Freeman L
3B Max Muncy L
DH J. Martinez R
CF James Outman L
SS Miguel Rojas R
LF D. Peralta L
RF J. Heyward L
C A. Barnes R
72° Wind 11 mph Ou
Yes, them dam Padres played pretty well but we were flat and no denying that so I’m just going to bank on a lesson learned there and hope our young pitching pulls off a story for the ages. Miller, Pepiot and Sheehan are looking promising. We sure will need em to. Sure, love how feisty Miller looks out there.
OK, let’s get something very clear. They won game 1 by 2 runs. Urias went only 5 innings. All the runs were scored off of Julio. Game two both of the starters were gone by the 6th inning and the game was tied. Graterol gave up the lead run in the 6th. The Pads added a run in the 8th on a homer off of Treinen. They lost the game because they were 0-8 with runners in scoring position. They left 10 men on base. They had 11 hits and 4 walks. That is not a lack of offense. That is bad situational hitting. So, the first two games they were not flat, they just did not take advantage of the situations. Now they go to SD for the next two games. Game 3 all of their offense came off of Snell. 5 hits and 2 walks. They got one hit off of the Padres pen over the next 3.2 innings. That is good pitching. Game four, you are up 3-0 in the bottom of the 7th, and the bullpen implodes. Again, they were lousy with men on base going 2-9. They left 9 runners on. The two bullpen culprits? Kahnle, who hadn’t pitched much all year gave up the lead by allowing 3. Then Almonte, who had been nails for most of the year allows the winning runs. The difference in the game, the Pads were 4-9 with runners in scoring position. They were not flat. They were out played.
Dodger Magic Number down to 1 to clinch a bye in the NL Wild Card Round as the Brewers lost to Miami today 5-4.
let’s get it today, and then get ready for 2 weeks from today!
David Vassegh
@THEREAL_DV
Gavin Stone has been optioned and Michael Grove has been activated. Grove is expected to be a weapon out of the bullpen for #Dodgers
DODGERS PRESS RELEASE
DODGERS ACTIVATE MICHAEL GROVE
LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Dodgers activated right-handed pitcher Michael Grove from the injured list and optioned right-handed pitcher Gavin Stone.
Grove, 26, returns from the injured list after being sidelined since August 6 with right lat tightness. On the season, he is 2-3 with a 6.61 ERA (47 ER/64.0 IP) and 67 strikeouts. He made three rehab appearances with Triple-A Oklahoma City, allowing two runs in 3.1 innings with eight strikeouts. He has been with the Dodgers two seasons, and he is a combined 3-3 with a 5.98 ERA (62 ER/93.1 IP) and 91 strikeouts. He was drafted by the Dodgers in the second round of the 2018 First Year Player Draft out of West Virginia University.
Stone, 24, pitched last night, allowing three runs in 4.1 innings and suffered his first career loss against the Giants. With the Dodgers, he is 1-1 with a 9.00 ERA (31 ER/31.0 IP) and 22 strikeouts in eight games (four starts). With Triple-A Oklahoma City, he was 7-4 with a 4.74 ERA (53 ER/100.2 IP) and 120 strikeouts in 21 games (19 starts). Last season, he was named the 2022 Dodgers Branch Rickey Pitcher of the Year after going a combined 9-6 with a 1.48 ERA (20 ER/121.2 IP) and 168 strikeouts between High-A Great Lakes, Double-A Tulsa and Triple-A Oklahoma City. The Arkansas native has been in the Dodger system since being drafted in the 5th round of the 2020 First Year Player Draft out of the University of Central Arkansas and he is a combined 17-12 with a 3.25 ERA (111 ER/307.1 IP) and 419 strikeouts.
So Outman moves up to 5th in today’s lineup, and Rojas is up to 6th.
But why is Peralta, now cold, still hitting ahead of Heyward, whose bat is hot?
Just looking for a rhyme or reason here.
Glad that Barnes is playing so Smith can rest up for the postseason.
Power. Peralta is more of just an on base guy now. J-Hey has more power and if David gets on base, he can drive him in. You don’t expect Barnsie to do that do you??? LOL.
Except that Peralta really isn’t much of an on-base guy….
His on-base percentage this year is below .296, and Heyward’s is .346.
And those are stats for the season. In recent weeks, Heyward has been hot, and Peralta cold. The fact that Peralta usually hits ahead of both Heyward and Outman puzzles me. The math doesn’t make sense–so what is the reason?
Still, Peralta had really nice catch today to preserve the shutout.
The patchwork rotation pitching staff could work.
I am pretty sure they know something you don’t.
If you expect them to tell you why, you will be greatly disappointed!
Nope. I would be pleased.
And I was please that finally–finally–Outman was moved ahead of Peralta in today’s lineup.
Do you think there’s some great strategic secret here?
In other news, Mookie just set a record for RBIs out of the lead-off spot.
He’s knocked himself in 39 times. And I would bet real money that he has knocked in Outman more than any other player.
That could be an argument for Outman batting low–to help set the table for the top of the order. Despite his K problem, he’s a good on-base guy–much better than Peralta. And he’s got speed. He steals bases and can get around from first on a double.
Although he doesn’t bat 9th (like Rojas or Barnes, he is sort of a “second lead-off” guy.
But that still doesn’t explaining why Peralta hits ahead of Heyward…
Go Ducks
Go Trojans! Notre Dame lost! yay!!!!!
Some of us here are probably familiar with Tim Rogers, a guy who follows the Dodgers prospects closely on his “20/80″ site. Like most of us homers, he is very bullish on the Dodgers system>
Just saw an interview with him on the Dodgers Nation” YouTube. Some takeaways:
–Didn’t use the term “untouchable,” but he classified Maddux Bruns, Jeondry Vargas and Josue DePaula as three young prospects the Dodgers consider the most special young talents they want to nurture. Compared DePaula’s eye to Juan Soto.
–Joked that he would renamed his site “20/90” because Kendall George has 90 speed. Very high on George and No. 2 pick Jake Geloff, who he said would be Dodgers starting 3B by 2026 at the latest. later than 2026.
–So many catchers. Still high on Cartaya, loves Liranzo and wonders (as I do) whether Rushing should be converted to 3B. Galiz and others also in the picture. Ironic how the Dodgers seem thin at C on the ML level and so deep in the minors.
How did Kersh look tonight?
Solid. Five innings of shutout ball and he pitched out of some traffic. Got bailed out by a great catch by Peralta in left in the fifth. 5 K’s two walks. He won #210 to pass Big D for career wins. Mookie got two ribbies to set the record for RBIs by a leadoff man. Freddie got his 57th double. Martinez drove in 3 with a double and a homer, 31. Max had 2 hits and drove in a run. Muncy and Betts are over 100 ribbies. Martinez is at 98. Freddie has 96. If they can get to 100 over these next 8 games, it will be the first time in Dodger history with four players over 100 RBIs. Mookie still needs one homer for 40. Freeman needs 4 to get to 30. Clinched the bye with the win. SD lost and broke their 8-game winning streak. Cards beat them 5-2 in 11 innings. They have not won an extra inning game all year. They had runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out and could not score either of them in the 10th. USC 42 Az St. 28.
When the slider is working and the curve is breaking like yesterday he can still be a very effective pitcher.
The drop in velo from somewhere 93 mph at tops to now 89 is big and when the other two pitches are not consistenly working he gets in trouble.
I fear this will be his last hoorah.
Would be so great if can ride into the sunset with another WS title.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
He hit 90 a couple of times, but that was about it. I think he could have work on his shoulder if he want’s to continue pitching. But he might just pull the plug if they win. Family will have a lot to say about it.