It seems that some Dodger fans believe that the Dodgers have a glut of pitching prospects but are devoid of Position Players in their farm system. I beg to differ. Andy Pages is already up at the show, and there are others in the pipeline who are not named De Paula, Vargas, et al.
Here are some players whom I believe will be in the Show soon enough:
- SS Alex Freeland (A+): 1.111 OPS
- Miguel Vargas (AAA): .988 OPS
- C Dalton Rushing (AA): .982 OPS
- 3B Andre Lipcius (AAA): .972 OPS
- RF Ryan Ward (AAA): .957 OPS
- 2B Jeral Perez (A): .961 OPS
- 3B Jake Gelof (A): .956 OPS
- SS Austin Gauthier (AA): .933 OPS
- LF Zyhir Hope (A-): .899 OPS
Walker Buehler
Damn, he looked like he hadn’t pitched in two years!
Well, Duh!
He only hit 98 MPH!
Well, Duh!
Shadaddupp already!
Give him time. I am greatly encouraged by what I saw.
LIVE & LEARN and tip your server!
Giving up on Cartaya, eh?
Dodgers certainly seem to have plenty of depth. And that’s especially true now that Mookie really does seem to be the SS of both the present and future, with newcomers Sweeney, Lipscius and Noah Miller as rising options. What was a weakness has become a strength.
And then there’s the fact that Will Smith signed an extension that could have him catching Ohtani for a decade. Certainly the Dodgers want to develop a successor in case of injury or the likelihood that Smith is moved to another position in a few years. Perhaps Cartaya could benefit from a change of scenery.
If AF is thinking about Mason Miller–and why wouldn’t he be?–perhaps the A’s would consider a package that includes Cartaya, Jake Geloff (they love his brother) and a couple of promising arms.
Bluto, what my thinking is, the kid has not shown enough the last couple of years to be on the 40-man roster. There are other catchers in the organization who are proving to be better players at this point in time than he is. Being a good kid and having a good work ethic does not trump what you do on the field. especially if you are as bad as Cartaya has been the last two years. Does that mean he will be included in a trade? Possible. They traded Ruiz, didn’t they? Smith has a 10-year deal. He will be the primary catcher for at least 5 or more years. Sometime after that they might move him to third. Or maybe even to first if Freddie doesn’t sign at least a three-year extension. Which I do not see him doing. He will be 37 when his contract is up with 18 years in the majors. If he simply reaches his 162 game averages, He will hit homer #400 sometime in 2026. That and his career BA should earn him a spot in the hall. He would finish with better stats than Helton, who just got in. He also will be just shy of 3000 hits. If he is really close, and still at the top of his game, then I could see an extension with LA to get 3000. Cartaya has been totally over-matched at AA.
Cartaya has little value. If he needs back surgery it will be a long process. I do t know if that’s true or not but something has happened to him. So we wait.
I think they are trying everything else before that. Again, I am speculating.
Yeah, I just can’t remember the Dodgers ever doing that with a prospect whose value was at a nadir.
I definitely don’t have a good memory for 40-man manipulations, but the team seems to cut ties with players like Billy McMillan, or the Sheldon Neuse type.
I guess you could say that Busch’s value had plateau’d, but it wasn’t nearly the same situation as Cartaya’s currect one.
Oh, what do I know. I’m probably overlooking some very good examples of what you are predicting.
I said last week no reason to think Buehler cant get back to 98-99.
He was 98 LAST Night. He will easily get back to 99.
This is a GREAT sign Dodger fans. This thing is a marathon, lets enjoy the ride. The summer of 2024 will be special, but the Fall of 2024 is going to be memorable!!
Anyone read the new Book about Clayton by Andy McCulloch yet? Mine arrived yesterday, will dive in in a couple weeks after son’s college season ends. He’s got 8 games left and then he hangs it up for good (unless they make the conference tourney)….will tug at the heartstrings in a couple weeks. But hey he will be able to go to more Dodger games with me now!!
Sorry for the personal rant but I’m fired up after last night.
That’s timeless. Enjoy. My book arrives today.
98-99 is not sustainable. Locationlocatiionlocatio
Agree but in the postseason, if he needs it, good to know it will be there.
As per the Athletic:
As Kershaw was contemplating not only the course of action to pursue with his shoulder, but also which MLB team to pursue it with the following quote to the ludicrously great McCullough:
“Gun to my head, I think I want to play here [in Texas], I think I want to leave LA.”
Very encouraged by Walkers outing last night. Velo was excellent, only the depth on the slower stuff was lacking as Orel mentioned. Will come with more innings.
Cartaya is rumored to be injured (back problems). Lets wait how this plays out. Progress is not linear as Mark rightfully says .
What is a bit concerning: The rate at which we are losing our high leverage arms.
Good to see Grove grow into this role more and more.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Lipcius is someone who might get a chance at some point and could create his own opportunities.
I really did not see him coming. I wonder what happened. He has never hit like this. Is he for real?
Remember when you all wanted to get rid of Alex Vesia? 1.56 ERA.
Maybe the Dodger brass is smarter than us? Ya Think?
Nah.
Michael Busch is down to .254 with 44 K’s.
I have always said that Busch will hit .250-,260 with 30 HR and an .800 OPS. He’s James Outman and he also can’t hit LHP (.188 BA/.585 OPS).
Ryan Yarbrough is very underrated and a very important player going forward, and it’s criminal that he was left off the Post Season Roster last year.
He was left off the NLDS roster he would have been on the NLCS roster….
But yes he is very valuable in a long series, in a 5 gamer not so much.
I don’t care how long a series is, I want him available because he gets guys out.
You must know better than Friedman and the brain trust.
And when would you have used him last year? After Kersh Imploded, after Miller imploded or after Lynn gave up all those HR’s.
Monday morning QBing is easy.
No – it was a horrible decision, one of many the past couple of Post Seasons.
We had no pitching, and an injured Kershaw.
It’s not hindsight, said it at the time.
Traded for him at the TD only to not select him.
All the Happy Clappers find it hard to acknowledge when they’re wrong.
Well, for me it wasn’t Monday morning. It was back then when the list came out I wondered right off the bat why he wasn’t going to be on the pitching staff. And there were quite a few others at the time that question that move as well before they’d ever played a playoff game.
That didn’t come as much of a surprise considering the Diamondbacks’ success against left-handers in 2023. Even if the Dodgers rely on an opener or bullpen game at some point in the NLDS, Yarbrough didn’t figure to factor prominently. He wasn’t the reason the Dodgers lost and if they had made it to the next round. he would have likley been on the roster. Ryan had a 4.89 ERA 1.267 WHIP) as a Dodger last year. He looks much better this year (2.70 ERA/0.70 WHIP). Lance Lynn (4 HR) had a 4.36 ERA as a Dodger, so in retrospect, Ryan should have been added over Lance… but hindsight is 20/20. BTW, Lynn has a 3.28 ERA this year
Nice to have Walker back! Good to see Outman launch one!! Hopefully the Dodgers can keep this fantastic run going!! Hopefully i didn’t butcher this post!!!!!
With Heyward’s soon return, it will be interesting to see whether it’s Outman or Taylor who gets sent back to OKC (assuming Taylor would even accept that fate). The problem is – Heyward back platooning in RF, and Kiki spelling Muncy at 3B against “tough lefties” forces the anemic-hitting CT3 back into the line-up against those “tough lefties.” And with Outman’s homer last night indicating a possible resurgence for him at the plate, that makes the Dodgers’ decision on what to do with Outman/Taylor even HARDER to contemplate.
Frankly, Heyward’s return only complicates matters more, and puts the Dodgers FO in a bind.
Not that you were implying anything to the contrary, but….
They do get paid a kingly salary, so they can make a hard choice every once and a while.
Not many jobs where you can get paid that kind of cabbage to be mostly shitty at your job for an extended period of time.
Definitely not for a Private Equity company.
Those guys are killers.
We have about 3-5 PE contacts a week. We blow them off. They are sharks.
There is one company that is entering the water treatment industry and wants us very badly. I told them that it would take 5X sales. We are growing at 25-30% a year and have somewhat cracked the Google Algorithm as we can consistently get an 8:1 Return on Adspend. We just can’t grow too quickly, as we have no debt.
I have left the decision up to my son as it is going to be his company.
In July, we are moving into a new 100,000 sq/ft facility:
My “implication” has to do with Heyward, because I’m not fond of breaking up the status quo for Outman or Taylor.
When Heyward returns, the answer to this next question will determine who gets “axed”– Outman or Taylor.
Do the Dodgers really want to continue platooning Muncy with Kiki at 3B against “tough” LHP …or not?
1) If they do, then Taylor must stay to be a platoon RHB in the OF, ..and Outman gets sent back to OKC.
2) If not, then Kiki can be a platoon RHB in the OF, so Outman remains a platoon CF, ..and it’s Taylor who goes to OKC, or gets DFA’d.
Put succinctly – Which one of these 2 options do the Dodgers prefer in the long run?
1) seeing Muncy bat against “tough” lefties ..or..
2) seeing Taylor bat against any lefty
Either way, the Dodgers must choose only ONE of these preferences when Heyward returns,.
..because they can’t have both!
They could put Rojas at 3rd against lefties. I am really not all that confident that Heyward can repeat what he did last year or be close. Hopefully he can. One could get injured, cut, or demoted. The easy thing would be to have Outman go to triple a and play against righties and lefties.
But Rojas platoons with Lux at 2B now, so he’s not available against lefties at 3B.
I too don’t think Heyward can duplicate or be close to duplicating what he did last season, and I don’t see him being a + in the playoffs either.
I worry what going back to OKC would do to Outman’s psyche.
The Dodgers are now on the right path with their line-ups. Here’s what they’re doing —
They’re platooning Kiki with Muncy at 3B against “tough lefties” so that they can continue to get Taylor more AB’s as a platoon hitter in the OF in hopes that he will be a good or decent hitter again. Hopefully it succeeds, and the Dodgers could be set with a Taylor/Pages/Teoscar OF against LHP, ..and a Teoscar/Outman/Pages OF against RHP ..which would be the ideal outcome.
But if Taylor continues faltering and he can’t go on playing, then the Dodgers can end the Kiki/Muncy 3B “tough lefty” platoon, and return Kiki to the OF as a platoon batter. Then the Dodgers would be set with a Kiki/Pages,Teoscar OF for LHP, ..and a Teoscar/Outman/Pages OF for RHP.
Either way, the Dodgers will be alright, so everything right now is perfectly on course no matter what happens to Taylor.
But Heyward’s return to the line-up will.. MESS EVERYTHING UP!!
And that’s my point.
The Dodgers are already platooning up to 3 guys in their line-up. Replacing Outman with just another LH platoon outfielder into the line-up (Heyward) is at this point …COUNTERPRODUCTIVE!
Just my opinion but it appears that AF prefers veterans over rookies and young players. When Heyward comes back base on AF’s preference for vets I would be looking at who has options remaining. Heyward, Taylor and Hernandez will get long runways to prove their worth. I think AF would send down Outman or Lux depending on who is struggling the most. Taylor might get released if he continues on his current pace but I doubt it.
Yup.
10:10 PM ET
Marlins (10-27)
Dodgers (24-13)
SP Edward Cabrera R
1-1 6.05 ERA
SP Y. Yamamoto R
3-1 2.91 ERA
Confirmed Lineup
SS Mookie Betts R
DH S. Ohtani L
1B F. Freeman L
C Will Smith R
3B Max Muncy L
LF T. Hernandez R
RF Andy Pages R
2B Gavin Lux L
CF James Outman L
69° Wind 9 mph Out
Toribo reported that Heyward could be back as early as this weekend in San Diego, or next week in San Francisco. He thinks they will keep Pages and send Outman down since he still has options left. He would play more regularly at OKC. Cody Bellinger to be activated from the IL today by the Cubs. Another Astro pitcher goes down to a shoulder injury.