Chris Taylor has always been a big hit-or-miss guy with the bat, but he has selflessly played all over the field and has done a very credible job at it. Need a SS? He can play there. 2B? No problem, 3B? Of course! Anywhere in the outfield? All three spots! Yes, he strikes out a lot… a whole lot, but he is reported to be a very good teammate. In short, he is a baller and a great clubhouse guy. It’s also time for him to fall on his sword!
I don’t mean that he needs to commit Hari Kari, but I am suggesting that he voluntarily goes back to Camelback Ranch and work on his swing. He has been to bat 56 times and struck out exactly 28 of those times. He is striking out at a 50% clip. This cannot continue. He cannot be optioned to the minors… unless he agrees to it. His career average for striking out is 33% of the time. He also has a career OPS of .745 and has had two seasons with an OPS over .800, but this season, it is .280! That is beyond horrid!
The Astros’ Jose Abreu accepted an assignment to the minors. He was hitting .099 while striking out at a 25% clip, which is half of what CT3 is. I think Chris will do it. He should do it. Do it today. Make the Dodgers Great Again. While we are at it, James Outman is also flirting with Disaster.
James is now hitting .163 and should get his ticket punched back to OKC shortly. If that hurts his psyche, then he’s not the guy. James will never hit LHP, but he should be solid against RHP. He needs to go back to the minor leagues and adjust. “But, he has hit the ball hard at times!” Yes, that is baseball. Last year’s BAbip was unsustainable, and the birds are coming home to roost. Is Vargas ready to take over? I don’t know. He is still OPS’ing around 1.000, but they are not pitching to him either. He might be better served by coming back and starting every day in LF. If Heyward is activated, he simply won’t play as much. problem solved.
Something has to change… Gavin Lux is waking up and is playing outstanding defense at 2B. I have a lot of hope with Gavin. Yamamoto threw 97 pitches, 73 for strikes. what a strike-throwing machine. His ERA is 2.79 and his WHIP is a measley 1.00. He’s 4-1 now. With Buehler back, the rotation looks solid. The Dodgers are now up to 5th in team ERA – 7th in starter ERA and 7th in Reliever ERA. JP Feyereisen is rounding into form. Quit sweating it! š
Down on the Farm
OKC – Not much to see here except a Ricky Vanasco meltdown in extra innings. He started out the season pitching very well, but has slipped way back.
TULSA – Wrobleski started and went 5.2 innings, allowing 3 ER and striking out 5, while walking 0. Ronan Kopp then came in and walked 5 straight batters without getting an out! He threw 27 pitches, 7 for strikes. Yikes! Lao looked good in his 1 inning.
GREAT LAKES – EK’s kid went six innings allowing 2 Hits, 0, ER, 0 BB while striking out 5. He is 5-0 with a 1.74 ERA (0.77 WHIP). He needs to move up quickly. Jake Gelof moved up to GL and had a hit and a stolen base.
RANCHO CUCAMONGA – Perez continues to rake, but at 19, they might move him slower than Gelof who is 22. Payton Martin went 2.2 innings, allowing 6 hits but only 2 runs.
DSL –
Good morning from Virginia! Yamamoto continues to get better every start! Now it was Miami and they are bad, but 8 innings, and giving the bullpen much needed rest. ā¦. Max strikes again!! ā¦..Lux at times looks like he might be on the verge of breaking through! ā¦..If Heyward comes back healthy and productive, then Taylor will probably be gone and Outman sent down. ā¦ā¦ Good opportunity for Stone to pitch deep into the game today! ā¦Looking forward to the weekend with the Friars. I actually believe they are better this year than last. 7 games out in the loss column, chance to bury them even deeper. Go Barnes!!!
Why is Crismatt on the roster? He hasn’t pitched in over a week after giving up the two run walk off homer to Walker in Arizona, our last team loss. Landon Knack should be brought up this weekend and replace him on the roster and start against against the Padres.
Taylor is a great guy and great teammate and does a lot in the Los Angelis community but does NOT belong on the 26 man roster. Enough is Enough!!!! He has to agree to go to the Minors and work out his swing and miss problems. He can carpool with Outman when Heyward comes back.
Wednesday Dodger Minor League Schedule
9:05 a.m. PT: Oklahoma City (Elieser HernƔndez) at Sugar Land (Blair Henley)
3:05 p.m.: Great Lakes (Peter Heubeck) vs. Lansing (Blaze Pontes)
4:30 p.m.: Tulsa (Orlando Ortiz-Mayr) at Midland (Blake Beers)
6:30 p.m.: Rancho Cucamonga (Patrick Copen) at Visalia (Caden Grice)
Feel bad for Chris Taylor. But his swing and miss is crazy. Obviously swinging from the heels isn’t working. Will he accept going down? No idea. But it would probably make a lot of sense. James Outman is hitting some balls very hard for outs. But only so many roster spots.
Yamamoto is something else. Always in the strike zone or nearby. His ball really moves. Love watching him pitch. He’s like an artist. The brush strokes are like perfection.
Good to see Max Muncy kick it loose and find his power stroke.
And just like that, Dodgers are top 5 in MLB in Team ERA.
Marlins cure all woes
Good point.
In one game in this series, the Marlins had zero walks.
3:10 PM ET
Marlins (10-28)
Dodgers (25-13)
SP Ryan Weathers L
2-3 4.54 ERA
SP Gavin Stone R
2-1 4.06 ERA
Confirmed Lineup
SS Mookie Betts R
DH S. Ohtani L
1B F. Freeman L
RF T. Hernandez R
LF E. Hernandez R
3B Max Muncy L
CF Andy Pages R
2B Miguel Rojas R
C A. Barnes R
74Ā° Wind 3 mph In
Dodger Minor League Standings 5/8/24
AAA ā Oklahoma City Baseball Club 20-14 2nd place 3.0 GB
AA ā Tulsa Drillers 11-15 4th place 6.5 GB
A+ ā Great Lakes Loons 19-9 1st pace 2.0 GA
A- ā Rancho Cucamonga Quakes 15-11 1st place 3.0 GA
Arizona Complex League (Rookie League) 2-1
Approaching rehab assignment
May 7, 2024
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Tuesday that Miller (shoulder) is coming up on a minor-league rehab assignment “pretty quickly,” Bill Plunkett of The Orange County Register reports.
“Miller threw a bullpen session Monday, his second since being placed on the injured list with inflammation in his right shoulder April 13. Roberts noted that the right-hander’s velocity was “good” in the session and sounded optimistic about Miller’s progress in his recovery from the injury. The second-year hurler will make at least one minor-league rehab start, though it’s still unclear how many more bullpens he’ll throw before he reaches that point”.
Is this some right wing conspiracy to send Taylor back to Arizona and make the Dodgers great again? Just give him more money. Thats what works in the real world!
Looks as if Marlins might be looking to trade. Chisom. ā¦. would LA have any interest ? KC is considered the favorite to land him. saw it on a mlb rumor site.
I would me more interested in that hard throwing LHRP they trotted out last night (Scott ?)
Exactly what we could use in our pen.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!
absolutely dodgerram! If the offer was right they could have both of them if they wanted. ā¦.. Gosh it would be hard to give up on Lux! Defense is good at 2nd, speed is coming back, and thereās still some hits in that bat of his! ā¦. rumor has Rushing and Bruns for Chisom. Wonder what Scott would cost?
No way Outman replaces either Avans or Vargas in the outfield at OKC. I guess he replaces Padlo if he gets sent back there.
So what exactly does the FO do with Outman in OKC?
If Outman is sent back to OKC, how will the Dodgers “juggle” their outfielders to make room for JO to get his AB’s on that team?
Fantastic series for LA. They were expecting to win but sometimes those are the toughest. Teoscar did the damage. Stone Cold again. Mookie made 2 errors but the scorer changed to hits. Grove looked great! Umpire screwed him out of 2 strikes in one batter but he still got him. Iām glad Weathers is no longer with San Diego.
Has Mookie got any Options left ?
lol just reviewing what happened
Re: yesterdays blog.
Mark, I donāt agree.
I will fully admit that my assessment of the Dodgers org depth in position players is likely skewed by the sheer volume of talent that Iāve been privileged enough to watch progress through the system. Outside of the current group of MLB ready talent, Im simply not impressed with what I have seen in the lower levels. With the exception of Rushing, there isn’t much that Iāve seen that impresses me.
I was able to watch Joc, Seager, Bellinger, Smith, Lux, Bush, Pages and Vargas work their way through the minors. Outman surmised me last year. I didnāt see him being as good as he was, last year. Not only were they all obvious MLB level talent there was all star level talent. There is an MVP in that group and there would have been another if Ohtani hadnāt played in the AL last year. There are All Stars there and likely many more seasons of All Star level production among that group. I still believe Vargas has what it takes to be a solid, potentially AS level talent. Same with Lux. Even if neither ultimately reaches their highest level potential. Thatās not just an impressive few years of talent production itās among the best baseball has produced in that period of time. As far as position players are concerned.
I simply donāt see that level of players in the system today. Not to say that a couple of the players you mentioned wonāt turn into solid MLB contributors. But the next crop of position talent simply doesnāt impress me like the players the Dodgers have produced in the past decade.
The pitching has never been deeper. But Iām simply not impressed with what I see in A, A+ and AA. At least not impressed in a way Iāve been accustom to.
Just MHO
Love this part:
Im simply not impressed with what I have seen in the lower levels. With the exception of Rushing, there isnāt much that Iāve seen that impresses me.
But when you are not being redundant, I think you have a point. Drafting and developing MVP level players is going to be very hard for the Dodgers. With low drafting positions and spending limits internationally, the funnel isn’t going to get the talent.
That is why, IMO, Friedman’s strategy is to develop good to very good players and to sign superstars on the open market. It’s how and why the best players in the lineup (outside of Will Smith, who may have an outside HOF chance) are bought.
It’s how the team is run.
Not much to disagree with here. Developing hitters is extremely difficult. Players that display an innate ability to play at a āhigh levelā are typically drafted early. From time to time you hit the jackpot with someone like Will Smith, but that is the exception rather than the rule.
Of the players I listed yesterday, not all will be above-average MLB Players, but some will. Here’s what I see:
SS Alex Freeland – Just a good utilityman who could exceed expectations
Miguel Vargas – Still think he’s a Star (not superstar)
C Dalton Rushing – A top 10 C
2B Jeral Perez – Compare to Ketel Marte
3B Jake Gelof – Stone cold hitter
SS Austin Gauthier – A Baller who could exceed expectations
LF Zyhir Hope – He has the tools
Vargas, DePaula, Liranzo, et al are all intriguing, but it’s too soon to say. You really only need to graduate 1 a year.
I saw a comment from a dude named (Wayne). He stated that Outman couldnāt start for OKC. It may me think back before the Dodgers brought up Pages, I felt the OKC outfield as a whole were better than the Dodgers. I donāt believe it any longer Hernandez has been good to very good all season and Pages is good. As far as the Dodgers farm system is concerned Iāve always one of the best in baseball. When I was coaching I would stress to my JV, Freshmen and Jr. High coaches that winning is important but development is your job. I coached basketball and we required that an hour a day for those levels was devoted to fundamentals, like blocking out, help and recover, etc. Same could be said or minor league teams. Iām not sure if the DODGERS way is still taught in the minors but it seems that we either have the ability to bring someone up or have the personnel to make a trade to fill a gap. It isnāt consequential that the Dodgers are either in the playoffs or in the hunt every year. It helps to have a good resources but other teams like the Yankees and the Red Soxās have all the money they need but still miss the playoffs or are out of the running by Labor Day. The injuries to the pitching staff through the years and having people step up is telling of our depth. Outman may or may not be a great or even good career MLB player but he sure stepped up last year. Thatās what good organizations do.
Mark, on the top of the page Minor League Affiliates, I have no access to induvial minor teams by clicking on them.
I am aware. I have been trying something new, but I am not smart enough to pull it off… Working on it!
Grove absolutely got screwed on 2 perfect strikes. Umpiring continues to get worse not better!! ā¦ Heard Mookie leads all of baseball in pitches called strikes that were completely out of strike zone. Amazing how he always maintains his composure! ā¦. Stone was ārockā solid again yesterday. Could be some interesting decisions coming to Dodger stadium in the near future! Miller,Clayton, possibly Dustin May?
Mookie is leading the majors in OBP, in part because he is walking a lot more than he is striking out. If he is doing this while getting screwed by the umps that would be remarkable.
Methinks he is emphasizing on-base skills this season over power. Why not? He has Shohei, Freddie and Will to knock him in.
And Muncy and Teo and Pahez
Teo is the Butter and egg man!