When I was nine years old, my father and mother moved the family (my younger brother and I) from the city to the farm. My parents were poor, and we just rented a farmhouse on a large farm, and the landlord let us use part of the barn. We ended up buying a couple of quarter horses (I don’t know what the other three quarters were), and from age nine until age sixteen (when I discovered cars), I spent many hours a day on the back of my horse, King! I also had a dog named King… I guess I liked that name. I called them King Horse and King Dog. When I turned sixteen, it was understood that my father would not (could not) buy me a car, so that was up to me.
I had decided that I wanted to become a mechanic… a Ford Mechanic, to be accurate, so when I turned sixteen and could drive, I borrowed my dad’s car and went to the Ford Dealership to become a mechanic. There was just one small Ford Dealership in Greenville, Ohio – the town I grew up in (Population 12,720). So, I marched in and asked for the Service Manager. His first name was Jim, and I can’t recall his last name, but essentially, I said, “I’m Mark Timmons – hire me.” He did not! He politely told me that they did not have any openings at the time. I thanked him and asked if I could check back later. He said that was fine… so for the next six weeks, I checked back every day… until he hired me because he was sick of dealing with me every day.
That pretty much defines me: As Louis Pasteur once said: “My greatest strength lies solely in my tenacity.” Well, it’s also my greatest weakness… but I digress. The point I was going to make before I got off track was that I was once a Great Horseman (at least in my mind). All the surrounding neighbors had me break their horses, and even though some almost broke me, I was successful at that. I was very good at it. It is such a rush trying to break a stallion that wants to break you first. I loved it. At the County Fair, which was billed as the “World’s Largest County Fair” at the time, they had a horse race every year, and we entered a number of horses in it. My cousin and I did this every year. There were no classes, just about 40 to 50 horses that all took off at once. The thing was, King won every year. He had a mean streak in him and he did not like to lose.
I never used a crop or a whip on King. He never wore blinders. He always went to the front of the pack and stayed there. If he saw another horse gaining on him, he would turn his head to look and then kick it into another gear. He could always dig down and turn it on. He was a champion. My brother inherited him when I turned sixteen, and I have ridden very little since then, but it’s like riding a bike – you never forget!
What’s the point of all this drivel? Well, Dave Roberts has not “went to the whip” as yet! After watching the comeback last night, maybe he won’t have to. However, in August, the intensity will ramp up. In August, Mookie and Muncy will be back. Probably Yamamoto, Clayton, Kelly, Graterol, Buehler, and others, and the intensity will build. The Dodgers are deliberately not “going to the whip” at this juncture. They know it’s about the playoffs, and they plan to do it differently this year. In the next 29 days, there will be some player moves. I have no clue what they will be, but this is going to be quite the ride. Of that, I am sure!
Exciting end to the game. Bang,bang, bang walk off win.Nice call by JD.
Miller has not gotten all his velo back.Down across his pitching arsenal last night. Sitting 96-97 mph on his heater, last year he consistenly was 98-99 mph while getting up to 100 regularly. But it was improvement nonetheless yesterday.
Wiggling out of that base loaded, no out after giving up the HR was a good sign IMHO.
Heyward is in a free fall at the plate. We now basically have with Kike, Barnes, Lux , Heyward, CT3 (though doing better lately) , Biggio 6 bats on the roster at or below the Mendoza line. Amazing that we still lead by 8.5 games.
Great to see Cartaya rake at AAA. That HR was an absolute oppo monster. showed what kind of power this kid has. If nothing else it will increase his trade value should the Dodgers include him in a trade.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am not sure Bobby Miller is well served to throw 100 MPH… maybe 96-97 with an occasional 99 is better… and it his lengthen his time until TJ.
Good drivel. I agree, July is not the time for the whip. Can’t wait to see what AF has in store for us.
Just added to the BA Top 100:
#92 Alex Freeland, SS, Dodgers
Oh look. It’s another Dodgers hitting prospect. Freeland was a third-round pick in 2022. There were questions about whether a club-foot he had repaired as a child would limit his mobility, but it’s not slowing Freeland down at all. The switch-hitter is impressing scouts both as a hitter and in the field, where he’s Tulsa’s everyday shortstop.
Scouting Grades Hit: 55 | Power: 45 | Run: 40 | Field: 50 | Arm: 60
Two teams, the Rays and the Rockies have announced they are open to trading starting pitching. Rays have an excess of starting pitching and sent Civale to the Brewers in trade. Zack Elfin could be available. Rockies announced they will be listening to offers for Cal Quantrill and Austin Gomber. If he is traded, the Arenado deal gets all that much worse for the Rockies. Fans are pissed there anyway.
My lone deadline trade deal, Outman, Rushing, Karros and Kopp, to Tampa, for Elfin and Arozarena. Might not be enough, but I am willing to throw in Vargas. I know, Arozarena is hitting under .200 right now, but his career numbers are decent, he is a 20 homer a year guy, not injury prone, and has speed. Coaches in LA and being around this many professional hitters might help increase his production. Primarily a left fielder, but he has played some center. Elfin is a proven starter who could cover some innings. But the biggest plus???? Arozarena is a .336 hitter in the post season with 11 homers. That is in 9 series. I would rather see him in the lineup than Robert Jr, who has played in 7 post season games in his career. His BA in those series is excellent, .393, inflated because he has only had 28 at bats. 10 of his 11 post-season hits are singles. I will take the power thank you.
I like both players. Arozarena had an awful start, but is hitting .291 in June with a .892 OPS.
The thing is, I think Vargas is Randy Arozarena. I think Arozarena is an apt comparison.
I do not comprehend why the Dodgers will not give him a chance. You might say, “well they know best.” Sometimes they don’t! They said Lux could play SS – I said he couldn’t. Maybe they are wrong about Vargas too.
I think they should stick Vargas in LF and let him go.
I have no doubt the Dodgers could improve Eflin.
It would likely take something like River Ryan and Payton Martin along with Kopp to get Eflin and I would do that.
Good like that trade idea. I give it a thumbs up. Hey is Cody Hoese and Lupicus if I were the dodgers I would bring those two guys up and send kiki hernnandez and biggio
Barnes down like for15 days get there confidence back up. And get them pissed off that they went down to the minors. Who knows Lupicus and Hoese could tear it up and make the bench better. What you think about that? Wish they could send Barnes down to. And bring up Feducci. You never know when these minor league guys come up and it’s like where did this guy come from.
Bradley,
I love that idea
Was looking for all 3 of those guys to come up to the big leagues a month ago.
Regrettably time is running out and I don’t see them going in that direction now, it’s a shame because they will probably loose 2 or all 3 of these guys after the season and they never gave them the chance.
Looks like any moves they make now will be via a trade .
I believe they would have to release Kike ,Biggio and Barnes
Because they have no more minor league options.
Kike and Barnes cannot be optioned. Only way they could go to OKC is on a rehab assignment. Biggio the same thing. He most likely will be released right after the All-Star break. Max will be ready by then.
Arozarena ? might be a change of scenery. does him wonders. OR , another .200 hitter to go along with the other 5-6 they have already! Eflin makes some sense. Still interested in the Thomas kid from the nationals Bear? Whomever they get, the guy needs to hit!! …. Starting to get maybe a wee bit concerned about the bullpen. Phillips hasn’t been lights out lately, or has Trienan. Would love to see Bazooka and Brasier back soon. Could Dustin May provide some late inning relief? Kelly could also help, if he’s on he’s nails! Love Kenley Jansen, but that ship has sailed. Miller from Oakland? WAY too much!! never ever will happen! ….. .Closer and closer to the trade deadline, should be exciting!! Happy 4th everyone!!
Like Mark stated, he has picked it up quite a bit in June. I love Thomas, but he also was off to a bad start and has not hit his stride yet. But he is a great outfielder. As for Arozarena, I love his post-season stats. The guy is a monster in the playoffs. And he brings a lot of attitude and speed to the roster. I think you get him around players like Freddie, Mookie, Shohei, Hernandez, he will definitely up his game. I think he is a viable option simply because AF still has a lot of contacts in the Rays organization. Don’t worry about Phillips, Treinen or Vesia. Phillips actually is not very good in non-save situations. But he shines usually against the middle of the lineup. He made one bad pitch and Joc corked it. As for Vargas, I don’t think he can match Arozarena’s post season heroics. He doesn’t have the experience. I say let the kid either play or trade his butt for someone who can.
I’ll take Robert Jr
You can have him. He is way too injury prone. And since he came off of the IL, he sucks big time. Raised his average a little, but all his power has come with the bases empty. Not exactly clutch in my book.
10:10 PM ET
Diamondbacks (41-44)
Dodgers (53-33)
SP Cristian Mena R
0-0 .00 ERA
SP Gavin Stone R
9-2 2.73 ERA
Confirmed Lineup
DH S. Ohtani L
C Will Smith R
1B F. Freeman L
LF T. Hernandez R
CF Andy Pages R
SS Miguel Rojas R
RF J. Heyward L
3B Chris Taylor R
2B Gavin Lux L
76° Wind 10 mph Out
No Vargas again. I think they are trying to tell him something. The real test comes this weekend when Milwaukee comes to town. Me, I walk Christian Walker whenever he comes up with the game on the line. Or hit him in his coconut.
In my opinion I believe Vargas will be traded at the deadline.
The Vargas situation is similar to the Busch situation last year. They brought Busch up and didn’t play him much and then he was traded.
I don’t get what they’re doing with Vargas either. They ram him out in the lineup for half a season knowing he had bad hands. This year he’s healthy and he’s barely getting any kind of chance. They might as well bring up Sweeney to give Rojas days off and send Vargas to OKC to build up trade value
I definitely like the guy. You can live with his strikeouts because he has a decent batting average. If Muncy could hit around .245 like he did in 21, with 30 plus homer power, no one would care about his K’s.
Wednesday schedule
4:05 p.m. PT: Great Lakes (Patrick Copen) at West Michigan (Joe Adametz)
4:35 p.m.: Tulsa (Chris Campos) at Wichita (Zebby Matthews)
5:45 p.m.: Rancho Cucamonga (Wyatt Crowell) vs. Visalia (Denny Larrondo)
6:05 p.m.: Oklahoma City (River Ryan) at Las Vegas (Joe Boyle)
David Vassegh
@THEREAL_DV
Max Muncy said he is trending in the right direction. Consider before recently, he hadn’t swung a bat in 2 months, that is a longer time off than he takes during the off season. #Dodgers
I would consider Arozarena after we get Bichette
Yes blue jays said they were not going to trade Bichette, maybe and maybe not. Maybe they just haven’t gotten an offer they want yet. Or haven’t gotten an offer at all yet.
Both these guys are going to cost draft capital. I would prefer using it on a young SS just getting to his prime.
Arozarena : 29 yrs old
Fielding %: . 991 LF played almost 450 games in LF , but has only played 15 games in his career in CF and has played a little over 85 games in RF
Excellent defensive
Player but really a LF and in a pinch can cover all 3 outfield spots
But as with Bichette he is having a terrible year offensively. Mark eludes to a good June so that’s a positive.
And Bichette has only played a total of 5-6 games in the posts season. Randy has proven in the past he performs in playoffs.
But to make my point let’s go to the career numbers as you guys have for Randy.
Randy A . 29yrs old under contract through 2027?
2024 Regular Season
AB: 286
AVG: 196
HR: 11
RBI: 28
SB: 10
OPS: 658
Randy A
Career regular season:
AB: 2036
AVG : 255
HR : 82
RBI : 282
SB: 90
OPS: 781
Fielding % . 991 LF
Strikeout % @ 29%
Bichette: 26yrs old under contract through 2025
Bichette:
2024 Regular Season
AB: 281
AVG: 228
HR: 4
RBI: 28
SB: 4
OPS:610
Career Regular Season
AB: 2463
AVG: 291
HR:93
RBI: 340
SB: 55
OPS: 802
Fielding %: .964 SS
Strikeout % @ 21%
Bichette has equal power and has much better bat to ball skills.
He is younger and plays at a premium position.
Much easier to get an outfielder , especially a LF
I would put outfield as the 3rd most important area of need. Between the current 4 outfielders and possibly Outman were covered for this year.
A top of the rotation starter and a shortstop I believe are higher priorities.
Im concerned with infield .
I’m not sold Muncy will be good Muncy when he comes back this year. He is very fragile and he coming back from a tough injury.
With Bichette in the fold and Muncy and possibly Betts not coming back at full strength, Rojas would now be free to protect us at 2nd and or 3rd base as well as SS.
Efin, is not the top of rotation guy we need . Maybe he is a 4th starter at best. Prefer a top of rotation guy or work with what we have.
Go Dodgers!!
I think Eflin is the kind of pitcher Mark Prior can make much better.
I will say in Prior I trust.
Now RVS, that’s a different story.
Go Dodgers !!
Bichette is not a great defensive SS, and he adds little to an offense that is struggling THIS year. Granted, he has hit in the past, but he is not hitting this year. I saw a story on Yahoo sports about his fielding. I keep Rojas there as long as possible until Mookie gets back, and upgrade at SS in the offseason. Just my opinion, but I do not thing the Jays GM is bullshitting about not trading two of his better players. You would have a better shot at getting Springer and his big contract and equally weak bat this year. They do not need a SS. Give Rojas a day off mixed in with an off day, and he should stay fresh. They need a good defensive SS in the playoffs. I trust Mookie more than I do Bichette.
Does Boston have any players that would help the Dodgers. Could the Dodgers get Rafael Devers 3b and Jansen Closer and Oneal OF who could play centerfield. Just haven’t watched two many Red Sox games this year.
Devers is the face of the franchise. You could get him for the following:
Max Muncy
Dalton Rushing
Justin Wrobleski
Andre Lipcius
Gavin Lux
Andy Pages
Justin Wrobleski
Bobby Miller
River Ryan
That should do it!
You forgot Mookie.
Bradley, the dodgers have as much chance of trading for Devers as Austin Barnes has of starting the all star game! I’ll give you a lot of credit. You got some good stuff!
Never know what you will hear might hear Verlander Tucker to the dodgers for outman Vargas rivers and rushing because they think those two players light it up in the playoffs. I never thought we would get turner and scherzer and we did that’s what Friedman does superise trades
Bradley, with Houston only 2 games behind the Mariners now, and 3 back in the wild card race, there is not a chance they trade Tucker and Verlander. And for two players like that, the package going back would have to be huge. Also, Verlander has a full no-trade clause in his contract.
Welcome to the show Mr Mena
I would just as soon leave Rojas at short and move Mookie to second when he returns. They have given Lux plenty of ABs and while there has been gradual improvement I don’t think it is enough. I like the Arozarena and Eflin trade suggestion. To me, a starting outfielder and a starter are the two biggest needs. An outfield of Hernandez, Pages, and Arozarena would let Heyward assume a better role as a utility outfielder and pinch hitter. Pages hitting 8th in that line up and Rojas ninth is a big upgrade over what we are running out there now. That line up makes it possible to carry Rojas’ glove (which is elite) and not trade for a shortstop at the deadline.
I don’t think it is wise for Rojas to play EVERY day at his age, so against RHP, Lux will play 2B and Mookie will play SS most times. Rojas will play a lot…
Agreed. Rojas would wear down but a three person rotation at that position seems to me to be a better solution than trading for a shortstop. I would prefer to save the prospect capital for an outfielder.
Tough week for our top 3 starters
Meh, it happens , looks like they are trying out new pitchers from AAA to eat up innings First bad outing for Gavin, move on. Noticed to see here:
Matt Gage added to the 40-man roster and Feyereisen outrighted. He can opt for free agency or stay with OKC. Pitching staff threw out a hairball tonight. Somebody please learn Walker’s weak spot. Second bad outing Roger, his first loss of the year to the Cubs was pretty bad.
Its almost the dog days.
Happy 4th everyone. Enjoy it with friends and family and a Dodger win tonight.
Bear I will most likely mail your book sometime next week.