After Blake Snell went down for a few days, some fans complained that the Dodgers did not have enough pitching. I beg to differ. Landon Knack had a bad game when he was called up, so that means he can never pitch… right? Well, he didn’t pitch great last night. We shall see… There are lots of teams that could want him. He could be traded, as could Bobby Miller, who allegedly will pitch tomorrow. Teams are desperate for starting pitchers, and the Dodgers are loaded.
Snell will return in the next couple of weeks to be added to a rotation of Yamamoto, Sasaki, Glasnow, and May. Tony Gonsolin should be back around the first of May (he pitched four innings at OKC last night), and then Old Man Kershaw can come off the IL on May 17. Oh, and they might be saving Ohtani until after the All-Star Break. Emmet Sheehan should also return at that time as well. The Dodgers will be sellers of pitching.
Utility Players
Some Dodger fans want to see Kike Hernandez, Chris Taylor, Austin Barnes and even Max Muncy, Andy Pages, and/or Miguel Rojas gone. In their places, they want Hank Aaron, Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Jackie Robinson, Babe Ruth, and Mike Trout. Yeah… that’s not going to happen. I would be surprised if any of the six aforementioned players are not on the roster at the end of the season… unless it is injury-induced.
I am a massive fan of Alex Freeland, but unless there is an injury, I think he will be at OKC all year. Next year, I expect Mookie to move to 2B and Alex to be the starting SS. Every year, Max Muncy goes through a tough stretch where he can’t jump out of a boat and hit water, the fans (on cue) all go crazy, and then he comes back and ends up with 35 home runs! I also expect Max to be a Dodger in 2026. He will, however, likely platoon with a RH hitter like Kike or Miggy Ro… or maybe Will Smith (Bluto will be all over that). With Dalton rushing up to the big club (see what I did there?), I think it’s a good idea to play Will at 3B in the future—just my opinion.
Trades Anyone?
Will the Dodgers be active in the Deadline Trade Market? Well, Andrew Friedman said he doesn’t want to be a buyer at the deadline, but he did not say that he wouldn’t be a seller. Players who could be traded include Landon Knack, Bobby Miller, Tony Gonsolin (who has 2.5 years of control left), Hunter Feduccia, and Ryan Ward (not a huge value). James Outman has little to no value, but Andy Pages could be part of a deal for the right player.
I keep hearing about Luis Robert, Jr. This guy has regressed big time once he got paid. In my opinion, this could reflect a character issue. I can’t see the Dodgers making that kind of trade, and especially without seeing what Kim can do in The Show!
Callups and Moveups?
- Kendall George looks visibly bigger and stronger, and that could pay off down the road. He’s about the size of Mookie Betts.
- Josue DePaula is struggling (a little) at GL while Zyhir Hope is raking! I expect Hope to move to Tulsa by Mid-Season. He is playing CF at Great Lakes, but that doesn’t mean he can play it up three levels.
- Luke Fox looks way lost at GL. He may move back to RC.
- Hyeseong Kim will undoubtedly get called up, but it might be in late May or June.
- LH Ben Harris is pitching very well at OKC in relief and has 10 Ks in 7 IP (1.09 WHIP). Watch him!
The Los Angeles Dodgers are calling up right-handed pitcher Bobby Miller to start Wednesday’s game against the Colorado Rockies, manager Dave Roberts announced Tuesday.
Knack will be optioned or Garcia will be DFA for assignment to open up the roster spot.I’m not a fan of either pitcher.
Option Knack. Garcia can stay and take innings.
Until Phillips is ready. Kershaw pitched 2 scoreless innings today. He allowed 2 hits and struck out 2 with no walks. Teo could return to the lineup tonight. He has been day to day.
“LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers are inching closer to getting left-hander Clayton Kershaw back, as he’s set to take a big step in his recovery from multiple offseason surgeries.
Kershaw is scheduled to throw around two innings for Triple-A Oklahoma City in Wednesday’s game against the Tacoma Rainiers, the Mariners’ Triple-A club, at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark at 12:05 p.m. ET/9:05 a.m. PT”.
Kershaw is not eligible to be activated off the 60-day injured list until May 17.
I always thought Robert Jr. would be a good fit in the outfield. I’m willing to bet that a change of scenery will impact his career in a positive way. But that being said, might as well stick Outman in center. As for Landon Knack, he is a solid innings eater. And they are important. I really hope Kim’s bat can play in the Bigs. And I also think Alex Freeland is the real deal…….but I still love Bo. Just not on the Madres.
Book em
Knack is only good against Shitty teams like the Rockies.
Rooting for Bobby Miller to have a strong start. He looked like a budding ace in ’23–but then ’24 happened.
The Dodgers do have a lot starters, especially when we include the expected arrivals of Shohei, Gonsolin, Kershaw and Sheehan. Miller has a chance to wedge into a six-man rotation.
May and Yamamoto have been excellent. Sasaki is going through some growing pains. Glasnow makes me nervous. And Snell is making we wish that the Dodgers, not the Red Sox, had swung a blockbuster for Crochet… He’s been a beast.
Best thing about today’s win: Jack Dreyer. Among the pen’s lefties, he has outpitched Banda, Vesia and even Tanner Scott. Dreyer is pitching like he never wants to visit Oklahoma again….
Roberts says he wants Pages to have about 150 ABs worth of runway. So it may take an injury for Kim to be promoted sooner.
Heading toward midseason, the Dodgers will have a better sense of what they need and what might be on the market… perhaps both Robert and Arenado.
At the end of the season Snell will be the better pitcher than Grochet, and he did cost any prospects….
Debatable
You mean Crochet? Right now, Crochet is one of the best in the majors. Buehler out-dueled Pepiot last night. Lux had a 4-4 game.
Yup, Ill take Snell, and he didnt cost prospects….
Remember Snell has postseason experience as well…
The Dodgers should try to make Dreyer a starter at some point in his career.
I like him in relief
I was hoping Miller would be the next Spencer Strider last year. I mean, his fastball is a known quantity, but his peripherals are really really good, too – at least according to the Stuff+ stats. I don’t get the implosion. I still think he’s got a lot of potential. Not the time to trade him.
I get the Crochet lust. I would’ve liked to have seen AF get Crochet, too, but you should also understand that he falls into that high risk/high reward category. He’s a stud now, but he’s a converted reliever. His arm can go “kaboom” at any time. I’ve never been a huge Snell fan, but he’s good, really good, and perhaps more reliable long-term. Still, the Dodgers have so many pitching prospects, I wonder if a couple of them would’ve been enough to get Crochet.
If there is one constant in life, aside from death and taxes, it’s fans freaking out over slumps in the first month of a season. Anyone who’s is saying we need to get rid of Muncy now, as well as half the team who aren’t currently playing like all-stars, is a moron and needs to calm down.
It’s APRIL!
None of this matters. The only thing that matters is the team being full strength and hitting on all cylinders in September and October.
Ok, maybe it matters a little if you think the Padres and Giants are really that good. The Padres might be. No way the Dodgers don’t at least get a wild card, but I still think home field advantage is important.
Luis Robert gives me Puig vibes. No thanks.
How bout our guy CT3 last night. Solid game from him down in the 8 hole….
Dont write him off just yet…..
Your guy,not my guy.”One game does NOT a season. make”. Remember what team he was facing last night, the 3-14 Rockies.
Man, the guy has a good game and you cant even give him credit, not even a little bit of credit????
The guy has built in some equity…..
I’m with you 100%. CT3 did his job. Bravo. Landon Knack did his job. Bravo. We won the game. Bravo. Bashing Dodger players is not in my DNA. Bravo. But each to their own.
Book em
It’s called Negative Equity. It’s like when your house is worth less than what you owe on your mortgage.The Dodgers are underwater with Taylor’s current salry. His salary doesn’t justify his performance or roster spot when there are better choices at Oklahoma City. I have to see way more to agree with your assesment of Taylor. I hope you’re right.
What equity?
He had a negative OPS+ for most of last year.
Who was in the field late in games in the playoffs?
Taylor has value, is he overpaid, sure, but it isn’t your money. Support the squad!!!
Some of you just love to bash on guys….
Is this a joke?
Who cares whose “money it is”
And, BTW, we are super-optimistic fans.
Taylor is over-paid?!?!?! He had a negative OPS+ for most of last year.
100 OPS+ is average!!
Negative OPS+ is below minor-league quality.
That was last year bud….try to be a little more positive maybe….you will be a happier person….
If you ignore all the balls a pitcher throws, you might think he only throws strikes.
Stop with the silliness.
I’m with you, Matt. Ride or die.
Wesside
A couple of observations
1 – Mookie does look much better at SS this year
2 – Muncy looks horrible in the field. I agree with Mark that he will start hitting although the last couple of years he has regressed vs. LHP. But he, like Conforto, is a liability defensively
3 – The OF defense isn’t good unless Edman is in CF. Pages is a RF playing CF. His routes out there are scary. Conforto has never been a good defensive OF. Teo is average at best. They need a CF. Not Luis Robert though. One good year doesn’t make you a good player.
4 – Landon Knack – look at his numbers from last year. He pitched like Cy Young vs sub .500 teams and like Miguel Rojas vs good teams. I agree with Andrew Vincent Forte.
5 – The offense will start rolling. The aces will start pitching like aces. It’s still early. And they will make adjustments if necessary.
Good stuff. Yeah, not worried at all. Just shows how crucial Teo is anchoring the middle of the lineup.
So were you wearing your glasses when you made this observation? Because this was posted on this actual thread today. Kind of weird to post what you think that your eyes see that goes against actual statistics.
))The early returns on Mookie Betts at shortstop are looking really good. Here’s where he ranks in different metrics (SS Ranking, MLB Ranking):
OAA- 3rd, 7th
Def- 4th, 12th
Fielding Run Value- 4th, 8th
Range- 4th, 8th
He’s been one of the best defensive players in MLB.((
Kershaw was dealing today. 3 innings, a couple of hits, no walks.
30 pitches ,22 strikes.
Looked great for the first time on the mound in a while….
Hell I think if you can get through three innings on 30 pitches with no walks or runs, that is looking great whether or not you have been on the mound yesterday. That’’s a freaking good outing. Can’t tell I’m a huge Kershaw fan huh
Yeah, you are correct!
Landon knack is optioned to Oklahoma City to make room for today’s starter Bobby Miller.
10:10 PM ET
Rockies (3-14)
Dodgers (13-6)
SP German Marquez R
0-2 4.60 ERA
SP Bobby Miller R
0-0 .00 ERA
Confirmed Lineup
DH S. Ohtani L
SS Mookie Betts R
1B F. Freeman L
RF T. Hernandez R
LF M. Conforto L
2B Tommy Edman S
3B Max Muncy L
CF Andy Pages R
C A. Barnes R
60° Wind 10 mph Out
Teo is back,NO Smith
Evan Phillips making probably his last rehab outing today pitched 1 inning, 1hit allowed, no runs allowed,1K,15 ptches 10 strikes and got the save in first place Oklahoma City’s 3-1 win this afternoon. Luis Garcia with NO options remaining will probably be DFA to open up the roster spot for Phillips.
Hey Bear,
Weird question:
Is truckstop.com legit?
As a potential data plate?
I don’t know much about it, but some truckers say that they use it all the time. Truckstop.com was founded in 1995, and it was the first online load board. It has since expanded its services to include freight matching, rate analysis, carrier monitoring, and factoring solutions.
That’s all I know. Bear probably knows more but might be hiberating – bears tend to do that.
Never used it. I have heard from other truckers that it is legit. I do know that some of our dispatchers used resources like that to get us loads if we got stuck somewhere. The last two years I drove, I was over the road and sometimes dispatch did not have a load back for me. My last trip, I went from Phoenix to Massachusetts, then down to Rhode Island to get a load heading to Milwaukee. From Milwaukee, I went to Denver with a load of dry milk. I was sent up to Fort Collins to pick up a load of Budweiser. I then took that to Mesa to a distributor there, who by the way was a relative of John McCain, and then I retired. That was about 2 days before Thanksgiving in 2010. I then loaded up my car and my friend’s pickup, and we toed it all to Colorado.
Thanks both!
We spend about three million dollars a year on freight. My son is the supply chain and shipping/trucking expert if you ever want to pick his brain. My brain has already been picked over.
He’s a Dodger fan too…
Appreciate it.
Actually, someone was citing data from there and i wasn’t sure if valid.
1. Everyone’s opinion is welcome on LADT that is a given. Whether positive or negative.
2. Every player on every team is in an elite group of the best players in the world.
3. Which players deserve a call up over CT3? Remember all the great talent on the farm need consistent playing time and AB’S.
4. CT3 is the 26th man. And he is doing a credible job as that player.
5. If Knack is a Cy Young against teams below .500 damn he must be pretty darn good. He is definitely eating precious innings, how bad is that?
6. If you don’t believe any of this……………….Re; Andrew Friedman.
Book em
Doc not too happy with Freddie trying to steal as base last night. They don’t want him to take any chances with that ankle.
Miller still a head case.
Really has a hard time stemming the blood when it goes poorly.
Pages producing
I look forward to Kim getting called up. I hope he can get on base enough at the bottom of the order. Have a decent .OBP and play good defense. I don’t need much more than that this year.
It is apparent that right now this is not a good defensive team despite Mookie’s improvement. Muncy, Conforto, and Teo are avg to below avg defensively. Pages is a corner outfielder. I never realized how slow Conforto was as a runner. I trust Friedman to figure it out.
Good for CT3. I think a lot of us forget how good he’s been and how many big moments he’s had as a Dodger. Most of their careers I would take Taylor over Kike. He may or may not finish this season as a Dodger but I appreciate what he’s done for the Dodgers.
Hopefully Max breaks out at plate with one of his hot streaks. He’s looked close. Can’t afford to have him be a butcher at 3rd and hit sub .200. It will make people question not grabbing a certain third baseman who is dying to be a Dodger.
I was hoping that Bobby Miller would prove he’s a keeper.
Instead he’s looking more like trade fodder with a decreasing value. Oh well… Luis Robert Jr’s trade value has been decreasing too…
I like the idea of Will Smith eventually shifting to 3B–but only if Rushing or ??? can equal or exceed his defense behind the plate.
This is one of the reasons I’ve suggested that Rushing should be taking some infield at 3B. We know he is proficient at 1B, and we know he has a strong arm…so why not? If Rushing can be a first-rate ML catcher like Smith, terrific. But the Dodgers shouldn’t have a second-rate catcher. A second-rate defensive 3B is tolerable.
Max is 34. Will is 30. The Dodgers will be replacing Max before they replace Will.
Freddie is 35. He’s been dealing with some injuries–but I think he’ll outlast Max.
Mookie, at 32, is looking good at SS.
National League West currently has three teams playing over 700 ball, four over 600. No other division has more than one team playing 600 ball and none have any playing 700 ball.
Was the best division last year and its the best division this year.
Thats good for us, keeps us sharp all year.
Onto the site of the 2020 World Series Championships. I was at game 1 and game 2, great memories…Glasnow Vs Kersh was game 1…..