Oh, you thought I was talking about THE MC HAMMER? No, I was saying that last night, Muncy and Conforto did Hammer! Muncy was 2-4 with a walk and 3 RBI and a Big Fly, and Conforto was 2-3 with a walk and a Big Fly. I am not saying they are “cured,” but they are trending in that direction. Last night was a massive step in the right direction!
At some point in the season, 38-year-old Luis Garcia will probably get sent down, but he is due much respect. He has pitched the 7th most innings on the team. Jack Dreyer is #5 and Ben Casparius is #3. Dustin May is now #2 on the team in Innings Pitched. Kershaw is building up, and so is Tony Gonsolin. Then, some combination of Sheehan, Glasnow, Sasaki, and Snell will be back. Friedman does not need to make a trade, nor should he. The Dodgers are just where they need to be: First place and on cruise control, enjoying the country club. In September, Doc will go to the whip! Until then… chill!
Last night was a great night as the Indiana Pacers went up 3-1 on the damn Knicks!
Down on the Farm
- Alex Freeland (.272/.825) broke out of his mini-slump in a big way: 3-5 with 5 RBI on 2 HRs.
- James Outman was also 3-5 with his 9th HR (.252/.815).
- Nick Senzel was 2-5 with 2 HR and 3 RBI.
- Ryan Loutos pitched two perfect innings with 2 Ks.
- Nick Frasso also pitched two innings and allowed three hits and one run, but struck out 4.
- Tulsa was smoked 11-0. Move on, nothing to see here.
- Mike Sirota was hitless, but he didn’t play. That’s the only way to stop him.
- Josue DePaula (.277/.898) was 3-3 with a walk and a HR.
- The Trio of Hope, DePaula, and Sirota could move on to Tulsa soon. That would change their whole dynamic.
- At RC, Joendry Vargas was 1-4 (.306/.830), and Quintero (.316/.988), Munoz (.296/.848), and Hainline (.329/.893) are all candidates to move up to GL.
- Hyun-Seok Jang is still learning (4.96 ER/32 IP/43 K)
- Kyle Nevin has been working at the Complex, as have Gelof et al. He was 3-4 last night. Maddux Bruns also pitched there last night and got bombed! This is a Rookie and Re-Training League for the Dodgers.
Tuesday scores
Oklahoma City 11, Las Vegas 9 (10 innings
Wichita 11, Tulsa 0
Great Lakes 4, Fort Wayne 1
Rancho Cucamonga 11, Modesto 5
ACL Dodgers 11, ACL Padres 10
Wednesday schedule
10:05 a.m. PT: Tulsa (Peter Heubeck) at Wichita (Ricky Castro)
3:05 p.m.: Great Lakes (Wyatt Crowell) vs. Fort Wayne (Clark Candiotti)
6:35 p.m.: Oklahoma City (Matt Sauer) at Las Vegas (Mason Barnett)
6:40 pm.: Rancho Cucamonga (Aidan Foeller) at Modesto (Ryan Sloan)
For more detailed recaps,stats,schedules, standings and box scores for Dodger minor league teams go to the top of this page and cIick on MINOR LEAGUE AFFLIATES.
1:10 PM ET EARLY GAME
Dodgers (34-21)
Guardians (29-25)
SP Clayton Kershaw L
0-0 7.50 ERA
SP Kolby Allard L
2-0 1.50 ERA
Confirmed Lineup
DH S. Ohtani L
SS Mookie Betts R
RF T. Hernandez R
1B F. Freeman L
C Will Smith R
LF Andy Pages R
CF Tommy Edman S
3B E. Hernandez R
2B Miguel Rojas R
43% Rain
61° Wind 8 mph R-L
A WELCOME LOSS:
J.P. Feyereisen clears waivers, elects free agency
Manager Dave Roberts spoke on Evan Phillip’s injury and the lack of a timeline moving forward.
“It’s starting to get a little concerning,” Roberts said. “I don’t know how long we can give it until he can attempt to start playing catch again. I’m getting a little kind of concerned, but hoping for the best.”
Phillips was originally placed on the injured list for forearm discomfort in early May, but an MRI later revealed that the root of the problem was the inflammation in his elbow. No structural damage was found.
I hate to say I told you so, but I told you so. 😉
Slow playing it.
They dont need him NOW. They will need him for the stretch run….
Miller can be a Bullpen piece to get us thru the 162….
This is not slow playing. He recently received a PRP injection for lingering pain in his elbow and is shut down from throwing for at least two weeks due to inflammation revealed by an MRI. They don’t give PRP injections to slow play someone. They do it in the hope of regenerating tissue, ligaments, tendons, etc. I am not an alarmist, but I would not be surprised to see Evan undergo TJ.
Also folks how good is Ohtani???!?!
We are super fortunate we get to watch him day in and day out….and he hasn’t even pitched a single inning for us yet.
Generational talent and does things the right way.
I don’t want him to pitch… that’s how good he is…
Maybe in the playoffs. That’s why I think he may pitch in relief.
Conforto yesterday:
Single to left, homer to center. Isn’t that what you are supposed to do when you are in a ‘slump’. Just try to hit the ball ‘up the middle’ and stop trying to pull everything!!!!
I think he has to know that he is the next to go (barring some injury) . There has to be someone else we can find that can match his ‘offense’ and be a better fielder. So he has a few more weeks to try and show something
Yikes, that one hurt, Max and two seeing eye grounders! Had a bad feeling about Vesia….good outfield play.
Tanner Scott and Alex Vesia snatched defeat from the Jaws of Victory.
Muncy had a very makeable DP ball, at least get one out there….
Don’t worry Matt – give it time. It’s a long season.
He’ll come round.
I agree.
Im happy with a road series win, and a great outing from Kersh. Not fretting over a game in May.
Anybody get the exit velocity on that shot that handcuffed Max?
Finally saw a replay. There’s a reason it wasn’t scored as an error. And there’s a reason 3B is called “the hot corner.”
An effective pitcher gives up soft contact, not screamers.
Tanner Scott faced six batters and gave up three hits and a walk. He was not effective. And this was his FIFTH blown save.
A winnable game blown by the bullpen again. Will the Dodgers be sorry they signed Tanner Scott to a 4 year contract? What’s wrong with Aex Vesia? He’s given up seven homeruns in relief in a third of the season. Hopefully we get some fresh arms back sooner than later from the IL.
I did not like the Scott signing at the time and now I really don’t.
He had some very bad luck that inning.
He’ll be fine.
2 of 3 on the road against a good team…Ill take it…
Scott faced six batters. He gave up three hits and a walk. All four runs were earned.
Recorded only two outs…
I didn’t see it, but I gather that Max didn’t resemble Brooks Robinson out there. At any rate, the scorekeeper didn’t give him an error.
I wouldn’t attribute all that to bad luck.
This 5 inning strategy. Killing the bullpen. Can’t starters go 7
Inning, specially if their pitching well
No established closer.
How many balls did Max have hit to him at 3B?
I was in the truck listening so I don’t know.
one i believe.
Per Mark Langill of the Dodgers, “The Dodgers have allowed 69 home runs this season, the second-highest total in the National League behind Arizona (71).”
The worst culprits –
Dustin May – 7
Alex Vesia – 7 (!) (in 24 IP)
Landon Knack – 6 (in 29 IP)
Roki Sasaki – 6
Anthony Banda – 5 (in 24 IP)
Yoshi Yamamoto – 5
Tyler Glasnow – 4 (in 18 IP)
Tony Gonsolin – 4
Tanner Scott – 4
Pretty ugly.
Ugh. Not good at all.
Just a shame that a good start from Kershaw gets wasted like this.
Let’s note that the list of offenders does NOT include Casparius and Dreyer, who have been the saving grace for this bullpen. That was the FIFTH blown save for Scott.
So who is on the Dodgers’ shopping list for the bullpen?
Some good arms, like Kopech and Sheehan, are due back soon. And Shohei eventually. There might be some guys down on the farm who can help.
… and yet we are still in first place with an entire pitching staff on the IL.
I’ll take it!
I was listening to the Guardians’ Broadcast, and they said that Muncy made “an incredible play to stop a sure hit…. Brooks Robinson could not have thrown him out.” So when I hear that he should have started a double play, I wonder who I should believe…
uh, mark , ball took a slight bad. hop. it wasn’t that bad. he got his feet tangled up. really, he should have gotten at least one out. not criticizing, just the truth. and you sir can handle the truth! bullpen has been a problem lately except for ben and jack!
Yeah, all I want is the truth. Announcers are not always reliable. They make up shit!
I don’t think Max is a player you bring in at the end of a game. I generally don’t second-guess Doc, but that seems to be a bad move.
Unfortunately, Pages slipped in LF or he could have thrown out a runner at home. He does have a rifle.
But if were going to assign blame, let’s start with Scott. The season is 1/3 over, and the Dodgers’ highest paid reliever now has 5 blown saves. The bullpen used to seem like a strength but looks more like a weakness now.
Remember how Roberts used to keep giving the ball to Kimbrel despite Kimbrel’s struggles?
Would Roberts consider moving Casparius to more of a closer/”high leverage” role?
I think Muncy had earlier made a nice back hand scoop and throw.
Maybe that was yesterday ?
No.
yeah, kike was at 3rd most of the game
Doc on Muncy:
“I feel that he has an accurate throwing arm – but at times it’s inaccurate. I feel that he catches the ball cleanly – but at times he doesn’t. I think he can get to his arm and get the ball out of his glove – but at times it doesn’t.
YIKES!
In other words, he pretty good except when he isn’t.
So…. Arenado?
The Cards probably still want to move him.
Bobby Miller + ??
I figured Kershaw was coming out after 5. After getting the 3rd run and K’ing Ramirez to end the 5th, I was hoping he would get the 6th.
They are building him up slowly. He did have a few fastballs at 90 MPH. He is building up his arm. There may nbe another MPH or two in it, and that makes all his other pitches more effective.
Does AF make mistakes? Hell yes. Who doesn’t. Even with our 20/20 hindsight we still make mistakes. Go figure.
I would be dumbfounded, a trait of mine, if they dumped Muncy or Conforto. Not gonna happen. Arenado? Might as well ask The Penguin to lace em up. Any old guys playing good are not getting traded. And the ones playing bad……see Arte Moreno. Let’s continue to get younger.
Hindsight has never won a game of chess.
Book em
Man some of you like to dwell on the negative.
A series road win against a good ball club, first place, we a BUNCH of reinforcements on the way….we are good fellas.
Enjoy the ride.
Yankees next….
Sometimes I think we use the word ‘Mistake’ too much. If we drop Conforto, signing him wasn’t a mistake. The player just didn’t perform and the trade didn’t work out.
Wise words!
If you watch the replay, the ball hit to Muncy took a weird hop, making it go the other way, he was lucky to stop it, then he lost his balance. There is a reason it wasn’t scored as an error. Two of the hits off of Scott were of the very soft variety, barely reaching the outfield. But the walk, well, that was unacceptable. Vesia, home run machine that he has become, just threw the game away. Center cut fastball with no movement. Hell, Mark could have hit that thing. Dan Altavilla DFAd by the Sox. Good bullpen arm. Has been pitching great at AAA for them. Former Mariner pitcher. Angels DFAd Tim Anderson. Taylor was 0-3 again but made a spectacular diving catch to rob Goldschmidt of a hit in the first inning. No game tonight.
Taylor did finally get a hit. Now 1-9 with 5 Ks
To those who want Arenado:
He’s hitting about the same as Muncy: .239 with a .702 OPS, and Muncy makes $10 Mil while Nolan makes $30 Mil.
Arenado has committed fewer errors, BUT he has also DH’ed eight games.
Arenado is also older.
Hell, if you want a change, put Kim there.
Cudos to Mark for the brief in the prospects. To me, Spring Training was always equal to the regular season because it prepared you for the call-ups.
Let’s face it M&M on the left side is not a great half of an infield defensively. The right side with Freddy and Kim is a top 3 both defensively and, so far, offensively, offensively.
Watched the Comets on MLB after the Dodgers early game and have to admit, the team is loaded. The morale is sky high and the guys are having fun.
Ok, how does Outman rake in 3A and suck badly in the Show? He looked so comfortable in OKC. Some team should give us an strong A prospect for him, hopefully to turn him into a Bellenger.
I enjoy all the comments from the most intelligent commenters I have seen on Dodgers blogs.
Wednesday scores
Las Vegas 8, Oklahoma City 2
Tulsa 10, Wichita 7
Great Lakes 10, Fort Wayne 1
Modesto 8, Rancho Cucamonga 5
“Michael Kopech regressed in his rehab journey with the Dodgers, unable to complete one inning, as he threw 22 pitches, only eight of which were strikes. One of those strikes, his second pitch, was hit 415 feet by Seth Brown for a home run. After a strikeout, Kopech proceeded to throw eleven balls in a row, bringing back the memory of the nineteen consecutive balls he threw in his first rehab appearance on May 8. Kopech recovered to strike out the last hitter he faced and was removed”.
Thursday schedule
Oklahoma City (Bobby Miller) at Las Vegas (Luis Morales, 6:35 PM PST
Tulsa (Jackson Ferris) at Wichita (Darren Bowen), 5:05 PM PST
Fort Wayne (Jose Reyes) at Great Lakes (Eriq Swan), 3:05 PM PST
Rancho Cucamonga (Jakob Wright) at Modesto (Jeter Marinez), 6:40 PM PST
For more detailed recaps,stats,schedules, standings and box scores for Dodger minor league teams go to the top of this page and cIick on MINOR LEAGUE AFFLIATES.