I was on another site yesterday, and as usual, their modus operandi is to bash certain players, especially Doc and Andrew. Here are a few of their comments:
“AF whiffed on Scott.”
“Ohtani can look like a blind man trying to swat flies with a flyswatter, especially with men on base lately.“
“Can we stop with the whole expecting to get all of these pitchers back from the injured list? Most of those guys are not coming back. not this year.“
“The Dodger’s pitching staff is undeniably pathetic.“
“Ohtani has no clutch whatsoever, big K with RISP.“
“Why Tanner Scott is continuously run out there game after game despite his dreadful results, is puzzling to say the least.“
“I would recommend the Dodgers start paying more attention to results, and stop playing favorites, or obsessing over chase rates and zone sheets. There is absolutely no reason to continue to play Conforto. His days as an MLB hitter went by a few years ago. It makes no sense to DFA or release two veterans who have been with the team for 10 years each, who have at least sweat equity, then a guy who’s in his first year with the club who has contributed nothing for two months.”
BTW, Shohei Ohtani has a .419 OB% with a 1.021 OPS in his career with RISP. So, the morons have no clue. That’s why I ran them off. Their only joy is to criticize others, which is their own primitive attempt to make themselves feel better about their own miserable life. The problem, of course, is that while criticizing others temporarily makes them feel better about themselves, it’s a false and short-lived boost to self-worth. And in the long run, it only leads to feeling worse about themselves for being judgmental and overly critical… and so they have to repeat the cycle again, and again. Morons! They all used to comment here…That’s the end of my rant.
It was great to see Tanner Scott have a clean 10th inning and close out the game. His velocity is still down a MPH or two, but location is more important. He struck out the first two batters and got the last hitter to ground out… all with just 10 pitches. Hopefully, this is a step in the right direction. This is a case where if Scott had lasted the game, Dave Roberts is a moron, and since he saved it, Doc is a genius! I keep telling you, “It’s the players, not the manager.”
Max Muncy is certainly heating up at the right time. The glasses helped his astigmatism, and he can see better. I have it in both eyes and found that when I wear glasses, it interferes with fielding ground balls, which is why I switched to contacts. I was a little off with ground balls while wearing glasses, but I was more accurate with contacts. Maybe Muncy needs to consider that. I wore soft toric lenses, which effectively corrected my astigmatism. I wore them until 2020 (age 67) when I had COVID-19, and afterwards, my body would not tolerate them. Get contacts, Max!
There are also Morons calling for Clayton Kershaw to retire… if he is still pitching like this in a month, maybe. But after missing about a year, he gets some latitude. He’s the G.O.A.T. damnit! He had his moments last night, but he needed pinpoint control and did not have it. I keep telling you that PROGRESS IS NOT LINEAR!
Jose Urena got into the mix last night. I am intrigued to see what the Dodgers can do with him.
Down on the Farm
Peter Huebeck went 5.2 hitless innings, and allowed three walks on 7 K’s last night at Tulsa. Noah Miller is a hitting machine since he returned from the Complex (.381/.810).
Jake Gelof got 2 of the three hits at Great Lakes, including a HR. No one else did anything.
Elijah Hainline continues to rake aty RC (.312/.874)
X-CITES
ANOTHER MORON!
Tuesday scores
Reno 7, Oklahoma City 6
Tulsa 5, Amarillo 0
South Bend 11, Great Lakes 3
San Jose 5, Rancho Cucamonga 2
ACL Giants 8, ACL Dodgers 3
Wednesday schedule
Great Lakes (Wyatt Crowell) at South Bend (Tyler Schlaffer), 4:05 PM PST
Amarillo (Avery Short) at Tulsa (Jackson Ferris), 5:00 PM PST
Reno (Casey Kelly) at Oklahoma City (Bobby Miller), 5:05 PM PST
San Jose (Niko Mazza) at Rancho Cucamonga (Jakob Wright), 6:30 PM PST
Transactions
Triple-A: Will Klein was optioned to Oklahoma City.
Double-A: Patrick Copen was promoted to Tulsa.
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.
Kershaw had much better FB and slider command yesterday and I thought it was a step forward. He was almost always ahead of hitters. What he lacked was a put away pitch. But he’s moving in the right direction.
Muncy’s bat is back! But he also made the error that lead to 2 unearned runs in the 5th.
I don’t think that the Dodgers will really need to make deadline moves – the pitchers they will have back in the 2nd half are better than anyone available on the market.
I still don’t see the point to Conforto. He hasn’t been a good hitter for a few years. I was down on the move when it was announced. I would like to see Kim get Conforto’s ABs.
I do not disagree with any of it. I do know that Friedman and Company thought they could “fix” Conforto, but it hasn’t happened, and the experiment may be nearing completion.
I don’t call these acquisitions ‘mistakes’. They see something and think they can ‘fix’ something or improve. Then its up to the player to respond. So far Conforto has not gotten it done. The ‘bad luck’ answer only can go so far. Its easy for us to say, but maybe he need to try to hit up the middle or go the other way, like Freddie. But easier said than done.
Esteury Ruiz has apparently been called up. Tea leaves suggest that Edman isn’t fully healed and will go on the IL.
For his career, Ohtani is very good with RISP. This season, he is hitting just .222. His OPS is over .800 because he has 3 bombs. Smith and Freeman, and Teo are the best with RISP so far. Not saying it won’t change for Ohtani, but he still chases way too many pitches out of the zone. That is a simple fact.
We are nit picking Ohtani now?
He aint perfect, but hes the best in the game….
It is not a question of him being great, he is, but it is how much greater he would be if he had command of the strike zone. He swings and misses at way to many non-competitive pitches. Inside, outside, low and hight he swings at all of them and strikes out too much. No telling what his numbers would be if he had Max’s ability to lay off bad pitches. I don’t see why anyone throws him a strike.
How much better can get? Man yall are tough!
How much greater he would be if he followed the advice of a bunch of online fans? REALLY? Take a step back and appreciate the “moronocity” of that idea.
PS: I may have just coined a new term Mark might even like. But it’s probable that only a moron could invent a word like it! lol
He is a unicorn for sure, but he could be more selective when he is at the plate. He isn’t a career .300 hitter. Best in the game? One of a kind maybe, but best in the game, well, right now that is Aaron Judge. BA 100 points higher, OPS 200 points higher, 2 less homers, and 11 more RBI’s. Not nit picking at all, just pointing out statistical facts. You are blinded because he is a Dodger. I am glad he plays for LA, but I believe he could be even better with a little more discipline. Not a thing in the world wrong with that. He has struck out more than Judge too. And sorry, I hate strikeouts. Especially in clutch situations. This year with RISP, he has struck out 13 times in 40 at bats. Those are the facts, if that bothers you, well, sorry. Those are 13 wasted at bats. Ohtani is on pace to strike out almost 180 times.
Agree with Bear. Chasing or just swinging like every pitch is a fastball. However they can’t just throw balls off the plate because then he is on base for rest of hitters. There is a reason Teo having great success here with all those RBIs
Take Judge, ill take Ohtani all day long. And Ohtani hasnt pitched yet.
You can nit pick all the want, there aint a PERFECT player, but if there is one Ohtani is pretty darn close…
My hope is that Shohei takes the mound and reminds everybody that he’s a top-tier ace.
I root for good stories. We haven’t seen Shohei pitch for a long time, and never for the Dodgers.
And the Dodgers actually need an ace right now more than another big bat.
That’s called looking for problems where there aren’t any. Pretty sure Ohtani is more aware of what’s going on than any of us.
That’s called looking for problems where there aren’t any. Pretty sure Ohtani is more aware of what’s going on than any of us.
Winner winner, chicken dinner.
who could argue with that
Not giving up on Kersh. So he thinks he is making progress. I don’t think he will just want to hang on if he feels he cannot contribute. Although one more injury will probably mean the end has come.
I used to wear the soft toric lenses too. They worked well. They used to be a tad bit thicker than normal lenses. They fixed that. Now they have lenses for just about everything. Currently wearing a multi-focal lense with an astigmatism correction. Great for work and reading. No switching to readers/cheaters. Not great for catching kids who throw in the 70’s and 80’s when I was coaching. I feel much safer coaching 12U girls. I can now see my golf ball to its apex then usually lose it. Rarely see it stop on the green. Nothing fun about aging.
It ain’t for sissies.
Wow. The hitting gurus are out in force. Maybe you should volunteer an hour of your time and go teach him how to hit. How the hell to you expect the FO and especially the players to be perfect. That’s really bizarre. I don’t want to say moronic because you guys are smarter than that.
I need to give Dustin May a shout out for his quality start. But why didn’t he pitch a no hitter with 25 K’s? Sarc. Stop reading the quacks..err sportswriters they’re blurring your sense of JUDGEment. Anyway , if you want to criticize my post or even Shohei go for it. Just pull out your trusty hindsight.
Book em
What’s the point of a discussion site, if you can’t discuss anything. Just close the site and read the Pollyanna Dodger Nation to get all the PR announcements and mush speak from Roberts like ‘Muncy is good at something except when he isn’t’.
And yes we all know that–We don’t know more than AF or Doc; Baseball is hard, and no one is perfect. and all the other comments when someone questions a decision or move. It would be ‘moronic’ to just post ‘happy talk’ all the time
And yes its great to be a Dodger fan these days
Just because somebody spends the time to dig into the details and state “facts” – DOES NOT necessarily mean they are looking for problems!
The stats between Ohtani and Judge are factual, and that Bear stated it would be better if Ohtani had better plate discipline is not wrong. Bear didn’t denigrated Othani in any manner – so why the push-back???
To me that is not nit-picking but an astute observations/opinion, which is why I read this blog as the majority of you have excellent takes and thoughts – then as an additional benefit I get to read Mark’s rant on “morons”:)
Again, with all the Dodger’s issue they are still the team to beat.
Plus, we know AF and Co will, if necessary, make a deal to better the team’s chances to repeat.
We just need a little more patience.
Cheers
I tend to look at overall statistics, not just stats after one-third of the season is over.
Overall, in his career, Judge has a 1.042 OPS with RISP to Ohtani’s 1.021 – they are very similar, and usually stats regress or progress to the mean.
Break up the Rockies!! They won their third in a row today beating the Marlins 3-2. Their season record is now 12-50.
When I was a kid watching baseball, I’d see a hitter take strike three on a pitch right down the middle and say, “why didn’t he just swing at it? It’s right down the middle?!?!? What an idiot!!”
I’m reading similar comments here.
“Ohtani swings and misses at pitches that are balls!! What a bum!! I wish the Dodgers had Judge, instead! Now there’s a REAL hitter! He never chases pitches like Ohtani!”
Judge has a career K% of 27.6%. Ohtani has a career K% of 25.4%.
I’m not concerned with Ohtani getting fooled and swinging at a pitch out of the zone. Like that player who takes strike three down the middle, part of being a MLB hitter is guessing what the pitcher is going to throw. It’s the pitcher’s job to keep the hitter guessing, and to get the hitter to guess wrong.
When Ohtani swings lamely at a pitch well outside the zone, it’s not because he’s lazy or undisciplined. He’s there to drive the ball hard, and the pitcher just did his job and fooled him.
Do you want him to choke up on the bat with two strikes and protect the plate? Yeah, maybe he can get a dink single to the opposite field!
No, you don’t want him to do that. You want him to be Ohtani, which happens to be perhaps the best player on the planet.
“But Judge is hitting better this year! Ohtani needs to be more like Judge! What a terrible signing! I hate Andrew Friedman!!”
Judge is hitting better than Babe Ruth this year. Seriously, just stop!
Of all the potential things to bitch and moan about on this team, Ohtani should not be one of them.
Good grief, people!
That
Amen!
“I was on another site yesterday….”
That was your first mistake….
Haha
I found the problem
Occasionally, I have second thoughts about running off the morons… so I check up on them and it confirms I was right!
10:10 PM ET
Mets (38-23)
Dodgers (37-24)
SP Griffin Canning R
5-2 3.23 ERA
SP Tony Gonsolin R
3-1 5.23 ERA
Confirmed Lineup
DH S. Ohtani L
SS Mookie Betts R
1B F. Freeman L
RF T. Hernandez R
3B Max Muncy L
CF Andy Pages R
LF M. Conforto L
C D. Rushing L
2B E. Hernandez R
66° Wind 9 mph Out
No Edman.
Which may be why Esteury Ruiz was called up.
When playing well, Ruiz can man center and be a good “second leadoff” guy. A lot of speed.
is second lead off another Ohtani?
“Second lead-off” is the cute term for the #9 hitter…. especially if he profiles as a good on-base guy with speed.
Still wondering why Kim didn’t have that role today…
Esteury Ruiz is an exceptionally fast and athletic outfielder, but his defensive performance in center field has been inconsistent. While his elite speed provides him with impressive range, his overall defensive metrics suggest he should play LF or DH.
Ruiz is on the Taxi Squad!
Watching the replay of Freeman’s walk off hit last night, it looked like the ball hit the warning track as Nimmo was up against the wall. In other words, he overran it and should have caught it, with the lead runner only tagging up and advancing to third instead of jogging home from second base. Did I see that correctly?
I don’t know if he should have caught it (he sure didn’t), but it appears to me that he either lost it in the lights or it was slicing away.
Did everyone know that Alonso was going deep on Loutos? Seemed predictable. Nice little run by the pen comes to an end. What a mess that they have to go to the likes of guys like Loutos and Davis this year. Especially against the heart of NY’s order.
Anybody know why Kim wasn’t in the lineup?
Griffin Canning is a righty, so the lefty-swinging Kim should have been out there. But Kike started at 2B, and later Rojas entered the game, with Kike moving to 1B.
I know Edman is hurt. Is Kim ailing as well? Sure hope not.
Gonsolin had one of his bad news/good news starts. An ugly start followed by 4 scoreless innings.
Reports suggest that Estuery Ruiz was called up in case Edman goes on the IL. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a trade to fortify the OF. I can think of several outfielders I’d prefer on the roster to Conforto, including Ward, Outman and Ruiz in OKC.
Canning is have a very nice year for the Mets, as is Alonso. Soto is bound to improve, and the Dodgers might have to fight through the Mets in the postseason.
If I were a betting man, I would put money on Conforto before I put it on Ruiz, Outman, or Ward.
You can have a man crush on Outman all you want, but he’s never going to hit in MLB with a 54% strikeout rate. That is purely delusional. Ruiz is just a placeholder, but speed kills, so he might have a shot, but he’s purely a LF… never trust him in CF. Ward has the potential to come up and hit a few bombs before flaming out… or he could just flame out. He’s a classic AAAA player. That said, I am not afraid of giving him a shot!
Major League Baseball (MLB) is only two months into its season; however, if the final four months play out like the first two, the league is in for record ratings.
According to MLB and Nielsen, the league has experienced a double-digit increase in viewership in both the United States and Japan.
“ESPN’s coverage is up 22%, averaging 1.74 million viewers,” the AP reports. “It is the most-watched season on ESPN through the first two months since 2017.”
Ironically, ESPN opted out of its rights deal with MLB earlier this year, and this season could be the “four-letter network’s” final season carrying baseball. However, the strong season the league is having could prompt a change of heart in the corridors of power in Bristol.
“The MLB Tuesday package on TBS has a 16% increase,” according to the AP. “Fox Sports is up 10%, averaging 1.84 million viewers per game. The MLB.TV streaming package has seen its viewers increase 27%, with more than 7.5 billion minutes watched through Monday.”
The impressive stateside numbers are reflected in the league’s growing popularity in Japan. The Land of the Rising Sun’s favorite son, Dodger slugger Shohei Ohtani, is the best player in baseball, and coming off a World Series championship. However, Japanese televisions and streaming services are also locked onto MLB’s other stars and teams.
“Games on the NHK channels in Japan are averaging 2.7 million. The average does not include the Tokyo Series games between the Dodgers and Chicago Cubs, which began the regular season, the AP reports.
“The ratings are on pace for MLB’s most-watched regular season in Japan as the audience has increased every year since 2021.”
As if all that weren’t enough, MLB.TV streaming services have seen a 27% increase over 2024, which was already a record year.
Win today, winning homestand against 2 good teams.
Cmon Knack!
SD with a chock job yesterday.
Playing for October and slow walking the season because of injuries could cost the Dodgers home field advantage. Here are some examples: “Even if the Dodgers split this series with a win today, they’ve already lost the season series, which could make October interesting. Teams’ head-to-head records are the first tiebreaker when it comes to postseason seeding, so if these two teams end up with the same record, the Mets will have home field advantage in a potential matchup.
And the Mets aren’t the only ones: The Dodgers also lost the season series to the Cubs, who would be in the postseason if regular play ended today, and lost two out of three games to the Phillies in April. They’ll have the chance to make up for it in September against the Phillies”..
agree. i don’t understand why kim wasn’t in the lineup. maybe it’s just Doc’s extreme loyalty to the guys who have been around longer. maybe he just loves him some kike! …. will be interesting to see what AF does or doesn’t do as far as trades. seems to be fact that they want a potent left handed bat. i’m just not sure how much longer conforto survives. i was one who thought he would get on track. not looking good for that to come true. …. Teo is really struggling right now. off speed stuff is getting him out easily. it seems with the dodgers , when one guy gets hot, another goes ice cold! guess we’ll just have to keep the faith with this team. offense can be a microwave! or it can be be a freezer! .. what’s wrong with Edman? ankle? …. funny how guys argue over who’s better. ohtani or judge! while i prefer ohtani, how could anyone not want aaron judge? take ohtani out of the dodgers lineup, they may be still a favorite to win the west. take judge off the yankees? they are a 3rd place team. Of course if ohtani pitches and pitches well, he’s got to be considered the best. But any team in baseball would want Aaron Judge. ….. We dodger fans are spoiled!! it’s a little early to panic. the starting rotation is going to get better a little later. I have no doubt Snell and Glasnow WILL be back and lead the dodgers to a deep playoff run! Big time talent is on the way!
Mark this is not a good look for you. These “morons” are clearly in your head if you are spending time scouring other boards and making a post (for the 10,359th time) about them. Rent free anyone?
I only go to the place where everyone knows they’ve been… and I rarely do, so if you want to think they’re in my head, that’s your right. They are not. They are gone and have been for quite some time, but occasionally I wonder if they are still the same… and they are. I could pretend that it never happened, but I’m a realist.
I find it extremely silly that fans would question why Kim did not play last night. You can wonder why. But to attach something nefarious to it is not only foolish, it borders on moronic, because you don’t have all the information.
Hyeseong Kim did not play on Wednesday because the Dodgers are being cautious with him due to a shoulder injury. He had a labrum surgery in October and is still working his way back to full strength. Sometimes he still experiences soreness.
sorry mark! did not realize he had shoulder issues! i guess i get to be a “ moron” now. oh well, i’ve been called worse! i’ll suspend my opinions for 2 days for punishment. Forgive me please!…. oh, if anyone out there is a nascar fan, or even remotely interested, Prime’s 4 part series on Dale Earnhart is very much worth watching. I started watching it and couldn’t stop..
I frequently call myself a moron, so there is that! In building any muscle injury back, when you experience soreness, it is good to rest – they want him to be 100% at the end of the season. I think he is doing pretty well considering he had surgery in October.
I used to love NASCAR and IndyCar… not so much anymore!
I do remember were I was when Dale died. I was watching the race in the garage and when he wrecked, I ran to Lowes to get some parts. I heard it at Lowes and could not believe it!
The Dodgers are again loaded with Top 100 Prospects by BA:
2. Roki Sasaki
28. Dalton Rushing
35. Alex Freeland
37. Josue De Paula
40. Zyhir Hope – #40
74. Jackson Ferris
96. Eduardo Quintero
97 Mike Sirota
Here’s what they said on Sirota:
Mike Sirota, OF, Dodgers (No. 97)
Sirota set the California League on fire, and he’s been just as good since his promotion to High-A Great Lakes. While he may not have as much offensive upside as teammates Josue De Paula and Zyhir Hope, Sirota is close to their level, and he’s a potentially plus defender in center field.
Three by trade, Hope,Ferris, and Sirota,two by the MLB draft Rushing and Freeland and three by International signings Sasaki,De Paula and Quintero. Nice combination of the three ways to acquire talent especially where the lower position the Dodgers draft each year.
I think the Dodgers now have the second most (8) players in the Top 100 of any team. The Mariners have 9.
Wednesday scores
Reno 6, Oklahoma City 5
Amarillo 7, Tulsa 3
San Jose 8, Rancho Cucamonga 3
Bobby Miller struggles, Edgardo Henriquez and Nick Frasso scoreless
Edgardo Henriquez hits 102.3 mph in rehab appearance
Thursday schedule
Great Lakes (Wyatt Crowell) at South Bend (Evan Aschenbeck), 3:05 PM PST
Great Lakes (Eriq Swan) at South Bend (TBA), game 2
Amarillo (Roman Angelo) at Tulsa (Chris Campos), 5:00 PM PST
Reno (Bryce Jarvis) at Oklahoma City (Justin Jarvis), 5:05 PM PST
San Jose (Jacob Bresnahan) at Rancho Cucamonga (Logan Tabeling), 6:30 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.