Michael Conforto has a short, compact swing that generates power. In theory, he should be a batting title contender. How he hit last night should not be surprising… but it is! Michael Conforto has been consistent. Consistently bad! He is hitting .171 on the year. In his last seven games, he is hitting .160, In his last fifteen games, he is hitting .180, and in his previous thirty games, he is hitting .168. While not a butcher in LF, he is possibly average. There comes a time when the Dodgers are just going to have to say, “This is not working.”
The time is near! After going 2-5 with 3 RBI last night, he will get more chances, but at some point it will end… unless he can hit! Things can change, as we all know. All things considered, I would let Dalton Rushing play LF two or three times a week. Kike can be his Caddy. Andy Pages seems to improve in CF with every game.
Onto another subject: Muncy. Look at this (as of last night’s games):
- Max Muncy .246 BA/.814 OPS/.373 OB%
- Nolan Arenado .247 BA/.708 OPS/.309 OB%
Arenado can’t carry Muncy’s bat, but he is still a very good defensive 3B. Thank you, but I will keep Max.
Clayton Kershaw
I finished Andy McCullough’s book on Clayton Kershaw, “The Last of His Kind.” It is arguably the best baseball book I have ever read, and it really delivers an understanding of the G.O.A.T. That said, I now believe that Clayton’s diminished velocity (he has failed to break 90 MPH in his last two starts) signals more arm or shoulder problems. I think the league will solve him, and I doubt that he will finish the season. I do not think he can continue to win with an 88 MPH fastball – that’s what his slider used to be. It’s hard to say, but I think he is done. Sorry, Clayton!
California Trip
My wife and I took the “Red Eye” back from California and got home at 6 AM Yesterday. I got a good night’s sleep last night, and I feel great! We had a great time at Mountain View, Palo Alto, and on the last day, we went into San Jose and were really impressed with the new Santana Row area. We ate lunch at Augustine and highly recommend it. We did go into San Francisco, which I have called a shithole in the past. I commend the new mayor, Daniel Lauie, who is visibly making an impact. London Breed was a disaster. My wife said, “My city is coming back.” I am headed to Ft. Wayne one or two days this week to see the Loons. I am going to try to get interviews with the Big Three there.
Santana Row is heaven for people who like to shop [i.e., women].
Yeah, we saw that. I had not been to San Jose for years, so it was a surprise.
Ate Brunch here on Sunday:
https://www.sweetmaplesf.com/
Sadly I agree about Kershaw. Perhaps he will call it quits before October. But if not injured we know he wants one more shot at WS
Does Kershaw = Yarbrough? If so, he still has utility.
Watched some of the AA Tulsa vs Frisco game on the MLB Network yesterday, which they lost 5-1. What a dreadful lineup Tulsa has. Miller is the only prospect ranked there. Time for the outfielers at A+ Great Lakes to be promoted to Tulsa. Hopefully it happens sooner than later. Copen was just OK. NOT that impressed.
Hopefully, it doesn’t happen until next week. I plan to see them in Ft. Wayne this week.
“…We did go into San Francisco, which I have called a shithole in the past. I commend the new mayor, Daniel Lauie, who is visibly making an impact. London Breed was a disaster.”
Why do you feel the need to inject your politics into this otherwise entertaining blog? Let’s stick to baseball.
Or am I being a “dumbass” again for noticing?
Well, you might be a dumbass because this is not political. The former mayor and the current mayor are of the same political party. It has nothing to do with politics and everything to do with just being able to get things done.
It is important because in the past, many players did not want to go to SF. That may be changing…
You’re not a dumbass for noticing, but you certainly are one for making that comment.
I believe there is a big four in Great Lakes. Nevin who is an outfielder playing in the infield is good. His bloodlines run deep and what I can follow the past couple of years, he’s going to be a player.
Nevin is not even in the Dodgers’ Top 30 Prospects. The other players are Top 30 AND they are also in Baseball America’s Top 100.
I hope your wrong about Kershaw. All signs point in your direction but I keep thinking of Greg Maddux. Kershaw won’t be what he was 10 years ago, none of us are , but I still believe he can be a real strong starter. Maybe I’m looking through rose colored glasses but I’ll never give up on Kershaw until he hangs them up.
To those of you who want Walker Buehler, I am sure he is available. Ever since Buehler signed a one-year, $21.05 million deal with the Boston Red Sox in December, the right-hander has severely struggled on his new team.
Across 13 starts this season, Buehler has posted a career-worst 6.29 ERA, which is also the highest of all American League pitchers with at least 60 innings.
They are taking him out of the rotation.
Bring him back. we will fix him!!!
His fastball is down another tick from his already degraded velo last year.
He’s cooked, I’m sad to say.
Buehler was reported to say “ he thinks he can still pitch in this league”. For a person Ho exudes confidence that is a very telling statements.
Tuesday scores
Oklahoma City 13, Sacramento 2
Frisco 5, Tulsa 1
Fort Wayne 8, Great Lakes 7
San Jose 11, Rancho Cucamonga 10
ACL Dodgers 9, ACL Royals 4
Wednesday schedule
12:05 p.m. PT: Oklahoma City (Emmet Sheehan) at Sacramento (Trevor McDonald)
1 p.m.: Rancho Cucamonga (Sterling Patick) at San Jose (Niko Mazza)
4:05 p.m.: Great Lakes (Roque Gutierrez) at Fort Wayne (Clark Candiotti)
5:05 p.m.: Tulsa (TBA) at Frisco (Kohl Drake)
For more detailed recaps,stats,schedules, daily standings and box scores for Dodger minor league teams go to the top of this page and cIick on MINOR LEAGUE AFFLIATES.
Why Emmet Sheehan is pitching today in Oklahoma City is beyond me? He had an excellent start for the Dodgers the last time out against the Padres and gets demoted, They need him at the major league rather than all these bullpen games.I would honestly replace May in the starting rotation with him.
He has a no hitter going today after 4 innings and 8Ks.
Sheehan is pitching a NO hitter today after 6 innings with 13Ks.
Then removed from game after 6 innings. 73 pitches
He was perfect for 6. Don’t look now but Outman has 1 less homer than Ward,18. They are 1-2 in the homer race in the PCL. Second Stage of All-Star voting will start soon. 1st stage leaders announced tonight. Freddie, Will and Ohtani all leading at their positions. Betts is # 2 as is Max. Edman is #2 also. Teo is in the top 5 and Pages is at #7. Carroll is injured but will most likely get voted on. Conforto’s blast last night went 441 feet. His runway just got a little longer. He will most likely sit today against the lefty, Gomber. Kersh needs 8 Ks for 3000. He could very well get them against this batch of Rockies players.
Actually, Outman has one more homer than Ward–if you count the two he hit in the majors.
Ward may lead the Comets, but if we’re comparing players, certainly homers hit off of major league pitching matter more.
It’s a shame Ward hasn’t even had a chance. The Dodgers really should do the right thing and trade him.
Maybe they can leave Conforto in Denver after the series where he can thrive for a cellar dweller
I always thought Kershaw’s slider was at its best when he took a bit off and threw it more around 83-85. If he can have a big enough gap between his fastball and slider while throwing that splitter/change I think he can still get people out. I’ve always wondered if the Dad body had something to do with the velocity drop and back issues. If definitely has something to do with my back issues.
San Francisco is a shithole. It’s the only city I know of with an official SnapCrap app.
Last time I went I stayed about 30 miles south. I got on a train to go to a Giants game. Not that I like trains. I didn’t want my car to be stolen, broken into or vandalized. The train dropped us off right by Willie Mays and the front door of the stadium. What a beautiful ballpark. It was a little weird eating brats instead of Dodger Dogs.
After the game, we started wandering with a goal of some good food in Chinatown. It wasn’t too long before we came across boarded up buildings, tents, smelly bums, used syringes, vomit and lo and behold, human shit all over the place. I haven’t been back since.
yeah, it was bad.
It’s on its way back though, and we should all be happy.
It’s such a lovely city. Not LA, but beautiful in its own way.
Well parts of LA are a shithole. I can tell you where to see them.
Parts of EVERY major city in America are too.
Not like this. This is the area I am talking about (there are others):
Yeah, Karen Bass has been mostly a disaster, but she has done a good job of removing a great deal of the homeless.
She didn’t create the problem, and she’s not solving root causes, but she’s done well in getting a good amount off the streets.
8:40 PM ET
Dodgers (49-31)
Rockies (18-61)
SP Y. Yamamoto R
6-6 2.76 ERA
SP Chase Dollander R
2-7 6.19 ERA
Confirmed Lineup
DH S. Ohtani L
SS Mookie Betts R
1B F. Freeman L
3B Max Muncy L
RF T. Hernandez R
CF Andy Pages R
2B Tommy Edman S
LF M. Conforto L
C D. Rushing L
75° Wind 7 mph
Mark, would you be so kind to add the Dominican Summer League to the above MINOR LEAGUE AFFILATES. The league starts tomorrow with the Dodgers having two teams.
Having dissed Conforto so much in recent weeks, I feel that he was bound to have a good game.
But now I’ll diss him again and remind everybody he did it at Coors Field… And I’d still rather see Kim in the lineup to see if he can improve his .750 BA against lefties.
And I’d still prefer to see three or four current Comets on the roster instead of Conforto…
Speaking of Coors Field, that makes Wrobo’s 5 innings all the more impressive.
I hope Mark’s wrong about Kershaw. Assuming he’s soft-tossing without pain, I see no reason to think he won’t finish the season on the roster. With another World Series win, he can retire as a champion.
I get the impression Kershaw wants to retire with a ring, but on the field, and in a normal, complete season, without excuses or pretexts. The first one was a shortened season, and no matter how much it’s said to be the toughest, that “asterisk”still remains, and the last one he was on the IL.
In addition to his 3000 strikeouts
And 2017 doesn’t count, forget that!
Well, the fact is the 2020 season counts. I’ve never understood that logic. If it was “easier” to win, why did every other team fail to win it?
By the way, why are you disregarding the 2024 championship?
Disregarding? I never said that…. Read what I wrote again.
And like I said before, I don’t have that good of a memory, but I think the Dodgers were the only team that didn’t make any trades, so if the other teams say that season doesn’t matter, what the hell did they make trades for?
Maybe my english is bad, but I think you totally misunderstood what I wrote and what I meant, since the topic was about Kershaw.
I misread your post, sorry about that Jorge.
By the way, me fascina cuando expresas tus opiniones en espanol. En particular tu opinion de los Padres.
Mi inglés no es muy bueno por eso a veces tengo que usar el traductor… Tú eres José Luis?
Y ya te habrás dado cuenta que aquí hay mucha gente con ojos delicados y pues ya prometí no volver a expresar mi admiración por ese gran equipo de SD
NO ONE should forget 2017. The Dodgers were cheated out of a World Championship just as the Yankees were cheated out of an America League pennant. Has anyone forgotten the 1919 Black Sox scandal? OF COURSE NOT.
Manfred did NOT act in the best interests of baseball as his job requires. He allowed Houston to receive the trophy, allowed players to be awarded financial shares and MLB channel as well as others are allowed to say Houston “won” the World Champions – this despite they ADMITTED they cheated. He referred to the trophy as, “…a piece of metal”. He is a disgrace as the sport’s Commissioner. It was and still is a national scandal and Manfred should have been fired for allowing it.
BANG!
The asterisk only remains for those cynics who want to discount it for some reason. I see a host of reasons for all non-Dodger fans to see it that way. I see none for a supposed fan of the Dodgers. Do you have an asterisk in your mind for 1981 too, the split season?
It’s been said over and over that ALL teams played the exact same 60 games in 2020 and those that made the playoffs all played them in the same stadium in Texas. All stayed in hotels, all played without fans in attendance and yet ONE team emerged as the winner. How does that make the championships for 2020 in some way “easier” for one team than another? If it was “easier” – I contend it was not because of all the unusual circumstances just listed – it was easier for all of them.
Which is translated as:
My English isn’t very good, so sometimes I have to use a translator… Are you José Luis?
And you’ve probably noticed that there are a lot of people here with sensitive eyes, and well, I promised not to express my admiration for that great SD team again.
Exactly!!
The DSL has been added to the Minor League Affiliates.
Thank you Mark as always!
Gracias, Mark.
I think that means “thanks.”
Is there anyway to get the dodger players to stop that inane waving of the arms after a big hit?
no. It seems every team has their way of celebrating
The Dodgers are tied with the Tigers for the best record in baseball. but the Dodgers remain alone at the top of the power poll.
I don’t pretend to know the Tigers’ injury status but I tend to doubt they’ve arrived at their best record status with as many injuries as the Dodgers have suffered.
EK said it during last night’s broadcast that the standard, “…any team can beat any team in a short series” – the Angels swept the Dodgers earlier this season. But they’re not going to beat the Dodgers roster at full strength – which none of us have seen yet this season. I love their chances for repeating even knowing that it is essentially an IMPOSSIBLE task in this era.
GO DODGERS!!
R.I.P. Diego Seguí
Agreed and thank you Diego for raising David and encouraging his career – something like 10-15 years!
I thought Conforto’s reaction when he hit that dinger last night was priceless. He looked absolutely shocked at how far he hit that ball. Let’s hope the hitting coaches unlocked something and it’s not just playing a AAAA team in high altitude.
Conforto has changed his bat and tweaked his stance. The bat has one of those huge knobs at the end and it is slightly lighter. It has obviously helped some since he is hitting the ball very hard, even his ground out last night was smoked. His home last night went 441 feet. Yeah, it was Coors, but the air was cooler because of the rainstorm. If anything, his runway just got longer.
3:10 PM ET
Dodgers (50-31)
Rockies (18-62)
SP Clayton Kershaw L
3-0 3.31 ERA
SP Austin Gomber L
0-1 8.38 ERA
Confirmed Lineup
DH S. Ohtani L
SS Mookie Betts R
C Will Smith R
1B F. Freeman L
RF T. Hernandez R
CF Andy Pages R
2B Tommy Edman S
LF E. Hernandez R
3B Miguel Rojas R
84° Wind 6 mph R-L
The Dodgers activated RHP Luis Garcia and optioned RHP Will Klein.
Wednesday scores
Oklahoma City 16, Sacramento 0
Frisco 3, Tulsa 1
Great Lakes 11, Fort Wayne 0
San Jose 6, Rancho Cucamonga 1
Thursday schedule
4:05 p.m. PT: Great Lakes (Wyatt Crowell) at Fort Wayne (Miguel Mendez)
5:05 p.m.: Tulsa (Peter Heubeck) at Frisco (Josh Stephan)
6:30 p.m.: Rancho Cucamonga (Aidan Foeller) at San Jose (Charlie McDaniel)
6:45 p.m. PT: Oklahoma City (Kyle Funkhouser) at Sacramento (Carson Seymour)
“Triple-A: After shortstop Alex Freeland was placed on the 7-day injured list on Tuesday, infielder and 2024 seventh-round draft pick Elijah Hainline got the call to Oklahoma City all the way from Rancho Cucamonga. Hainline entered a 15-0 game and played the final four innings at shortstop, and hit a 101-mph line drive that was caught in right field in his first Triple-A at-bat”.
That’s 4 straight excellent starts by the washed up Kersh. What a bum!
That’s 4-0 with 21 K’s and 4 walks in 23 innings and a 1.57 era. What a bum! If you have to see 99, go watch Bobby Miller pitch.
I can’t really argue.
Put me in the camp who was thinking Kersh, with his 86 MPH four seamer, wasn’t going to make it.
I hope this lasts and the league doesn’t adjust to that speed.
i mean I have zero faith for the playoffs, but he’s eating innings now.
Common, he’s doing a lot more than eating innings! October is another story
Exactly Bluto, and I hope we are both wrong, although history shows us that we are not.
NO!
This is what’s going to happen:
It’s game 7 against the Yankees at Dodgers Stadium. All the other Dodger starters are used up, fried, hurt or unavailable. It’s down to Roki Sasaki and Kershaw.
Sasaki starts, and immediately it’s apparent he has that deer-in-the-headlights look. The moment is clearly too much for him, and he winds up walking 4, striking out 3 and giving up five runs in three innings.
As he’s crying in the dugout (no, he’s literally crying, like tears running down his cheeks), old man Kershaw walks over, pats him on the shoulder, and says, “that’s ok, son. There’ll be other games. I got this!”
The old man,with his graying beard, and the years and thousands of pitches etched in his lined face, then walks methodically to the mound and takes the ball.
He pitches 5 ⅔ innings of shutout baseball. He’s uses every trick he’s learned over the years. Meanwhile the Dodgers have managed to grind out six runs, giving the Dodgers a 6-5 lead.
With two outs in the top of the 9th and one man on, Judge comes to the plate.
Kershaw, to a standing ovation, hands the ball to Roberts and walks back to the dugout for the last time, acknowledging the fans.
Ohtani strikes out Judge on a 101 MPH four seamer up in the zone to preserve the WS win.
That’s the story and I’m sticking with it.
Kershaw is a stud
ALWAYS has been. Even when he’s been injured, even when he’s underperformed. He has always owned it, never made excuses. A stand up guy. Leader, outstanding team mate. The modern Sandy Koufax, one of two remaining Dodgers living legends.
Dodgers swept the Rockies
3-1
Kershaw did 6 innings in 67 pitches, gave up one finger
I’ll take that any day
Pen was s great again.
Get few throwers back and we are golden.
some will say it was against the rockies, ok. but actually the rockies have been one of the better hitting teams in baseball lately. And playing in coors field ain’t that easy either. 69 pitches over 6 innings? doesn’t that mean his control was excellent? He could have gone 2 more, but i believe Doc wants him to get to 3000 K’S at dodger stadium! .. Kirby Yates still scares the crap out of me! if he had blown that win for Clayton. Scott continues to be lights out! With a little help from Andy and Freddie! … Rojas ain’t going nowhere! not this season. ….. Kike can’t hit a breaking ball! …. No substitutions today for Doc! how often does that happen? … 2 out of 3 in KC(all 3 would be sweet)!
The thing especially in mid and in this part of his career, Kershaw does not walk people. The biggest thing about that is if you give up a homer it is usually a solo shot. Kershaw makes people earned their way on base which is extremely hard. If you can get on base three out of ten at bats, you will be in the hall of fame. It seems today with everyone being a power pitcher that walks are up league wise. I have looked up no stats to back that claim but it seemed like the really good pitchers didn’t walk hitters. In my limited coaching baseball career, high school, if our pitcher walked the leadoff hitter of any inning he had three line to line runs. As a coach we all have something that really irritates you. In basketball which I coached for a long time mostly at the high school level some at the college level, giving up offensive rebounds use to drive me crazy. If we gave up an offensive rebound on an opponent free throw, someone was coming out of the game. Our pitchers could learn a lot from Kershaw.
Seldom but it would happen, if I thought the umpire missed the pitch or a couple of pitches in the at bat, I would commute the sentence for giving up the leadoff walk.
The thing that kills me is walking guys that can’t hurt you. Every mlb pitcher should be able to throw a fastball for a strike and make a hitter earn it.