The season is a little over halfway completed, and I have seen enough of Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates to last a lifetime! Tanner Scott leads MLB in blown saves with six. He is the Dodgers’ closer and lead arsonist. Kirby Yates has struck out 42 hitters in 27 IP, and he still can’t win a close one… but dang, he sure can lose them. Alex Vesia should be the closer – I trust him more. Scott is making $16 million this year and next year, and then makes $20 million in 2027 and 2028. I can’t wait for Even Phillips to get back in 2027.
Glasnow looked better than expected. Vesis and Casparius did their jobs. Then they brought in the arsonists. The whole team is in a slump. They suck. If I can’t say anything good… maybe I’d better not say anything… Silence (Cricket sounds)
I was there. Not much good to say about the Dodger offense. MiggyRo was a bright spot. It seems they are pitching around Ohtani and Smith to get to Betts and Freeman. Freddy looks late on good fastballs and Mookie is just making poor contact. I wonder how much that quad is still bothering Freeman.
Glasnow was impressive and really made the catchers mitt pop. Casparious redeemed himself and Vespa just solid. A fan told me he was chugging Red Bull in the bullpen. Maybe Scott and Yates should try it?
Well, at least Glasnow looked good…
Something else I noticed: Kim, after entering the game as a pinch-runner, got a hit and stole his ninth base in nine tries.
In 102 ABs, he’s had 34 hits for a .333 BA. Playing close to full-time for a full season, he would probably compile about 550 ABs. But to simplify the math, let’s project a 500 AB season.
In addition to that .333 BA, .376 OBP and .837 OPS, Kim would have…
–10 HRs
–5 triples
–25 doubles
–45 stolen bases
He should be playing more, not less.
.425 BABIP
What’s coming for Kim won’t be pretty.
Kim is César Izturis
Small sample size. He could keep it up for another 150ABs
Freddie now playing with 2 injuries,, Mookie had broken toe in June, Max out 6 weeks, Kike after month ‘slump’ finally goes on IL. Teo hurt. Not hard to see why not scoring.
MLB will be using the challenge system ABS during the all star game.
Congrats Glasnow
Mark lol
It’s a tough stretch for sure but it’s a long year
It’s a long year when you play this bad
1. All hitters go through stretches like Freeman, Betts, and Teoscar Hernandez are going through. But it is the length of these slumps that should concern the Dodgers. Freddie is getting beat with velocity and has been chasing pitches off the plate.
2. Why is Edgardo Henriquez still in AAA while castoffs and reclamation projects like Diaz, Davis, Klein, Fernandez etc. get called up? I am guessing it is discipline for the spring training off-field injury?
3. If Freddie is battling through two injuries (which he is by all accounts) then why don’t the Dodgers give him a day off every week or so. Let Rushing play first on those days and give Freddie a day off his feet. I admire Freeman’s desire to post every day but he is 35 years old and hobbled. To me, the NBA is way ahead of MLB when it comes to managing rosters to be fresh in the playoffs. Obviously, this team is an old baseball team and therefore, more prone to injury.
4. The length and total money in the Tanner Scott contract surprised me. He was a closer for the Miami Marlins which is a lot different than closing for the Dodgers. Not to mention the variability in reliever performance year over year. Seemed out of character for this FO and to this point, those two signings have not panned out well.
All valid points. Henriquez Has an ERA of 5.51 and a WHIP of 1.59. So that could explain why he hasn’t been called up. On the other hand, Diaz isn’t really doing any better in his shirt stint with LA.
Full agreement with you on Freeman. What’s concerning is his wild swings at some pitches. I don’t think you can blame that on injuries.
Henrique’s, I believe, can’t be called up until the 18th.
Thanks, Bluto. I know he was optioned to AAA after his rehab. That would make sense then. Hopefully, he gets a chance soon.
Scott and Yates aren’t the reason for this, but they are part of the problem…
Blaming them, but not May, Glassnow, Snell, Freeman, Betts, Muncy, Teo, Conforto and sometimes Roberts, seems to me somewhat unfair.
Losing sucks, but glad we’re going through this now and not in September.
Despite the losing streak there are couple of things that have me feeling good about the team, despite this awful stretch. First, is Ohtani’s performance on the mound. While the workload has been carefully managed, the “stuff” has been good, real good. The other is getting Glasnow back on the mound. I can only imagine what the second half is going to look like if both of those guys can build on their recent performances.
Make no mistake, our bullpen has been taxed because of the injuries to our starting pitchers. Getting our horses back should alleviate some of that workload.
if you can’t score, you lose! Rojas is your main offensive weapon? Ruiz? Outman? Can’t expect too much from those 2. The Brewers play fun baseball! bunts, steals, double steals, line drives. 10th inning. ghost runner for the dodgers. never moved. Brewers? sacrifice, basehit, ballgame. .. Bullpen? the Brewers bring in 100 mph one right after another. Now Scott did blow the lead in the ninth, but all 3 hits were soft, including vaughn ‘s broken bat single that tied it. Yates? no confidence in him at all! eat the money and ship him out or make him “mop up “ man! with Kopech down, a high leverage reliever is a must. …. Now the offense.(or lack there of). they need a big bat in left field! Pages is starting to look like a hitter trying to carry the whole team. Help in the lineup is needed! Mookie will eventually get right. Freddie will too. Get an outfielder. play Kim at second base. Use Edman as super utility. Pray Max is back sooner than later! DH Will when ohtani pitches. … Speaking of Mookie. Maybe someone should tell him that after a pitcher has walked say, two in a row, it wouldn’t hurt to take a pitch! I’m no professional hitter or coach, but. even middle school coaches can see that. love mookie! but he’s giving outs away! Freddie is missing that outside pitch more than we’ve ever seen before. it’ll come back. Teo? a couple of shots to right field and he’ll be fine. i do still believe that he needs to move to left, Andy to right, and grab a center fielder with some bat skills! …. Glasnow was very good considering he hadn’t been on a major league field since April. Curve wasn’t as sharp as he probably wanted, but overall , good! …. Now Emmit gets to follow Ohtani? ok, they know more than me! … Wrobleski? shipped out. Question for Mark. is it possible that all the back and forth between AAA and the big league team affects a pitcher negatively? Seems to me it could. just wondering. And speaking of Justin W. i readin rumors that he could be a top trade candidate for the dodgers. My question, WHY? just because Glasnow is here today, doesn’t mean he will be here tomorrow! I do believe Blake Snell will come back and be a force! just a gut feeling! … Kershaw?? 6 strong innings tuesday! 6 hits and 2 of them by conteras were dribblers that didn’t make it to 3rd base. Deserved a better result! without the second one from contreras, The brewers probably wouldn’t have scored. Continued success Clayton! …. On to Frisco. they need 2 of 3 to go into the all star break on a positive note. Freddie needs to play one inning and sit! i’m not a doctor, but i did stay at a holiday. inn once!
When Ohtani pitches he is the DH. Are you suggesting he not bat when he pitches? Because that’s not going to happen.
This too shall pass.
Despite all this we are STILL the best team in the NL.
Dogs days of summer, better days ahead and they start on Friday.
Keep the faith…
yes i’m suggesting he doesn’t hit. it’s probably no coincidence his average has dropped since he started pitching again. with Will at dh, they don’t lose a thing at the plate.
Well, they do lose the MVP.
If you have Smith AND Ohtani, that = 1.971 OPS
If you have just Smith and Rushing that = 1.607 OPS
And as I stated you can note it all you want, but it is not going to happen. For many reasons, not all based on statistics either.
What? Me worry?
Nice self photo! LOL.
Here’s me and and Old Bear!
Downtown Denver was a great afternoon. Had a really good time.
Wednesday scores
Oklahoma City 4, Sugar Land 1
Tulsa 3, Arkansas 1
Great Lakes vs. Lansing, postponed (rain)
Inland Empire 8, Rancho Cucamonga 6
Dodgers’ Blake Treinen starts rehab assignment with Triple-A Oklahoma City and has perfect first inning in Treinen’s first game action in nearly three months.
Thursday schedule
3:05 p.m. PT: Great Lakes (Maddux Bruns) vs. Lansing (Steven Echavarria)
Game 2: Great Lakes (Payton Martin) vs. Lansing (Wei-En Lin)
4:35 p.m.: Tulsa (Chris Campos) at Arkansas (Adam Seminaris)
5:05 p.m.: Oklahoma City (maybe Landon Knack?) vs. Sugar Land (Jose Fleury)
6:30 p.m.: Rancho Cucamonga (Blake Snell) vs. Inland Empire (Brandon Dufault)
Thursday will be Snell’s first start of his rehab assignment for the Quakes, out for the last three months with left shoulder inflammation.
Jackson Ferris was outstanding last night.
So was Blake Treinen. He’s ready!
Kyle Nevin is white hot at Tulsa.
Jaren Durran will most certainly be traded.
I’d take him over Conforto, but at what cost?
Hope and Ferris and Outman?
Something like that… maybe Sean Miller or Freeland
Hometown Kid, id probably do that.
If they trade two top 5 prospects for Duran, I would be shocked. That is a massive overpay for Duran.. If that was the cost, play Edman in center, use Kim as your 2nd baseman.
Given Conforto’s struggles, I think it is time to move on. Make Conforto a fourth outfielder. I would pursue a cheaper option in center like Jacob Young, who is a very good defender in center. I think acquiring a top-notch defender in center with Pages in right and Teo in left would help a lot. Just watching the Brewer outfield play is such a stark contrast to the Dodger outfield in terms of defense and aggressiveness,
I am not averse to Duran but a package of Freeland, a young outfielder not named Hope, Sirota, Quintero, or DePaula (thinking Elkins or Tunnink) or a starting pitcher like Knack or even Miller would be more palatable. Duran has already struck out 100 times in 386 official out bats though he has improved defensively in center.
so once a week when he pitches? i guess he’s invincible! oh well. Duran? absolutely! 3 “prospects? it’s not like the big league team is loaded with dodger prospects. they need a ignitor on this team!
The team Is the most important, and what’s Best for the team ???
RF Mookie, CF Pagés, LF Teoscar, SS Edman, 2B Kim.
Mookie’s whim to play SS has cost the Dodgers $17 millions (Conforto) and could cost prospects to bring in another OF.
Get things in order and do what’s Best for the team !!!
How do you know what’s best for the team? Pretty sure Dodgers brass has been doing this for quite some time lil guy.
Thinking Mookie is going back to RF is delusional.
Not a chance Mookie moves back to right. Blaming Mookie for them signing Conforto is just plain ignorant. They signed Conforto because he had a good track record with the bat. Not Mookie’s fault the guy has stunk up the joint. Mookie did what was best for the team last season. But he feels that he places less stress on his legs at SS. Leave the brainstorming to the professionals who do it for a living. Fans don’t know the facts.
Mookie’s OPS was .633 in June.
Freddie’s was .557 in June.
Teo’s was .590 in June.
Edman’s .678 in June
Most of these numbers are even worse in July.
All-stars not hitting like All Stars.
Only Will, Max and Andy hitting since 6/1 and now Max is gone.
Bullpen frankly stinks. Only Vesia has been consistently good since 6/1. Yeah, they have shouldered too much of the load, but 3 important pitchers they relied on down the stretch last year (Phillips, Treinen and Kopech) haven’t been there and the 2 guys they signed to pick up the slack brought a blow torch with them.
The good news is that starting pitchers are coming back (Tyler and Clayton so far, Blake after the Break). The bad news is that it won’t matter if the hitters don’t hit.
I know that they are working on it- but what they are doing isn’t working. Time to try something else? New hitting coach?
So, the Dodgers should fire the hitting coach now and replace him with no one in particular?
Seems like a bit of an overreaction to a slump.
The Dodgers still lead the majors in runs scored, and, even in spite of their swoon, are 2nd to the Yankees in wRC+ at 118 (100 is considered average).
It’s a little early to pull the plug, IMO.
Are they leading over the last 30 days?
No.
https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders/major-league?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=0&type=8&season=2025&month=1000&season1=2025&ind=0&team=0%2Cts&rost=&age=&filter=&players=0&startdate=2025-06-10&enddate=2025-07-10
Still, I don’t think you dismantle the culmination of ten year’s worth of organization building because of a month.
I agree about not dismantling. But to say everything is OK, because they did great in April and May is not addressing the current issues. Maybe everyone will heal. If management thinks that, then I guess they won’t be aggressive at trade deadline. As Mark always says, they know more than us.
What’s the old comment about doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result is insanity?
Is the “same thing over and under over” that you refer to:
the Dodgers being the best team in baseball? The Dodgers being a top 10 hitting team in baseball?
Yes. Einstein’s definition of insanity. I like that quote.
“A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds,” is another good one.
Thing is, what the Dodgers keep doing over and over again with relentless consistency is being among baseball’s top offenses year over year. They’ve never been below the top five offenses and a 115 wRC+ going back through 2020 (and probably before that. I didn’t bother to check), not to mention their track record of winning the division and making the playoffs since about 2012.
That type of consistency is neither foolish nor insane. It’s a dynasty.
Just extending out your logic a little bit, Freeman has hit .188 with a wRC+ of 46 and a WAR of -0.5 the last month. That kind of performance gets a player DFA’d. What a bum!
You wouldn’t advocate getting rid of Freeman, would you?
This will pass.
BANG!
Maybe change uniforms of hitters to one worn by Michelin Man. That should reduce injuries
When a team is dramatically better than anyone else and there is no urgency, complacency sets in, and in this case, it is fine.
The team was dramatically better in May and June, but not in June and July. Ok. We’ll see how management reacts in July and August if this continues
meant April and May, not June and July
Yup, look last month when SD and SF closed the gap they had to turn it on vs them and they did.
Just human nature….