This is my 20th year in blogging. I registered LA DodgerTalk.com in January 2006, so this has been a “thing” for 15 years! There has been a theme EVERY YEAR with Dodger fans since I started and that is that when things start to get rough… and things do inevitably get rough at times, many simply take leave of their senses. After a torrid start, the Dodgers are 4-6 in their last 10 games and are tied with the two Bat Area teams for the best record in baseball: 15-8!
Most fans would be happy with that, but not most Dodger fans who believe that evidently, the Dodgers should finish the season 162-0. I guess last night’s effort was particularly hard to swallow when your closer gives up a 2-run HR to lose the game. Winker is one of the hottest hitters in baseball right about now and Jansen continues to run hot and cold. Kenley has blown a save and lost a game as well. Is this what it will be like all year? I can tell you emphatically that it will not be… because it cannot continue. If he continues to struggle, he will not be the closer. It seems there is a very fine line between success and failure with him.
Other Closer Options
Kenley’s velocity was noticeably down last night. Perhaps he is unable to sustain it or perhaps it is still a matter of mechanics. At any rate, he needs to figure it out… and quickly, or he’s going to lose his job. Mitch White was obviously nervous in his first outing. Let’s remember that he only has pitched 3 innings in the majors until yesterday. He was a little wild but his fastball almost hit 99, and his sinker and slider were very deceptive. I have always felt that Mitch White could close.
The Bazooka has the arm to close, but currently does not have the mindset. He needs to focus on the outcome instead of the experience. It’s one thing to just have fun, but entirely another to have fun while accomplishing something. Do not confuse activity with accomplishment, Bazooka. He will not likely grow into the role this year, but he could be a solid piece.
Blake Treinen is best served as a setup man, but he will likely have a few save opportunities. Scott Alexander has been excellent as a ground-ball specialist, but he’s no closer. Jimmy Nelson was in the conversation, as was Corey Knebel until they were injured, and while David Price will be effective (I believe), I do not see him as a closer. However, I could be wrong. Dennis Santana is not ready to close, so that leaves Joe Kelly and, maybe later in the season, Tommy Kahnle… we don’t know if either will pitch this year. I am not holding my breath. It’s probably not realistic that anyone else in the minors can step up and close this year!
AC and I have both said repeatedly that closers are fickle, and you only have to look at the White Sox to understand that. Many fans have thought that the White Sox would have the best backend bullpen with Aaron Bummer and Liam Hendriks. So far, they have both blown two saves and Hendriks ERA is 4.82. However, it is early and they can both right the ship… so can Kenley, but in all fairness, we have seen this show before.
There are only two other options: Trade Keibert Ruiz and/or Gavin Lux for a proven closer OR when Price or Gonsolin return put one of them in the rotation and bring Julio Urias to be the closer for the rest of this season with the idea he goes back into the rotation in 2022. It’s way too early to panic and things like this often work themselves out, but there are options.
In reality, the Dodgers 4-6 record over the past 10 games is the fault of the hitters, not so much the pitchers. Of course, after the series with the Padres many Dodger fans are convinced that the Padres are superior. There is a mistaken theory that they hit better with RISP (and they may have in that series). Overall, the Reds lead all of baseball in hitting with RISP at .337! If they can keep it up, they will win the World Series (they won’t). The Dodgers are #17 in all of baseball and the Padres are a miserable #26!
This stuff shall soon pass. The sky is not falling and the world is not ending and the Dodgers are due to break out in a big way! Patience Grasshoppers.
Other News
- Brett de Geus has an 8.10 ERA for the Rangers – He could possibly get returned to the Dodgers.
- Joc Pederson is hitting .137 and Cubs fans are calling for his release. They put him on the IL, but he has been a disaster for them.
- Kike is hitting .250 (as usual) for the Red Sox while Alex Verdugo is at .325/.371 OB%/.908 OPS.
- Adam Kolark has an 8.44 ERA while Dylan Floro’s ERA is 1.69 – Split decision.
Verdugo hitting 325 and Betts around 260; guess we lost the trade. Can’t AF do anything right.
Seriously, I don’t see Urias going to the pen.
Well, I still got to buy a bunch of Championship gear for the first time in 32 years. We can still fill an entire team of lefty hitters without Verdugo.
I couldn’t agree more, Mark. No time to panic. The statistical data also bears this out. When the Dodgers were hot a couple of weeks ago, the 538 website had them as a 33% favorite to win the WS, far higher than any other club. Now, after this recent cold streak, they are down to 28%, but still far higher than any other club. In fact, the next highest team, the Yankees, has a 10% chance of winning the WS, and the next, the Padres, an 8% chance. Why? Because the data from recent past seasons weighs heavily in these calculations. To put it differently, there is far more meaningful information about the Dodgers’s likely performance in 2021, from the large amount of data accumulated over the past few years, than the data from their last several games. Fluky things happen in small samples. We all know that. Players get injured. They have hot and cold streaks. And luck also plays a large roll: a ball that finds a hole and scores a winning run, a blown call by an umpire, and so forth. Thus, although we are not playing well in the past several games – with the notable exception of the starting pitching – “this too shall pass!”
Trading Keibert might be too hard to resist come July.
Injuries happen to every team often with multiple key players at the same time. What appears to be rather obvious for the 2021 Dodgers is many, if not all, of the depth pieces who step in and get playing time are not successful sans McKinstry.
.095, .240 OBP, .167 SLG, .407 OPS, w/ 4 hits in 42 ABs and 14 K’s—Rios
.194, .286 OBP, .323 SLG, .608 OPS, w/ 6 hits in 31 ABs and 12 K’s—-Raley
.154, .389 OBP, .154 SLG, .543 OPS, 2/ 2 hits in 13 AB’s and 6 K’s—Beaty
.000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000—Peters
This team needs a healthy Bellinger in the worst way. It makes the line-up deeper, pushes some of the “not ready for primetime” players to the alternate site and will give playing time to depth pieces who can actually perform as opposed to just having a heartbeat and a bat or glove. Right now Raley, Rios, Beaty and Peters when he was up offer little in the way of being a competitive offensive ball player. Not a complete team at this juncture…just my observations.
Don’t break this news to B&P, he’s good with our depth and current struggles.
They hype was our depth, the reality is many of these hyped players just aren’t there yet, and some may never be ready. The upside is some other teams may be willing to take a package of some of these guys and deal with us for some bullpen help
Our bench is supposed to be Taylor, Rios, McKinstry and Beaty. Here’s their career OPS…
Taylor – 783
Rios – 827
McKinstry – 883
Beaty – 744
Anyone can suck over a 25 game stretch…
Rendon – 700
Chapman – 618
Biggio – 622
Swanson – 599
Bradley Jr. – 566
Goldschmidt – 605
Any questions?
P.S. Are you really crying about guys like Raley and Peters having trouble in their first taste of the big leagues?
Mike Trout’s slash after first 40 games – .220 .281 .390 .672
Luke Raley’s first 13 games – .194 .286 .323 .608
A Raley/Trout comp is pretty ballsy. I’ll give you credit.
lol – Just shows you can’t pass judgement on someone’s first 40 – 50 – games or more.
In all fairness, it doesn’t look like Raley and Peters are going to stick, but they are our depth’s depth. How long before Pages or Outman or Noda are called up to solve the 6th and 7th outfielder dilemma?
Anyone can suck at spinning stats too, at least that seems to be accurate with your recent spins.
There are the otta be’s and the Be’s. You are stuck in the otta be world. The Be’s are these guys aren’t stepping in and producing, that speaks to the “much talked about” depth, at least for now. In the future does that change, possibly, but depth is a now thing, propects are a future thing. You are confusing depth with prospecting. If you want to hang your hat on stats, the stats that matter are What Have You Done Lately, not what will you do in the future (if things go as planned).
PS, you are crying about someone pointing out the current matter at hand. WEAK! Get you undies unwadded out of your ass and allow people to have a take that is opposed to your own.
If you didn’t want to hear from me, why did you call me out? I pretty much responded to you.
“The stats that matter are What Have You Done Lately, not what will you do in the future (if things go as planned).” Your words not mine…
Last 7 days
Muncy – .056 .433 .056
Betts – .200 .314 .300
Smith – .182 .308 .273
Oh, but you’re complaining about the bench?
Now go clean the sand out of your V and stop complaining about a first place team.
Seems like the Dodgers have been here before. More than once. The bullpen is malfunctioning in April and May.
Although Kenley can be lights out at times, something changes and there goes the game. Last night a game the team should have won. The loss to the Padres Sunday will haunt the Dodgers until they figure out a new path.
But the loss to the Reds might be summed for a failure to hit when opportunities come into play. The bases loaded and Will Smith hits a ball hard, turns into a double play. If the ball finds a hole, the Dodgers take a 2-0 lead early, perhaps more. Eventually the balls begin to fall and the Dodgers offense takes off.
Right now injuries are a big factor. Not just to the bullpen. There were too many situations Sunday where the Dodgers needed a fly ball to put the game away, but ended up in a strikeout. You’ve got to put balls in play.
The broadcast crew couldn’t say enough about Max Muncy’s walk rate. Yah great, but you need him to drive the ball with runners on base.
Easy to be frustrated. But I’m guessing by June, the Dodgers will be rolling, adjustments being made and Cody Bellinger back.
Reading box scores, it’s interesting how many players are just not hitting. A far cry from the old days. Maybe shifts are having an impact. Some of the shifts against the Dodgers border on crazy. There is no one close to third, just drop a bunt. No, instead they pull the ball into the shift. I don’t get it.
Baseball needs to require two players on the infield between first and second, the other two between second and third. The lack of action and offense is dragging the game down. Absolutely need to add the DH. Why is this so hard? It’s honestly hard to watch a game on TV. Games too long, slow. Time for a change.
As to Verdugo, I hated to see him go, a fun player to watch, but that was the price to get Mookie Betts. Not sure David Price is a reliever. But Dodgers have far better starting options. Besides he’s hurt again.
Funny, but the Giants, not the Padres are tied for first in the NL West. Hey, Giants fans are excited.
Not panicking but realizing, we are in a bit of a mess. The rookies don’t have a major league level. Hitters failing big time. Openers doing well, most closers not getting it. Roberts never getting anything. This team has no future with players like Raley, DJ Peters, Neuse. Add to the picture the low level and lack of enthusiasm of Barnes, Beaty, Price and Ríos, and you find failure.
Some need a more suitable team, some need to go.
Nuese .286 .286 .714 1.000 – looks pretty good to me. Am I missing something?
Ahh, just reality.
Your reality is different than mine. I look up stats to back up your arguments and can’t ever find any.
Trading keibert at this point will fall in the dope Finn move . Barnes right about now falls in the same category of Rois ,Peters, etc. Urais to the pen not going to happen. Jansen is not a closer I don’t care if he is used ever other day. Stay the path and wait on Gonsolin.
Well butter my butt and call me a biscuit. Kenley blows one and everyone loses their collective minds. Should never have gotten to extra’s anyway. But slumps are what they are. No team is immune. Would you rather be rooting for the Yankees who could not find their ass with a map and a compass????
Please refrain from those visual descriptions, I just barfed up my biscuit.
You forgot the jam no doubt. Makes them easier to swallow.
The Dodgers defense is not good. Actually, it’s bad. In Def, or Defensive runs above replacement the Dodgers rank 28th in the league. In UZR/150, the Dodgers are second to last. In playoff baseball, it’s the critical individual plays that often determine outcomes. It’s a key defensive play here, an opportunistic stolen base there, or a walk at a critical time that make a difference in tightly contested games – like the recent series with the Padres, for instance.
The Dodgers aren’t playing good baseball right now aside from their starting pitching, which has been excellent. If the playoffs started today, the Dodgers would be bounced by any of the current contenders. The offense can go on an uptick and the relief corps can settle down a little, but the defense and fundamental baseball has to improve or the Dodgers aren’t going to repeat.
The Dodgers inability to hold runners on was exploited by the Padres. A big part of this, and the defense, falls on Roberts. It’s up to the manager to create an atmosphere where the team as a whole is playing cohesive baseball and is prepared. They’re just playing sloppy right now.
The Dodgers system has been thin at outfielder for a few years now. It’s not entirely fair to torch DJ Peters for being overwhelmed. He has had a strikeout problem for his entire minor league career. I was not impressed with Raley’s throws. If you’re going to be an on-the-bubble prospect at least have an arm.
Lux was originally drafted as a glove first SS. He changed his hitting approach and got the yips and was considered a high offensive upside prospect and potential future AS. Now perhaps he’s back to who he always was.
Muncy is leading the league in walk % and has cut down his strikeouts. That’s nice, but his power is down, too. There’s a such thing as being too conservative at the plate.
Roberts is operating according to the template – manage workloads and keep guys rested for September. The problem with this strategy is that it’s directly leading to losing now. The Dodgers are out Bellinger, McK, and JT is the only consistent hitter, but he sits – and the Dodgers don’t score runs … again, and lose … again.
Ruiz is not getting traded for a relief pitcher. No relief pitcher is worth a top prospect. Maybe the Dodgers can give up some lesser talent for Kimbrel, assuming the Cubs continue to tank. They’ve been playing better lately and might be getting the misplaced notion they can contest for the division or earn a wildcard.
Oh, and Jake McGee has 7 saves for the Giants, who are now tied for 1rst place. They’re paying him 2.5 mil/year. I still don’t get why the Dodgers weren’t all that interested in him. He did great for the Dodgers last year but didn’t even pitch in the playoffs, and they didn’t even try to keep him.
But we got Kelly for 8 mil.
Ditto on McGee. Looked like a keeper to me.
But the money for Kelly was already spent. The money for Treinen, however, was not. Seems that AF overpaid.
And maybe dealing Floro was a mistake. He had a nice run with the Dodgers.
It would be interesting to know the reasoning behind all of these decisions.
Rather see Muncy walk then chase ( see Peters, Raley and Rios). At least Rios tried to bunt last night.
Well, on a positive note the starting pitching has been very good. Every other area of the Dodger team is not very good right now. The offense has been underachieving at best and completely unproductive at worst. The rare time the offense gets a lead or back into the game the BP fails.
I had bought onto the BP finally becoming a strength for the Dodgers. Man, has that proven to be an illusion. I feel asleep last night while Jansen was warming up. I got up this morning to learn that he gave up a HR to help lose the game. Realistically, he shouldn’t have been put into that position in the first place. The offense continued to get guys on base, but for the life of me can’t drive them in. Every time there are men in scoring position it seems like Raley, Barnes or the pitcher is batting. I’m still pissed about the elimination of the DH for this season. Thanks Manfred. Manfred thinks having 3 foot square bases or fans coming out of the stands to pitch in extra innings is the ticket to improving the game. But, I digress. Graterol should shut his mouth and focus on getting outs. He’s done nothing in his career so far. He seems to have a cavalier attitude when he’s on the mound. When Roberts pulled him last night after getting one out he was chirping at the home plate ump about calls. Not good. Again, injuries and crappy pitching has turned the BP into a major liability….again. I was hopeful by mid season it would become a strength. But, it doesn’t look that way right now. I hope I’m wrong. And, don’t put Urias in the BP. He’s been jerked around enough so far in his career. Besides, he’s an “ace” according to some. Would you put Kershaw in the BP? Of course not.
I checked out Max Muncy’s stats for the last seven games. Now this is from our 4/5 hitter and is one reason the team has trouble scoring. He is hitting and slugging .056 with an OBP of .433. In those seven games he has 28 AB’s with 10 BB, 8 K’s , and 1 RBI! The game on Sunday he had 5 walks. Sure he takes a lot of pitches but there comes a time, as a #4 hitter, you have to swing and make contact. Last night I think he walked twice and was hit by a pitch. His next two AB’s he struck out. One of the K’s he swung at a pitch off the plate by a foot and then the final strike was at eye level. So, previous AB’s he takes borderline pitches for balls and then his last AB decides to swing at two pitches DJ Peters wouldn’t swing at. Maybe, Roberts reminded him that he is the cleanup hitter and attempting to make contact is a requirement. The rest of the offense is a mess right now. Between facing better pitching, injuries, players that don’t belong in the majors, and the complete lack of hitting with RISP. Will Smith what happened? Mookie, I think he is playing less than 100%. Seager and Taylor aren’t consistent right now. JT has been JT. And, JT’s “replacement” Mr Rios has been a major disappointment. I feel bad for him. Roberts keeps putting him in positions to succeed, but he can’t get that crucial hit or any hit for that matter. I mentioned a couple of week ago that his bat looks slow right now. The young guys they have brought up recently seem to have a problem just making contact. I believe Peters struck out all five plate appearances. This group of AAAA position players aren’t very good.
Better times ahead. Carry on
Sure would be nice to win some ball games first before resting players. Turner and Pollack are better options than Raley and Rios. The bottom of the order last night was automatic outs, even though Lux did get a hit and rbi. Not sure what the best option is with Ruiz, you can’t carry 3 catchers but would hate to see him traded as he looks like a much better hitter than Barnes. Smith is not a clean up 4-5 hitter either!
This team is too good to continue on this path. But there have already been rumblings that AF needs to trade to strengthen the pen. Defense definitely needs to improve and someone needs to teach these guys how to hold runners. Padres ran every chance they got.
All valid points. I’ll chock up the defensive woes to World Series hangover. Losing Knebel is a big blow. Kenley isn’t fixed. Gonsolin and Kelly will be available soon. It was good to see Mitch White step up under pressure to stop the bleeding. I thought it was curious that they sent Cleavinger down. He kind of reminds me of Tony Cingrani. Not sure how many quality bullpen pieces are available right about now for a trade. I agree with DodgersPatch about McGee. We should have brought him back especially at that price.
Maybe we can trade Price to a team that needs starting pitching in order to get a bullpen piece? Doesn’t every team need a solid left handed starting pitcher?
Get a power hitting RH outfielder at the same time. This team is still too lefty heavy
I’ve been saying that for years.
I will say this, Gonsolin is a key guy in the pen. When he returns the pen will be better, BUT he is not the savior for the pen. Freidman should be looking for bullpen help, he probably should be looking for bench help too.
Gotta get a couple guys that can get outs on both sides of the plate. This is a flaw that this bullpen has. Gonsolin and Gonzalez are the 2 guys that fit that description and 1 of them (Gonsolin) is injured/on the IL.
There are 2 things that are working against the Dodgers:
1 The 3 batter minimum rule.
2 No designated hitter.
The Dodgers’ depth hasn’t come through so far. Some players have a little bit of a track record – Beaty was good in 2019, Rios in 2019 and 2020. They haven’t done anything this year. You might argue that they weren’t really supposed to be any good in the 1st place. Rios has a really big swing and a slow bat. Maybe he isn’t the guy to replace Turner?
Raley looks a little awkward and he hasn’t succeeded at the MLB level yet either. Peters just looked overmatched and his problem making contact is just more obvious at the MLB level.
Neuse has looked decent in a small sample size. And McKinstry – wow.
The jury is still out on Lux too. Barnes has never been a good hitter.
The Dodgers do have some better position player prospects but they aren’t MLB ready yet.
Too many guys not hitting RISP. But I have to think that the offense will revert to the mean eventually.
The bullpen is another problem. I have checked out game logs at Baseball reference.com looking for clean outings thus far. It’s pretty scary.
Jansen – 2 clean out of 9 appearances
Nelson – 2 clean of 9
Treinen – 0 clean of 9
Alexander – 6 of 10
Gonzalez – 4 of 10
Price – 1 of 7
Knebel – 5 of 8
Santana – 2 of 6
Graterol – 1 of 3
In other words, usually you bring in a reliever and they bring a gas can. Where is El Gasolino when you need him?
I suspect that the Dodgers are going to try out some of the other young pitching prospects to see if someone can get people out before they make a trade.
Food for thought. Clean outings are not very common. Looking at all the box scores from yesterday. 9 clean out of 61 appearances = 15%. Your list of Dodgers so far this year 38/231 = 16%.
I’m assuming clean means no hits, walks or runs?
You are correct about “clean”. A reliever should be able to come in for an inning without igniting a fire or pouring gasoline on a blaze in progress. Dodger relievers aren’t very good at that right now. Their highest leverage guys (currently active) are Jansen, Gonzalez and Treinen.
League average WHIP for relievers this year is actually higher than starters (unusual) – 1.217 for SP vs 1.298 for RP. Dodgers have a .874 WHIP for SP (amazing) but 1.478 for RP. That’s frankly horrible. Gonzalez is 1.429, Treinen 1.889 and Jansen 1.065. Santana, Price and Nelson are all above 1.7; Graterol in a small sample is 3.750.
Dodger relievers allow more baserunners than league average and their high leverage guys, except for Jansen just aren’t getting it done.
Stats are a funny thing in a small sample size. Consider this. Bullpen Whip…
Last 7 days – 1.19 – 14th in MLB
Last 15 Days 1.05 – 2nd in MLB
YTD – 1.48 – 28th in MLB
JP Hoornstra of the Daily News identified 4 issues for the Dodgers to overcome (other than injuries) in an article from today:
https://www.dailynews.com/2021/04/27/diagnosing-the-dodgers-sudden-struggles/
1. Defending the stolen base
2. The bullpen
3. The prospect pipeline
4. Clutch hitting
The project pipeline deals with the lack of performance from the young players other than McKinstry and Nuese. Clutch hitting is an issue because “They’re 12 for 87 (.138) with runners in scoring position since April 17.”
Gonsolin, May, Neuse, White, and Raley are all rookies and have performed well at times. The Prospect Pipeline is fine. You can’t conclude it is not after 23 games.
Gonsolin hasn’t performed at all. White has been in 1 game. The players that Hoornstra is talking about include Raley, Peters, Beaty, Rios, Santana – none of whom have played well so far this season. Beaty had moments in 2019 and Rios in the past 2 years but neither has performed this year.
The Dodgers have some position players who are poised to do well in a couple of seasons – Busch, Hoese at the top of the list, but they are at Class A and they have no OF who are ready to excel in the next couple of years.
Tons of RHP.
Brutal stretch the last 8 games,:
2 and 6
5.5 hits a game
55 LOB
.157 average w/ with RISP w/ about 1/3 K’s
* Mookie just isn’t right. I have to believe he’s injured. In the past he was a highlight film every night in some area of the game. He made stuff happen every night. In the last 8 games he’s hitting .194 with 7 K’s. On the season, he has 3 RBI and 2 homers. He looks indecisive at the plate with odd amounts of checked swings and in a dead pull mode. He also had another green light special for a steal attempt last night in the 9th and didn’t go. That’s a couple of those lately where he could make something happen and didn’t. I have to believe he’s not right.
* Again, Doc makes to attempts to manufacture runs with a team struggling.
* Don’t laugh, I would have considered a bunt in the 8th with a struggle Smith up, even to the lower part of the order. Instead he hit into another double-play.
* Even Orel pointed out an opportunity to be aggressive on the bases, bottom 4.
Muncy at 3rd, Lux at 1st. Rios hitting. With the shift on Max can get as far off 3rd as the 3rd baseman is off the bag, which is about 45 feet. Max can get a huge lead. If Lux goes or gives an intentional pick stop , Muncy’s 1/2 way home. You either steal a run or Lux makes it to 2nd. Make something happen. It ended up moot as Rios strikes out again.
* My pet peeve is lack of hustle. It takes NO talent to hustle. Urias gave up a single in 6th for an RBI and that’s fine. But he was too damned lazy is too to back up home. He’s in the way as he cut the throw from the outfield, in the middle of the infield. I hate that.
* Our pitchers continue to allow huge jumps giving the catchers no shot. 27 steals in 32 tries. Nobody else has more than 15. Smith got suckered into throwing behind the runner at 2nd last night. Good play by the Reds. I haven’t seen us to that.
* Why not pinch run for Rios in 9th after he’s hit in knee and Turner hitting? Run Pollock and put Turner at 3rd.
* I like Rios thinking drag bunt in 7th when we need baserunners. Now, be more committed to actually bunting the ball. He’s hit 1 homer. If we had a healthy back-up at 3rd, Rios would be on the shuttle with Peters, if it were up to me.
* I can’t believe we should ever consider trading K-Bear. He has 8 career at bats. We haven’t seen what he can do.
* Doc’s not hitting and pitching so this slump is not his fault. And i’m being exceptionally critical of him after giving him a pass all year. It’s not panic to manager differently when you’re slumping. It’s called adjusting. He is the greatest Manager when he has the greatest team.
I totally agree with you philjones on the lack of adjustments or urgency by the team and especially the manager. The saying about insanity, yada, yada. Is it so painful not to try to bunt at least ONCE during a game or the last seven games? I mean the longer you allow this type of play to continue the harder it can be to turn things around. You can’t just flip on a switch and start winning. The other teams are good too. The Dodgers are the best team in baseball. That’s plenty of incentive for teams to out pitch, hit, and hustle the Dodgers. And, right now that’s what’s happening. I know teams have slumps throughout a long season. All it takes is one goofy or unpredictable play to end a slump. I thought the Sunday game with the Padres was going to be a turning point. Good starting pitching and timely hitting. Unfortunately, we all know how that turned out.
Mostly for Eric,
Here was our opening day bullpen. You want to get help, who do you get rid of?
Scott Alexander
Victor González
Kenley Jansen
Corey Knebel
Tony Gonsolin Replaced by Santana
Jimmy Nelson
David Price
Blake Treinen
Gonsolin, Price and Knebel are all on the IL.
Who are the 6 guys that are currently on the roster that will remain in your pen? What do you do with the one’s that won’t?
I see a lot of upside with almost all of the guys currently in the pen. Remember that Price and Nelson are insurance in case a starter or two goes on the IL.
Knebel and Nelson. Knebel might not be back this year and if he is then carry 14 pitchers.
Gonsolin can start if needed.
Well, more good arms in the pen is definitely not a bad thing. But, I don’t think you really need to carry 14 pitchers. To be honest, if the bullpen is really horrible, I would think that you would have jettisoned others.
But, it’s hard to argue that you can’t improve the pen with better options than Knebel and Nelson. To me, one of the biggest problems is having a closer that you can’t pitch in back to back days. Maybe we wouldn’t need a 14th pitcher if we had a closer who can.
Maybe White and Gonsolin will be enough to stabilize things, taking Knebel and Nelson’s spots. Maybe Morrow will step up. Maybe another minor league starter can step up to the pen like Pepiot, Gray or Miller. There’s a lot of good internal options. But, I wouldn’t say no to a proven and healthy closer. Do you think any are available? Would you trade Pepiot, Gray, Miller or Ruiz to get one?
I wouldn’t trade Miller and Ruiz. The other two I would.
Jensen Price Treinen contracts would be hard to move.
A lot of comments from Roberts about the offense and in particular, Rios. I happen to agree with him on this…
https://dodgerblue.com/dodgers-roster-edwin-rios-wont-be-optioned/2021/04/27/
Comments from Treinen on the pen…
https://www.dodgersnation.com/dodgers-bullpen-roles-undefined-according-to-blake-treinen/2021/04/27/
Is this part of the reason for underperforming right now?
Smith bomb.
Reds hitters are so good
I got a lot more confidence in the dodgers hitters than in the reds bullpen.
Mookie’s not looking very mookie.
Where was that last strike to Turner in the 9th?
where
Lol. The Ump just wanted to go home.
Dodgers – 4 hits.
Bullpen relinquished the game without any margin for error.
Wash, rinse, repeat
Raise your hand if you’re starting to panic. Okay we have a few but it’s not serious yet. Well at least there wasn’t anything to blame on Roberts tonight.
Fact, Dodgers can win or lose any series. Staying away from sports books is sound advise.
One reason not to panic: Jesse Winker.
Never heard of him until he blasted that shot off Kenley, but the guy is obviously playing out of his mind. Kenley’s pitch wasn’t bad at all–upper outside corner–and much better than Buhler’s HR pitch.
Sometimes guys get so hot they just hit everything. So I cut Kenley some slack for that one. Homers happen.
Pretty amazing that this is the first time Dodgers lost three in a row since 2019.
As a spoiled rotten Dodger fan, here’s my question: Where is our Winker?
Or Acuna? Or Soto? Or Arozarena? Or Franmil Reyes? Etc.
I think Lux was supposed to be that guy…
Oh well.
Strange, but right now I think Dodgers are missing McKinstry more than Belli.