Over the years, I have taken a lot of heat when I say things like:
- Alex Verdugo will be Tony Gwnnn-esque! I was not excited that Alex was traded, but I guess Betts was a key cog in the 2020 Championship… and I’m OK with it unless Betts never comes out of this slump.
- Why trade for Rollins, Seager is ready!
- Cody Bellinger is ready! A year before others thought that.
- Kike is a great defensive player. I always thought Kike had a great glove, but many fans disagreed… until the truth was plain as day. I also thought he would become a .300 hitter, but that has not materialized
- I am worried that Lux will never be what we thought. I am all for Gavin Lux, but have questions about his sustainability.
- Yasmani Grandal will be one of the TOP Catchers in baseball and hit 30 HR. Well, he has never got to 30, but he is still one of the TOP catchers in baseball. In fact, between 2016 and 2021 Yasmani Grandal ranks as the #1 catcher in baseball during that period with a 22.5 WAR (JTR is 2.0 WAR behind). Now, I am glad he is gone, but he served a purpose.
- Andrew Friedman is exactly what the Dodgers need. Boy, did I take fire for that one! For years… upon years. Until the facts were undeniable. Predictably, the people who used to argue and ridicule me every day have left the site.
Now, I am not right about everything. I predicted stardom for Andy LaRoche, so there is that. I did not think Will Smith would ever be the offensive force he is and if someone says that saw it, I will be forced to ask what drug you were on when you saw that. I still think Kiebert Ruiz will be an All-Star catcher, but Diego Cartaya looks like a phenom! Now that I have seen Diego in three games, I am down with trading Kiebert, but it will have to be a “haul.”
Remember when most of said “I don’t understand why the Dodgers traded Adam Kolarek.” Yes, you bullpen wizards want a guy that has an 8.00 ERA and a 2.22 WHIP. Yeah, right. The Dodgers traded him (and Thomas, who is awful this year) for Neuse and Gus Varland = remember that name. He is a LHP who missed all of 2019 with TJ, but throws 95 and (GET THIS) has excellent command! He is currently at Tulsa. Sheldon Noisy is back at AAA, but I believe he is a player in the mold of Max Muncy. Sheldon is a natural 3B who can also play 2B. He has played 5 games in the OF, including the one in RF where he looked really bad. But to conclude that he cannot play OF is like telling your kid they can never ride a bike the first time they fall off. I have no doubt that the Dodgers will get him some reps in the outfield so that he is more versatile. As a point of comparison, Matt Chapman had a .234 BA after 290 AB’s. Sheldon Noisy has a .211 BA after 114 AB’s and if you factor in how much the hitting is down in this “Manfred-Induced Dead Ball Era”, they are pretty close.
Remember when I said that “Reds fans were not unhappy to see Raisel Iglesias leave” and several people said they would love to have him – you know the guy with the 4.29 ERA?
Jake McGee has a 4.37 ERA and a -0.5 WAR, and yet I hear “I can’t understand why the Dodgers got rid of him.” Come on, Man.
Remember how I went on for years about how god Julio Urias would be? I am so glad Andrew Friedman did not include him in any trades.
Oh, maybe you can bitch about Dylan Floro a little while longer, but he has doubled his ERA from 1.42 a couple of weeks ago to 2.95 today, but keep yacking. Tell me you knew Mark Melancon would have a 0.74 ERA this year after 6 years averaging over 3.50, and I will say you are full of something! Most of us thought Craig Kimbrel was done after 2019 (6.53 ERA and 2020 (5.28 ERA), but there he sits with a 0.82 ERA.
Building a bullpen is tough and if you think otherwise, you are delusional. Any GM will tell you it is one of the hardest things to do. I have said that the Dodgers have incredible depth and many of you have come back like rabid dogs, saying “what depth?” “the Dodgers depth is overrated.” and on and on. The disconnect is between your ears! Depth does not mean that the player you call up will be Cy Young or Babe Ruth the minute they come up. Player development is not linear, but it would no surprise me if Alex Vesia is on the playoff roster and is a better pitcher than Dylan Floro THIS YEAR! Now, I am not predicting that he will, because progress is not linear, but there is no denying that his stuff is filthy. It is his control that is in question. Sometimes it takes a while and sometimes, a switch is just “flipped.”
The problem with many fans is they just have sight, but lack vision. Sight is “the faculty or power of seeing” while Vision is “the ability to think about or plan the future with imagination or wisdom.” Vision sees beyond boundaries. Sight shows you what you do not have. Vision gives hope to weary eyes. Sight is present. Vision is future. Sight shows us what is. Vision shows us what can be.
I do not like to see the Dodgers lose… especially to the Giants, but I am not about to lose my mind and rely just on my sight! Vision is too important. The Dodgers have depth no other MLB team has, but that does not mean that they are all ready to play at the MLB level. Sight tells us they are not, but vision tells us they might have that capability! Sight tells me that Albert Pujols is not as good as he once was. Vision tells me he is as good once as he ever was! Vision also tells me that he brings an intangible to the team that is not quantifiable.
I actually believe that we will look back on the struggles Raley, Peters, Neuse, Pujols, Tsutsugo, Kelly, Cleavinger, White, Vesia, Bickford, Uceta, and Santana and say “the struggles they had early in the season drove them to be even better.” Of course, I am not saying it about ALL OF THEM, but some of them will be key pieces for the team this year and beyond! Add in the fact that Pollock, Graterol, Gonsolin, and Nelson will be back very soon and things are looking up. The Dodgers still have one of the Top Records in baseball and I am going to rely on my vision, not your sight!
Things change as time goes on. Time is a great revealer. Remember when if you said “COVID-19 might have started in a lab in Wuhan“, you were branded a lunatic and conspiracy theorist. Facebook would take down your posts and ban you if you said that because “that theory has been debunked.” Dr. Fauci (who may have been complicit in it) dismissed the lab leak theory as nonsense. Well, times have changed. Facebook has changed course and the people who said you were a conspiracy theorist to think that have had their collective faces rubbed in the mud! It turns out it is more likely it was a leak in the lab than any other possibility. We may never know for sure, but only a moron would think that is not a strong possibility, the #1 possibility! Enough about that. Time revealed it and time will reveal what the struggles early this season will do to the Dodgers depth.
Dodger Minor League Report
- OKC BOXSCORE – Rangel Ravelo took the day off, but the Dodgers won 20-9 on 20 hits and 5 walks. Reks went 4-6. Raley went 3-4 with 9 RBI with 2 HR’s. Matt Davidson is heating up and went 4-6 with a HR.
- TULSA BOXSCORE – Tulsa won 2-1 as Rincon and Amaya each had 2 hits. 6′ 7″ Mark Washington, Zach Willeman, and Aaron Ochsenbein each pitched an inning from the 7th to the 9th and allowed ZERO Hits.
- GL BOXSCORE n- Great Lakes pulled to .500 with a 6-2 win over the Lansing Lugnuts. Miguel Vargas was 3-5 with a double and Andy Pages was 2-4 with a 2-run homer. Morgan Cooper pitched the final inning, allowing no hits and no runs.
- RC BOXSCORE – The Quakes lost 7-3. AJ Polock was 0-3. Deluca hit his 2nd HR and that was that!
As Good As I Once Was
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldQrapQ4d0Y
I would like to honor our Veterans who paid the ultimate price to protect our freedoms today and those who have served. Thank you!
Raley actually hit 3 Bombs. He’s slashing .361/.410/.694/1.105, who is this kid? Call him up!
Albert’s OPS is all the way up to 801 today. Glad to see a change of scenery doing him some good.
Yoshi on the other hand, is hitting worse than Urias and Kershaw. How much longer are we going to continue this experiment?
Vesia isn’t half bad when he starts an inning. Why would you bring in a guy with 11 walks in 9.2 innings with runners on?
The two best uniforms in the National League are facing off today when we host the Cardinals this evening. Let’s start a new streak today.
I have always thought Raley had more upside than Beaty, mostly due to power, and sometimes it just takes a little tweak!
Beatty is a part-time player who has an OBP of .378 and has 23 RBI in just 85 ABs. That’s really remarkable production. By contrast, Seager needed 147 ABs to get to 22 RBI, and Lux needed 154 ABs to get to 25 RBI (including today’s 2 HRs.) Nobody comes close to Beatty in terms of RBI-per-AB. You can argue that Beatty benefits from his role as a pinch-hitter coming up with runners on base–but it’s clear that he is delivering the goods.
Some of this could be flukey, but I don’t buy into the seamhead theory that RBIs are largely a result of dumb luck. (Could be wrong, but I think Bill James claims that.) I think some players hit better with runners in scoring position because they are more focussed and strategic in their approach. (See: Pujols’ epic career.)
Raley may have more power than Beatty, but Beatty is playing his role really, really well. Maybe I’m wrong about Muncy being a Rodney Dangerfield. Matt Beatty don’t get no respect…. but why?
Oh, in checking the stats I was surprised to see that DJ Peters actually has a pretty good OBP. Better than Beatty, and trailing only Muncy and Chris (14-Pitch-At-Bat) Taylor. Small sample size, of course… but Peters always just seems like a K waiting to happen. (I prefer him to Raley for the defense, but I think I know why both are below Beatty on the depth chart.)
Good to hear the positive buzz on Cartaya. I think the Smith-Barnes tandem is tough to beat. Smith has the better bat and upside, but Barnes is superior on D and has the faith of the pitchers. Ruiz’s greatest value could be as trade chip–but I’d only do it for a big haul.
Your post had me thinking about AF’s first big moves for the Dodgers:
–Getting Grandal from the Padres for Matt Kemp (with some smaller parts)
–Getting Barnes, Kike for Dee Gordon (and, again, extra elements.) That deal also got the Dodgers, briefly, Andrew Heaney, who was swapped to the Angels for Howie Kendrick.)
AF clearly made catcher a priority. They later made Will Smith a first round pick, and Ruiz and Cartaya are in the wings.
Oh, and the idea that Fauci is somehow “complicit” in however the coronavirus got into the population really doesn’t hold up to scrutiny. That’s just a BS talking point designed to distract from the obvious: The epic, tragic denial and misinformation that came to the US people from a “leader” who was never the people’s choice to begin with, and went out inciting mob violence at the Capitol where his own Veep heard death threats.
One thing dodger management excels at is finding former great players ( and some who weren’t!) who still have gas in the tank and burning that last bit of gas to full advantage.
A shout out to all our veterans and to those families who have lost loved ones. We honor you all today.
Mark, I happen to agree u have to be in the moment but also look to the future. I believe AF had the vision when he let Ryu and Maeda go allowing May and Urías in the rotation. I think vesia , Varland, and neuse have a future. I c why AF would let Floro, Kolarek go to get cheaper future players. They are not ready now but might be at the end of the year. In the meantime we have not ready for prime time players.
This might not matter in an ordinary year but the pads will win 95 or so games. So while our vision is coming into focus our thruway games will probably cost us the division. That doesn’t keep us from winning the World Series. We just have to make sure we get in the playoffs.
I predict when healthy and perhaps adding Kahnle, the lefty whose name escapes me, and who knows we will have a tremendous bullpen. But, we have to get in. The names in the bullpen will change for the better. When our lineup is healthy it will be second to none. We may need an innings eater type starter before it is over.
Finally, Mark thanks for all you do. You r a strong character to handle the abuse u receive at times. My observation is your predictions r as good or better than most. I disagree many times but nothing personal. I have looked at all blogs and still put ladodgertalk on top.
Nobody is right all the time, but I have had my share of success and if you learn from your mistakes, you get better over time.
Chapter and verse. Enlighten me. You like to speak in cryptic sound bites… say something substantive!
Don’t ya just love it when someone lays down some vitriol and walks away never to back it up? My guess is he was upset about the whole beer sickness thingy. Well done, Mark. ☺
Your vindictive venom has more to do with politics than baseball, BNY?
I predicted 3 for 4 in this last series! Except that I got the teams wrong.
The Dodgers may win. The Dodgers may lose. But none of that matters compared to the lives that were lost so that we may enjoy the freedom that we have today.
God has blessed the U.S.A. I pray that he continues to do so.
I’m always right on my predictions, but I’m not sharing because then, everybody will be right
Every bird loves to hear themselves sing. I don’t know who said that but it is why we have these comment/chat boards.
Okay, I hated to see Alex Verdugo traded. But I really liked getting Mookie Betts. Unless, of course, Betts is breaking down. Too young to break down. But a writer in the LA Times did bring it up. Something is wrong. Maybe bad stint.
I think Gavin Lux is going to be very good. No problems wth him.
Don’t miss Grandal.
Neuse? Verdict is still out. Had no problem with the trade.
Friedman is a great hire. Anyone who says different is in a state of denial.
Hey, I thought LaRoche would be better. Sometimes you just miss.
Raley? Maybe. Still too much swing and miss.
But one thing has always bothered me. When the Dodgers were throwing all money in the international market back in the day, why didn’t they sign Vladimir Guerrero Jr.? Did they actually read the scouting reports? If they had they would have passed on most of those signings, saved a whole lot of money. Wrote that when it happened. The international people were just clueless. Oh well.
I will say this Mark, you’re right more often than you’re wrong. Basically that probably puts you among the best GMs in baseball, so there’s that.
The Betts trade FINALLY put us over the hump. FINALLY! Even if doesn´t play one more inning for the Dodgers the trade was worth every penny and player we gave up. He was the difference in FINALLY winning it all.
I dont think Verdugo is that kind of player and I really hated him go.
And yes, Mookie clearly is hurt these days. something not right with him and trying to play threw it. I am optimistic he will be going good soon. He is the guy that makes this team the best in baseball. Without him they are just very good, as they were all those years before the trade. Just not goon ENOUGH.
That is how good Mookie is. Like Gibson back in 88.
The difference between winning and winning it ALL!
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!
Right now I don’t think Boston would trade verdugo back for Betts even up considering the money. Verdugo has star written all over him. Mookie helped us get the World Series ring but is nowhere near that player at the moment. I wondered what the big deal about him in the 2017 World Series. Didn’t pose a big threat especially clutch. There is probably something going on for sure. Although I don’t think he is top 5 he is way better than he is playing.
Lux I am indifferent about. I think he will be solid and above average but I am getting a bit worried he won’t hit lefties. He does not use his speed and he has to make contact. He may just be slow to develop but I don’t really c star but he can still b very good. I haven’t seen enough of him yet to conclude anything.
Grandal noooo.
I’ve been thinking about double headers. How they are now 7 innings. Why were they invented? To draw fans, get them in the seats , a 2 for 1 deal. And you could always show up late and take in one game if that’s all the time you wanted to spend. Double headers also compressed the season calendar wise, keeping it out of cold weather, since at the time all the teams were up north. So now 7 inning double headers are here to stay.
Talking about players who are missed, I nominate David Freese. Who could get things going and get things done. I miss that guy.
Having Bauer will make a huge difference in the Playoffs.
Mookie will come round. He does the little things well.
We currently are without Seagar and Belly is just getting going.
Pollock is underestimated by many.
Lux will be fine. He is doing well.
When we get our Offense together and pair it with the best rotation in Baseball, we are gonna take some stopping.
Well done Mark on your tributes to all your Servicemen – it is something that you do so much better than we do here in the UK.
Here ‘s today’s lineup:
Mookie RF
Max 1b
JT 3b
Cody cf
Will c
Gavin ss
CT3 LF
Zach 2b
Trevor
Dodgers Injury Updates: Brusdar Graterol Could Rejoin the Team This Weekend
The Bazooka could be just one rehab appearance from a return.
by Brook Smith
Dodgers Injury News: Tony Gonsolin Set to Return Next Week
by Clint Pasillas
Sooner rather than later the Dodgers will finally have a true fifth starter in the rotation again. After going with bullpen games just about every fifth day since losing Dustin May, Tony Gonsolin is set to rejoin the team next week. Quite possibly on the upcoming road trip, if all goes according to plan.
Before game time on Monday, manager Dave Roberts shared the update on the right-hander.
Tony is going to pitch with our Triple-A club on Wednesday. The goal is 5 [innings] and 70ish [pitches], or something like that. And if it goes well, he’ll rejoin us for the next turn.
Gonsolin was a major part of the LA rotation in 2020. In 9 games (8 starts), the Cat-Man posted a 2.31 ERA with a 2.29 FIP in 46.2 innings pitched while earning Rookie of the Year honors from Baseball America. He made the opening day roster this season but hit the injured list with a shoulder issue before appearing in a game.
‘I was right , you were wrong”. I was right, you were wrong, I was right , you were wrong.
… and what is your point?
Do you have one?
Well will Bauer give up more homers than McKinstry makes errors?
I do not understand the Dodgers.
1. We still do not have a fifth starter. We have Price who by now could be pitching 6 innings. He has looked great. Why not put Gosolin in the pen and let Price start. Both would be playing a major role.
2. We cannot continue to have a bullpen game every 5 days. Both the starting pitchers and bull pen have been abused. All four starting pitchers in their last outing did not pitch well. The bullpen did not perform well in the Giant series.
3. Scoring 2 runs or less a game will not get it done.
We got beat by the Giants who on paper look like a AAAA team. We are going to be on a dog fight the rest of the year.
I could say a lot of negative things about Doc. He is simply a horrible in game manager. I really wish we had another manager. I am afraid Doc will be with for some time.
What an AB!!!!!!!! Taylor!
Yes great ab for Taylor!!! Bauer took ball 4 but didn’t get call.
Benjamin Netting Yahoo, Dodger Lover, Sandyisthegreatest, Jojo, BacchusB, BlackMirror99, PalmDale, CurdyBuff, TylerDurden31, Dionysis: Those are all the names you have used here. You are officially kicked out because you Sir, are a Dumbass and need some immediate mental help. Go away! You are banned.
One plus is mookie betts looked really good tonight! Mb he will catch fire!
Tonight’s game had something that must of been missing without noticing or able to put my finger on….fun! Maybe it’ll stick with the team for a spell.
Beatty is a part-time player who has an OBP of .378 and has 23 RBI in just 85 ABs. That’s really remarkable production. By contrast, Seager needed 147 ABs to get to 22 RBI, and Lux needed 154 ABs to get to 25 RBI (including today’s 2 HRs.) Nobody comes close to Beatty in terms of RBI-per-AB. You can argue that Beatty benefits from his role as a pinch-hitter coming up with runners on base–but it’s clear that he is delivering the goods.
Some of this could be flukey, but I don’t buy into the seamhead theory that RBIs are largely a result of dumb luck. ( I think Bill James claims that.) I think some players hit better with runners in scoring position because they are more focused and strategic in their approach. (See: Pujols’ epic career.)
Raley may have more power than Beatty, but Beatty is playing his role really, really well. Maybe I’m wrong about Muncy being a Rodney Dangerfield. Matt Beatty don’t get no respect…. but why?
Oh, in checking the stats I was surprised to see that DJ Peters actually has a pretty good OBP. Better than Beatty, and trailing only Muncy and Chris (14-Pitch-At-Bat) Taylor. Small sample size, of course… but who knew? Peters always just seems to me like a K waiting to happen. (I root more for him than Raley for the defense, but I think I know why both are below Beatty on the depth chart.)
Good to hear the positive buzz on Cartaya. I think the Smith-Barnes tandem is tough to beat. Smith has the better bat and upside, but Barnes is superior on D and has the faith of the pitchers. Ruiz’s greatest value could be as trade chip–but I’d only do it for a big haul.
Your post had me thinking about AF’s first big moves for the Dodgers:
–Getting Grandal from the Padres for Matt Kemp (with some smaller parts)
–Getting Barnes and Kike for Dee Gordon (and, again, extra elements.) That deal also got the Dodgers, briefly, Andrew Heaney, who was swapped to the Angels for Howie Kendrick.)
AF clearly made catcher a priority. They later made Will Smith a first-round pick, and have Ruiz and Cartaya are in the wings. Nice.,
And finally, since you “went there,” the idea that Fauci is somehow “complicit” in however the coronavirus got into the human population really doesn’t hold up to scrutiny. That’s a BS talking point you’ll hear on Fox designed to distract from the obvious: The epic, tragic denial and misinformation that came to the US people from a “leader” who was never the people’s choice to begin with, and went out inciting mob violence at the Capitol where his own Veep heard death threats.
To Not Snider:
Wow! I am not sure what your opinion has to do with facts. Actually, I should have said that Fauci WAS complicit. It’s pretty clear he knew what was going on, but the point is that for 15 months people were prevented from saying the obvious: That the virus could have started in a lab. I am not a Trump fan so I don’t know where all the rest of that crap came from. My only point is that the truth eventually comes out. What I wrote was not about politics, but rather, media misinformation… and the sheeple continuing to believe it. There is a lot more coming!