Welcome to my mind. Sometimes it works well, other times, not so much. But right now at this point in the season, it is very confused. All I heard was how great this team was, of course, that was before a rash of injuries derailed that idea. Gone for the season are Caleb Ferguson, who we knew was not going to be a factor after Tommy John. Then AF signed Tommy Kahnle to a 2-year deal, knowing he was not likely to pitch at all this year. Then Edwin Rios started off so bad and then was found to have a bad shoulder. He was out for the year, then the starting pitching took a hit when May had to have TJ surgery.
Just one thing after another. Bellinger, Muncy, McKinstry, and worst of all, Corey Seager. His injury reminded me of when they lost Turner when he was hit in the wrist. So in situations like this, all sorts of scenarios come to mind. Do they make a trade for a starter and a reliever, or does AF have a ton of confidence in what he has on the roster right now?
Pujols has been a lot better as a Dodger than he was as an Angel, but he also is a double play waiting to happen every time he hits with a runner on base. But what he has brought to the culture and the bench has been very good. I realize believe me, that teams are going to have peaks and valleys. I also think they can go into a funk pretty easily if there is not some sort of relief valve type player on the team. What I see right now is a lack of leadership on the field and in the dugout. Oh, when they are playing well they high-five and give hugs. But I also notice that at times when the pitcher is in trouble, no one goes out there to give him a blow and let him gather his thoughts. Scioscia was good at that, as were quite a few other take-charge type players in years past.
But in all honesty, what I think they need more than anything is a jolt of energy from someone. They have those types of players on the roster. Mookie Betts can set the mood all by himself when he is playing like Mookie played last year. That has been missing all season. You do not expect a player of Mookie’s caliber to be hitting around .250. There is still plenty of time to turn the season around, and this team is capable of going on a run. They can put up runs in bunches. And all it will take is one guy to get hot.
Turner carried them early in the season, then after the 5-15 stretch, it was Muncy with strong contributions from Lux, Beaty, Taylor, and Smith. That intensity and fire have been missing since they got to SD. The bullpen has been better than expected, except for a few instances. The starting pitching for the most part, very good. But the offense has been inconsistent.
The offense has not been very good in close games. Someone said in an earlier post, this too shall pass. Well, we all hope it does. Other Dodger teams have used trades to give the team a little shock treatment. Maybe some guys get too comfortable in their roles. So a trade might be the ticket to ride. But then again, who goes? They have several key guys in the last year of their contracts. But since all of them seem to be key to the success of the team, I doubt AF would even consider trading any of them.
The thing is, all we can do is sit here and watch and wait to see what happens. That, my friends, is the most frustrating part of being a fan. Last night the Dodgers stopped their losing streak with a 6-2 win over the Cubs. They got HRs from Muncy, McKinstry, and Pollock. Some solid BP work and for the first time this season, 4 innings from the Catman. He gave up a first-inning HR to Baez and nothing else. That looked more like the Dodgers we know. Hopefully, it sends them on a winning streak. The Giants placed Belt on the 10 day IL. Let’s go Dodgers and as one of my favorite comedians says, Get Er Done! Nice win last night with Belli getting a walk-off dinger. If he gets hot, he can carry the whole team.
Tomorrow, DC releases his blog on Mark Washington. Stay Tuned!
Cover Photo: Jon Soo Hoo/La Dodgers.
Those who undervalue Bellinger had better think that one through!
A+ and spot on.
Win tonight and take 3 of 4 from a good Cubs team. Need Kersh to be Kersh.
Dodgers need Belli to return to his MVP season production. Hopefully that walk off HR was the start to it.
Damn Midgets just keep winning every conceivable way.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!
At least the nuns got their clocks cleaned by they Dbacks.
Things are looking up. It sure feels like we’re about to turn things around. Last night’s walk-off is a big motivator as Belli showed his teammates that winning close is certainly possible. It hasn’t been great, but it hasn’t been horrible either. It isn’t what we expected, but it isn’t as bad as people suggest. Turn back the clock ten years and fans would be excited about the possibilities instead of disappointed from not meeting expectations.
Maybe some people undervalue Bellinger. Maybe those same people are just looking at someone to blame, an easy target looking at the stats page without taking outside factors into consideration, offseason surgery, short Spring, early injury. Those same people will look to someone else once Belli’s stat page starts filling up with crooked numbers. I see a guy that’s making adjustments. I like how Belli is making adjustments. With two strikes, he’s been shortening up lately and going the other way. But, last night with a 3-1 count, he let it rip and got all of that. Maybe he becomes a better all around hitter as a result of his recent struggles. Maybe he goes back to having a Joc swing regardless of the count after connecting with that big swing for a walk off bomb.
Lux is another target for disgruntled fans. He’s clearly in a funk right now. I see him taking too many hittable pitches again. People look at his stats and see below average production from a guy they’ve seen for a few years now. Some fail to take into consideration that he missed the rookie cutoff by just 8 ABs. They fail to take into consideration that he played with a bad wrist during the current season. I see a guy that’s learning to hit Major League pitching. A guy that fields his position well, but makes a bad throw from time to time. He crushed a ball last night but hit it too squarely and right to the center fielder. He will eventually adjust.
Baseball is a weird game. For every Puig that starts out on fire, there’s a Trout who performs poorly in his first taste of the bigs, then puts together a big career. I wonder how the Rays fans are feeling about Wander Franco. A consensus top shortstop prospect who doubled and homered in his first game, but has gone hitless since.
Our lineup is greater than the sum of it’s pieces like many other lineups. When all the pieces are there, there is no relief for a pitcher to catch his breath. Now that the pieces are coming back, it’s going to be a lot more difficult for the opposing pitcher to navigate the lineup. Players don’t usually come off the IL and start performing immediately. It takes a few games, sometimes a week, sometimes longer to get their timing back. Hitting is ver cyclical. That’s why every player seems to be called a streaky hitter.
You start by trying to get your timing. You start to use all fields and have success. Then you start seeing the ball really well and you pull everything and you hit balls on the edge very well. Then you start to chase a little and begin rolling over more often. Then you start to slump and you start the cycle all over again.
Now the team is getting healthy. We just took two games from a good Cubs team with a winning record. We’re just about to start heating up. Just in time to face our division rivals and to battle the soft underbelly of our July schedule.
How’s that bullpen? Thanks to that replay that turned a homer into a loud strike, another scoreless outing was registered last night. Kelly was sitting triple digits last night. Another guy who gets thrown under the bus by most on this site. Bickford and Price retired everyone they faced in order, the last seven in a row. Conversely, the Cubs vaunted bullpen just lost two games in a row.
Things are looking up indeed. Hopefully, Kershaw will be up to the task of keeping this streak going. Not the regular 1PM start time tonight. This is a 4PM ESPN game.
Great points BP. I have always had a lot of faith in Bellinger, and I kind of equate his offseason and spring with what Kemp went through in 2013. Two major surgeries, a hammy issue early in the season and he never really got untracked. Played a lot better in 2014 and was close to what he was before, but the feud with Mattingly about wanting to play CF and clubhouse cancer issues made most of the headlines and he was traded. I also noticed that Lux lets a lot of pitches right down Broadway go. And it also seems like he is always in a 0-2 hole. But what is more frustrating to me is that he is rolling over on the ball and pulling everything right into the shift. The ball he hit that scored Belli was hit that way. I would just like to see him become a spray hitter and use the left side of the field now and then. He reminds me somewhat of Kike when he fell in love with the fact he could hit HR’s and tried to pull everything.
I am comfortable ragging on Lux while he taxies down that runway and fails to accelerate for flight. He’s supposed to be a jet fighter, not a Cessna.
There’s really no question: Right now he is weak link on this lineup, the conspicuous underachiever. Think about it: Guys like Turner, Muncy, Taylor and now McKinstry are overachievers who surpassed expectations–and now have altered expectations. The achievers are proven All-Star performers who have lived up to expectations, such as the multiple MVPs and Cy Young winners on the roster.
Yes, Lux did line out to center the base loaded–but he also struck out twice. The talent has been apparent since he was a first-round draft pick–and we see the occasional flash. He demonstrated it constantly on his way to the majors, making him on the most hyped prospects of his time.
But delve into his ML stats and it’s obvious Lux struggles against lefthanded pitching–but he’s not killing righthanded pitching either. Has old man Albert pinch hit for Lux yet? In some circumstances, that would be the right move.
Lux has a few more weeks to start achieving. When Seager returns, Lux could become a part-time player, maybe a platoon guy. The runway will get shorter if the overachieving Giants don’t swoon and the underachieving Padres get hot.
“Several key guys in the last year of their contracts”
Seager
Kershaw
Jansen
Taylor
None of those is being traded.
Kelly
Knebel
Don’t see it.
And that might be the worst song I’ve ever heard.
That 3 pitch inning by Bickford was pretty special, first one in the majors this year.
Also just read that Joe Kelly is now JOSEPH when pitching. I hear that is his new alter ego that throws 99+. MAN, I love this dude’s “weirdness”.
Dodgers have their 4th best run differential at this point in the season in 77 years.
They had a very good team and I think they can be great, Seager and Betts will be key down the stretch….
Wouldn’t be surprised at all if we see CT3 sit tonight. He did go 2 for 4 yesterday with a couple of bonehead moves on the base path. Might need a day off with a chance to pinch hit late much like Bellinger or be a defensive replacement.
Run differential is a fun, interesting, weird stat.
Right now, there are teams with narrowly positive differentials that are leading their divisions. The division-leading Mets come in at +19, only 2 more runs than the last-place Marlins. Elswhere, the second-place Indians have a .554 winning percentage despite a differential of -2.
But if a wide positive differential means a team is really, really good and not just lucky, that’s all the more reason to think the Giants are for real. The Dodgers’ differential is an impressive +97, but the Giants are at +100. (The Pads are at +77.)
It pains me to recognize the team with the greatest differential by a wide margin.
It’s the Astros, +142.
Dodgers got their first walk off win last night. Over the last couple of years, they walked off a lot of them. The Giants are not going away. I watched the last couple innings of that game last night, and there is no quit in that team. And they were missing Posey, Belt and Longoria. Last night, believe it or not was also their first walk off of the year. But we picked up a game on the Pads who were spanked by the Snakes. They lost another pitcher when Lamet was removed for forearm fatigue.
What an entertaining game last night. Perfect LA night, nice crowd with real people in the stands, great pitching with our much criticized bullpen throwing another shutout, and a walk off homer by a guy we’ve been waiting for. Im happy to see Belli so jacked after his homer. He’s had a touch year and it’s great to see him win one for us.
* I had given up on Kelly. I was so hopeful he would be better. Like the pitcher he is right now. His stuff has always been filthy. The heat-seeker arm-side runner at 101 is unhittable. It’s a far cry from the guy who threw like 24 straight sliders because he scrapped that uncontrollable fastball. Not to be Debbie Downer, but I have to asked why he didn’t seek to get his arn repaired when it was killing him and he was shitty? But he’s certainly the guy we expected now.
* CT had some tough luck on the bases. I don’t see any of it as boneheaded. I’m a proponent of aggressive baseball and you have to take the good with the bad. I don’t mind attempting to steal third, given the spot in the order and understanding there are 25 ways to score from third with 2 outs that aren’t available at 2nd. I know, he was in scoring position already but I personally like the aggressiveness.
* The pick play at third was well done by the Cubs and made CT3 look foolish. Fact is, if Uriah’s gets the friggin bunt down on either of his 2 unsuccessful attempts, CT doesn’t get picked. I put that one on Urias.
Hayward is in a coma.
* Bickford is a very nice addition to the pen and it’s easy to see why they like his stuff.
Here are some other odds and ends:
* I’ve said that the easiest way to solve the foreign substance problem is to improve the baseball’s tackiness. Like the Japanese baseball.
Rick Sutcliffe the other night described the Japanese baseball coming out of the box wrapped in foil with a tacky feel. It’s not intended to give a spin rate advantage. It provides control of the ball. Sutcliffe wondered why they don’t experiment with them in MiLB. Since MLB owns Rawlings does he really think they would use Japanese made baseballs? But developing their own would be a groove.
I was one of those real people in the stands last night – belated Father’s Day present from my son. You could just tell how happy everyone was to be out there and, of course, the roar when Belli hit that walk off was something to behold. We got there early enough to walk the park and see all the new stuff they have put in. The view from center field is really something when you first see it.
If we could actually wind up adding Kelly and Bickford to the arms we have confidence in , that could be a very strong bullpen. I’m still not 100% convinced on either of them yet, but am hoping they continue to pitch the way they have recently. I’m just going to need more of a sample size.
Love that Kelly personality. Now that he can control his fastball he wants to be called Joseph. I can just see that smirk.
I agree with B&P about Lux taking too many hittable pitches and constantly being in a disadvantage count. Doc spends a lot of verbal energy on defending their organizational approach at the plate; not expanding the zone, seeing pitches, hanging in counts, you know a “quality at bat”. I define a “quality at bat” as getting a hit or walk. moving a runner, executing a hit and run or run and hit. Whatever it takes to help the team, regardless of the count. While being selective at the plate, like Max Muncy, is a good thing; to a point.
This approach can also make hitters passive while taking way too many hittable pitches especially in advantage counts. We take co**shots and lose the advantage count. The mind set becomes “I’m taking until it’s a strike” instead of “I’m hitting until it’s a ball”. That is a big mental difference. We, too often, don’t take advantage of hittable pitches early that frequently are the best offering of the at bat. We don’t feast on advantage counts.
Advantage counts matter. It’s an advantage because:
* the league batting average is currently .232
* the Dodgers are hitting .153 /.494 with 2 strikes. 5th from the bottom of the league
The league averages by count are:
1st pitch = .392
1 & 0 = .368
2 & 0 = .387
This is why I wince when hitters at every level, routinely spit on center cut fastballs in advantage count.s They are giving back the advantage.
* I have always contended coaching both pitchers and hitters, that the most important pitch in the game, is on 1&1. It leads to this, hitting 2&1 = .333 but 1&2 = .144, a .189 point difference being ahead or behind in the count.
Running up pitch counts is nice but nicer yet is picking out a nice hittable pitch, even early in the count, and let it eat.
Totally agree with you Phil. Lux is letting his best chance for success just sail on by. Then he gets the inside pitch he cannot square up, and bingo, ground ball out, or a K. He is getting very frustrating to watch. Screw potential, I want Seager back ASAP. Also, I never hit Lux in front of Taylor again. Taylor got 2 hits and Lux 0. Taylor’s 2 hits would have been with men on base. I don’t even hit him in front of McKinstry, who in my humble opinion, takes better at bats. I think Lux has Kike disease. He has fallen in love with the HR. Cannot wait for the Clippers to get eliminated by the same team that ran the Lakers out of the playoffs. I have never thought they belong in LA. Two of the Dodgers owners, one being the head man, bought a 27% share of the Lakers.
Hector Santiago of the Mariners became the first pitcher ejected from a game. His glove was confiscated and he faces a 10 day suspension with pay if they find a foreign substance on his glove. Willie Calhoun’s bad luck in the majors continues as he suffered a broken bone in his arm after being struck by a pitch.
Hector will be exonerated.
Apparently Muncy needs a day already. The Dodgers seem to hate to play all their best players in the same game.
Betts RF
Belli CF
Turner 3B
Beaty 1B
Taylor 2B
Lux SS
McKinstry LF
Barnes C
Kershaw P
Would love to be “full” strength by tgmhe All-Star break. We can turn it on then.
And by “tgmhe” I mean “the.”
Como siempre excelente trabajo Bear, coincido contigo hace falta una buena sacudida al interior del equipo, falta la chispa y aparentemente la solidaridad entre los jugadores para darse ánimo en situaciones difíciles ( solo lo hacen en la victoria ). Espero que las cosas mejoren con actuaciones como la de Belli el día de ayer, que sirvan de inspiración al resto del equipo.
Por otra parte y sin ser tan conocedor como la mayoría de ustedes, porqué Lux bateando en quinto lugar? y tienes a Taylor y Pollock en sexto y séptimo con mejores números ofensivos que este muchacho, que de nuevo parece asustado a la hora de batear, enseguida, dejó, no recuerdo cuantos corredores en posición de anotar y esa fue, en mi opinión una de las causas por las que se complico sacar el resultado de ayer.
Al entrenador le gusta alternar izquierda y derecha.
Sorry that I do not understand Spanish Jose, but I get the compliment excelente. Gracias. Giant’s and Padres both losing so far, Dodgers can pick up a game on both with a win. Giants are in the 9th, and Pads in the 7th.
Beaty en cuarto y Lux en sexto, ahí se cortaran los posibles rallys, deseo de todo corazón estar rotundamente equivocado.
I have Beaty fatigue.
Me too.
just another POS lineup by our clueless mgr…..WAKE UP!!! Put us in the best position to win by playing our best!
I forgot how much fun the trade simulator can be:
Yankees get
Name Position MTV ($Ms)
Wilson Contreras C 34.3
AJ Pollock OF -13.8
M. Vargas 1B 8.4 28.90
Cubs get
Name Position MTV ($Ms)
Osward Peraza SS 23.6
DJ Peters OF 1.7
K. Ruiz C 25
Dodgers get
Name Position MTV ($Ms)
Kris Bryant 3B 18.1
Mike King RHRP 2.4
Ken Waldichuk LHP 1.2
Put down the mouse and back away slowly!
Run, don’t walk away from the keyboard and mouse. That trade has ZERO chance of even being thought of.
If only I could go to a four-team trade on it!
Still ain’t happening pal. Giants lose, Pads win, can gain ground with SF coming in tomorrow
How about this one:
Blue Jays get
Name Position MTV ($Ms)
Ruiz C 25
Mariners get
Name Position MTV ($Ms)
Cavan Biggio 2B 25.8
Dodgers get
Name Position MTV ($Ms)
Kyle Lewis OF 21
Newsome RHRP 2.7
Makes no sense
Just watching Brett degeus striking out machado and Pham against pads.
I bet kershaw is happy with this pathetic Sunday lineup.
McKinstry slam bomb.
Bellinger bomb.
Kershaw happy now!! 1 hit 4 runs then bellinger getting hot hopefully. Dodgers taking advantage of cub gifts!!
Lux walk was key.
Postseason rotation order:
G1: Buehler
G2: Kershaw
G3: Bauer
G4: Urias [if necessary]
And Bickford as closer. 🙂
Natch
Have the Cubs awakened a sleeping Giant (er Dodger)? Now is the time to go on a tear to win the next 11 of 12. Cody’s timing looks back, Mookie can end his first half slump anytime and Tony G. can lock down that #5 SP position. AF needs to pull a trade deadline deal for a frontline SP (not sure who that might be) and we can bury the NL West. #WGT
Don’t mean to sound lame, but what is #WGT
We Got This
Ryan Ward have a season.
Great Series Win. Now lets get these next 2. Need Buehler and Bauer to shove. Lets play with some energy and feed off the crowd!!