As I wrote that, I threw up in my mouth because it is true. The Dodgers shut out the Padres who have crashed and burned while the Giants won handily 6-1 in a bullpen game. What if on April 1st I told you the following:
- Dustin May would miss the seaon;
- Tony Gonsolin would miss over 3 months;
- Corey Seager would miss three months;
- Clayton Kershaw would miss over 2 months;
- Jimmy Nelson would miss the season;
- Corey Knebel would miss three months;
- AJ Pollock would miss September;
- Mookie Betts would be injured all season and try and play through it;
- Cody Bellinger would miss two months and come back and hit .150;
- Victor Gonzalez would miss substantial portions of the season and be mostly ineffcetive;
- Gavin Lux would not hit;
- Albert Pujols (who) would be a part of the hitter rotation;
- Luke Raley, DJ Peters, Steven Souza, Jr., Zach Reks, Billy McKinney, et al could not jump out of a boat and hit water;
- Chris Taylor would be an All-Star and then hit .178 in his last 30 games to challenge Belli for Champion of Futility; and
- Trevor Bauer would be suspended from baseball for most of the season?
If I would have told you all that, I think most of you would have not bothered to tune in to watch or listen to most games. But, all of that did happen, and what also happened is what I predicted before the season started: “Never underestimate the ability of AJ Preller to screw something up.” The Padres went from the Darlings of baseball to the Damned of baseball. Hot dogs are best served hot with relish and the vaunted Padres are playing Ketsup!
Who saw old, broken-down, retreads, unknown, and fading players on the San Francisco Giants like Brandon Belt, Buster Posey, Evan Longoria, Brandon Crawford, LaMonte Wade, Jr. (who?), and Darin Ruf all OPS’ing near .900 and above? Who saw a pitching staff of castoffs, wannabes, and never were’s to be nearly the equal of the Dodgers? The only explanation is that Doctrine of Junkyarddogism! All season long, they have only done what is necessary to win – nothing more, nothing less! While the Dodgers sometimes go out and put up 15 to 20 runs, the Giants will 4-3, 6-5, 2-1. Some of it can only be explained by the Baseball Gods and Junkyarddogism.
It is certainly not over. The Mets owned the Dodgers in 1988 only to get smoked by the team that underachieved all year (or was it “overachieved?”). The Dodgers are 36 games about .500 and on track to win 100 games even with all the injuries. The Dodgers bullpen just pulled past the Rays pen for the #2 ERA in all of MLB and they now trail the Giants Bullpen by 0.10 points… and I would not be surprised if the Dodgers bullpen is #1 by and of the year. The Dodgers do have the best pitching in all of baseball… by a large margin… and that is what gives me hope.
Julio Urias (17-3/2.98 ERA is now in the Cy Young discussion, along with Max Scherzer (13-4/2.28 ERA), and Striker Buehler (13-3/2.31 ERA). Kenley Jansen is #3 in saves and Blake Treinen, Corey Knebel, Phil Bickford, Alex Vesia, Joes Kelly, and Justin Bruihl make up the best bullpen in baseball right about now.
Now, if they could only hit! Cody Bellinger, Chris Taylor, Gavin Lux, Justin Turner, and Max Muncy (until last night) are all hitting under .200 in the past 30 games… some WAY below. Max Muncy showed signs of breaking out last night. Baseball is a game of streaks and I smell a hot streak for the hitters coming on (yes, I know it is wishful thinking, but it is wishful thinking based upon what frequently happens in baseball). Players can be ice-cold one day and then red-hot the next three weeks.
This ain’t over! I believe there is some Junkyarddogism in the Boys in Blue. We may be shocked… one way or the other.
Dodgers Minor League News
- Ryan Ward hit his 26th HR last night while Andy Pages hit his 27th.
- Jesus Vargas pitched 6 innings and allowed 3 hits while striking out 3 for GL.
- Michael Grove went 5 innings, allowing 3 hits and 2 runs while possibly returning to prospect status… from suspect status.
- Mike Busch was 2-3 (including a triple) and is nearing .900 OPS.
- Miguel Vargas was 2-4 (.321 BA) and Noda hit his 27th HR for Tulsa.
- Luke Raley was 3-5 with his 15th HR (.306 BA/.998 OPS)
I Encountered a Bear…
While I was in Denver, I met up with a Bear (Grizzley, I Think), aka/Michael Norris. We talked and had a great dinner at Russel’s Smokehouse. He gave me a Cody Bellinger and Steve Garvey Bobblehead. What a great night to finally meet the bear!
Finally, Never Forget!
You and Bear could pass for brothers, which I guess you are in more than one sense.
I assume Bear, being grizzly is on the right.
Yes, I am the one wearing the Army cap. And obviously the better looking one………….
Obviously….great photo by the way. Glad you two finally met up.
Agree that some of the hitters are about to wake up, just in time for October.
And if we have to win a wild card game at home, so be it. But if guys start to wake up, the timing couldn’t be better.
We hit, we win. Simple really.
Bear is a talented and generous man. I know this to be true. That other guy has his moments.
Farhan and Kapler have done a fine job. Both are LA trained. The formula works. Can those guys sustain through November? The money still says no. Nobody is betting on them. Yet. Until we are eliminated I’m betting on the Dodgers.
San Diego is suffering The Curse of the Smirk. I wish only what the baseball gods have in mind for that group. Complex Destiny Karma is way over my head. At this point I’m just an observer, along for the ride.
Great to see you guys together! A landmark day for LADT fans!
It was a lot of fun David. Talking baseball is always great, and you could not ask for a better atmosphere than where we went for dinner. Was a little leery at the restaurant watching Mark drink a drink that had smoke rising from it. Looked like something out of Elvira, mistress of the dark…….
Great picture. Both of you whippersnappers look like you’ve known each other for a lifetime. Glad you had a great day together
Glad to see you guys meet up, there’s no substitute for in person interaction. Hope you guys had a great time together.
The Padres are sure getting their Karma. Losing Cronenworth at this point in the season is a huge blow for them. Too bad it will also help out the Giants.
The offense put up just enough to beat the Padre’s ace last night, and Musgrove really got off a little easy. Muncy almost took him deep earlier in the game, he made sure he got all of it later.
Lux and CT3 almost crossed wires on a ball hit perfectly in the gap. Both showed some range and both could have caught it while covering a lot of ground. Our defense has the ability to be very good at times. Lux showed some good instincts letting CT3 take control as the Center Fielder.
Bill Plunkett also questioned Doc’s decision to rest Seager, especially with Will Smith out of the lineup. Doc’s response mentioned “Putting Seager in harm’s way by playing 13 in a row”, what a load of crap! Harm’s way?
Lux crushed a hard liner last night right to Profar at first base. So close! Let him play tonight, I want to see more.
Damn I hate the Giants. The Cubs were on a roll, then the Giants come to town and they roll over. I don’t like this one bit.
When Tatis made that catch up against the wall I was hoping for that shoulder to pop out again. I’m a bad guy I guess.
Julio is a stud! What a performance lowering his ERA into the sub 3 territory. I’m sure rooting for him to surpass that 20 win mark. Three leading Cy Young candidates on the same staff. Oh my.
Throw up in your mouth a little? I can relate. I feel that way at the thought of the Giants snapping our streak of division titles. A wild card championship is kinda like kissing your sister.
Bueller rebound game against Paddock tonight. Let’s extend our one game winning streak. Just bat TT and Mookie 1 and 2! Just do it!
Kershaw will be added to the rotation on Monday. We finally have 5 starting pitchers, too bad two of them will basically be openers for a couple of weeks.
I will take a championship anyway they win it. Two of the Giants championships were won from the wild card route. And DC had to beat us on their way to the Series title in 2019. They beat the Brewers in the wild card game.
Actually Seager did not play 13 in a row. The team had an off day on 9/2. So, he had played six games straight, not 13. And, he’s only played 75 games this season. Regardless, both he and Smith should have played. The Dodger front office is playing with fire with this cautious approach with 20 games left. They did mention on the broadcast last night that Roberts said it was the best 8 for the rest of the season. We’ve got to get some type of production from Bellinger and Taylor. It’s beyond belief that they or whoever plays in their place can’t contribute something offensively. I don’t know how Cody deals with his situation. He has to be mentally crushed. Sad to watch.
Great picture of Mark and Bear! I was sorry I wasn’t able to join them.
Terrific picture this morning of Mark and Bear. It’s very cool you guys got to meet up. A couple of good lookin guys.
* Despite 4 hits, our pitching saved the day again. Nice use of the pen with Treinen and KJ after Urias’ great 7 innings.
* I thought it was really interesting decision that Doc made to let Urias hit with the bases loaded and 2 outs in the 6th. One of those Skipper decisions; do you pinch hit and try to add on to the 3 run lead? Or do you stick with the hot pitcher? Doc chose to get one more inning out of Urias and finish with Blake and KJ. I don’t know if that came from Doc’s gut or analytics but it was an Interesting dilemma and he made a good call.
* It sure is a different game these days. All the “shift haters” must have blown a clot when Machado robbed Muncy of a potential double as a rover in right field and then got TT on a nice play in the 6 hole. I don’t love the shift but I’m not ready to make rules against it, but stuff like that could make me reconsider.
BullPen. it’s 0 to 0, after one.
Manny has already done that to us MANY times this year. For me, I am sick of it and ready for a rule change. And I don’t care if it affect us too. I just HATE that what used to be well hit balls are now outs.
cheers
pb+
I’m with you, I’m ready to get rid of it. I’d like to see more hits and base running.
Thanks Phil. It was fun to finally meet up, talk baseball and exchange ideas and thoughts. I think MLB is going to make some changes. And I think they are going to require infielders to stay on the dirt. And also have it where there has to be 2 infielders on each side of 2nd base. That is what is being experimented with in the minors. More offense is wanted by the league and limiting the shift, at least to me is a step in the right direction. Playing a rover in short right makes it too much like softball. A lot of people just advocate hitting the ball to left, but that is pretty hard to do when you get a cookie in the inside part of the plate.
Barreling a cookie the other way is a lost art. There have been many great hitters over the years who could do it. George Brett. Tony Gwynn, Wade Boggs, Derek Jeter, heck even a slugger like Adrian Gonzalez could and would do it. Not today. Inside pitch, launch to pull side. Guess I don’t blame a guy like Muncy. He can easily hit it 400+ feet so why not give it a shot. But our other guys, players like Lux and Bellinger, there’s a lot of empty grass on the left side of that field.
Good morning all. It was nice to meet up with Mark and his family in Denver. Barring the traffic which is becoming equally as bad as LA anymore, the trip up and the trip home this morning were pleasant. We got to talk about a lot of things, baseball included. Mark was a gracious host. The area where the restaurant was is one of the nicest to visit in Lo-Do. What they call lower Denver. A street that was closed off to autos’ and is now a great place to go for food and shopping. The food at the smokehouse was great. I had the smoked turkey sandwich. It also shows that two people can have a lot different conversations face to face than they can on line. When I first started posting on baseball blogs a few years ago, it started on a different site. Mark was a poster there and things immediately got pretty icy between us. It was not about who was right or wrong, it was about how differently we both perceived the same player. The player? Yasmani Grandal. At the time, Mark felt he was the second coming, me, I did not even want the guy on the team and I said so vehemently. We stated our cases, did some pretty heavy name calling and calling out and finally just resolved that we were never going to agree about the guy. To his credit, over the years we resolved what ever differences we had simply because we both love the Dodgers. It has culminated with me now writing for his blog and enjoying the whole experience. To sit down with someone you have never met who shares the same passion for the game and the team is something that you have to cherish. And in a lot of ways, we are alike more than one would think. Mark is the second person who posts on a blog that I have met fact to face. Both experiences were very positive. I wish we were all in closer proximity so we could have a great get together. It would be fun to put faces to the names. Oh yeah, the two bobbleheads I gave him were a Bellinger from 2019. And the Steve Garvey from when he was added to the Dodger Legends. We discussed many subjects besides baseball, so it was a great time. Oh, and I am obviously the better looking of the two of us! LOL. Got to watch the recap of the game this morning. I am glad they started off the homestand with a win, now lets win 20 in a row. Beaty was added to the roster and McKinney placed on the 10 day IL with a hip impingement. Mark was also checking the score on his I phone, and informed me when Taylor struck out with the bases loaded…….CT 3 redeemed himself a little in the 4th with the sac fly and that great catch he made off of Machado’s drive.
Now we see that Taylor has been playing with a bad neck. And Phil, letting Julio hit in the 6th last night I don’t think was a pitching decision. He’s a better hitter than any one else we had on the bench! Now that’s pretty sad! And add me to the list that I think Lux will still be a star! And Seager will be a Yankee
Lux will be a star, he is the next Chase Utley, they are so similar, Seager will leave, he is an 8/200 player but he will look for 10/300 and Miguel Vargas will take a look at 3B but I think in the future he will be a first base, he’s like a young José Abreu.
Bluto,
I checked your water report and I would recommend a system like this which installs on the water line to your water heater:
https://www.uswatersystems.com/us-water-limeblaster-salt-free-water-conditioner-10-gpm.html
However, we have a new and improved Limeblaster 2.0 ready to launch and if you are interested, I could get you into a Beta Test for a lot less. It is about 30% more effective than the current Limeblaster.
E-mail me at: mark@uswatersystems.com if you are interested. I will be back in the office on Monday.
Thank you.
So, you feel a sediment removal step is necessary.
That’s great info.
Thanks again.
It does both: Sediment and Polyphosphate to coat the pipes to prevent scale formation.
Here would be my lineup tonight:
1. Trea Turner 2B
2. Corey Seager SS
3. Justin Turner 3B
4. Will Smith C
5. Mookie Betts RF
6. Matt Beaty LF
7. Max Muncy 1B
8. Cody Bellinger CF
I ranked the hitters according to Batting Average. If you don’t like where you hit, all you have to do is improve your BA. Anything wrong with that?
Batting average. Old school. Exit Velo. Launch angle
I want Lux instead of Beaty. Kid gotta get some at bats. Beaty PH.
9-11 is always a solemn day for me. I watched the events unfold from our truckers lounge at the JB Hunt facility in South Gate. A couple of friends of mine had friends or relatives in the towers. And also some co workers. To me, it was like Pearl Harbor all over again. And that it happened on American soil made me all that much madder. 20 years have passed, and I still get a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. I still go out of my way to thank policemen, fire fighters and soldiers of all branches when I encounter them. They put the safety of others ahead of their own and they are a shining example of what all of us should be about. MLB is going to have a moment of silence before games today. I whole heartedly support that. And I hope American’s realize there are still threats to our very existence out there. We are not universally loved.
Good thoughts Bear. I second your comments about those who choose to be first responders. Thank you to all of them.
As far as your last sentence is concerned, not only are we not universally loved, we are doing a pretty crappy job these days of even loving ourselves.
Yes, sad day in our history. We are not well liked is an understatement. I don’t agree with Mark that there is an eminent threat of another 9-11. If we tend to our own business at home for a while we should be ok. The Taliban got their own issues going on. Afghanistan women are taking to the streets. Didn’t see that coming.
Wonderful thoughts.
Not globally loved, but almost globally admired.
I get so frustrated when people don’t realize how great things are and how our society is on the edge of some truly transformational stuff if we can keep our shit together.
Yeah, tell me more about this transformational stuff.
And…. big if.
Crypto, crispr, AI, virtual reality, augmented reality, vaccinations, drone tech, nano tech, cloud technology, space exploration, geothermal energy, electrical grid, solar energy, particle physics, immunotherapies and other medicines.
That’s just a morsel.
I like it. Well, most of it. Not sure about crypto. Over my $ head at the moment. Cloud technology? Is that going to make it rain or just more secret large scale atmospheric programs designed to scare the crap out of us.. Some of that stuff you mention, geothermal and solar, electrical grid has been available for some time but stopped by our fossil fuel law owners. Hope you’re right though. Onward and upward.
AI will be good and bad. Lots of jobs will be lost as AI comes more and more on line.
You forgot quantum computing
@musherspop
Jobs are always lost. Have you met any chimney sweeps lately?
My list was not meant to be comprehensive
Great stuff Bluto
Our biggest threat is from domestic terrorism..
Badger let me add another barreler(?) Tony Oliva A artist with his bat…
You all have a great day…Go Blue
MT, thanks for the Eric Clapton and Robbie Robertson moment… Always gets my motor running…
Great? You are delusional. And we are not globally admired by a long shot. My dollar does not nearly have the spending power it had a year ago. Gas is more than a dollar higher. food is more expensive, and my limited income increases only if the cost of living goes higher, and the increase never matches the cost.
Respectfully, that’s a crock.
Greatest nation ever and currently.
Try gas in Europe or Canada. I’d argue gas should be much higher when all costs are factored in.
It’s crony capitalism.
I do not live in the dream world you do. And it is no crock. You try living on what social security pays out. Greatest nation? Horse puckey, not with all the cup cakes trying to change history by tearing down things. Instead of learning from it, they are trying to erase it. That is not a great nation. You live in the clouds all you want, I prefer reality. And I do not give a rats ass about Europe or Canada, I live here.
Your self-import is only compounded by your myopia on this subject.
Enjoy life! It’s great. Even without Robert E Lee statues! Which we can learn from even with their removal. Life is that good! We do t need statues to drive learning or teaching.
And that’s not meant to imply there aren’t issues.
I said as much. Climate change, distrust of science and tech, the state of higher education, over regulation, extremism
All can be handled (the climate probably the hardest)
But statue removals not historically low inflation aren’t major worries.
And I repeat there’s no greater country than ours. Although I’m partial to Canada for a runner-up
I wonder why we are so far down the list on The World Happiness Report?
Ask the Danes, Badger.
Ask the Danes.
They did. And the Fins, the Swiss, the Swedes, Norwegians, Icelanders, (people who live on ice for crying out loud), Canadians, Australians, Kiwis, Irish, Germans, Costa Rican’s, Austrians, Luxebourgans, hell even the Brits are happier than us. Hey, we beat the Saudi’s and the Russians, so, we got that going for us.
You’d think if this was such a great country we’d be happier about it.
I wonder if it’s part of the confrontational recent poll of politics. People who thought Obama was to radical, or Trump too corrupt/narcissistic , or Biden too old. People not taking pride in our Politics takes but instead finding fault in it, that could lead to general unhappiness.
I am sure there is research on it, and it sounds like you’ve read some of the research.
Shrug
Respectfully your opinion is a crock. And it is just your opinion. There are a lot of people who agree with me. And probably a few cup cakes who take the sunny side up view you do. I enjoy life, but I also recognize the day to day struggles of many. Including a lot of my friends. This nation has not been great for years. It is not respected in the world community, and it damn sure is not feared. Not when we keep losing freedoms little by little. Sorry. This is not nearly the country I was born into. Not by a long shot.
OK Bear,
Go live in despair. Not going to bother me and my opinions!
I do not despair at all. You have no clue how I live my life or look at it. There are a lot of things I take great pleasure in, music, Baseball, family, fishing and many other things like my grand daughters smile. But I also keep my eyes on the horizon, and it is not all peaches and cream. You want to believe what the cup cakes tell you, go ahead. I prefer reality. And the real world is not a very nice place. Especially in parts of this country that you think is so great. Get the blinders off and go somewhere else and look around. Quit assuming you know me.
Ok!
I don’t know you, I can only go off what you write here.
I mistook your despair at statue removal, cupcakes and minimal inflation to be despair.
Instead I guess it’s just fear of the future?
Anyway, I hope you remain super happy and fulfilled.
I’ll be happy and I will continue to consider America great and getting greater!
All the best
Shabbat Shalom fellow Dodgers fans…..
I have to say, The Giants are impressing me more and more each game. I’ve about given up hoping for them to go on a losing streak. I guess we are going to have to beat them 4 times in order to eliminate them.
Hey, how come none of you minor league watchers didn’t tell us LUX has been working out in the outfield while at Oklahoma? Or did you? If you did, I apologize. I hope he didn’t embarrass himself out there last night.
Anyhow, it was interesting to see Doc bench Cody, a lefty, for Lux, a lefty….knowing that both are pretty much useless against left handed pitchers. I guess Doc was willing to give up Cody’s excellent defense hoping to get at least one big hit from Lux. Oh well, I hear he hit the ball hard one time and I don’t think he struck out, so that is good news.
So, for Doc to play Sousa and now Lux over Beaty should tell us something….Beaty must have dumped his gf (Doc’s daughter, niece, someone close to him). Lol
Glad to see Max break out…we need for someone, other than Seager and Will, to do that. Max is a start. Who’s next?
Go Buehler!
TM
Lux could be another CT3 for us. From the left side.
This could make CT3 expendable then.
He started one game in CF and one in LF, and it was mentioned multiple times. Lux is a very good athlete who should take to the OF just fine.
I think every time someone suggested putting Lux in LF, I countered with saying with his speed he should be in CF if he were to be moved to the outfield.
Getting back to Mark’s opening Post about who would have thought, how about who would have guessed that Lux and Bellinger might be battling it out for CF next year? It’s already starting.
He’s a gifted athlete, that’s for sure. He’s just got to hit.
Dave Roberts was quoted in the LA Times about Gavin Lux playing more in the outfield and he said that would be a bad thing for Lux and the Dodgers. I take that to mean the Dodgers see him as a starting infielder who occasionally plays outfield.
That is a perplexing comment because if we resign Corey Seager, Lux either plays LF or he plays SS at Oklahoma next year.
Trea Turner has 2B.
Maybe he knows we won’t resign Corey.
I guess what Doc means is that for Lux to be considered playing in the OF, their outfielders have to be very bad and that obviously is very bad for Lux and the Dodgers, it is NOT the best of situations.
Thanks……I guess I need to read a wee bit slower…..
Beaty is a known quantity. My guess is they need to see how well Lux does in the field before the playoffs start. If he can hit even .250 and provide good defense all around he becomes a critical part of the playoff roster.
I agree…he can replace Cody if Cody is still in a funk. But of course, Lux has been in his own little funk so I’m not sure what we will gain with that exchange.
But we do have another 20 games to evaluate things.
A season with 100 games won is always special because it is very difficult to achieve, the Dodgers will finish the season with 100 or more victories, that should give the division championship most of the time, if this does not happen this time, you just have to take off your hat, as a sign of respect, before the team that surpassed us and prepare for what follows, an elimination game where the team is well equipped to play it and win it and advance in October
Yes, for a team that is the defending WS champs and on a 102 win path there’s a lot of complaining.
Is that a complaint? 😉
I’m not sure!
Wasn’t meant to be.
Why are you complaining?
It’s what I do.
Bluto… So very true!!!
I see a name and I fast forward… Easy !!!
Agree with most everything you wrote, Mark.
But honestly I’m not surprised that the players you listed could fall out of a boat and not hit water. For those players the boat is still parked in the driveway. Either not ready or high strikeout swingers. I had hoped that Zack McKinstry would be one of the answers to replacing Kiki.
For all that has gone wrong and Mark pretty much hit the nail on the head with his review, it’s pretty amazing the Dodgers are in position to win a hundred games.
All that being said, the Dodgers had opportunities to push the Giants back and failed to take advantage of opportunities. The back to back blown saves, losing two out three in San Francisco, losing two out of three to the Rockies at home, splitting with the Cards. The Giants have been better in the dogfight than the Dodgers and that’s why they are leading. More games are lost than won.
The lack of hitting in the bottom of the line up stands out. It has hurt the team time and again. At one point the bottom four were something like 0-65. Toss out the blind squirrel theory.
Honestly too many people pay too much attention to analystics. Nothing wrong with hard contact data, but I’ll take a .300 hitter over a .220 or .230 hitter anytime. Batting average is still important. Must be, many people still refer to those stats here, in the media, among players and baseball pundits.
I thought the ball Max Muncy hit last night clearly indicates what’s wrong with the game. Manny Machado made a diving catch playing rover on a ball headed for a double. The game needs more offense, not less, time to end the shifts. Two players on each side of second base playing on the actual infield. Honestly, the game is becoming boring, the lack of hitting and all. More guys swinging for the fence and more strikeouts. Just four hits for the Dodgers last night.
Dave Roberts said last night no more resting players. So that’s good news.
Excellent review Mark.
I usta was a .300 hitter guy. Now I’m a .900 OPS guy.
I want this for most of the time until the end of the season, I want Belli’s defense, I don’t care that he’s not hitting:
2B TT
RF Betts
SS Seager
3B Turner
1B Muncy
C Smith
LF CT3 / Lux
CF Bellinger
Smart man. Belli will save some games.
The Giants are junkyard dogs and some years teams are made up of incredibly lucky junkyard dogs. Such is the case for San Francisco this year where practically everything seems to fall in their favor. Prognosticators said they would be fortunate to play .500 ball this year. I live in the Bay Area and can honestly say that most of the Giant fans that I have interacted with have disliked Kapler from the start. Farhan Zaidi wasn’t far behind him either. Now they could be handed the key to the city and would be cheered in a Market Street parade.
How a team fielded with older, past their prime veterans, has overtaken the juggernaut Dodgers comes from incredible luck, a number of career years from veterans, and things simply falling into place for this team. I’ll give it to them. They have surprised us all. Desclafani and Webb came out of no where to become standup starters. Who could have seen that? Gausman was probably the best pitcher in the first half of the year. Then Posey rebounded to his 2014 self and Brandon Crawford learned how to hit. Belt took on leadership qualities that few realized he had and the rest of the fill in guys were gutsy, gritty players that have come through in the clutch.
They are a team that hasn’t had prolonged winning streaks (with their longest at six games), but also has not had a significant losing week all year, (longest streak was 4 games). Consistency has been their forte. With practically identical winning percentages on the home and road. Look at their monthly winning %: April .615, May .643, June .640, July .600, Aug. 679, Sept. .700
That is extremely difficult to overcome. Despite that, the Dodgers were toe to toe with them up until a few days ago.
Then there was the luck:
Aside from Longoria, the injury bug really hasn’t hit them hard. Yes, there was the COVID outbreak with two players before the Dodger series this month, but truth is it was a blessing in disguise probably, because the Dodgers would have faced a slumping Alex Wood one game instead of their bullpen. Johnny Cueto has had some injury issues but he certainly isn’t the pitcher he used to be. None of their injuries have been on the scale of what the Dodgers have had to overcome: Seager, Bellinger, Pollock, Kershaw, Gonselin, Kelly, Knebel, Graterol, Lux, Dustin May all come to mind.
There was the game in Milwaukee when Avisail Garcia dropped the final out of the game on the warning track. Then there was the Pujols home run robbery in Dodger stadium by Tauchman, (a guy no longer even in their organization), and the check swing debacle that handed them a win. Those are three games I can think of off the top of my head that San Francisco should have never won. I know there are more.
A guy like Tauchman, who batted a horrid .178 for the Giants. He saved two games with defensive gems that robbed home runs. Even underperformers have contributed to that team.
Jake McGee? Did we even care that he walked away from us last year. The guy has as many saves as Jansen this year. Alex Wood? He has shined as a Giant and shown a fire that we didn’t see too much in LA.
Then there is the schedule. It hasplayed out where the Giants face a weak and depleted Cub team that has given up and has sold off their stars. When LA faced them a few months back, they were contenders with something to play for. When the Giants swept the Reds four straight in Cincinnati back in May, they faced an injured team that had little playoff aspirations. Now the Dodgers go head to head with them as they battle neck and neck with San Diego for their post season lives. My point is, this type of luck has seemed to follow the Giants all season long.
San Francisco has called up kids that have panned out. Estrada and Wade come to mind. Neither thought of as potential contributors but both have been significant pieces in their first place run. I’ve got to hand it to them though, their kids arrived and they were ready. They got on the big stage and performed. Can’t say the same of minor leaguers the Dodgers called up.
Despite the fact that the Dodgers have three legitimate Cy Young candidates in the rotation (and none of them is named Kershaw), they sit 2.5 back in the standings. I still have hope that the Dodgers will overtake them, but 140+ games in, it doesn’t look like the Giants are going to falter.
If the Dodgers win the one game wild card game and face them in the NLDS, I like their chances with Urias, Buehler, Scherzer, Kershaw facing them. It’s that wildcard game that has me worried though. Anything could happen there.
Great to see you back, Evan. I’ve missed your contributions.
Yeah, if we have to do a Wild Card game to get back to the Giants anything could happen. But, at least we’ll have a very good pitcher on the mound. Question is will our hitters show up. Unfortunately, whomever we use in a WC game would probably only be able to pitch once in the NLDS.
Giant 6 cubs 1 are these teams just rolling over for the giants
Good news! The Cubs now have 3 runs.
Bad news. The Giants now have 12 runs.
And the game is only about half over.
The Cubs rolled over the last week of July when they got rid of all of their good players.
“Bad news. The Giants now have 12 runs.”
All you can do is laugh. That team is playing out of their minds.
Hopefully they are peaking too soon and it comes to a screeching halt around post season time. I wouldn’t bet on it though.
Tonight’s lineup:
HITTERS H-AB RBI HR SB AVG
M. BettsRF 103-384 47 19 9 .268
M. Muncy1B 110-428 81 32 2 .257
T. Turner2B 164-515 59 21 26 .318
C. SeagerSS 78-275 41 8 1 .284
J. Turner3B 128-464 74 23 2 .276
W. SmithC 99-365 69 23 3 .271
C. BellingerCF 45-284 33 9 2 .158
G. LuxLF 63-287 37 6 3 .220
W. BuehlerP 7-62 3 0 0 .113
September 11, 2021
Pollock (hamstring) participated in agility drills in the outfield ahead of Saturday’s game against the Padres, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reports.
lam sorry about the last three in lineup. But l like from first to 6th
I’m not surprised to see Belli back in the lineup after watching Doc’s interview saying he would be out for a few games.
I’m glad to see Lux in there since he’ll most likely sit tomorrow against Snell. I guess we’ll see Mookie, CT3 and Souza tomorrow.
Hopefully Pollock is healing quickly. Thanks for the good news AVF!
I’m looking forward to game tonight, as usual. I got some Dodger Dogs from the store, gonna go with the grilled version. If you haven’t tried them yet, the new supplier is every bit as good, if not better than Farmer John. Damn, forgot to get a white onion.
I’m a hot dog traditionalist for the most part. Mustard, relish and onions with a pile of sauerkraut on the side.
Admittedly, whether meaning to be or not, Doc is sometimes the Minister of Misinformation, however CT3 is apparently dealing with a neck issue, so rather than trust Lux with center field, he put Belli back out there.
You heard it first here: Cody Bellinger will have 3 hits tonight, including a bunt hit, a hit to the opposite field and a homer. My pappy always told me to think positive. Oh, and the homer will be a walk-off.
I’m with you. Positive thoughts.
No team claimed him for a second time on waivers and he is still a Dodger:
09/11/21 Los Angeles Dodgers sent RHP Neftali Feliz outright to Oklahoma City Dodgers.
Still waiting for Giants to collapse and Bellinger to hit! But I think I’d rather play Giants in first round rather than Brewers! Even down an ace.
Remains to be seen who will be hot and near 100% healthy in the last 10 games. If it’s the Dodgers, none of those other teams will want to play us.
Agreed. I’d rather play the Giants than the Brewers in any round.
Looks like Duffy is a no go. Too bad. We could use him. But, it’s our sticks that need to heat up.
Where did you read that? I am curious. I knew they said Mid September. But I have not seen anything on him in a while. Okay, just saw it on MLBTR…damn, wasted trade it seems. I still think he should have added at least one more starter and one more bat at the deadline. I mean Scherzer and Turner were great pickups, but another bat and starter would have been nice.
Trade Rumors
Well, at least the trade was a PTBNL depended on how much Duffy pitches. Guess he won’t cost much.
You guys
I’m not sure you realise that you live in her greatest nation in the world bar none.
You bitch and you moan, and I get it – it’s not perfect – but trust me when I say – there’s no better place on Earth to be living in 2021.
What a country you live in, and how lucky you are.
The Dodgers are absolutely doing their best – we are the best team bar none – but unfortunately it might come one down yo one gsme.
That’s where I worry – in a one off format – otherwise I take us to beat anyone in a best of 5 or 7.
I think it might be a great place to visit….
I ask again, people in a lot of countries are happier than we are. I’m not saying I want to live in those countries, too cold in most of them, but they all test out pretty damm content. Maybe they’re high all the time.
Great reminder Watford. Thanks!
Hear hear! Watford!
I’d even go farther and say it’s the best time to be alive on Earth.
In a Rawls-ian way
Great point Watford.
Our country has flaws, but I also believe the USA is the greatest country in the world.
Thanks for the perspective.
And as Mark pointed out, the Dodgers have overcome many obstacles and are still on track for 100 wins.
May not catch the Giants for the division, but can still beat them in the playoffs.
At one time I would have agreed with you my friend. Not so much anymore. There are many good things about the US, and some, not so good. This nation is divided more than at any time since the Civil War, and anyone who thinks differently is not reading the news.
Cody, Luz and Warlker…are the Clutch….!!! Ha, ha, ha, it’s Nice to see that
Speed Kills! Yes, I want more of that. Belli and Lux and a whole lotta speed combine for the first two runs of the game. Stay in the zone guys, good things will happen.
As Nevret was talking I said don’t throw him a first pitch strike
Booyah could see that coming
Great news….GAVIN LUX IS 2-2!
We might have a new outfielder to play when there is a RHP.
So if we are facing a RHP like today, we may be seeing Lux and Belli with Mookie.
If we are facing a LHP, you could see Pollock (when healthy) and CT3 with Mookie.
Where is everyone?
We are winning…we scored 5 runs…..Belli and Lux are contributing….so why aren’t there 10 guys here buzzing with all this good news?
As Harvey Keitel would say…..
Give it some time. It ain’t over yet.
I think maybe some are sitting around wondering why people in this country aren’t happier.
That was the best Joe Kelly has ever thrown as a Dodger
Wow!!
Also, as a guy who was born in another country but has lived in America since I was 5, 1) I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else, and 2) we got a lot of shit we need to deal with and fix.
Oh yeah go ahead and commence !!
Ok. It’s done. Whew.
Bobby:
1. Me either
2. Yep
Great job by Kelly. Kudos to Jansen
I don’t think Trienen pitched that bad it’s just that Tatis and Machado were locked in
Nice to see Cody contribute.
Good game by Lux confidence means a lot
Oh yeah I forgot about Mookie… Sweet
Strange game but I’ll take it all day
What a weird box. Mookie and Lux each with 2 hits, everybody else was 0fer.
How do you score 5 runs on only 4 hits? Weird indeed. But then again, Machado and Tatis had 3 hits each and I think everyone else only had 1-2 hits total. I think…..
Weird indeed….glad we didn’t have to see Machado and Tatis again.
Nice win, kept pace with the Giants. Now if the other teams could lend a hand. USC taking it on the chin at home from Stanford. Oregon upset Ohio State. Always love seeing the Buckeyes lose.
Amen to always seeing the Buckeyes lose.
Wow, Kelly was mean tonight. If he can keep this up it could be a game changer in those close games we have trouble with.
WB bounced back nicely from his last outing .
Gavin 2-2, nice to see him go oppo. Keep him in the lineup. Kid only needs some confidence.
Keep the pressure up, hopefully the Giants after all will begin to come back to earth.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!
After this weekend series with the Cubs, the Giants have a tougher schedule as they face the Padres 7 of their next 10 games, and the other 3 are with Atlanta. They start with a 4 game series vs San Diego on Monday, the Braves come in Friday for a 3 game set, then they go on the road to San Diego and Colorado again , before coming home to finish the season with 3 against Arizona, and 3 more with the Padres. SO they have 6 games left with the cellar dwellers and 13 with teams playing for their playoff lives. The Dodgers over that span play 3 games at home against Az, before heading on the road to Cincinnati for 3 with the Reds, then 3 in Colorado, and finish the trip in Arizona for 3 before coming home to face the Padres again and then the Brewers. The Dodgers have 4 games left with the Pads including tomorrow, then 3 with the Reds and 3 with the Brewers, so they have 10 games remaining with possible playoff teams and 9 with the cupcakes. The Giants play one game more than LA does. So that 1/2 game on the standings will disappear this week when the Giants play SD on Thursday. The Dodgers can do some business over the next 12 games. They are playing teams they should beat.
We’ve been hoping for the Giants to come back down for a longgggggg time, you know. We couldn’t even derail them when we had the chance.
Like I previously said….we may have to derail them in the playoffs. I hope we get that chance.
J. Gray got hit hard again yesterday with the Nats. ERA now at an even 6.00.
Keibert hit a 3 run double but his average still around the Belli level.
For us , Page hit his 28th of the year. Kid is looking really good. Should be at AA next season.
Busch went 2-5 , average climbing and climbing.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!
Gray and Ruiz and Lux somewhat are proving one thing to me…..don’t put total stock in what one does in the minors thinking it has to transfer to the bigs.
In case you might have missed or even care Andy Burns is back:
09/10/21 Los Angeles Dodgers signed free agent 3B Andy Burns to a minor league contract and is currently at the ACL.