Bring in More Starting Pitching? RUCRAZ?

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1. Mark, I thought you retired with all the new help and all.Later in the year when everybody is back maybe a 10 man rotation. But we need more starting pitching! Now Bellinger is all hit no field! That’s 5 in a row by Price. Maybe we should sign him to an extension!

   1. Price is looking better than he has since he arrived in LA. He was hitting 95 MPH last night. Let’s hope that he can continue at the same rate and then say goodbye in the offseason.

      I am not retiring, but do hope to cut back.

      1. Continue to look for some more help. There’s lots of candidates here.

2. It seems to me with all our ‘problems’ we are able to win games. Now lately the ‘black hole three’ have improved to the point where at least 1 of them comes thru each game. JT hits in 7 of last 8. Mookie back. Sure we have plenty of young guys to trade for some ‘star’, but would that really help? Hoping Tony can keep it up second half. Didn’t Wood start that one good year at 10-1 or something like that and then fade. Maybe just some minor pieces can be added. Second half we get a rested Taylor back.

3. Dodgers are exactly at the halfway mark for the season and everything says the offense will be much better in the 2nd half. Almost shocking as the offense has looked pretty bad at times and still has been on pace for 104 wins. So as the flat spots are rounding in our lineup 110 + wins is more likely than current pace of 104. Interesting!

4. Dodgers go back to Colorado for 4 games again this month and then the regular season ends with 5 games strait with the Rockies…….but at Dodger stadium!

   1. correction Quas, 6 straight against the Rocks. All at Dodger Stadium

5. Well, Starting pitching availability has been hit hard with both Montas & Kahnle arm problems. Does any bullpen help is better than Reyes Moronta?

   6man rotation is the way to go.

6. As you were saying, Patch? Yes, Pepiot was very good, he’s got a special changeup and a good fastball that plays off of it. Nothing special about White? Except his fastball comes out a little harder than Pepiot and he has a wicked slider and last night was throwing a curve that was even more deadly. The result, a combined 1 hitter.

   Yes, it was against the Rockies, who have the best offense at home and the worst offense on the road, as they typically do. But, it was still no hits through 5 until a bleeder in the 5th broke up his no-no. Doc was going to break it up anyway. No one kills more no-no’s than Doc. Think of Mitch as the pitching version of Gavin Lux. He’s got the tools, just needs the confidence to go along with it. He’s another player I’m particularly found of as he went to the same Uni as my nephew, Santa Clara.

   WTF was David Price doing throwing nothing but 95?!? Wow, where did that come from? Are we going to see more of this going forward? If so, he’s going to become a big weapon on this team.

   But wait, there’s more! Washed up Craig Kimbrel in a 1-1 tie in the ninth comes in and gets 3,4,5 on 5 pitches with three batted balls that didn’t get out of the infield. Maybe that liner knocked him back onto the correct axis.

   And if that wasn’t exciting enough, Mookie hits his first walk-off with a swinging bunt that doesn’t reach the infield dirt. Baseball is such a crazy game.

   We have just 4 more home games on the current homestand against the lowly Cubbies and then we’re off on the road for a short trip to St. Louis, then to South LA to take on the Angles before we break for All-Star festivities back at home. Trade season will heat up soon. It seems it was just yesterday when Badger would post several times a day, every day on how we need more pitching.

   With Bueller, May and Heaney all on the IL, not to mention Treinen, V-Gone, and Kahnle with them, it’s amazing that we’re just .01 off the MLB ERA lead. Who the hell has more pitching than we do?

   I seriously can’t remember a trade deadline with more players on the IL, while simultaneously having fewer needs than we do now. With Muncy, Belli and JT starting to contribute and some of the best pitchers available at the deadline coming from our own IL, I can’t see many obvious upgrades in the trade market. Can we get a big bat for left field that will produce at the plate and be better with the glove than Trayce Thompson? Why is he platooning?

   Hat’s off to Friedman for building the deepest team in baseball. Now, if he can keep his hands off the lineup card, we would be onto something. Speaking of the lineup card, I’m glad the Dodgers finally decided to listen to me and bat Mookie and Trea back to back. Now, just leave Lux in the 9 hole until you’re ready to have him bat 1 or 2.

   3 K’s the night before and 3 hits today. Se la vie for the Black Hole Gang ring-leader Cody. He scored the tying run and the winning run, the only runs for the good guys.

   1. Maybe Kimbrel just needed an ‘adjustment’, like going to a chiropractor.

   2. Really a good summary of just how good and deep this team is. Makes you realize how lucky we are to be Dodger fans. All signs point up for the second half so that probably means something strange will happen. AF really is the best at what he does.

   3. Remember when Stripling threw the no-no against my beloved Giants into the 8th? Did he turn into the next Cy Young? … or Clayton Kershaw? (I know you love comparing journeymen pitchers to first ballot HOFers.)

      Nice performance by White. It seems he was high in the Dodgers organization a few years ago but was always beset by injuries. I think if he’s healthy he can become a serviceable 4/5 starter – maybe even a very good starter if the Dodger player development can work their magic.

      Still, I stand by my opinion that, although he has a good starter’s arsenal of above average pitches, there is no single weapon that makes him stand out. I think his curve is actually his best secondary pitch, and although he had his no-no for a while last night, I think his weakness is delivery consistency and command. He was great last night when he was catching corners. I notice a lot of his pitches catch a lot of the middle of the plate. Eventually that’s going to catch up to him. A lack of command means you really can’t implement a plan against a hitter.

      Kershaw, even with diminished velocity, is a master at using his herky deceptive delivery to disguise his slider/fastball. They both look the same when they leave his hand. Hitters will swing meekly at sliders in the dirt because they’re committing to what they think is a fastball in the zone. His command is exceptional.

      I think Badger just needs to be “on the right side of history” on every topic – especially if his life long arch nemesis has a contrasting opinion – even when it comes to some alleged dearth of Dodger starting pitching, and if people don’t want to listen to him constantly scream into the void making the same point over and over then he gets offended and leaves.

      Here’s a quick list of Dodger starting pitchers who will likely be healthy and available when the playoffs start:

      Kershaw
      Buehler
      Urias
      Gonsolin
      Heaney
      Anderson
      Dustin
      Duffy
      Pepiot
      White

      I’m not going to argue that this is the best rotation in the history of baseball, or that every pitcher is going to throw a no-hitter every game, but how is this really a weak staff? … and compared against what other team? Every team has weaknesses, so what are the Dodgers going to do? Trade for someone? … and if so, then who? With the expanded playoffs you now have half of the MLB with playoff aspirations who are going to want to snag a pitcher at the deadline. It’s simple supply and demand. The prices will be insane.

      I’d rather the Dodgers look for a right handed bat and maybe snag an under-the-radar reliever … maybe a stud closer if it’s not too expensive cuz I’m still not confident in Kimbrel, though I do think his stuff can still play and his peripherals are still pretty good (especially FIP 😉 )

      1. Patch, given that the return could be “insane,” that he will be a free agent next year, that there are several comparable replacements, and that his excellent performance so far is an outlier, do you think AF should trade Tyler Anderson? It seems crazy, but maybe a risk worth taking if the return really is substantial.

         1. Yeah, I dunno. I think the Dodgers actually need him. He’s been a pretty big contributor to the rotation. Maybe he’ll be redundant when we get guys like May or Duffy back, but he’s been valuable so far.

            Besides, you’ll be trading him to a contender the Dodgers might face in the playoffs. That’s usually not how it works. Teams that are out if it sell current commodities in exchange for future talent.

      2. Stick to facts Patch. I compared White’s Slider (only) to Kershaw’s Slider (only).

         A pitcher with 11 career stats hardly qualifies him as a “journeyman”.

         Pepiot has all of 16.1 IP across 4 starts and you want to talk about ceiling because on 1 elite pitch?

         When you start an argument by misrepresenting someone else’s words, you already lost. Stop the CNN tactics. You can tell by their ratings that it doesn’t work.

         Let Mark Twain give you a little advice…
         “It’s better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than open it and remove all doubt”

         So, let’s just let Pepiot’s smallest of small sample sizes (16 career innings) bake a little bit before wasting so much ink about how his ceiling is higher than another pitcher that was taken in higher round.

         This week, when both pitchers faced the worst road offense in baseball, it sure looks like Mitch has the higher ceiling, which wasn’t my point. My point was to correct when you said that Mitch “has a good pitch selection of above-average pitches, but nothing about him truly stands out.” His slider stands out whether you want to acknowledge it or not. He also has 4 other pretty damn good pitches.

         1. The Ministry of Truth has assured me that CNN is approved information. Stop besmirching Right Think or I’ll report you. There’s a 1-800 number for that, you know.

            So, the only way we are to evaluate a rookie pitcher now is by their very limited major league experience? We can’t go back and read the countless scouting reports over several years to get an idea as to their talent or assessments of their pitches?

            And I said “journeyman” cuz that’s what he’s gonna be considered when his career is over. Wanna bet $20 on that?

            I’ve not seen a single scouting report on his pitch mix that suggested his slider was special or elite, and he’s been a prospect for a long while and has a pretty extensive dossier of scouting reports over the years. So you’re gonna pronounce his slider as the second coming of Clayton Kershaw’s … based on, what? …. four starts this year? Talk about sampling size fallacies! Gee! Guess we should start engraving Mitch White’s name on a Cooperstown plaque right now!

            I don’t assess Pepiot’s ceiling based on 16 innings! I base it on his extensive body of work in the minor leagues as a prospect. All who’ve evaluate him say his change was one of the best in all of MiLB. It is an elite pitch. Having one truly elite pitch is a good foundation to build on. If he can master his command and control then, because of the exception qualities of that pitch, his POTENTIAL CEILING is higher. I would say Mitch White, right now, may have a higher FLOOR. IMO, Pepiot, though the risk of being a bust is higher, probably has the higher CEILING.

   4. I have been critical of Dodger lineup management but with B&P’s help they are finally getting it right. I am really liking Belli in the 8 hole and Lux at 9. I hope someone points out to Belli that if he concentrates on making contact (3 singles) he can become a nightmare for opponents because of of his base running skills. Belli was a real factor in the game like last night when he stole a base and scored; and then scored the game winner because of that speed. He scored our only two runs! And, combining him with Lux in the 9-hole that is a lot of speed on the bases for the top of the lineup.

7. For Bear especially, but I think this will resonate with others….

   It’s time to be blown away. In his last two ML seasons (65-66) Sandy Koufax won 2 Cy Young’s, had 53 wins, 658.2 IP, 699 K’s and a remarkable 54 complete games.

   This year’s NL leader in CG’s is also a “Sandy”, the Miami Marlin’s Sandy Alcantra.

   He has 2.

   1. Mind blowing stat Bluto. To carry that back further in time check out the numbers a hundred years ago. With all the new technology, training advances, improved travel, and nutrition it’s hard to believe what’s now required of a starting pitcher.

      1. “It’s a dying breed. And it sucks”

         ($$$$)

         From Passan:
         https://www.espn.com/mlb/insider/story/_/id/34196864/dying-breed-sucks-decline-starting-pitcher-means-baseball-future

         1. It’s really an interesting question, but to me, I really have to ask just how hard players like Sandy really threw. I’ve heard that he came close to triple digits. I’m not sure that this is true.

            Just from memory of my watching games in the 80s/early 90s when then TV broadcasts would consistently show pitch speed in MPH, it seems 90 MPH was the threshold of a decent starting pitcher fastball. If you threw in the low to mid 90s as a starter, then that was edging into something more notable.

            Good starters now are only notable if they throw in the upper 90s.

            The mentality is different today, too. The philosophy in prior generations was to often pitch to contact. Pitchers would waste pitches more often. Today’s starting pitchers often seem like they have a closer’s mentality, where every pitch is thrown with maximum effort to blow the hitter away.

            I’m not really that impressed that the Gaylord Perry’s of days gone by threw over 300 innings, simply because they didn’t try to throw as hard. How old was Phil Niekro when he retired?

            Koufax was an exceptional pitcher for his day, but he went out there each game with the intent to pitch a CG. When you do that, you pace yourself accordingly. He might have been pitching at 90% maximum effort. If todays starters are working at 95% maximum effort with each pitch, then they are more perilously close to that razor’s edge of breaking down.

            1. There was some really insightful comments from Mike Mussina when he retired short of 300 wins. Mussina spoke about how hard starting pitching “became” throughout his career.

               I wish I had time to look them up.

            2. There was no accurate way to chart the speed of pitches when Sandy was throwing in the 50’s and 60’s. But I can tell you this, I saw him many times in person, and was in the pavilion near the bullpen watching and listening to the ball as it hit the catchers mitt. I have done the same with Kersh. Sandy’s fastball made a different sound when it hit the mitt. Roseboro was once asked how he judged a pitchers fastball. He said that it depended on how many sponges he had to put in the glove to cushion the impact. He used none with Podres. He said it was three with Big D, but with Sandy he put as many in there as he could. I have seen 100 MPH pitchers plenty of times. Koufax was definitely one of those guys. He came straight over the top, and the ball just exploded the last couple of feet. Guys who also threw that kind of pitch, Ryan and Johnson. But it was Sandy taking something off of his fastball that made him a winner. And pitchers in his era, finished what they started. Today, they are paid too much money to throw like that.

            3. What do you mean by this:

               Today, they are paid too much money to throw like that.

               Not calling you out on this, just curious what you mean.

            4. It’s actually a pretty good point by Bear.

               From an organization’s perspective, if they scout a player, draft him, spend years and resources and expertise developing him so he turns into a valuable asset, there is an economic incentive to protect that investment from the unpredictable vicissitudes of injury.

               From a player’s perspective, there is incentive to want to limit use/overuse that would potentially impact his future earnings.

               The incentive structure, instead of being at odds between owner and player, are aligned towards reducing the workload on pitchers. It is a more corporate style assessment of risk versus asset valuation.

               In comparison, back the in the day the attitude might be more along the lines of, “I don’t care if yer arm hurts! Git out there and throw, you pansy!”

            5. Bear, Peronaski was said to throw a ball that bore into the catcher’s glove. He needed sponges as well. I don’t think it is just the speed of the ball but speed times mass defines momentum so maybe.

            6. Saw an interview with Sandy years ago where he was asked about the reduced number of innings a pitcher threw. At first he said it was ridiculous but then backtracked and basically said what Dodger patch posted.

            7. @Patch,

               WARNING SELF-IMPORANT COMMENT COMING.

               If that was where Bear was leading, I 100% agree. Just wasn’t sure.

            8. Bluto what I meant is that teams invest millions, not thousands now in a player. Most Koufax ever made was 125,000 and in those days, starters were expected to finish games. Most relievers were either failed starters or old guys on their way out. Perry was the closer in Sandy’s salad years. But you look at his saves and he comes no where near the number’s closers put up today. If they got 20 saves a year, they were exceptional, and remember also, the save did not become a stat until after Koufax was retired. First save in MLB history was notched by a guy who made his bones starting, Bill Singer. The 125,000 Sandy made, it was a drop in the pail to O’Malley, and he hedged at paying him that much. Kershaw has as many complete games in his entire career as Koufax notched in 1965. Also remember that Koufax’s career ended due to arthritis in his left elbow. It was so bad he had to ice his arm before and after games, and Sandy did not endear himself to ownership when Bavasi asked him to delay his retirement announcement until he could acquire a replacement. He refused. I wonder how many here know who the pitcher was who replaced Sandy in the rotation. He stopped pitching when the doc told him if he kept it up, he would probably lose the use of his left arm.

            9. Wrong Phil, Sutton was already in the rotation. It was Bill Singer. But here is a little trivia probably no one knows. Jim Brewer started 11 games that season. Phil Regan started 3 and Bob Miller 4. John Duffie and Alan Foster started 2 apiece. The staff as a whole had exactly 3 complete games. One by Singer and two by Sutton. Osteen won 17 to lead the team. Drysdale and Sutton were below .500 in wins. Perry had 16 saves.

         2. Certainly sucks for hitters who never get to face a tired starter. But constantly have to face 95+ from elite bullpens. But it doesn’t suck for relievers who now make big bucks!

         3. Yep. The days of a team paying a starting pitcher $25M- $40M a year is ending soon. Like I’ve said in the past why pay big $$ for a pitcher to only go 5-6 innings. Find and churn relievers. Draft a bunch and pay them rookie salaries.
            Pitching duels will no longer be anticipated or happen. No hitters will be minimal, complete games a rarity. Winning 200 games will get you into the HOF. As long as Dave Roberts is the manager the chances of a Dodger pitcher throwing a no hitter are almost nil. The heck with continuing what helps make baseball great. It’s all about saving millions. As with everything else in life, sadly, it’s all about the money.

            1. Hey Bear I haven’t read past here and my guess on who replace Sandy is Don Sutton.

8. In watching the games I’ve noticed a lot of empty seats in the far end of the upper decks upper decks. So I checked on the numbers and the Dodgers are averaging 48,000 a game which is far ahead (+9,300) of second place St Louis. The Dodgers are #4 as a visiting team draw. Surprisingly, Pittsburg is #1 followed by Cincinnati, and Atlanta. I guess home teams use the Pittsburg and Cincinnati games for major promotions in order to get fans to show up. Overall, MLB attendance is way up over last year, but is still 5% below pre pandemic levels per Forbes. The NL West is the top in attendance in MLB with Dodgers #1, San Diego #5, Colorado #6, SF #12, and Arizona #22. So my concern about attendance going down for the Dodgers was misplaced. It’s all good.

   When you take a deep dive into this Dodger team I don’t see the need to make any major trades unless a year ending injury happens to a key player. More important than what the Dodgers currently have on their roster and in prospects is what their opponents don’t have. Which in many cases is a lot. Especially pitching depth. Is there really any pitcher out there that might be available that’s better than the Dodgers have? Most likely, no. When you consider all the injuries to the pitching staff, they are still #1 in the NL. That’s crazy. Hopefully, many of infirmed will be back for the final leg of the season to create an exceptional staff. One that can help bring another championship to LA.

   It’s nice to see some positive signs from the black hole four. Well, Taylor’s situation isn’t a positive one for him, but for the team it’s an addition by subtraction. JT is finally looking like JT. Between Bellinger and Muncy if one can have a good night one night and visa versa then it should be fine. Muncy can get back on track by being aggressive and swinging at the first strike he sees regardless of the outcome. Then the pitchers will adjust to that and he can then work the count and look for a mistake to smash. Lux continues to make contact resulting in positive results. He may lack the long ball right now, but that’s OK. Remember he is hitting ninth! Cody may want to watch and learn. Then, again, probably not.
   Carry on.

   1. Last night only one team drew more than 40,000. The Dodgers. Four teams drew more than 30, Milwaukee, the Braves, Red Sox and Pittsburgh. Pirates were playing the Yankees, so that figures. Two teams drew under 8,000. The Orioles and the A’s who drew only 6300. Even the Astros, who are leading their division, were under 30,000. Miami with Ohtani the draw was in the teens. The A’s need to get out of Oakland ASAP.

9. In 1968 Bob Gibson was 22-9 with a 1.12 ERA. He completed 28 of his 34 starts with 13 shutouts! Different era for sure! And Lux’s plate discipline and pitch recognition has been a huge plus for him this year. Cody can certainly learn from that!

10. That stat for Pittsburg away attendance #1 blows my mind. Makes zero sense to me. I guess its the giveaways they do…????

    1. And some clubs price the weaker teams, like Pittsburgh, at a cheaper price point than better teams.

       1. When I went to Cincy last week our tickets were $69 each. The same seats in LA were $129.00

          1. Right I get that but do you think a lot of Pittsburg fans are traveling to away games???

11. And is it more about babying starters or their stats going through the lineup third time around?

    1. Do you think these home teams are going to the Pirate games because they are expecting they have a great chance to win.That would be my explanation.But what would I know, I’m just a poor ol MS.State BULLDOG alumni.

12. What a weird game. Some bizarre plays but fun to watch.
    * Did we see some limited flight baseballs? Trey and Freeman and especially Mookie
    seemed get pretty good contact and the balls died at the warning track.
    * Bellinger’s base hit, in the bottom of 5, shows how hard it is to squeak a grounder thru against the shift. It missed two diving guys by about a foot each. Seeing eye ground ball for sure.
    I loved his stolen base right after as well. It didn’t lead to a run but I like it. I would have sent Trea first pitch after his walk too, in the 8th. That one didn’t happen.
    * The play by Rockies SS Inglacias, in the hole was something special. He’s no spring chicken but that’s a play few SS can make.
    * The JT slide into 2nd was awesome. I think he saw safe but it was an imaginative effort.
    * I initially thought that Smith’s foot must be more sore than reported as I fully expected him to pinch hit for Barnes in the 7th. Doc didn’t. But Barnes got hit by a pitch and was later pinch hit for so I guess Smith’s foot was okay after all.
    * I really dislike the way catchers now get on that knee to make a lower target. I think it limits their ability to move side to side on wild pitches. If the Rockies catcher, Serves, wasn’t on his knee he had a shot to catch the wild pitch that score Bellinger. The pitch was awful but he had no shot on his knee.
    * Tough break for Lamb, in a huge AB, who is having to prove his worth. You get the feeling that Lamb my have a short leash and needs to perform when he gets his chances. The called strikeout pitch to him was bullshit and took the bat out of his hands
    * Nice job Mookie. Good things happen when you put the ball in play.

    1. That strike three call on Lamb was way below the K Zone. Serven pulled the ball up at least 10 inches and the ump, a vacation replacement missed the call. That is why I want the electronic K zone. Framing will be gone.

13. I am really enjoying this year much more than the past 10 years…..I think because I’m not being so critical but rather am looking at future possibilities more than present failures. Thus, I am able to see guys like Cody, JT, and Taylor and remember what they have done and what they could do once they can get past a hump or funk they may be in. It appears all three are turning that corner now, and combined with Mookie, Tre, Will, and Freddie…..wow! And of course, I can’t forget Lux who continues to be a consistent hitter, batting over .280 I believe for quite some time. We may not have one easy out in our lineup.

    And look at all the injuries with our pitchers and yet we still are dominating there with all these new young arms. Next man up is working as scripted. It is a very exciting time to be a Dodgers fan indeed.

    TM

14. Cody put ball in play when he took a small swing and missed the ball by a foot when he took a big swing. I hope he noticed.

    Yes, Justin is back. Max, is not.

    I don’t think the Dodgers will need Kershaw or Kimbrel next year and probably will not need Justin either. Lots of money coming off the payroll next year, maybe. Will Trea be back?

    Again, Fergusson = Steve Howe and Belli = Tommy Davis

15. Freddie is a doubles machine. I think between Mookie and Freddie are having a great influence on players like Lux and Thompson. Now if Bellie can pay attention it would improve his offense tremendously.
    Glad to see the team play little ball last night. When we are in the playoffs we will need to manufacture runs any way you can not just swing for the fences each pitch. Nice to see White have a awesome game!

16. Futures Game (at the All Star Game) rosters have just been released.

    Dodgers have 3 guys participating: Miller, Cartaya, Vargas

    1. I think that is part of the reason Vargas has not gotten the call. I think his callup will come after the All-Star Debacle.

       1. I think you may have a point, Mark.
          Andrew wants to save the air fare back to OKC, so he’ll just tell him to stick around.

          1. That will save $679.00. Kasten demands it.

    2. Cartaya injured his hand, he most likely will not play.

    3. Wow, that’s an honor to have 3 players. I can’t think of when we did that last.

17. Insofar as the number of innings thrown, I think there are several issues at work here:

    1. Pitchers are bigger, stronger, throw harder, and contort their arms in some ungodly fashions, but their ligaments and tendons are still what they used to be.
    2. The mound was higher, allowing more torque to the body, not the arm.
    3. The strike zone was ginormous! Pitchers of yesteryear would be “pinched” by the new strike zone.

    We really can’t compare eras.

18. What I like to see in a pitcher is the ability to do well against both sides of the plate and Mitch White has done that so far in his career.

    The Dodgers are number 2 in team batting OPS and number 3 in team pitching OPS in all of baseball.

    With the expanded playoffs, it will be hard to find anyone better than who the Dodgers already have through a trade.

    Evan Phillips has sure been good this year, he has the best OPS against .497 in the bullpen with enough innings pitched. Better than Daniel Hudson at .511 who is second best. That was a big loss for the bullpen losing Hudson to injury. Next are Almonte .608 and Graterol .613, but I don’t care for their splits, but it’s not too bad.

    Tony Gonsolin has the best OPS against .514 among Dodgers starting pitchers. Next best is Heaney at .560 with minimal innings, next is Pepiot at .584 with minimal innings, then Kershaw at .602. That is a lot of starting pitching at or under .600 OPS against. Hell even Mitch White is not far away at .616. Anything under .600 OPS against is excellent for pitchers, but maybe with the way the balls are now the .600 mark should be reduced slightly. But either way all those names I mentioned above are doing good this year.

    Trayce Thompson has been a nice surprise so far with a .915 OPS.

    Third best record in all of baseball, one game behind the Astros and 6.5 behind the Yankees. What’s up with the Yankees? 6 ahead of the Padres in the division.

    1. So you seem to be an expert at these splits and such.

       With that, who would you target by July31 to help our bullpen? I admit I have zero idea about this so I’m interested in what you have to say

       1. I’m not an expert. I just look at Dodgers stats a lot. I haven’t given it any thought as far as who I would go after through a trade. I’ll start looking at other players stats outside the Dodgers and I will get back to you on that.

       2. Bobby

          I couldn’t find much for the bullpen, but I could have looked a little better than I did and I will keep looking all the way up to the trade deadline. I looked at all the teams that are at the bottom of their division and other teams that are way behind in their division. I don’t know if any are truly available and what it would take to get them and other stuff. This is all based on stats and stats alone. But this is what I looked for.

          1 Are they overall an upgrade over a large portion of who we already have (their 2022 stats).
          2 Do they have a good track record (career stats).
          3 Are their 2022 and career splits better than a large portion of who we already have.

          Here is what I found and I will keep looking.

          Andrew Chafin – Nothing wrong with him. Great stats.

          Carl Edwards Jr. – The only problem with him is that he walks batters a little more than I would like. Career 4.8 BB/9, this year 3.6 BB/9. Otherwise great stats.

          David Bednar – Is he too inexperienced with 116 innings in his career? Otherwise great stats.

          David Robertson – Is he too old at 37 years old? Otherwise great stats.

          Tyler Wells – Is he too inexperienced with 132.2 innings in his career? Otherwise great stats.

          Andrew Chafin is my favorite among those 5 guys and it’s hard to rank the others.

          1. You’re amazing.

             I need to look up Andrew Chaffin’s stats. If you’re that high on him, I’d assume many teams are calling about him .

             1. Thanks.

19. So Dave roberts is a coach on the all star team . Probably gets to do all the pitching changes!(just kidding) still hopeful Kershaw gets the start. I know Gonsolin or kid from Miami are the favorites. Please Dodgers, don’t ease up just because it’s the cubbies, remember Pirates!

    1. And the Rockies, and the D-Bags………

20. 10:10 PM ET

    Cubs (34-48)
    Dodgers (52-29)

    SP Tony Gonsolin R
    10-0 1.54 ERA 81.2IP 77K
    Confirmed Lineup
    RF Mookie Betts R
    SS Trea Turner R
    1B F. Freeman L
    C Will Smith R
    3B Max Muncy L
    DH J. Turner R
    CF C. Bellinger L
    LF T. Thompson R
    2B Gavin Lux L

    Clear-day
    0% Rain
    75° Wind 7 mph Out

    07/05/22 Oklahoma City Dodgers transferred RHP Andre Jackson to the Development List.
    07/05/22 Oklahoma City Dodgers sent RHP Pedro Baez on a rehab assignment to ACL Dodgers.

21. Great Athletic article with quotes from Friedman on possible training deadline moves….

    We’ve traded more good young players over the last five years than anybody,” Friedman said. “And at some point, it catches up to you. … It’s important that we have them. We don’t operate in black and white. And so I’m not sitting here saying we’re not going to, but we’ve been really aggressive over the last five, six years.”

    1. It also mentioned his lament at the acquisition cost of relievers.

       Translation: “Dang! I wish I had Yordan Alvarez and that Oneil kid back! I ain’t making that mistake again!”

       The Dodgers won’t be acquiring a reliever at the trade deadline. He’s tried to stockpile tons of arms so he doesn’t need to – and he’s done a pretty decent job of it.

22. Actor James Caan passed away today at the age of 82. He was great in the Godfather and also Brians Song. Played Will Farrells dad in Elf and was in Eraser with Schwarzenegger. RIP Sonny Corleone.

23. Does Lux helmet ever stay on??

24. A baseball savant I follow frequently says that progress isn’t linear but with Lux it’s vertical!

25. Mike Brito passed away….

    1. RIP Mike , Dodgers fans will always remember you for finding Fernando

       1. He found Bobby Castillo too and Yasiel. Bobby taught Fernando the screwball and the rest is history.

26. Another good game for Gonsolin. Basically just one mistake for a home run.

    1. Strange that Vesia is backing up Kimbrel. Where is Phillips? Or even Almonte with his reverse splits against originally an LHB.

       1. It worked though. Good.

27. Dave Roberts said that Graterol called the injury a cramp, but he wanted to see the results of a follow-up test tomorrow before ruling out the IL as a possibility.

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