- What if the Dodgers had traded Gavin Lux, DFA’ed CT3, and cut Kike Hernandez like many fans were begging them to do? Boy, are we glad the fans were not running the team!
- What if the Dodgers had traded Miguel Rojas? In many ways, he has been the glue!
- What if David Bednar was the Dodgers closer? Fickle is what closers are!
- What if Garret Crochet was acquired to be the Ace? An Ace who can’t pitch...
- What if CJ Abrams was the Dodgers shortstop? Would he help in the future? Maybe, but not in a Pennant Race… Rojas is much better!
- What if Miguel Vargas were the Dodgers LF’er? He has been an unmitigated disaster!
- What if Michael Busch were still on the team? Where would he play?
- What if River Ryan, Nick Frasso, Emmet Sheehan, Tony Gonsolin, Kyle Hurt, and Dustin May (torn esophagus? WTF!) were healthy? The Dodgers are doing a deep dive into the cause of all these pitcher injuries. I don’t know all the particulars but I would imagine that they are bringing in consultants and medical experts to evaluate it.
- What if chickens had lips? They would be people!
What if, what if? I prefer “What Is?” One of my favorite sayings is this:
You have to play the hand you are dealt. Yamamoto will be back next week. The Bazooka is also close. Clayton and Tyler Glasnow are farther away, and Bobby Miller is closer than you think. Many fans are calling him a head case because he is very demonstrable on the mound. Let me remind you that many great pitchers were not stoic! I have no problem with that, and to say he is a “head case” is assuming facts that are not in evidence. There’s a fine line between Saturday Night and Sunday Morning. There’s also a fine line between genius and insanity and success and failure. Bobby’s four-seamer is a little off. It’s all fixable and fixable very quickly. It could be cause by his knee… or not. It may happen just like he flipped a switch. He did strike out eight last night, and it was the first inning where he gave up five runs before he struck out the side that did him in.
He gave up two runs in the next four innings. I guess you can see a glass as half empty or half full… I am telling you that Bobby Miller is close! It is always darkest right before dawn. I think there is a pretty good chance that Bobby Miller is nails come playoff time. The bazooka will likely be back on Friday with Pederson going back to OKC. Kershaw and Glasnow are possibly due back around the middle of the month. We shall see, but the Dodgers do not need everyone to be healthy. Just a few.
What is IS, even with the lopsided loss? That was the Angels World Series! Move on, there’s nothing to see here, Folks!
X-CITES
Next week is a busy week for me. I have to fly to St. George, Utah, for business Monday – Thursday, and we have a busy weekend keeping my sons’ two kids. I live for this:
The Dodgers begin a stretch of 16 games in 17 days on Friday, and Landon Knack will start that series opener against the Guardians at Dodger Stadium, Roberts also said Wednesday in Anaheim, per David Vassegh of Dodger Talk and Fabian Ardaya at The Athletic.
Manager Dave Roberts said Wednesday that Yamamoto (triceps) will return from the injured list to start against the Cubs on Tuesday, David Vassegh of AM 570 LA Sports reports.
“Yamamoto allowed three earned runs in four innings across his two rehab starts at Triple-A Oklahoma City, but the Dodgers seem to be comfortable clearing him to rejoin their rotation. The 26-year-old righty only reached 53 pitches during his most recent outing Tuesday, so it’s likely he’ll be working under a pitch/innings restriction as he makes his first start since June 15”.
Busier than a one-armed paper hanger.
More nervous than a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.
More confident than a one-legged high jumper.
If your up against a pitcher throwing a masterpiece. Work the count. Foul balls off. Get him to the showers. If not wait for a mistake and pounce. Come Oct. you can’t give up multiple runs in the first. A few tweaks and get the mechanics straightened and Los Doyers will be flying high. I’m all in.
Book em
If Kershaw’s toe is chronic, can anyone be sure there will be no repeat of what happened the last time he pitched? Especially in the playoffs.?
It didn’t sound like it was something treatable.
I have actually had a bone spur that made it hard to walk. With a cortisone injection and about a week of rest, it went away and never came back. That was about 30 years ago. But every case is different. I have no expectations about Clayton… good or bad!
Glad your problem was fixed. Thought Watson had said Kershaw has been dealing with it for years.
Yes, he has. So it could go either way, I guess.
I have one too. It bothers me off and on. But I can go for long stretches where it is no problem at all.
I recall you said you had a similar issue. So the question becomes, how much risk do you take in the playoffs. Kershaw could be lights out all throughout the playoffs or his injury crops up at some point during a series and overworking the bullpen.
I have know knowledge on this topic. Is it possible, once the problem clears up like yours did that Kershaw would be good of the next two months? Guess we will find out.
Yes Mushers. He could. Once it subsides, sometimes it is no trouble for several months. Another thing they might do is give him a cortisone shot in the toe. The only real problem is that there is no way to really cushion the toe, so it feels comfortable in one’s shoes. I would imagine in cleats it would be harder.
Of all the ‘what ifs’ I would say that Miller is one that will figure it out
I am taking a “wait and see” attitude.
in the first inning last night we had 2 Bobby Millers. the first one was not good. the 2nd one was outstanding! if he pitches like the 2nd one he’s gonna be hell on everyone! His fastball is 100mph and straight. With a little movement , and his outstanding breaking stuff he can be a number one on any team in baseball!
Agreed on the wait and see – Miller has awesome stuff but seems unable to harness it.
Progress is not linear – or something like that.
I remember his game at the beginning of the season – where he was just dominant (6.0-IP, 2-H, 11-SO, 1-BB). No clue when he gets there again, but he does have the ability.
Lux just keeps hitting – man, he tried all of our patience – happy for him. Average for the year is at .255 – which is crazy good compared to 2-months ago.
I am OK with the Padres and D-back continued good play – we need them at this level to keep the Dodger’s focused so we can finally win the whole damn thing.
There have been lots of pitchers who have had good stuff and couldn’t get people out, and those who apparently don’t who can. I have never understood why that is, but it certainly is.
Michael Grove is one of the former. Good crisp fastball usually well located, dynamite slider. Yet year after year, his numbers look the same – ERAs have been 4.60, 6.13, and 4.96 in his 3 years with the Dodgers. While its true that this is his first year as a full-time reliever, his numbers aren’t much better. (The peripherals are better though.)
So is Bobby Miller one of these guys? The stuff if fantastic, he has a legit 5 pitch mix, and can run it up there 100. But his fastball is really hittable – SLG% against the 4-seamer is .656 and he has given up 9 HR in 93 AB against it.
Miller is still young and all of that, but how could a fastball that averages nearly 98 MPH this year not be a better pitch than that?
On the flip side of this is a guy like Clayton Kershaw. Even though his arm was hanging by a thread last year, he still won 13 games and pitched to a 2.46 ERA.
How do you look into a guy’s head or heart to know if he is gonna be a guy who can figure out how to compete at the highest level or not?
Hmm. It could be that Bobby was slightly tipping his heater. They seemed to be waiting on it. Maybe he only tips it sometimes. Just a little tiny twitch. You know your opponent did their homework and is just sitting on it. Usually you mix that heater with your secondary arsenal they don’t know it’s coming then you got em. But like you said Mark, shore up and smooth out that delivery, and he’s our man!
Book em
I see his delivery coming over the top with an open shoulder exposing the ball/hand on his approach to the hitter. If you look at some of the good pitchers today, they have a closed shoulder, hides the ball, and then explodes the delivery from the same release regardless of pitch.
If Miller was tipping his FB last night, that wouldn’t explain a .656 slugging % against it on the season. His fastball is straight and according to Eric Karros last night, is one that can be “seen” easily by opposing hitters. It just isn’t a good pitch right now. So it isn’t likely to fixable overnight.
I think Miller is a project who they will have time to work with for 2025. He’s not ready to be a post-season pitcher. His ERA on the season is 7.79. His game log shows that of his 11 starts in 2024, his first was great. He hasn’t made a start with a game ERA lower than 3.6 since then. His WHIP on the season is 1.651 (average of 15 baserunners/9 innings). 15 HR in 49 innings!
Exactly the reason to never count out the remarked Clayton Kershaw.
Agree that we only need a few players to be healthy—Glasgow and Yamamoto. I believe the Dodgers go far if the pair can in top form as our 1-2. Stone is a good 3. Kersh, Buehler, Miller can likely give 4-5 innings , but will also give up 4-5 runs to the Padres or Phillies in a playoff game.
Don’t forget Flaherty.
At their best, Glasnow and YY are probably better, but Stone and Flaherty to back them up gives us a good chance of success.
Glasnow, Flaherty, Kershaw, Yamamoto, Buehler, Miller = Six Pitchers. We only need three!
Gavin Stone is the Number Four… and then you have Landon Knack and the bullpen.
I think we can find three!
Glasnow, Yamamoto, Stone. Buehler Backs up Stone. Kershaw is back for the NLCS
Flaherty?
Forgot him, slot him before Stone.
Padres lost a stunner, 4-3 when Detroit had a rookie, Parker Meadows, hit a grand slam with 2 outs and 2 strikes on him. Az also lost. Lead is 4.5 over SD and 5.5 over Az. LA picked up a half game on both.
Very nice to see that, very nice indeed.
It was a beautiful swing, it made my day!
This months audition for the playoffs has 4 Acts. Tomorrow, Act I will be done, but there are still 3 more weeks to determine who will be there in the playoffs. I see fans say, “Well, Miller gets one more start.” No, he doesn’t – that’s what morons say. Whenever they jump to conclusions, they are usually wrong. You have to let it play out. Tonight we will see if Landon can get the Knack.