I have been pretty vocal as to how the Dodgers are the best-run organization in baseball from top-to-bottom, but there is one area where they are admittedly not the best, and that is pitcher development as is evidenced by all the pitchers on the IL. At last count, the Dodgers had twelve pitchers on the IL, including the following:
- Brogdon
- Glasnow
- Gonsolin
- Graterol
- Kelly
- Kershaw
- May
- Ryan
- Sheehan
- Stone
- Yamamoto
- Hurt
That’s a pretty good pitching staff on the shelf. The Indians have five pitchers on their IL. FIVE! That includes Shane Bieber, their Ace who had Tommy John earlier in the season. The Dodgers have been interested in Matthew Boyd for years, but Cleveland has him, and he has been incredible in his five games back. He has started all five games, and in the first two games, he pitched 5.1 innings. In the next three, he has pitched six innings each. His ERA sits at 2.20, and his WHIP is 0.77. I know that Freidman wanted him, but the Indians, ‘er Guardians, got him. That was a great pickup and he is really good, but he was never that good until the Guardians got him. They have a pitching machine in Cleveland… and the Dodgers would do well to imitate them.
The Cleveland Guardians organization is famous for its pitching development program, and for turning draft picks into Cy Young-caliber, starters. www.Cleveland.com had a great article about this in July. In part, they wrote:
Home plate doesn’t move. The baseball does.
— Paul Hoynes
Fundamentally, that may explain why the Guardians have produced more big league-ready pitchers than hitters over the last several years. There has to be a little more detail involved than that, right?
Still, the Guardians have had a magic touch when it comes to developing pitchers, their own and those acquired in trades and free agency.
The rotation just before the All-Star break featured three rookie draft picks in Tanner Bibee, Logan Allen and Gavin Williams. When Cleveland comes out of the All-Star break on Friday, Bibee and Williams will still be in the rotation, while Allen, optioned to Class AAA Columbus on June 29, has a chance at being promoted to pitch against the Pirates next week at PNC Park.
This is the second big wave of rookie starters to join the rotation in the last five years. Shane Bieber, the Guardians’ ace, led the first one in 2018. He was followed by Aaron Civale and Zach Plesac in 2019. They were all drafted in 2016.
When Bieber was promoted to Cleveland in 2018, he joined a rotation that included Corey Kluber, Mike Clevinger, Carlos Carrasco and Trevor Bauer. Those four had been acquired in trades by Cleveland and undergone significant development in the minors.
Kluber, by that time, had already won two Cy Young Awards with Cleveland. Bauer would win one in 2020 with Cincinnati, the same year Bieber would win his in Cleveland.
The picture can’t be much clearer. The Guardians know pitching. Hitting? Not so much.
Here’s a great video explanation of how and why:
The Guardians are also dealing with injuries, but not to the extent that the Dodgers are. Rob Hill is employed by the Dodgers as Director of Pitching. Prior to that, he was involved with Driveline Baseball in Kent, Washington, and has been on the cutting edge of training with weighted balls, pitch grips, spin rates, and improving velocity. Here is an interview with Rob:
The Dodgers and Guardians have been on the cutting edge in developing young pitching, and as of today, the Guardians team ERAS is 8th in MLB at 3.79, while the Dodgers is 10th at 3.88. The Mariners are #1 at 3.51, so the Top 10 teams are all close. It is impressive that the Dodgers have done this with eleven of their pitchers on the IL. The Dodgers depth is crazy… that’s a given, but I think the organization is looking into what is causing this plethora of injuries. Sometimes your greatest strength is also your greatest weakness.
Landon Knack pitched a very good game and except for a single HR, he was great over six innings. He now has 54 IP in the Majors and has a 3.00 ERA and a 0.96 WHIP. He could be a starter in the playoffs. Time will tell. He has just 68 IPs in the Minors, so he should not be fatigued. This could be big in the playoffs. I’d like to see him drop about 20 pounds over the winter. A couple of years ago, he got off the junk food mobile and got serious about his eating and training habits. I think he can do even better. Brandon Lewis (Tulsa) did a total body makeover a few years ago. It didn’t help him with the bat as he is struggling (still), but the makeover was amazing.
The above photo was from his senior year in high school. Below is a video of him now:
I don’t see Brandon making the Show, but he really transformed his body.
Now, back to the task at hand. To me, it’s really not surprising that Glasnow, Stone, and others have experienced fatigue this year as they have surpassed the number of innings pitched in a season. Stone will be shut down for about ten days, and then they will see how he feels. Yamamoto will be back next week and built up slowly. We hope Buehler can show more progress in his next start, and Kershaw and Miller are wild cards. Flaherty and Knack are the only starters 100% healthy as of today. N ext man up!
- Damon Keith is a player I have liked for a long time. Still 24 years old, he is a 6′ 3″ 200 lb. RH batter with some pop and above-average speed. At Tulsa, he has 279 ABs with 16 HR and 12 SBs. He has a .857 OPS. He should move to OKC next year. Watch him.
- I suppose that Teoscar Hernandez will get X-Rays or a MRI today and we shall see what happens to him. This might open the door for Dalton Rushing.
i know what the statistics say, but i hate facing a left handed pitcher! Give Boyd credit,pitched a good game last night. So did Knack. One mistake to the number 8 batter! and he goes 6 shutout innings! He’ll learn. no way i send him back down! I believe the starters will be healthy for october. they better be! Hopefully zTeo will be back soon. Chris Taylor is a big tease! lol! He could fuel a wind tunnel with his swings!!! … Did anyone else hear nerdy nelson call ohtani’s. fly ball out? I guess we have to listen to him and “jolly “ Jess all weekend! The best team in baseball can do better than those 2!
The way things are going we might have a tough time holding on to first place. I really hope Buehler can keep improving and Yamamoto can pickup where he left off before being injured. I think Glasgow won’t be ready in time to be an effective starter.
If Hernandez goes on the injured list I think Outman is recalled and platoons with Pages.
Outman is possible, but the Dodgers do not need him in CF. Yes, he could platoon with Pages in LF, but I think they might take a look at Dalton Rushing, who strikes out a lot less than Outman (25% vs. 32%) and has a .387 OB% and as .896 OPS to go with 22 HR and 20 doubles in 373 ABs. He also give the team an emergency C.
If Rushing is to come up,someone would have to be DFA off the 40 man roster.
It would be cool if it was Rushing but probably what will happen is Keekay will take over LF full-time.
We can still win it all like that but we can’t really lose anyone else.
NEXT MAN UP!
According to some fans, CT3 lost that game last night. It was all his fault… because he was 0-for, but so were Smith, Edman, Lux, Kike, and Muncy! Ignore that – it is all on Taylor. (Sarcasm Alert)
It makes no difference whether the Dodgers win or lose, the Bitchers goona’ bitch, bitch, bitch, bitch!
Muncy was 0-1. He pinch hit for Kike. Roberts only had Barnes, Kiermaier and Pages on the bench, so hit options to pinch hit for Taylor were slim. Doubtful Rushing gets called up no matter how good his stats in the minors are. I just can’t see them putting a kid with less than 30 games experience under his belt in the outfield in the middle of a pennant race. Teo had X-rays last night that were negative. He will probably get a scan today.
Muncy was 0-1. He pinch hit for Kike. Roberts only had Barnes, Kiermaier and Pages on the bench, so hit options to pinch hit for Taylor were slim. Doubtful Rushing gets called up no matter how good his stats in the minors are. I just can’t see them putting a kid with less than 30 games experience under his belt in the outfield in the middle of a pennant race. Teo had X-rays last night that were negative. He will probably get a scan today.
Hernandez (ankle) will likely be placed on the injured list, Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times reports.
“Hernandez was hit in the foot with a pitch in the first inning and left the game immediately. Manager Dave Roberts said Hernandez “isn’t doing great” despite x-rays combing back clean. Chris Taylor entered the game in his place and is likely to see more playing time moving forward”.
Doc verified the IL possibility in his post game interview. It’s a BIG right handed bat to lose in the middle of the lineup.
I watched the post game interview with Andrew Friedman and he said there was n NO certainty Gavin Stone would pitch again in 2024. “10 days of rest and Wait and See”.
Last night Jackson Ferris struck out five in his five innings, allowing two runs, including a solo home run. On the season, between High-A and Double-A, the 20-year-old right-hander leads Dodgers minor league pitchers with 140 strikeouts and his 121⅔ innings rank second on the farm.
He is on a fast track. He might start at OKC in 2025. He will be 21 in January, and at 6′ 4″ and 200 lbs. he could be a “horse.” His fastball tops out at 95-96, but he is usually in the 93-94 MPH Range with what they call “Loud stuff.” His fastball has lots of late movement, a hammer curve, a good slider, and a power sweeper. If he ever masters the change-up, he will be devastating! Of course, he has to get better control, too. If he can acquire better control, he can pitch in LA next year!
Great AF trade,Ferris and Hope for Busch who had no position or future with the Dodgers with Freddie at first and Ohtoni at DH.
At this stage of their development, Ferris and Hope both have the look of All-Stars.
I updated the blog post. It turns out I omitted Kyle Hurt who recently had TJ, so the Dodgers have 12 pitches on the IL. YIKES!
We must lead MLB with pitchers on the IL in 2024 recovering from elbow and shoulder surgeries.
They lead in days missed for pitchers and on total days missed per team.
#1 Dodgers – 1,928 Days Missed
#2 Red Sox – 1,676 Days Missed
#3 Rangers – 1,664 Days Missed
#4 Pirates – 1,640 Days Missed
#5 Angels – 1,536 Days Missed
The Blue Jays had just 575 Days missed. SD had 766.
The fact that the Dodgers are still #1 in the Power Poll speaks volumes about their depth!
Maybe just happenstance, but it the Dodgers lead the majors in injured pitchers, is there some problem with training?
Speaking of the In, er, Guardians, some baseball pundits have speculated that the Dodgers might take on Beiber as rehab project next year. He’s a SoCal guy, the could be extra incentive for him.
Whenever I think the Dodgers have ample pitching depth, somebody else gets hurt. Now it’s Stone.
It’s great that Knack is getting an opportunity.
All considered, I kind of like his lumpy body–which is actually slimmer than it has been in past years. So far, his arm has been sound, unlike slender or super-fit guys like Glasnow, May, Buehler, Frasso and (sigh) River Ryan. Even the ultra-flexible Yamamoto! There is plenty of precedent of hefty pitchers finding success: CC Sabathia, Rick Rueschel and of course Bartolo “Big Sexy” Colon. Remember Broxton? Knack is an Adonis compared to that guy.
Andrew Friedman addresses the Dodgers Pitching Injuries in The Athletic:
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5751280/2024/09/06/dodgers-andrew-friedman-pitching-injuries/
In part:
Stone on Friday became the 12th Dodgers starter to land on the injured list, joining eight others still currently on it. Friedman didn’t rule out Stone returning this season, but the odds are slim. The spate of injuries has torn the Dodgers’ offseason plan of addressing their pitching in sheer numbers and left them as uncertain as ever. Twelve arms have made full-fledged starts (not including openers) for the Dodgers this season. Which four start will in October is a different story.
“We’re gonna have enough pitching,” manager Dave Roberts said Friday. “The names might be a little bit different. I don’t think anyone knows who and who won’t be a part of it.”
Friedman acknowledged industry-wide concerns but noted the Dodgers will spend time investigating and “reimagining” inward this winter when it comes to their pitching development and protocols.
“It’s been a really challenging year on that front and something that we’re going to need to spend a lot of time on this winter to really dig in on,” Friedman said. “From when we onboard a pitcher, when we draft or trade for him, through the development path, at the major-league level, obviously, it’s a problem in the industry, and the injuries that are happening to us, we feel.
“Injuries that are happening to other teams, we don’t feel as much. It doesn’t hit home quite the same way. And so we’re going to do everything we can to put ourselves in the best position going forward.”
To curb his workload, Stone hadn’t thrown more than 90 pitches in an outing in more than a month. Then, after throwing 84 pitches over five innings Saturday against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Stone complained of discomfort in his right shoulder.
“He is a great story,” Friedman said.
It had a familiar ending.
As the Dodgers sort through answers, all there is right now are theories.
“If someone says, ‘I have it figured out,’ I wouldn’t listen to them,” Kershaw told The Athletic earlier this year.
He ended with this:
Friedman’s theory?
“I think a lot of this starts at the youth level, and it’s a little bit circular from amateur players thinking what major-league teams want and trying to seek that at a point either with not the right instruction or too young with growth plates still open,” Friedman said. “There are a lot of factors, but then we can’t control that, or at least I cannot, the Dodgers cannot. And it’s really about understanding when we’re onboarding a guy. And the one thing I know for sure is there’s no one-size-fits-all approach, and it’s how to really be able to individualize how we bring pitchers along, and it’s getting to know how they recover and things that we’ve been trying to track and know.”
Friedman pointed to their propensity for giving starters extra rest. Since he took over in 2015, the Dodgers entered Friday with 1,265 games started by pitchers who were on extra rest — at 129 such starts this year, they were on pace for the most in a single season in that period.
Since 2015, there have been 232 instances where relievers have made 70 or more appearances in a season. Just eight have been by Dodgers, and none since Blake Treinen had 72 games pitched in 2021.
“I can’t imagine there’s a team that has their guys go on extra rest more than us,” Friedman said. “Looking at bullpen usage, we’re near the more conservative, near the top in terms of being conservative. That’s not helping in terms of staving off injuries.
“And so all of this, we need to re-evaluate and be thoughtful about and acknowledge and appreciate what we don’t know. There’s some we know, and there’s a lot we don’t know, and just do everything we can to more thoughtfully create this individualized program. And we started some, it’s hard when we’re going through a regular season and the volume of games, but we’ll put together a group and be really thoughtful about it this offseason and rethink some of how we bring our pitchers along, and the bet is that it will be anywhere from somewhat productive to incredibly productive.”
Answering that question might be impossible.
I think the biggest issue is the pursuit of velocity and spin. One thing I would do is a deep dive into the training routines of Kershaw, Scherzer, Pedro, Verlander, Burnes, Cole, Wheeler and Nola. I know they are some of the all time great pitchers but they have all avoided TJ surgery except Verlander and he was almost 40 when he got his. All of them threw hard with good breaking stuff. I also saw a report on lowering the mound that showed it doesn’t drastically change the pitchers stuff but can reduce some strain on the shoulder and elbow. Whatever the reasons are for the injuries it’s not going to be solved in one off season. One other thing Phil Jones pointed out on the other blog was Ben Joyce has an extremely violent delivery while Aroldois Chapman generates his speed from torque on his lower half.
The contrast between Joyce and Chapman could not be more apparent.
Joyce has about another year before TJ.
How do you fix it?
That’s the billion dollar question. I wish I could answer it. The easiest answer would be to train pitchers to use their lower bodies more. The problem is no 2 pitchers throw the same way. I think it would be a starting point is to strengthen the lower half. In the old days you would always hear about pitchers running on off days. It sounds like today’s pitchers don’t run anywhere near what they use to. Also every body seems to be muscling up and flexibility is down. John Smoltz would talk about doing long toss a lot but it’s sounds that’s not done much either. Here I go about the way it use to be but there were fewer pitchers injuries in the past. I know it’s a new day a new way the game is played but sometimes the old school stuff can’t hurt to try
“Brusdar Graterol pitched a scoreless eighth inning with a strikeouts, in his second game on this particular rehab assignment for the right-hander. Graterol could rejoin the Dodgers soon, per Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register”.
My view right now:
Shadrack at 12 weeks/26 pounds. He is going to be a horse!
Wow. I went to the other blog, and people are losing their minds over CT3 and they want to run Doc and Friedman out of town because of well… immense moronism! Wow. Just wow!
Damn good blog trashed by moronic comments. It’s a damn shame!
So you go searching for “morons”?
Didn’t you say something the other day about dropping the topic?
When people e-mail me about it I have to go and check it out.
Why are you so sensitive about morons?
Did I step too close to home?
Regarding Chris Taylor generally, and having nothing to do with last night’s game, he just isn’t a good baseball player and hasn’t been for a few years.
2024 – -.9 WAR, .173/.280/.265/.545, 57 OPS+, 69 K in 215 PA (32% K rate)
2023 – 1.4 WAR, .237/326/.420/.746, 102 OPS+ 125 K in 384 PA (33% K rate)
2022 – .7 WAR, .221/.304/.373/.677, 89 OPS+ , 160 K in 402 PA (40% K rate)
The Dodgers will always have a better option than to play a guy with 57 OPS+
The reason he has not been very good the last three years is because he has spent significant time in each of those years on the IL. His last full season and the shortened 2020 season, He hit over .260 with a combined OPS over .800. The guy did not all of a sudden forget how to hit. Hard to stay sharp when you are on the IL for extended periods of time. He still managed to hit 25 homers over 22-23. And they had few options last night. It speaks volumes to me that they did not send Pages into the game when Hernandez went down. Do not think they trust the kid in big games. Taylor had a great at bat and hit that ball very hard, 104 MPH. They trust him to have an at bat like that.
No doubt he has struggled, BUT he can play any position very well.
The Dodgers have the bats, but if you replace him with, say… Dalton Rushing, you become much less flexible.
He’s not worth what he is being paid but he is worth a lot!
Here are his recent splits:
This year, it all boils down to how he finishes… and that story is yet to be told.
This is important: CT3 never embarrassed his team in the field!
I agree that Taylor is overpaid–and also that his versatility is impressive.
But let’s not overlook the critical error he made at a critical time in Game 4 of the 2020 World Series against the Devil Rays.
Kenley Jansen was closing out the game and gave a soft-contact single to Brett Phillips. Taylor, playing center, rushed in and butchered the fielding play. That was the first error the crazy comedy–or tragi-comedy of errors that followed, ending with Arozarena scoring a walk-off run.
Looking back, I recall that a lot fans blamed Kenley. Hell, I probably piled on. But the bigger problem was really Taylor’s uncharacteristic error.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIRlvkO7aa0
I would take a wild guess and say that CT3 as the 26th man on our playoff roster can’t hurt and might pay dividends.
Book em
That is what he is there for. Is Pages on the postseason roster if they get there? Maybe, depends on how long Teo is out. Kike won’t be back next year. He is not needed. Only reason Taylor got that 4-year deal was because Kike left as a free agent, and Taylor was supposed to be the only utility guy on the team. If they called up Rushing I would be shocked.
The stars would have to align perfectly for Rushing to get the call.
Can’t stand Jessica Mendoza announcing Dodger games, It maybe not politically correct to say and I may get chastice for sayingit,,but every time Knack had a strikeout with her annoying laugh it appeared to me she was about have an orgasm. Just my observation, If she is on tonight’s game,the mute button will be ON.
I’m a little more sanguine about her… and old, what’s his name…
It’s an exercise in “let’s see how much I can stand.”
Just because she laughs like a jackass… 😉
wow! i was just joshing about Taylor’s hard swings! i like Chris! he does strike out too much, but so does max. Ohtani takes some ugly swings too! Taylor is a very good defender wherever you put him. He’ll be on the roster. earlier i thought he might be let go. But! he’s been valuable before and probably will be again!
J-Hey under .200 since he went to Houston.
Stick a fork in him!
9:10 PM ET
Guardians (81-60)
Dodgers (84-57)
SP Gavin Williams R
3-7 4.55 ERA
SP Ryan Brasier R (Opener)
1-0 3.38 ERA
Confirmed Lineup
DH S. Ohtani L
RF Mookie Betts R
1B F. Freeman L
3B Max Muncy L
CF Tommy Edman S
2B Gavin Lux L
SS Miguel Rojas R
LF Andy Pages R
C A. Barnes R
95° Wind 2 mph Out
i said earlier, the best team in baseball can do much much. better than nerdy nelson and “jolly “ Jess! please put orel and nevertt on! nothing against ladies on broadcasts, they just should be required not to be awful! Nelson? puke!
Neverett has been on the radio side more or less permanently since Steiner became ill. He will probably stay there until Charlie comes back next year, or he retires. Put Nelson on the radio and Mendoza. Bring Monday to the TV side and they will automatically get better. Looks like no IL time for Teo, he is out of the walking boot and feeling much better. Still some swelling in the foot but he says he hopes to be in the lineup by Monday or Tuesday against the Cubs, who were shut out again today by the Yankees. In a good news game for the Dodgers, Houston came back and beat Az again. And the Phillies lost to the Marlins.
I agree on Mendoza. But don’t give me Monday in her place. When I listen to him I always feel like I’m being lectured to by Professor Baseball. We can agree on Nomar. He does a nice job. On the other hand, maybe we can get Votto who is unemployed right now. He’d be a riot.
I think you guys are spoiled (is that what smells, or is that your aftershave?).
I used to listen to Joe Nuxhall call the Cincinnati Reds games.
Man up. Yes, we had Vin, but he is gone now. Joe is great, EK and Orel are OK as is Nomar.
Jessica and “What’s his name?” are not like gouging your eyes out.
Get over it!
GOOD NEWS!!!!!!
Teo Hernández said Saturday that all of the scans on his foot came back clean, and he is feeling better. He believes he can return to the lineup as soon as Monday or Tuesday, per The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya.
Yes, that is good news.
Ohtani– Rally Killer
DFA the bum!
Another blunder by AF getting this loser
Fire AF and Doc and everybody!
Should have kept Heyward
Why? Heyward can’t play in Houston.
Ben Gamel is starting over him.
J-Hey is hitting .143 with Houston…. I’ll pass!
Shame on me. I forgot about Pages.