Many Dodger fans have been agast that the Dodgers have not play Hyeseong Kim more and that Dalton Rushing as the backup catcher is not getting regular at-bats, which he could at OKC. Many fans are up in arms about this. I call BS! Hyeseong Kim has had some injury (which the Dodgers have been loath to share), and they feel he will experience his best results against RHP, so they often sit him against LHP. Is there anything complicated about that to understand? Many fans think he would do better if he played more. Could it be that he is playing well because he is used less? I don’t know… and neither do you, but it is possible.
Dalton Rushing has demonstrated that he can hit Minor League Pitching, but I will tell you that it is more important for Dalton to learn the Dodgers’ way of calling pitches. As we saw yesterday, Dalton is holding his own with the bat, and he will likely get more at-bats as Will Smith wears down in the second half of the season. Austin Barnes was hitting .214 when he was released. Yes, he was an elite game caller, but his bat was weak and his arm was weaker.
Dalton Rushing is a solid hitter (.244) who will get better and is learning to call a game the Dodger Way. Additionally, he has an arm pop rate that is as good as any catcher in MLB. If anyone has a logical reason he should not be with the Dodgers, please enlighten me. Otherwise, what’s the point? I, for one, think that the Dodgers have their fingers on the pulse of the team. But many fans believe that they know a lot better than Dave Roberts or Andrew Friedman, and I still believe that down deep, some fans think they are smarter, even though the facts say otherwise. Some fans are never satisfied… and I won’t even mention the calls to get rid of Max Muncy!
Dodger News
- Tyler Glasnow pitched two hitless, scoreless innings yesterday, and Nick Frasso followed it up with a scoreless inning.
- James Outman was 4-5 with his 16th HR.
- Nick Senzel is up to .227/.704 OPS after a very slow start.
- Maddux Bruns went three innings yesterday and gave up 2 Hits with 1 ER and 4 Ks.
- Josue DePaula hit his 10th HR. The Yordan Alvarez comparisons continue, but DePaula has greatly improved his footwork and speed.
Dalton should have started the season with the Big League Club and Barnes should have been released.
What’s up with Teo or was it just a day
off before a day off?
Teo is hitting .204 with a .381 OPS over the last 30 games. Whether he is injured or not, I think 2 days’ rest may be good for him.
He was given a day off per the pre-game telecast.
My man Maximus,never count him out.
So Mark, one question. how much longer do the dodgers hang on to Conforto? i have been on record for saying he would eventually hit. Now i’m not sure he will ever hit as a dodger. as for Kim, i don’t think he should play every day. but, i don’t like Doc removing him every time a lefty comes in. no i don’t know more than the coaches, but it seems to me he’s earned a little more runway. .. Now to James Outman. i have always liked James. BUT, it’s time to let him go somewhere else and start over. James is a great guy and some potential. But his K rate in the big leagues is overwhelming. time to move on……… Dalton Rushing WILL be the next star on the dodgers! he will take over as the starter at catcher in about 2 years! Will Smith will probably be the 3rd or 1st baseman when Freddie is done. …. Last thing. mlb needs to address the position players pitching. I’m on board with them completely banning it. expand the roster by 2 in order to carry a couple more pitchers, and be done with it.
I see no reason to believe than Outman, Ryan Ward or Esteury Ruiz would be worse than Conforto has been. All, I think, would be upgrades.
Outman struggled in his brief time in the majors this season–but his OPS was still better than Conforto’s, even though Conforto had months to make improvements. Outman’s OPS for the Comets is over .900, as it Ward’s–but Outman also bring high-quality defense. Ruiz is an ML-tested player would bring speed and on-base skills–something else that Conforto has been lacking.
Fantasy lineup to give Teo a day off:
Shohei DH
Mookie SS
Freddie 1B
Smith C
Max 3B
Pages RF
Edman CF
Rushing LF
Kim 2B
I want to see Smith and Rushing in the same lineup, and I want Kim to get ABs against lefties.
BTW, Max’s big 2-HR game made him the Dodgers’ hottest hitter over the last 30 days:
Max 1.126 OPS
Shohei 1.002
Will .983
Kim .970
Pages .943
I defer to the guys with way more experience and knowledge of what is happening behind the scenes. Kim has shown flashes with the bat, but he is no centerfielder in my opinion. Not yet anyway. His inexperience at the position showed yesterday. That they are in the position they are in, leading the west by 3.5 games, one game behind the Tigers for the best record in baseball, tells me that AF and his brain trust know what they are doing. They had good news on Sasaki yesterday as he is going to resume his throwing regimen. Glasnow is on rehab assignment. Snell is not far behind. Frasso has looked good his last couple of outings as a reliever, and Henriquez is about this far () from coming back to boost the pen. Guys like Trevino and Klein are not going to be around long. They won’t move Conforto before the All-Star break. But afterwards, who knows.
Kim needs to play more. Period! His “injury” I believe was from fouling a ball off his leg or foot. Conforto was a mediocre player at best. Every AB he takes from Kim is a travesty at this point.
Good to see Teo get some days off. He’s waving at every two strike slider off the plate.
Rushing needs to play enough to keep Smith fresh going into the playoffs. Barnes couldn’t hit or throw anymore.
Kim is no outfielder. Conforto was more than serviceable and pretty good for a good chunk of his career. He has hit in pretty bad luck. He scorched one yesterday that was caught. Kim is doing well now, but every day. He is better as a second baseman that he ever will be in the outfield. He does not run good routes at all. Outman would have caught that home run ball Lowe hit yesterday, and Pages would probably have done the same. Conforto will be the leftfielder until they decide he is not going to get any better. But like Jason Heyward last year, he might still be around come August. They traded for Kiermaier, but kept Heyward until August 24th, and he was getting paid a lot less than Conforto. He was barely above the Mendoza line, but his defense was still gold glove quality.
We were saying the same thing about Pages’s routes earlier in the year. He’s gotten better.
Kim doesn’t have to be stellar in the field immediately. Long-term, Kim having positional flexibility will be really helpful to both him and the team.
I think that’s true: Roberts and the brass are training Kim as a UT option.
But if the Dodgers need to win a game today–if it’s coming down to the wire, or a playoff game–then Kim should be at 2B and Edman in CF. Edman simply has more OF experience and has proven himself to be a quality defender.
Is Pages now better in CF than Edman? Maybe. He’s getting there. His improvement has been obvious.
I’m not sure why Mark thinks Kim “has some injury (that the Dodgers are loath to share)…”
I call BS on that. (Over the winter, it was Ha-Seong Kim, not Hye-Seong, who had surgery to repair a torn labrum, so I don’t think the Dodgers’ Kim is recuperating.)
Would the Dodgers, of all teams, send an injured player out to centerfield? Is it an injury that only affects his play against lefties?
Kim has exactly 4 ABs against lefties. In those 4 ABs, he has a homer, a double and a single. His OPS in that tiny sample is 2.500.
So it’s not like southpaws have been making Kim look silly.
It’s a mystery that Roberts hasn’t played him more often. Why assume somebody who bats right would be better?
His UT peers and Conforto have had many more ABs against lefties. Edman (a switch hitter) has a .700 OPS in 68 ABs. Kike’s is .671 in 60 ABs. Rojas is at .596 in 52.
And Conforto, the 26th man, has a .639 OPS in 42 ABs.
The brass may well ride with their $17-million-man for the rest of the season, hoping he’ll get hot and justify the contract. Who knows? Maybe Conforto will wind up being the World Series MVP…
But I see zero rationale in putting Kim on the bench when a lefty in pitching.
Duke, it was reported on the broadcast the other day that Edman is still having issues with his ankle and won’t be playing CF until it feels much better than it does now. We all know Kim is a gold glove caliber 2nd baseman. But at this point in time, Edman is not healthy enough to patrol CF.
In the course of a long season, players go through slumps – even Ohtani. But Conforto hasn’t been good since 2020. It’s not a slump for him – it’s 79 games – just under a half season – but he was bad his last 2 years in SF and mediocre in 2021 with the Mets. I see no down side to playing Kim or Rushing or anyone else – heck, even Mark would be better.
Conforto has -1.1 bWAR. He’s 11th worst in baseball.
LF is supposed to be a position where you can hide a guy with a bad glove if he can hit. Why not try a guy who can actually hit there?
In August and September of 2024, Conforto had an OPS over .850!
2 months in 4 years doesn’t mean he can do it all the time. Obviously
The question with a Stowers or Duran is: do you think they have equal or more upside than the prospects the Dodgers currently have (Quintero, Hope, DePaula, Sirota) who would be included in a trade or blocked by a Stowers or Duran?
One thing to consider is that both of those guys are at the MLB level now (Duran might be off the table bc of the Devers trade). DePaula and Sirota are at least a couple of years away, assuming they aren’t busts like the vast majority of prospects (where are you now, Cartaya?)
Conforto stinks, but he stunk in the first half last year, and the Dodgers signed him bc of his second half performance. The Dodgers can afford to wait.
I don’t entirely get the Ward situation. I know his value as a prospect is diminished bc he’s older for a prospect and his defense isn’t good, but it’s hard to imagine why he has seemingly NO value. It’d be nice for him to see The Show, even for a proverbial cup of coffee.
My hunch is that if Conforto improves even a little during the 2nd half, he’ll be on the playoff roster. Ya know. Veterans.
If I’m the Dodgers, though, you’re gonna have to teach Rushing to play another position unless you want to trade him. His offensive ceiling is too high to be a backup catcher, and Smith is here for the next decade.
Or, the Dodgers could move Smith to another position over the relative short term; e.g. 3base once Muncy becomes a free agent, thus, opening up C for Rushing.
If Rushing is Smith’s equal as a defender at catcher, it would make sense to move Smith to 3B. But the best catcher should be playing catcher.
Rushing has a lot of 1B experience and could eventually succeed Freddie. He could also be trained for 3B.
The Dodgers are willing to put Kim in CF despite his limited experience. Rushing was learning LF last season. Why not see how a Rushing-Pages-Teo OF looks?
Freddie is still a few years away from retiring. What do you with Rushing in the meantime?
What makes sense about moving Smith to 3B? He plays Catcher very well, he’s one of the best catchers in MLB, he’s never played 3B with any regularity, he hasn’t shown and interest in playing 3B, nor have the Dodgers shown any interest in moving him there.
Rushing has a lot of 1B experience.
Dalton Rushing has played 23 games at first base during his professional baseball career. In the 2022 season, he played 23 games at first base while also playing catcher and designated hitter. In the 2020 season, he started six games at first base.
Why people just dream up stuff, or convince themselves of flimsy opinions, and then pose them as fact is beyond me.
Brilliant Post!
Book em
Gavin Lux – .262
Did you see that poor little Asian girl crying her eyes out when dad dropped the Ohtani HR? Sad and funny at the same time.
I saw it.
https://youtube.com/shorts/r25t0xXM0Ho?si=Gdr3yGET8H9KYl93
I think some of you are talking out of some place other than your mouth. Let me remind you of a few things:
1. Will Smith is currently the best catcher in baseball.
2. The Dodgers have tried Rushing in LF and say that he will not play there anymore. I saw him play a few games there, and while he was not abysmal, he looked unnatural there.
3. Catching always seems to wear Will down. Why not give him more rest while keeping his bat in the lineup?
Dalton Rushing is also a very good catcher with a “pop rate” better than Smith. In the second half of the season, Smith could play another spot (2B or 3B) twice a week and catch four times a week, while Rushing catches three times a week. I have seen Smith at 3B, and I believe he could play there once or twice a week in a platoon with Max. He has a total of 60 games at 3B. Why not?
We have the depth to give guys rest. Clearly Freddies days of playing every game are over. Because of Ohtani no one can ‘rest’ by being DH for a day.
The point is: Dalton has a high offensive ceiling as a power bat. If he’s a backup catcher, his bat is not in the lineup with any frequency, thus squandering that offensive potential.
Will Smith is 30 years old and has been a catcher for his entire career. Third base is a demanding position. You don’t just throw him out there.
No one is saying Will Smith will not need days off, and Rushing will get opportunities as a backup catcher, but they will be limited because Smith is the primary catcher. Unless Rushing finds another way to get in the lineup by playing another position, he sits, thus wasting his bat.
If I’m not mistaken, Joe Torre did a great job in transition from catcher to third. I was to young to remembering the circumstance that caused the change perhaps it was the emergence of Ted Simmons. Not sure.
I agree with this. Removing Smith out of C is not ideal, at least not over the immediate short term, but moving to a “platoon” role with Rushing at C and Muncy at 3base accomplishes a few things: allows us to replace Muncy’s bat against LHP without sacrificing overall production, provides Smith some rest for the playoffs and gives the organization an opportunity to properly gage whether Rushing has what it takes to handle the job over the long term. If Rushing turns out to be no more than a backup, Smith is the safety net. Otherwise, Smith eventually takes over 3base once Muncy becomes a FA.
Once Muncy’s contract
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZpIog7e-R4
These are great problems to have!
Why not let Will Smith DH against lefties who have been successful in getting Ohtani out? Especially on days that Ohtani pitches.
You want to platoon Ohtani?
No. Just occasional days off/pinch hit duty against pitchers who he does not hit well.
I agree with RC that when Ohtani gets back to pitching 5+ innings, the team should have another DH from time to time.
It has five letters.
It rhymes with Grade
It starts with a Tee
Trade for who???
Assets (or an asset) that’s not blocked by an all-star, at a key position locked into a multi-year deal?
Was that a serious question?
Ohtani can also play LF on Occasion. Tell me he can’t.
He can, but he won’t.
I still don’t understand why some believe that Will Smith can just play 3B or 2B no problem. He last played 3B for 2 innings in 2021. He played 1 game in AAA in 2019. The last time he actually saw substantial innings there was in 2018. I remember toward the end of Johnny Bench’s career the Reds tried him at 3B. It was a dismal experiment.
What if the lineup looked like this once or twice a week:
1B – Freeman
2B – Kim
SS – Betts
3B – Muncy
LF- Ohtani
CF-Pages
RF – Teoscar
C- Rushing
DH – Smith
with ya Mark
I think throwing someone into LF is more of a rest than playing third base. Back in the day I even think they stuck Yogi Berra out there.
Syndegaard signs minor league deal with White Sox. Why would he want them and why would they want him?
He can make a few Benjamins and he probably still believes he will soon throw 102 MPH again.
8:40 PM ET
Dodgers (48-31)
Rockies (18-60)
SP German Marquez R
3-8 6.11 ERA
SP Jack Dreyer
2-2 3.18 ERA
Confirmed Lineup
DH S. Ohtani L
SS Mookie Betts R
1B F. Freeman L
C Will Smith R
3B Max Muncy L
RF T. Hernandez R
CF Andy Pages R
LF M. Conforto L
2B Tommy Edman S
40% Rain
74° Wind 8 mph R-L