It is very frustrating to watch Dustin May because he frequently either throws a strike or an unhittable, non-competitive pitch that is two feet off the plate. Last night, he threw 84 pitches, of which 46 were strikes. That’s not good, but what is worse is how much those pitches that were not strikes missed the zone. Instead of throwing those pitches, he should have asked the umpire to just add another ball to the count.
Pitchers don’t want to throw all strikes, because they will eventually get hit, but when they throw a ball, it is most desirable that it looks like a strike… for at least a moment. When Dustin May throws a ball, it looks like a ball right out of his hand. The batter doesn’t have to worry – he just got a free pitch! Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results, so we can only conclude that Dustin May is Insane!
Dustin May has been a workhorse (under the new metrics) this year, and last night was the first time he did not go at least five innings this year. There is value in that, but he can be so much better if he can just miss the zone by a foot, not two or three, and I still say he looks like a silly mouth-breather on the mound. Just my opinion! If Dustin does not resolve this issue, he is likely to be a #5 starter on a second-tier team.
Dodger Rants & Raves
- Freddie is as lost as Max is found. Max does this every year: Fans call for his head, and then the fans end up eating heaping helpings of crow. When will you ever learn? This is Freaking Max Muncy!
- I have to go to a funeral today, so I will miss the Ohtanbi start. I’ll watch it later.
- I’m hoping to go to the Loons-Tin Caps game tomorrow, but this is the year of surgeries. Monday, I have to have surgery on both hands and the left elbow. Soon, it will be the back and then the right shoulder reconstruction. Let’s get it done! I’m tired of the pain. I wanted to do an interview with Hope, Sirota, and DePaula, but I have given up on that.
- Of course, the Dodgers are kicking the tires on Sandy Alcántara, but it won’t happen unless the Dodgers can steal him. I mean, his ERA is 6.69 – and you think Dustin May is useless? Come on, man!
- Ward hit his 20th HR for OKC last night.
- Tyler Glasnow started and pitched like someone who hasn’t pitched in months.
- Jackson Ferris went six shutout innings for Tulsa, allowing 3 BB and 7 Ks.
Freddie hurting with 2 injuries. Will he heal this year??
Glasnow (shoulder) tossed 2.1 innings in a rehab outing with Triple-A Oklahoma City on Friday, allowing five runs on seven hits and one walk while striking out three batters.
“Glasnow was slated to throw three innings Friday, but he needed 66 pitches to get seven outs. The veteran right-hander used up most of his leash in the first frame, when he threw 40 pitches and gave up four runs. While Glasnow walked just one batter in the start, his control was off, as only 37 of his 66 offerings were strikes. On a positive note, Glasnow’s fastball velocity sat at 96.6 mph, and he induced nine whiffs. He’s slated for at least one more rehab appearance, and given where he’s at in terms of his pitch count, Glasnow could return to the Dodgers around the All-Star break”.
I think Freeman’s slump can be explained by a Freaky Friday body swap with Muncy. Same for Pages/Teo.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said earlier this week that Snell (shoulder) is “probably not” close to facing hitters, MLB.com reports.
“Snell took a step forward recently when he began using his full pitch mix during bullpen sessions, but Roberts’ comments suggest the lefty hurler is still far away from being activated from the injured list. Snell has pitched in just two games for the Dodgers this season, with his last outing before landing on the IL coming all the way back on April 2. The veteran starter will presumably need to make multiple minor-league rehab appearances before he’s ready to return to the big club, so it seems unlikely that he’ll be ready to rejoin the Los Angeles rotation until after the All-Star break”.
May is gone after this year. Use him up like a rented mule. Good chance he throws zero innings in postseason, even if healthy.
Don’t rush, Glass Man. They don’t need you, they don’t miss you, you’re not necessary. Everything has practically happened without you since you joined the Dodgers. So don’t rush, you could get hurt again!
The best thing with May is he’s a FA after this season and is playing for a contract, which means we get the best he has to offer—whatever that is. Agree with Mark that he misses on too many pitches. It also fees like teams hit him pretty hard–i.e., there are lots of pitches that are middle-middle with predictable movement.
May’s come-back reminds me of Buehler from last year. Walker struggled with command, got hit hard in several games.. but then found his groove just in time for the playoffs.
For the record, I don’t think May will elevate to Walker-like performance. Dustin does not have the mix of pitches nor the pedigree of Walker.
Hopefully, May can continue to eat innings, keep us in games, and help get us to October at which time he’ll cheer from the bench. If Dustin can overcome his first-inning bloated ERA, he might have a role in the BP.
his 1st inning is usually one to forget. i used to think he could be a bullpen pitcher. Not sure now. he takes about 2-3 innings before he finally gets in somewhat of a rhythm. last night was. awful! i’m not sure if he ever makes it as a dodger. not saying he won’t be a starter someday for another team, but i believe he’s gone after the season. …. Hopefully Freddie’s defensive game saving play will help get him going offensively! Probably mookie and freddie get going and ohtani will go into a funk! been a while since all 3 were clicking at the same time. … kike is on a roll! 1 for 125! would it hurt if kim played a little instead of kike? just a wee bit? pretty please! we all know what kike does in the postseason, but right now he’s not good. not even close!…. Just my opinion, Teo should go to left and andy to right when a left handed pitcher is on the mound. Teo didn’t look good in right last night. ……. do the dodgers lead the league in little soft hit basehits? ….. So when does Emmit come back? 6 innings in the minor league start, why not up with the big league team and help save the bullpen!! …I still believe AF goes and gets a starter. i think it’s a necessity now more than ever . with snell not close, and who knows with Glasnow? the bullpen can’t keep up this pace! really good lineups will beat up on a worn out staff! And the dodger staff is headed in that direction. ….. haven’t seen starting lineup for today, but i would imagine Will sits. Who knows, kim might smell a place in the starting lineup! Let him run!!! have the dodgers attempted a stolen base in the lat 5-7 games? i can’t remember if so!
May has several problems. He is throwing with a lower arm slot to protect his elbow. His stuff is much more horizontal – rarely changes the eyeline of the hitter – sweeper and sinker. He needs to pitch more vertically at times so he isn’t so predictable. The control issues that Mark spoke of are also that he throws too many over the heart of the plate. His velo is down 3-5 MPH from 2 years ago and he hasn’t learned to pitch without it.
He’s always been a thrower not a pitcher, but now he doesn’t have the velocity to be a thrower.
Everything is at the same eye level. No wonder he gives up so may diggers.
4:10 PM ET
Dodgers (52-31)
Royals (38-44)
SP Shohei Ohtoni R
0-0 4.50 ERA
SP Seth Lugo R
4-5 2.93 ERA
Confirmed Lineup
DH S. Ohtani L
SS Mookie Betts R
1B F. Freeman L
3B Max Muncy L
RF T. Hernandez R
CF Andy Pages R
LF M. Conforto L
2B Hyeseong Kim L
C D. Rushing L
89° Wind 9 mph Out
Ben Casparius will pitch the bulk of the innings
Max’s blast last night tied him with Matt Kemp for 7th on the Dodgers all-time top homers list. 203. Max is just 8 behind Steve Garvey who hit 211 as a Dodger. Ohtani with 83 career homers as a Dodger, is just 3 behind Tommy Davis. He is just 30 behind Frank Howard. If Ohtani matches the 54, he hit last year, he will tie Chris Taylor and Yasiel Puig with 108. At that point he would be just 4 behind Dodger legend, Babe Herman and just 15 shy of Howard, who is 28th on the list. Only 8 players have ever hit 200 as Dodgers, and only two, Hodges and Snider, reached the 300 mark. Ohtani should pass Eric Karro’s LA mark of 270 with ease. To catch Snider at 389, Ohtani would need to average at least 35 homers a year if he reaches the 108 mark this season to be 1 homer back of Duke at 388. Probably will not be around to see it. I would be 85 at the time. One can hope, I guess.
Friday scores
Oklahoma City 9, Sacramento 7
Tulsa 11. Frisco 0
Great Lakes 8, Fort Wayne 0
San Jose 9, Rancho Cucamonga
ACL Dodgers 5, ACL D backs1
Saturday scores
Great Lakes (Maddux Bruns) at Fort Wayne (Eric Yost), 3:35 PM PST
Tulsa (Chris Campos) at Frisco (Mitch Bratt), 5:05 PM, PST
Oklahoma City (Landon Knack) at Sacramento (Carson Ragsdale), 6:37 PM PST
Rancho Cucamonga (Jholbran Herder) at San Jose (Gerelmi Maldonado), 5:00 PM, PST
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said that the team plans to have Ohtani pitch into the second inning Saturday, Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times reports.
I’m all for resigning Kelly if we can put him directly on the 60 day IL and not waste a roster spot
R.I.P. Dave Parker
May is wildly inconsistent right now. The lower velocity is by design though. He has shown flashes like the two pitching duels against Corbin Burnes. The non-competitive pitches are killing him. As well as hanging a gopher ball at least once a game. The sinker hasn’t been as effective as pre-injury. I think he under utilizes his four seamer.
He is generally eating innings most outings and giving statistically quality starts. I know 6 innings and 3 earned runs isnt special but with this offense I will take it for now.
Considering he had a two year layoff I can be patient with him for now. He’s never thrown this many innings in a season either. When the injured pitchers return he may head to the pen where the velocity would tick back up.
I’d be for signing Kelly before a SD series, drilling Machado, and then releasing him afterward. Other than that he’s been largely ineffective the last couple of years.
Teo doesn’t belong in RF
I can’t look at May without noticing that open mouth. It is reminiscent of an old man with his dentures out or a meth head that lost his teeth. Thanks, Mark.
What’s with all you guys deciding to beat up on Dustin May?
He returned strong on April 1. He allowed 1 unearned run over 5 innings and struck out 6. After all it was his debut after a looong time gone with injury.
He’s always had impressive strikeout‑to‑walk ratios but he’s also had control issues at times. What do we expect from a guy that had control issues BEFORE all his injuries and coming back from not pitching for several years?
I can understand the frustration but the name calling? (mouth breather – everyone breathes through their mouths at times. When did that get invented as a criticism?) and proposing to beat him like a rented mule? These are NOT comments that should be coming out of supposedly dedicated Dodgers fans.
I hope he can overcome his control issues and preferably as soon as possible but I also understand why the Dodger are relying on him given all the staff injuries.
Went to the Dodgers game today (going again tomorrow) I didn’t realize how the defense was in the outfield. There were plays in left field, one would have been a pretty good play, but I believe when the Royals scored their first two runs, Conforto first step was in the wrong direction and the ball dropped for a . If watching on TV it would have looked as it was a hit off the bat but the ball should have been caught with not much difficulty. Hernandez in right also has limited range. I suppose for Hernandez anyway his bat makes up for much of his defensive lack of range. Casparius did get knocked around a little bit, but the Dodgers outfield needs cleaned up. Kim is an impressive player on both sides of the game. I left when Hernandez came into pitch. If I want to watch that kind of baseball I’ll go watch the Savana Bananas, which I’m told put on quite a show. As I’m sure you are all aware Ohtani looked good on the mound.
Our outfield play was NOT MLB quality today for sure.
Kim looks like he’s about 15 years old. Not that that’s bad actually. Imagine being a good enough player to be in the bigs @ 15!
There actually was one – Joe Nuxhall – during WWII. Ironically he got absolutely SHELLED but he came back as an adult and had a solid career, ha ha
At some point the Dodgers will have to do what they did last year which were moves to make the defense and team better. Last year it was putting Mookie back in RF and Teo in LF.
This year Edman needs to be in CF, Pages in RF, and Teo in LF. Kim needs to be at 2B. Kike and Rojas can get some games at 2B and 3B against tough lefties. The defense in the outfield would be a huge risk in the playoffs as is.
I agree with you, I value defense a lot; defense also wins games.
Just ask the Yankees how their poor defense fared in the World Series !!!
“Dave Roberts said the report from OKC last night was that Tyler Glasnow’s stuff looked fine, but that he wasn’t efficient enough. They were hoping to get him into the fourth, but he only managed 2.1 IP. That means he’ll likely need at least two more rehab outings before returning.”
Dodger’s Schedule before the All Star Break:
KC away
Off day
White Sox home 3
ASStros home 3
Brewers away 3
Off day
Giants away 3
Sheehan shoul be back from the minors for Astro series.
13 games
what will the los angeles dodgers roster look like in a few weeks? will conforto be there? will there be a new outfielder in dodger blue? or is conforto’s replacement already there? will snell and glasnow contribute at all this season? will AF swing a trade for a starting pitcher? maybe a nick martinez from the cincinnati reds? (rumor). will mookie need some time off in order to be at full strength in the postseason? as constructed right now, conforto is the only possible casualty i see on the position side. don’t be surprised if AF does replace him with a “tyler ward” type outfielder. kike may or may not be the postseason stud this year. so maybe a center fielder ? move teo to left and andy to right? … as far as pitching, if snell and tyler come back strong, with yamamoto, and don’t count that kershaw kid out either, they will be in excellent shape! not counting on treinan at all. so maybe a bullpen piece? by the way is Diaz coming any time soon? don’t think we should hold our breath! … Freddie was Freddie yesterday! now just waiting on mookie to be mookie again.
After the All Star Break,there will be 65 games remaining in the regular season. Assuming Ohtoni has built up to 5 innings by then, a six man rotation will be fully functional. If all ptchers go at least 5 innings in the remaining schedule,Snell and Glasnow will only have pitched approximately 75 innings before the playoffs start IF they can remain healthy and injury free,a BIG IF. May should be removed from the starting rotation when we Snell and Glasnow return. Yamamota should take a trip to the IL for some R&R for some undisclosed injury after the Break to get ready for October baseball. Sheehan should definitely be part of the six man rotation.
Just finished my last serving of crow on Max. I was never so happy.
May would make a fine project for Baltimore. Throw in Conforto for free.
Once Timmons gets the elbow and hands repaired, I suggest he try out as a reliever. Should be able to pitch closer to the plate than May and maybe rep
I could throw at a window and not break the glass.