First of all, I want to again thank everyone for their kind words and prayers for our family at this time. I have bad days and worse days. I do have good moments. I thought that I could get back to writing sooner, but I just can’t seem to get the motivation to do so on a regular basis yet. With a little of your indulgence, I also want to thank my son Kris’ friends who made the trip for his services. I say that because I know they are reading this blog. At least periodically. I especially want to thank a couple who many of you may be familiar with, Jon Garland and Jack Cassel whom I have known since they were 6-7 and were amongst Kris’ best friends in the world. Yes I broke down when I saw them come through the doors of the Church. And yes I have known Matt Cassel since he was in Kindergarten with my daughter. Great family. Then there is Steve who was a teammate of Kris’ in college, who got a grin on his face when he learned that I was AC on this site. So I know he has been to the site. And Brian and Oscar, you know you will always be family. Finally, I want to especially thank DBMom as I included her poem in my eulogy to Kris. It was, when I first read it, and will forever remain, something that I will treasure. One other item. I am hoping that Mark can embed the 1977 Oakland Lynyrd Skynyrd concert rendition of Free Bird. This has always been a favorite of mine, but it is now my anthem to my son. It is who he was and now will ever be.
Now to BASEBALL. There is a lot of dissatisfaction amongst Dodger fans and sports journalists in general with the LAD bullpen, and I certainly understand it. Anyone who has paid any attention at all to what I write, knows that I am a BIG believer in the bullpen. I have been steadfast in my desire to add quality relief pitching, but I also do not disagree with Mark that relievers can be fickle. One year good, 2 years not so good. It seems that this year the MLB relief in totality is not very good throughout the league. While I had absolutely no problem with giving KJ the contract he signed for, I do not agree that relief pitchers are worth $15MM-$20MM per year over multiple years. Chances are very good that relief pitchers signed to a multi-million dollar multi-year contact will not be worth the contract cost over the term of the deal. You are talking about $15MM for 3-5 years for someone who MAY pitch 70 innings per year. KJ’s AAV is $16MM in 2019 and his WAR is 0.0. I do not believe he is earning his salary.
Blown saves are exasperating, and it appears that this year that LAD could have home field ONLY IF KJ had only 5 blown saves instead of 8. But it is a team game, and there is plenty of blame to go around for many lost games. LAD is going to win somewhere between 102-105 games. That seems like a very good year, but it is only the preliminaries. This year they have to finish. If they do not, then it is on to 2020. Life goes on and we get to start over next March with ST games.
I got to enjoy the USC win over Utah last Friday, but it is not much fun when my Trojans are not in the College Football Playoff discussion. It is no fun when they are picked to finish somewhere in the middle of the conference, and get to a low level Bowl game. But that is who they are. So I would much rather have the team at least in the hunt every year. The 2005 Rose Bowl with Texas was the most disappointing game I have ever experienced, and yes I was there. But my Trojans were in the game to decide who was #1. Heck things could be worse, I could be a Bruin, (right Rudy?) So if the Dodgers do not win it all this year, bring on the Brooklyn mantra…Wait ‘til next year.
I was the lone voice on this site praising LAD when the Dodgers signed Brandon Morrow on January 25, 2017. I thought that was a great signing, but I never expected Morrow to be as good as he ended up being. When the Dodgers picked up the two Tony’s (Watson and Cingrani), I thought they had a good bullpen heading into the playoffs. It was never expected that KJ would hit a wall in Game 2 on an 0-2 pitch to Marwin Gonzalez. I wanted Jose Leclerc and Ryan Pressly last year. Leclerc surprised a lot of fans when he was able to step in for Keone Kela as the closer, but I always thought he was best suited for setup. This year proved he is not yet ready to be the closer. Very few understood my fascination with Pressly. This year, I was hoping the Dodgers could get Aaron Brummer (I was not alone on Aaron) or try for Leclerc again (I still like him). Pre-arrest Vazquez would have been a good pickup but not at the cost. Thank God that the Dodgers dodged that problem. I would not have spent the prospect capital on Ken Giles, because he was too much of a question as to how he would fit in with a winning ball club. Maybe he would have, maybe not. Too big of a question mark, with no guarantee, at an expensive prospect capital cost.
So now we have about 12 potential relievers for 8 spots. Everyone has their own opinion as to who they should be. I like Ross Stripling and Caleb Ferguson, so they would be on the NLDS roster if I were AF. But not everyone agrees with those, especially Caleb. But as an arm chair GM I get to pick him. No William I do not care about his opposing OPS. He did the job last year, and he has a new grip. I do not play fantasy baseball, so I get the luxury of picking my favorites, even if they do not have the stats. If AF does pick him, then I am satisfied, that the computers did their very best to identify him as one of the 8. If not, I also understand and accept.
It is one thing to complain about a bullpen, but whole ‘notha to actually do something about it. I have read that some think that next year, the team should go out and sign (or trade for) as many as 4 or more relievers. For those who believe that, here are the 45 FA RHRP and 12 LHRP with their 2020 baseball ages:
RHRP:
| Matt Albers (37) | Tommy Hunter (33) | Dan Otero (35) | |||||
| Cody Allen (31) | Jeremy Jeffress (32) | Wily Peralta (31) | |||||
| Tony Barnette (36) | Nate Jones (34) | Yusmeiro Petit (35) | |||||
| Dellin Betances (32) | Shawn Kelly (36) | Addison Reed (31) | |||||
| Steve Cishek (34) | Brandon Kintzler (35) | Fernando Rodney (43) | |||||
| Louis Coleman (34) | Tom Koehler (33) | Sergio Romo (37) | |||||
| Josh Fields (34) | Chris Martin (34) | Hector Rondon (32) | |||||
| Cory Gearrin (34) | Zach McAllister (32) | Trevor Rosenthal (30) | |||||
| Luke Gregorson (36) | Collin McHugh (33) | Joe Smith (36) | |||||
| Will Harris (35) | Brandon Morrow (35) | Craig Stamman (36) | |||||
| David Hernandez (35) | Pat Neshek (39) | Pedro Strop (35) | |||||
| Yoshihisa Hirano (36) | Juan Nicasio (33) | Anthony Swarzak (34) | |||||
| Greg Holland (34) | Bud Norris (35) | Tyler Thornburg (31) | |||||
| Daniel Hudson (32) | Darren O’Day (37) | Arodys Vizcaino (29) | |||||
| Jared Hughes (34) | Seung-hwan Oh (37) | Adam Warren (32) |
LHRP:
Aroldis Chapman (32)
Tony Cingrani (30)
Jake Diekman (33)
Brian Duensing (37)
Zach Duke (37)
Mike Dunn (35)
Aaron Loup (32)
Hector Santiago (32)
Tony Sipp (36)
Will Smith (30)
Jonny Venters (35)
Tony Watson (35)
Which ones do you want, and how much are you willing to spend in dollars and years. Will Smith is going to be looking for Craig Kimbrel money. Is he worth it? After this year, Will Harris is going to try and get three years while at 35. Are you willing to give him 3 years? Are you willing to take a one year chance on Dellin Betances? How much? How about Arodys Vizcaino, the only sub 30 year old reliever? There are no sure things in FA, especially with relief pitching. And that is not a pretty group.
Some complain that AF does not value the bullpen (Oh yeah that’s me). But AF does not live in a vacuum. He understands that the best teams are built from within. He saw a need for catchers when he first got to LA, now look where they are in catching prospects. After Corey Seager they had no middle infielders in the pipeline. I feel a blog post coming on about the LAD middle infielders in the system. AF recognized that the team needed relievers, so what did the brain trust do, they drafted and signed 15 potential relief prospects in 2019:
Ryan Pepiot
Jack Little
Aaron Ochsenbein
Nick Robertson
Alec Gamboa
Logan Boyer
Mitchell Tyranski
Jacob Cantleberry
Sean Mellen
Jeff Beige
Braidyn Fink
Zack Plunkett
Cyrillo Watson
Mark Mixon
Francisco Martinez
Obviously not all of these guys are going to make it to MLB, but what if 4-8 do. Not likely, but look at the 2016 LAD draft and tell me why it can’t. It does not take as long for relievers to show their mettle to get to the Show as it does for starters. I did not include Jimmy Lewis because he is going to be a starter. I do not yet know where Francisco Martinez will fall in, but the others are clearly being developed as relievers. Plus there are those already in the system:
Mitchell White
Marshall Kasowski
Josh Sborz
Jordan Sheffield
Dennis Santana
Victor Gonzalez
And I am going to add, John Rooney/Michael Grove/Leo Crawford…all three are probably better prospects as relievers than as starters. Which one of those signable FA relief pitchers need to be signed for millions because you do not think the Dodgers in the system are good enough?
Finally, I was looking at the Dodgers CBT today, and noticed that they are now projected to be $1.5MM over the CBT (Per Cots). Kenta Maeda is set to receive about $5.5MM in incentives, while Kershaw is set to receive $1MM. That $6.5MM put them over the top. So for those who think the Dodgers are cheap, their expected contract costs are in excess of $207MM, which is a tad more than Miami’s $70MM. The Dodgers lose about $70MM in AAV for 2020, but some of that will be eaten up with arbitration increases. Anthony Rendon is looking for Nolan Arenado money (or more), and Gerrit Cole is looking to become the highest-paid pitcher in MLB. Maybe they get it, maybe they do not. But I would not be in a hurry to spend $250MM on Rendon or $220MM on Cole. I might step out of my comfort zone on Will Smith. But it is clear that the Dodgers will have dollars available to spend if they so want, including for Rendon or Cole. I just do not think they will. The Dodgers are not going to spend just to spend. I think they may be in line to pick up a bloated contract and some prospects for those on the periphery (think Farmer trade to Cin). But overall, I see them more in line with saving the dollars to sign Seager/Belli/Buehler/Urias.
Arizona Fall League – Day 4
The Desert Dog finally won their first game and are now 1-3. They did it with just 5 hits which scored 1 run. In case you are mathematically challenged, that means the Scorpions were shut out!
Only three Dodgers played: Brett de Gues, Omar Estevez, and Devin Mann. Estevez led off and played SS, while Mann hit 2nd. Mann went hitless, but Estevez went 2-4 with a double and drove in the only run in the bottom of the 8th inning. de Gaus went two innings and allowed 2 hits while striking out 4 and walking no one.
Very nice AC, I agree with all of your article,especially about Rendon and Cole.
While I’d love to get Rendon, where would you play him. Turner moves to first but then Lux/Muncy would be at second. You could trade Muncy and while Rendon’s numbers are better than Muncy’s power wise they are around the same so would it really be worth the cost? I’ve read that Rendon might want a short term deal but would it still be worth it for the Dodgers. I think I can trust AF to make the right call.
With respect to relievers, aside from the list that is shown, what are the chances of using. Rookie starter as a reliever? The Dodgers did that with Hershiser and others.
Some starters are not good relievers. You brought up Orel, and he is a perfect example. He came up in September 1983 and only pitched in relief. Not awe inspiring. In 1984 he started the season in the pen and had a 5.26 ERA before his first start, which he won. His second start not so well. He had a few more difficult relief stints before he became a full time starter on June 29 where he rolled off 18 starts in 19 games and went 9-5 with a 1.89 ERA. His one relief game…another blown save. Orel was a starter, not a reliever. The same with Walker Buehler. Tony Gonsolin may be different, and he may get that look next year. I think i will all depend on as to who the Dodgers believe can replace Ryu and Hill (if neither are re-signed.)
So nice to wake up to a post written by you AC!! Our prayers for you and your family continue!
AC, of the players mentioned, who would you consider as a free agent? Any hidden talents you would be willing to trade for? Of the Dodger prospects, which one(s) do you think have the greatest likelihood to help the Dodgers in the next year or two?
Dustin May and Tony Gonsolin do not count? Keibert Ruiz should be in a position to help some time next year. I think Jo Jo Gray is a year away. Jeter Downs will push himself into the picture before 2021. I heard the development guys are thinking about giving Jeter some time in CF next year. If he shows he can play a competent CF, his floor could be CT3 or Kike’. His ceiling is the Dodgers infield. If DJ Peters can find someway/somehow to cut down on his strikeouts, he could be a factor. I think Peters’ development will go a long way to determine the fate of Joc. Omar Estevez will help somebody, but I do not think it will be the Dodgers. Marshall Kasowski and Jordan Sheffield could help in the pen. I would like to see Cristian Santana take the reins next year and make it impossible for AF to ignore him. His timing is very good as JT’s contract runs out after 2020. I think JT becomes the 2021 version of Chase Utley. There will be some surprises, but I would expect most of the other top prospects would need at least 2022 before they are ready. But that will be another good wave.
Absolutely Gonsolin and May count. However, with the exceyof the playoffs, I think the Dodgers will keep both as starters. I’m not convinced that Ryu and Hill will be back next year. While Cole would be nice, I don’t see AF spending the $$ it will take. I could see Bauer on a one year contract. I could see Hill return in a a David Freese/Chase Utley role to be there as a mentor for the youngsters.
I think Sheffield, Kazowski and Sborz get along look in Spring Training.
I don’t think Bauer’s personality works with what AF wants in the clubhouse, so I’m guessing no on him.
Another reliever to mention – Aaron Ochsenbein. Drafted this June out of Eastern Kentucky. He’s a reliever only and they aren’t even attempting to make a starter out of him. After the draft he spent time in Ogden and Great Lakes and pitched very well in both. I expect him to progress rapidly through the system and wouldn’t be surprised to see him up late 2020 or for sure in 2021.
Nice to hear from you AC. I cannot imagine what you have been through.
You just never know how any team is going to do in the play offs. The team that gets hot will win it all. I just hope it is the Dodgers.
Enjoying my morning coffee even more today after seeing an article from AC. Thank you for the kind words. I hoped that the poem I had found would bring you some comfort and glad it did. As far as the pitchers go, as you know, I am also a big Caleb Ferguson fan. There is just something about him that makes me believe he would be an asset to the bullpen in the playoffs. Good article AC. Please write more often as your time allows. DBMom.
Great to see you back AC.
Arizona – I think we need to start paying some more attention to Estevez. When I saw him in Glendale this spring I was very impressed and he had a very nice 2019. If there is no room for him on the Dodger MLB roster, he’ll make a good trade chip.
Rendon/Cole – although I certainly wouldn’t mind having either of them, I think other teams will have more of a need for them and will outbid AF. I don’t expect any major signings or deals this winter. Just some tinkering around the edges, and that’s no matter whether we win the WS or not.
As you have pointed out, we have started drafting for relievers and it’s only a matter of time until some of those guys pay off and become major pieces for our bullpen without costing us a load of prospects. I just hope I can summon the patience to wait it out.
AC at the helm!!! What a way to start the day… God bless you and yours…
Great pick with Free Bird…
So many possibilities for 2020… I still think our Stopper(s) is in the system…
Rendon @$250MM??? I think not…I’ll go with Muncy…
Heck of a year for Tulsa, but I’ve got to get it off my chest!!! What the he__ is a Sod Poodle and must it go in the record books that way??? No, I didn’t google it …
P.S. I had a rough one yesterday with Georgia, but am looking forward to seeing you in our crib Oct 12!!!
It’s a name some moron in a drunken, drug-induced stupor came up with for prairie dogs.
https://www.texasstandard.org/stories/its-official-amarillos-new-minor-league-baseball-team-name-is-the-sod-poodles/
At Mass this AM, one of friends invites me to his USC/ND party coming up. Gee, I wonder who the bulk of the fans will be cheering for at a Catholic football party? Of course, I will represent the Cardinal and Gold.
Is the Party in South Bend?
… because if it is, you may want to hire me as your bodyguard!
If the party was in South Bend, you would be the first person I would call.
Damn AC – You don’t need to be Catholic or Irish to be attracted to the Irish!?!?I’ve been to many Big Blue and Trojan game day gigs and they all end up well… Represent and pray under your breath…
There is a great piece in The Athletic on Max Muncy. I would rather have Muncy than Rendon, even if the money was the same.
https://theathletic.com/1229501/2019/09/21/how-underappreciated-max-muncy-became-a-viable-option-across-the-infield/
Here’s a couple of Takeaways:
Dodgers staffers told Muncy there was a chance he would play more second base in 2019. Given that, they recommended he work on adding lateral agility to his hefty frame.
“To his credit, he did, and it was evident when he showed up to spring training,” president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said. “To date, he’s been an above-average defender at multiple spots.”
The Dodgers have deployed him accordingly. In their 12-5 victory over Colorado at Dodger Stadium on Friday, Muncy made his 30th appearance of 2019 at third base. He has 69 times manned second base and 60 times played first.
He is the fifth man in major-league history to appear at least 60 times at those two positions in the same season. He is the eighth man in major-league history to appear at least 30 times at first, second and third in one season. Twenty-five times, Muncy has played multiple positions within one game.
________________________________________________________________________
By both measurements of FanGraphs.com and Baseball-Reference.com, Muncy has been the Dodgers’ second-most valuable position player, behind only Cody Bellinger. Some of that is because of his defense. More of it is because of his offense: the 33 homers, the .368 on-base percentage. But it is his defense that has enabled the Dodgers to play Muncy daily.
By Statcast measurements, Muncy sprints at 27.7 feet per second, better than average. This season, hitters range from 22.1 to 30.8 feet per second. He is faster, for example, than teammates Kiké Hernández and Alex Verdugo or star shortstops Carlos Correa and Francisco Lindor.
You would rather have Muncy than the guy who deserves to be MVP this year?
Rendon is having a career year. Like Muncy he has been injured at times, but I didn’t write that the way I intended. I meant to say “in light of the money.”
It is very difficult to sort through the list of relievers, and know which ones would be essential to get, because as you stated, the whole genre is very iffy. But that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t try. I totally agree that the goal is to win the title, not just to win the division. Preciseness and daring are necessary to make the final steps. That latter is something which I have not seen enough of. Essentially, we went with the same bullpen as last year, except for the one pickup in Kelly, who turned out to be a mistake, in that he has been only sporadically effective, and now has physical problems, limiting his usage. And then of course, nothing at the trade deadline, when it was obvious that we needed bullpen help.
If the Dodgers are going to adhere to their apparent obsession with the luxury tax cap, then they won’t make any major acquisitions in the offseason, and other teams will do that. They can only just peck around at the relievers list, or maybe make some minor trade, but after boldly trading Gordon, they have virtually never traded a major league roster player, except when they traded Puig, Kemp and Wood for minor leaguers. They seem to hold on to every player on the 25-man roster. I would be inclined to trade Pederson, an d certainly Hernandez, if we could get something good for them. The rather strange thing about the Dodgers, is that since many of their players are reclamation projects, there is virtually no one on the roster whom they could trade. They’re not going to trade their young stars, and they’re not going to get anything for anyone else. They could trade some of their minor league talent, but they hate to do that, as they would be trading cost control for higher-end contracts, and that is anathema to them.
AC, I can well relate to your comments about USC. I went to UCLA, and I would love to have had USC’s storied football history. But in the days when UCLA did have some great teams, only to lose a possible championship game to USC, I always felt that it was rewarding just to have gotten that far. To me, the greatest fun in sports fandom is knowing that your favorite team will be in the mix each year. Unfortunately, UCLA is not so in either major sport now, and may not be. USC will be in football, with this coach or the next one. The Dodgers, with immense potential funds, with 4 million in attendance, should be the most successful franchise in baseball, except for possibly the Yankees. Why does Houston have a better franchise now? Yes, I know, they tanked a couple of season on purpose. But how about the Cubs winning it all? And the Giants winning three titles in six years, while we have none? Wait until next year was rather understandable in the Brooklyn days, when the Dodgers were the best franchise in the National League, but the Yankees simply had more funds, and also the cachet to be able to sign almost anyone they wanted. But now, the Dodgers should be the best franchise, but they are not, at least in terms of success. So there is a flaw here, though the owners would not see it that way.
William
Your comments on lack of many Dodger MLB players being traded got me thinking about next year.
If memory serves me correct, it is amazing to me that we only on 4 players that we are committed to paying >$10M next year.
Kershaw $33M
Turner $16M
Jansen $16M
Pollock $12M
Throw in
Kelley $8.5M
Maeda $8M (incentives)
and that is still an amazing amount of flexibility going forward.
It would not surprise me to see at least one SP signing with that amount of free cash.
As was also mentioned though, a lot of that flexibility is likely allotted to retaining Seager/Bellinger/Urias/Buehler etc.
We can complain all we want about yet having won the WS, but to be in this position while having been to the WS in the last 2 years and being the favorite to return this year is amazing.
The assumption that you have to take risks and go over the luxury tax threshold in order to win a World Series has almost ZERO basis in fact.
Today’s home finale (well, until Oct 3):
Joc (RF)
Lux (2b)
JT (3b)
Belly (CF)
Seager (SS)
Pollock (LF)
Beaty (1b)
Smith
Ryu
Always Compete
It’s good to see you back here doing the headline post.
I’m one if not the only one that thinks the Dodgers should get 3 relievers in the off season.
Will Harris free agent.
Aaron Bummer through a trade, he has 5 years of team control so it will cost a bit in a trade.
Ken Giles through a trade, he has 1 year of team control so it shouldn’t cost much in a trade. Yes I know about concerns with him.
I have 3 other relievers in mind that would work if those 3 can’t be gotten.
The Dodgers have several relievers that will still have options next year. Depth. Consider the 3 batter minimum rule starting next year. Teams who construct their bullpens to adapt to that rule will have an advantage over other teams as far as bullpens go. I don’t know about you but I don’t want Floro facing LHB’s nor do I want Kolarek facing RHB’s.
I’m glad the Dodgers drafted several potential relief pitchers. Of the relievers you listed that are already in the Dodgers system, the only one that impresses me is Kasowski.
3 batter minimum or the end of an inning. So will the Loogy be obsolete with a 26 man roster? A team may want to roll the dice on ending an inning.
Kolarek has little value
Good to see you writing AC. Not a very exciting group of bullpen pieces on your list. The Dodgers spent their money on Kelly. I don’t expect them to spend big dollars on another. They will continue to bring in reclamation projects like Treinen and Morrow on show me contracts to blend in with the young Dodgers pitchers. It sure would be funny to see Morrow get paid big money to do nothing for the Cubs and then come back to the Dodgers on a low-money contract and excel again. Odds are Oakland doesn’t pick up Treinen’s option. The Dodgers might take a look. I think they will hold onto most of their assets and see who’s available at the deadline rather than committing multi-year deals to aging and inconsistent relievers.
~
However, I do think they will spend money to either bring back Ryu or bring in Cole. The Dodgers like to make sure they have plenty of pitching. The outcome of the postseason may dictate how eager they are to turn the rotation into an aging Clayton and a bunch of kids.
~
I think Rendon returns to the Nats. Their owner loves him and has a great relationship with Boras. He means A LOT to the Nats. He deserves MVP this year. The Dodgers will do their due diligence though. JT has been the foundation of the Dodgers offense. He’s starting to show some cracks. Especially with his health and defense. It will be a few years before the Dodgers first round pick is ready to assume 3rd Base.
~
Some young guys will get extensions soon. They also have Jansen coming off the books in two years. Clayton too. It will be an interesting offseason. The Dodgers can do whatever they choose.
Other than his own, Friedman has not paid a starting pitcher over $50 million.
Let’s assume Ryu and Hill walk (I think one could be back). That leaves:
Kershaw
Buehler
Maeda
Urias
Stripling
Gonsolin
May
Gray (I think he’s ready next year)
Suddenly, there’s only two LHP’s. If Ryu wants a 3-year deal, he will be back… Shoot Rich Hill may be too.
It’s hard to believe Belly could hit below .300 after those first 2 months!
As I was saying………. Belly is awesome!!!!!!
Last winter Friedman said the Dodgers weren’t looking to go big on potential free agents, the following winter would be the year … Bellinger grand slam … he said that during a couple of interviews. The Dodgers have money to spend, lots of it, and I think they would spend it. But there is a slight problem. What would they spend it on? Seems like the team is pretty well set moving forward. Rendon is interesting and there are some who expect the Dodgers to pursue him, a few MLB writers talking about it. But where do you put Turner? Lux will play second, Muncy will have to play first, which means Turner stays at third. They’re obviously not going to pursue expensive relievers. But they’ll definitely be looking for the next Brandon Morrow.
Hypothetically, JT would play first primarily. Muncy would be the jack of all trades for a season
Ryu has guys chasing his change up out of the zone again. Did I mention thatBelly has turned it around and will definetley hit over .300
Time to get Seager back in the 2-hole when Muncy returns.
This is what Seager is hitting in the 2 slot this season.
.202 .256 .358 .614
So. He’s hit there most of his career. He’s hot and has found his swing.
“He’s hot and has found his swing.”
Are you sure?
This is where you have to have the common sense to apply stats. For his career, Seager hits .295 batting #2. Most of Seager’s AB’s at #2 were early in the season when he was struggling.
2nd, 3rd, 5th. As long as he stays hot. He and Cody have to show up for the postseason.
That was a playoff test for Dustin May, and he passed. Really good to see
I’ve said it before, but that’s the reason I have my doubts about Dustin May on the playoff roster. He’s got great stuff, but simply lacks command. It’s at least 3 times (maybe more) that he’s come into games and hit a batter. And then of course he got out of the inning unscathed, and blew away the final hitter.
What I saw is why I would put him on the roster. The Dodgers used to go to Floro when they needed a DP. Well Floro lets the runner score first these days. May is a ground ball machine that breaks a lot of bats too. Floro is not making the postseason roster. May may not as well but what I saw is why I would consider him.
Good to see that dinger by Will Smith. Hopefully it’s a harbinger of things to come. Although overall he hasn’t been hitting, he has also hit into some tough luck as well. I can recall several balls he’s hit well that were turned into outs.
Seager hitting #2 would be nice, but most importantly, it’s just good to see him hitting, and hitting for more power. When fully healthy I consider Seager to be the best hitter on the Dodgers, and a major power source. Unfortunately it’s been a while since he was fully healthy.
Earlier in the year much of our success seemed to be attributed to our ability to score first and jump out ahead. While we are still having success, it seemed to me that we were getting into the habit of falling behind early and having to play catch-up. So I went back to the last 10 games to see if that were the case. We fell behind in 8 of the last 10. Most of the time it was in the first two innings although once it was in the 8th when the Mets scored the only 3 runs.
Don’t know what this means or that it is at all significant but here are the last ten games and the way we have often fallen behind.
3-0
3-0
0-3 — we scored first.
1-0
2-0
3-0
1-0
1-0
1-0
0-4
It’s more fun when we start out fast, but more important that we win in the end.
Dodgers home attendance this year at about 3,974,000 , about 26,000 (about 321 per game) below 4 million,.
Well Kenley only gave up one run today!