Quick View of a Quick Season

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1. This puts a lot of players a step closer to the major league level than in a normal season. This might actually be a very interesting and exciting sprint to the playoffs.
   I’m surprised to see you say don’t bunt when using the ITB. The ITB demands classic “small ball”.The offense absolutely has to move the runner to 3rd on the 1st out. A bunt is the most assured way of doing that. If my batter can’t bunt I would pinch hit. The defense must get the first out wo allowing the runner to get to third, having a strikeout pitcher in that situation is ideal.

2. OK, I’m sorta warming up to this abridged season stuff… Seeing the names of the kids gets me a lil jazzed.. Like I’ve said before, I like Rios and hope he gets a good look in ST…
   Gotta go with the Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote…
   The thought of Graterol following the “Big Sweat” Nelson is intriguing to say the least…
   Who was the designated runner for the A’s in their heyday??? He could motor…

   1. Herb Washington. He was a Olympic sprinter. Yep, he could motor alright, but he could not do anything else. Gore at least has some baseball skills. I do not think Belli is going to bat 2nd. That might be you way of thinking, but I doubt Roberts thinks that way. Rios has more power, and Beaty better contact. True. But I am not sure about his glove. He looked a lot more comfortable when I saw him playing first than third.

3. I forgot Rios was a shortstop. That was my position more times than not and no doubt is the reason I like pitchers that played shortstop. It would be cool if Rios could make consistent contact and play a good third base while keeping his power in the lineup.

   Taylor and Hernandez play a decent shortstop and second with Hernandez playing maybe a great second base but neither has done well at third.

   I’m not ready to make Muncy the cleanup hitter. I see him as a 5, 6 or 7 hitter but if he continues to have a good OBP, he could hit second.

   I never learn as much as I want as to what each player is doing in the off season. Pederson was working of speed and agility and wound up with an injury that kept him out of Spring Training #1. I wonder if he or others have tried to make improvements during the Covid break? If the pitchers you named Mark have kept up at least some of the workouts that allowed them to pick up MPH on their fastballs then yes, this short season could let us see some great performances.

   I know I haven’t kept up my workouts during the Covid period but I have watched more stupid TV. Holey Moley anybody?

4. MLB Trade Rumors had this today: Fangraphs explains fWAR in their glossary by classifying

   “Good player” as worth 3-4 fWAR,
   “All-Star” to be worth 4-5 fWAR,
   “Superstar” as worth 5-6 fWAR.
   “MVP” as those worth 6+ fWAR in a given season.

   fWAR is not perfect but I have always wanted to see salaries tied to fWAR. That would allow a rookie to make $30M instead of $500K if he excelled and allow a team to pay a superstar maybe $5M instead of $30M if his fWAR fell to below 4.

   fWAR will have to be indexed for a short season but I wonder how many Dodger regulars will be fWAR Good Players, All Stars, and Superstars?

   1. Never happen. As long as teams continue to sign players to multiyear contracts it will never happen. Another thing, the players union would never agree to such a salary structure. If they were doing it the old way, year to year, you would see salary cuts for bad performance. But the union is way too strong for that ever to happen again. I for one do not watch stupid TV. More into drama’s. Only comedy I watch is Last Man Standing. And I have way too many movies to watch normal broadcast TV anyway. Until they quit showing them, I was watching games from the Dodgers 2018, and 19 seasons on MLB.tv. I watched the 3 walkoffs in a row against the Rocks last year. I also watched the 2 games that I attended when I was out in California last year, a 3-2 win over the Reds, and Smith’s first career walk off against the Phillies. As for working out. Well I walk some. I have very bad knees and even walking can be a chore.

5. No doubt, the Dodgers are loaded. On paper, they should walk away with the whole shebang and might just do that. It wouldn’t surprise me to see, but with only 60 games, things could go awry. Injuries, slumping, bad luck, could all have a part in any team’s season.

   Are their going to be any fans allowed into the parks?

   1. I would say yes.

      1. Just ran across this article about fanless soccer games in Germany and the conclusion it draws. https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2020/06/home-fans-make-a-difference-in-germany.php

         If there are no fans in the seats, home field advantage goes out the window.

   2. I think some of the states and cities are going to be ok with some fans. Not packed houses though. Miami should have no problem since they barely draw a crowd anyway. There still has been no ok from the Canadian government for the teams to travel to Toronto, or for the stadium to even be used for games. Their AAA team is in Buffalo NY I think, and there has been some talk of them playing there.

6. I doubt the season starts with Gore on the roster. But, as the season evolves and the Dodgers are in a tight race then maybe they add him to help in close games.

   1. 30 man roster for the first 2 weeks, then 28 for 2 more before they drop to 26. I think he has a pretty good chance of making the 30, and maybe even staying a whole month. But the trade deadline is the 31st of August. I am wondering if they will add anyone since there will be some interesting players on the block. A lot of pundits here in Colorado believe that Arenado will be among them if the Rockies are not in the race,

7. Ahhh, I remember “Paper Planes” being played all the time in the 2008 season!

8. Bunt? These guys? Nope. Hit the other way? These guys? Laughable.

   Depending where we are in the order I think I put a runner on first in the 10th and have my designated sinker ball pitcher in the game.

   Headline at the Athletic this morning:

   “Outbreak infects several Ranger employees after mandatory return to offices”.

   Warming up didn’t stop the virus, as some were led to believe. Those Southern states that didn’t really follow the suggested protocols are on fire now. Even California, who did initially follow suggestions, opened up too early and is blowing back up. The number of states that are showing at least a 25% increase in numbers is now up to 25. So……

   PLAY BALL!!

   1. But, but the flu season is over although paper planes are fluing.

      1. Nice try, but you can’t flu me. The virus isn’t transmitted through paper. The planes should be safe.

9. Ok guys, who hits the first homer of the season? I vote for Muncy. I think he will be in the 2 hole, and someone is going to hang one because Betts will be on base.

   1. Depends on who bats leadoff.

      1. I vote Joc Pederson….Bums?

         1. Pederson is slow, and his OBP not that great. Besides, he was injured most of spring and had very few AB’s. Only other guy who’s speed is close to Betts is Lux. I do not think they are going to use the rookie as a leadoff hitter.

            1. Based on numbers I saw from last year, Muncy and Smith are faster than you might expect. Cody, Lux, CT3, Pollock, Muncy Smith were the top guys. Seager is pretty slow. Actually the fastest guy on the team was Negron but he isn’t around any longer.

               When Gasparino drafted Vogel this year he said that he would be right up there with the fastest two or three guys on the team.

               Betts would fit in between Pollock and Muncy so would be only our 5th fastest runner. (stats taken from Baseball Savant)

            2. Seager’s sprint speed is 29.6 ft/sec, home to first in 4.5. Not great but not slow. I think either he or Muncy, who is actually a bit faster, is fine in the 2 hole. With Seager’s K rate lower, and batting average higher, I pick him.

      2. Betts is going to be the leadoff hitter. Only spot he hit in all spring. Speed and OBP puts him there ahead of anyone else on the team. Get real.

         1. I agree that Betts will leadoff. I’m voting Joc for the first dinger.

            1. In my fantasy world I’ll take what I believe to be the obvious choice – Bellinger.

10. Great post Mark, lots to think about. It completely removes from my mind any desire to argue with you about Covid.
    Some comments on your analysis:
    1) That first group of 30 is a thing of beauty. What a beautiful roster. One change I would make would be to remove Raley and sub McKinstry. A minor detail, for sure.
    2) I made a comment the other day that we really don’t have a good fielding sub for JT when he doesn’t play third. I had totally forgotten about Rios originally being a shortstop. If he could actually get some real tutoring and improve at third, that might be the answer. Max, Kike, Taylor and Beaty can all play there but none of them is really good at that position and all are better elsewhere on the field.
    3) Saw a tweet from someone in the baseball media (can’t remember who, but not a big-name person and not attached to the Dodgers) who said that AF is planning to put both Miller and Knack on the Covid squad. An interesting comment since we haven’t even signed Knack yet. Could be that they were blowing smoke or maybe they actually had inside info.

    1. Friedman said a couple of people in dodgers org had covid but wouldn’t say who. Maybe he just did.

       1. Want to make sure I made myself clear Bum, by Covid squad I meant the way Mark used the term, that being the second group of 30 behind the first 30 on the active roster. I wasn’t indicating that Miller and Knack had tested positive.

          1. Now that you reminded me of Mark’s list, yes, I f##ked up. I was trying to get through 2020 without doing that.

             1. This is still pre-pre season. We’re only counting your f##k ups during the season.

             2. The report said “2 unknown Dodgers” so it could couldn’t have been Miller or Knack as they are both well known. I’m thinking it’s those 2 guys that got suspended. I also suspect they were using the steroid Covidabol.

11. I watched Rios a fair amount last year and while I am not saying he’s a Gold Glove 3B, I think he can be very good. He has worked with Barry Larkin on his defense and he prefers 3B to 1B or the OF. He wants to get better defensively and “want to” is a big part of the game. He is 26 and I think he will get quite a few reps at 3B. He played 3B a lot last year at OKC

12. There is speed and there is baserunning ability. While Seager and Betts are not as fast as Cody, they are also excellent baserunners as is Bellinger. The Dodgers have a plethora of excellent baserunners.

13. I watched Rios work out at 3rd for over an hour during ST two years ago. Doc and several other coaches were watching. I thought he looked great. But then when he was brought up in September later that year he never played there. So obviously I don’t know how to evaluate his performance.
    Getting Arenado would be good if the price was right but Rios could easily be JTs replacement in the future.

    1. As long as he’s still here, I think Rios is first in line to take over third base. There are others in the system that look capable, but none of them are close yet. Rios already has a 1.010 OPS in the Major Leagues. Hit him a hundred grounders a day until July whatever and he’ll be ready.

       1. what about pop ups behind 3rd?

          1. We talking cardboard again?

             1. Yes.

                I want my cardboard image behind home plate in Mary Hart’s seat. Just one game. I want my mask to have a picture of my nose and mouth as well.

          2. I thought you wanted a pop up behind third base.

14. Looks like it’s Yanks at Nats to open up the season, whenever that may be.

    I wonder if that’ll be the only game on opening day, or will there be a few. It’d be great to have Giants/Dodgers be the 2nd game of Opening Day on ESPN as well.

15. Because of the advance pay they got exceeds what they are owed, Stripling and Nelson will not be receiving checks when play resumes.

    1. well,neither will I.

       1. I’ll check in Bum.

16. This just in from MLB Trade Rumors:

    Two Dodgers pitchers have also been suspended: Juan Idrogo and Reza Aleaziz have received suspensions of 72 games and 50 games, respectively. Idrogo signed with the Dodgers during last summer’s international signing period, spending the summer in the Dominican Summer League. Aleaziz, 24, reached High-A ball last year after the Dodgers made him a 28th-round selection in 2018.

    1. Look at the bright side, at least it’s not Kershaw and Buehler.
       I’ve never heard of either of these guys. Do any of you know if either of them was considered someone with some real potential?

       1. No, I had never heard of either one. They evidently felt they had no chance, so they figured “What do we have to lose?”

          Everything!

          1. It’s only a suspension. They’ll go right back to the basement when the suspension is over. The good news is – we all know who they are now.

17. Thanks for the great post, Mark! What comes through loud and clear is the Dodgers’ tremendous depth. That level of talent and flexibility should enable them to withstand whatever unknowns the fates throw at them this season. There are never any guarantees, but they are as well positioned as any team. It may be a wild ride, especially if there are oubreaks, but it surely won’t be boring!

18. Some of you saw the video where it says that Italian doctors supposedly discovered that it is not a virus, it is a bacterium? Which attacks the blood, which makes it more difficult for it to reach the heart, which causes them to have difficulty breathing, it seems they did an autopsy and discovered it, it may be just another theory, maybe it’s just one more video out of many that exist, but nothing is lost by seeing it.
    Aspirins or Paracetamol are supposed to help cure this from Covid-19

    1. No validity:

       https://www.factcheck.org/2020/05/covid-19-isnt-caused-by-bacteria/

19. Nice article, Mark. You did a lot of work on it.

    Quas…..Glad to see you back. My sincere best wishes for you. Thank you for the kind words on the prior blog.

    I have not finished my roster selections yet. The opening day 30-man was not too hard. Still working on the other 30. So many to choose from. I am not sure many will agree with me but would like to see them sign Russell Martin. He would make an excellent backup, mentor, even if according to the rules, cannot pitch, and although not the speediest runner on base, very smart baserunner. I would have him on my Taxi Squad along with Peters and Gray.

    I miss SoCalBum’s thoughtful and informative comments.

    Finally, my pick for the first home run is……..Will Smith.

    1. I would like to see Russ come back too, but if the Dodgers have 3 catchers, one needs to hit from the left side… and that is Kaybear Ruiz!

    2. I also miss SoCalBum’s comments. I haven’t heard anything from him in a long time. I really hope that all is well with him and his family.

       1. I e-mailed SoCal Bum and asked him to check-in. I also miss Jayne Cobb, DodgerPatch and I am glad to see The Truth back. He used to be The Truth Hurts… if I have it correct.

          1. Thanks Mark.

          2. Ditto.

20. I also miss SoCalBum’s comments. I haven’t heard anything from him in a long time. I really hope that all is well with him and his family.

21. SoCalBum just e-mailed me back.

    He is fine – just riding this COVID thing out.

    Hopefully, he will check in, but he says he is fine!

    1. That’s great! Thanks Mark.

    2. thanks for reaching out. My bad, did not realize the site was up. I will be a regular from now on.

       1. Hi SoCal. Glad to hear everything’s O.K.

       2. For the record, this is my first blog post in over 2 months. I am not involved with LAdodgerTalk.com except to help out Jeff Dominique (Always Compete) occasionally. You may see me post once or twice a month (if Jeff will have me), but I have had to made a hard decision to limit my time here.

          Harold Uhlman and Rob Schelling are helping Jeff and doing a great job. I do comment almost daily. So, I am around. I have just done this for 20 years and need a break!

       3. Welcome back SoCalBum. Glad to see you.

22. DODGERS ANNOUNCE PLAYER POOL FOR 2020 SEASON

    LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Dodgers announced their player pool for the 2020 season, including 28 pitchers, five catchers, seven infielders, seven outfielders and four infielders/outfielders.

    The group of 51 includes all players on the 40-man roster, seven players that attended Spring Training as a Non-Roster Invitee and four additional players within the organization. Pitchers Gerardo Carrillo, Josiah Gray, Michael Grove, Andre Jackson, Marshall Kasowski, Edwin Uceta, catchers Diego Cartaya and Rocky Gale, infielder Omar Estevez and outfielders Zach Reks and Cody Thomas will report to the alternate training site.

    The player pool as broken down by position:

    Pitchers (28):
    Scott Alexander (L)
    Pedro Báez
    Walker Buehler
    Gerardo Carrillo*
    Caleb Ferguson (L)
    Dylan Floro
    Tony Gonsolin
    Victor González (L)
    Brusdar Graterol
    Josiah Gray*
    Michael Grove*
    Andre Jackson*
    Kenley Jansen
    Marshall Kasowski*
    Joe Kelly
    Clayton Kershaw (L)
    Adam Kolarek (L)
    Dustin May
    Jimmy Nelson
    David Price (L)
    Dennis Santana
    Josh Sborz
    Ross Stripling
    Blake Treinen
    Edwin Uceta*
    Julio Urías (L)
    Mitch White
    Alex Wood (L)

    Catchers (5):
    Austin Barnes
    Diego Cartaya*
    Rocky Gale*
    Keibert Ruiz
    Will Smith

    Infielders (7):
    Matt Beaty
    Omar Estevez*
    Gavin Lux
    Max Muncy
    Edwin Ríos
    Corey Seager
    Justin Turner

    Outfielders (7):
    Mookie Betts
    Joc Pederson
    DJ Peters
    AJ Pollock
    Luke Raley
    Zach Reks*
    Cody Thomas*

    Infielder/Outfielder (4):
    Cody Bellinger
    Kiké Hernandez
    Zach McKinstry
    Chris Taylor

    *Indicates non 40-Man Roster

23. With that roster, I think you could field 2 MLB teams and be over .500 with each one.

24. Swing and a drive, wayyyy backkkk and gone!!!!!
    Kike Hernandez… Why??? Seems alright to me, or once again it could be those damnable meds!??!
    I like Russ Martin, but it’s time for the kids to shine…Betts, Pollock and J.T. provide enough leadership…..
    Will baseball teams ever go back to designating a ‘captain’??? I forgot, Scott B. would have to add a monetary gain…
    SoCalbum back in the house!!! This is good…

25. I agree Mark. Very impressive. I like their selections and might only substitute a few, like maybe Brett DeGeus, pitcher, for one.

26. Looks like AF didn’t agree with some of us who thought Gore might be a possibility for the runner at second to start extra innings. He didn’t make the roster. Maybe they think this roster is so good they won’t even need to go into extra innings this year.

    I agree with you DBM. Would have like to have seen DeGeus included.

27. DBM – You’re going to spoil M.J.T.
    I think you and I could come up with some kick- ass rosters given some time..
    This team and it’s depth is remarkable. Can we run away with the Cono schedule?? I’d say with execution, health and some luck we kick arse and take no hostages. I

    1. I agree peterj. We have such depth in our players, young and older. I will root for the young ones to give them a chance to show their skills. I also root for the older players who are close to the end of their careers, like Martin, hoping he can contribute one more year or more, but mainly the youngsters. I am not experienced enough to do a complete roster but I do learn every day from all that comment on here including Mark, AC, 2D2, DC, you and STB, Bear and many many others. Thanks.

28. Totally had forgotten about Floro. Impressive list. I guess Gore did not show Roberts and AF enough to be included on the 60 man. Lots of youth with this bunch.

29. Great post, fun to read. But I must admit that one thing stood out, because it is by far my biggest strategy peeve. Yes, I completely agree that you should almost never bunt with a man on second base and no outs. Of course, in regular baseball, the runner got to second because of a hit, meaning that the pitcher might be vulnerable, whereas here he is on second by fiat. Even so, it is such a bad strategical move to waste a precious out to move a runner from second to third And of course sometimes you don’t even get that; the batter pops the bunt up. Sometimes you get your runner thrown out at third. We’ve seen all of that.

    I know that many here love Tommy Lasorda, but I was never a fan. And he virtually always called for the bunt in the late innings in that situation. If you let the batter swing away, he might actually get a base hit, it does happen. If he does try to punch the ball to the right side, it might go through, it might get bobbled. Or you might get a fly ball to right. And yet, over and over again, we would bunt. Torre almost never did it. Roberts does it sometimes. It is bad strategy. And here, even worse, because both teams get the same opportunity. Play for one run, and you are going to see the other team getting two and beating you. With this lineup, it is even dumber, there are too many good hitters to give their at bats away. I do not like the rules change, but some teams are going to deal with it better than others.

    1. I concur, Counselor.

    2. I understand what you are saying, and well-put by the way, about bunting with a runner on 2nd, William. But, to me there was nothing more exciting than when Tommy Lasorda called for a suicide squeeze. Yes, he did bunt a lot. I loved it. To each his own I guess.

30. Gore? I could live with him or without him. AF probably has the right idea, but Andre Jackson over de Geus?

    This could be really fun… if this COVID thing doesn’t ruin it.

31. Hey everybody,

    It’s been fun. I’ll commit to once a month if Jeff will allow it!

    Godspeed to everyone! Be safe. Wear your damn masks and let’s just get along!

    1. Thanks Mark. It was so nice to have you back. Good job and thank you.

    2. Today was the best day we’ve had in awhile. Enough baseball to keep us occupied all day and as long as Covid cooperates hopefully there will be many more of these days to come.

       Remember Mark, we’re only at 51 out of 60 right now. It’s my understanding that Andrew can continue to add to that list up to 60 and he has indicated there will be additions.

       Assuming the rumors we’ve heard are correct and that Miller and Knack are added, that still leaves 7 spots. DeGeus already has three votes from this blog so hopefully AF is listening.

32. Trying to go through the thinking of the 60 man squad make up out

    5 catchers makes sense

    2 on 30(28)(26) man squad (Smith/Barnes)
    2 back at SC/Rancho with “COVID squad” (Gale/Cartaya)
    IIRC, there is also a 3 man traveling “taxi squad” one of who is a catcher (Ruiz)

    ? switch Ruiz and Gale ? not sure of the 40 man status of the taxi squad but assume they may need to be on the 40 man roster so went with Ruiz

33. Here are further details on the possible role of the catcher on the Taxi Squad,

    “A three-player Taxi Squad — which every team is expected to carry on all road trips — must feature at least one catcher, while the other two players can be either pitchers or position players. One executive said he expects most teams to carry a pitcher, a utility player and a catcher, though some could opt to bring two pitchers and a catcher.

    These three players will be permitted to work out with the team on the road, while the catcher will also be allowed to serve as a bullpen catcher. At the end of the road trip, Taxi Squad players will return to the team’s Alternate Training Site, though the catcher will be permitted to stay with the team as a bullpen catcher for home games.”
    https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-roster-transaction-rules-for-2020-season

    1. Thanks for that information

34. An interesting perspective:

    “Hypothetical Scenarios”

    During the large pandemic that peaked in the US in April we often saw peaks in reported cases. Sometimes these were easily identified as “testing anomalies” due to changes in reporting or testing protocols.

    Other times there was ambiguity, and we’d have to wait a week to confirm whether the reported cases numbers reflected an actual infection.

    Most often, if the cases were real we would see the smaller “echo” of the cases peak in the deaths data about seven days later. (Typically 50 to 100 times smaller.)

    But sometimes we needed to know *who* was being tested in order to understand the data (for example in the case of a prison population), because the cases were real but very few (if any) deaths followed.

    Sometimes we could confirm the cases peak as an echo in the hospitalization data.

    There were also situations where there was a sudden peak in deaths that was not forecast by the reported cases (not proportional), such as what can happen if a rest home is infected by a single infected individual.

    So there are multiple possible scenarios, and we’ve now observed several of them and learned to recognize them. But things are always changing.

    Since this was the first large wave in most regions, it makes sense that a larger wild infection would readily discover the easy vectors and low-hanging fruit; the easy to pick off victims. So deaths numbers functioned as a very sensitive metric, even when the larger infected population was not very vulnerable. For example, the larger infection could “leak” by means of a prison guard or rest home worker.

    But now that the easiest vectors are spent and the low-hanging fruit has been picked, our sensitive metric is less sensitive. And our vulnerable folks who have survived so far are probably even more careful now, including those who have been protecting them. They’ve witnessed what can happen if you don’t take this seriously.

    We might now be experiencing a new infection from South of the border. We know for a fact that the US is bringing sick US citizens and green card holders from Mexico to US hospitals (as we should), and that infected migrant workers have been arriving in the US, providing their vital annual services.

    These are typically younger, stronger folks. They are workers! So even if many of them are infected, we may not see very many of them hospitalized nor perish (thankfully). A large infection could be harder to detect.

    To make matters worse, many regions in the US have dramatically increased widespread testing, disguising what could be valuable information about the smaller spark of a new epidemic.

    To recognize the various possible scenarios, and to delineate convoluted multiple scenarios, we are going to need lots of detailed information. And sometimes even that won’t be enough to discover what is going on. We are not doing a controlled experiment here.

    Folks have been asking me to work on Florida, and I have been. But is is tough. Florida may be the “perfect storm” of convoluted data, because you have tourists, migrant workers, revelers, etc. all stirred into a single pot.

    1. Thought part of your post was inconsistent. The first paragraph (listed below) suggests more testing is disguising valuable information. So, having less data Is more valuable? I doubt it. Goes against the whole idea of contact tracing and pool testing.

       The second paragraph from your posting suggests more data is required. Yes that is true.

       To make matters worse, many regions in the US have dramatically increased widespread testing, disguising what could be valuable information about the smaller spark of a new epidemic.

       To recognize the various possible scenarios, and to delineate convoluted multiple scenarios, we are going to need lots of detailed information.

35. Mike Leake has announced he’s opting out of playing this season. I’m not aware that he has any underlying physical conditions so this is just a safety thing with him if I’m correct.

    I imagine there will be others. I guess we’ll know when it comes time to report over the next few days. Two Twins coaches have also opted out.

    1. I just read that also. Mets have been on a signing spree. Melky Cabrerra one of their new additions. Old friend Trayce Thompson is on the D-Backs 60 man squad. I really liked him when he first came on the scene. But then he had the back injury and has not been the same since.

36. Where is everyone this morning?

    Here’s an interesting tidbit. Mets signed Melky Cabrera this morning. No real big deal, right?

    The following players have fewer lifetime hits than Melky:
    Ryan Braun, Andruw Jones, Jose Canseco, Chase Utley, Joey Votto, Mark Teixeira, Hanley Ramirez, Edwin Encarnacion, Dustin Pedroia, Curtis Granderson, Hunter Pence, Ryan Zimmerman, Matt Kemp, David Wright and Nelson Cruz.

    Melky has more career doubles than Hank Greenberg, Sammy Sosa, Gary Carter, Jim Rice, and Ichiro.

    I had no clue.

    1. Cabrerra has not hit under .273 over the last 10 years. He is a switch hitting Manny Mota. He takes a licking and keeps on ticking. Mota could wake up on a cold day in January, and hit line drives.

    2. Years ago Jim Bowden suggested the Dodgers trade Matt Kemp for Cabrera. Thought is was a dumb idea at the time but may not have been such a bad idea.

    3. I’m here. Trying to figure out what Mark’s post actually says and where that information came from.

       I also just read an article at The Athletic on what 6 teams benefit from a short season. One of them is the Padres. We knew they were coming and this piece says they are a Wild Card threat over 60 games.

37. Best movie ending ever… if I spoiled it because you haven’t seen it… you are not a real fan:

    1. It was pretty good. But there have been some other pretty good endings too. I loved the ending of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Riding off into the sunset with his dad! Not much better than that, unless he was with Charlize Theron!

38. Question….with the new rule of an extra inning game, we put a runner on 2nd base to start the extra inning. I understand that if that runner scores, the pitcher will not get charged with an earned run. What about the player put on 2nd? Does he get a hit or is it called IBR, meaning Intentional Base Runner?

    1. Not sure about that ruling. One thing I do know, if the runner scores, he gets the loss.

39. Ryan Zimmerman has opted not to play this season. That plus the loss of Rendon will really hurt the Nats

40. Good info Mark, I totally get the article on scenarios you posted and wonder why others are so confused by it. Oh well, I guess mindset plays a major role. “For those that have eyes to see, let them see. For those who have ears to hear, let them hear”. Badger you will have to dig in and find the source on that quote on your own, it will be a good exercise.

    Has anyone heard anything on fans attending games, like 1 person per section in the stadium and they have to arrive individually every other inning or what are some of the ideas on how this might work. Has MLB actually made any definitive statements on this fan attendance matter. Those 60 tickets for every game are going to be like gold, sure will be easy to get out of the parking lots after the games.

    1. Your insults are getting old.

       That aside, when quoting something is generally accepted practice that a source is provided. That would allow others opinion and critique, of which you are familiar.

41. The quote is from a Facebook page and you can join the group. It is very enlightening. Lots to read… and I mean LOTS!

    https://www.facebook.com/groups/158015618707622/?ref=bookmarks

    1. Aaah Facebook. Facebook and Mark best places to stay properly informed. .

       1. Don’t forget Wikipedia :0)

          1. Facebook? That’s as reliable as 4chan, right?

             I just wanted to know who wrote it.

             Yeah, it’s true we have been given a lot of very inaccurate information, but even with all of the erroneous data that was vomited out it was pretty easy to see where this was going. Hoax? Hardly. Over by March? Yeah, right. The people who know this stuff better than anyone were saying “look out for” exactly what is happening now.

             The numbers are going up. Baseball remains “Closed” because of it. We are back under a mask and new closing orders in California. Several states where baseball is played are on fire with this thing. At least, that’s what I believe. But what do I know. I’m not on Facebook.

    2. Oh Mark. Stick to saying Grandal will hit 40+ home runs.

42. My husband just ordered me a beautiful T-Shirt. It says:

    NEVER
    UNDERESTIMATE
    A WOMAN
    WHO UNDERSTANDS BASEBALL
    AND LOVES DODGERS

    It has a picture of Clayton, Bellinger Corey, Urias, Buehler, Kenley and I think a lhp I did not recognize. I will wear it with pride.

    1. Try to post a photo when you get it so we can help you identify that last guy. Could it be David Price?

       1. Urias? Lasorda? Claude Osteen? Pete Richert? Johnny Podres?

          1. Odalis Perez? Maybe Bobbie17’s fave player, Paco Rodriguez?

43. So we’ve won the division 7 straight times (in 162 games, of course). But if we pretend that each of those seasons was only the first 60 games, as will be be the case in 2020, we would’ve only won the division 2 times! In fact, we would’ve finished last in 2013, and 2nd in 2014 and 2016! Shows that our depth gets us thru the dog days and we start pulling away in the 2nd half.

    So this 60 game sprint won’t be easy whatsoever. Cannot afford a few blown saves early, and we can’t say “oh, it’s early, Kenley (or whoever) will get it right by playoff time”

    I like it. It will be unique and gut wrenching if we’re 20-20 to start things.

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