Sight vs. Vision

Over the years, I have taken a lot of heat when I say things like:

• Alex Verdugo will be Tony Gwnnn-esque! I was not excited that Alex was traded, but I guess Betts was a key cog in the 2020 Championship… and I’m OK with it unless Betts never comes out of this slump.
• Why trade for Rollins, Seager is ready!
• Cody Bellinger is ready! A year before others thought that.
• Kike is a great defensive player. I always thought Kike had a great glove, but many fans disagreed… until the truth was plain as day. I also thought he would become a .300 hitter, but that has not materialized
• I am worried that Lux will never be what we thought. I am all for Gavin Lux, but have questions about his sustainability.
• Yasmani Grandal will be one of the TOP Catchers in baseball and hit 30 HR. Well, he has never got to 30, but he is still one of the TOP catchers in baseball. In fact, between 2016 and 2021 Yasmani Grandal ranks as the #1 catcher in baseball during that period with a 22.5 WAR (JTR is 2.0 WAR behind). Now, I am glad he is gone, but he served a purpose.
• Andrew Friedman is exactly what the Dodgers need. Boy, did I take fire for that one! For years… upon years. Until the facts were undeniable. Predictably, the people who used to argue and ridicule me every day have left the site.

Now, I am not right about everything. I predicted stardom for Andy LaRoche, so there is that. I did not think Will Smith would ever be the offensive force he is and if someone says that saw it, I will be forced to ask what drug you were on when you saw that. I still think Kiebert Ruiz will be an All-Star catcher, but Diego Cartaya looks like a phenom! Now that I have seen Diego in three games, I am down with trading Kiebert, but it will have to be a “haul.”

Remember when most of said “I don’t understand why the Dodgers traded Adam Kolarek.” Yes, you bullpen wizards want a guy that has an 8.00 ERA and a 2.22 WHIP. Yeah, right. The Dodgers traded him (and Thomas, who is awful this year) for Neuse and Gus Varland = remember that name. He is a LHP who missed all of 2019 with TJ, but throws 95 and (GET THIS) has excellent command! He is currently at Tulsa. Sheldon Noisy is back at AAA, but I believe he is a player in the mold of Max Muncy. Sheldon is a natural 3B who can also play 2B. He has played 5 games in the OF, including the one in RF where he looked really bad. But to conclude that he cannot play OF is like telling your kid they can never ride a bike the first time they fall off. I have no doubt that the Dodgers will get him some reps in the outfield so that he is more versatile. As a point of comparison, Matt Chapman had a .234 BA after 290 AB’s. Sheldon Noisy has a .211 BA after 114 AB’s and if you factor in how much the hitting is down in this “Manfred-Induced Dead Ball Era”, they are pretty close.

Remember when I said that “Reds fans were not unhappy to see Raisel Iglesias leave” and several people said they would love to have him – you know the guy with the 4.29 ERA?

Jake McGee has a 4.37 ERA and a -0.5 WAR, and yet I hear “I can’t understand why the Dodgers got rid of him.” Come on, Man.

Remember how I went on for years about how god Julio Urias would be? I am so glad Andrew Friedman did not include him in any trades.

Oh, maybe you can bitch about Dylan Floro a little while longer, but he has doubled his ERA from 1.42 a couple of weeks ago to 2.95 today, but keep yacking. Tell me you knew Mark Melancon would have a 0.74 ERA this year after 6 years averaging over 3.50, and I will say you are full of something! Most of us thought Craig Kimbrel was done after 2019 (6.53 ERA and 2020 (5.28 ERA), but there he sits with a 0.82 ERA.

Building a bullpen is tough and if you think otherwise, you are delusional. Any GM will tell you it is one of the hardest things to do. I have said that the Dodgers have incredible depth and many of you have come back like rabid dogs, saying “what depth?” “the Dodgers depth is overrated.” and on and on. The disconnect is between your ears! Depth does not mean that the player you call up will be Cy Young or Babe Ruth the minute they come up. Player development is not linear, but it would no surprise me if Alex Vesia is on the playoff roster and is a better pitcher than Dylan Floro THIS YEAR! Now, I am not predicting that he will, because progress is not linear, but there is no denying that his stuff is filthy. It is his control that is in question. Sometimes it takes a while and sometimes, a switch is just “flipped.”

The problem with many fans is they just have sight, but lack vision. Sight is “the faculty or power of seeing” while Vision is “the ability to think about or plan the future with imagination or wisdom.” Vision sees beyond boundaries. Sight shows you what you do not have. Vision gives hope to weary eyes. Sight is present. Vision is future. Sight shows us what is. Vision shows us what can be.

I do not like to see the Dodgers lose… especially to the Giants, but I am not about to lose my mind and rely just on my sight! Vision is too important. The Dodgers have depth no other MLB team has, but that does not mean that they are all ready to play at the MLB level. Sight tells us they are not, but vision tells us they might have that capability! Sight tells me that Albert Pujols is not as good as he once was. Vision tells me he is as good once as he ever was! Vision also tells me that he brings an intangible to the team that is not quantifiable.

I actually believe that we will look back on the struggles Raley, Peters, Neuse, Pujols, Tsutsugo, Kelly, Cleavinger, White, Vesia, Bickford, Uceta, and Santana and say “the struggles they had early in the season drove them to be even better.” Of course, I am not saying it about ALL OF THEM, but some of them will be key pieces for the team this year and beyond! Add in the fact that Pollock, Graterol, Gonsolin, and Nelson will be back very soon and things are looking up. The Dodgers still have one of the Top Records in baseball and I am going to rely on my vision, not your sight!

Things change as time goes on. Time is a great revealer. Remember when if you said “COVID-19 might have started in a lab in Wuhan“, you were branded a lunatic and conspiracy theorist. Facebook would take down your posts and ban you if you said that because “that theory has been debunked.” Dr. Fauci (who may have been complicit in it) dismissed the lab leak theory as nonsense. Well, times have changed. Facebook has changed course and the people who said you were a conspiracy theorist to think that have had their collective faces rubbed in the mud! It turns out it is more likely it was a leak in the lab than any other possibility. We may never know for sure, but only a moron would think that is not a strong possibility, the #1 possibility! Enough about that. Time revealed it and time will reveal what the struggles early this season will do to the Dodgers depth.

Dodger Minor League Report

• OKC BOXSCORE – Rangel Ravelo took the day off, but the Dodgers won 20-9 on 20 hits and 5 walks. Reks went 4-6. Raley went 3-4 with 9 RBI with 2 HR’s. Matt Davidson is heating up and went 4-6 with a HR.
• TULSA BOXSCORE – Tulsa won 2-1 as Rincon and Amaya each had 2 hits. 6′ 7″ Mark Washington, Zach Willeman, and Aaron Ochsenbein each pitched an inning from the 7th to the 9th and allowed ZERO Hits.
• GL BOXSCORE n- Great Lakes pulled to .500 with a 6-2 win over the Lansing Lugnuts. Miguel Vargas was 3-5 with a double and Andy Pages was 2-4 with a 2-run homer. Morgan Cooper pitched the final inning, allowing no hits and no runs.
• RC BOXSCORE – The Quakes lost 7-3. AJ Polock was 0-3. Deluca hit his 2nd HR and that was that!

Remember the Fallen