- Except for bad pitch selection (4 fastballs) to his last batter, Rich Hill was again terrific. No blisters = a very good pitcher. This is the pitcher the Dodgers are paying for and if he keeps it up, he’s a bargain! Blisters have been his kyrptonite!
- The bullpen was very good again: Floro, Alexander, Chargois and Jansen handled a hot A’s team.
- Oakland has the 4th best bullpen ERA in MLB and it got better when they picked Shawn Kelley from the Nats. Manaea is most respects is their best starter – the Dodgers just made him throw lots of pitches. The RISP stat wasn’t good last night, but the A’s are a tough team.
- The fact that the Dodgers are saying Corey Seager can remain at shortstop is just boilerplate. Of course, they are saying that. What are they supposed to say? Maybe this: “It’s going to be very hard for him to come back so we have some contingency plans?” NO! They have to give him their full support and I hope he is the Dodgers’ starting shortstop next year, but I think it will be difficult. Shortstops make some of the most contorted and difficult throws of any player on the team. I’m not worried too much about his hip.
- Brian Dozier should stay at leadoff – Period!
- Turner is hitting the ball right on the screws. He’s back!
- Looks like it’s Kemp and Bellinger’s turn to get hot!
- This is game of ebb and flow. I smell a hot streak coming!
- From Rotoworld: “Ryu made the start at Triple-A Reno, a very hitter-friendly environment. He scattered five hits and struck out three batters without issuing a walk, throwing 51 of his 71 pitches for strikes and inducing eight groundouts to three flyouts. Ryu should be cleared to rejoin the Dodgers’ starting rotation after one more minor league rehab outing. He’s been sidelined since early May due to a severe groin strain.” So, he will be back soon and someone will go to the pen. Will they be more interested in Starting or Winning? This will prove to be interesting.
- Both Brian Dozier and Logan Forsythe are hitting .412 since the trade in 17 AB’s. Forsythe is OPS’ing .971 and Dozier is OPS’ing 1.506!
- Mike Fiers goes today and once, no hit the Dodgers – It’s time for Payback!
Back in First Place!
Except for bad pitch selection (4 fastballs) to his last batter, Rich Hill was again terrific. No blisters = a very good pitcher. This is the pitcher the Dodgers are paying for and if he keeps it up, he s a bargain! Blisters have been his kyrptonite! The bullpen was very good again: Floro, Alexander, Chargois and Jansen handled a hot A s team. Oakland has the 4th best bullpen ERA in
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Discussion (69)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Recognizing that the RISP numbers are relatively poor for the Dodgers, it becomes even more obvious that the Dodgers truly miss their superstar SS, Corey Seager. In 2017, in 131 PA WRISP, Seager hit .361/.450/.583/1.034 (53 RBI). In 58 PA with 2 outs WRISP, Seager hit .449/.534/.816/1.351 (35 RBI).
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One other query…I cannot refute what Hawkeye said about Izturis’ reduced arm speed post surgery. But he did not really become a utility player until his final year in 2013. Post surgery Cesar played defensively 660 games. 592 were at SS, 62 were at 3B, and 6 at 2B. 90% of his games were at SS. 28 of the 3B games were with the Dodgers who were committed to Furcal at the time, and 21 were in 2013 when he was a utility player. And while I do not have a medical degree, and I did not stay in a Holiday Inn Express, I do not understand how a pitcher post TJ surgery can come back and throw harder in a very unnatural delivery with the elbow torqued, but a SS cannot get back to his previous arm speed. That does not compute with me. That’s enough for me on the subject. I am looking for Corey being back at SS game 1 in 2019.
First couple of times through the lineup it didn’t seem like the Dodgers were seeing the ball well. Was it the lights or was it Fier’s delivery? Maybe their stadium needs to improve the center field backdrop to help hitters see the ball.
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Puig only loafs on a ball when he knows he can make a cool, casual, nonchalant catch. He will never let a chance get away to make a play though. If he didn’t hustle it would have been because he wasn’t sure where it was.
Dodgers – 11Ks
7 LOB
1 for 7 RISP
Can’t win that way
another bad K for Belly
Chaggy had done his job… and did it well… last night and tonight.
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I was very surprised to see him go out there for a 2nd inning. I keep hoping that Dave will eventually get a better feel for his pitching staff… but I just don’t ever see that happening.
A’s bullpen is their strength.
I know we all have been bagging on the Dodgers lack of this and lack of that, but damn, let’s celebrate a little bit. Despite missing a buttload of pitching due to the DL, we still finished a Gauntlet of a stretch of contending teams at 9-8, and are coming back on a very hot A’s team tonight after winning a playoff type game last night. And we are right there!!How about more Hope posts instead of Doomsday predictions. To tell you the truth, this season has way more adrenaline as a baseball fan than last season. I am hanging on every daily score, and it’s only friggin the first week of August. Enjoy the ride man, this team reminds me of the ’88 team. Got a few holes, but all we need is for us to get hot for a few weeks in October. Buckle up boys and pass the Pepto Bismo, this is going to be a crazy ride. And you know what, it’s pretty damn cool.
Dodgers are swinging at so much stuff out of the zone. Grandal and Dozier just struck out on junk. Awful.
Barrels are overrated
Everything was hit hard, including the last out by Dozier.
They’re hitting the ball hard now. Machado and Puig hit two near HR’s for outs. Joc just ripped one for an out. Now Machado hits a double. Fiers was done.
Kershaw is doing it with guile tonight. His stuff isn’t good.
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It looked to me like Puig loafed out there.
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They’ve been hitting Fiers the last couple of innings so he’s coming out. The A’s ‘pen is stellar. It will be fun to see if they can come back. Taylor and Bellinger still look lost up there.
Kershaw is so mediocre. I don’t know what happened to him. No velocity, no changeup, no command 4 innings no strikeouts. I guess the back injury has ruined him. Ryu may turn out to be our best pitcher if he ever pitches.
Not watching but if that’s true about Puig I’m pissed. The last at-bat of his I saw he was dancing on his way to the plate then struck out weakly. Getting tired of the act.
Yasmani!
Clayton has hit 92 once and 91 about 3 times. He does not have his slider or good curve tonight.
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Fiers owns the Dodgers.
Kershaw hasn’t thrown faster than 90. He hasn’t thrown his good breaking stuff and can’t finish anyone off – NO Ks SO FAR.
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Puig loafed on the pop up by Laureno. Cost them 2 runs.
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8 Ks in 4 innings for the Dodgers against Fiers.
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Crummy game.
I didn’t realize Oakland traded for Max Scherzer
This feels like a two hit shutout for Fiers. Come on Dodgers get it going.
5 Ks in 2 2/3 IP for Fiers against the Dodgers. He’s a bum.
Watford,
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I reached out to Bobbie17 and here is the reply:
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“Thanks, Mark. I’ve got Dodger fatigue. Too much of the same thing. The team seems a bit boring. Yesterday’s stars are fading. The prospects may be overrated. Roberts’ interviews have little new to report. I guess I just want the team TO WIN IT ALL. Finally. The rest is in the category of “so what?” When the team becomes interesting again, I’ll come back. I hope all is well. Thanks for checking in. “
May pitching well for AA tulsa tonight. So far 5 ip 2 h 2 r 0 bb 5 k. Lux already 2-2 with two singles and is up to .435 for tulsa.
Haha charlie culbertson has hit 5 hrs in his last 6 games against the nationals.
Rick, the Fangraphs article was about his last game. He allededly hit 94 in the previous one:
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http://www.rotoworld.com/player/mlb/7537/julio-urias
The RISP stat has been a problem all season long and it’s not a function of facing the A’s.
The Dodgers have 107 solo HRs out of 155. Only 26 HRs with RISP.
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Dodgers’ hitters OPS with RISP
Barnes .522
Bellinger .610
Turner .663
Machado .679
Kike .710
Taylor .724
Puig .770
Joc .775
Grandal .850
Utley .890
Muncy .899
Kemp 1.045
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Taylor has K’d 31/109 PAs
Bellinger has K’d 34/123 PAs
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Dodgers hit best when up by 4 runs or more; hit worst with 2 outs and RISP.
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Kemp 1 for his last 34 and hits a bloop and now he’s getting hot?
Hudson on DL with right forearm tightness.
Not good news if you’ve already had 2 TJ surgeries.
I wouldn’t say Hill was “terrific.” Let’s be honest he’s effectively wild and walks WAY TOO many hitters. If he doesn’t get his control under control (see what I did there) those walks will come back to bite him.
If Machado signs with the Dodgers (and I hope he does), then I am fully confident that between him, Seager and the Dodgers, they will amicably figure out who plays where. And as much as I like Bellinger at 1B, if the Dodgers determined that Seager (who is 6’4″) could play 1B, then I wouldn’t be opposed to Bellinger moving to the OF. And then, whenever Turner begins to show the effects of Father Time, then Seager could move over to 3B, and Bellinger could move back to 1B. Of course, there are about 18 billion variables that could change all of this, so whatever I’m suggesting is probably moot.
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I like both Verdugo and Puig, but with there depth in the outfield there is a question as to what happens if Bellinger moves to the OF. Trades, etc. are probably the only solution to break the logjam.
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And because of the all the variables I alluded to, it’s likely that whatever happens will be completely unexpected.
I went back and did a little more research on middle infielders some of you came up with.
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Cesar Izturis – Surgery September 2005 – Returned June 2006. He was 25 at the time of the surgery. Played 3B for LAD because the Dodgers signed Rafael Furcal to play SS. Izturis was traded to the Cubs for Greg Maddux at the trade deadline. He did play a couple of games at SS for LAD but was primarily a SS for the Cubs, and for the rest of his career.
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Gleyber Torres – Surgery June 2017, reported to ST in 2018 and was in starting lineup for Scranton (AAA). He had the surgery at 20 years old. He played 2B, 3B, and SS for his short stay in AAA. He is the regular 2B for NYY, but has played SS. He would probably be the SS if Gregorius was not there.
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Rafael Furcal – Surgery March 3013 – Returned 2014 played some 2B for Miami because Adeiny Hechavarria was their SS and because of Furcal’s age (35 at time of surgery).
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After reviewing those three I am still not convinced that Seager cannot come fully comeback to be the regular SS. The only comparable was Izturis, and he played sparkling D after returning. Led the AL in range factor at least one year. Torres was not going to play SS this year. He was auditioning for 2B in ST with Gregorius the SS. The other encouraging point is that both Izturis and Torres were back competing at 9 months. Izturis had the surgery September 16 and was in the Dodgers lineup on June 20 (after 15 games in rehab). That is 8-9 months and then competing. Torres’ surgery was in late June, and announced he was 100% in February and reported to ST on time and ready to go. Furcal was at the end of his career, trying to come back at 36.
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There is a very small sample size, but there are maybe 2 comparable scenarios with young middle infielders having the surgery. Both returned within 9 months and with no restrictions. I will go with the athletic Seager making a full recovery and assuming SS at ST 2019. Unless FAZ does sign Machado and Seager agrees to move to a new position (which I do not see). If both Machado and Seager insist on playing SS, who do you want there in 2019. I am going with Seager.
Juan Soto played 8 games above Single-A before reaching the majors. It doesn’t look like he’ll ever go back. I saw him yesterday and was trying to think who he reminded me of. Strangely the first name that popped into my head was Kenny Lofton. What are other comps? Bryce Harper? 😉
Tonight: would like to see kershaw go at least six. Baez and Ferguson can back him. A clean late inning appearance for Ferguson would be nice. Axford looks to have a positive outing and I’m sure we’ll feed him the 9th if we’re up big. And if things get silly we have the arms of vendetta to push a two-handed mop. Big win tonight. Feels like a home game.
Joe mentioned last night that going back to May 1, Puig has hit over .300. I have watched his average slowly climb, but did not realize the .300+ thing. I have really enjoyed his performance this year and am a little disappointed when I tune in and he is not in the lineup
The four games at altitude starting tomorrow night has me a tad worried. I really hate that ballpark as Dodgers sport pitchers above throwers and Coors Field favors the latter. Seams and spin have too little effect at a mile high. But if our hitters are locked in all should be fine. Still can’t help but hate that ballpark.
Mark – I was wondering – what has happened to Bobbie17?
We havnt heard from him for ages, and I’m sure he is enjoying our position compared to his hated Giants?
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Hope he is ok?
It is a great sign for turner! Very strange bullpen moves last night for Roberts. Floro pitches to one batter and is taken out with the lefty coming up. However, the next several batters were right handed and only in the sixth inning. We win it worked but don’t know what the thinking was at that point. Good luck to Forsythe apparently a good guy who doesn’t perform under the big lights. Dozier off to great start. Need to jump on Fiers early tonight.
Bullpen was lights out. Great to see. Is the Hudson injury a real one or a roster-friendly DL move? I wonder if any of these players (or their agents) take exception to phantom DL stints. I know I wouldn’t be crazy about having it on my record.