Boy, I need to say that Corey Seager has gone into a slump more often. HR (13), double (13), single, 2 RBIs, a couple of good plays at SS. But he sure did choke with that weak ground ball to first when he needed a triple.☺ This is a different Corey Seager from last year. He is now tied for the team lead in RBIs with 36 with Mookie. It is the leadoff hitter and #2 hitter that lead the team in RBIs by a fairly substantial margin. Not 3-4-5-6. Corey is two behind Mookie in HRs and leads the team in doubles. Mookie has an OPS of .963 while Corey has an OPS of .959. Corey is getting back to the 2016 and 2017 version of Corey Seager. I know there are those who prefer Francisco Lindor, but I am hoping that Corey wants to stay a Dodger forever and can coax an extension out of AF. I love it when Corey gives me a reason to include his picture in the article.
My first favorite non-Dodger was Baltimore’s Brooks Robinson. Mid 60’s favorite Dodger was Jim Lefebvre, followed by Ken McMullen. I was a big fan of Nomar because of how he treated my son when they were Boston teammates. And Corey Seager has been a favorite since he was drafted. What do they all have in common? Uni #5. I cannot say it is because of the uniform number, because I was never a big fan of Mike Marshall who wore number 5 for 9 years.
Now back to the game. This was a game that Doc haters can find fault with, and Doc fans can find positives. After a tough first inning, Julio Urias settled down and pitched brilliantly for the next 4.2 innings. After the Pillar single in the first, Julio retires the next 12 in a row before the Edwin Rios error to open the 6th. He gets the next two and then Doc comes to get him after 77 pitches and a bullpen game the next day? That was a head scratcher for me. What is going to happen when the team needs for Urias to go 90+ pitches? I know the game was tied at 2, with RH Nolan Arenado coming up, but at some point, you have to let the kid pitch out of a jam. Dylan Floro got the weak foul pop out from Arenado, so it worked. But if you are going to let KJ and Baez struggle in similar (or worse) situations to build their confidence, why not Urias? It was unfortunate that Julio did not get the win, but the team won, so I am sure Urias can be satisfied with a Dodgers win…right? Arbitration hearings do not care if you held the Rockies to two runs in 5.2 IP. At some point the W-L discussion is going to come up.
Josh Bard, Mark Prior, and Connor McGuiness need to figure out how to get Urias properly warmed to pitch the first inning. For the season, Urias has allowed 10 runs in the first inning this season, but only 9 runs in the 39 innings following the first.
Corey had a couple of important hits, and Edwin Rios crushed his 5th HR of the season, but for me, the key hit in the game was two out double by Will Smith. That broke the game open. A four run lead at Coors is not enough when the tying run can come to the plate. The one out double off the wall by Kike’ in the 7th got the inning rolling. Don’t look now all you Kike’ doubters, but for the month of September (11 games, 30 AB), Kike’ is slashing .300/.353/.567/.920 with 2 doubles, 2 HRs, 8 RBIs and only 4 Ks. He is heating at the right time. Combined, Max and Cody have 2 extra base hits and 4 RBIs. Max has 21 Ks in September, while Cody has 10. As I said in the beginning of the year, Kike’ has never been the problem. While his bat is rarely a game changer, his glove often is. Cody and Max are supposed to be the game changing bats, and they haven’t been.
Floro should have pitched the 7th unscathed, but Max still has a problem throwing to 2B. With a 6 run lead, why not just get the out at 1st? But the error did allow for Joe Kelly to come in in a non-high leverage situation. After seven consecutive knuckle curves, he seduces a Ryan McMahon 6-3 ground out on a fastball to end the inning. I just am not sure that Kelly trusts his command of his fastball. By the way, Dylan Floro is quietly having a very good season. His ball has always moved, but now he has command of that movement.
Kolarek gave up his first HR of the season. Trevor Story is going to hit a lot of HRs off a lot of pitchers. But it was a bomb.
It was nice to see Josh Sborz come in and finish off the game to save the bullpen for Friday’s game. I would still prefer to see Mitch White start, but I understand why he isn’t. He is not going to be an option for the post season, but the bullpen game could be. Josiah Gray is not going to pitch at the MLB level this year. He is not on the 40 man, and there is no reason to start his clock.
The Dodgers are now up 4.0 games on the Padres, and their magic number for their 8th consecutive NL West title (and best record in NL) is at 5. Philadelphia is now the #8 seed in the NL, with SFG #7. St. Louis (-.5), Milwaukee (-1.0), NYM (-1.5), and Colorado (-2.0) are all still trying to get in.
Don’t look now, but NYY is getting hot at the right time.
Discussion (97)
Disagree, not disagreeable
The offense really clicked tonight. They made it interesting to watch.
Perhaps someone can explain how Mitch White comes away with the win? He pitched the last two innings, but the Dodgers were winning long before he made his appearance.
WOW. What a game. It was a total team effort everyone contributed. Everyone had a hit. 8 different players scored a run and 8 different players had at least one RBI. Best of all is Bellinger had 3 hits
Rich Hill – 7 innings, 1 run against the Cubs tonight
Maeda and Ryu are each in the top 10 of AL pitcher’s WAR
For that matter two of the others are Greinke and Heaney, both ex-Dodgers, although Heaney doesn’t really count.
Well well well this is what it’s like when Muncy and Bellinger produce. It is the thin air in Colorado though. But still.
Muncy and Bellinger are looking better tonight, although it’s at Coors against a bad Rox pitching staff, so maybe we shouldn’t be jumping up and down just yet.
Alex Wood is a #5 starter on a bad pitching staff. And he’s even worse out of the pen. There’s just no place for him on this Dodger team. Sorry Alex, sad to see you go!
Lux is complicating things.
Wood shows why he should only pitch one inning.
Alexander is now a bit closer to the post season roster thanks to Mr. Wood.
I’d like to see White get some innings. We could use another long man and he’s ideally set up to be that guy if he can show he’s up to it.
Correct me if I’m wrong but I understand there’s not gonna be any days off in the postseason.
If that’s the case our bullpen is going to make or break this team in the playoffs and I don’t like our chances unless the offense scores consistently and a lot.
ESPN shows Joc on bereavement list. I really hope that’s an error.? I thought it was family emergency and hadn’t heard more.
There’s not a lot of options for Doc when it comes to position players. There are 6 guys that I think all of us would agree deserve to be starters in the playoffs no matter left or right handed pitching and they are:
Betts
Seager
Smith
Turner
Pollock
Taylor
Then there is Bellinger of course.
The other 2 spots are questionable. The leading candidates to me are Rios, Muncy, Joc. But I would like to see Beaty back and given a lot of starts before the playoffs to see if he is an option. Lux has been given a lot of at bats and hasn’t produced. It’s too late for McKinstry. And I don’t want Hernandez starting.
The way Doc is sticking with Muncy tells me Muncy is going to start in the playoffs and I don’t have a problem with that considering the options. But I think that last spot is wide open and I would like Beaty to get a lot of starts in the last what 7 games.
Pregame Presser – Corey
SD was a good test. They are a quality postseason team and the fact the team was able to go into SD and take 2 out of 3 was meaningful.
He attributes his success in 2020 to being fully healthy. Last year he was just not physically as strong and got more tired.
When asked why he is able to hit offspeed and breaking balls better this year, he again attributed it to health. He is able to hold the position longer.
Corey did acknowledge that they have a huge advantage with how they play innings 7-9. They are a +43 in run differential. He acknowledged any time you can be +43 against the back end of a bullpen, you have a key advantage.
Corey also stated that the team cannot simply rely on the Big Fly. They need to do the little things to score runs…Run the bases well, go the other way, move the runner over, with a runner on 3rd with less than 2 outs they have to find a way to get the runner in. The players know what they need to do. Now they have to execute.
Everyone knows that Corey Seager is a film guy. He loves to go back in the clubhouse and review his swing between innings. He cannot do that this year, so he needs to rely on his feel. He is comfortable with that, but he still reviews the film after every game. He has often believed he felt a certain way at the plate, but later found out that he was not hitting the way he thought he was. If the team can go back to reviewing film during the game, Seager said 100% he will watch film after every AB.
Pregame Presser – Dave Roberts
As Bear noted, Alex Wood will be starting. The reason is that he does have starting experience. They will try to get 2.0 innings out of Alex, but he has been told to go as hard as he can for as long as he can.
Will Smith will get the next two days off. He has started 4 consecutive games, so he was going to get a break today anyway. CK goes tomorrow and Austin will catch CK. Doc said Barnes will catch CK throughout the playoffs, but intimated that Smith will be the catcher for all other games.
Doc did say that there was a certain synergy between CK and Barnes and believes there is something to it. He did not blame Smith for CK’s poor outing against the DBacks (and neither did CK). It is just that something clicks between the two. My takeaway is that if your HOF pitcher wants a specific catcher, you give it to him.
JT is out today, but probably back in tomorrow as DH.
AJ is DH today, but will play LF tomorrow.
Doc was told that tomorrow is Duke Snider’s birthday and was asked what his relationship was with Duke. Doc said they were very good friends. He gave hitting lessons to Duke’s grandkids. Duke would have been 94 tomorrow.
I do not care who Ol Doc puts in the lineup, but Max Muncy hitting 4th is sustained insanity. Muncy is hitting .156 hitting 4th with 1 Extra base hit, and 1 rbi. His best spot has been 3rd where he is hitting .250 with 3 homers and 7 rbi’s. He has struck out 16 times while hitting 4th, and only 6 hitting 3rd. He is barely above .200 hitting 5th.
Ruiz is an interesting idea. It would also allow the Dodgers to play Barnes at second base. Unfortunately there is no sign that’s the direction they’re going to go.
Who has pitched the most innings for the 2020 Dodgers?
Julio Urias
Of the following starters: Stripling, May, Buehler, Kershaw, and Urias, who has given up the fewest HR?
Julio Urias
This kid is going to figure it out – He’s THAT close! Stripling gave up one HR every 3 innings which is why he is not here.
What starting pitcher in all of baseball (45 + IP) has the lowest WHIP?
Clayton Kershaw – 0.78
I’m with Jeff – I’d rather have Ruiz than Joc. Smith can play 3B as well.
But…. he IS a Rookie!
Lineup:
1. Betts RF
2. Seager SS
3. Taylor LF
4. Mad Max 1B
5. Bellinger CF
6. Pollock DH
7. Rios 3B
8. Lux 2B
9. Barnes C
White? Opener? Starter?
DODGERS RECALL RHP MITCH WHITE
DODGERS OPTION RHP JOSH SBORZ
LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Dodgers have recalled right-handed pitcher Mitch White and have optioned right-handed pitcher Josh Sborz.
White, 25, returns for his third stint with the team after making his Major League debut on August 28 at Texas. He fired a scoreless inning against the Rangers, allowing one hit and striking out one. The former Bronco has been with the Dodgers four seasons, across five different levels, posting a 14-15 record with a 3.97 ERA (130 ER/294.2 IP) and 311 strikeouts. Last season, he split the season between Double-A Tulsa and Triple-A Oklahoma City, going a combined 4-6 with a 5.09 ERA (53 ER/93.2 IP) and 105 strikeouts. He was originally selected by the Dodgers in the second round of the 2016 First Year Player Draft out of Santa Clara University.
Sborz, 26, pitched a season-high 1.1 innings of scoreless baseball last night. In four outings this season, he has allowed one earned run over 4.1 innings with two strikeouts. In parts of two seasons over 11 games, the right-hander is 0-1 with a 6.08 ERA (9 ER/13.1 IP) and nine strikeouts. The former Virginia Cavalier went 24-20 with a 3.53 ERA (144 ER/367.1 IP) and 370 strikeouts in 157 minor league games (46 starts) for the Dodgers. He was originally drafted in the second round of the 2015 First Year Player Draft by the Dodgers.
I like that idea Jeff. And I agree it gives them a lot more flexibility too. Why is it players who come over to LA, spend some time, do very little, get picked up for a song, and then go on to have a pretty good season elsewhere? Jeff Gyorko, who did relatively little in his time in LA is hitting .268 with 8 homers and 16 ribbies as a Brewer. Taint fair i tell ya!
It was a good night indeed.
Sorry to disappoint some of you, but Max Muncy will be on the playoff roster.
Good post today Jeff D. I particularly liked the part about allowing Urias to pitch out of a mini-threat but he’d reached his 77 pitch limit I guess. Yeah, I know Arenado owns him but was 0 for 2. Whatever.
Smith is getting fun to watch hit. I love his approach and his ability to shorten up and make consistent contact.
JT stays health and at DH I hope for now but our defense at 3rd is suspect at times.
SoCalBum says “Bellinger remains a work in progress, but his mechanics look much better — if he would just focus on hitting the ball between LCF and RCF”. I agree about going the other way and when he’s right he can do that. But now he can’t. I watched him again in slo-mo last night. He has moved a little off the plate. I’d like to see more. I’ve mentioned his head movement downward but I now think the real culprit is his bucket foot. His swing looks normal. Complicated, but normal. Maybe he’s always had that extreme bucket foot. But his hips and lower half are so opened up at the contact point, it’s hard to stay on the pitch and harder to hit it to left field. His feet and hips at contact are in line with the right fielder. Nothing in his lower body is aligned to the pitch.
I’d like to see what moving more off the plate, a little flex on those knees and a stride toward the pitcher. I’d like to see that while others would like to see me eat dog poop and die for giving batting instructions to the MVP.
I mostly like Orel’s comments about pitching but as we know he can get a lot verbose. Last night in the first inning while Urias was struggling, he had a long opinion of which I extracted this quote. If you have your Orel Decoder Ring handy, get it out. Ready – “in some ways there’s a new rhythm in his body that to really be an elite big league pitcher, he’s got to recruit more muscle fiber. He’s gotta go to another intensity level and in doing that he hasn’t found that syncricity (synchronicity?) yet to pull it all together yet with that body intensity level that he can still be precise. You think about how Clayton moves his body and the intensity down the hill but it’s all timed up together the way Buehler does it.”
I think he meant that Urias’ time was off and not in sync.
By the way, I’ve been trying to “recruit more muscle fiber” for some time now. It’s not working.
Keep winning Boys. And keep managing Skipper.
I see Belli and Maxie Muncy in the lineup now and through the playoffs. AF and Doc are not benching these guys. Play Muncy on first and second with Belli exclusive in center. This will take the pressure of a little and not be so distracting , no more bouncing around defensively. I was hoping Urías would go 6 yesterday. One more out and he would have got the win and a whole bunch of confidence. Looking for him to to improve each game going forward. Next season I think will be his break out year and force his way into the rotation and Docs hand
I think the reverse strategy of Muncy and Bellinger is brilliant. Suck during the regular season and star during the post season. The Dodger brain trust is so cutting edge!
Will Smith has as many extra base hits as Muncy, 14, in 86 less at bats. He has more walks, 18, than K’s, 16 and he is only 2 behind Max in RBI’s. Now you tell me how in the wide wide world of sports Roberts can bat a guy hitting . 194 in the 4 hole and have the better hitter hitting behind him. Maybe so he gets better pitches? Can’t be. Smith does not command that kind of respect around the league yet. He is still wet behind the ears. If he wanted to have Muncy see better pitches, he would have Turner behind him who is much feared around the league as one of the best clutch hitters in baseball. Yeah, it is pile on Max time. But it is deserved. We see the same at bats every night out of him. And the first is usually a strikeout swinging at a ball he could not hit if he was in the RH batters box. We have been waiting for the bats of Pederson, Muncy and Belli to show some resemblance of the guys we saw last year. Belli is the most valuable of the three simply because he is a superior defender. If they are going to use Beaty, or any other player from the alternate site to replace Muncy or Pederson, they need to be playing these last 9 games. Give McKinstry a start since he is here instead of one AB off of the bench. Johnny Allstaff pitching today against Castellani. Kersh tomorrow, and Gonsolin on Sunday. Then a day off, and the A’s come to town. Oh yeah, Lamb has been hitting really well since he signed with Oakland.
We have been saying if Belli and Muncy get better..look out. Well, they are not getting better. If anything they are the two biggest holes in the lineup. And there seems to be no end to their ineptitude. There also are no other options for the Dodgers. With all 3 of their HR leaders from last year playing like Mickey Mouse on LSD, they still are the team with the best record. But their lead in HR’s is in serious jeopardy since the Yankees have hit 19 in 3 games and have suddenly woken up. I have no clue what their problem is, or what the solution is. But you would think that they would have accidentally hit at least one this month. Pollock has hit more than they have now when he got number 11 the other day,,,,Matches his uniform. Voit in NY, hit number 20 last night. Muncy has struck out 56 times in 175 at bats. Surprisingly Taylor is second on the team with 48, but he is hitting 80 points higher, and has more extra base hits.
Muncy’s confidence is shot, both offensively and defensively. I feel badly for the guy as it appears he is trying too hard, and that never works out. Bellinger remains a work in progress, but his mechanics look much better — if he would just focus on hitting the ball between LCF and RCF — he has more than enough power to hit home runs to any part of any park.
it is now Sept 18, and the 2019 NL MVP has zero extra base hits in the entire month of September.
I say this because law of averages says he’ll get a few the rest of this month. And I think after he gets 1, especially in Colorado this weekend, it could get him to wake up, just in time for October.
We need 1 of Belly or Muncy to wake up. If both do, then watch out.
Good stuff, AC. Corey Seager was indeed the star of the game last night. Was hoping he would hit for the cycle but it was not to be, at least not in that game. I am sure he will get another chance to do that with the way he is hitting. Lindor, although a very good player, never entered my mind to replace Seager. I hope Corey is given an extension and becomes a long time Dodger.
I agree with you about Floro. I was not sure he should be on the 28-man roster at first but he has steadily impressed me with his consistency. Kike, Smith and the bullpen who held on to the lead, had good games also but, what a sweet smooth swing Rios has. Kind of reminds me of Ethier’s swing
Regarding Urias who was excellent after the first inning. Maybe he does need more time getting ready. Usually how many pitches and time does it take? And who determines if a pitcher is ready or not.
I don’t believe you move the 9.4 dWAR SS to second or third, you move the 2 dWAR SS. I would hope if this move is being contemplated Corey would be willing to do what’s best for the team.
I’m not ready to say Bellinger is even close to being back. In his last 25 plate appearances he has 6 singles, 3 walks and 6 Ks. 633 OPS, and exit velocities of a mail carrier. The fact it’s worse over the last two weeks .217/.308/.217./.525 I guess can be considered a step, but there isn’t time for baby steps. He needs to launch some and it should start in Colorado.
Muncy.
A lot of people lost faith in Cory Seager after he got injured and struggled when he returned. But the talent was always there. This is the healthy Seager, which means he’s a dangerous hitter and the fielding is looking better, sometimes special. Impressive season.
As to Cody Bellinger, he’s gradually showing signs of life and it appears he has backed off the plate, which should help. Swings look better. Hitting into the shifts have hurt both Bellinger and Max Muncy. Seager tends to spray the ball to all fields which makes him a bigger threat. But bottom line, the Dodgers need Muncy and Bellinger to make the post season run. I really hate the playoff format, The Dodgers pretty much get nothing for winning the division and having baseball’s best record.
After getting out of the first inning, Julio Urias looked pretty good. Kenley Jansen is still the big question mark in the bullpen. I’m sure that wakes Dave Roberts up in the middle of the night.
So, if the Dodgers win it all, will it actually feel real without fans? Will it have the same meaning? While I’m glad they’re playing baseball and happy it’s on TV, it somehow just isn’t the same. If the Dodgers do win, will thousands and thousands of fans packed downtown LA streets? Or will it just be cardboard cutouts of cheering fans?
AMEN about Seager. Sign him to the extension he deserves and put to rest the Lindor speculation. Use the trade capital it would take to acquire Lindor to upgrade at second, or third base (Turner 36-year old FA after this season). Muncy was a decent defensive first baseman last season, but his confidence is shot — both offensively and defensively.
I finally got to watch the Dodgers last night, first time since A-Rod’s unapologetic breakdown of Bellinger’s swing. You all are right, and Bellinger has backed off the plate since then. Apparently, when you’re publicly flogged for 10 minutes on a nationalized game, word trickles down. I guess thanks are in order to A-Rod, if Bellinger wasn’t listening to anyone else. I only saw his last at-bat for a walk, I’ll always be encouraged earning a walk while fighting thru a slump. Patience and swing selection was the last thing he exhibited in that Astros game, so maybe there’s a light yet. His body language looked a lot better as well (from what little I saw).
Interesting suggesting I saw on twitter regarding Urias and his first inning issues. Maybe duplicate how we handled May the other night. Start a reliever for the opening inning, then insert Urias for his 5-6 innings. It could very well be a mental block and maybe that clears it. If not, I guess we remove opening a game jitters as a reason.
I’ve noticed the Yankees rolling lately as well. They’ve been the team I fear the most the last three years, simply because I think they’re the only team that can match and beat our best baseball.
If Belli and/or Muncy finally heat up, watch out! Nice that others can carry the club in the meantime. What is going on with having Muncy bat fourth, Jeff? Do you have any insight into that? If it’s intended to build up his confidence, I’m not sure it’s working. And regarding Doc, I’m not sure if he can get a break here with respect to Urias. If he leaves in Urias, and the Rockies have a big inning, it could jeopardize our lead over SD. If he takes him out, he puts an extra load on the bullpen. It strikes me as a “lesser of two evils” situation. Choose your poison. It’s not that I feel the need to defend Doc, but there are downsides to both decisions.