I do this (Rants & Raves) when there isn’t a single subject I want to address… but a plethora of them.
- I think I was wrong about Mookie Betts – he’s back!
- I love Dalton Rushing‘s passion. He’s a keeper. He also needs to mature… and he understands that. “I would rather rein in my lions than teach my sheep to hunt!
- If you saw the interview with Dalton after the game, he owned up to his mistakes and said he was embarrassed. I think he is learning. Dodgers.com had this to say: Roberts also acknowledged the emotional weight the young catcher has been carrying: “He wants to do really well and expects a lot of himself. … The last few games, he’s had a tough go of it and swinging through some fastballs, which is a strength of his. It’s a learning curve for everything. He’s still trying to find his way in the big leagues.”In the clubhouse after the win, a visibly frustrated Rushing did not pull any punches regarding his own performance. “I thought Shohei did a good job. I didn’t do a great job, start to finish. It was pretty embarrassing,” Rushing admitted. “Thankfully, he’s as good as he is, and he could take control of a game. … It’s a pretty tough pill as well, both sides of the ball. It was not a great show, and it hasn’t been great as of late, and I’m gonna be better.”
- Will Smith is not a big fellow. Catching is hard on him. Fill in the blanks! _________________
- After a nice start, Ryan Ward is who we thought he was. OK, he’s a (much) better outfielder in LF than I thought he was. He has had 54 ABS and struck out 17 times while walking only 5 times. Those numbers won’t play at the MLB level.
- The Dodgers are LAST in MLB in “Bullpen Innings Pitched.”
- OK, that means they have to be near the top in Starter Innings Pitched… and they are #2, behind the Mariners. However, the Dodgers’ starters have a 3.25 ERA, while Seattle’s is at 3.77.
- Can you imagine the Dodgers’ bullpen with Edwin Diaz, Tanner Scott, and Evan Phillips?
- Don’t forget Alex Vesia!
- Kyle Hurt will be a weapon soon. He has filthy stuff. Control is needed.
- It was nice to see “old friend” Anthony Banda. He gave everything he had to the cause when he was a Dodger.
- Just say NO to Tarik Skubal. The Dodgers have no need… but bid it up, Andrew!
- When the Dodgers win, Dave Roberts is a genius. When they don’t, he’s an idiot!
- Jeff Dominiques‘ Minor League Report is in a league of its own… and it’s next
Reno Aces (Dbacks) 4 – OKC Comets 3 – 10 innings
RHSP Landon Knack made his season debut. It could have gone better. He allowed 2 runs on 5 hits, 1 BB, and 2 K. In 1.2 IP, Knack allowed 2 runs on 5 hits,1 BB, 2 K. In the 1st inning, Knack gave up a leadoff triple and a 1 out double for a run.
OKC tied it up in the 2nd when CF Alek Thomas singled and DH Austin Gauthier singled. Thomas went to 3rd on a force out, and scored on a fielding error.
Knack went back out in the 2nd. He allowed 3 singles and a BB for a run, and left the bases loaded for RHRP Carlos Duran. Duran retired both batters he faced.
In the 3rd, RF Zach Ehrhard singled and scored on LF Teoscar Hernández’s 2-run HR (2).
Reno tied the game in the bottom of the 3rd. RHRP Evan Phillips relieved Duran, and he too could have had a better game. He allowed a single, followed by a 1-out BB, and a 2-out RBI single. RHRP Christian Romero relieved Phillips and got out of the 3rd with no further runs. Romero followed that up with 5.0 scoreless innings.
OKC could not score a run for the remainder of the game.
RHRP Paul Gervase pitched a scoreless 9th.
In the 10th, RHRP Wyatt Mills relieved Gervase. There was a placed runner on 2nd. Mills walked the first batter and struck out the next. A single loaded the bases and a BB scored the walkoff winning run.
- Alek Thomas 3-4, 1 run
- Teoscar Hernández – 1-4, 1 run, 2 RBI, HR (2)
Corpus Christi Hooks 10 – Tulsa Drillers 1
Not a good night for the Tulsa pitchers, with the exception of LHRP Christian Suarez. After RHSP Peter Heubeck could not get out of the 1st inning, and Suarez came in and got the final out. Suarez finished the next 3.0 IP without allowing a run on 2 hits, no BB, and 2 K.
Tulsa had 4 hits in total.
- Josue De Paula – 1-3, 2 BB, 1 run, double (22)
- Zyhir Hope – 1-2, 2 BB
- Jake Gelof – 1-3, 1 BB
- Mike Sirota – 1-5, reached base safely 60 straight games
Great Lakes Loon 6 – Lansing Lugnuts (A’s) 2
Big night for newly promoted 3B Chase Harlan. Two hits and both run producing.
In the 1st inning, SS Emil Morales hit his 6th HR for a 1-0 lead.
In the 3rd, 2B Jose D. Hernandez and CF Eduardo Quintero singled. On a WP, Hernandez moved to 3rd and scored on Chase Harlan’s 1st Great Lakes hit and RBI.
In the 4th, RF Samuel Munoz singled and moved to 3rd on C Victor Rodrigues’ single with Rodrigues moving to 2nd on the throw. 1B Chase Adkison hit a SF for the run. With Rodrigues to 3rd. Hernandez singled to score Rodrigues and a 4-0 lead.
RHSP Aidan Foeller continued with his excellent June. He completed 5.0 scoreless IP with 2 hits, 1 BB, and 3 K. He has not allowed a run in his 4 June starts. In 14.2 innings, he has allowed 4 hits, 1 BB, and 15 K.
RHRP Isaac Ayon relieved Foeller. He pitched a scoreless 6th inning, and got the first two batters in the 7th. But then he allowed a single and RBI double to break up the shutout. He retired the side in order in the 8th.
With 2 outs in the 9th, Quintero was HBP, and Morales was BB. A WP put Quintero on 3rd. Harlan slugged a 2-run double for his first XBH with GL.
RHRP Alex Makarewich entered in the 9th and had a 6-1 lead. He gave up one run and finished with a 6-2 win.
- Chase Harlan – 2-5, 3 RBI, double (1)
- Victor Rodrigues – 3-4, 1 run, double (6)
- Jose D. Hernandez – 2-3, 1 BB, 1 run, 1 RBI
- Emil Morales – 1-4, 1 BB, 2 run, 1 RBI, HR (6)
Is Aidan Foeller a prospect? Maybe. He is 24 in A+, which puts him 1.1 years older than the average Midwest League player. He cannot control where he pitches. He can only control how he pitches, and he is doing extremely well with that. They just promoted Christian Zazueta to AA. Will they pus Foeller up as well?
Ontario Tower Buzzers 13 – Visalia Rawhide (Dbacks) 9
RHSP Cam Leiter got through 4.0 innings. This was his longest outing for his MiLB career. He pitched 3.0 scoreless innings. In the 4th, Leiter struck out the 1st batter, back to back singles and a SF.
Leiter went back out in the 5th with a 5-1 lead. He allowed a double, a bunt single and his throwing error scored 1. A WP moved the runner to 2nd and got the 2nd out. RHRP Jholbran Herder relieved Leiter and gave up a run scoring double with the run charged to Leiter. The inning ended with Ontario up 5-3.
Ontario started the scoring in the 3rd when 2B Javier Herrera hit his 1st HR.
In the 4th, LF Ching-Hsien Ko hit his 11th HR. 3B Easton Shelton walked, stole 2nd, and scored when DH Brendan Tunink doubled (12).
In the 5th, with 1 out, Ko walked and Shelton singled. With 2 outs, Tunink hit his 2nd double (13) of the game scoring both Ko and Shelton.
Visalia scored in the 6th with a HR off Herder.
In the 7th, with 2 outs, Tunink drew a BB. 1B Mairo Martinus singled. C Bryan Gonzalez Garcia walked to load the bases. Tunink scored on a PB. Herrera walked to load bases again. Martinus scored on a WP. Oswaldo Osorio PH for CF Kendall George and walked. RF Jaron Elkins and Ko each walked to plate 2 more runs and a 9-4 lead.
RHRP Ricardo Montero relieved Herder in the bottom of the 7th. He issued a BB, gave up a double, and another BB to load the bases. RHRP Javier Bartolozzi relieved Montero and a run scored on a WP.
In the 8th, SS Joendry Vargas drew a walk and was forced out at 2B on a Tunink ground ball. Tunink steals 2B and scores on a Martinus double (18). Herrera drew a 2-out BB and Osorio slugged a 3-run HR.
Visalia scored 4 off Bartolozzi (3 earned) in the bottom of the 8th.
RHRP Jecsua Liborius pitched a scoreless 9th for the win.
- Jaron Elkins – 3-5, 1 BB, 1 RBI, double 14, triple (4)
- Brendan Tunink – 2-5, 1 BB, 2 runs, 3 RBI, 2 doubles (13)
- Mairo Martinus – 2-4, 1 BB, 2 runs, 1 RBI, double (18)
- Javier Herrera – 1-1, 4 BB, 3 runs, 1 RBI, HR (1)
- Ching-Hsien Ko – 1-4, 2 BB, 2 RUNS, 2 RBI, HR (11)
- Oswaldo Osorio – 1-1, 2 BB, 1 run, 3 RBI, HR (2)
- Kendall George went 0-3with 2 K in his first game back.
Discussion (105)
Disagree, not disagreeable
I. wonder if Yamamoto and our other Asian pitcher needed a break for innings pitch while playing in Japan. I’ve seen in these comments that a couple of our pitchers need to have a time out by missing a couple of starts to be fresh for the playoffs. I don’t have the stats in front of me but Yamamoto seemed pretty strong in the post season last season. I could see giving our starters a trip IR. With a six man rotation I believe the innings pitch should determine whether they get a brief vacation.
Teo is an all star finalist. We need voter ID!
I have just watched 5.0 brilliant innings from RHSP Christian Zazueta in his AA debut. No runs, 1 broken bat soft line drive, ht, no BB, 2 HBP, 8 K.. Thank you NYY. He’s a keeper.
BTW, Rick Honeycutt was in the Tulsa dugout for tonights game. I would like to guess he was sent there to watch Zazueta. The reports will be good.
https://share.google/4H4M3cjgh3g1nt00d
A humorous bit on Rushing
Good Bear,
Glad to see some compassion out here. Rushing will calm down when Smitty gets back and the pressure eased up. Doc handled it well. I don’t see Ohtani holding a grudge but If we see Chuckie catching him next start, the rumor mill will start again.
From BA:
5 MLB Farm Systems Trending Up In 2026
Los Angeles Dodgers
Preseason Farm System Rank: 13
Current Top 100 Prospects: 6
Coming into the season, the Dodgers had four Top 100 Prospects, but they were seen as a position player-heavy system with a lot of prospects coming off injuries with questions to answer. In fact, Josh Norris wrote an entire story explaining why the Dodgers had dropped out of the top 10 of our preseason system rankings.
Over the first few months, though, LA has had players on both sides take a major step forward, starting with Josue De Paula, who has moved into the top five prospects in the game, and Mike Sirota, who’s currently riding a 59-game on-base streak and has moved into the top 20 overall.
Shortstop Emil Morales impressed in Low-A and was recently promoted to High-A after moving inside the top 50. Moving further down, outfielder Charles Davalan has moved into the Top 100 in his first full season, while outfielder James Tibbs (.291/.415/.585, 20 home runs) and third baseman Chase Harlan (.329/.438/.571, 10 home runs) have shown significant offensive upside and seen their stock rise.
On the pitching side, though the Dodgers don’t have a Top 100 arm right now, they do have several who are in the discussion. Lefthander Zach Root has impressed in High-A, allowing zero runs in six of his 10 starts. Righthanders Christian Zazueta and River Ryan have also taken a step forward. Zazueta has one of the most interesting fastballs in the system and was recently promoted to Double-A after striking out 66 in 48.2 innings with only 12 walks. Ryan, meanwhile, has returned from Tommy John surgery without missing a beat and has struck out 43 in 36.1 innings while only walking eight.
With all these players taking a step forward, the Dodgers are well-positioned to make any move they want at the trade deadline.
MLB has put forth the following as part of their negotiations with the players Union
A free agent moving teams this upcoming offseason could sign a maximum contract of 5 years, $202 million. A team retaining its own free agent could sign him for 6 years at $265 million. Maximum contract length applies to free agent years only. For example, a player with less than a year of service can sign with his own team for up to 12 years — the six before free agency and the six after. If the contract began in 2027, he could sign for 12 years, $500 million.
Look like the owners don’t want to be on the hook for the latter years of a player’s career.
This is a short one, work is pretty busy RN:
Per JEsse Rogers:
https://x.com/JesseRogersESPN/status/2070212648570892627
BREAKING: In its next CBA, the league is proposing a max contract length of 5 yrs for free agent players switching teams, 6 years to retain their own players. No deferred contracts. Qualifying offer is gone too. Also, 5 years to free agency for players 30 or older.
Brandon Gawlowski Chat:
https://blogs.fangraphs.com/brendan-gawlowski-prospects-chat-6-23-26/
apeloton: How do you weigh age to level vs results? This is mostly a Mike Sirota question but guys like Ayers and O’Dowd have also been making it interesting recently
Brendan Gawlowski: It’s a factor but it’s not a case where you can make a formulaic age-level adjustment that works for every player.
InsertWittyNameHere: Which ready prospects are currently blocked by the big club and should be traded to get their opportunity?
12:31
Brendan Gawlowski: River Ryan.
Person: higher number: current Dodgers prospect OFs traded this summer, or in the 2028 opening day lineup?
Brendan Gawlowski: Hmmm that’s a good question. I’ll say traded this summer.
Fangraphs Man: if you’re a team doing a selloff and far from contention, would River Ryan’s age concern you? Even with the full 6 years of team control, you might be looking at a guy that will be in his 30s by the time you’re in a contention window. Does it make sense for him to be in a prospect-for-prospect trade (or 3 team trade) with him going to a team closer to contention?
Brendan Gawlowski: No, I’d happily take the ready made starter and deal with the decline phase as it happens
Baseball America’s Ian Cundill takes a look at the ascending farm systems:
https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/5-mlb-farm-systems-that-are-trending-up-in-2026/
Los Angeles Dodgers
Preseason Farm System Rank: 13
Current Top 100 Prospects: 6
“Lefthander Zach Root has impressed in High-A, allowing zero runs in six of his 10 starts. Righthanders Christian Zazueta and River Ryan have also taken a step forward. Zazueta has one of the most interesting fastballs in the system and was recently promoted to Double-A after striking out 66 in 48.2 innings with only 12 walks.”
Jay Jaffe writes that Kyle Tucker needs a reset:
https://blogs.fangraphs.com/kyle-tucker-needs-a-reset/
“Tucker is swinging at 48.6% of all pitches, just an eyelash above his career mark but his highest rate since 2022; he was at 45.1% last year. Meanwhile, he’s chasing 25.6% of pitches outside the zone, 2.7 points above his career mark and again his highest since 2022, well above last year’s 17.5%. His 64.2% first-pitch strike rate is a career high and 8.3 points above last year’s rate”
Baseball America’s Hot Sheet looks at hot prospects:
https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/ranking-the-20-hottest-mlb-prospects-hot-sheet-6-22-26/
13. Zazueta
“Overall, Zazueta now has 66 strikeouts compared to only 12 walks in 48.2 innings. His fastball has been dominant, sitting in the mid 90s and touching 99 mph with a whiff rate above 30% and strike rate around 70%. “
There is something curious with River Ryan. He has not pitched since that forgettable game June 17. He would normally have pitched yesterday, but Landon Knack had the start. Okay, they did not want him to be a bulk reliever? They were fine with Lauer doing it. But forget about that, he is not starting today. They are pushing Charlie Barnes up a day. If he starts tomorrow, that will be 9 days between starts. Did they uncover an injury that led to that June 17 game’s outcome? Did they uncover a mechanical issue that Ryan is working on this week? Are they holding him back until Sunday so that he is on the same schedule as Sheehan?
No speculation, just curious.
Lots of entertaining takes in here today. You would think we just came off a 3 game road losing streak instead of a 3 game road winning streak.
We are officially at the halfway point of the regular season and sit at 52-29. Our record in series against other teams sits at 16 Wins, 7 loses and 3 ties.
Day off today before 3 at Padres who just swept the Braves. Won’t get to see Friday nights game since it’s on Shitty Apple TV. Guess I will watch the Cubs/Mets tonight.
Ohtani was visibly upset with Dalton. There were at least 3-4 times that he must have wanted Dalton to challenge the pitch. Dalton has missed a couple of challenges in prior games,so maybe he was a little gun shy. I’m not sure. But he had a very poor day yesterday on both sides of the ball. Though I give him credit, the play that mookie tripped over the bag? The throw was an absolute dart! He would have been out easily. Talent is there. The mentality needs some work. Of course some will say that we would hate him if he was on the opposite side. Probably. But he’s a Dodger. He’s not Milton Bradley. He’s not Alex Verdugo. At least I don’t believe he is. He’s got the right guy in the dugout to help him get right. Just hope he takes advantage of it. If he doesn’t, he might end up in Colorado!!!
I have brought up how important the pitcher/catcher relationship is on countless occasions. We saw an example last night as to what happens when there is no such relationship. I do not know if Ohtani hates Rushing, as I do not believe Ohtani hates anybody. But I do not think Ohtani respects Rushing as a catcher. Last night does not happen with Smith or Chuckie.
There was a comment on the game last night where one of the announcers mentioned that Ohtani’s ERA with Smith behind the plate was miniscule compared to Rushing. I do not have supercomputer so I had to do the research the only fashioned way and looked at every box score where Ohtani pitched this year. 13 games. Not that many.
Smith caught Ohtani the first 10 games. Ohtani allowed a total of 7 runs, 5 earned, and had an ERA of 0.74. Rushing has been the catcher for Ohtani’s last 3. Ohtani has allowed 11 runs, 9 earned, and an ERA of 4.34.
If Smith is not ready when Ohtani starts next, I see Chuckie behind the plate, and I will not care if he strikes out every time. Just manage the game with Ohtani.
Salary’s for pro athletes are simply ridiculous. Austin Reeves gets a 4-year 165-million-dollar deal from the Lakers. The good news is that hopefully this leads to LeBoring James being dealt in a sign and trade.
I wasn’t really paying attention, so I missed the Rushing-Ohtani stuff. I just know after that 3-run inning, Ohtani took control and mowed the Twinkies down. Rushing is a talented catcher who puts way too much pressure on himself and acts like how he is, immature. But I am not going to judge the kid. How many of us at age 25 were catching a 700-million-dollar superstar pitcher? At the beginning of the year when he got off to his hot start, many were calling for him to be the #1 since he was outhitting Smith at the time. He needs to learn some stuff, and most likely he will. Mets traded LH starting pitcher, Dave Peterson to the Cubs for 1B prospect Cole Mathis.
Hopefully Tucker gives us a season 2 like Scott.
Ever just have one of those days? Kinda like Dalton Rushing’s yesterday.
3 strikeouts, 3 passed balls and a throw to 2nd on a steal that ended up in centerfield when Mookie tripped over the bag and fell down. I seriously don’t remember ever seeing that before.
I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall to listen to the discord in the Dodger dugout after the bottom of the second with Rushing. Ohtani, who was uncharacteristically running hot all night, seemed displeased with the passed ball and a couple of cross-ups the first 2 innings. Rushing is wound pretty tight, is very competitive and wears his emotions on his sleeve, which led to conversations first with the Team Shrink, than Freddie Freeman, then Doc made a house call with an extended conversation to talk Dalton off the ledge.
Rushing looked like a kid given Caster Oil. Finally Mark Prior was safe to go over pitching matters.
As I have said before, I’d rather have a guy who runs hot than somebody who doesn’t give a shit. (Reading Mark’s post this morning was perfect “I would rather rein in my lions than teach my sheep to hunt!”
Dalton has a short fuse and a long burn. I thought he might give himself another concession by pounding himself on the head, giving Chuckie more starts.
Somehow, Dalton has made it to the Bigs in a game that is all about dealing with failure while being so hard on himself. This isn’t new and tells me he can’t stand looking bad and feels under pressure trying to prove himself.
Different guys are motivated by different things. Some are wound up like a 2 dollar watch (think Vesia), some play best happy (Mookie) some play best pissed off (Randy Johnson) and some are motivated not to embarrass themselves (Rushing)
Doc has a great way of identifying who’s, who. He’s the master at player relations and that’s what draws player’s respect for him. Rushing is a good project for him. I suspect other Skippers wouldn’t be so patient.
Ward struggles with the four-seemed up in the zone, big time. Rushing did too.
Back in my generation, what separated the men from the boys to scouts, was the ability to hit a high fastball. If you couldn’t handle that pitch, they weren’t interested. And the strike zone was about 3 balls higher than today’s zone.
Kyle Hurt just walked the wire. He pitched behind in every count and got away with it.
Same with Vesia, who’s is a different cat. He has a little Joe Kelly in there. He doesn’t seem to get interested until he digs his own hole, only to see it he can fill it up.
I love the final out of a great game. It’s Our Guy against Their Guy to see who wins. Scott won that one.
Thursday’s Dodger Affiliates’ Schedule
4:05 p.m. PT: Great Lakes (Jakob Wright) at Lansing (Samuel Dutton)
5:00 p.m. PT: Tulsa (Christian Zazueta) vs. Corpus Christi (James Hicks)
6:35 p.m. PT: Oklahoma City (Charlie Barnes) vs. Reno (TBD)
6:35 p.m. PT: Ontario (TBD) at Visalia (Connor Foley)
Rushing is a petulant, attention seeking jackass! He won’t last long in Dodger Blue, every week it’s something different with this guy.
Great article in The Athletic on “How the veteran Dodgers crafted one of baseball’s best defenses.”
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7388484/2026/06/24/dodgers-defense-age-mookie-betts/?source=dailyemail&campaign=601983&userId=147501&source=dailyemail
From SI:
Finally, as the trade deadline approaches and the Dodgers continue to look for ways to improve their team, a familiar reliever has been linked to LA in Kenley Jansen of the Detroit Tigers. The veteran closer who spent the first 12 years of his MLB life as a Dodger was predicted to land with the defending champions by a pair of key insiders. “He could be an inexpensive lottery ticket for the Dodgers, who could use a couple of extra arms in the bullpen,” they wrote. “The Tigers would probably be content with just unloading what remains of Jansen’s one-year, $11 million deal.” It’s unknown how much longer Jansen will play in the major leagues, especially since he is 38 years old. But this would be a special story for the four-time All-Star to have the chance to finish his career in the place where it all started.
Take the camera’s off the kid and give him a break for heavens sake.
He needs time to grow and surrounded by superstars isn’t as easy as some think! Like his desire and has his hands full with Smith out and handling this pitching staff. And you saw how the Dodgers handled things first hand and what makes them so successful! It’s all good kid.
Since both Yamamoto and Ohtani now dont seem to be in the hunt for a Cy Young, there may be some shoulder soreness in their future when Snell and Glasnow come back in second half. And we’ll see Ryan as well. Just a shame about Stone. I really like him.
I remember Mark posted something here about a conversation he had with a minor league bus driver. The driver was describing some of the players and the personalities. My memory could be hazy – I’m middle aged and had concussion recently, so I’m not trusting my recall – but the bus driver had insight about some notable players. I think he was glowing about Freeland. He described Rushing as an angry guy.
I’m probably in a minority here, but I don’t care for him – even before he started butting heads with Ohtani behind the plate last night – and unless he suddenly progresses to superstardom with his bat, I hope the Dodgers eventually trade him and get another competent back up catcher.
He’s just an a-hole. I know the type: arrogant, quick to get in your face about something stupid, thinks they know everything, quick to put people down and insult them, dirty and dishonest. In modern parlance, we call these people douchebags.
No, there is a difference between Rushing plowing into a second basemen trying to turn a double play and Chase Utley doing it. Utley had a quiet intensity. He wasn’t out there looking for a confrontation or looking to hurt people. If Utley got down and dirty, it was to help the team. He was smart about it. Utley was respected throughout the league because of this. Rushing already has a really bad reputation in the league – for things like walking away from an injured opposing player laying on the ground while muttering “yeah, fuck him.”
I can tell Ohtani hates him. Last night wasn’t the first time there have been issues between the two. Ohtani is probably the nicest, most respected player in baseball – and most respectful players in baseball. I mean, he tips his cap to the opposing dugout before each game (except the Padres, LOL). If Ohtani hates you, you’re probably a POS.
That’s’ my rant.
Nice rant. Rushing will get it together and Doc showed why the players love him. Spent the whole half inning with Rushing calming him down, as did the coaches. So classy.
Smitty to 1B or 3B and we bring up a backup to Rushing. With the offense we have, Rushing doesn’t need to because star, just a big bulky catcher with some pop. Convincing Smitty to move might take some finesse.
Mookie played defense like an all star last night, Ohtani left it all in the field and Pages is stressing. We got this AF, just follow the advice you read on this blog and “forgetaboutit.”
With Dryer’s inconsistency, I could see the Dodgers trading for Chapman.
“Mookie is back!”
We’ll see. He certainly was last night.
“No to Skubal.” Probably. We’ll see about that too. Glasnow and Snell are ghosts, Ohtani, Wrobleski and Yamamoto are working damn hard early. I still believe all will need R&R sometime during this long extremely hot summer. The season is half over. The easy half is behind them.
Eventually there will be some ranting and raving about what is going on with the new CBA. and how it will affect each club. Another championship run by the Los Angeles Dodgers will undoubtedly cause rival owners to become even more immovable in their demands for a hard salary cap. League insiders and baseball executives widely agree that the Dodgers’ unprecedented spending is the primary catalyst driving the owners’ aggressive stance in the current CBA. Team leadership’, including Friedman, Freddie and Roberts argument that their back-to-back (and maybe back again) championships are a product of elite scouting, player development, and organizational depth, rather than purely buying wins on the open market will fall on deaf ears. Make no mistake, they are doing it all with money.
In the meantime, life is good in Dodgerland. They are winning without their first team on the field. You can bet that contributes to the shared angst among the other MLB collectives.
Nice win last night! Again one bad inning for Ohtani. Was it Dalton’s pitch calling or just another case of Ohtani not executing his pitches? In either case, Ohtani sure corrected it after that inning.
The bullpen was good, even though Hurt was a little shaky at times. Vesia was much better. And Scott looks locked in!
Mookie has his confidence back! I hope Doc leaves him where he’s at in the lineup!
On the other hand, he should move Pages down as soon as possible! Heck, the way Freeland’s swinging the bat, move him to the 2 spot!
Dalton absolutely had a meltdown last night. Doc handled it perfectly. Even grown men can lose it like a 10 year old sometimes. Hopefully he learns from this and is better than what we saw from him last night!
Lineup looked stable last 2 games. Maybe a few games off will give Tucker a reset. They need him to be the “Tucker” we saw in Houston!
Skubal didn’t help his trade value last night, giving up 3 homers to the Yankees. Doesn’t appear he will be a Dodger this season. But a smaller acquisition is still possible. A lot of could depend on how Sheehan pitches this coming weekend. He needs to right the ship in order to remain in the mix.
I’m going out on a limb here and predicting the Brewers acquire Skubal. Just a hunch. Miseroski, Harris , and Skubal? Lethal!!
Emil crushed that.
Thanks for Foeller response, Jeff 🙂
Leiter might be our highest ceiling SP prospect.