Old and Pathetic

Nice rant.

I would to offer a rebuttal but I have none. I’ll leave that to others.

Things either change or in spite of winning the division we will not be in the playoffs for long.

Something is wrong with Ohtani physically. Give him some time off.

Back in the day the Dodgers had a name for the bullpen, they called it “canned heat”. This current bullpen needs a name also - I suggest “ The Arson Squad “.

I sure as hell hope that this is not the Team we take to the playoffs.

AF/BG thought it was wise to bring back the same old group of characters with the additions of overpaid Tucker and Diaz for an historic run at a three peat,but instead they should have injected more talented youth to the roster from our minor league system or by trade. That might be the FATAL mistake that keeps the Dodgers from achieving that goal.Right now what I see and evaluate, I'm NOT sold on a third World Series Championship in three years. I'm hoping I'm wrong.

Thursday’s Dodger Affiliates' Schedule 1:00 p.m. PT: Great Lakes (Sean Patick) at Lake County (Jackson Humphries) Game 2: Great Lakes (Brooks Auger) vs. Lake County (Will McCausland) 4:45 p.m. PT: Oklahoma City (Jackson Ferris) at Round Rock (Blake Townsend) 5:00 p.m. PT: Tulsa (Aidan Foeller) vs. Wichita (Cory Lewis) 6:35 p.m. PT: Ontario (TBD) vs. Rancho Cucamonga (Derek Clark)

I'm okay with Friedman going to the Angels and taking Ohtani with him especially if Tucker is part of the package.

Then find a way to not have Kike', Rojas, Teo, ....

The best thing about last night’s game was Alan Porter the HPU. Did you notice how many ABS Challenges there were. ZERO He may have missed 3 pitchers, all close ones in the 8th. The guy is the best in the business.

Well sooner or later everything changes. If AF leaves, someone else will come in and take over . Gomes? Maybe. There’s no question that AF has taken the Dodgers to a different level in the sport. Tampa Bay has sustained a strong organization without him. Of course they don’t have the financial resources the Dodgers have, but they keep on winning and developing talent all over the field. All this said, AF has whiffed on a few acquisitions lately. Of course they all can’t be expected to be successful , like Conforto, Tucker, Diaz. Maybe Tucker and Diaz could get back to their old selves, but I doubt it. I don’t see the Los Angeles Dodgers going anywhere anytime soon! The Dodgers aren’t just about money. Hell the Yankees haven’t won since 2009. And they have tons of money! The Dodgers logo has been the most beautiful on any jersey ever. Many will try and imitate it, nobody can replace it. Of course it’s time to start getting younger. Teo will be gone after the season. Kike will move on. Probably somewhere like Miami with old friend Clayton M. Freddie and Max more than likely will be gone after 2027. And then there’s Rojas. I still don’t think he retires after the season. One more season and I won’t be shocked to see him in the dugout sitting beside Doc. Mookie moves to second base and a young shortstop is brought in. The A’S have one they might have interest in. Would love Bobby Whitt, but can’t see the Royals committing baseball suicide! Abram’s isn’t a good enough defender for me. Unless he’s acquired and moved to second base, which means Mookie would stay at shortstop. Ain’t happening. Starting pitching is well above average even without Ohtani. So even if Ohtani flees to the Angels or somewhere else, the pitching is superb. ( bullpen not included). If Ohtani continues to want to pitch, I believe his offense will continue to suffer, just like his physical ability to do both will continue to be a concern. So replacing him might not be as hard as we might think. I’m not saying he isn’t a great player, only a fool would think that. I don’t believe he can be elite at both pitching and batting anymore. Hell, trade Tucker if at all possible possible and make Ohtani the everyday right fielder. ( if he wants to do it which he probably won’t). Bottom line? The Dodgers are the Dodgers! They will never have a problem getting top talent to come play there. Not giving up on this season or the guys who have won it all 3 of the past 5 seasons. Signs are there. Mookie is swinging a good bat . Freddie too. Pages will be back and rested. Max is still proving lots of us to how little we really know about evaluating talent. Especially what’s in players hearts. Will Smith just missed a walkoff last night. Teo ? Maybe he gets hot just at the right time! Maybe someone else will be the “Sasaki” in the bullpen this postseason. The Brewers aren’t young and exciting. The Braves, Cubs, Phillies, all are talented and World Series contenders. But the champs are still champs until they aren’t.

Once again they snatch defeat from the jaws of victory! Pathetic. Forget three peats. This team will be lucky to make it out of the first round of the playoffs. Ohtani has been brutal.

I don’t know what’s sillier, thinking that JDP makes sense as a call-up, thinking that the Cubs’ hitting instructor Kelly isn’t also a slug/launch angle guy, or thinking that Conforto, a veteran, changes his approach because of the hitting coach.

But Mark is just driving conversation, and he’s exceptionally good at that.

Age was bound to catch up with some Dodgers... but it does seem like it's catching up with several at the same time. The silver (gray?) lining from today's loss were the homers from Freddie and Mookie. While Father Time stalks this team, I'm still reserving my disgust for.... Tucker? Well, sort of.... But it's not his fault that he was offered $240m for four years. Do we dare admit that the mighty AF screwed up? I like the idea of promoting JdP. Something is needed to give the aging offense a jolt. Pretty wild and fun speculation that Kronke will take AF and Shohei down to Anaheim. That would be quite the challenge for AF! The way things are going now, it wouldn't be a surprise if the Dodgers get knocked out early in the postseason. Perhaps it would force a reckoning and a youth movement next Spring. Maybe the Dodgers have a true prodigy down on the farm. Emil Morales, perhaps...

BTW, the AI needs to find a different image of Miguel Rojas.....

I’m not a big one for over reacting, but I have to say that this prolonged period of anemic offense has been hard to watch.

However, this is what my eyes tell me. We aren’t far away.

Recently, particularly on the last road trip, we lost a number of games by one run. Of course Baseball is that kind of game, where momentum plays a huge part, but it tells me that we are nearly there. I see positives in the fact that no hitter is ice cold anymore, although the team has been unable to piece together the jigsaw, and all hit together. The once frigid Mookie certainly looks better. Edman had a two hit night on Wednesday, Tucker had a hit and a walk last night, and has had a few of those games. Freddie is 3rd in the NL Batting Championship, hitting over .300. Will is back and hit it hard. The biggest reason for optimism was Teo’s night - some very hard hit balls and a recent HR. Max has been great all year. I’m seeing some life it just hasn’t manifested itself into W’s yet but it will. Experience of post season play and the bright lights is something our boys have in spades. Don’t underestimate it. Step forward Kike.

There isn’t a fan base anywhere that wouldn’t want our starting rotation and they are all pitching well. If they can go 6/7 innings we have a great chance. The Bullpen is spluttering but when the post season adrenaline kicks in, those boys will be amped. Remember last year when we had exactly the same worries at this time? Look how that worked out. Unexpected hero Roki put on his Superman Suit and the rest of the pen were lights out.

The elephant in the room is obviously Ohtani. We clearly is injured and I find it a little disappointing and disrespectful to his teammates that he is embarrassing himself with his current performance. If this was anyone else they would have been on the IL weeks ago. He is currently hurting the team. It sends a bad precedent - that he is allowed to play injured to a much lower level than expected. The decision should have been made by now and not by him.

Getting a fit and rested Andy Pages back will also be a huge boost.

I know it’s hard, but patience is needed here. We really aren’t as far away as it seems. We will hit together and the confidence will soar and we will be a different beast in the Playoffs.

I like our chances.

You now what wins in the postseason. Experience and vets. Brewers looked head and shoulders better than us last year.....yall saw what happned.

Keep doubting this team.

It doesnt look good now, but that does NOT mean anything for October.

This team has earned our trust and Ill give it to em....

I am sure the players are feeling the pressure of winning 3 titles in a row. Think about it, ever since they won game 7 in Toronto that's all the media and fan base have heard for the last 10 months. 3 Peat, 3 Peat, 3 Peat, never been done in the NL.

Plus every series they play, they are the hunted and that has to wear on you after awhile instead of just relaxing and playing the game. Just guessing is all. Some takes are gloom and doom and others are rah rah so just trying to be neutral.

Agree with others though that Ohtani needs either an IL stint or a few days off because we need him to be the 2024/2025 version if we want to make a deep run in October.

With all the talk about the offense and age, the real issue with the club is the bullpen. The bullpen is horrendous. I know 1-18 with RISP looks bad, but you have to get a lot of guys on base to have that manny opportunities to score, and the Dodgers did that vs. St. Louis. They've scored 14 runs in the two games, and I know three were unearned because of an error. Still 11 runs in two games and a ton of guys on base isn't bad. The more guys you put on base will eventually come around to score. The Dodgers have been one of the better clubs in MLB in hitting with RISP as Patch and myself have noted here over the last couple of days. I'm not super worried about the offense. But that bullpen....Gross.

The Dodgers have an annoying habit of sticking with Non-producing players for too long and giving them too much rope. For instance Kyle Tucker on the offensive side. On the pitching side it extends to the relievers. Often times relievers are brought in the next day and blow games on consecutive nights. Looking at the numbers from the relievers who the last time I checked ranked 18th in ERA, and near the bottom of the league in Walks, basic pitching 101 escapes them. They have a ton of mediocre relievers that are doing way too much pitching lab stuff instead of coming in, throwing strikes, getting ahead in counts and holding leads. Last night perfect example. Once Yamamoto gave up that home run in the seventh inning I knew the game was lost. The score was 5-4 and there was no way that the weak Dodger bullpen can hold a one-run lead. at least not right now.

Too many are coming in and throwing sweepers and sliders and they walk too many hitters. either they just suck with command or the Dodgers are instructing them to chase the chase and nibble to get opposing hitters to chase outside the zone. I remember during the Milwaukee series Evan Phillips came in during the 7th or 8th inning, made around 20 pitches and threw nothing but sweepers. I've always said pitching 101 helps here. Throwing strikes, but the foundation of good pitching has always been a strong high fastball. High cheese. Mix in some off-speed stuff, slider, change, or curve, get ahead in counts and limit walks. Now you got something.

I don't see that with this group. The Dodgers will have to do something like they did last year. The starting pitchers have already pitched a lot of innings, which is good. They'll have to use the excess starters as relievers again. There is nobody in the minors that is going to help on either side of the ball because of the way the Dodgers draft (depth instead of high ceiling type players). In regards to the bats, It's difficult to throw JDP into the fire in September when he has never even seen triple-A pitching, let alone major league pitching.

Why is Tucker still playing in general? It's time to bench him. He's not going to suddenly "figure it out" or play through it. We're in September, his season is over. I love the Dodgers spending money, but some of their free agent signings have been total busts. Conforto, Scott, Tucker, Diaz, even Sasaki has pitched poorly in 80% of his outtings. If the Dodgers try and trot out Diaz again, he will likely be inneffective and blow more games and piss everyone off. Those guys need rest and a reset. Send them home for the winter.

The truth is the Dodgers don't care about these games. They are 9 games ahead in the NL West (10 up in the loss column), even with the poor play. They are going to win the division and that's what they care about. They don't care about playoff positioning or getting the bye week. They won the World Series last year from the Wild Card round and starting every series on the road. They can do it again.

Years ago there was a reliever named Juan Berenguer. One of his nicknames was El Gasolino. When he came into a game it was like throwing a can of gas on a fire - it exploded. The Dodgers have 20 blown saves in 58 opportunities (66% conversion rate). 35% of inherited runners have scored, 9th most. they have walked 212 in 463 innings, or .45 walks per IP, leading to a WHIP of 1.27, vs 1.09 by the starters.

Too many walks, too many baserunners, too many runs allowed by the pen.

I totally agree with Mark about the age issue. I posted about it yesterday.

I’m speechless! And my wife is happy

Lauer on IL with Elbow inflamation. Trinen activated

On the podcast Bluto referenced yesterday, Bruce Kuntz opined that the offense was struggling, not slumping. And I understand the difference he was making. Is the team aging as Mark alluded to? I have said the same for two years now. I thought and wrote that the window was still wide open, but it will start to close if they do not inject youth into the roster.

The team was 1-18 wRISP last night. The one? Freddie’s HR. 5 of the 6 runs they scored were on HR. The other run? The Dodgers did not have to move a runner to 2nd; Smith was placed there. He got to 3rd on a passed ball with nobody out. Perfect opportunity for Shohei to make contact and drive in a run. Instead, he K’d for the 4th time. He looks hurt. Smith scored on a ground ball out. That, plus a 3-run HR from the aging Freddie, and a 2-run HR from the aging Mookie was the LAD offense. The youngster, Kyle Tucker? One single, a flair into LF 64.3 MPH, but it worked. He stole 2nd with nobody out and was stranded.

I know I sound like a broken record to Patch and others, but this team is built to slug. Last night’s 1-18 wRISP was a bit over dramatic in that sense, but how long have we been talking about the lack of situational hitting?

I was not very warm to the idea of calling up JDP. It was later reported it was JTIII that was going to get the call and not JDP. I can understand that, but I think the fan base would have preferred to see what JDP could do. What would it hurt to bring up a kid to try and light some kind of fire into this offense. Yasiel Puig made his debut on June 3, 2013. He was 22 with only 167 PA in AA. He had a total of 340 PA in MiLB before getting called up to the Dodgers. The team was 23-32, in 5th place 7.5 GB. They were 69-38 once Puig arrived. So yes, a young Wild Horse can make a difference.

The Dodgers are pathetic. 1. The relievers are pyromaniacs. 2. The position players are all 40+. 3. The starters are AAAA at best. 4. The bench is the invisible man. 5. The scouts read braille . 6. The analytic guys are watching porn. 7. The coaches are comparing meds. 8. Andrew is crapshooting. 9. Guggenheim is a museum . The Dodgers are pathetic . Book em

Can we please stop with this AI Slop???

Josue De Paula becomes the 9th Minor Leaguer since 2020 to record 100 RBIs and 100 runs in one season -- and he's the 5th @Dodgers prospect to do it in that span: James Outman (2022) Michael Busch (2022) Jason Martin (2022) Ryan Ward (2025) Josue De Paula (2026)

I’m on board with Bear! It’s not negativity to state the obvious. Ohtani may or may not be injured. Regardless, he’s been awful for the better part of a month. If , and if he’s hurt , SIT HIM!! 4 k’s in a row? And 4 BAD k’s! Nobody’s giving up on this season. But we have to be honest with ourselves. This team is in a bad way. But like Bear said, there are some good signs. As far as the front office goes, in my opinion they failed Doc and the team by not upgrading the bench at the deadline. Like I said in an earlier post, you can rearrange old furniture in your house all you want to. It’s still the same old furniture! AF sent down the one good base stealer they had . Ohtani? Probably shouldn’t be stealing if his leg is bad. Right? If 6-7 of them get hot and hit like they should , this team with those starters can go a long ways in October and November. But Ohtani needs to hit! Doesn’t necessarily need to pitch!

Are the Dodgers getting old. Obviously they are. As is every teams players. Does the team need to get younger? Of course they do. But is the team right now over the hill?

Ohtani: clearly not hitting and taking bad at bats. Is it age or injury. Reports are he had a bad knee and some bicep issue. Roberts has intimated that Ohtani might need some time off.

Freeman: Old yes but is hitting at his career batting average. Even with his power outage, he was, as of Jeff’s article from a few days ago, within 3 homers from last year. I suggest, there is nothing to see here.

Betts: season long slump, same as last year. Around this time he started hitting. Is yesterday an indication of the same? Time will tell.

Muncy: Basically having a Muncy type year with the same streakiness. Not sure there’s anything here.

Edman: After a hot start, he’s cooled down to his career average. Nothing surprising.

Smith: Not hitting well this year but catching 70+ innings in the playoffs plus participating in the WBC, his performance is not surprising. His injury might be the best thing that happened to him.

T. Hernandez: started off strong but has not hit well since coming back from injury. It’s doubtful that his bad performance since July is due to age given he had a month or so off due to injury. Yesterday’s performance was good. Time will tell if he’s turned the corner.

Pages: Having a good year. I don’t think anyone believes he is old.

Tucker: Who knows what’s going on. Heard somewhere his wife had a baby this year. Is that why he’s not hitting good at home? He was hitting good on the road but that seems to have changed recently. I think we are all mystified by his performance. Whatever it is, I don’t think age has anything to do with it.

Here’s a crazy story from last night:

Man found dead hanging right outside Dodger Stadium during the game.