- After losing 50 games in a row, Clayton Kershaw was called in to stop the bleeding and he did! He also got a walk, a hit and scored a run and made a great base-running play, with an aggressive slide, which you really don’t want him doing. The trainers immediately came out, but he seemed OK. I guess his warrior mentality won’t let him do anything less. Roberts took him out after 91 pitches – he still is saving him for the playoffs.
- Cody Bellinger is back to taking what they give him. He had a nice bunt in his first AB. If other players did that, the other team would have to reconsider the shift. Cody also was walked 3 times, but the new #5 hitter drove in 2 runs. Hawkeye was right. Let Puig hit #5 and leave him there, the #1 through #5 spots in the lineup are very potent.
- Grandal is currently struggling as is Granderson. I think Dave Roberts wants to get both untracked for the playoffs and the fact is: both could play a huge role in the playoffs, but at what cost? I think both players would be better served by sitting for 3 or 4 games, Let Barnes and Ethier play.
- It appears that they are not going to give Alex Verdugo a shot this year. I guess that is fine – we will see him next year.
- Austin Barnes has the highest batting average against RHP in all of baseball according to the Dodgers announcers. Come playoff time, he has to be in there every day. The verdict is in: Austin Barnes should be the everyday catcher! I like Grandal, but he has been outplayed. He is not playing horrible, but Barnes is playing great.
- On the other hand, Granderson IS horrid. On paper, he looks like a fit. But, he has failed to deliver. That doesn’t mean he will continue, but what do you do? Look at Josh Reddick last year. He was horrid in August, hitting .161, but came back in September and hit .400. Of course, most of you only remember that .161, not the .400. He also hit .308 in the post-season. Dave wants Grandy for the playoffs. I get that…
- It’s looking like A-Gon will not be on the playoff roster. He is still having major back issues.
- Is Dave deliberately “babying” Andre Ethier just to make sure he is healthy or is Andre not capable of playing a lot right now? At times his bat looks slow. Maybe it’s just me….
- Alex Wood needs to be dropped from the rotation. His fall off in velocity is very troubling. Maybe by pitching one or two innings at a time he can recover it. Otherwise, he looks like a surgery waiting to happen. The rotation is strong enough to allow that.
- Has anyone seen Brock Stewart or Brandon McCarthy?
- The play that Cody Bellinger made at 1B to leap about 38″ in the air and catch a high throw from Justin Turner and in the same motion (on the way down) was the best play by a 1B I can remember! That was astounding! Cody is simply the best 1B in baseball! If you didn’t see that play, you need to watch it on Dodgers.com.
- OK, the monkey (more like a gorilla) is off their pack. Play ball!
Discussion (71)
Disagree, not disagreeable
For those hoping to see Austin Barnes starting at 2B or C tonight, sorry.
Taylor
Seager
Turner
Belly
Puig
Utley
Grandal
Ethier
Pitcher
I would hit Grandal 8th out of this group. Seems like the correct place for the all or nothing hitter who draws walks. I don’t think they’re doing Ethier any favors batting him 8th. I guess this keeps the two lefties from being back to back.
A.C. – Really apprec your posts… Don’t know if you’ve already done it, but when you get a chance, could you give us a little rundown on what to expect/look for from the Arizona Fall Lg. Dodger group… I usually run over to Camelback a couple times to see the crew…
Mark
If I have to say I am a robot, to get the simplemath equations back, I am a robot, and I am proud to be a robot, please could you bring those simple math equations, back!
I think even the people who complained about those simple match equations, would regret that now!
On Wednesday, the Tulsa Drillers beat the Midland RockHounds (A’s) 5-4 to take a 2 games to none lead in the best 3 out of 5 Texas League Championship. Scott Barlow pitched a strong 7 innings allowing a single run on 8 hits, 0 walks, and 3 strikeouts. Three relievers finished the final two innings to complete the victory with Daniel Corcino getting his 2nd series save. Offensively, Matt Beaty, Kyle Garlick, and Blake Gailen all had three hits each. Drew Jackson had two. Game three will be played in Tulsa. The Drillers have not yet named their starting pitcher. The RockHounds will be sending 23 year old RHSP Heath Fillmyer to the mound. Fillmyer went 11-5 with a 3.49 ERA. He pitched 149.2 innings with 55 walks and 115 strikeouts.
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In Game 1 of the Pioneer League Championship, Ogden Raptors beat the Great Falls Voyagers (White Sox) 7-4. Rylan Bannon slugged 2 3-run HR’s to account for 6 RBI’s to pace the offense. Gersel Pitre also had 2 hits for the Raptors, and Luis Paz added a home run to account for the 7th run. The Raptors sent five pitchers to the mound with Devin Hemmerich getting the win (2.2 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 1 BB, and 3 K). Justin Hoyt picked up the save. Game 2 will be played in Great Falls on Saturday. 22 year old RHSP Osiris Ramirez will get the start for Ogden, while 22 year old RHSP Lincoln Henzman will start for the Voyagers.
JD Martinez what a steal and what a fit for Arizona. They got exactly what they needed and he has flat out performed. I was thinking why don’t we ever get a trade deadline guy who actually helps. They usually not only don’t perform but are worse than usual. But then I thought of a name, Manny Ramirez, he was just too good to be true when the dodgers got him at the deadline. We just need someone to hit or pitch over their head in the playoffs. Could kershaw finally become a hot pitcher? Could Taylor get hot? Could grandal get into a hot streak? Who knows but maybe somebody can be that guy or more than one.
Well I passed the street sign challange but couldn’t with the road challenge. I’d much rather do the math.
The team is obviously hoping Granderson gets back into a groove, he did so earlier in the year. Why not see if it can happen?
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Gotta hope Calhoun continues to perform.
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Wait. What happened to the silly math question? Why do we even need a captcha here? Is volume that high?
I would keep pitching Beuhler. With a little more experience he could be a very useful piece in the play offs. He has good stuff. Morrow looks like he has nailed the 8th inning spot down.
I noticed watching the game last nite,that Darvish fast ball was sitting on 94mph.and his control was better than his last outing .he didn’t hit 97mph not once.
We win one tomorrow that’s called a winning streak.
Back to a little normalcy!!! Good to see Calhoun producing and especially in the AL…
The thought of a healthy Toles leading off next year and a glut of young pitchers fighting for spots is exciting… Life is good at the Ravine…
No one mentions Kershaw and what will be done???
Good news to wake up to.
Our streak is at 2.
Did everyone see that Calhoun played in his first major league game?
In his first swing, he hit a grounder to rightfield , to hit in a run, and he played in left, and it said he made some good plays in left, because the ball always finds the new guy.
I believe Grandal will be traded in the off season because he has value. We just have lots of prospects close to ready to fill the catching void. Agon will announce his retirement. Either will not be resigned even tho he has some trade value.
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Puig has hit into 20 double plays but not one in (approx.) the last three weeks.
Tonight’s lineup:
Taylor
Seager
Turner
Belly
Forsythe
Barnes
Kike
Puig
Darvish
I like the players, don’t love the order 5-8, but it’s a start. Ethier scheduled to start on Friday vs Nats.
Mark that is a great future lineup. A lot of power, speed, and youth in that lineup. In my last post I meant to substitute hill for wood. Wood to the bullpen. Verdugo could be the leadoff with his obp.
I live in the present, but think about the future:
(2018)
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1. Toles CF
2. Seager SS
3. Turner 3B
4. Bellinger 1B
5. Taylor 2B
6. Barnes C
7. Puig RF
8. Verdugo LF
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Ethier, Utley, Gonzalez, Forsythe, Granderson, Grandal = GONE!
Great win last night!! I don’t care how it happened it did happen. I agree with marks post for the most part. Barnes needs to play. He always seems to give a quality at bat. While grandal sees pitches you know when it is a 3-2 count he is going to strikeout if he doesn’t hit into a double play first. Grandal is a notorious streak hitter with very good power but right now he is in one of his horrendous slumps. Barnes is not a strikeout or double play candidate. He needs to play down the stretch to gain even more confidence whereas if anybody needs a rest it is grandal. You can rest grandal while playing an equal or better catcher. Forget woods he is just like Baez we have seen this before. Put him in the bullpen where he might help. Then maybe he can be our 4fh starter when needed. If Ryu is strong next time out I would pitch him in the playoffs. Maeda bullpen, fading just like last year. So kershaw, darvish, Ryu, and wood. He is babying Ethier maybe to keep healthy but against righties he could be an asset. I still haven’t given up on granderson because like grandal he can get as hot as he is cold. Plus, we just don’t have a solid better answer. Ethier is very risky considering his health. Where is toles when you need him? Maybe Ethier can turn the post season into a fairy tale story. We need a Bucky dent, a Murphy, gene tenace, somebody who just plays way over their head in the playoffs.
interesting article about the “real Dodgers” – the reasons for the recent slide and what the future may hold.
http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/page/pennant913/mlb-roundtable-wrong-los-angeles-dodgers
Oh lordy, those two soft ‘hits’ in the ninth had me ripping my hair out! How is it that this game can be so damn frustrating to a team like this? I swear it feels like a valid curse (and I don’t believe in those… at all)? This team is definitely a conundrum wrapped in a riddle!
How about the throw Puig made from right field to 3rd base? If you haven’t seen it you need to watch a clip of it. Not many (any) others can make a throw like that.
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I want to join the “sit Grandal and Granderson” bandwagon. You can’t compete with major league teams when you are playing with 2 or 3 automatic outs in your lineup.
Granderson and Grandal must sit for a while. I never thought Granderson made a lot of sense. Hitting at the bottom of the order and occasionally popping one out with his .225 batting avg. Okay fine I guess, but to me he’s a bench player. These low avg. good OPS guys don’t come up with clutch hits or move runners over when they need to do so. Granderson strikes outs, hits hard foul balls, or grounds out into the shift. Maybe Codylove should give him a bunting lesson. Now when you put him and Grandal back to back it exacerbates the issue. I’m not a Grandal hater. I think he does a good job with the pitchers(AJ was way overrated by Dodger fans), and he throws a lot better than Barnes. However, he looks just like he did at the end of 2015 when he was injured and Mattingly kept trotting him out there. Give him a timeout. He needs a few days off. Barnes needs to be in the lineup everyday right now. As for Wood, I tend to disagree. Especially with Darvish still trying to get it together. I’m not replacing him with Ryu or Maeda and especially not Brandon McCarthy. Although, it is interesting to put him in the pen because I don’t think the Dodgers have truly done anything to bridge the gap to Kenley this year other than Morrow.
Why must I keep choosing cars and road signs to post here the last few days?
Mark
About Reddick, he was mainly a singles hitter, once he started hitting, and he hit in very very few runs, and when he did hit in a run, it was usually in a game that was out of hand, and we were wining, by a lot of runs.
And he made more errors in the outfield in the short time he was with the team, then any of our other outfielders made, all season long, not to mention, he got picked off base, about three times!
He was simply terrible!
Brandon McCarthy may be found back on the roster September 19. He is currently on the 60 day DL because of blister issues. Now, whether he pitches or not…??
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Austin Barnes does deserve to play every day. His ability to hit RHP should serve him well thru the remainder of the season and into the playoffs. Of the potential playoff teams, only the Cubs have 2 LHSP as projected starters (Lester and Quintana). The Nats have 1 (Gonzalez, who will pitch Sunday), and the DBacks have 1 (Ray…Corbin is not a playoff starter). None of the four scheduled Rockies starters are left handed (Freeland is currently their #5). The Brewers and Cardinals have no left handed starters. Of course he is not bad against LHP, just not as good as against RHP.
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I was opposed to Puig batting #5, but agreed that he was the best choice of multiple bad choices. However, he is proving to be a good #5 right now. Now if he can begin to hit LHP (at least as good as Barnes). Hopefully that starts tonight against Matt Moore.
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With respect to Grandy, I do expect that he will continue to be included in the lineup to get untracked. Right or wrong, Doc likes Grandy. If he does turn it around, he has some very interesting batting lines against some of the Cubs/Nationals playoff pitchers he may expect to see. For those pitchers that he has at least 15 AB:
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Jake Arrieta .313/.351/.719/1.070
Jon Lester .294/.345/.549/.894
Max Scherzer .265/.390/.529/.920
Tanner Roark .333/.400/.593/.993
Edwin Jackson .313/.389/.750/1.139 (Friday’s pitcher)
And then…
Gio Gonzalez .122/.182/.220/.401
Stephen Strasburg .136/.345/.136/.481
Zach Greinke .190/.239/.397/.636 (Yes, I know he is a DBack, but he has more AB’s against Zach than the others.)
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Ethier should start Friday against Edwin Jackson. His batting line against Jackson is .294/.333/.647/.980 with 2 HRs. He should not face Gonzalez or Strasburg. He is 0-4 and 4 K’s against Gonzalez, and 1-10 with 5 K’s against Strasburg. It would have been interesting to see him against Scherzer, and should put him on the playoff roster if they play the Nats. Against Scherzer he is .333/.385/.542/.926 (24 AB’s). 2 HRs and only 3Ks. He might get some quality AB’s against the Phillies, as they are projected to throw 4 RHSP.
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Alex Wood deserves at least one more start. If he continues to wear down and his velocity continues to drop, then I agree that he should be removed from the rotation, not just for the team, but also for him. But he is 14-3, and was very instrumental in getting the Dodgers to where they are now. If Grandy/Pederson/Grandal/AGon/Forsythe get the benefit of the doubt, why shouldn’t Alex Wood? His injury still seems to stem from his SC joint. Surgery is a remote possibility. Rest is generally the antidote, that calms down the inflammation. It’s not dislocated, but it could be degenerative which could be a problem for him in the future. A degenerative condition leads to pain, stiffness, and reduced motion in the shoulder and arm. If it continues, he would probably need to be in the bullpen so he can go hard for 1-2 innings. He could become the logical bridge to Jansen. But for now, he deserves to start. Of course this is like chumming for sharks. His detractors are now going to come out and say “I told you he is too brittle, too injury prone, to be in the rotation.”
Watford my man… Keep your head down and the pints close…
On a road trip up north… With Harvey, Irma and seeing what the fires are doing to my Pacific N.W., an 11 game or whatever losing streak not high on my list of concerns…
April I said 94W and a shoo in for NLW… After that it’s the crap shoot of all crap shoots!!!
That being said, I’m confident we play in the Fall Classic…