Evidently Rich Hill doesn’t flourish in Spring Training, and while he was not in mid-season form last night, he was pretty good. Five innings was enough – let him go six his next start. You have to love this guy’s story, determination and never-say-die attitude. What are the odds that a guy finally figures it out at 36 year old and becomes a star? Probably about the same that he will make 30 starts. Sometimes you catch lightening in a bottle. He is in the best shape of his life and playing for a team he wants to play for. I’m not saying he will start 30 games, but it is possible… for Rich Hill! I love his enthusiasm and animation. It gives his teammates a charge too. By the way, he may have came out of the game early because he got hit on the wrist. It was x-rayed after the game and was negative.
Logan Forsythe is rapidly becoming one of the team leaders. Watch him in the dugout and around the field. Players know who the “players” are and he is right up there with Chase Utley. Sabermetric geeks don’t necessarily value character – I think Friedman, Zaidi, Byrnes, Kapler and Anthopoulos all value character, thus Utley, Gutierrez and Forsythe. Kershaw, Hill, A-Gon, Seager and a bunch of others are all of that High Character Ilk.
If this is what Alex Wood can do in the pen, then that changes everything! I was having Andrew Miller Flashbacks. He was dialing it up in the mid 90’s and he can pitch multiple innings. The Dodgers have plenty of starters so this may be Wood’s best spot. He’s a thin guy, so he’s not a workhorse starter, but he’s a guy who can pitch two or three innings at a time… or close and anything in-between. I like Alex Wood a lot! Throw in Dayton, Stripling, Avilan and Romo and someone will have to be chopped when Pedro Baez comes back… with a Hatchet! Then there is Liberatore… I can’t see where Chris Hatchet fits. I am not being mean to him… I just think he needs to go somewhere else with less pressure. Look at Jim Johnson in LA and then look at him in the ATL.
The Wild Horse is still the Wild Card. He needs to step up or he might step out. The Dodgers are putting him lower in the order to minimize the pressure and hopefully build his confidence. It would not surprise me if he hit 30 HR and batted .310… nor would it surprise me if he hit .249 with 12 HR. If he’s doing the later, he will be gone by the All-Star Break. I think the same is true with Kike Hernandez – he is getting a chance to play himself on or off the team. This is a process, after all. To me, if Kike does not make it, the next call up might be Thompson, not Taylor. Taylor is only a phone call away if Seager gets nicked. Logan Forsythe can play SS for a game if needed.
Don’t draw any conclusions from the Dodgers inability to hit LH Clayton Richard on Tuesday. Let it play out. Roberts thinks they will do better… but if they don’t, I guarantee they will go and get another RH bat to make it happen. These guys are on notice: Hit LH Pitching or we will get someone who will, like Braun or Martinez.
The Oakland A’s only allowed former Dodgers to pitch last night – Jharel Cotton, Frankie Montas and Daniel Coulombe. Coulombe and Montas looked very good. Cotton? Not so much. I like him, but only as a reliever.
Brandon McCarthy’s turn this afternoon in an early game.
Today’s Music
Discussion (35)
Disagree, not disagreeable
If Joc, Grandal, and Agon can defeat the shift with a bunt to 3rd base would really be a big deal…it would force teams to back off from the shift. They tried last night to no avail.
The offense is a bit shaky but the power potential is always there to blow games open. But most games will be tight and the Dodgers bullpen and defense will keep them in striking range. They need to grind out more at bats, taking walks, going the other way, get it out of the infield with RISP. Good to see Jansen get some work and Wood was excellent. This lineup will be fine but will need more runs against the Rockies and Cubs. The ball carries well in day games at Dodger Stadium and Weaver could get lit up today. McCarthy needs to avoid the long ball also and get some ground balls. 6 innings would be great for the entire staff heading to Coors Field.
Wood was good last night. The biggest thing is that he looked like he was having fun. Of course, he had a lead, and that helps. He might have the demeanor/mindset to be a bullpen guy. BTW: Either the Padres bullpen is really good or the Dodgers stunk it up the last 3-4 innings last night. All I saw were strikeouts, bad swings, bad takes. Turner got a bloop double. Pederson had a couple of K’s, the last one, looking at a fast ball right down the middle. For the Padres being terrible, the team has struggled the last 2 games. Remember last year when we swept them and the came back and swept us? Not this year. I’ll take a win today and move on to tough Rockies team. This next week should be interesting. The offense looks shaky.
Because it’s never too early to compare results of trades (or trades that fall through) 😉
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Brian Dozier – .250 BA .650 OPS
Logan Forsythe – .300 BA .762 OPS
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I guess technically you would have to compare the results of (Forsythe + Bellinger) vs. Dozier to properly keep score on this debate.
Great post today Mark! I can’t disagree with any of your points, some of which I have made before. Utley will play some at second, and Forsythe can play SS and 3B and I would argue is a better fielder than Kike at all 3 spots. Thompson can play all 3 OF positions and is a better bat than Kike or SVS. SVS is a 1B option when AGon sits against some lefties but he still has to hit enough to hold off Segedin if he is raking at OKC. Other than Baez and Urias I don’t think Minor League players will move around much the first month or so.
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AC, great comments also, please keep us updated on the minors-OKC and Rancho are especially stacked this year. I expect big things out of DJ Peters and someone will emerge as a big league set up guy (it could be McCarthy too)
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Day game today and I hope McCarthy pitches well. Stripling and Wood have both thrown multiple innings already and may again today. Some innings will be needed when they go to Coors, Ryu has a tough first test tomorrow.
Wood had some very good seasons as a very young pitcher, including 171 IP of 2.78 ERA ball in 2014 as a 23 yr old. He does have an injury history. Hopefully healthy this year.
The FAZophobes like to point out the Olivera mistake any chance they get. Olivera probably was FAZ’s biggest mistake, but they made amends very nicely by trading him for Woods and Peraza (I know there was others involved but Olivera was the main piece). I said on another board that $30M for Wood, “Wasn’t too Bad”. The FAZophobes ridiculed that statement, I stand by it. Dodgers only ended up paying about $30M of Olivera’s $62M contract, Atlanta and SD are paying the rest. Oh course, the trade comes with another cost, NOBODY wants to trade with FAZ now.
I am willing to wait and see how Dodgers do against left-handers this year. What choice do we have? Puig needs to step-up big against lefties, but it’s going to have to be a team effort. I think we have the goods this year to do better.
Agree with most of your comments. It will be Taylor and not Thompson. I love Thompson, but how many outfielders do you need? The bull pen looked good. Hill looked good. I just hope they let Joc play against left handers. I am not a Kike fan anymore.
I once asked my son what makes for good chemistry in the dugout, and his quick one word response was…winning. Take it for what it was, one person’s take. I do agree that having a dugout of players of good character is important, and having “players” like Utley and Forsythe are critical, especially to the young players. My son’s go to guy was Mike Lieberthal with the Phillies and Nomar (and Varitek) with the Bosox. He said players like Manny and Millar in the clubhouse were fun, but the young guys never went to them for advice (but Manny did buy my son his first travel suit). Can you imagine what Jeff Kent would be like in this dugout?
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As I said in the last thread, I am ambivalent as to whether Wood should start or relieve. I think he can be an Andrew Miller as a high leverage any inning reliever, but I also believe he can be a very good mid to back end rotation starter. I am just happy that he is doing it with the Dodgers. He is all of 26 years old, and one of those good guys Mark referred to above. I like Alex Wood, always have, and I hope he stays a Dodger a long time.
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I did not see the game last night, but when I had a chance and looked at the box score later in the game, I noticed that Hill only went 5 IP and 75 pitches, and had visions of Dodgerrick’s post. I later got a BR alert that said that Hill was going in for X-Rays on his wrist and thought that was why he came out. I later learned that it happened in inning 2, but these things have a tendency to swell so maybe that is why he was pulled. But this AM I read that it was Robert’s decision to remove him because it was early in the season and he fully expects both Maeda and Hill to go deeper; nothing about precautionary reasons for his wrist. Maybe someday I will do a study, but it seems that the Dodgers bring too many pitchers into spring camp, and do not get their starters enough innings to stretch out. It is a long 162 game season, and the baseball gurus undoubtedly know more than me, but it is a question in my mind.
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I think Baez will be ready next week, and Hatcher is going to be getting 2-3 additional opportunities before a decision is made. I think FAZ wants to be sure whether to keep Hatcher or DFA him. And no it is not due to ego because FAZ traded for him and is one of “their guys”, but because he does have a good arm. He gets two outs and then just loses concentration. If you can get him to break that trend, you might have a good reliever. But there is probably more upside with Baez (and Liberatore), so Hatcher is the odd man out.
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We get two LHSP against the Rox, and one more against the Cubs. We might learn more after the Cubs series, but Gutierrez did have two good ABs against Richard, and Forsythe had a good night as well, so the two new RH bats did what they were acquired for.
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I agree that Kike’ will be replaced by Thompson. Taylor is Seager’s backup, and he can be that in OKC playing everyday..
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Minor league play begins today. I was hoping to get to Stockton to see Opening Day for the Quakes, but it looks like rain. It looks like I will have to wait until Sunday to get my first look at our High A minor league team with extremely high expectations. I may not get to see Buehler or White (probably Dennis Santana or Caleb Ferguson). But I will get to see DJ Peters, Yusniel Diaz, Drew Jackson, Omar Estevez, Ibandel Estevez, Ariel Sandoval, Erick Mejia, Brandon Montgomery, and Will Smith (and hopefully Logan Landon and Luke Raley). I will probably get to see Spitzbarth, Istler, and/or Kremer as well.