Rich Hill’s ability to spin a curve ball is among the best in the majors and when he is on, his curve is unhittable (witness his last game). A rudimentary knowledge of physics should tell anyone that pitching in the desert with less humidity and “lighter” air is not condusive to a curve balls spinning and getting “bite” on the way to the plate. Some uninformed fans might think that Yasmani Grandal was called a bad game, but in reality, Rich Hill’s pitches has no “bite” and were not doing what he wanted. Rich Hill uses his curve and off speed pitches to set up his fastball which tops out at about 90. When he dosen’t have the curve working, he is pretty easy to hit.
Frankly, I am shocked that Dave Roberts lets him start in Arizona. Hopefully he learns from that and never does it again. Rich Hill should not pitch in Arizona. PERIOD! Next Spring Training, leave him behind in LA – he get slaugheted in Arizona. Even Ray Charles can see that. Come on, Doc! What’s up? The same thing probably applies to Coors Field. Alex Wood, Yu Darvish and Clayton Kershaw can pitch in Arizona and Denver because they have the fastballs to do it. Rich does not! Clayton struggles in those parks too with a 3.75 ERA in Arizona and a 4.58 ERA in Denver. Never let Rich Hill pitch there again. EVER! Next…
Rants & Raves
- Cody Bellinger should be back tonight and the team just functions much better with him at cleanup.
- Corey is likely going to miss several days with his elbow, but can pinch hit. Just don’t let him hit against a RHP.
- If Logan Forsythe doesn’t get it together, I would consider moving Barnes to 2B. YES I WOULD!
- A-Gon got a nice big hit blast night, but he still looks old, slow and arthritic.
- Ethier and Kershaw Friday! McCarthy too… probably!
- Minor League Report
Discussion (44)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Poor ABs in the 9th when the pressure was on.
Get Corey on the DL ASAP to give him time to rest his elbow.
Sure hope the tea, can hang on for a playoff spot
It looks as if the Grandy Man can’t.
Joc catches that ball. Taylor’s weakness in CF is going back on the ball. It was awful in ST and still needs some work.
Ryu doing his best Rich Hill impersonation.
Dodgers digging themselves a new hole tonight. Will this be 4 or 5 losses in a row?
Start Barnes somewhere!!
Curtis Granderson has 3 HR and 6 RBI in 9 games for the Dodgers and has a .118 BA. However he has walked 8 times and has a .302 OB% and a .685 OPS. Since he is good for a 1.8 WAR already, one might assume that he could be due for some big games. He needs a little more time…
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Logan Forsythe is only hitting .235 but also has a .365 OB% and is at 1.6 WAR. Forsythe is absolutely murdering LHP. (.903 OPS). Against RHP, he sucks.
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Austin Barnes has a 2.1 WAR and a .415 OB%. Barnes is hitting RHP to the tunes of a .342 BA and .934 OPS. Compare that to Chase Utley who is at 0.9 WAR and is hitting 100 points below Barnes against RHP pitching.
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Barnes HAS to play 2B against RH pitching as soon as Farmer gets back. Chase is a utility guy and I cannot see the Dodgers with 2, let alone 3 LH utility men on the bench in the playoffs. I think One of Utley, Gonzo and Ethier will make the squad. Especially if Barnes plays 2B some.
DODGERS REINSTATE CODY BELLINGER
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LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Dodgers today reinstated infielder/outfielder Cody Bellinger from the 10-day disabled list and optioned catcher/infielder Kyle Farmer to Triple-A Oklahoma City.
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Bellinger, who missed the last nine games due to a sprained ankle, appeared in one rehab game with the Rookie-level AZL Dodgers yesterday, going 1-for-3 with a home run, four RBI and one strikeout. The favorite to win the NL Rookie of the Year currently leads the Dodgers with 34 home runs, 79 RBI and a .612 slugging percentage, while also hitting .274 with 70 runs, two triples and nine stolen bases. Bellinger is just one home run shy of catching Hall of Famer Mike Piazza for the most home runs in a single season by a Dodger rookie. Despite being called up on April 25, the All-Star first baseman/outfielder currently ranks among the best in the National League in home runs (2nd), slugging percentage (4th), RBI (16th) and OPS (.968, 6th).
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Farmer made his Major League debut on July 30 and hit a walk-off double vs. the Giants at Dodger Stadium. The Atlanta, GA native has appeared in 12 games with the Dodgers, batting .333 (4-for-12) with a run, a double and two RBI.
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Farmer will sit out today and come back Friday.
He laid awake at night wondering if there really was a Dog!
1-Taylor…CF
2-Kike……SS
3-Turner..3B
4-Cody….1B
5-Logan..2B
6-Puig…..RF
7-Barnes..C
8-Grandy.LF
9-Ryu……..P
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Puig has done ok against Ray, Kike, and Turner very well, Logan 2 for 4. JT not so much and Grandy only plays because Kike is at SS and hits 8th. He should walk more down there. Overall a good lineup tonight.
I am in agreement that Kike and Forsythe should never see right handers. Either is a veteran. It should not take him that long to get ready. The question is has he lost it due to age. We have a hole at second and LF. Maybe we ought to think about Barnes and Utley platooning at second. Platoon Either and Kike in LF. These are the two concerns I have and this is what I would attempt to do to solve it. Use Agon as a pinch hitter and DH. Keep Farmer up.
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It will ne interesting to see who they bring up on Friday. Taylor and Puig needs some rest in September.
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I agree with you Mark, Ryu will do better in Arizona. He has 4 pitches. He does not have to rely on the curve as much. We will find out if Ryu and Maeda can pitch in Arizona. We know Hill cannot.
Nice to see the Dodgers’ offense wake up a little bit last night against a pretty good pitcher. Bad to see Hill lose the game in the 1st inning.
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The following guys shouldn’t be getting AB right now: (in ascending order of OPS in August)
Kike Hernandez – .167/.239/.286/.525 – 1 HR
Adrian Gonzalez – .190/.222./.333/.556 – 1 HR
Curtis Granderson – .118/.302/.382/.685 – 3 HR
Chase Utley – .250/.313/.386/.699 – 1 HR
Logan Forsythe – .230/.392/.344/.737 – 1 HR
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Kike’s OPB is horrible. Agone apparently can’t hit – or his back is still stiff. Granderson can only hit HR. Forsythe’s SLG has been horrible all year long.
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They still have to figure things out after Bellinger returns. I frankly like him at 1B – less risk of another ankle sprain playing an unfamiliar position.
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I would like to see the Dodgers try Barnes out more often at 2B.
It would be just our luck to trade for him, and have him go into a year ending slump.
One more day until we trade for Stanton.
I am curious to see how Ryu’s curve ball does tonight in the same air. The Snakes pitchers seem to muddle through somehow. When the roof is closed at Chase the temp is set at 85 degrees. Hill said it best ‘I sucked tonight’.
I have had a problem with Forsythe hitting against righties, for a while now.
It was just to bad that Cody sprained his ankle in rightfield.
Because I don’t care what anyone thinks, Agone is a better bat, then a few of the players on this team.
We can’t know if Agone is gone, or he can hit, in 30, to 40 at bats, that is to small of a sample size.
And with that defensive alignment, with Agone at first, and Cody in the outfield, doesn’t make us that bad on defense, because both of these guys, are average or above, on defense, in those respective positions.
And with Cody in the line up, its not going to matter, if Agone doesn’t hit with power like he did, and really, Agone will probably hit with more power, from time to time!
And Agone would be hitting in the back of the line up, and his bat would play differently, at the back of the line up, and his speed shouldn’t be that big of an issue, if he is hitting at the back of the lineup.
And it that would work perfectly with Puig hitting like he has lately, because with the way Puig has matured, he might be the best guy to bat fifth in our line up, and, to protect Cody.
I do understand why we have to go with Cody at first but that is just to bad..?
Especially with the at bats that Forsythe is getting, especially against righties!
It’s true breaking balls don’t bite in warm dry weather. Offense did it’s job. WS fever. I got it and can’t seem to shake these negative vibes. Probably won’t go away till after that 2nd round of playoffs and Dodgers are on their way to the big series. Go Dodgers.
Interesting trade
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2017/08/cardinals-nearing-trade-of-mike-leake.html?fv-home=true&post-id=101575
I agree with Bobby – hopefully recharge the batteries now and gain some traction towards the end of the month with some very important, rested players coming back.
I thought the Granderson trade would be a real boost for us, but unfortunately he doesn’t seem able to see the ball, let along hit it. Bad time for a slump.
I think you are probably right about Hill not pitching in Arizona or Colorado. He has to have his curveball or he is toast. We have a month to figure things out.
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I am like you, I am starting to wonder about Forsythe. Taylor is the obvious player to put at second. That means Agon to first and Bellinger to CF. or maybe Verdugo may look good in September. Granderson is not looking all that good either. I find it hard to believe Either could be a factor. Yes, maybe Barnes to second. Right now Granderson and Forsythe need to start hitting or we need to look at other options. I would move them to the 7 and 8 spots in the batting order. Right now they look like 2 easy outs.
More good news: Per Gurnick today Wood comes off the DL to pitch Sunday. So besides Cody, Kersh, Wood and Ethier are all on the way. That still leaves the question of who will start the DH Sat along with Darvish. It could be Stewart or Stripling, or maybe Font or Buehler? I know Bueler is not stretched out recently.
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On Hill and pitching in Az or Col: The Division Series is a 2-2-1 format with the first 2 at home for the Dodgers, so Hill should pitch in game 2 at home? Of course Kershaw goes game 1 and five if necessary.
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Perhaps Ethier gets some time in LF along with Grandy. Any speculation on Joc or Verdugo getting the call? That’s a lot of LH hitting OF with only Kike as the RH part of the platoon although Forsythe moved to LF last night.
I would agree with playing Barnes at 2B especially with rosters expanding and Farmer on the bench. I’ve been a Forsythe supporter and have wanted them to give him the chance to get going against RHP and they have been able to do that due to the way the rest of the team is playing. At some point though we need to figure out who is going to start versus RHP come playoff time (Forsythe will start versus LHP). Will it be Chase? He’s hitting in the 242 against RHP. Give Barnes a chance and see what happens. In a perfect world Joc figures something out before the playoffs and we can play Taylor at 2B versus RHP. While I’m still dreaming can we just have all-star versions for Andre, Chase and and A-Gon for the rest of the season? There problem solved.
this is a perfect time to lose a few games. Play like crap for a couple weeks. Then get it out of your system. Get mad. Get revved up come Sept 10-30. Then we’ll be clicking, back on track, and ready to go come Oct 5.
I don’t care that we’ve lost 3 in a row. I don’t care that Hill was perfectly crap in 1st inning. Belly just got his 10 days off. Seager have an elbow boo boo? Give him a week break too. This is all about being ready to “flip the switch” come Sept 15 or so.