With three straight outings of seven innings during which time he has only allowed 2 earned runs, Hyun-Jin Ryu is officially back to the guy we used to have. His velocity is back, his curve is wicked and his control is pinpoint. He now has pitched 91.2 innings and his ERA is down to 3.53… and falling. His ERA is better than these starters:
- Carlos Martinez
- Alex Cobb
- Chris Archer
- Yu Darvish (WOW)
- Jake Arrieta
- Jon Lester
- Dan Straily
- Gerrit Cole
- Justin Verlander
- Johnny Cueto (4.59-yikes-Think he will opt out?)
- … and a bunch of others
He has 89 strikeouts in that span and he is effectively our #6 starter! Right about now, the Dodgers rotation is looking really, really good. The Dodgers team ERA is 3.07 – a half run ahead of the D-Bags. However the Dodgers team WHIP is 1.11 and the Bags is 1.25 – they walk a lot more hitters.
Clayton Kershaw will be back soon – the Dodgers are just getting him some rest so as to keep him fresh. He has 5 less innings pitched than Max Scherzer even after being out for an extended period of time. There’s nothing wrong with Clayton, but the rest should do nothing but help him in the playoffs.
What to do with Brandon McCarthy?
I would assume he will be back shortly for the blister issue and knee problem. It’s easy to say he’s the odd man out, but he he has worked extremely hard to rehab over the past couple of years and he’s part of the team. If healthy, a team that needs starting pitching might take him off the Dodgers’ hands, but is that what they really want? I’m sure FAZ will ask him what he wants:
Do you want to go to the pen and try and win a World Championship or do you want to start somewhere else? That’s the long and the short of it. Can he adjust to a bullpen role? I am certain he can dial it up to 96-98 MPH out of the pen.
Rants and Raves
- Tony Cingrani’s slider looked better than I have ever seen it and Tony Watson looks re-energized as a Dodger. Those two pieces could be huge.
- What else is there to say? These guys just keep picking each other up. However, they have to keep that hunger. In 1988 the underdogs won easily over what was allegedly the best team.
- Henry Ramos just keep mashing! After being promoted to AAA, he is hitting .471 with a 1.382 OPS. How is that even possible? He was 2-4 last night with a HR and 3 runs scored. Edwin Rios also hit his 6th HR in AAA, but Ramos is off the charts. At some point I would think they would have to see if he’s the new Chris Taylor. Ramos in LF, Taylor in CF ands Puig in RF.
- On Saturday, the Dodgers started grooming Walker Buehler to relieve and he did not do well. It’s an adjustment and a different mindset. They will most likely keep him on that path.
- What do all of these guys have in common: McCarthy, Morrow, Baez, Buehler, Cingrani, Watson, Fields and Jansen? They all can hit mid-to-high 90’s!
Discussion (58)
Disagree, not disagreeable
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BTW, Alex Verdugo is another player who could be special. I KNEW Seager and Bellinger were stars in the making and I THINK Verdugo could be too. I am just not as convinced as I was with Corey and Cody.
Kay Bear has a chance to be a special player – I’m talking Bellinger – Seager good. He’s not the power hitter like Bellinger but he’s definitely the Dodgers Catcher of the future. Being a switch hitter is a big thing too. He is hitting .120 points higher at RC than Smith did. Smith is an elite catcher, but his bat is the question. Kay Bear has the whole enchilada!
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Yasmani Grandal is controlled through 2019 and Ruiz could easily be ready then. Grandal will be 30 by then and Barnes is right behind him. Ruiz is on a fast track. Will Smith does not have the bat to play anywhere but C.
You know I don’t think enough has been said about hitting coaches Turner Ward and Tim Hyers… Personally I’ve never been that ‘big’ on hitting coaches, albeit I liked Big Mac… But there is something very positive going on with this roster… Working counts to favor the hitter is on the top of the list for me…
AC I’ve seen Ruiz several times now and I’m a believer… Great feet… Glides back there for a big kid…
I felt at the beginning of the season Ryu seemed to be drawing the tougher matchups than Maeda. I seem to recall two starts at Coors and one at Wrigley. Once Ryu seemed to be finding his stuff he got the phantom DL stint with a hip contusion. He knows how to pitch and he’s made his curve ball elite not just his change-up.
Tough call between Ryu and Maeda. They may wind up getting piggy backed when Clayton returns. I’m not a MCCarthy fan but he’s pitched well enough to be in the middle of most rotations. He’s not a relief pitcher and needs to be moved. It’s just a matter of getting more value in the off-season vs an August trade. If Darvish deal had got done sooner I have to think Mac or Maeda was getting moved.
I am not sure if it has been mentioned, but Jordan Sheffield was promoted from Great Lakes to Rancho Cucamonga.
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Dustin May went on the 7 Day DL.
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To take their place –
RHP Marshall Kasowski (13th round draftee) – promoted from AZL Dodgers to Great Lakes.
RHP Alfredo Tavaraz – 19 year old from Santo Domingo , DR, promoted from AZL Dodgers to Great Lakes.
The Dodgers are on a path to have the best record in the history of the MLB and some keep searching for something negative to say. Think about it.
New mailbag from McCullough:
He opines on Gonzalez’ return, platoons in OF and behind the plate and how this and last year’s success may empower the Front Office with regard to resigning Darvish.
http://www.latimes.com/sports/dodgers/la-sp-dodgers-mailbag-gonzalez-dl-20170807-story.html
Also, the official Dodgers blog has a look at 15 key metrics which help explain the Dodgers success. Among them, giving up the fewest hard hits, making opposing batters chase the most pitches, best framing and this one, which features my favorite TTTOP:
13.4 percent of batters faced third time through order, third-fewest in MLB
Pitching strategy is changing, as teams become more wary of allowing starters to go deep into games. The numbers make it a clear choice, as pitchers very clearly fare worse the more times they turn a lineup over; for the Dodgers, their starters produce a .625 OPS the first time through, then .675 the second time and .670 the third. Meanwhile, their relievers are at .626, making a reliever a much better bet than a tiring starter. Only two teams force starters to face a lineup a third time through less often than Los Angeles does.
Finally, Willie Calhoun continues to pound the ball. Last night he went 2-4 with 2 homers. I really hope we get a chance to see him in Texas this season!
1 – Joc Pederson won’t likely be moved. He is cost-controlled and provides pop and good defense inexpensively. He will only be moved as part of a deal to get someone else the Dodgers want. There is no economic advantage to moving him.
2 – If the Dodgers decide that they no longer need Forsythe, they will exercise his option and trade him. He’s too good to let take a walk and besides, they traded DeLeon for him and will want some kind of take-away in the trade.
3 – Toles isn’t a CF, at least not right now. He takes bad routes to the ball. Maybe later? Who’s to say? Taylor is a better CF than Toles, as is Pederson.
4 – I have to admit that I have no idea what the Dodgers will do with their rotation when everyone is healthy. I can foresee a postseason rotation of Kershaw, Darvish, Wood and Hill, but in the interim, when everyone is back, who is 5th starter and who goes to the ‘pen and/or develops a phantom injury that results in a rest on the 10 day DL? Ryu looked like he is back to his old form; Maeda has pitched well lately and McCarthy was very good the 1st half.
5 – They discussed the Adrian Gonzalez situation last night. If Bellinger only hits .200 while playing OF, then keep him at 1B and bring Gonzalez off of the bench? All that I know is that “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” and the current mix of players seems to be getting the job done. If Gonzalez goes to 1B then Bellinger to LF and Taylor to CF, or Bellinger to LF and Taylor to 2B?
I agree with you Mark, Ryu is back. He has good control of all his pitches. McCarthy will be gone. I think it is to late for the bull pen experiment. The Yankees will want him. I would not give hm to the Yankees. We may face them this fall.
Good comments guys. Our weak link is Joc. He just has not changed. I believe he will be moved this winter. I like the lneup for next year Mark. I do think we need to find out what Ramos has to offer. He looks like a junkyard dog kinda player. I like a player who struggles and then something happens and they make it. They do not forget their struggles. JT, Taylor. Toles, and Ramos are all on that category.
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Bellinger is just an animal. You could hear the sound of the bat last night and just knew he crushed that ball.
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Cingrani looked good last night. His slider really broke. He has a good fast ball. Those pitchers must be helping each other along with Honeycutt. Cingrani was only supposed to have one pitch and it was the fast ball. If he can throw the slider like last night, he has two pitches. I have to eat some crow on Honeycutt. I was pretty hard on him when Mattingly was the manager. Boy, am I glad Mattingly is gone.
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One other point. Have any of you noticed how much Roberts talks to the players. The third batter up is usually in the dugout, on the steps, talking to Doc before they go to the on deck circle.
What I don’t get is why the people who rag on Forsythe aren’t doing the same with Joc? Offensively the only real difference I see is power. I looked at baseball reference and Forsythe has a WAR of 1.3 while Joc’s is 0.0. Joc’s lead in OPS+ 107-83. I don’t understand how WAR is calculated and wonder why two players with seemly similar stats (not talking just Joc and Forsythe) can have vastly different WAR number but I’m amazed that his WAR is ZERO point ZERO.
Wood is having an awesome year with a WAR of 2.3 and ERA+ of 178. In comparison, Kershaw in an average year – 4.5 and 204…..
Mark mentioning McCarthy as a bullpen option got me wondering about the pitching staff for the playoffs. By my count we have 15 pitchers for 13 spots. Locks: Kershaw, Darvish, Wood and Hill as starters with Jansen, Baez, Morrow, Watson, and Fields as relievers. That’s 9 with the following pitchers for the last 4 spots: Maeda, Ryu, Cingrani, Stripling, Avilon and McCarthy. I think either Maeda or Ryu will be paired with Hill in the playoffs and I can see both being on the roster. That would leave 2 spots for Stripling, Cingrani, Avilan or McCarthy. Unless there’s an injury I don’t really see McCarthy on the playoff roster. If he goes to the bullpen and turns into Morrow 2.0 that might change things.
I read somewhere (I think Dodgers Digest) that if Morrow keeps pitching like he has he would/should be an option for the setup role. I would disagree. I think he should be our fireman. There has been talk about using your closer before the 9th in the ‘real’ closing situations and I think that is what we should use Morrow for. Plus you can use him for multiple innings. 2 on and 2 out in the 6th bring him in and let him pitch the 7th as well. I think Baez does better starting an inning.
Good takes today Mark. McCarthy has been the weak link in the rotation for about a month now and the DL was the best place to put him. His arm is healthy and his contract has value. Maeda and Ryu have both stepped it up and stretched it out and when Kershaw returns a 6 man rotation keeps them all fresh, with Kersh getting enough starts to get 20 wins. No room for a 7th starter, sorry Mac and Stewart (and Buehler)
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With a big lead and Sept coming who gets the call up from the minors? Remember they have to be on the 40 man so either DL or DFA for some or limit the call ups. I think Verdugo and Buehler for sure and maybe Ramos and Farmer is already here. There are Thompson and Eibner and Dayton already on the 40 man and rehab candidates AGon, Ethier, Segedin, Liberatore and even Kazmir and Gutierrez, though the last 2 may just be shut down.
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As much as I love the team there are 2 positions that could be upgraded in the off season: 2B and CF. There is already a platoon going on with Kike and Joc and with Utley and Forsythe:
Utley: .240, .332, .750
Forsythe: .238, .365, .683
Utley leads in all the power categories and RBI’s, Forsythe has more walks but also more K’s: 79 in only 239 AB’s
Joc: .229, .346, .791
Kike: .220, .315, .768
Oddly enough, their power numbers, RBI’s, walks and K’s are almost identical.
This is with all 4 players being mostly platooned to play the percentages. I am sure that although management does not want to disrupt chemistry and defense and leadership should be factored in, that upgrades will be made in the coming off season. I doubt Utley returns and Forsythe has a team option but can also play multiple positions like Kike. There is already an internal upgrade available for 2B in Taylor; I believe CF is the real question and if Verdugo can’t handle the position then Taylor is the internal upgrade there too until Kendall is ready. I think Joc becomes the most likely player to be moved if he does not respond to coaching. He still has youth, upside, defense, power and a nice contract (3 years arb) He could bring back a real nice piece or be packaged with AGon for a lessor piece. This team is good enough to carry 2 weak spots in the lineup and they do all contribute, don’t get me wrong, just not at league average levels.
These guys respond to adversity. From Bill Plunkett of the OC Register:
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“A year ago, the Dodgers turned their season around without their ace, going 38-24 and gaining 13 games in the National League West standings while Kershaw spent 75 days on the DL with a back injury.
Kershaw went on the DL again two weeks ago and the Dodgers have responded to this setback by … winning 11 of 12 games with their starters pitching even better in their ace’s absence.
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Clayton who?
This team is just merciless. I’ve been a rabid Dodger fan since 1949 and even appeared on Happy Felton’s Knothole Gang once on WOR Channel 9 but this team is beyond description. It doesnt need a rally banana or anything of the sort, just 3 words, ” Take no prisoners!!”
Wouldn’t at all be surprised to see B-Mac put on waivers and get claimed. The FO might try to get something in return or just let the claiming team have him for payroll relief alone. This FO is always several steps ahead and while they are mostly focused on the “here and now” I can see them looking to the future where they have to free up some roster space for the possibility of a Yu signing or in the least some roster room for the likes of Stewart, Oaks, Buehler, Kazmir etc.
Another Dodger series sweep last night and it would be awesome to do the same in AZ. What a fun team to watch and even though I’ve been really hard on Forsythe his AB’s yesterday were excellent.