Do you have the audacity to doubt my veracity?
Or even to insinuate that I would prevaricate?
While I’ll thrust my phalanges into your physiognomy with such intensity,
That it will horizontalize your purpendicularity.
I like the sound of that. It just rolls off the tongue… That was fun!
So, Revisionist Historians like to believe that the acquisition of Aroldis Chapman won the World Series for them in 2016. Well, it’s true that he helped them to get to the Series as he had a 1.01 ERA with the Cubs during the regular season, but he TRIPLED his ERA in the Post-Season to 3.45.
In the 7th game of the 2016 World Series, Aroldis Chapman came in to protect the lead and coughed up two runs, to give the lead back to the Indians. However, the game went 10 innings and the Cubs offense pulled it out. Chapman had no hand in that win… except to allow someone else to get it.
The Cubs had a 3.94 Bullpen ERA is 2016. The offense won it! Chapman was not the reason they won! They won because they hit their way out of a deficit.
Houston won the 2017 World Series with a 5.40 Bullpen ERA. 5.40! I said their Bullpen ERA was 5.40! In case you forgot, they hit when they had to and that’s why they won.
The Dodgers had a 2.78 Bullpen ERA in the 2018 post-season. Boston had a 2.71 ERA. However, they were both tied with a 3.72 Bullpen ERA during the regular season. Both bullpens stepped up in the playoffs, but Boston brought out their bats when they needed to.
Here’s the fact of the matter: The Cubs could have picked up John Q. Bullpen (any average bullpen guy) and won the World Series… although they may not have gotten there without Chapman who was “otherworldly” during the regular season. You can’t go back in history, but right about now, the Cubs are trying to trade for someone like Gleyber Torres.
Now, is it worth it to be just “average” for 3 years (or longer) after winning the World Series? Of course, the answer is YES! However, maybe you don’t have to play that game. What a bullpen does during the regular season is no indication of what they will do in the post-Season.
The Dodgers front office is also working feverishly trying to get players (mostly pitchers) to help them. We realize that this is a special team, poised to win it all for an unprecedented third time in a row. We all know that adding pieces will possibly help to achieve that goal. Andrew Friedman knows that too, but the bigger issue is that other GM’s also know it and are going to make the Dodgers pay dearly for the alleged “missing pieces.”
Lots of teams are still in this thing. Who will be sellers? Not Cleveland, so they won’t give the Dodgers a Hand. I think Vasquez will cost too much. Andrew Friedman has his untouchables, although we don’t know exactly who those are. I do hear that multiple teams have asked for Will Smith in exchange. This shall be an interesting 8 days. I still think Ian Kennedy and Daniel Hudson are targeted and would not require relinquishing top prospects. In my opinion, those are low risk, high reward moves. I also hear that Castellanos and Greene are on AF’s list.
I still say that a Playoff Rotation of Ryu, Kershaw, Buehler, and Hill (providing he makes it back) would be outstanding. That puts Maeda and Urias in the pen with Baez, Jansen, and Kelly. Two more relievers would be nice and one of them could be acquired by trading Ross Stripling, who is better suited for a starter’s role. Maeda and Urias could be filthy as multi-inning relievers for the Dodgers in the playoffs. Urias is a Top-of-the-Rotation Starter, but I would keep him in the pen the rest of this season. He could be the Dodgers “Secret Weapon.”
We are seeing some sloppy play out of the Dodgers as they have such an insurmountable lead, it is easy to lose focus. It happens, but Corey Seager is getting his stroke and glove back. You are going to see a lot of resting of Justin Turner down the stretch. Joc Pederson is looking more comfortable at 1B and AJ Pollock has shown why the Dodgers signed him. These are Dog Daze!
MT’s Minor League Lowdown
Oklahoma City Dodgers – Dustin May went six lockdown innings last night, allowing just 3 hits and zero runs (his AAA ERA is now 2.53, which is amazing in a league where balls have wings). There is an outside chance he could see the mound in the Majors before the season is over. The OKC Dodgers are now loaded offensively and they did not disappoint. Dig this:
- Gavin Lux when 2-5 with his 8th HR and 3 RBI (.481 BA/1.511 OPS)
- Will Smith scored 3 runs as he went 1-4 with his 23rd HR.
- Rios was 1-3 with a HR and 2 RBI.
- DJ Peters was 2-4 with 2 RBI.
- Kyle Garlick was 4-6 with his 18th HR and 3 RBI.
- Zach Reks was 2-5 with a Grand Salami.
- Conner Joe was 3-6.
- Jake Peter was3-5.
The OKC Dodgers are simply now a Powerhouse!
The Tulsa Drillers were not scheduled.
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes – Donovan Casey and Jeter Downs hit back-to-back HR in the bottom of the fifth inning to break a 2-2 tie and they went on to beat the Inland Empire 66’ers 4-3. Casey’s homer now gives him 18 long balls, while Downs’ gave him the team lead with 61 RBI (to go with 16 HR). John Rooney got his first win by going 5 innings and allowing 2 runs. After the Quakes took the lead, Melvin Jiminez tried to give it back as he gave up 3 hits and 3 walks in 1.2 innings of work, but Darien Nunez got a 4 out save to end the game. Deacon Liput had a triple and Jeren Kendall went 1-4. His batting average is an embarrassing .173. He has struck out 103 times in 225 at-bats… which is nearly a 50% strikeout rate. Even Ray Charles can see that is not good. Kendall may want to look for another line of work… It’s sad to see.
The Great Lakes Loons were idle.
Ogden Raptors – Won 11-4 over the Grand Junction Rockies, as Brandon Lewis went 4-5 with 2 HR and 4 RBI. Andy Pages went 2-4 and Sam McWilliams also had two hits. Additionally, Andrew Shaps, Jimmy Titus, and Sauryn Lao also homered. Kevin Malisheski continued his success pitching 6 innings, striking out 8 while allowing 3 runs. He is now 5-2 with a 3.00 ERA. The 6′ 3″ RH from Illinois is starting to put it all together after being drafted in the 38th round of the 2016 draft.
Discussion (73)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Definitely a joke of a zone by lasagna, get glasses or get on.
Why can’t Roberts stick up for his players more, get ejected once in a blue moon, retaliate once in a decade. Tired of the high ground every single time, send a message just once to the other team. How many players do we need to get hit before DR calls for a code bean.
DR should have gotten himself ejected twice tonight, either in Joc’s seven ball at bat in first and definitely during Cody’s at bat!!
Right now this team’s offense and bullpen can’t compete with the Yankees or the Astro’s. Belli has regressed to 2018 level. Good but not great and no one else has stepped up to carry this team. And Barnes on his way to .100! That’s a bad Angel staff and we didn’t do anything. Can’t play the Marlins every game!
I’ve resisted a change behind the plate but it’s getting more pathetic year after…
Bring on the electronic zone…
Hawkeye or anybody… I’ve been busy lately, what happened to Kike???
P.S. That’s a f___ing sweep of the freeway series for the Angles … Sux
It’s really quite amazing how bad the umpiring behind the plate is these days. I’m glad the Atlantic league is going to finish out the season with an electronic K zone.
That miserable umpire behind the plate is living proof of why an electronic strike zone is a must. He’s an absolute embarrassment.
Max swinging at 1st pitch and hitting into DP when the pitcher had walked 2 and obviously lost the strike zone.
Jeeeez
Just when you think Barnes can’t get any worse!
Taylor out. Possibly Kike now. This could be Lux’s opportunity. Maybe the Dodgers should re-evaluate their plan of attack on Calhoun.
Did anyone read the recent Verducci piece on the Dodgers?
… They aren’t just a financial juggernaut with a $206 million payroll, a $20 million “research and development” budget …
19-year-old Robinson Ortiz was brilliant tonight.
7.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K, 96p/60s
Confident and focused after reaching in-inning pitch limits his last two times out.
Last 9 starts: 1.96 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 9.4 K/9. Season numbers don’t show how good he’s been.
I see on ESPN here Devin Smeltzer is pitching for the Twins.
I agree with Roger about AF and understanding what prospects to include and which ones not to. The Dodgers package for Machado was more than any other team was willing to spend, but I believe AF walks away if the O’s insisted on Lux, Ruiz, Smith, or May last year. AF did not budge, but convinced the O’s that Yusniel Diaz was the top prospect they could build around. It did not hurt that he had such a great Futures Game. The Dodgers were not going to miss Diaz. Of the five traded, IMO, Zach Pop and Dean Kremer were the two that could prove to be good pickups for the O’s. The Dodgers have multiple Rylan Bannon’s and Breyvic Valera’s.
AF will try and convince teams that Devin Mann or Omar Estevez is a top 2B prospect and steer teams away from Jeter Downs and Jacob Amaya.
If the Dodgers trade with an AL team, Edwin Rios is a top prospect that would be included, because just like Willie Calhoun, he does not have a position with LAD.
I think he would rather add in another top 30 prospect with Connor Wong rather than trade Keibert Ruiz.
Edwin Uceta and Robinson Ortiz are both good pitchers, but either could be included in the right deal. He is not trading May, Gonsolin, or Gray, and probably not Grove or Rooney.
AF has the player capital to get players, but he will try to get the Cadillac/Lexus/Mercedes, pass on the Ferrari, and pay for a Chevy. BellingerBuehler is a huuuuuge proponent of Ken Giles. Others (most) are not on the Giles train. Giles has excelled for last place teams, but has failed on the big stage. Is he different now? Maybe. To me he is worth a shot, but not for anything more than a 15-20 guy and a 20-30 guy. With Vlad in Toronto, I am not sure how much Rios would appeal to them. Neither are good defensive players, and the least damage they would do is at 1B. 1B/DH is their future. Maybe Edwin Uceta and Cristian Santana?
I think every team comes back to the Dodgers to give them a last shot, including Farhan.
Whaddya know, we have our first baseman starting in left tonight and our second baseman starting at first. And then there’s that Mendoza guy at catcher.
Today’s lineup:
Joc (LF)
Muncy (1b)
JT
Belly
Pollock
Seager
Kike
Barnes (hitting .199)
Strip
Freidman has a way of through out the years of talking teams into getting prospects they think they want, and he holds on the the ones that he covets. He may throw a bone out here and there, but he somehow pulls off these trades with out giving up the farm. This year may be different, however. Big time buyers market for relievers.
Vasseghe on DodgerTalk seems convinced one of relievers that Freidman is targeting is Amir Garrett of the Reds. Good set up guy, low ERA, and can throw in the high nineties. This sounds like a typical under the radar Freidman guy. Stay tuned. MLB thinks the Reds might be shopping our guy Puig also. Stay tuned, Garrett sounds intriguing.
An interesting article from MLB.com and Mark Feinsand. It lists 10 players who should garner the most attention, who are conceivably available, and what teams appear to be potential fits. Not one player is considered a potential fit for the Dodgers. The list includes 6 starting pitchers, 3 relief pitchers (Shane Greene, Ken Giles, and Kirby Yates), and 1 position player. I don’t know what that means, if anything. The MLB.com journalists do have more contacts than we do, but AF loves to keep things close to his vest, so the chatter may be retained well within the Dodger offices.
But one has to consider that Rocky Gale was DFA for no apparent reason. The 40 man was already at 39 before Gale was DFA. One spot is undoubtedly reserved for Rich Hill, but it is not like someone else could not be DFA when Hill comes off the 60 day (Brock Stewart?). Why was Gale DFA if there was not a roster spot (or two) that are needed. Do they have someone (or two) in mind that they are just negotiating what prospects go? Is there a chance that Lux or Peters gets promoted? Highly highly doubtful, but does merit thought. More questions than answers right now.
https://www.mlb.com/news/ten-players-whose-stock-is-rising
Keone Kela anyone?
The Pirates suspended Kela after he got into an altercation with Hector Morales, their director of cultural readiness and peak performance coach
Jon Weisman presents his usual well reasoned look back on the 2017 Dodger bullpen https://www.dodgerthoughts.com/2019/07/22/dodgers-bullpen-2017-2019/
The issue with having Urias in the bullpen is that he CANNOT go on multiple days. For the NLDS, if Game 1 is on Friday, and Urias pitches in Game 1, he then will not be able for game 2 on Saturday and most likely not available for Game 3 on Monday. So he’s either available for a Game 4 on Tuesday, or we save him for a possible Game 5.
Do we really want a relief pitcher who will only be available for 2 games in a 5 game series?? The way Doc uses bullpen arms, we need guys who can give us 3 games minimum in a 5 game series, and everyone needs to be able to go on back to back days at least once in October; most likely 2-3 times in October.
Urias is only an October bullpen option if things are going perfect and it’s not a long series where there are close games and our manager is changing pitchers every 5 minutes. If he can’t go more than twice in a series, it really put other guys in tough positions.
Move Urias to starter now, and get him used to going 6 ip. He’ll be much more valuable giving us 6 good innings in a Game 4 vs. 1-2 innings twice thru the series.
There is no way that the Dodgers are going to pursue the 35 year old Greinke, given both his age and contract. He!s still good, but nowhere near the pitcher who pitched for the Dodgers. And yes, the Dodgers do have to take into consideration what they are going to be paying their young stars going forward.
I’m glad to see that I didn’t get shot down with my suggestion of going after another SP. A LHSP would be sweet, though. I am not sure the FO would be willing to take on Greinke’s contract no matter what. I agree we would have an awesome rotation and BP! We don’t have to rent when we can own.
Urias is still on a PT limit. He would best serve us in the BP. He could even close in an emergency. I think most of us trust his talent more than any of the BP, at this point. Let’s be patient with him and let him relieve. Next year, they can decide if he breaks the rotation.
I also think that getting another starter allows May and Gonsolin to continue to develop and season. I hope someone is introducing DJ’s barber to these pitchers. 🙂
Puig, a potential free agent, is batting .357 with 11 homers and a 1.106 OPS in his last 142 plate appearances.
There is no way AF is taking on Grienke’s contract nor should he. Starter or reliever? I think it all depends if they think Hill will be back for the playoffs
Go get Greinke. He has two years remaining at 30+ million per year and the FO could let Ryu and Hill walk next year and the balance sheet for salaries stays roughly the same. Then next year you bring along May or Gonsolin and we’re good.
Imagine a SP playoff rotation of Ryu, Walker, CK and Grienke. A BP with KJ, Maeda, Urias, Stripling, Hill etc. Perhaps AF is working a SP acquisition rather than a BP piece
Ho-hum another loss to the O.C. Angles… If i was in Vegas yesterday I would have put $$ on them and left town ahead… We can’t beat the Angles to save ourselves..
Well that’s about all I got, since the popular comments are geared to who are we gonna get in a couple daze… I don’t have a clue and once again (I’m not a gambler) I don’t think resident GM’s have a clue either…
Just for the sake of speculation, which starting pitchers could be had before the trade deadline? Why do I ask this? Because the Dodgers need another starter lickety-split. With Hill going down, the disruption has hit a major artery. The BP cannot be a BP without some our ‘would-be’ starters assigned there. With another quality arm, the team would have its four starters for the playoffs, a beefed-up BP the likes of which we have never seen, and a safety valve for next season when we may lose Ryu and Hill to FA. I’m sure Ryu and Hill would like to remain Dodgers, but the likelihood of retaining Hill for a handful of games vs his always injured body is too much to ask any team, but he will try, I think.
For me, this is the logical piece that we need given the time and circumstance of where we are at, not another BP piece. We’ve got the BP pieces already. Get the extra starter! Now!
MT, you are very full of poop. Our entire bullpen is of the “John Q. Bullpen” type. I guess we should stand pat and promote Lux and Smith and just make sure we have as many bats as possible. It takes 11 wins across 3 series to Win the World Series, something we haven’t be able to do the last two years. You like to focus on game 7 like that was the only game. But, if the Cubs don’t win game 5, they would drop to 3-1 in the Series. Chapman 2 2/3 innings of zeros (1 base runner) in game 5. You know who also gave up two runs in game 7? Andrew Miller! Are you gonna say the Indians would have won it without him? I guess closers are unnecessary. It’s a team game, but pitching doesn’t matter. Guys like Miller and Chapman can be replaced with the likes of Floro and Chargois and no one would notice. Maybe we lost two World Series in a row because our catchers were a black hole. We got rid of one of them, we have a catcher tearing up the minors, but you don’t want him promoted. Make up your mind already!
It’s very entertaining to watch you make an outrageous claim and “dig in” and not budge one bit. Congratulation on being infallible. I’d like to go to Vegas with you and ride your hot streak since you’re never wrong.
Doubt Stripling gets traded. The Dodgers need him in the rotation until Hill returns I can’t see the Dodgers have Urias start only to put him back in the pen. Better to let him become fully immersed with being a reliever.
Where is Hamchuck? …now that would be funny!