Losing Corey Seager just when he was rounding back into form was/is a big blow, but unless you are just resigned to failure, sometimes bad news can be good news. I always say that problems are opportunities in drag. The fact that Corey is out means that Chris Taylor and Kike Hernandez are probably going to get almost “regular” playing time.
Of course, that could also be bad… if they can’t improve on their hitting (so far), but both know that they are not regulars at this point and may be pressing. You know, trying to hit 5-run home runs. When a comrade goes down, sometimes you develop a siege mentality which can give you even more focus. Yes, it could be bad that Corey is out, but it has the potential of being “good.” It’s all up to Kike and CT3. As I was writing this last night, Singing the Blue wrote this:
Here’s a comment that will no doubt be unpopular. I predict that CT3 will produce substantially better offensively in the next six weeks than he has so far this season. Assuming he’s the regular shortstop while Seager is out, he knows that he’ll play every day and at shortstop.
He won’t feel he has to produce every day in order to keep his spot in the starting lineup so he’ll relax a little and that will lead to better results.
And just to give the majority opinion equal time. He could press even more than usual knowing that he’s the guy who has to make up for the lost production from Seager.
I’m betting on the first scenario but if we took a poll I know I’d be outvoted.
So, he stole all my thunder, but he could very well be right because his wisdom is not conventional and conventional wisdom is frequently wrong. We shall see how this plays out.
I Lied
I said that I had a Press Pass to the Midwest League All-Star Game in South Bend, Indiana (that was true), but my wife neglected to tell me that they had a surprise birthday party for my 20-year-old son on the same night. She said, “Go to the game, he will understand.” Hell no! He will only have one 20th birthday party. I wouldn’t miss it for the world. Here he is 10 years ago… I’m not sure who the guy to his right is (he still has the autographed ball).
The bullpen is still the big topic of conversation, but like DC told me yesterday “It will work itself out… I’m more worried about losing Corey Seager.” See, I e-mailed AC and DC to see if they wanted to take my place at the All-Star Game… but neither one wanted to do it. What’re a few hundred (or thousand) miles? Sissies! 😉
Minor League Report by MT
Ogden Raptors – Their season starts tomorrow.
DSL Dodgers Shoemaker – They barely lost 19-7 as the Rays scored two touchdowns but missed two extra points. I will not mention any of the pitcher’s names to protect the innocent… except one who’s last name is Moron. I would suggest he change that. Most alarming is that the Dodgers made 6 errors. OUCH! Move on… nothing to see here.
DSL Dodgers Bautista – The Dodgers were ahead 7-5 until the bottom of the 9th inning when the DSL Athletics scored 3 runs off of Jesus Tirizo and Andrew Budier. I haven’t looked at any of these players to tell you much. That is the specialty of AC and Dc.
Great Lakes Loons – Loons win! The Loons captured a first-half playoff spot this afternoon with a 5-0 win over the Lake County Captains. The Dodgers #23 prospect, John Rooney, went 6.2 shutout innings (86 pitches). In his last three starts, John has pitched 16.2 innings, allowed NO RUNS, 11 hits, 5 walks, and 18 strikeouts. John was followed by Nathan Witt who pitched 1.1 perfect innings with 2 K, and Brett de Geus pitched the 9th allowing a single and notching 1 K. We should also note that Niko Hulsizer slugged his 14th HR. Let Niko enjoy the AS Game and then move him to Rancho!!! (I copied all that from AC and DC yesterday).
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes – The Quakes continued to roll as they won their 6th in a row to clinch the first half title. Nick Yarnall was – for 3 with a HR and Devin Mann hit his 12th HR. Jeter Downs was 1-3 with a BB and Drew Avans tripled to drive in 2 runs. Leo Crawfird started and went 4 innings and Logan Salow closed it out wit a perfect inning. His ERA sits at 1.66 and that is awesome in that league.
Tulsa Drillers – Dustin May went 6.2 innings and allowed 3 hits and 1 run while Jordon Sheffield and Marshall Kasowski blanked the Frisco RoughRiders the final 2.1 innings. Tulsa won 6-1 behind two home runs by Gavin Lux. Parmalee was 3-5 with a home run as well. DJ Peters was also 2-4 with 2 RBI.
Oklahoma City Dodgers – They beat the Radioactive Albuquerque Isotopes 12-9 as Zach Reks hit a Grand Salami and Will Smith hit a solo shot. Rios went 2-5 and Mora was 4-5. Mitch White continues to struggle in AAA after being absolutely dominant in AA. He pitched 5 innings, allowed 7 hits and 5 runs to go with 3 BB and 3 HR. His ERA is now 7.71. I still say the PCL is a bad place to have a AAA team. I had it all figured out that they could move to Indy in the International League… BUT NOOOOOO!
Discussion (64)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Kike seems to get a pass by the FO. His strong start, and his terrific 2nd half of last season, make him still viable to hold down something on the Dodgers. They stuck with Joc and they’ve stuck with Taylor. I see no reason they won’t stick with Kike. Plus, we’ve got the backup with players like Belli, Turner, Muncy, Verdugo, Freese, etc., to provide the punch, and a starting rotation that has performed well. No worries……………
Merrifield and Hand. That should get us a WS title finally. Make it happen AF!
Man if Urias can become consistent in the pen that would help a lot come playoff time. But I hear he might become a starter by then.
I kinda like how Roberts broke up Hernandez, Taylor and Barnes in the lineup instead of having them back to back to back at the bottom. I’m not too concerned about protection behind Bellinger unless pitchers start to consistently intentionally walk him.
I like our offense, do not trade any of them and no need to trade for offense. If that means we can’t get a good reliever then so be it, but there should be other ways to get a good reliever. Don’t touch this offense.
I have a funny feeling these are going to be the last 2 teams standing to determine who goes to the world series from the national league, especially with the Cubs adding Kimbrel.
Keekay had an opportunity to seize the 2B job for the present and the future. He has failed terribly with a current .212 BA, .282 OBP, .674 OPS and .393 slugging. It might seem he’s destined for a journey man role solely. Whit Merrifield anyone?
Congrats to the Toronto Raptors! Anybody but the bay area baby!!
Kiki has certainly lost his approach. This as lost as I’ve ever seen him. He doesn’t look like he has a clue!
Thank you Belly! We’ll need you the next 6 weeks without Seager
Finally Cody shows signs of coming out of this slump. HOME RUN!!
2 first place teams tonight a lot of hype 2 lefties going. A big game no doubt. 2 aces going at each other. Get comfy and get ready for a real pitchers duel. Kershaw the best pitcher on the planet. First batter homerun 2nd batter walk….nothing like having the best pitcher in the game to be on his game in a first place matchup.
DODGERS ACTIVATE INFIELDER MATT BEATY
INF COREY SEAGER PLACED ON 10-DAY IL
LOS ANGELES –The Los Angeles Dodgers today activated infielder Matt Beaty from the 10-day injured list and placed infielder Corey Seager on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to June 12, with left hamstring strain.
Beaty, 26, appeared in 17 games for the Dodgers before being sidelined with a left hip flexor strain on June 3. He was batting .286 (12-for-42) with seven RBI. The former Belmont Bruin made two rehab starts for High-A affiliate Rancho Cucamonga, recording two doubles in seven tries for the Quakes.
Seager, 25, left the game in the top of the ninth inning on Tuesday night. Prior to being sidelined, the infielder had recorded a season-best nine-game hitting streak, in which he was hitting .459 (17-for-37) with seven doubles, one homer and nine RBI. On the campaign, the North Carolina native is hitting .278 (66-for-237) with 21 doubles, eight homers and 38 RBI.
Here’s what we are working with tonight:
1. Kike LF
2. JT 3B
3. Mr. Freeze 1B
4. Belli RF
5. CT3 – SS
6. Mad Max 2B
7. Alex CF
8. Barney C
Today’s lineup v Lester:
Kike
JT
Freeze
Belly
CT3 (ss)
Muncy
Verdugo
Barnes
Kersh
How about putting Kelly on the IL (and keep him there until the powers that be are absolutely certain he can pitch decent) and bring up another position player in case Garlick and/or Beaty don’t produce.
A little silver lining on Seager from MLB.com…
“Seager suffered a left hamstring strain trying to score from second base Tuesday night in Anaheim. It was initially thought he had suffered a Grade 2 strain, which usually requires four to six weeks to fully heal. But the club said that an MRI on Wednesday revealed a strain “between Grade 1 and Grade 2,” less severe than Tuesday night’s initial exam indicated. The Dodgers have not placed a timetable on his return.”
Brad Hand is the player to get and it’s not like he’s a rental. If we pick up his team option of 10MM, he won’t be a FA until 2022. No doubt he will be expensive, very expensive. Who knows who he Indians would want in return.
Also Indians still in the WC hunt and with 6 weeks to go, anything can happen and usually does.
There should be at least 8-12 relievers available at a talent level somewhere above Baez by the end of July. Some of them will be made available pretty late in July based on when various teams decide they are ready to sell. Others are playing for teams which have already demonstrated they aren’t going anywhere and may be available now.
The only decision will be how much AF is willing to spend on them, prospect-wise. In 2016 he spent prospects on Hill/Reddick. In 2017 on Darvish. In 2018 on Machado. So that tells us he is willing to upgrade the team in July and give up prospects to do it. This year our biggest weakness (assuming Seager is back by August) is definitely the bullpen. The only other question is whether he has a different philosophy on the value of trading for a reliever. We’ll have a definite answer within the next six weeks.
Hopefully AF reads Buster Olney
They should get a great reliever to put them over the top. Here’s Buster Olney:
“David Ross recently recalled a conversation with Theo Epstein from the fall of 2016, about the Cubs’ trade for Aroldis Chapman. In the midst of that season, with Chicago holding a big lead in the National League Central, Epstein had traded star prospect Gleyber Torres and others to the Yankees for Chapman, and at the time Epstein made the deal, he was transparent about his motive: This was a trade made to win the World Series. Nothing less.
Epstein told Ross that the only way he would’ve felt OK about trading Torres would have been if the Cubs had won the championship. Chapman mostly thrived in his short time for the Cubs, and although the left-hander was weary from a heavy workload and struggled in the epic Game 7 of the World Series, the team won its first championship since 1908, and Chapman, catcher Ross and GM Epstein cemented their places in Chicago history.
Which brings us to the 2019 Los Angeles Dodgers, a great team with exceptional starting pitching, a good defense, an excellent offense. A great team with a bullpen problem.”
So sorry Mark. Do not mean to be a blog stopper, lol. It seems to stop after I comment. Really enjoy this site though.
After 2 more bombs last night, they should be looking to promote Lux to AAA ASAP. Let him start getting some reps, if he goes on a hot streak, bring him up!
I do not like to see other teams we may be competing with get better and our team seems to not. But if we are considered the best how much more do we need? Agreed, bullpen help is needed. Caleb was a welcome addition. CT3 and Hernandez are interchangeable at shortstop, second and the outfield. Their defense is very good but their offense needs to improve especially with Seager out for a while. I think it will for Taylor with regularly starting. Go Blue.
I’m not sure that sitting out on the Kimbrel auction is a tell tell sign on adding an elite reliever at the deadline. Kimbrel’s stuff has been declining, he wanted too much money and too many years. He also wanted to be the closer period. That was not a fit for this team. So I would say it was more that he wasn’t a good fit. Just my take.
AF went after machado last year when seager went down albeit a season ending injury. If Cleveland continues to fall out of the race which is a big if the Dodgers could go after hand and lindor or either which would be huge for this years run. Maybe a multi team trade could help both sides. Last years haul for machado might dissuade AF from doing that again. I’m sure he is considering both.
Interesting response to a couple of questions posed to Ken Gurnick in his Dodger Mailbag regarding the bullpen. The first question was whether he believed that the Dodgers would add a pitcher at the trade deadline. Gurnick’s response: “During the Andrew Friedman regime, the Dodgers have added pitchers Luis Avilan, Alex Wood, Mat Latos, Bud Norris, Rich Hill, Jesse Chavez, Josh Fields, Yu Darvish, Tony Watson, Tony Cingrani, Dylan Floro, John Axford and Ryan Madson during the season. So, the pattern is pretty clear. They will add pitching. Most likely, left-handed, which is why Brad Hand and Will Smith are often mentioned.”
The second question was whether Gurnick believed that the Dodgers would trade for an elite reliever at the trade deadline. His response was very telling: “That pattern is pretty clear as well. Do you see any in that list above? Sitting out the Craig Kimbrel auction, which wouldn’t have cost any player in return, should answer your question.”
In other words, yes, the Dodgers will add pitching at the trade deadline, but no, it will not be an elite reliever. I hope he is wrong, but I fear he is right. And before it gets brought up, Gurnick did not say that they should have signed Kimbrel.
There is nothing positive about losing Seager, no matter how it’s spun.
It would be a great example of depth coming to the rescue if Taylor played well at shortstop but if the Dodgers were confident he would suffice they would not have traded for Machado last year.
Maybe because there is no Machado available this year the Dodgers will give Taylor a chance because they can make Lux the Machado solution if Taylor fails.
The Dodgers want more offense from second base and to get it they are using Muncy there more and more and that means more playing time for Freese at first base. Taylor can give the Dodgers the defense they need at shortstop and maybe Seager’s offense can be replaced at first base instead of shortstop, assuming Muncy moves to second.