- I think that 79% of the the Dodger’s inability to hit LH pitching is 80% mental!
- Last year, the Dodgers never dropped below .500 until May 6, so we are ahead of schedule this year.
- I am encouraged by Ryu’s performance. The stats don’t look good, but he went 6 innings last night with 97 pitches – not bad for a guy who has missed two years. I think 91 was where he topped out so he is learning how to pitch with a little less velocity and he is working on controlling his fastball. All of his other pitches are very good. So, even though he is 0-3 with a 5.87 ERA, I am hopeful. He should walk Arenado from now on, however!
- Stripling has added 2-3 MPH on his fastball this year and Alex Wood is also back to full tilt boogie!
- Baez and Fields looked good. Baez especially pitching 2 innings.
- The Dodgers did not have an extra base hit and stranded 12 runners. Really, the pitching was good enough to win.
- It is possible Turner or Forsythe or both could miss some time after being hit by pitches. I think we need to pitch the teams inside that pitch us inside… and if it hits them, oh well!
- I am afraid we have seen the best from A-Gon, which makes acquiring another hitter like braun imperative. He’s still a nice #6 hitter.
- Kershaw will stop the bleeding tonight. Tyler Anderson is a LH who pitches for the Rookies and has a 8.59 ERA, which means he will pitch a 2-hitter.
- Remember when Clayton Kershaw went down last year and it looked so dark and gloomy? How did that turn out? We are in really good shape this year. Watch and see!
Minor League Report
- OKC Lost 5-3 – Dickson and Verdugo both had two hits. Masterson pitched four innings but wasn’t very good. Broussard went two and still has not been scored upon.
- Tulsa Lost 3-0 – Barlow pitched 5 strong innings, nobody hit much and Sierra got rocked for 2 runs in 1/3 of an inning.
- RC Lost 11-9 – Detect a trend? Drew Jackson was 3-5 with a HR. Luke Raley was 4-4. Mitch White got rocked for 4 hits and 6 runs (3 earned) in 1.2 IP. His scoreless streak was broken big time. Istler again pitched well. One blog had a write up about how White was dominating the competition only to see him get drilled. I always save that stuff until after the game! 😉
- GL (you guessed it) lost 9-6 – So, if you were playing for any Dodger team, you lost yesterday. TURN THE PAGE!
Update
Press Release
DODGERS PLACE LOGAN FOSYTHE AND ROB SEGEDIN ON DL,
RECALL BRETT EIBNER AND CHRIS TAYLOR
LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Dodgers today placed infielder Logan Forsythe (right great toe fracture) and infielder/outfielder Rob Segedin (right great toe strain) on the 10-day disabled list and recalled outfielder Brett Eibner and infielder/outfielder Chris Taylor from Triple-A Oklahoma City.
Eibner, 28, will make his Dodger debut after posting a .344 (11-for-32)/.389/.656 slashline with eight runs, a double, three home runs and eight RBI in 12 games with Triple-A OKC. In 19 Spring Training games with Los Angeles, Eibner hit .306 (11-for-36) with four doubles, a triple, two home runs and 10 RBI, while posting a .405 on-base percentage and a .639 slugging percentage. The San Diego, California native, who was acquired by the Dodgers on January 25 from the Oakland Athletics, saw his first big-league action in 2016 with Kansas City and Oakland, combining to hit .193 (36-for-187) with six homers and 22 RBI.
Taylor, who enters his second season with the Dodgers, will make his first stint with the big league club after batting .233 (10-for-43) with two doubles, two triples, a home run and five RBI in 10 games with the OKC Dodgers. In 22 Spring Training games, he slashed .354 (17-for-48)/.483/.500 with 13 runs, three doubles, two triples, three RBI and four stolen bases. The 26-year-old Virginia Beach, Virginia native, was acquired by the Dodgers on June 19, 2016 from the Mariners and hit .207 (12-for-58) with two doubles, two triples, a home run and seven RBI in 34 games with Los Angeles last year.
Forsythe left last night’s game against the Rockies at the end of the second inning after being hit by a pitch in his first at bat. In his first season with the Dodgers, Forsythe has hit .295 (13-for-44) with two doubles and three RBI, including reaching base safely in his last four games. Segedin, who was recalled prior to Monday’s game from Triple-A OKC, went 1-for-4 with a run scored in two games for the Dodgers.
Today’s Music
Discussion (55)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Yeah, Score one for the B team. Kiki, Taylor and VanSlyke got it done with 5 out of the 7 hits last night.
.
Let the competition begin between Taylor and Kiki for super utility man. Taylor said it was good he got sent down because he got to play some outfield, feels much more comfortable out there now.
.
I agree with you Idahoal about Verdugo. Pederson better figure some things out fast. Verdugo’s .378 BA in AAA as a twenty year old is impressive. Bellinger had two more home runs last night.
Good night for Taylor. I really think he has gotten better since last year. He has added weight and strength to his body. His exit velocity on his second double was very high. Roberts said Utley will play against right handers. Taylor played some center field at AAA.
Eibner looked like a AAA player last night. Both offensively and defensively. He does not look like he belongs.
I do not know what to think about Joc. He is in his third year and I just do not see the improvement. I know hitting is hard, but in three years he should have figured it out. Verdugo may be our long term answer.
Good win – and SF & AZ both lose.
Kershaw was very good & Kenley was nails.
Shame for Forsythe just as he was heating up.
LOL, and tonight is the night we will put up 10 plus….
Intimidating lineup tonight:
.
1. Enrique Hernandez (R) 3B
2. Corey Seager (L) SS
3. Yasiel Puig (R) RF
4. Adrian Gonzalez (L) 1B
5. Yasmani Grandal (S) C
6. Scott Van Slyke (R) LF
7. Brett Eibner (R) CF
8. Chris Taylor (R) 2B
9. Clayton Kershaw (L) P
New update above
Forsythe and Segedin to DL with big toe issues. They may just best last year’s record. Will Dickson finally get his chance?
NO reason to panic yet, but I agree about Utley, he may be finished, DFAing his $2M salary isn’t going to kill us. My work around the fringes, plan of attack if things don’t get better over the month or so:
.
1. Bring up Bellinger for Utley. Left handed bat for left handed bat. I can wait until June 10th.
2. Work the phones for Cain/Cabrera/McCutchen/??? to replace SVS/Guttierrez/Segedin/Thompson.
.
I am also working the phones to Brewers, but the three above are all ending contracts on teams that probably won’t be competing. It could soon be a buyer’s market for platooning lefty mashers, something the Brewers should consider.
.
Yes, 30 yr old McCutchen has always hammered lefties, except 2016.
I do not see FAZ bringing up Bellinger before mid June. There is nothing to indicate that Cody is the missing component to get the offense going. As such, FAZ (ownership?) is not going to let the arbitration clock start a year early by bringing him in next month if waiting to June 10 (not exact but around there) keeps him away from starting the arbitration clock. If Cody is continuing to play well, once the arbitration timeline is passed, he can then be brought up. The same could happen to Verdugo and Oaks. None of the three are on the 40, so other personnel decisions will need to be made if any of those players are brought up.
.
Segedin has not been up long enough to draw any conclusions, so I do not see Dickson getting promoted just yet. But it sure does not sound like Ethier or Kazmir are going to be able to compete for quite some time, if at all in 2017. If Dickson continues to hit well, I cannot see FAZ keeping him down. He certainly deserves the promotion. He has only 3 plate appearances against LHP this year, but in 2016 (also at AAA), Dickson had 118 PA, 32 hits, including 7 doubles, 1 triple, and 5 HR, and 17 BB and 15K… .327/.432/.571/1.004. Against RHP he was
.329/.382/.606/.988.
.
I am not as concerned about an overuse of the bullpen just yet (if at all). It was to be expected since the starters were not stretched out in ST, so why would they be expected to go 6+ innings in April? If it continues through May, I would be more concerned with the lack of good starting pitching rather than overuse of the bullpen. Liberatore, Geltz, Schuster, Somsen, and Broussard are all more than capable of relieving the relievers if need be. I agree with Box, 60-80 innings is not an overuse. I do not expect Mike Marshall type innings, but 80 IP is more than acceptable.
.
Joe Broussard was called up to OKC yesterday to replace Ty Holt who went on the 7 Day DL. I thought Broussard deserved to start at OKC, so I hope he continues to pitch as he did last night. I think Joe could be this year’s version of Grant Dayton emerging from the no prospect status, but with the number of relievers available, I do not think he gets that chance.
.
White getting hit and hit hard last night was going to come at some point. Last night was not nearly as important as his next start. He needs to come back and dominate as he did his first two starts. It is how you respond after a poor performance that will determine if there is the internal competitor necessary to succeed.
.
I think it might be time for the Wilson/Murphy catching duo at OKC to be broken up, and to give Kyle Farmer a deserving promotion to OKC.
.
Jair Jurrjens is scheduled for his third start tonight for OKC. That might be interesting to watch. He was assigned to Ogden on 4/17, so he is going to be need to be assigned to the OKC roster before game time. They play with the roster throughout the organization.
Here’s the Dodger stats against lefties ytd 2017
.
http://www.espn.com/mlb/team/stats/batting/_/name/lad/split/31
.
There are a few surprises.
I believe Dickson is better than SVS. Or bring up Bellinger. It is early. Do not trade for Braun. To old and to expensive. I think we need a set line up. Do it for a week or two and see what happens. It can not hurt. We are seeing a lot of left handers and therefore we see Kike and SVS. Pitching is fine. Hitting is horrible. Utley may be a wasted position. When they get old they have to let them go. Last year we signed Kendrick. This year it is Utley. When will they learn.
Right now we are facing so many lefties, these part time players, are playing more often then the regular players, that are platooned.
And not one of the part time players last night, did anything on offense, and I think that happens more often, then not.
And I would say even if one of the part time players do get a hit, it isn’t a game changer, most of the time either, so why play them so much?
Because it isn’t the part time players providing most of the offense against lefties, it is the everyday players, that are providing the offense against lefties, probably, most of the time.
So with that, why even platoon with these part time players?
They need to try something different, and let the regular line up, play against lefties, for a while, and see what the results are.
Because this platoon team, was last in offense in all of baseball, all last season last year, and they even played them, in the post season.
So we have already given this platoon team, more then a chance, and they need to try something, different.
Because continually playing this line up and expecting different results, is the definition of crazy.
And we are going to be facing lefties all year, until we can prove we can hit lefties, so we will be seeing more of Kike, and the other part time players, then we really should.
Also right now most of the regular line up is playing against lefties, so I don’t understand why they don’t just go with the regular line up, against both lefties and righties.
Because that would give all of the regular players consistent at bats, against both lefties and righties.
And most players need to have consistent at bats, to adjust to the adjustments, the pitchers make on them, and to hit well.
And I know Joc played last night, but he isn’t going to play, every time we face a leftie, and Joc and the players that are platooned on the regular team, are not going to be getting consistent at bats if this continues.
And how are they suppose to hit better, when they will be on the bench, more then the part time players?
Really this constant change in line ups, isn’t good for most of the players.
And the part time players, they used for this platoon team last year, are most of the same players they use now, so why are we doing this failed experiment again?
Because we already know they were last in offense, in all of baseball, all season long, last year.
Here is the daily Dodgerrick statistical report:
–
1 – Dodgers are 5 -2 in games started by righties and 2 – 6 against lefties
2 – They are hitting .216/ .310/ .330/ .640 against lefties (21st in BA and 19th in OPS) and .271/ .369/ .446/ .816 against righties (5th in BA and 1st in OPS)
3- They are hitting .228/ .351/ .374/ .725 with RISP (18th in BA and 15th in OPS) and .178 /.302/ .289/ .591 in late and close situations (28th in BA, 24th in OPS).
4 – Dodger starters have an ERA of 3.97 (16th) and average 5.3 IP/start; non-Kershaw starters are averaging 4.7 IP/start and have an ERA of 4.50.
5 – Dodger relievers are 5th in IP and average 3.5 IP/game. 4 of the Dodgers’ relievers average more than an inning per appearance (Wood, Stripling, Hatcher, Baez).
–
Conclusions?
1- The Dodgers won’t win consistently unless they can hit southpaws. Of semi-regulars and platoon players, they have only 4 with BA .250 or higher and 5 with OPS over .700.
2 – The same with clutch hitting. The Dodgers have 5 with BA .250 or higher and 6 with OPS over .700 with RISP. In late and close situations, Dodgers have 5 with BA .250 and higher and 5 with OPS over .700.
3 – They have to get innings out of starters. The bullpen will blow out eventually if they don’t. Remember the post-season last year? The ‘pen was worn to a frazzle and it cost them games.
The Trade has a life of it’s own… I’m a believer in looking back is a fool man’s wisdom… If it’s gotta be a good #6, I’m with Agon…
I’d like to know why Bellinger will be ready in the near future??? Don’t get me wrong, I like Bellinger, but he is no Seager (yet)… Aug/Sep call up for sure and we re-evaluate what we got…
Thanks for bringing up James Loney Bum… Brought back fond memories… He could pick em..
I’ll jog past the ‘Trade’ crapola and get to my thoughts on Y. ‘Puig’ Sierra… Saw the kid on the back fields of Camelback was impressed with his stuff… I dont know his exact signing amount, but you give a kid like Sierra and Puig, who had virtually nothing and all of a sudden they’re checking their B of A account daily on the net… Hard to keep their heads in the game… Just gotta reign em in!!!
I think I’m right in saying that in the games won, we’ve scored over 6 runs per game, and in the games lost we are averaging just over 1 run.
Think the problem currently is with the hitting not the pitching.
I read Truth’s comments yesterday and found myself agreeing – last year it started slowly, but we improved. I can see the same thing this season, and of course as other teams get injuries or loss of form, our depth should come to the fore.
It’s still early days as Mark says.
It was a good sign for Ryu to go 6 innings, but Arenado was a one man wrecking crew. Roberts commented that fastball location was the only issue and he will continue to let Ryu pitch. It’s good to see Wood getting a chance but when will we see Urias? The bullpen locked down again and there were 12 K’s of Rockies.
–
Puig seems to hit better lower in the lineup, so does Joc and Grandal. The question is who hits cleanup? Who hits leadoff? AGon clogs up the bases no matter who he hits in front of. Seager and Turner going from 2 and 3 to 3 and 4 seems logical with AGon 5th. I might try Toles and Puig up top against RHP. There were multiple chances to hit with RISP and aside from the 9th and Joc in the 4th they did not deliver.
–
Should Kazmir and or Ethier go on the 60 day DL and give some spots to the kids? Do they start Bellinger’s arbitration clock early with a call up? Is Dickson a possible answer to the LHP problem? He has to be an upgrade over SVS. If Forsythe’s toe is more serious do they call up Taylor? If internal options don’t work do they pull off a trade? Braun, Cabrera and Cain have been discussed as options, and all make some sense if they want to go all in for this year and fix this recurring problem against LHP early in the season.
–
It’s way to early to panic but also obvious to see there are some issues that are making this team as constructed inconsistent and overly reliant on the bullpen. The offense getting 4 runs a game would solve a lot of issues. Every team will juggle their rotations to get as many LH starters as possible lined up until they fix that problem.
Mark, your comment abut Gonzales still being a good #6 hitter made me smile as that was what I used to say about Loney albeit in his prime when so many wanted, demanded, a power hitting first baseman. I used to say the Dodgers need a power hitting left fielder because that was where the Dodgers were the weakest and that while Loney was not the typical power hitting first baseman, he was still a strength there.
.
27 LOB’s will do you in every time. Wanted – Clutch hitting. May finally be jumping on the Braun train.