What must Fields be thinking he needs to do to stay on the team in the bullpen? 3IP, 1H1BB, 6 K’s, .100 BA.

Walker Buehler today: 3ip, 2hits, 8k.

Thompson should go back down to AAA. They sent him down for a reason and getting 10 or 11AB’s doesn’t accomplish their goal. He’s not a good enough defensive player to warrant finding his timing at the big league level. If there is still a spot on the 40-man, Dickson can’t be any worse defensively than Guetierrez these days.

I have so much confidence when Alex Wood comes into the game as a reliever. I hope he realizes that this may be his ticket to becoming big time. I trust him!

Did someone say Puig could not hit cleanup?

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I didn’t think so.

That’s the Kike Hernandez I know and love. His love for the game is back and he is a very unique player.

Mark, I just discovered that you were back online. Boy have I missed your comments. You are spot on about how pitching is baseball is changing. I’ve been going to games since my dad took me to see the Dodgers in 1958. I live in Reno with my XM Radio and MLB package so I watch or listen to every game along with my wife, 4 kids, 14 grand kids and 2 great grand kids. You notice the XM and MLB package were listed first. Drives my wife nuts. But when you have the Dodgers in your Blue Blood, I can’t control the passion.

Welcome back!!!!

If you have been watching you might have some idea why Kike is on the team…

https://www.google.com/amp/deadspin.com/jim-bowden-caught-stealing-from-fake-twitter-account-d-1614081824/amp

Update above.

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Lineup and game notes.

Mark, are my comments always going to require moderation before posting? Do I need to do something on my end?

This is something I have been preaching for some time now. The game is changing and change isn’t always bad. It is not just that we do not see 300 IP pitchers any longer, we don’t see 250 IP pitchers. Soon the 200 IP pitcher will be gone. I do not have to like the trend, but I do accept that is where the game is headed. The Dodgers organization is extremely deep in starting pitching. All will not make it, but with the number of current pitching prospects, there will be more than a handful that will. Ross Stripling and Alex Wood would be the #4 or #5 in most rotations in baseball, but they are not with the Dodgers. The Dodgers are very fortunate to have them both in the bullpen ready to start if need to, but more than capable of being a shutdown reliever in a high leverage situation. Hello Andrew Miller. I acknowledge Stripling/Woods/McCarthy/Maeda are not Aces. But the last time I checked, games where the #3, #4, and #5 pitchers started, those games counted just as much as the games #1 and #2 started.

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I also acknowledge pitchers like Kazmir will end up being salary busts for the Dodgers. It is highly doubtful that even as well as McCarthy has started this year, that he can makeup for the two years that were lost. Probably the best he could do is to continue to excel, and allow the Dodgers to trade him. Baltimore has two years to win before their Cinderella Carriage turns into a pumpkin. They need starting pitching. I know some have, but I am not willing to give up on Rich Hill. He has a better chance of fulfilling his contract value than Greinke does. Kershaw and probably Scherzer seem to be the anomaly in the $200M 6-7 year contract starting pitcher. Lester at $155M, and for one year and three games, Cueto and his $130M seem to be decent investments. Greinke, Price, Verlander, Zimmerman, and Felix Hernandez, are not earning their Ace contract money. Strasburg is an unknown right now.

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If Kazmir is still in the 84-85 MPH range, it is more than mechanics that is affecting his velocity. It sure seems like he is an extreme longshot to make the roster this year. 60 Day DL him, and hope the year off helps him, and he can somehow try to comeback next year. It serves no purpose to DFA him this year. 60 Day DL serves the same purpose. The same with Ethier.

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Looking at the roster, I see no other choice for the Dodgers other than place Ryu on the DL when Hill comes back. Ryu has worked exceptionally hard to come this far back, but he is not back to being an effective pitcher. I think the bigger question is who is moved when Urias comes back. One of the relievers will undoubtedly have a meltdown and become the logical choice.

MJ, Grandal “wears” down; not wares down. I wonder if you pitched a LH pitcher in innings 1-3 then a RH pitcher in the 4th to 6th inning whether this would force the opposition to start pinch hitting sooner. If so, this would impact the ability of the opponent to have enough hitters to account for situational pitching substitutions in the later part of a game. The pitching change forces the opposing manager to have to make more choices which potentially increases the risk of making bad decisions and, hopefully gives our team an advantage. I’m all for giving the other team the chance to screw up in a key situation and then taking advantage of the error. Also, I’m a big fan of a 27 man roster, and expansion to 32 teams. Let’s give another 120 players the opportunity to earn ML level pay and provide an opportunity for a multitude of players, coaches, MLB managers and executives, etc.

I didn’t see the whole game but saw Grandal take 2 bad swings on a strikeout off Greinke on breaking balls in the dirt. I would like to see the same lineup go tonight as went last night, just don’t think it will happen. Grandal being a switch hitter seems like he could get just one day off a week. Puig is playing every day and Joc should too for his defense alone. I do like Barnes though, he’s a scrapper.

Baez hit 98 mph and 45 seconds between pitches. Maybe they could show baseball bloopers between pitches.

I see your point about Ryu, Mark and Box, the team has a lot more info than I do on where he is right now. Wood is not really stretched out either and is great out of the bullpen. Maeda could probably use some rest here and there too, they were giving him extra days between starts last year. It gets more complicated when Urias is activated too. Hatcher has pitched well and Avilan too, nice problems to have! Let’s see how Maeda pitches today and if Hill has good command tomorrow. Corbin is a tough leftie and pitched 6 shutout innings against Cleveland in his last start. It will be a stiff test and Toles and Joc probably sit and maybe Grandal who had some bad at bats last night.

I think a lot of starting pitchers get overpaid because they hit free agency after they’ve pitched at their peak and put a lot of wear/mileage on their arms. Their bloated contracts reflect the bidding among clubs hoping they will sustain their performance but these days it’s nearly impossible to sustain such a high level of performance over the lifetime of these contracts (6-7 years! in some cases). Kershaw is indeed a rare case. As many of you, I fear his opt-out, but I am hoping the FO values his “intangibles.” I don’t know how many articles I’ve read where young Dodgers pitchers speak in amazement about the uncompromising dedication Kershaw has for hard work, preparation and attention to detail.

I understand the evolution of pitching. So why all this fuss over protecting young arms? Finding an ace is like finding a needle in a haystack. Should anyone even bother? Let ’em pitch and see what happens. So I guess the thought is there will be a never ending search for that ace, which few will successful at. So how do you find an ace? By letting him pitch. The sooner the better so that if he isn’t one, you can trot out another ace-in-waiting. I think the Bowden philosophy is classic dumbing down. The bell curve turned upside down. The C student that now gets an A. The starting pitcher who really is a reliever for the first 3 innings of a game. Sad, but probably true. Our suits are the leaders in overpaying these guys. How can you defend them when they violate there own philosophy. Or are they learning on the job? I always felts these guys are guessers, with no accountability. Tomorrow they may say that starting pitching is the most important part of the game. Sounds like Washington D.C.

I liked what I saw from Baez last night. Granted we’ve seen this before, and then we’ve seen a 95mph fastball right in the wheelhouse too.

I’m really intrigued by Wood/Strip handling the 7th and 8th and being interchangeable.

I would hope the League would allow teams to use the 10 day DL to ease pitchers like Ryu back onto the active roster. Ryu would not technically be injured and I assume doesn’t have options.

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I am not sure I want to expand the 25 to the 26 or the 27. If a team needs more pitchers then they won’t have the players to platoon. That makes teams like the Dodgers to have more of a set lineup and use bench players mostly as pinch hitters and defensive replacements for injured players.

I think Ryu is trying to “push” through fatigue and 10 days on the DL would give him a needed rest that might save injury later.

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Remember, he has hardly pitched for two years.

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McCarthy at least logged some innings last year.

Nice post today! I do think rosters should be expanded by a couple of spots as teams have a short bench, especially in the NL. The Dodgers have great depth in starting pitching and performance will as it should determine who gets the starts this year.

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Kershaw was himself and looked on a mission against his old teamate! Baez looked good too. I liked the lineup last night, it was long with Grandal, Joc and Puig hitting 6-7-8 and Roberts should try it against a leftie. There were some clutch at bats that were grinding type.

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I believe when Hill is activated Wood goes back to the bullpen and Ryu gets a couple more starts to stretch out. Hatcher should go down but is out of options so it could be Avilan who was up and down multiple times last year and has an option left. Dayton and Wood still gives them 2 LHP in the pen.

In my pre caffeine haze, I thought the picture was of Zach Greinke being chased by the Dodger hitters last night

Yes, even a cursory examination of the MLB situation shows that the importance of “starters” is going down. The 300 innings per season starter has gone the way of the dinosaur. 200 inning starters next? Increasing the roster to 27 or 28 players might just do it.

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The 2016 Dodgers are a text book example of “not putting all your eggs in one basket” when it comes to starting pitching. We may not like it, yeah, I would rather have 5 Kershaws, but risking the whole season when a Kershaw goes down, by not having enough depth, is foolish.

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When you add in “facts” like the decreased starter production the third time through the order, the writing is on the wall. Goodbye Mohicans.