We may not know what we think we know and don’t know what we don’t know and I hope we know that we don’t know. Confused? I know…
- We know Justin Turner can walk – we don’t know if he can run. We will find out today. It seems that they are just being cautious and if this were the postseason he would be playing.
- We know that Dick Mountain will start on Tuesday – we don’t know if he will be effective. Even if he can only throw one or two innings, he will be on the playoff roster. We don’t know if he can.
- We know that CT3 and Kike will be the “Stuntmen” along with David Freese, Matt Beaty, and Russell Martin. That’s a pretty dad-gum good group of Swiss Army Knives! It’s nice to see Kike and CT3 getting their hit tools back.
- We know that Alex Verdugo will not be on the NLDS Roster – we also know that Gavin Lux will take his place. At least, I think we know that…
- I know that the bullpen for the postseason will be different from the one we have seen all year. Let’s not forget that Kershaw and Buehler will quite likely come out of the pen for an inning or so between starts rather than throwing in the pen. They will likely come in to start “clean innings” if needed. Depending upon off days, it’s possible a 4th starter won’t be needed. We know that Pedro Baez, Kenley Jansen, Adam Kolark, Casey Sadler, and Julio Urias will be in the bullpen with Kenta Maeda
- We know we don’t know who of Dustin May, Tony Gonsolin, Ross Stripling, Joe Kelly, Yimi Garcia, Dylan Floro, and Caleb Ferguson will be on the roster. Some good pitchers will be left off.
- We do know that Scott Alexander, JT Chargois, Josh Sborz, and Dennis Santana will not be on the playoff roster.
- We know that Will Smith is showing signs of coming out of his slump. Hopefully, he can go on another tear!
- You should know that every team has challenges and problems (or opportunities): The Nats, the Braves, the Yankees and the Astros all have injuries and key players missing or in question. The Astros top reliever just came back from knee surgery in a month. Is that enough time? As the playoff cast is aligned, we will focus on the issues each team faces.
Right about now, Doc just wants to keep the players healthy and fresh. The Dodgers are 7-3 in their last ten games and some fans are worrying so much it is “shrinking their brain mass and destroying their IQ’s” (I’m being sarcastic).
Something to Consider…
Verlander, Cole, and Greinke all have pitched over 200 innings for the Astros. That’s a great thing… right? Well, will they be as “fresh” as Dodger starters? Kershaw has given up 28 HR, but Cole has given up 26 and Verlander has given up 34. Greinke has given up 21. Kershaw and Buehler have both pitched 171 innings and Ryu has 168. The extra innings could make a difference. It’s just a thought.
Arizona Fall League – Day 3
The Glendale Desert Dogs moved to 0-3 as they were stung by the Scottsdale Scorpions 3-2 (see what I did there?). Omar Estevez started at 2B and hit leadoff. He was 2-4. Jeren Kendall was 1-4 with a double and 1 strikeout. Marshall Kasowski came in to pitch the 9th inning with the score tied 2-2 and Nick Maton, the Phillies #14 Prospect hit a walk-off home run. If Marshall can develop a second pitch in the AFL, he could be the Dodgers closer. Of course, if I had half a brain I could be Einstein.
Discussion (36)
Disagree, not disagreeable
I highly doubt Sadler makes the NLDS roster. No one cares about ERA.
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I said Smith with catch Ryu again this year
I have a treat for you tomorrow.
You won’t have to read my lunatic rants and raves.
We have a new (old) blogger….
Astros lost.
Craig Kimbrel served up back to back pitch HR to lose another game. His 3rd blown save, and his ERA is now up to 6.53. He is now 0-4. The Cubs are just about out of it now. Looks like Brewers vs. Nats.
I try not to comment on the lineups, but believe me, I could on a daily basis. But, I was surprised to see Kike on the bench against a lefty. Anyone reading anything into this? Taylor’s hitting in-between Cody and Corey. I would imagine that he’ll get some pitches to hit. Lux gets a start against a lefty.
The lineup is looking deeeeeppppp! But, we are facing a lefty.
Bob Geren might get a call as well. Excellent x’s and o’s Tactician with a nice mix of old
and new baseball.
I realize this is a Dodger blog so my apologies to those who don’t want to talk about the Padres, but one of their beat writers just posted a list of the guys they are considering to replace Green: Mike Scioscia, Moises Alou, Ron Washington, Mark Loretta and………………………………………………….Bruce Bochy.
Some Dodger news:
Max Muncy (quad) is “playable” tonight, Dave Roberts said, should start tomorrow.
Rich Hill came out of his sim game healthy and starts Tuesday in SD.
Roberts said Will Smith catches Ryu tomorrow, despite better numbers with Martin behind the plate.
Roberts said Joe Kelly’s vague lower body issues will require continued limited usage until the postseason.
I also thought it was strange that the firing was done with a week left in the season. That makes Green look even worse. Like saying “we just have to get rid of him this very minute”.
Girardi and Showalter are out there and could be interviewed immediately but I’m not sure those are Preller’s kind of guys. Unless the Cubs go really far in the playoffs Maddon will almost certainly be available also.
Maybe more details will come out about why the firing was done now.
Andy Green dismissed by the Pads. Interesting take that they signed Machado but would not do anything about their lack of pitching, and that is Green’s fault. Their farm pitching is good but not ready. When MacKenzie Gore gets called, that will be a different team. Paddack needed this year as did Quantrill. Lauer and Lucchesi were it going into the season. How is Green supposed to win with that, and you tie up $300MM in one player? It wasn’t Green that gave away Brad Hand. No I do not think Francisco Mejia is equal to Brad Hand, much less Brad Hand and Adam Cimber. It wasn’t Green that traded budding star and Dodger killer Franmil Reyes and a good looking LHSP, Logan Allen for OF Taylor Trammel, who has not lived up to his expectations. In the Winter, Trammell was considered untouchable by Cincy. I guess not so much at the deadline. Cincinnati made out and Cleveland made out, not so much the Padres.
I am not a Padres fan, but I do not see that Green needed to be terminated especially before the season ended. Maybe there is another reason that I have not read.
Not sure that Sadler is a lock and Roberts has said that Stripling will pitch out of the ‘pen – he’ll probably be long man. I don’t see Wild Man Kelly being left off either. He is being discussed as a late inning alternative to Jansen or being pushed into the “fireman” role. Everything that i read predicts a 12 man staff, at least in the 1st round. As I see it the locks are:
Starters
Kershaw
Ryu
Buelher
Bullpen
Jansen
Baez
Maeda
Kelly
Stripling
Urias
Kolarek
That leaves 2 spots. Hill will get one if he can pitch. If not, my guess is that Gonsolin takes his place. That leaves one spot for one more reliever, probably from between Sadler, Ferguson and HR Garcia and Floro, depending on hot hand and match-ups. I predict that if a 4th starter is needed in the 1st round it will be either Hill or Gonsolin.
Everyone (almost) talks about HFA with the Astros and Yankees, but the A’s could be hot at the right time and be the NL’s opponent. Still looking for the Dodgers to take the NL. IMO the Braves seem to be the biggest threat, but any of the teams in the playoff can get hot and take it all.
For home field, our magic number to get home field thru the NL playoffs is 3 over Atlanta. I’d bet $1.50 that we clinch that within the next few days .
Houston has 53 losses, and LA/NY have 55 losses. Houston beat NY 4-3 in the season series, so Houston has that tiebreaker. Houston also holds the tie breaker over us, due to inter-division record (I think). Having said that, I can’t see LA or NY gaining 3 games on the Astros in the final 8 games! Therefore, I’ll concede Houston gets home field throughout the playoffs.
However, we’re now tied in the loss column with the Yanks, which means we’re really 1 game back of the Yanks (since they beat us 2-1 in the season series). So there is a chance over the next 7-8 games that we could gain that game on NY this final week and have home field over NY in a potential World Series matchup.
Gona be a fun week kids!
The best point that you made is that there are going to be good pitchers left off the roster. It stands to reason that the roster is going to be loaded with good pitchers. Not worried about the pitching at all. Well, maybe all those Kershaw 1st inning homers, just a little worried about that.
Mark. “Stung by the Scottsdale Scorpions”. I loved the alliteration if that is what you meant. If not, well I also loved your breakdown of possible playoff rosters. Do I have my favorites that I hope to see make it? Absolutely, like Beaty, Lux and Smith. I have no idea who to leave off. I am holding my breath but will leave it up to the experts to decide and will root for whomever they choose. And the roster can change between the different series, can it not? DBM.