Well, I was going to continue with my analysis of the NL West competition, but I thought that I would comment on the this past week and what the future may hold. Most Dodger fans got caught up in all of the Bryce Harper sweepstakes (including me), but as many of us said at the beginning of the Hot Stove League, a long term deal for Bryce Harper is not an Andrew Friedman & Co. move. I even noted early on that I will come back and apologize to 59inarow if the Dodgers did sign him, and I was getting my apology blog post ready to publish when he took the 13 years and $330MM contract with no opt outs, no trade, and no deferrals with Philly. His contract is very straight forward:
Year One – Age 26 – $10MM salary + $20MM signing bonus
Years Two – Ten – Age 27-35 – $26MM salary
Years Eleven – Thirteen – Age 36-38 – $22MM salary
There is no way AF was going to go there. I am somewhat embarrassed that I allowed even a thought of belief that Harper could be a Dodger. Admittedly I got caught up in the hype. I am not in the camp that believes that AF is going to offer something he is not willing to pay just to drive up the price, or to placate a fan base. I believe he was willing to pay $180MM for the next four years , but not go beyond 4 years. To justify that salary, Harper would need to average 5.6 WAR for the four years, and he has exactly 1 year with a WAR greater than 5.6, and only one other greater than 5.0. So all of the Harper pundit fans from Plaschke to Nostler can argue that the Dodgers blew it, but IMO they came out the winner on this one.
I am not anti-Bryce Harper. I think he improves any team he is on, including the Dodgers. But not at the cost he is getting from Philadelphia. He has never been a difference maker in the playoffs with a very good Washington Nationals team. He played in 4 NLDS, and advanced to the NLCS exactly NEVER. In 19 games, 89 PA, Harper batted .211/.315/.417/.801, with 23 strikeouts, 5 HRs, and 10 RBIs. Not exactly stellar or clutch. During the 162 game season, he does have good numbers WRISP and WRISP w/2 outs.
I do not think the Nats are upset. I think they believe they are fine with Victor Robles and Michael Taylor replacing Harper. Taylor almost carried the Nats to the NLCS in 2017 with games 4 and 5. In the 2017 NLDS, Taylor hit .333/.444/.733/1.178 with 2 HRs and 8 RBIs, while Harper batted .211/.304/.421/.725 with 1 HR and 3 RBIs.
What does Harper mean for Philly? The Phillies have the makings of a decent offensive team, but certainly not monstrous.
C – JT Realmuto
1B – Rhys Hopkins
2B – Cesar Hernandez
3b – Maikel Franco
SS – Jean Segura
LF – Andrew McCutcheon
CF – Odubel Herrera
RF – Bryce Harper
It is a good lineup, with a probable bench of Andrew Knapp (C), Nick Williams (OF), Aaron Altherr (OF), and Scott Kingery (IF). It is not nearly as impressive as the Nats offensive lineups have been. Plus, there is no depth if anyone gets hurt.
Pitching is going to be very questionable. After Aaron Nola and Jake Arrieta the next three figure to be Nick Pivetta, Zach Eflin, and Jared Eickhoff, with Vince Velasquez figuring in there as well. The bullpen is a total unknown after Seranthony Dominguez (R), David Robertson (R), and James Pazos (L). They are going to need to cull the balance of the pen from Tommy Hunter (R) (if he ever gets healthy again), Pat Neshek (R), Juan Nicasio (R), Hector Neris (R), Edubray Ramos (R), and Jose Alvarez (L).
The Phillies will be better, but still not as good (IMO) as the Nats or Braves. Nola and Arrieta are going to need to battle for CY if the Phils are going to be contenders.
Now that AF has shown us all again that he is not going to be an active pursuer of long term FA, what does that mean for the likes of Corey Seager (2022), Cody Bellinger (2024), Julio Urias (2024), and Walker Buehler (2025). Those FA years are per the current CBA, but who knows what they may be after 2021. The first three Dodger players are clients of Scott Boras. Boras is not an advocate for his clients contracting out of FA years, but he has done it. Stephen Strasburg and Jose Altuve are the most widely known. Strasburg’s is a labyrinth maze, but Altuve’s is pure vanilla compared to Strasburg’s. Altuve wanted to stay in Houston and Strasburg wanted the flexibility, and both got what they wanted.
Urias will be a FA in his 27 year old season, while Seager and Belli will be 28, and Buehler will turn 30 in his FA year. I can see Boras advising his three clients to hold off and wait for FA, but with Buehler’s injury history and turning 30 in 2025, it is certainly possible that if Buehler has a stellar year, AF will reach out to Buehler’s agent to work on an extension. At one point Excel Sports Management was his agency (same as Kershaw), but he currently does not list one in any of the publications’ agency databases. I would not rule out a Scott Boras relationship.
The Dodgers will have potentially $72MM coming off the AAV charts after 2019, and then another $16MM (JT) after 2020, and $16MM (Jansen) after 2021. Kershaw’s comes off after 2022. While it is unlikely with $18MM salary due in 2020 and $20MM salary due in 2021, Jansen could opt out after 2019.
The Dodgers have a lot of flexibility and options after 2019. But what about 2019? We have already seen a potentially crushing injury to Clayton Kershaw. The Dodgers do not need Dallas Keuchel or Gio Gonzalez, and the ship has sailed on Kluber. So they are going with what they have. Yes Urias could fit in for Kersh, but he was already going to be on an innings limit, so what will that mean? I know so many of you are very high on Ryu, but he accumulated ALL OF 82.1 IP in 2018, and has had a significant shoulder surgery, and yet some think he is a better option than Corey Kluber. Why? Because of all the innings Kluber has pitched and because at 33 he is getting at that age where everything starts to go south. Makes sense, except when you recognize that Ryu is exactly one year younger than Kluber. So 32 is gold, but once you hit 33 you are done?
I also heard arguments against DJLM because of how he hit outside of Coors. Fair argument. But why cherry pick against DJLM and ignore Ryu’s Home/Away metrics? Last year, at Home batting against him .212/.234/.296/.530 with a SO/W ratio of 10/1. However, Away the numbers were .240/.307/.490/.797 with a SO/W ratio of 3.22. Now you cannot complain about DJLM’s numbers away from Coors and ignore Ryu’s away from Dodger Stadium. I guess you could, but it would show an extreme bias.
I am not anti-Ryu, but the money spent on him could have been spent on Wood and Puig, and with Kemp and Bailey being a wash, IMO, the Ryu signing created the necessity of the Farmer trade. With Ryu being a Boras client, I honestly do not believe that AF expected Ryu to accept the QO. If AF has a kryptonite it is the QO. He blew it with Anderson and Ryu, and almost blew it with Kendrick. Kendrick should have accepted the QO as nobody looked to sign him, and the Dodgers got him back at a bargain rate. I should add Kazmir because it was expected that he would opt out after that first year.
Now this team is primed to win the NL West as that is not some monumental task as three of the teams look to be somewhere between #12 and #14 in the NL. Only the Fish look to be worse than the Padres, DBacks, Giants. It is very arguable that both the Pirates and Reds will have better records than those three.
The Dodger starting pitching is solid, for a 162 game schedule. But what happens if Kersh is gone and Urias has a innings limit, and Ryu cannot stay healthy. I am not convinced that rookies or pitchers with 2 pitches (Ferguson, Santana, and Stewart) can be counted on in the playoff pressure cooker. And while the bullpen looks to be sharp with a lot of competition, I am always skeptical because this has been such an overlooked facet of the game the last few years. I agree that when the young guns start to come up they will have a formidable bullpen, but there is a difference between MLB and MiLB, so to expect that to happen in a pennant run is a little ambitious. This year, the pen is going to need to rely on Jansen, Kelly, Baez, Cingrani, Stripling, Floro, Garcia, Alexander, Fields, and Chargois for 8 spots. That may sound good, but it did not get the job done last year, and many were on a failed WS bullpen in 2017. I agree that potentially the pitching can be very good, but potentially not so good.
The position players are solid as well, but need to prove that they can become clutch hitters this year. RISP and RISP w/2 outs has been horrendous the last few years. Does it change this year? It doesn’t just because one thinks it will. History says that it does not. Maybe Verdugo goes off. Maybe Belli, CT3, and Barnes get back that 2017 mojo. Maybe Muncy has another .900+ OPS year. Hopefully Seager is fully healed for a great run. JT absolutely should have a monster year. I predict him to be the MVP winner every year, so why not 2019. Unless Seager beats him out.
The team will be in a great position come trade deadline, but who is available at that time is anybody’s guess. I do not see an Ace available or a JDM. Mark sees a potential in Castellanos, and he might be, but he is still no JDM. There will no doubt be a plethora of relievers available, and hopefully AF will not whiff this year on relievers.
So I absolutely see the positives and the reason to be so optimistic this year, but health is still a concern, and clutch hitting needs to get better (much better). Getting to the playoffs should not be a concern, but winning the final game of the year has been a problem the last two years. Maybe 2019 will be THE YEAR,
Discussion (77)
Disagree, not disagreeable
I would say more obvious than amazing, Bluto. 5 old timers and a clown. FO has done well putting the pieces back together. Still not done. Bullpen and LF need certainty.
A look back 1/2 a decade:
In 2015 the following players were in the Dodgers starting line-up:
Kendrick, Crawford, Gonzalez, Ethier, Utley, and Puig.
Kinda amazing the re-tool, no?
Relief pitching has been a sore spot for me for the last few years. Four of the top relief options for OKC figure to be Josh Sborz, Joe Broussard, Kevin Quackenbush and Shea Spitzbarth, and none of them have looked good this spring. The field is opening up big time for Stetson Allie to shine. Allie looks good right now, and should continue to get the ball during the spring. He has a chance.
Long time minor leaguer Layne Somsen has suddenly got back in the picture as has Jaime Schultz. Both big time long shots.
Marshall Kasowski has a lot of promise, but he is still a one pitch guy, and Jesen Therrien still needs to show he can make it back from TJ surgery. I am on record believing he can.
Parker Curry and Ryan Moseley are opening eyes. Probably AA bound.
Dennis Santana may be headed to the bullpen, but it will not be this year.
I know Brock Stewart wants to start, but he has a chance to be a solid reliever if he chooses.
Yimi Garcia looks very much like he is significantly increasing his odds at breaking camp with LAD. Three perfect innings and 6 K’s. Right now he has to be on the short list to make the squad.
Of course it is waaaay too early, but none of Baez, Floro, Fields, Kelly, or Chargois have looked sharp. Baez looked good with 3 K’s but only after giving up 2 HRs. Both lefties Cingrani and Alexander looked good in their one inning.
Jansen is scheduled to pitch on Sunday.
Trevor Bauer pitched 4.0 innings today and now has 2 games and 7 innings, allowing 1 run.
Giant relievers have been fantastic in Spring, but their starters have been horrible. Opposite of Dodger pitching.
Time for me to go back to work.
For those who did not catch it, former longtime Dodger minor leaguer (and all around great person) O’Koyea Dickson has come back from his year in the Nippon Professional Baseball League with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, and signed a minor league contract with the Washington Nationals. Obviously an extreme long shot to make the roster, but I am pulling for him.
Cody Bellinger looks like a different hitter this year. Plus good two strike AB by Kike’.
Any takers on the fact there should be tampering laws in mlb
Salvador Perez will most likely be getting Tommy John surgery for an injured UCL. His name was mentioned sometimes as a possible catcher upgrade for the Dodgers. Guess stay8ng with the status quo is a good thing.
AC has therrian pitched? Don’t find any stats. Maybe in minor league camp? If so, can anybody say how he looks. Btw Russell Martin with a sore back lol get used to that one. Will smith should replace him by mid season as he is on the 40 man. I really wonder what happened to kemp. Got overweight and couldn’t be trusted in the field for sure. After kemp destroyed the Arizona reliever a couple days in a row it seemed he just didn’t get many chances even in a ph role. I am really curious to see how jeter and gray do this year.
Happy to see Tim LoCastro leading off for AZ.. I wish him well in their loss to the Blue..
From Jim Alexander of the OC Register, who (unlike Plaschke) has a brain:
I don’t know for sure if there were sighs of relief inside the Dodgers’ executive offices at Camelback Ranch on Thursday morning. But from this vantage point, Andrew Friedman and his people were entitled to exhale.
The Philadelphia Phillies’ owner, John Middleton, pledged early in the winter to spend money – and if necessary to “even be a little bit stupid about it” – to upgrade his team. He didn’t mention being stupid about contract length, as well.
But that was what it took to land Bryce Harper on Thursday: A 13-year deal for $330 million, with full no-trade rights and no opt-out clause, for a guy who has statistically slipped since his lone MVP season in 2015 and now will play in a town where that contract makes him a target. At the first sign of underachievement, Phillies fans will let him have it.
Let’s set the over/under for that at June 1.
And Lord help them all at the back end of this contract. Harper and the Phillies are now bound to each other through 2031, when the player will be 38 years old. Those who are paying attention to the waning years of Albert Pujols’ contract in Anaheim can probably guess how this will end.
But for the player, and for agent Scott Boras, this was a day of triumph. Money and contract terms are how most elite players (and their representatives) keep score. Harper blew past Manny Machado – who officially signed his 10-year, $300 million deal with the Padres last Friday – as well as the Yankees’ Giancarlo Stanton, who signed his 13-year, $325 million deal with the Marlins in 2014, then forced a trade to New York when things collapsed around him in Miami.
Harper’s average annual value, around $25 million per year, will be less than that of Machado or Nolan Arenado in his eight-year, $260 million deal with the Rockies. But that’s not the number everyone looks at, and the 13 years and $330 million were not coincidental or accidental. Until further notice, Bryce Harper is baseball’s King of the Hill.
What does this mean for the Dodgers?
Part of their fan base is surely disappointed, likely the same ones who couldn’t understand why the club traded Yasiel Puig. For those folks, we offer this from Washington Post columnist Thomas Boswell, describing how the Nationals’ loss of Harper might be a case of addition by subtraction:
“When the most famous player on the team can’t go 10 days without failing to run out a ground ball or overthrowing a cutoff man by 15 feet or throwing to the wrong base or being caught unprepared in the outfield or on the bases, it’s hard to demand total alertness from the other 24.”
Then there were the local media people who seemed convinced that the Dodgers needed Harper’s star power, that he was the missing piece to a World Series puzzle that has perplexed the franchise for three decades, or that the primary goal here was to keep him away from the hated Giants.
Well, mission accomplished with the latter, I suppose. They’ll only see Harper six or seven times a season now rather than 18 or 19.
But Harper would not sell appreciably more tickets or merchandise for the Dodgers, who have led the majors in attendance for six straight seasons and haven’t drawn less than 3 million since 2011, the final full season of the Frank McCourt reign of error.
As for being that X-factor? Since his MVP season in 2015 (42 homers, 118 runs scored, 1.109 OPS, 198 OPS-plus, 10.0 Wins Above Replacement), Harper has been an above-average player but not a superstar. His 100 RBIs and a 133 OPS-plus last season were offset by a marked decline in his defensive metrics. And he has 7.5 WAR in the last three seasons combined; his 1.3 in 2018 tied for 185th in the majors.
By way of comparison, Mike Trout’s WAR last year was 10.2 and his career figure is 64.3, to Harper’s career 27.4. If Harper gets 13 years and $330 million, what is Trout worth? (Arte Moreno is fidgeting as we speak.)
Then there is this: Harper is a .211 hitter, with an .801 OPS, in 19 career postseason games with Washington. If I’m paying for somebody to get me over that last October hurdle, I need much more production than that.
We’ll reiterate what we said when Pujols joined the Angels in 2012, 10-year contract in hand: If the team that signs him wins a World Series in the first few years of the deal, that entire contract will be worth it. Otherwise, it becomes a burden.
You can make the case that the Dodgers’ reluctance to do more than kick the tires on a marquee free agent isn’t appropriate for a big-market, big-revenue franchise. But don’t blame it all on Friedman.
Consider: In 42 years of baseball free agency, under four different ownerships and eight general managers/executive VPs, these are the top-of-their-class free agents the Dodgers have signed: Dave Goltz, Kirk Gibson, Darryl Strawberry, Kevin Brown, and arguably Zack Greinke. That’s it. (Considering how a couple of those turned out, the team’s reluctance is more understandable.)
Finally, consider: If you’re a Dodgers fan nervous about a possible postseason matchup, maybe the Phillie who worries you most shouldn’t be Harper but J.T. Realmuto, the catcher who got away.
Santana looked really good last night. His curve was awesome. He did give up one hit, which was a HR. We have some very good young pitchers.
Not sure if any of this has already been posted/discussed, but:
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News:
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From FanGraphs chats:
Moto Moto: Discuss Dustin May’s likelihood to break into the LA rotation this year..
Kiley McDaniel: Feels like I don’t have much to do with this conundrum but Dustin May is very good while the Dodgers also may not need SP depth when he’s ready
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Jake: Will DJ Peters swing and miss issues relegate him to a bench bat or does he mash enough/play ok defense to overcome the weak average?
Eric A Longenhagen: I think he plays everyday but might be volatile, year-to-year, like Michael Taylor and those types
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careagan: Hey Eric, thanks for the chat. MLB Pipeline’s report on Dennis Santana said one organization views him as the Dodgers best prospect. Which org do you think that is?
Eric A Longenhagen: My educated guess points toward teams that want ready upper-level pitching so I guessed Cubs but Jim just told me that’s wrong.
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Mike: What makes Dustin May better than tony gonsolin? Feel like gonsolin’s splitter is the best overall pitch, feels like they should be closer than their rankings are.
Eric A Longenhagen: Age is a huge factor for us since we’re looking at a six-year window of production. May is the age of a college draft prospect, Gonsolin turns 25 in May. The latter may hit his decline phase during that six-year window. That needs to be considered.
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Duchess: Given the rankings, it feels like Will Smith is already sort of blocked by Ruiz in LA. Is this true, or is he trade bait or just a guy that ends up playing a ton of positions for the Dodgers?
Eric A Longenhagen: Nah, he can play all over the place
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Keith Law chat:
Randall Stephens: How worried should I be about Kershaw? Can his FB get back to 93-94?
Keith Law: I think he can succeed averaging 90 mph, but I’m more concerned that his arm is sore. Seems like he’s never come up with a complaint about arm soreness.
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Zihuatanejo: In a recent spring training game, in all but 3 PAs for the entire game the Dodger hitters swung at the first pitch they saw. Do you think that was: 1) a random thing that happened; 2) a directive from the dugout; or 3) an inside joke between the players?
Keith Law: I’d guess 2, then 3, but not 1.
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Speaking of the great Mr Law, check out this piece he did with TrueBlue:
https://www.truebluela.com/2019/2/28/18230777/dodger-minor-league-prospects-keith-law-interview-part-one
Russ Martin on the Dodgers hitting coaches:
“The hitting coaches really know what they’re doing.
I don’t think Ryu had anything to do with Puig getting shipped out. They were tired of his act, he didn’t hit lefties for the last two years, he couldn’t hit in the middle of the lineup and he missed the cutoff man, yet again, in game 1 of the World Series. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if they extended Ryu beyond this season if he wants to stay here.
Ryu’s home / road splits only showed up last year. Over his career home and road are similar.
I’m not concerned with Spring Training numbers at all, especially from such a deep and loaded pen and especially with such a short spring so far and especially from relievers who haven’t had a chance to get in a groove.
Kershaw is a big question mark of course, maybe he can make it through the season, maybe he goes under the knife. This is very hard to predict considering he hasn’t even pitched yet. Maybe he just need more time to get loose, he had an MRI when he signed his extension and everything checked out.
We’ve got 5 really good arms coming up in Ferguson, Santana, May, Gonsolin and White and you never know when one of these guys will be ready for The Show. You never know when someone will come up and dominate. Baseball is a long ass season and is very tough to predict. Top to bottom, no other team has a staff with this much talent and depth. I like our odds. We have no room long term for all of these guys with Bueller and Urias in the rotation. There will be trades.
We have a good amount of depth at 2B and LF as well. Not too concerned right now, and there’s always the Trade Deadline. Kike looks great right now and Taylor doesn’t look too far behind. Verdugo is getting a ton of ABs and he’s doing okay with them. He’s also a good defender and a good base runner. There’s plenty of guys and plenty of flexibility. Muncy can play 1B, 2B and possibly LF. Beaty and Garlick are pleasant surprises and under the radar types.
I’m not sure if you noticed, but one of our two pitch pitchers seems to have found a third pitch. Santana seems to have learned a late breaking curve because he throw something that dropped off the table for a knee bending strike in his first game.
As far as your apology article goes, you better tuck that thing away for a rainy day, because if Harper wasn’t stupid, he would have taken the $40-45M AAV and we would have blown past the CBT threshold this year. The offer came, it just wasn’t accepted. The lesson learned is to never say never. Just like not spending on a reliever, it wasn’t going to happen until it happened. Mark Walters already said there is no payroll restriction.
For every Harper, who wants long term security with one team, there’s a Trevor Bauer who wants max money on a short term deal. I’m convinced Friedman will write that fat check when it makes sense to him. 13 years for Harper didn’t make sense for him. I’m disappointed that we didn’t get Harper, but it wasn’t for lack of trying.
Joc did not look good last night. Struck out three times. Verdugo had three quality at bats. One hit, one SO against Brad Hand, but a good at bat, and a sharp hit ball for an out. Joc has had four years to prove himself and at best he is a platoon player. I hope Verdugo gets his shot this year.
NIce post today AC. The Harper ship has sailed and back to the boring process that is ST. I for one hope Kershaw is ultimately fine and works through his issues but the team has to be prepared to have him down for stretches this year. Strip is a 1st half pitcher so pencil him in the rotation early but it could also be followed by Urias. Maybe that’s reversed but I think they hold Urias back a bit early. My worry is next year when Ryu and Hill probably leave, that’s why Maeda should be kept around-RH, great contract, can handle BP. So the team needs to find another SP for the rotation by next season, probably 2. At AAA they could have a rotation of Caleb, May, Gonsolin and White plus Stewart and at least one if not 2 need to step up.
The bullpen is murky but I see Jansen and Kelly; Baez and Floro, Cingrani and Alexander and open competition for the last 2 spots with Strip and Urias the front runners-one likely in the rotation to start the season. Kershaw and Seager could both be on the DL for the 1st 10 days, maybe longer so an extra spot for both the bench and bullpen could delay final cut down decisions. Fields, Shaggy, Stewart, Garcia are on the bubble, only Garcia out of options.
I said all along no way the Dodgers sign Harper. However, I was shocked if in fact the Dodgers offered 45 million. I didn’t think there was any way they would go over the luxury tax. I still wonder if AF had any reason to believe that he would consider that contract. But with Walter saying there was no directive to stay under the tax I will take them at their word. The timing of the statement and the interest in Harper seemed to connect. Maybe it was to drive up the price on the Phillies and giants. In my opinion the Dodgers have focused too much on kershaw. Yes he has had a great run(not in the playoffs) but if you look at the facts nothing supports him being a dominant playoff pitcher. So, salute him, pay him, but don’t count on him. I felt we should have tried to get a top line pitcher for the playoffs and I still believe that. I said last year ryu is great at dodger stadium and the numbers concur but I guess Roberts doesn’t. I agree the qo has been problematic for the Dodgers but thank your lucky stars grandal didn’t take it. I like the Dodgers having ryu, not at that price, but I would rather have the money on ryu than puig and wood. If healthy, and that is a big if, buehler urias ryu(in la) and kershaw in that order could get it done. Everybody would need to be at their best at the right time but the arms are there. It won’t happen because they won’t have the brass to slot kershaw where he should be. From junior high to the major leagues the inability of people in charge to make the decisions to win due to ego is always present. Base the decisions on results not on the feelings and maybe we win this year. Maybe Bauer will ruin his relationship with Cleveland and they will move him at the deadline. He could be a short term answe, synegard of the Mets, but really if on their game we have the arms now. We have enough depth in the sp to win the west. The bp looks good if Jansen will just do his job. In the past he has done it but not lately. AF has shown with kershaw, Jansen, and turner he will sign his own so he will make a run at our upcoming free agents.AC your post seems a bit less than your usual optimism. You have pointed out some potential minefields if things go south. If we are not healthy we will have a fight to the end with Colorado again. I think this is a weakness in the current regime to take risk on players like pollock, ryu, kershaw, and others but the depth buildup mitigates the risk that 13 year contracts might impose.
Very nice post AC, I agree with you about the Dodgers offer to Harper, it was made with the hope he would accept, but I´m not sure about Ryu, I think the Dodgers were thinking he would accept.
Kershaw had another promising game of catch yesterday,Kershaw said he was throwing about 80 percent and he felt good, let´s see how it goes.
Some early LF results
Hernandez 4 games, 5 for 11, 3 RBI´s,´ 1 BB,1 SO
Garlick 6 games, 3 for 9, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 SO
Verdugo 5 games, 4 for 12, 2 RBI´s 0 BB, 1 SO
Pederson 4 games, 1 for 11, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 7 SO
Time to hit the trails, 44 inches of show in the last 29 days, snowmobile fun.
AC, I think every pitcher tries to improve on the season that has just passed. Ryu has come a long way since he was sidelined. He looked good today against SD. Two scoreless innings, 2K’s, 2 hits. In fact, most of the Dodger starters have seemed ready to go. Stripling against Cleveland, two scoreless innings, 3 K’s, 2 hits. But watching both of these games, revealed a massive failure of the bullpen to pitch quality innings. In fact, so far in ST, our pitching has given up far too many hits and runs. Cleveland and SD clobbered Quackenbush, Baez, Ferguson, Floro, and White. Ferguson and Baez are deemed to be solid relievers. Baez looked like his old self, the one everyone hated. Ferguson was lost.
I know it is only a couple of games in ST, but you would think that these players would be much more ready than they showed yesterday. This is disturbing to me and I’m wondering if the FO really did improve the bullpen as I see the same old re-treads marched out. I did enjoy watching Santana. He’s got some interesting stuff. Even the day before vs the Reds, Kelly and Chargois both looked bad.
As you see, I am not filled with optimism at the state of the bullpen, but neither are you. I guess we will see how it all develops for the start of the season.