Think about that for a minute. There’s a lot we don’t know and some of it is stuff that we know we don’t know. We know the Cubs are struggling and need a couple of starting pitchers and maybe a veteran catcher, They have some pieces to trade, but they are also sitting on a really bad contract belonging to Jason Heyward. We know they have some good young prospects but how many are they really willing to trade? Theo Epstein and Andrew Friedman are both trying to build juggernauts who are sustainable, year-by-year, so prospects are paramount.
There are several teams like the Cubs – they could be in the hunt with the right deal but who are they willing to trade? That’s what we don’t know and we know we don’t know it. I think the trade deadline will go right down to the wire this year. You could see a plethora of deadline deals. I think every team has a WAR ROOM or a place where they have all of the players posted on the wall whom they are willing to trade. Who is on that list is what we do not know.
If we were to make a list, I think these players would be on it. I’ll call it The Trade List. It doesn’t mean that any or all will be traded – it’s just that they Dodgers may be willing to trade them under the right circumstances;
Dodgers Trade List:
- Willie Calhoun
- Hyun-Jin Ryu
- Kenta Maeda
- Scott Kazmir
- Scott Farmer
- Scott Van Slyke
- Ross Stripling
- Yadier Alvarez (only under the right conditions)
We have no idea if that is correct because we don’t know what we don’t know. Will any get traded? Maybe… maybe not – we don’t know what we don’t know. What we do know that we know is that the Dodgers really don’t need to do anything. It’s still going to prove to be very interesting…
Kenley Jansen was spot on in his criticism of Dodger fans failure to vote in any Dodger starters to the All-Star Game. Of course, he was correct – don’t pretend that this fan base is something it’s not. Cubs fans are rabid. Dodger fans are not rabid but they do love to bitch (like I am doing right about now). Oh well, it is what it is and it is not going to change.
DODGERS ANNOUNCE SIGNINGS OF INTERNATIONAL PROSPECTS
LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Dodgers today announced the signings of 26 international prospects during the international signing period.
The Dodgers signed 19 players out of the Dominican Republic, while three were signed out of Venezuela and one player each from Cuba, Curacao, Aruba and Nicaragua. The Dodgers signed 15 position players (seven infielders, seven outfielders and one catcher) and 11 pitchers (nine right-handers and two left-hander).
Below is the full list of the signed players and a photo from the signing that took place at Campos Las Palmas – the Dodgers’ player development facility in the Dominican Republic – yesterday.
Minor League Report
I was watching the Nashville Sounds and the OKC Dodgers play since there is no MLB game last night. Kyle Farmer was at 2B and Alex Verdugo was in CF with Willie Calhoun being the DH. I’m sorry, but I still say that Willie has tree-trunk legs. If he were a boxer you could never knock him down. Farmer is smooth at 2B – I did not see him play SS, but I expect he was fine. He can probably play all the infield positions and maybe the outfield.
OKC – The Dodgers won 6-5 as Joe Broussard pitched 2 hittless and scoreless innings as OKC came back to win in the 9th inning. Broussard is now 3-0 with a 1.36 ERA at AA and AAA this year! Alex Verdugo continued his quest for a callup by going 3-5 last night. He is at .349 right now with a .416 OB%. He doubled in the two runs in the 9th to win the game. I for one, want to see him leading off for the Dodgers.
TULSA – The Drillers won 3-0, behind two hits by Errol Robinson and Edwin Rios, but the real story is Tim Shibuya. The 27 year-old pitched a 9 inning complete game one-hitter. In fact, he had a no-hitter which was broken up with a single with two outs in the bottom of the 9th. He now has a 1.51 ERA. Old friend, Grant Holmes went 7 for Midland in the loss as he allowed 1 ER in his best outing of the season.
RC – Rancho lost 11-8, but DJ Peters is smoking hot as he went 3-5 and is begging for a promotion to Tulsa. Raley and Will Smith also homered. Yadier Alvarez went 3.2 allowed 4 hits and 4 runs. His stock is slipping…
GL – They won 4-1 as Gavix Lux tried to jump out of a boat but failed to hit water. 19 year-old AJ Alexy pitched 5 innings of 2 hit, no run ball for the win.
I’ll leave the rookie league to AC….
Finally, this is for DodgerRick:
New Era: Dodgers leading trend toward shorter starts for pitchers
Bill Plunkett of The Daily News wrote this:
Starting pitching sure ain’t what it used to be.
Once dinosaurs such as Don Drysdale, Bob Gibson and Nolan Ryan roamed the earth, snarling at anyone who dared to approach the pitcher’s mound before the ninth inning. “Five and fly” was an insult, dripping with disdain, aimed at starting pitchers who weren’t stout-hearted enough to do a man’s job and finish what he started.
Now – “Five and fly” might as well be the job description.
“That’s old school,” said Bud Black, a starting pitcher in the 1980s and early ’90s, a pitching coach (for the Angels) in the early 2000s and now the manager of the Colorado Rockies. “‘Five and fly’ was not a good term. Six was borderline. When a guy got taken out after six, that was borderline. I mean, 120 pitches was the norm. And that could have been six innings.
“It has changed.”
Indeed it has. Relievers pitched a record number of innings last season (1,070) and are on pace to challenge that this season. As recently as the 2014 season, the average start in the National League was six innings. This season, it is a hair less than 5 2/3 (5.59 through Sunday) – the lowest in history.
“If you get a guy who can give you six innings on a regular basis – he’s not a fifth starter. He’s a No. 2 or 3,” said Angels manager Mike Scioscia, whose team has struggled to fill out its rotation this year.
With the lowest starters’ ERA in the majors (3.42), the Dodgers would seem to be above this. Instead, they are at the forefront of the trend toward shorter starts.
A year ago, the Dodgers’ starting rotation unraveled due to injuries from the top (Clayton Kershaw) on down. As a result, 39 times they had a starting pitcher go five innings or fewer. Dodgers relievers pitched a major-league high 590 2/3 innings and Dave Roberts made a major-league record 606 pitching changes.
This year, the Dodgers have had the depth to fill out a six-man rotation (seven when Julio Urias was healthy) and use the DL as a waiting room. And yet, they have already had 37 games in which the starting pitcher went five innings or less.
An ace of the old-school variety, Kershaw is responsible for just one of those. In the 67 games started by anyone else, Dodgers starters have averaged fewer than 5 1/3 innings (5.29). Even Kershaw (in the wake of last season’s back injury) is being handled a little differently. He has pitched into the eighth inning just three times in his first 17 starts and is averaging less than seven innings per start for the first time since 2012.
“What I knew before, what I thought was – you get starting pitchers to go six, seven innings and then you run a ’pen for seven, eight and nine,” Roberts said of his expectations coming into his first managerial job. “Then you start looking at the numbers that Andrew (Friedman) and the front office introduced me to – about third time through (the batting order) and things like that.”
Ah, there it is. Of the multiple forces driving down the length of the average start – injury prevention and pitch limits on developing pitchers among them – analytics lead the way. It’s hard to deny the evidence. Almost universally, starting pitchers fare worse the more times they face a hitter in a game. It is much easier to find a pitcher who can throw one inning at a time than one who can go through a lineup repeatedly.
“Yes. No doubt,” Black agreed. “One thing I have noticed just in filling out a lineup card every day – the number of teams using eight relievers as opposed to seven, now that’s almost the norm. And that happened almost overnight.”
An eight-man bullpen – and a fleet of planes shuttling them in from Oklahoma City to hit refresh – allows the Dodgers to spread the load and (hopefully) avoid bullpen burnout.
“When you’re looking at our personnel and what they’ve done over the last year or two and their workload, if I’m trying to keep these guys (the starters) strong through October and I’m pushing them an extra inning each start that accumulation is going to take a toll,” Roberts said. “So if we have an eight-man ’pen and guys are rested, to have a guy go five innings it could potentially save bullets for the back end.”
For the Dodgers, the big picture has to include the additional stress of high-pressure starts in October. But the requirements of starting pitchers in the postseason have changed as well.
Last year, the Cleveland Indians reached the World Series by pitching their relievers (64 2/3) nearly as many innings as their starters (69-1/3) in the postseason – and more (32 1/3 innings to 30 1/3) in the World Series. The Cubs and Indians starting pitchers averaged fewer than five innings per start in the World Series and none went beyond the sixth inning.
The 2015 postseason started the trend with the Kansas City Royals winning a championship with a group of starters that averaged less than 5 1/3 innings per start in the postseason. The 2014 World Series is remembered for Madison Bumgarner’s heroics. He pitched 16 innings in his two starts. But the rest of the Giants starters managed 16 1/3 in the other five games.
“I just don’t think it’s really possible to paint the topic of World Series champions with a broad stroke brush,” Friedman said. “It’s so specific to each team. They do it in different ways. I think elite teams are really good at preventing runs. But there are more ways to do that than just to have elite starting pitching. But from a quality-of-life standpoint, having elite starting pitching is still far and away the easiest way to accomplish that.”
DODGERS STARTING PITCHING
Dodgers (NL rank) NL Avg
ERA 3.42 (1st) 4.48
IP 470-2/3 (6th) 459
K 479 (3rd) 402
BA vs .231 (1st) .259
OBP vs .295 (1st) .327
Slug vs. .376 (1st) .440
HRs 55 (14th) 67
WHIP 1.16 (1st) 1.35
Ks per 9 IP 9.16 (3d) 7.85
Ks-to-BBs 3.37 (1st) 2.52
Discussion (46)
Disagree, not disagreeable
That was closer than it needed to be, but least we finally got over the line.
3.5 games up.
Cody made a Rookie mistake going for that ball. I’ll bet he doesn’t do that again.
This one is for Rick:
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DODGERS RECALL ROSS STRIPLING
LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Dodgers today recalled right-handed pitcher Ross Stripling from Triple-A Oklahoma City and placed left-handed pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu on the 10-day disabled list (retroactive to June 29) with a left foot contusion.
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Stripling, 27, returns to the big league club for his third stint, as he has gone 0-3 with one save and a 4.03 ERA (17 ER/38.0 IP) in 22 relief appearances with Los Angeles this season. He last pitched on Sunday against Triple-A Nashville (Athletics) allowing one run (none earned) on one hit in 0.1 innings of relief with the OKC Dodgers. In three games with Triple-A Oklahoma City, Stripling has gone 1-1 and has yet to allow an earned run in 3.1 innings of relief with four strikeouts.
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Ryu, 31, last pitched on Wednesday against the Angels, allowing just two runs on seven hits in 5.2 innings with eight strikeouts, as he did not factor into the decision in the Dodgers’ 3-2 defeat. He has gone 3-6 with one save and has posted a 4.21 ERA (34 ER/72.2 IP), while striking out 69 batters against 22 walks in 72.2 innings.
If McCarthy has a mental disorder called the yips that is brought out in high stress situations, (like he had last year) how can he be counted as one of the 4 in the playoff rotation? I hope everyone in here is correct, that he will return to be his old self but I’m sure not counting on him to come back and be the McCarthy we had in the first part of this season. I know everyone in here wants to turn the page on his last performance but we had better wait and see some results and see how/if he can bounce back this year. I know it was a knee issue. Wink wink……
Hey Watford. Today Is Brexit 1776
DodgerRick,
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I am going to charge you with withholding discovery material that is vital to my case, namely this:
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The current edition is younger with fewer established stars and a thinner rotation, but in today’s baseball, it’s probably the deepest and most versatile around.
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Gurnick wrote that just before what you quoted. I’m asking for sanctions….
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😉
Happy Independence Day guys.
Still can’t believe you didn’t want to stay hitched to us!!
Just read this with interest
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2017/07/tigers-set-large-asking-price-for-justin-verlander.html?fv-home=true&post-id=96466
Not saying that I’d necessarily do it, but what would it take to get both Verlander & JD Martinez?
It would solve 2 of our perceived problems, leaving only a late innings LHRP to find.
Would they make the difference?
I recall last year that the Cubs took Chapman at the Deadline to help them over the top.
It’s a tough
Call sometimes to know whether to stick or twist?
I think Baumgarner goes tomorrow vs RC in San Jose. I hope we beat the crap out of him. I hate the giants. I start to worry whenever that lead shrinks. We have to keep winning. Period. A thought: it seems that modern batters begin the load earlier in the pitcher’s motion. Assuming this to be true, why aren’t more pitchers being taught to vary their motions to the plate. How about the old double/triple windmill? I think the pitchers’ motion is too predictable. Once in a while you see a sidearm delivery, but not much else. Turner doesn’t like the quick pitch. Pitchers should speed it up or slow it down multiple times during any at bat. Does anyone know more about this idea?
Ken Gurnick from Dodgers.com:
“Postseason starting rotation: Kershaw and …?
— Mark Nakata @mrnonel
Correct.
Do the Dodgers feel confident in their rotation?
— Nick Adams @ GunkaNick
Does any team? This management group acquired starting pitchers Alex Wood and Mat Latos during the 2015 season, then Bud Norris and Rich Hill during the ’16 season. Starting pitching already figured to be on the shopping list again as the ’17 non-waiver Trade Deadline approached, and then phenom Julio Urias needed shoulder surgery. The club was counting on Urias to provide late-season help, so the need is even greater than originally anticipated.
Dodger minor leaguers have four pitchers going tonight that are worth checking out.
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Carlos Felix (Ogden)
Jordan Sheffield (Great Lakes)
Devin Smeltzer (Rancho)
Trevor Oaks (OKC)
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And then the major league team has Clayton Kershaw.
“I just don’t think it’s really possible to paint the topic of World Series champions with a broad stroke brush,” Friedman said. “It’s so specific to each team. They do it in different ways. I think elite teams are really good at preventing runs. But there are more ways to do that than just to have elite starting pitching. But from a quality-of-life standpoint, having elite starting pitching is still far and away the easiest way to accomplish that.”
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Exactly. And as Dodger fans, that’s certainly what we have come to expect. Since the team arrived in LA, the Dodgers have been known as a team with very good starting pitching. From Koufax & Drysdale to Sutton, Messersmith and Tommy John, Fernando and Orel, Ramon Martinez ( and his little brother Pedro was should never have been traded away) to Kershaw and the recently-departed Zach Greinke, Dodger fans have been treated to great starting pitching.
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Now we are apparently told that guys with more career time on the DL than on the field who can give you 5 innings, when healthy is the way to go. I don’t have to like it and I don’t. It’s not in the Dodger tradition. Heck, it’s not in the baseball tradition. And no one answers the question for me – if overuse causes injuries, why do pitchers, who throw less than ever before, have more injuries than ever before?
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Former Hall of Fame pitchers are asking the same question. From the LA Times:
“I think pitchers are less prepared and more nurtured than ever before because in theory, that’s what they say is supposed to stop the injuries,” said Smoltz, a Fox Network analyst. “And all it has done is increase them.”
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But what does John Smoltz know about pitching anyway?
I agree with MJ that a lot of fans are not involved as much as they should be due to the TV coverage or lack of in Southern California. I am lucky after 2.5 years of not seeing the games finally getting Spectrum TV. I would have got it sooner however I only had Charter cable (which did not have the Dodger Channel) in my area until Time Warner and Charter merged together and formed Spectrum last year. I honestly believe this has a huge effect on the fans voting. The list of trading chips up above wouldn’t stir up to much interest in landing someone significant to help down the stretch in my opinion. Going with Joey Chestnut today in the Hot Dog eating contest….. Go Blue
I think I have carpel tunnel…
Turner is in the lead with 6.7 million more votes, then the next player!
Mark
It is easier for someone out of the state to get the Dodgers on TV then in Southern California, and that does play a role in some of these votes.
Also in California the Dodgers have competition from four other baseball teams, and there is so much more to do in California.
I guarantee if they had those old paper ballots at Dodger stadium, the votes would be much different.
Because the Dodgers out draw every team.
But Kenley is right to a point about this.
I also think a lot of fans don’t put much into the Allstar game, anymore either.
I don’t feel strongly about it either.
But I do think it will be a shame if Turner and Wood, don’t make this team.
Because this would be their first time.
I just hope we show the Dbacks that we are not the same team, that they faced, the last time we played them.
Okay – Rookie League Report:
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Ogden Raptors were 7-6 winners over Idaho Falls Chukars (KC) – Tyler Adkison (2017 32nd round – OF San Diego State) – had 3 hits and is now batting .444 for the Raptors. Rylan Bannon (2017 8th round – 3B Xavier) had two hits. After a slow start, Bannon has now hit in 4 straight and his BA is up to .333. Gersel Pitre (1B), also had 2 hits. Pitre was just reassigned from Great Lakes where he performed okay, but at 20 years old, he needs to play more regularly. Hendrik Clementia hit in his 9th consecutive game to start the season, and is now batting .389/.436/.500/.936. Clementia is a 20 year old catcher from Willemstad, Curacao. I think this catcher from Willemstad may actually stay behind the plate. Moises Perez continued his hot hitting at Ogden 0352/.426/.611/1.037.
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AZL Dodgers were 3-2 winners over AZL A’s – Felix Osorio led the offense with 2 hits. Alfredo Taveraz went 6 innings, allowing 2 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks, and 7 strikeouts. 22 year old RHRP Luis Pasen was just promoted from DSL. He pitched a perfect 9th inning to get his 1st US save. In 11.1 innings, Pasen has yet to be scored on in 2017. He has allowed 4 hits, 5 walks, 7 strikeouts.
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DSL 1 – 4-3 winners over DSL Rays 1 – Jose Hernandez went 5 innings allowing 3 runs (2 earned), 3 walks, and 5 strikeouts. Adolpho Ramirez (RHRP) pitched in his 7th game and got his 2nd save. In 10.1 innings, Ramirez has allowed 6 hits, 1 unearned run, 2 walks, and 14 strikeouts. He just turned 18. He is from Heroica Mulege Baja California Sur, Mexico. Let’s just say Baja. Edwin Mateo led the offense with 2 hits.
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DSL 2 – 4-3 winners over DSL Rays 2 – Carlos Montilla pitched 4 innings allowing 3 runs (2 earned), 5 hits, 1 walk, and 2 strikeouts. Edward Cuello and Elio Serrano sandwiched Montilla. Both pitched 2 scoreless innings, with Serrano getting the win. Frank Sanchez led the offense with 2 hits.
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I wanted to mention 2 recent promotions from Ogden to Great Lakes: 3B Christian Santana and RHP Logan Crouse. After 10 games in Ogden and hitting .537/.583/1.000/1.583, with 5 home runs and 6 strikeouts in 47 plate appearances (6 walks), Santana was promoted to Great Lakes. In 10 ABs, he has 4 singles, batting .400 in the early going. Crouse was promoted yesterday and went 3 innings allowing 1 run on 3 hits, 0 walks, and 1 strikeout. Crouse (20) is an interesting story. The Dodgers inked Crouse, a 30th-round pick out of Bloomingdale High School in Florida, for a $500,000 bonus. Crouse, a 6’6, 220-pound right-handed pitcher, posted a 0.17 ERA in his senior season. Crouse also played football and basketball in high school. He was committed to play college ball at Florida State. Nobody thought they could sign Crouse away from his Florida State commitment so he was left undrafted until the Dodgers 30th round. Not signing Kyle Funkhouser allowed the Dodgers to offer him enough to get him to walk away from Florida State.
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Both Santana and Crouse should be followed and monitored closely.
Should be international and not internal. Sorry.
I really appreciate the info on the farm kids. I never followed the farm kids until the last couple of years. Thanks to Mark, AC, and others. It seems to me we have potential stars at all levels. Farmer, Verdugo and Calhoun are showing they are major league ready. I fine it hard to believe all the internal signings. Maybe this has happened every year, I just did not know. I believe the total structure throughout the Dodger system is as good as I have seen. We have good scouts, good managers and coaches. I know they talk to the farm kids about their diet. They also have hired Spanish speaking coaches at every level. I believe the Dodgers are in good hands . Happy 4th everyone.
Mark, perhaps you and Kenley are overlooking the fact that a very significant percentage of the Dodger fan base is not culturally or economically compatible to the present method of All Star voting. My mother’s family all came here from Mexico. Many are not conversant in English. But the majority of them are indeed loyal Dodger fans. They are in fact willing to spend a relatively higher percentage of their hard earned money on their team than the average Chicago Northside fan does on the Cubs I’ll wager. The Dodgers have a diverse and truly loyal fan base.