Willie Calhoun is a very polarizing figure – you meet him you immediately like him! You watch him hit – you love him. You watch him run and you wonder, and you watch him field and you become nauseous. Any manager would love to have his bat but very few could tolerate his fielding. Andrew Friedman and Farhan Zaidi have shown repeatedly that they value defense. I challenge any sane person to use Calhoun and “defense” in the same sentence! OK, I guess you could say this: “Willie Calhoun tried to catch a ball in LF but ran into defense!” So, there is that!
I live Willie’s attitude! He plays with a chip on his shoulder probably because of having to overcome all the crap others throw at you for being small of stature. It’s not his stature that worries me – it’s his defense and lack of a throwing arm. Maybe he can learn to be a LF, but if someone singles to LF in the 4th inning, can he get the ball back to the infield before the 7th inning stretch? I think I am stating the obvious – Willie Calhoun can hit like a machine, but he fields like a sieve. That does not compute on a team like the Dodgers.
What does this all mean? I am going to give you a simplistic answer. It means one of two things: First and most obvious, it means he will be traded… and if he can build on last year’s body of work, there will be many suitors; or Two, Andrew Friedman is a forward thinker – a guy someone like Rob Manfred might bounce some ideas around with. Maybe Andrew Friedman has an idea that the DH will come to the National League soon and he has his guy – Willie Calhoun! It would be almost unheard of to have a young, powerful DH with six years of team control at a bargain price.
I think it’s time for the DH in the NL. Maybe even an expansion of the DH. I’ll talk about that another day. I also think it’s time for electronic balls and strikes (with all due respect to the best pitcher framer in baseball who happens to play for the boys in Blue), and a pitch clock. I think the intentional walk rule change is stupid – it was just done by Manfred to flex his muscles to the Players Union before he crams more change down their throats next year!
One thing is for sure – while Willie Calhoun is a Dodger, I am going to enjoy watching his offense and hoping against hope that his defense can improve, but even Hawkeye Dodger noted his lack of defense – I can’t see him at 2B for the Big Team. Thanks for the reports from Camelback, Hawkeye – I felt like I was there!
Rants and Raves
- Luis Avilan was having a nice Spring until he got lit up like an outhouse with a molotov cocktail tossed in. I wasn’t there, but he probably smelled like the outhouse too. I am sure he will be given another opportunity soon.
- I remain hopeful with Yasiel Puig, but there is lingering doubt too. He was great as a rookie because he just used his immense talent and reacted. The league caught up to him and he did not make adjustments. That involves thinking, and for a player who has always gotten by on talent, that becomes difficult. That, and I still think he’s a knucklehead. Fortunately, they have Trayce Thompson…. and then there is always Braun – that story is not dead.
- It seems to me right about now, that these are the absolute (WAG) odds certain players will start thew season on the DL:
- Scott Kazmir – 108%
- Andre Ethier – 99.78%
- Adrian Gonzalez – 79%
- Yasiel Puig – 56%
- Hyun-Jin Ryu – 43%
- Sergio Romo – 36%
- Corey Seager – 33%
- Sports Illustrated picked the Dodgers to win the World Series in 2017. Very seldom are they right… and then there is that “jinx” thing! They like the Dodgers Depth (which some still try to say is not depth):
In 2016, they set an all-time MLB record for players sent to the disabled list, with 28 — even losing the best pitcher in the known universe, Clayton Kershaw, for more than two months — yet still won 91 games and made it to the NLCS. This season they’re even deeper, expecting a full season from Rich Hill and more innings from maturing ace-in-waiting Julio Urías, with plenty of capable fill-ins for the back of the rotation.
Today’s Music
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04KQydlJ-qc
Discussion (27)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Good and lively crowd sticking it out at the WBC tonight at Dodger Stadium. The passion the Latino, Asian, and even the American fans brought to the ball park at times would do more for baseball than all the stupid rule changes being proposed.
I listened to an interesting take today. The new Marlins owners should do everything possible to be the team that Latinos gravitate to even if they’re practically giving away tickets. Encourage fans to bring the cowbells, instruments, etc to the ball park and create the passion there that they have in the Dominican, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, etc. It would do a lot for the game.
The WBC was a big success this year. Some will have pre-judged it and not given it a chance. I’ve been guilty in the past, but it came a long ways this year. It was entertaining baseball. It’s not perfect by any means. There are things to criticize and teams like Canada have a long ways to go but all in all it was much more entertaining than I anticipated. It was good for baseball around the world. MLB should focus on what worked and not go right back to focusing on a negative topic like freekin pace of play. They had a great post season to build on and instead they change they intentional walk rule and pace of play.
Congrats Team USA!
Our farm is really looking good. We have Urias, White, Beuhler and other pitchers. We have Bellinger, Thompson, Verdugo, Calhoun and other position players. Joc and Seager still very young. If I was Kershaw, I would want to stay. This is all looking pretty good to me. I know they are still prospects, but I like what I see.
There was also a strange play that stopped the game. I still don’t understand what happened. Milwaukee was sacrificing. The Dodgers had both corners charging. Taylor was covering second. Forsythe ran over to cover 1st before the ball was even released and when the ball was pitched. The ump stopped play and yelled you can’t do that. Hasselman got ejected from the dugout. Roberts and the Milwaukee coaches took a while getting explanations. Play resumed with a 1-0 count and the runner still on first. The next pitch the Dodgers ran the same bunt coverage except Forsythe waited until the ball was bunted to cover 1st.
Everyone is welcome for the updates. I’m now back in 40 degrees of Iowa weather.
With an automated ball/strike call, I would bet Kershaw’s strikeout totals get even better. There have been so many times the ump’s miss calls when he is pitching – his curveball is so tough, it fools more than just the batter, it fools the umpire too. I also agree that pitch framing will no longer hold value and that would hurt the Giants more than it would hurt the Dodgers.
I’m all for the a robot calling the strike zone as there’s been too much over variation from one ump to the next. I surely do not want the NL to go with the DH. I’d be highly disappointed with the DL in all the games and I really enjoy it when AL teams are the visitors and have to think harder. And what’s next? Pitching for their own team? Different lineups for offense and defense? With the AL that’s already part true but only so when the NL visits. If a boxer has a glass chin he better have extraordinary punching skills or a different job. Oops! Here I go on a rant again and stuck on stupid. Sorry. So I won’t even start on Braun.
Not sure why all of the Puig bashing. Is he a knucklehead? Sure at times, but so is Harper, Chapman and a lot of other talented players. Yasiel is extremely popular with the younger crowd-just ask my son-because he is exciting. His defense is the best of any outfielder on the team. He doesn’t have extreme splits and is an everyday player teams still fear. While not a base stealer his speed causes problems for opposing defenses on the bases. He may be on the verge of breaking out and my fear and probably the Dodgers fear is trading him and watching it happen for another team. Having said all of that this is probably his last chance to step up and perform at a high level that matches his potential. You should all be rooting for him to do that because it will both make the team better and increase his trade value, and I hope he breaks out and they keep him.
I agree with Bumsrap that Braun should stay in Milwaukee. Where does Stripling fit in all of this. Is he odd man out?
I would HATE to see Braun in RF; his defense is not good now, so he only fits in LF
As far as Calhoun, like most of us, we hope he can figure out the defense, because man, can he hit!
The team is better without Puig in the lineup. He doesn’t add much to the others who can play his position and is totally expendable. The team is stuck with him right now, but for me, he should be sent down, never to be on the big team again. I just don’t think he will ever be as good as we think he might be. We’ve had this discussion before, and it is stale, to say the least. D.L. would be purgatory, I guess. But it just defers the eventual problem with his big league talent. He is, at best, average. Ryu is the key, at this moment. He makes a so-so rotation a very good one. He should slip into #2 ahead of Maeda. Hill goes to #4. Pick ’em for #5. When I saw Ryu last week, he was swing and missable, and probably the best pitcher I saw all week. If he comes back strong, I might even become half full.
Mark
Thanks for posting the Fogerty video. Brought tears and joy. Seeing all those amazing players was incredible. It’s time for Dodger baseball. This is the year.
Great posts yesterday Hawkeye! The Puig/Turner banter was priceless. If just some of what they are trying to teach sinks in it will help him and the team. Bunting to beat the shift seems so obvious, but not that easy to do as Joc found out. Grandal, Turner and Forsythe are all locked in, Utley too. On the rotation: Ryu is a guy who could change the dynamic and is better than Wood. When he is deemed ready Wood goes to the pen. Assuming everyone is healthy when Urias is deemed ready what to do with McCarthy? Can he go to the pen as a swing man? Do they go with a 6 man rotation except for Kershaw? And when Kazmir is ready? I don’t mind 4 lefties if it is those 4 lefties in the rotation. I don’t know how you keep the ones pushed out happy, and Kazmir will take it the worst but may have the least value. Of course they may all not stay healthy but if they do?
I don’t think Puig is going to cut it….. I believe we have seen what he will be going forward… He just doesn’t have what it takes to be a star. I would settle for a +1 or 2 WAR player with some consistnancy….. Right now, I don’t think he makes the team better…
“I challenge any sane person to use Calhoun and “defense” in the same sentence!” We can check that box off.
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Thanks for the reports Hawkeye. They were really good. I felt like I was seeing what you were seeing. Could almost smell the grass.
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Ward needs video to help him show Puig the difference between what Puig is doing versus what Puig thinks he is doing.
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Its fun watching players play their way onto the team. Taylor and Ryu have done that. Hatcher has played himself off the team.
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I like that Pederson is working on his bunting. The shift used against him should allow him to have a bunting average of .500 if he can consistently push the ball down the third base line. If that happens, he probably will be the leadoff hitter.