You can say that and you would be correct, but you would not be right. There is a whole lot more to it than “it was a AAA pitcher.” Failure causes doubt. Success breeds confidence. It doesn’t matter whether it was a AAA pitcher or Cy Young, when a player or a team breaks out and scores runs. The fact that they broke out is the prime consideration.
Confidence breeds confidence. Confidence is king! Even if it was against an AAAA pitcher. Julio Urias pitched 7 innings and allowed just 1 run while striking out 10 and walking NO ONE! OK, that is good, but what about the offense? 16 Runs! Sixteen! Wow! Beaty drove in 7, but Pollock drove in 8! Holy Mackeral!
It doesn’t matter if you score 16 runs against an AAAA, AAA, AA, or A Pitcher. The end result is that you scored 16 runs. Period! The Dodgers have not done that in a couple of years. What are the odds that (at a minimum) AJ Pollock and Matt Beaty have a little more confidence right about now? Confidence is a real thing. I proclaim that this slump is over. (I hope)
I am headed up to “the region” today. For the uninitiated, that is Northwestern Indiana, which is on Chicago time. It’s business and my GM and I have to visit a dealer in St. John, Indiana. As we speak, the Dodgers have traveled from Milwaukee to Chicago for a three-game series. I am sure they were on a luxury bus. It’s a short one-hour trip! I love Milwaukee… Chicago, not so much! Normally, I would attend games in Milwaukee and Chicago, but I refuse to do so this year. Rob Manfred and MLB are dumbasses… however, I digress!
No one has more wins than the Dodgers this year. Forget the moaning and the groaning! This is still the best team in baseball. That’s what I believe. After yesterday’s onslaught, the Dodgers are just 3 runs behind the Reds for the most runs in baseball and they improved their team BA to .240. They still lead all of MLB in OB%.
Even after the rough stretch, the Dodgers are still #1 in the power ratings. Here’s what MLB said:
1. Dodgers (1 last week)
The Dodgers have had a rough past couple of weeks, but even with the injuries piling up and the losses coming in bunches, it wasn’t enough to deter our panel from sticking to the theory that overall, the Dodgers are still the best team in baseball (though this time it wasn’t a unanimous selection). The Dodgers did have a good day Sunday, piling up 16 runs while watching Julio Urías strike out 10 Brewers batters over seven innings. But prior to that, over that stretch, the Dodgers went 3-10 and slashed .185/.310/.308 while scoring 3.4 runs per game. And their injured list looks a little like a CVS receipt — it goes on for a while.
What About 2022?
- Betts RF
- Muncy 1B
- Turner 3B
- Bellinger CF
- Smith 2B
- Busch DH
- Ruiz C
- McKinstry LF
- Amaya SS
In the above scenario, Corey Seager walked and I put Max at #2 because of his high OB%. Who knows, but it could happen…
Discussion (52)
Disagree, not disagreeable
2022:
RF Betts
2B CT3 / ZMck
3B Turner
CF Bellinger
C Smith
1B Muncy
LF Pollock / Beaty
SS Lux / CT3
The Tulsa Drillers AA complete Opening Roster is below.
Pitchers: Yadier Alvarez_, Michael Boyle_, Justin Bruihl, Gerardo Carrillo, Max Gamboa, Michael Grove, Justin Hagenman, Andre Jackson, Nolan Long*, Darien Nunez, Aaron Ochsenbein, Ryan Pepiot, Nick Robertson, John Rooney, Gus Varland, Bryan Warzek, Mark Washington, Zach Willeman and Guillermo Zuniga.
Catchers: Steve Berman, Hunter Feduccia and Juan Zabala#.
Infielders: Jacob Amaya, Michael Busch, Clayton Daniel, Kody Hoese, Devin Mann and Ryan Noda.
Outfielders: Donovan Casey, Romer Cuadrado, Jeren Kendall, and Carlos Rincon.
The Dodgers’ probables for the series at Wrigley Field were Walker Buehler, Clayton Kershaw and Bauer. The team has since announced Kershaw will start the first game of the doubleheader, and Bauer gets the ball in the second. Buehler has been bumped back to series finale.
I was within 40 miles of Wrigley today. Looked fine to me…
DODGERS CLAIM RHP PHIL BICKFORD
LHP MIKE KICKHAM DESIGNATED FOR ASSIGNMENT
LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Dodgers claimed right-handed pitcher Phil Bickford from the Milwaukee Brewers and designed left-handed pitcher Mike Kickham for assignment.
Bickford, 25, has appeared in two Major League games in his career, allowing six runs on six hits in 2.0 innings with the Brewers (2020-21). The right-hander was originally drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the first round (18th overall) of the 2015 First Year Player Draft out of the College of Southern Nevada. The former Oak Christian High School standout has posted an 11-8 record with a 2.98 ERA (75 ER/226.2 IP) and 277 strikeouts in five minor league seasons.
Kickham, 32, pitched 2.0 innings for the Dodgers yesterday, allowing three runs on five hits with two strikeouts. The southpaw has spent parts of the four seasons in the Major Leagues, going a combined 1-4 with a 10.10 ERA (52 ER/46.1 IP) and 49 strikeouts with San Francisco (2013-14), Boston (2020) and Los Angeles (2021). He was originally drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the sixth round of the 2010 First Year Player Draft out of Missouri State University.
Game postponed due to inclement weather. Double-Header tomorrow. Geez.
May will hurt. We will really need our depth.
Yesterday’s game was very enjoyable. I typically will never cheer an opposing player hitting bombs off the Dodgers. But my buddy’s brother (Jay Nottingham) hit two out yesterday for the Brewers. Southern CA kid. He was claimed off waivers earlier in the week by Seattle. About the time his plane landed in Seattle they had DFAd him and sold him back to the Brewers. He was barely back to Wisconsin when he was penciled into the starting lineup. It was great to see him hit two out. I can only say that because we scored 16 lol.
Great game all around.
James Pazos is coming to replace Kickham.
Shame about May. Pitching really well. Still has a promising future.
Dylan Hernandez pretty much nailed the issue or should I say issues. But the Dodgers have been there before, still had pretty good seasons. Really help when Bellinger and McKinstry return.
As for the bullpen, there is always the trade deadline. May be a pitcher or two in the minors, but tough to figure out until the minors get under way.
Hard to know what to expect from David Price. It would be nice if he stepped up and became a go to pitcher as a starter or in the pen.
But it’s just the beginning of May. If this is still the case in July, might be a different story.
Yeah I just saw it on MLB TV. We All we’re hoping and praying, but pretty much knew what was going to happen. Good thing is he’s a young and strong kid and if anybody could make it back I’m sure he’ll be able to
Godspeed BIG RED
Tonight’s lineup is out. Beaty is on the bench, I assume because he had less than 8 RBI yesterday.
Roberts is an ex-player and should know by now that a hot hitter can hit any pitcher, and to compound the problem, the Cubs are throwing a righty pitcher tonight who specializes in soft stuff. If anything Pollock should be the one to sit and Beaty should start in left.
May to have TJ surgery on 5/11.
Some UCL damage != Grade 3 sprain?
Bobby Miller, Miguel Vargas, Andy Pages and Clayton Beeter will open at High-A Great Lakes for the Dodgers. Also on the roster: 2017 2nd-rounder Morgan Cooper, who has not pitched in four years due to repeated shoulder injuries.
Kickam was on the 25 man and Bickford will be on the 40 man. Who will take Kickam’s place on the 25 man before today’s game? Do they need 14 pitchers with an off day coming on Thursday? Is there any pitchers left on the taxi squad? Are they going to bring up K-Bear, Peters or Raley for an additional bat?
Jon Morosi
@jonmorosi
·
20m
Source: Dustin May has some UCL damage in his right elbow, according to initial examination. #Dodgers will make official decision on how to proceed in the next 24 hours.
Dodgers Claim Phil Bickford, Designate Mike Kickham
By Mark Polishuk | May 3, 2021 at 1:50pm CDT
The Dodgers have claimed right-hander Phil Bickford off waivers from the Brewers. Both teams have announced the move, with the Dodgers designating left-hander Mike Kickham for assignment to create roster space.
I agree. Seager isn’t this bad defensively, the contract year or his current slump could be getting into his head. I also agree that Lux has looked good at SS in limited action. It took Verdugo a couple of years to figure out how to hit MLB pitching. Lux just played in his 61st MLB game. I think Lux will be fine eventually on both sides of the ball and might have to take over for Seager at short if he signs elsewhere.
Muncy is not a good defender at any position, but is at least passable at first base because of his range, then reach and digging abilities could be better making an average defender overall. Maybe he can handle third if he spent a lot of time there, but he’s never going to be even a good defensive second baseman. If he was, he would already bee there.
Zmack and Taylor are serviceable middle infielders who have the chance to be very good to great utility guys. If you want to look at the future of the infield, maybe Seager moves to first or third after Turner retires. Lux and Busch up the middle. Hoese or Vargas should take the other corner spot.
Taylor is good insurance at SS or Second Base, but he’s most valuable as a utility guy who also plays outfield. Turner and Muncy are both signed through 2022 and both have club options for 2023, so they will be here for a couple of years. I don’t see a lot changing in the infield anytime soon. They just need the guys they have step up and play to their ability. Seager is barely 27 years old, so there’s not a lot of reason to suggest his defensive decline should be this steep. I would like to see him dive for a ball or two.
I wonder if the Padres fans are looking at Tatis’ lead leading errors and are talking about moving him off the position?
I am looking forward to the game tonight and starting a winning streak. At least get out of there with 2 of three and repeat that formula against the Angels this weekend.
I’m getting a little tired of all the dumping on Seager. I want to see you all eat it when he gets hot again. Which he will SOON.
Predictions, speculation, pessimism, optimism, a month from now a good deal of it will have been crushed by reality. That CIN has the best offense in baseball is exhibit A .
Beaty struggled the first part of the year but has been on a tear since returning, maybe Rios could benefit the same way. Beaty makes the majors at a relatively later age, has a game that very few major leaguers will ever achieve with 7 rbi’s and yet doesn’t lead his team in rbi’s that game. Baseball is a strange but wonderful game.
Boston was absolutely terrible last year. They are in the midst of a tear down and rebuild. They fired the GM and started blowing up the team, shedding payroll and stars owed big money (Betts) for prospects or young players under team control (Verdugo). It’ll be years before they even sniff at being competitive again.
Oops.
They’re 17-12, same record as the Dodgers, and I personally think the power rankings are wrong and they are the best team in baseball right now (although it’s pretty close). They are 4th in ERA, and 3rd in FIP. They are 5th in team WAR and 3rd in wRC+.
They are consistently good across all categories. I also never would’ve guessed CIN would have the best offense in baseball. They couldn’t hit their way out of a paper bag last year. Ok, I guessed right that PIT would be terrible, but their relief corps has been pitching well.
Baseball is hard to predict.
The Dodgers offense has been pretty bad the last couple of weeks. It’s cratered. The season’s over. Seager’s done. Best to let him go in free agency and put offensive juggernaut Lux in as SS and play a catcher at 2nd. The Dodgers wRC+ the last couple of weeks has been 92. That’s pretty bad, good for 20th in baseball during this stretch.
For comparison’s sake, however, the Padres have had a wRC+ of 80 over that span. They’ve completely tanked. Houston, who were destroying the ball at the beginning of the year and seemed like they were back to form have had the same wRC+ as the Dodgers. The Cubs have led baseball in offense the last couple of weeks, as have the Diamondbacks. Who would’ve guessed that? The Cubs were dead last a couple of weeks ago.
The Giants are leading the Dodgers in the division race by .5 games. The rivalry is back. Zaidi has worked his sabre geek magic and constructed an ace pitching staff and scrappy offense out of spare parts and retreads. Meanwhile, AF blew it again by not properly building a reliable relief corps. The Dodgers relievers are terrible because they don’t pitch “clean innings” every time, or something. Anything less than “clean innings” every time (perfection) is an unmitigated failure. If the Dodger pitchers would just pitch “clean innings” every single inning in every single game, they’d be pretty good. …oh, and hit lots of grand slams, too.
For the year the Dodgers are 2nd in relief corps ERA at 2.74 (right behind Oakland’s 2.72), They are 2nd in FIP and 2nd in reliever WAR.
Ok, but they’ve been really bad the last couple of weeks. True. They are 10th in reliever WAR, 15th in ERA and 11th in FIP at 3.73.
Meanwhile, the Padres relievers have had a 4.26 FIP, and the Giants, our pitching nemesis, have had a FIP of 5.50 – good for dead last in all of baseball.
For the year, the Giants offense ranks 22nd out of 30 teams. The win/loss record of the Giants you’re looking at right now is a mirage. It is unsustainable. The underlying statistics suggest this won’t last. I’m not even convinced the Padres are that good. They have struggled worse than the Dodgers.
Still really bummed about May. Watching his progress was one of the things I liked most about watching the Dodgers. The Dodgers still have the best string of four starting pitchers in baseball, IMO – all four are capable of shutting down an opposing team. Gonsolin is the natural guy to take May’s spot. “But we need him as a closer!” He’s a starting pitcher, and he was good at it last year.
I am beginning to wonder about Muncy. I like him and I want him to play. He really did not hit last year and he is not hitting this year. He needs to bat 8th until he finds his stroke. In the mean time Beaty needs to play at first, third and the outfield. Taylor need to play the outfield, second and ss. Rios should only pinch hit. Barnes plays once every five days. Only when Kershaw pitches.
Our pitchers need to do a better job of holding runners on. Right now teams are going to run on us. Every single by San Diego turned into a double. Jansen especially cannot hold runners close. The good news is that our flaws are being exposed early.
I still do not like Doc and probably never will. He just over manages for me to like him.
It is good that we have depth. Most teams could not of survived with the injuries we had so far. I am afraid May is gone for the year. So Gonsolin will probably take over the5th starter position.
When Bellinger and Mckinstry come back, the bench becomes more formidable. I can see Beaty and Pollock Sharing left field.
At what point do the Dodgers put Taylor in as Seager’s late inning replacement at short?
Dylan Hernandez of the Times disagrees:
“Never mind their 16-4 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday, which was only their fourth win in 14 games. The Dodgers have major league problems.
‘Their bullpen is still unreliable, their bench is short on weapons, their defense is shaky and their offense is reverting to the feast-or-famine approach it displayed before they acquired Mookie Betts.
“The offense will come around when Betts and Corey Seager resume hitting. But the other areas? Those could require outside help. Long term, the most obvious problem is in the bullpen.
“The Dodgers have also been one of the worst defensive teams in baseball, as they rank near the bottom in several metrics. Seager has looked particularly limited at shortstop. He has never been a Gold Glove contender, but the Dodgers had made him an adequate defender in previous seasons by positioning him where opposing hitters are likely to bat the ball.
“So long as Betts recovers physically and Seager rediscovers his offensive rhythm, the Dodgers will score runs again, even if they aren’t facing a rookie who hadn’t pitched in an official game in two years. That, combined with the best rotation in the majors, should be enough for them to win another division title.
Except success here is defined by a World Series championship, and realizing this larger ambition will require them to focus on the small details — their relief pitching, their pinch-hitting, their defense. They have five months to figure them out.”
LF & SS are way off.
I think you have to re-sign Taylor [at the All-Star break] and probably bring back Kershaw.
You can put Smith at 2b if you slide Lux to SS.
If you bring back Seager it’s probably for 3b; Turner to DH or job-share at 1b with Muncy, who can also slide to 2b.
I like the forward thinking.
Only Britain soldiers on.
The first couple of weeks of the season I was hoping AF would give Seager a ten-year $30+ million per contract to remain a Dodger for his entire career. However, if the Seager we’re seeing the past two weeks is the Seager he is I might have to reconsider that logic.
His defense is suspect and he will definitely need to make a position switch within the next two seasons if he’s to remain a Dodger. 3b or 1b, but he’s too big and lumbering for the position and his range doesn’t look so good to the naked TV eye.
Good win yesterday now lets attack the Cubs.