Pitching – Depth vs Stars

March 24, 2019

I drove down to LA this weekend to visit a very close family friend and sharing in his surprise 75th birthday. At the hotel, I turned on the TV only to see SportsNet LA and watched Access Dodgers. I do miss LA for Dodger TV and Dodger Talk Radio. One comment I heard from Pedro Moura was that the Dodgers are not flashy and have a ton of depth but…

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In For Another Slow Start?

March 21, 2019

There has been a lot of discussion about the potential of a slow start this year.  I and others have pointed out how the “starters” cannot get through 5 innings before the proverbial melt down.  Both Hill and Strip went a solid 4 innings, and then came the 5th.  Hill is penciled for his final ST outing on Friday (Saturday?), while Strip is scheduled to start Sunday’s game against LAA…

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Spring Surprises and Disappointments

March 17, 2019

First of all, Happy St. Patrick’s Day. We are down to 10 ST games with one week to go in Arizona followed by 3 against LAA. Two games in Anaheim and one game at Dodger Stadium. Thus far the Dodgers are 12-8-2, as if that means anything. Who have been the surprises? Offensively, Kike’ Hernandez and Austin Barnes have been red hot and IMO have established themselves as starters. Kike’…

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NL West First Look – Colorado Rockies

March 16, 2019

Less than two weeks to go before Opening Day, and I still have one more team to give my best shot an analyzing for the upcoming 2019 season. Today I am taking a look at what should be the Dodgers closest competition (only competition?) in the NL West…Colorado Rockies. Last year, after 162 games, they tied our Los Angeles Dodgers with a 91-61 record, tops in the NL West. They…

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Opening Day Pitcher???

March 10, 2019

STARTING ROTATION? – There is a lot of talk on who should be the opening day pitcher. It does not appear that Clayton is going to be ready anytime soon, and Buehler seems headed to the #5 slot in the rotation to begin the season. Mark had a “half serious” idea on using an “Opener” for the opening game. Nyet on the half serious part that thinks they should. But…

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Flawed Hypothetical

March 5, 2019

Last weekend Mark posed the hypothetical…”OK, the deal with the Devil is this: Dodgers win in 2019, but have a losing record and are like KC, TB or MIAMI for the next 10 years… big time suck!” I apologize, but I just could not let it go.  So please ignore if you so desire. I do not accept that as a plausible hypothetical.  There is no way the Dodgers are…

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NL West First Look – AZ DBacks

March 3, 2019

Pundits can spin it anyway they want, but the DBacks suffered huge losses this offseason. Patrick Corbin signed a big 6 year $140MM contract with the Nationals, AJ Pollock signed a 5 year $60MM contract with LAD, and all-world 1B Paul Goldschmidt was traded to the Cards. So three teams that figured to be in contention anyway picked up the DBacks top 3 players. How does a team that won…

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What Does The Future Hold?

March 2, 2019

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…

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NL West First Look – SF Giants

February 24, 2019

Yesterday I wrote about the Padres because of the late signing of Manny Machado. The Padres have suffered mightily for many years, but appear to be on the verge of not only being respectable, but also a contender in a year or two, depending on their pitching progress. Today I suffer because I am writing about the hated Giants. The best thing about the Giants is that they are projected…

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NL West First Look – Padres

February 23, 2019

Finally, ST has arrived, and the first ST game is today against the ChiSox.  The 7-man scheduled pitching rotation for Saturday’s game is Daniel Corcino, Jaime Schultz, Kevin Quackenbush, Josh Sborz, Stetson Allie, Josh Smoker and Joe Broussard. Sunday’s game 7 man scheduled rotation will be Hyun-Jin Ryu, Brock Stewart, Dennis Santana, Adam McCreery, Tony Gonsolin, Mitchell White, and Dustin May. I had already written a lengthy response to Mark’s…

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