Mark goes with Rants and Raves, and DC now has his Bites and Bits, so I might as well come up with my own…Random Thoughts. I cannot get too excited about the last two losses. It really was to be expected in April, at least by me. Admittedly, I am having a tough time getting excited about this early part of the season. It is going better than I thought…
The Midwest League has a strong reputation for being a pitcher’s league. It is easy to get frustrated with lower batting averages in players. Gavin Lux is a great example of a player who could not get untracked in the Midwest League, but has been unstoppable since ”graduating” from low level A Ball. This is generally the first full season experience a player will get, and it is a tough…
I wrote a post on slow starts by the Dodgers, and while I did not predict there would be a slow start, history tells us to expect it. When the team got off to such a fast start (8-2), comments like “What slow start” were readily made. I indicated that I was happy with the fast first 10 games, but I also cautioned that it could not last because: a)…
I was not excited when the Dodgers traded for Joe Kelly, because I knew who Joe Kelly was. Joe Kelly can be very, very good, as the Dodgers saw up close and personal in the 2018 World Series. But he can also, be Very, VERY bad… as we are seeing now. He is Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde… and right about now he is getting under all Dodger Fan’s hydes….
I wrote about the possibility of a slow start for the Dodgers but did not predict one. I know Mark liked to chide me with that after the first two series. But 5-2 against arguably two of the worst 3 teams in the NL was nothing to brag about. The Padres played the same two teams and went 4-3. And now LAD gets to face the Rockies without having to…
The strength of the Farm system is unquestionably the pitching. It is not even close. The breakdown of the MLB Pipeline Top 30 prospects is: 12 – RHP 2 – LHP 4 – Catchers 5 – SS/2B 4 – 3B/1B 3 – OF Baseball America pretty much resembles MLB Pipeline’s prospect list except BA includes reliever Josh Sborz, and OF Carlos Rincon, replacing Braydon Fisher, Marshall Kasowski, and Leonel Valera….
It must have been painful for some of these free agents going through contract negotiations the last couple of years. Led by AF, most teams are not all that keen on signing over age players/pitchers to long term $100MM + deals, and the players’ agents are having a rough time talking their clientele into accepting a deal much less than what they originally believed would be available, but probably closer…
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…
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…
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’…