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….
Life Isn’t Fair
We all know that life isn’t fair and it especially is not fair that Joc has to sit against four straight lefties simply because he can’t hit them. However, it’s unfair to the rest of the team to have Joc hitting against the lefty. So, Joc loses… while the team wins. Simple math… It’s way too early to pronounce that Robert Van Socyoc’s new age hitting direction a resounding success,…
Potpourri and Minor League Report
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…
Positional Gaps in the Organization
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….
A Few Random Rants & Raves
I watched OKC last night and while Clayton Kershaw was obviously a little rusty, he was throwing free and easy. While they don’t show the radar gun in AAA, it looked to me that Clayton was around 90 MPH. He’s ready and I think he will be pitching for the LA Dodgers in 5 days. If Edwin Rios can hit at the Major League level (I am not convinced he…
Losing Because of Roberts and Winning in Spite of Him…
I would venture that they could give anyone on this board 10 strikes against a MLB pitcher, and they would strike out every time. Hitting a baseball is one of the hardest things for a human to do. Puig could not hit LHP, although it was not always that way. Andre Ethier could not hit lefties very well. Joc has proven he cannot hit lefties. These things don’t go away…
Beyond the Top 30 List
Some days are like that. You just can’t think of anything to write. The minor league rosters have been announced, preliminary at least, and games are two days away. Much has been written about top prospects and Top 30 lists and those are the players that garner most of the attention. There can be no question that they have done what it takes to get onto those lists, although they…
What About the Platoons?
It has already been established by Doc Roberts that left field, first base and catcher will be manned by a platoon. Well, actually, catcher is not so much of a platoon but rather a way to keep Barnes from being overworked, so Russ Martin will catch about 3 days a week or something thereabouts. Since Right-Handers make up about 70% of the pitchers, that means that at 1B, Max Muncy…
Slow Start… Says Who?
Some fans thought the Dodgers would miss the almost 70 HR they lost in three players… I can’t seem to remember who they were. Ha! The team is on pace to hit 696 HR. They might cool off a bit. (eyes rolling) The outlook after the first four games are promising, but we played the Little Sisters of the Poor and will continue with the Littler Sisters of the Poorer…
Great Lakes Loons – 2019 Version
The Loons kick off their 2019 season on Thursday, April 4 away from home against the Lake County Captains. They play the Captains again on Friday before returning to Midland for a six-game home stand, two against Lake County and four against the South Bend Cubs. It should not be too difficult to get a better start to the season after the 2018 season in which they went 7-13 in…