it is … at least for a while! Remember what I have always said, “Relief Pitchers are fickle?” Well, it has never been more true than this year. Phil Bickford has been bad (and he was not good last year but was great the year before); Yency Almonte had a 1.02 ERA last year – this year, he absolutely sucks with a 9.28 ERA; Alex Vesia has a 9.30 ERA…
So, here we are back at .500 (7 – 7), and predictably people are losing their minds. They only have one mind (well, some have half of one, but that is something I will leave alone), so that is sad. Here is the stuff we hear after losses and fourteen games: “Just like Grove, I’ve always thought of Jackson as a trade chip and nothing more.” – What a comment…
Some of you thought this team was rebuilding and would be pretty mediocre. I tried to tell you otherwise! I don’t think anyone can say that the Dodgers made any bad moves in the offseason. It appears they made the right moves, So right about now would be a good time to just dispense with all of the wild imaginings between your ears. If the shoe fits… I have not…
So, I am writing this as I am digesting the news that I have to have back surgery for spinal stenosis and spondylolysis on April 24th. It’s pretty much what I had expected, but now it is real. Surgery is really easy… when it is performed on someone else! The surgery is called Lumbar Decompression and is the most common back surgery done by my surgeon. I saw three other…
For the past several weeks, we have been discussing who is going to play where and how the rookies will fit in. Will Lux play SS or 2B? Will Vargas play 3B, 2B or LF? Will Outman start in CF? Will Busch play anywhere? There is a lot to be decided, and we are not going to solve all that today. That is why they have Spring Training. If I…
I have always wondered about the predictability of having a closer and why teams have simply gone in the direction of having a 9th inning man, no matter what the situation was. If you really think about it, throwing that “stopper” out there for the final three outs night after night is probably not the best managerial strategy. It may be for teams with limited bullpen resources, but not with…
I received an E-Mail yesterday from the Dodgers PR staff about getting media credentials for the NLDS. I used to get them but have not done that for about nine or ten years. Anyway, towards the bottom, it said this: “All individuals must be both vaccinated and boosted to receive access to restricted areas (clubhouse, field, interview room, photography wells) at Dodger Stadium in alignment with rules set forth by…
The Dodgers have an embarrassment of pitching as Andrew Friedman has stockpiled an incredible amount of depth at perhaps the most valuable position when it comes to postseason baseball. We’ve all heard the adage, “You can never have too much pitching”. I think Andrew Friedman is trying to prove that adage obsolete. He’s stashing pitching in every possible way. He has up-and-coming guys with minor league options that can be…
The Dodgers can score six runs in 2/3 of an inning off of a pitcher who has a 6.49 ERA and is a total mess but can only score one run off of average to below-average pitchers in 7-1/3 innings. When the best part of Max Muncy’s game is his defense (and it is actually pretty good), the time has come to do something with Max Muncy. Maybe Andrew has…
Let me start off by saying that I really don’t like to throw out trade proposals or enjoy reading them. Usually, people want to trade for an All-Star by giving up the bottom feeders of the prospect lists or a slumping pro. With that said, let’s go ahead and take a stab at it… The All-Star Game is the unofficial start of the trade season for me. Jeff Samardzija was…