Now that the regular season is through, we can begin to speculate as to what will make up the NLDS roster. It really shouldn’t be that difficult for 23 of the 25 players, but those last two will surely draw some scrutiny. IMO the givens: Starting Pitching (4): Clayton Kershaw Hyun-jin Ryu Walker Buehler Rich Hill Bullpen (8): Kenley Jansen Kenta Maeda Alex Wood Pedro Baez Scott Alexander…
We should know the answer by later in the afternoon (EDT). The Dodgers will play: At the Brewers in the Wild Card game; At the Cubs in the Wild Card game; Verses the Rockies in Game 163; or Verses the Braves in Game 1 of the NLDS. It could take me until this evening to explain it all, so we will just wait and see what happens, but the best…
Yesterday’s game was fun and to be appreciated. What a fan appreciation day!!! The Dodgers score 14 and collect 16 hits. Ryu pitched AND hit superbly. He allows 4 hits and collects 8 strikeouts, and ZERO walks, and gets THREE hits. Josh Fields and Julio Urias come in and shutdown the Padres for the final three innings. It is hard to get too excited about shutting down the Padres, but…
That phrase was popularized in the United States by Mark Twain (among others), who attributed it to the British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli. It seems that there is a stat for everything and we all have our own opinions. I voiced my displeasure with Dave Roberts not playing Yasmani Grandal last night after his breakout game against the Reds on Wednesday. Many other Dodger fans voiced the same displeasure over…
The best team does not always win… well, maybe I should rephrase that: The team with the best players does not always win, but the best team usually does win. By far and away, the Dodgers have the best players in the NL, but currently they do not have the best team. Certainly, the players have execute, but the players also have play as a team. Too many times I feel…
With another home run last night the Dodgers improved their record to 62-38 when they hit at least one HR and are 15-26 when they don’t. Now, you can spin that a lot of ways like: “They need to play more small ball,” or the obvious: “They need to hit more home runs.” I suppose both could be true, but it’s hard to play “small ball” when you try and…
Last night had a happy ending, but it looked bad for a while as Rich Hill gave up 4 runs in the first three innings. He threw 103 pitches. 75 of which were strikes, and his curveball was amazing. It really was a good outing and the two HR were (in my opinion) just one of those things. Hill pitched a strong 6 innings and kept the Dodgers in the…
Right-hander Gerardo Carrillo was signed by the Dodgers as an international free agent on July 5, 2016. The native of Guadalajara, Mexico received a signing bonus of $75,000. He has already climbed into the Dodgers MLB Pipeline prospect list ranking No. 27. He played in the Dominican Summer League during the 2017 season recording a 2.79 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP in 14 appearances, 10 of them starts. He struck…
I want to address a few issues today. Yasmani Grandal The Front Office and Sabermetrics Calling players Choke Artists Yasmani Grandal When the Dodgers acquired Yasmani for Matt Kemp, I thought it was a great trade for the obvious reasons: (1) It was a salary dump that needed to be made; and (2) I thought Yasmani Grandal would be an All-Star Catcher who was capable of 30-35 HR a year. …
Turns out, it WAS a train! Be careful what you wish for (Kenley Jansen) – you might get it! Kenley sure has had some dramatic losses for us this year. I blame his Doctors – they said he could pitch. It was obvious he could not! Malpractice is what it was! According to Ken Gurnick of Dodgers.com, Jansen may have been too amped up: Jansen said he was so excited…