Tonight’s game against the Giants could likely prove to be one of the most important… if not THE MOST IMPORTANT START of the season for a Dodger pitcher. Why? Simply because in his last start, Mitch White gave up ten Hits and six Earned Runs, raising his ERA from 3.38 to 4.20. Mitch has started twelve major league games in his short career, and eight of them have been this…
BRAVES AND THE PEN: Braves have now signed 3 pitchers who will serve as late inning high leverage relievers. On Monday they signed Chris Martin to a two year $14MM contract after signing Will Smith to a three year $40MM deal. Earlier this month, they signed Darren O’Day to a one year $2.25MM contract. They also have Mark Melancon in the final year of his four year $62MM contract. Thus…
Mark uses “Rants and Raves” so I will use “Bites and Bits” to avoid any copyright infringement with Mark or Bits and Bites Snack Mix. Actually I have little to rant and rave about but have some small pieces of somewhat innocuous “stuff” that I will post. Some things that just popped into my head during the past few days or that I stumbled upon. Some of it might be…
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…
There has been a lot of discussion about the state of the game with respect to Home Runs and Strikeouts. Many of us remember when hitting wasn’t so much hit or miss as it is today, and for many of us remember the game was more enjoyable when teams were “producing” runs. But the HR has always been the attention grabber. The first and arguably the most prodigious HR hitter…
Editorial Note – I wrote this before the Buehler injury. The 2018 Amateur Draft is now over. All that is left is the signing of the draft picks. The Dodgers did not select a high school player in Round 11 indicating to me that they expect the top 10 to be close to the bonus pool + 5%. There will be some savings with picks #9 and #10 as…
The Dodgers minor league system is filled with “depth” pieces. As therealten pointed out, perennially competing for the playoffs and a potential WS takes a toll on the Dodgers draft slot. The last time the Dodgers had a top ten draft slot, they did very well with a HS pitcher from University Park, Texas…Clayton Kershaw. In 2016, the Dodgers had the #20 selection and drafted HS SS, Gavin Lux. In…
What do the Dodgers do now? Personnel wise – NOTHING . FAZ needs rely on what they have developed. They have shortstops that can play at the ML level, although certainly not at the Corey Seager level. Other than Francisco Lindor or Carlos Correa, there is no other comparable SS. There is absolutely no reason to make a trade for a rental like Manny Machado. But let’s be realistic….
Some first week observations: It is obvious that the Dodgers offense misses JT; the one clutch hitter in the lineup. The only offense thus far is Yasmani Grandal. Without any concrete evidence, it is my opinion that the Owings HR off of Jansen with two outs in the 9th on the Monday game against the DBacks had a negative impact on the Tuesday and Wednesday games. The Dodgers have…
The wheels with the Dodgers front office just never stop turning even on April Fools’ Day. The rumor that the Dodgers would swap outfielder Matt Kemp for Milwaukee outfielder Ryan Braun would have to logically speaking be an April Fool stunt. Nothing could be gained for the Dodgers in such a transaction, either in performance or in payroll management. On Sunday, another announcement came across the wires that is now…