110 posts
I continue to read about the sensational LAD prospects. Mark has the Dodgers as a top 10 MiLB organization while no major publication does. After the loss of Keibert Ruiz and Jo Jo Gray, the publications dropped them to mid-level (around 15). Certainly not bad, but also not…
Please excuse the timing of this post. It was written early last week, however I was rushed to the ER with what turned out to be a TIA or mini stroke. I was in the hospital being pricked and probed for nearly three days, but came away with a clean bill of health. So now I am…
As I wrote that, I threw up in my mouth because it is true. The Dodgers shut out the Padres who have crashed and burned while the Giants won handily 6-1 in a bullpen game. What if on April 1st I told you the following: Dustin May would miss the seaon; Tony Gonsolin would miss…
I should say some of you guys. and I am glad you are not. No disrespect intended. 😉 For the uninitiated, my wife runs the Finance and Operations part of US Water Systems and I run the Sales and Marketing. She is a very hands-on micromanager, while I am a Big Picture person. She is very good at her job, but it does create some issues. at times. There are
I had started a series of posts re: June is Busting Out All Over. June is still busting out but all of a sudden more difficult to follow. For whatever reason, the game logs and splits for minor league players are no longer available at MiLB.com . One day they were there, the next day gone. I have written to Jeff Lantz, Senior Director of Communications for Minor League Baseball,
Going into last night s game, Clayton Kershaw had the highest ERA I can remember at this juncture. His ERA was 3.33 before the game and 3.66 after he gave up 5 ER. However, his WHIP sits at 1.01 which is barely above his career average of 1.00. He is now 33 years-old and has started 369 games and pitched 2,403 innings with 2,603 strikeouts. He has 77 strikeouts in about
Up to the 1/3 point of this season, we have seen a slumping Mookie Betts, almost no cody Bellinger, some AJ Pollock and some Corey Seager. That s kind of like an 8-cylinder engine without 4 spark plugs. Tonight Jimmy Nelson and AJ Pollock return and Alex Vesia and Edwin Uceta go back to AAA. You bullpen doom and gloomers are not going to like this, but both of these pitcher s
There is a lot to unpack about last night s game, but to blame Dave Roberts for putting in his closer in the 10th inning is just plain silly. If Blake Treinen did his job, Kenley would not have been needed in the 10th. Before last night s game, Kenley Jansen had given up 1 run and 2 hits in his 11 appearances in May! Even after last night s debacle, his ERA
Kersh takes the mound for his 9th opening day assignment. Frankly, I wish he wasn t the guy. Although he has a winning record at Coors at 11-5. His ERA there is 4.44. He has allowed 19 HR s in 23 games. 139 hits, and 36 walks in 140 innings. Not great numbers. His WHIP at Coors is 1.250. The Rocks only hit .203 against him there, but they get the most out of their hits.
If this is who Gavin Lux is (from what he has shown this Spring), then the Dodgers are going to have an incredible offense. If he keeps hitting (and I can t see why he won t) he is going to be very difficult to keep at the bottom of the lineup. With his speed and baserunning ability, he is a perfect #2 hitter behind Mookie Betts. Speed Kills! That moves Seager to #3 and the trickle-down starts. I doubt that Gavin begins the season as the #2 hitter, but if he earns that spot, look out! This 2021
That leaves the final spot up for grabs between Edwin Rios, Matt Davidson, and Sheldon Noisy. Davidson is not on the 40-man roster, so that would seem to preclude him. Rios could win the job by getting hot at the right time, but there is something I like about having a hitter like Noisy on the bench when there are two out and runners on base and you need a run or two.
LA DODGER TALK is not your normal Dodger blog site. Even Ray Charles can see that no other Dodger site has a Dodger historian like Michael Norris. Michael or Bear as we know him, is a National Dodger Treasure! What he lays down is not available anywhere else! Then we have 2Demeter2, who has committed to trying to write one blog a week wherein he will give his opinion from
No, we are not talking about a couple of games, we are talking about a double post. Michael Norris (aka/Bear) has the first half on Lou Gehrig and Mark Timmons has the second half on last night s debacle. June 2. Now Lou Gehrig Day Bear When I was a boy, back in the day, my baseball hero was not Babe Ruth or Duke Snider. It was Lou Gehrig. Why? Well, I
The Spring is three games in, and to draw any conclusions would be foolhardy. But I still have some observations from what I have seen thus far. For the first three games, the pitching has been outstanding. Albeit, without Matt Chapman and Matt Olson, Oakland’s offense is just north of woeful, as is Colorado without Trevor Story and Charlie Blackmon. The Giants did not play but a couple of regulars .
Disclaimer: What we are seeing is through the microcosm of Spring Training. Current performance is not evidence of future prospects. It is a small sampling. Some of it is skill and some of it is luck. Take it all with a grain of salt. The Position Players It was great to see Gavin Lux get two hits in three at-bats. If anything, all he needs is confidence and he should
October 27, 2020 After that unforgettable strikeout of Willy Adames by Julio Urias Almost four months to the day, the Dodgers are going to be taking the field in an actual baseball game, even if it is only a ST game. The Dodgers are starting 32 year old LHP, Mike Kickham. Kickham signed a MiLB contract on January 27. Lat year Kickham last year pitched for Boston, and pitched in
I am sad to say that it appears to me that Street Smith s Baseball Yearbook has ceased production. Since I was a kid, I have always bought Athlon Sports Baseball Preview, Lindy s Sports Baseball Preview, and Street Smith s Baseball. It appears that Street Smith s has bit the dust and Athlon and Lindy s can t be far behind. Time marches on but the nostalgia seems to be waning. Print
2021 could shape up to be the most unusual season on record and that is saying a mouthful since COVID-19-2020 was absolutely Bat S___t Crazy! Here s why: It was a 60 game season some players struggle for 50 games only to shine for the next 100. Other players shine for 50 games and struggle the next 100 games. Some minor league prospects grow by two or three levels and
Today is the day that pitchers and catchers are due to report to Camelback Ranch for the Dodgers. Tomorrow is the first day of workouts. Full squad reports February 22, with the first full squad workout scheduled for February 23. The Dodgers play their first spring training game on Sunday, February 28 against the Oakland A’s at Hohokam Stadium in Mesa, Arizona. There will be some rules in effect that
There has been a lot of talk by MLB fans in general how the Padres may have caught the Dodgers. On the East coast, most in NY and Atlanta believe they have better 26-man rosters. Dodger fans of course take offense at such a charge. None of the four teams are finished completing their rosters, but I thought I would take a more in depth look at a Dodgers/Padres comp,
In a November 15, 2015 article authored by Matthew Moreno at dodgerblue.com, Andrew Friedman and Dodgers president and CEO Stan Kasten maintained that the extravagant spending for the Dodgers would not continue, and that the 2016 season would provide a small opportunity to make progress toward balancing the scale. According to Bill Shaikin of the LA Times, Dodgers co-owner Todd Boehly recently echoed a similar sentiment, going so far as to
There is always the debate as to whether prospects are meant to be held onto so as to build from within, or should they be used as prospect capital to acquire existing MLB stars. Of course, these trades need to be made at the peak of the prospect trade value in order to maximize the return. The Dodgers have had a perennial top 10 farm club since AF signed on
One of the presents I received yesterday was from my wife. She was trying to honor me with a bourbon decanter by showing my age, but somehow it looks like my obituary. So, if anything happens to me between now and January 1, 2021, suspect my wife! But, seriously, I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! We had 21 people at our family gathering and the food was fabulous .
AF has gone on record indicating what he will be prioritizing: “Adding a reliever or two is something that we’re going to keep an eye on and kind of sift through. Really for us, it’s about identifying the talent in a vacuum but also then trying to get as many diversified looks as you can in the pen. This year, we really liked our pen and our pen was a
As was discussed quite a bit earlier in the week, the Dodgers have a very prolific MiLB system even as far down the draft they have been picking from because of the continued success of the ML team. That is true when also taking into consideration a few of the early draft pick busts they currently have. 2015: 1 – Walker Buehler – Starting rotation 1b – Kyle Funkhouser –
First of all, thanks for putting words in my mouth Bums. What you apparently read into what I wrote is that I think COVID-19 is a hoax. Never said those words. Never hinted those words. But believe what you want. COVID-19 is very personal to me. My son and granddaughter are both considered high risk, as am I having had two significant bouts with pneumonia. Last weekend both my son
The Los Angeles Dodgers have reported to Dodger Stadium; or at least some of them have. There are some who have apparently tested positive for the coronavirus, while others (so far only David Price) has opted to sit out the 2020 season. I am perfectly comfortable with any player or management personnel deciding that it is in their best interests to opt out for the season. I just hope that
We are on the eve of the one meaningful positive news event thus far for the 2020 MLB season. Even the event has warts as we have reduced the number of draft picks from 40 to 5, but it still lends to something good to look forward to. We have all read and heard what a throw of the dice the draft is, and with 6 picks, how does that
Every year I get excited about the MLB baseball draft. The selection of young players is akin to bringing home a new puppy from the shelter. You’re never quite sure what you’re getting. You may have that special family pet that for years to come, or you may have a yapping dog that, no mater how much training you provide, never stops peeing on the carpet. In addition, I have
One of my all-time favorite movies is “The Simple Life of Noah Dearborn” starring Sidney Poitier. In it, Poitier plays Noah Dearborn, a 91‑year old carpenter who lives a simple life and existence, detached from modern life. His only interest is woodworking, at which he is very gifted. In his hands, woodworking tools are not just tools, they become instruments for creating works of art. Poitier, who is also a
