Maybe Monday’s comeback win and Kenley Jansen’s dominant save was what the Dodgers needed to turn around their sinking ship. Last night, the Dodgers won 7-1 behind a dominant seven innings by Julio Urias and 6 up and 6 down by Jimmy Nelson, who is now taking to the bullpen like a fish takes to water. It’s not going to be all fairy dust and ponies right away, but you…
I am of the opinion that most of us know nothing about building a bullpen. Garret Cleavinger was a pitcher most of you wanted to go bye-bye. He has had up and downs, but I see his stuff plays up to major league hitters. Last night, he pitches a 1-2-3 inning in the eighth, including two strikeouts. He is learning to trust his stuff… and that is how a bullpen…
Let’s get one thing straight: Andrew Friedman is the President and GM of the Los Angeles Dodgers. It is his responsibility to oversee anything that is connected with “Baseball Operation.” For the sake of this blog, Andrew Friedman is responsible for building the Dodgers Bullpen. To date, most Dodgers fans are saying that he built a deplorable bullpen. I have heard one fan say it was an “average” bullpen. They…
Right-hander Logan Boyer was selected by the Dodgers in the 11th round of the 2019 First-Year Player Draft out of San Diego State University. He was an interesting selection but fit the Dodgers pattern of trying to get what we might call a steal in the 11th round having signed the 10th rounder for a small signing bonus. He, in fact, signed for $297,500 which was $172,500 above the slot,…
We all have perfect 20/20 hindsight, but lest we forget, bullpens are not only built in the offseason but they are built during the season. To say that the bullpen almost blew the game last night would make you Mr. Obvious. Even Ray Charles can see that. The Dodgers are just going to have to suck it up for a few more days or weeks until pitchers and Bellinger become healthy. Oh, he might make a signing or two – Shane Greene comes to mind, but I would not expect anything major until at least July. This is not panic time – they are only 128 games left!
If you don’t laugh about it, you would probably cry, so I choose to laugh about the Dodgers woes. Some day, we will look back and say “Remember when we thought they were done?” During this 4-14 losing streak, the Dodgers have only have three problems: They can’t pitch; They can’t hit; and They can’t field. Last night, the fielding was OK, so the only problems were that they could…
Minor League Report JoJo Gray struck out 10 in 5 IP for OKC in his AAA debut, but he also gave up 2 Runs on just 3 hits in what was a pretty impressive AAA debut for a young player. James Pazos relieved him and gave up two more runs in 1 IP, as OKC was shutout 4-0. Raley, Reks, Ravelo, and Burns each had a hit. Amarillo paid Tulsa…
Generally, LA Dodger Talk does not cover each game play-by-play… at least during the regular season. The reason why is that after a few games you have no idea how a team will hit, field, pitch, or how bad or good the bullpen will be. Oh, many fans think they know, but it is just their own necrotic (hopefully not psychotic) thinking. I can’t stop you from going insane after…
Boy, is it ever time! It has been 604 days since the Great Lakes Loons have taken the field for a good old game of hard ball. They kicked off the 2021 season with a game at home against the Dayton Dragons. It was the first game of a six-game series as each series in the Midwest League will be for six games during the 2021 season. The Loons roster…
Ernie Banks was a National Treasure and that was one of his favorite sayings. I can dig that. I would love to see both games, so hopefully I can close my office door at 2:20 PM EDT and watch the games.. and I may have a stash of bourbon to sip on. Well, I won’t make it until 3:30 as I have my second of three knee injections which is…