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. …
By now, everyone has read the article in Fangraphs by Jeff Sullivan, on how Non-Clutch the Dodgers are as team, and individually! In analyzing the information, I think there are a few facts we need to consider, facts like the Dodgers should be much better than they actually are. Sullivan says this: By almost every indicator, the Dodgers look like the super-team they were expected to be. They’re just not…
We all know the Dodgers are capable of scoring runs and scoring them in bunches… with or without the long ball. We also know that too frequently, they don’t. For a team that leads the National League in Home Runs and Runs Scored, it is very troubling that they sometimes forget how to score. To say that “This is the team FAZ built” is absurd.” They have repeatedly shown they…
I have not given up on this season, however, I do think that the problem is with the coaching staff – I think many of the hitters are trying for the long ball when they should be shortening up. Witness one Cody Bellinger’s success in August after adjusting. Joc Pederson has done the same thing but has revereted back to many of his old habits lately. Chris Taylor has 147…
The plight of the Dodgers has many Dodger fans concerned about them playing in the post season. More specifically, not playing in the post season. I tend to think they will make it but don’t lose any sleep over it at night. I have lived through all of the Dodger WS championships and do pine for another. Although I am in good health and questionably sound of mind (it has…
Only July 14, 2018, the Cardinals had lost two games in a row to the Cincinnati Reds and looked lifeless. The St. Louis Cardinals have always thrived on continuity. Bill DeWitt Jr. has owned the team since March 1996, and he has had two managers in that span: Tony La Russa, and then Mike Matheny replaced him in 2012. Under DeWitt, the Cardinals have won 10 division titles and made the postseason 13…
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…
Most of you probably don’t believe it, because the Dodger bullpen has been awful many times during this season, but it went from awful to deplorable when Daniel Hudson, Ross Stripling and Kenley Jansen went down. Of course, Kenley was the biggest loss and there’s no way to replace him. That will likely come to an end tonight as if Kenley is approved by his Doctors to play again. In…
I like Caleb Ferguson and Dylan Floro a lot, but Caleb is just learning how to handle the pen and Floro is just learning how to handle his improved stuff. Dylan used to have pedestrian stuff and now he has very good “stuff” but next he has to learn to utilize it. A pennant race is a bad time. It all goes back to the hitting… or lack thereof! An…
Friday night’s game was nice, but it’s just one game. The starter did his job, the bullpen did theirs (it’s a lot easier when it’s not close) and the hitters certainly did theirs. Kemp and Machado are coming out of their slumps and the Dodgers are still two games back of the D-Bags. These guys now need to build some consistency (which is breed with confidence) and start a winning…