It’s easy to blame the Dodger woes on pitching… particularly “the Bullpen” and for most of the season and especially, the past 5 days, they have been the Dodger fans’ whipping boys. As much as we may want to blame the Dodger woes on the bullpen, we really can’t. That’s not the problem. Oh, it could be better, but that is simply not what is wrong with this team. The…
A new pitcher… same result! Baez, Chargois, Floro, Alexander and now Maeda. All have failed as the stopper. A good argument could be made that the biggest mistake FAZ made was not spending $7.0 million to re-sign Tony Watson, but here’s the rub: when any pitcher is suddenly thrust into the “closer role,” the weight of the world is on their shoulders and failure is the norm. How Watson would…
2018 has been a season full of challenges and in no small part, the challenges were created initially by the decision the Dodgers made (and still denied by them) to not exceed the Luxury Tax Threshold (“LTT”). Many fans don’t agree with the decision, but on every level, except my RFL (“Rabid Fan Level”), I agree with it. I actually thought they would get below it in 2017, but it…
That the Dodgers snatched defeat from the jaws of victory is obvious. However, the implosion of the bullpen (Chaggy in particular) is a symptom, not the disease. The symptom manifests itself when the disease is active. The disease is “FailureToScoreRunsItis.” Last night, Dodger hitters left 12 runners stranded (combined). At the trade deadline, FAZ acquired two of the biggest bats on the market in Machado and Dozier. Add in a…
I can’t complain about the pitching changes last night. It all boils down to Rosscup not doing his job on lefties. Some will complain about taking Maeda out and they will be the same ones who complained when they left him in. Rosscup doesn’t belong. Axford looked like he does. His first outing was horrid (the worst of his career), but he overcame another Joc Pederson outfield gaffe to shut…
I am just going to say it, even if it costs me my media access… wait, I don’t have media access anymore, so here goes: Dave Roberts is dumber than a bag of hammers if he left Pedro Baez in to allow 5 runners to get on base and all score. Even Ray Charles could see that Baez was a “deer in the headlights.” We all knew what was going to happen. …
Meet Loons Alfredo Tavarez Last Friday evening 20-year-old right-hander Alfredo Tavarez pitched his second scoreless seven-inning start for the Loons in his last three starts. The native of Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic was signed as an international free agent by the Dodgers on December 21, 2015. He did not go unnoticed in the Dominican Summer League in 2016 posting a 1.53 ERA and a 0.74 WHIP in 53…
Except for bad pitch selection (4 fastballs) to his last batter, Rich Hill was again terrific. No blisters = a very good pitcher. This is the pitcher the Dodgers are paying for and if he keeps it up, he’s a bargain! Blisters have been his kyrptonite! The bullpen was very good again: Floro, Alexander, Chargois and Jansen handled a hot A’s team. Oakland has the 4th best bullpen ERA in…
I have identified ten (10) Dodger players who are most vitally important to the Dodgers winning the NL West, NLDS, NLCS and World Series. It’s not Manny Machado – he will get his. It’s an adjustment, but he will be fine, great! It’s not Brian Dozier – if Doc lets him play everyday, he will put up MVP-type numbers the rest of this season. It’s not Clayton Kershaw – I…
On Saturday, AC had an amazing summary of the Dodgers minor league middle infielders. Two players that were mentioned that have not drawn a lot of attention are third baseman Brandon Montgomery and shortstop Zach McKinstry. Actually their listed position is in name only as they have played at a number of positions during their minor league careers. These guys are among the many foot soldiers in minor league baseball….