How can that be? Does Spring Training mean everything, or does Spring Training means nothing? Well, it depends… and if you are a person who sees everything as black or white, you may never understand how those two opposing statements can embody what Spring Training is all about. It seems like every year, some player comes out of “nowhere” and hits .350 or .400 in Spring Training and yet is…
You go back to 1958 when the Dodgers moved west, and I would bet without going to the Dodgers baseball reference page, few here could name their starting rotation, let alone the guys in the bullpen. And the same would be true of most of the pitching staffs going back, say, 15-25 years or more. For the record, they finished 7th that year, 21 games behind the pennant winners, the…
I have been away for a little while, and during that period, a lot of baseball news trickled in. One item I wanted to address was the Evan Drelich book on the Houston Astros 2017 scandal titled Winning Fixes Everything. First off, the title of the book. It says it all. This was/is a corrupt baseball organization that got away with cheating their way to a title. As much as…
Yesterday, Dave wrote this: “Last year you posted your stats predictions for the season. As it turned out they were pretty accurate. So looking forward to that again. But I think we need to wait until end of Spring training for that.” So, I am going to do it a little differently this year. I am going to it now, and I might revise my predictions at the end of…
Pinkie Problems The first casualty of Spring Training occurred a few days ago when Miguel Vargas took a bad hop to his right pinky finger, which caused a hairline fracture. Since he is a RH hitter, his right hand is not his bottom hand, and he would likely play if it were the playoffs or an important game, but he will likely miss a couple of weeks. He thinks he…
The Dodgers’ hopes to win a World Series in 2023 hinge on a lot of things, including JD Martinez’s resurgence, J-Heys and David Peralta’s ability to come back, the pitching staff’s health, the ability of rookies to seize the day, and whether Freeman, Smith, Muncy & Betts can have All-Star Caliber years. However, nothing is more vital to the Dodgers’ hopes than Gavin Lux and his ability to play SS….
You are not going to hear this said out loud and I am not going to reveal my sources (so you can take this for whatever you think it is worth), but there is growing sentiment within the Dodgers organization that Diego Cartaya might need to change positions. This is especially true if Will Smith can be locked up long term. The Dodgers have a plethora of Catchers and while…
Justin Turner, or JT as he is affectionately known by Dodger fans, is no longer with us as we all know. But I would like to give Justin his due. He was signed as a free agent by Dodgers GM Ned Colletti on Valentine’s Day in 2014. He had originally been drafted by the Reds and then traded to the Orioles in 2008 for Ramon Hernandez. In 2010 the Mets…
Clayton Kershaw – He can still pitch with the best of them, but only about 70% of the season. If the Dodgers can manage his health so that he is healthy for the playoffs, then he can pitch another year. $20 Million for 126 IP with a 2.28 ERA and a 0.942 WHIP, then I will take it all day long. That’s ACE 1A Status! OH, and a 3.8 WAR…
We were discussing, actually, it was just brought up, the impact of Manny Machado when he came to LA in 2018, After the World Series in 18 he became a free agent and left for the Padres. So, I thought I would jump in my way back machine, and stick to LA Dodgers only, seeing what players came to LA for a relatively short time and impacted the team’s fortunes….