OK, you all likely know what happened last night: Joc Pederson drove in the first run against Zack Greinke. Hyun-Jin Ryu had pitched 7 strong innings when Roberts pinch-hit for him with Kike Hernandez. On a 2-2 pitch from Greinke, Kike jacked the ball out of the stadium to tie the game at 2-2. Next, Dylan Floro played the role of set-up man and shut down the D-Bags in the…
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. …
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…
From the Dodgers point of view, it turns out that Murphy may have been a optimist. In a week where if something could go wrong, it did go wrong, and then wronger and wrongest! I have always maintained a “glass half full attitude.” The storm generally passes and it’s never as bad as the “glass half empty” people say. Here’s a little more about Murphy’s Law: Fabian Ardaya of 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. …
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…