Andrew Toles has a great story – out of baseball, stocking groceries and back to baseball. From the outhouse to the penthouse and even after that he has endured even more adversity in the form of injury. However, he apparently is healthy and ready to contribute. I am going to make the case that he can contribute to the Dodgers success in the biggest way by playing CF and leading…
Three weeks for the trade deadline and rumors without knowledge continue to excite or anger baseball fans across the country. It is fun to read other fans takes on their teams and how their prospects line up with others. I was really enjoying Brewers’ fans takes that Keston Hiura should not be included in any trade for Manny Machado, but the Dodgers are silly for not including Verdugo or Ruiz…
… AND SOME OF THEM MIGHT NOT BE POPULAR. It was said that the entire Dodger team watched Walker Buehler throw a simulated game yesterday – he’s not just another arm. His stuff is electric and he should ready to start next weekend against the Angels. I have heard that he likley will not have a cap on his innings this year (within reason). I expect to see him log…
… when the Dodgers could have traded for Cole Hamels for SVS and JDL? (Neither do I, but some insist it is true.) … when every Dodger fan wanted Sonny Gray? … when Dodger fans wanted David Price? … when Dodgers fans were upset that Zack Greinke was not resigned by the Dodgers? I remember… …when FAZ signed Anderson, McCarthy and Kazmir? … when FAZ got Barnes, Hernandez, Grandal, Taylor,…
With the Dodgers epic struggles early this season firmly fixed in the rear-view mirror, the fan expectations are lukewarm… at best. However, here the Dodgers sit, tied for first place with the D-bags and I tend to like it that fans are not too excited (I like it a lot) because conventional wisdom is frequently wrong. Don’t get me wrong – the 2017 Dodgers weren’t bad, but they were a…
I already see that the FAZ Bashers are up in arms over the re-acquisitions of right-handers Dylan Floro and Zach Neal from the Reds in exchange for right-handers Aneurys Zabala and James Marinan. Probably the most important reason is that the Dodgers also got some international bonus pool money from the Reds, which may be the key to the deal. I know that the bonus money can only be assigned in $250,000 increments, but as yet, I have not…
Well, that was fun…. and much needed too. An offensive explosion never hurts a team that is struggling with hitting. If I had told you in Spring Training that Matt Kemp would be an All-Star (and maybe the heart and soul of the team), that Max Muncy would be leading the team in HR and OPS’ing over 1.000 and Ross Stripling would be the Dodgers ace, you would have signed…
The Good News While the Dodgers couldn’t jump out of a boat and hit water last night, the good news was that Rich Hill is rounding into form and becoming the type of starter the Dodgers thought the were getting until he turned into the Poster Child of Blisters. Thanks to Laser Technology, Rich Hill now has a bionic finger (I just made that last part up because it sounded…
Right now, I trust Yimi Garcia, Pedro Baez, Scott Alexander and Company about as much as I trust a fox to guard the hen house. However, in baseball, many other sports and the stock market, it is best to see what can be, not what is. You don’t buy a stock hoping it will stay where it is. You don’t get a player who already has a high value unless…
Injury News Julio Urias, who has only been throwing off a mound for a few days, hit 88 MPH on the gun yesterday. He is set to thow a couple more bullpen sessions this week and hopes to pitch soon. The Dodgers are very encouraged. I would expect to see him pitching out of the pen this year. After hitting 88 so quickly, I would think he can find another…