Dave Roberts Many of you wonder why Dave Roberts does certain things, like oh… hit Chris Taylor #3? Some fans almost become enraged when he does such things. Why on earth would he have old man David Freese bat leadoff? Kike Hernandez #5? Why, oh why? Well, simply stated, it’s because you are playing checkers and he is playing chess. He’s about 6 moves ahead of you. You are thinking…
On a number of occasions Mark has advised that the game is evolving and we should get used to it. It is difficult to argue with either point. The game has evolved out of necessity to offer a sense of fairness in competition and to, as they say, level the playing field with a standard set of enforceable rules. Actually, if you Google it, there are ample sources following the…
It’s amazing to me that after 25 games, fans can pronounce a certain player or players as “failures.” If they are really that good, they should be making millions helping teams make those decisions. If they happen to not be making millions for those decisions, then maybe they really aren’t as qualified as they believe. If they bench guys like Taylor, Hernandez, Barnes, et al, how are they ever going…
Mark goes with Rants and Raves, and DC now has his Bites and Bits, so I might as well come up with my own…Random Thoughts. I cannot get too excited about the last two losses. It really was to be expected in April, at least by me. Admittedly, I am having a tough time getting excited about this early part of the season. It is going better than I thought…
Up until April 15 Niko Hulsizer was a name with which many, or most Dodgers fans were not familiar. He was selected by the Dodgers in the 18th round of the 2018 First-Year Player Draft as a junior out of Morehead State University in Morehead Kentucky. He has now burst upon the scene with his three-home run game against the South Bend Cubs on Monday evening. For some his outburst…
I wrote about the possibility of a slow start for the Dodgers but did not predict one. I know Mark liked to chide me with that after the first two series. But 5-2 against arguably two of the worst 3 teams in the NL was nothing to brag about. The Padres played the same two teams and went 4-3. And now LAD gets to face the Rockies without having to…
The strength of the Farm system is unquestionably the pitching. It is not even close. The breakdown of the MLB Pipeline Top 30 prospects is: 12 – RHP 2 – LHP 4 – Catchers 5 – SS/2B 4 – 3B/1B 3 – OF Baseball America pretty much resembles MLB Pipeline’s prospect list except BA includes reliever Josh Sborz, and OF Carlos Rincon, replacing Braydon Fisher, Marshall Kasowski, and Leonel Valera….
The Loons kick off their 2019 season on Thursday, April 4 away from home against the Lake County Captains. They play the Captains again on Friday before returning to Midland for a six-game home stand, two against Lake County and four against the South Bend Cubs. It should not be too difficult to get a better start to the season after the 2018 season in which they went 7-13 in…
First of all, Happy St. Patrick’s Day. We are down to 10 ST games with one week to go in Arizona followed by 3 against LAA. Two games in Anaheim and one game at Dodger Stadium. Thus far the Dodgers are 12-8-2, as if that means anything. Who have been the surprises? Offensively, Kike’ Hernandez and Austin Barnes have been red hot and IMO have established themselves as starters. Kike’…
Per JT on the Suits: “We trust them,” said the third baseman and team leader. “The front office has done a great job. They build a 40-man roster, not a 25-man roster, and that’s the biggest difference between the Dodgers and other teams.” I have been saying that for 4 years running. AF is a master at building the 40-man roster to play in a 162-game season. The Dodgers should…