James Tibbs III seems to have improved since joining the Dodgers. He changed his leg kick from being a “timing mechanism” to being a “metronome tap.” When he came to the Dodgers, they knew his swing did not need to be overhauled, like Justin Turner’s. The Dodgers reportedly encouraged him to return closer to the swing that made him a star at Florida State rather than chasing exit-velocity tweaks. Mechanically,…
Sunday, the 2nd of October 1966. The Dodgers were playing a double header in Philadelphia. When the day started, LA was 1.5 games ahead of the Giants. If the Dodgers lost both games and the Giants beat the Pirates, they would finish in a dead heat and there would be a playoff. Don Drysdale got the start in game one against Larry Jackson. In the bottom of the 1st, John…
The grass is riz. I wonder where the flowers is? Baseball America just published a piece titled: “One Intriguing 2026 Spring Training Performance For Each MLB Team.” In it, they featured River Ryan as the Dodgers’ “Intriguing Player.” In part, they wrote: “The big question for Ryan was whether he could return to health and his pre-injury stuff. Back from Tommy John surgery, Ryan needed one spring training outing to…
The Dodgers slugged 244 homers last season, led by Ohtani’s 55. That was 20 more than the second highest, the Mets had. The Mets lost a major power source with Alonso leaving in free agency for Baltimore. LA replaced the 12 homers hit by Michael Conforto with Kyle Tucker, who hit 22 in Chicago. The Dodger starting outfield has three players capable of 30 homers or more, Pages, who hit…
The Dodgers optioned OF Ryan Ward and LHP Ronan Kopp to Triple-A Oklahoma City, and sent pitchers Carlos Duran, Carson Hobbs, Garrett McDaniels, Jackson Ferris, Wyatt Mills, Jordan Weems, and Lucas Wepf, catcher Griffin Lockwood-Powell, and OFs Josue De Paula and Kendall George to minor league camp. That should narrow it down to 50-something players in Camp. Ryan Ward had his shot and did almost nothing… The field is narrowed……
The Dodgers’ roster right now looks a little less like a youth movement and a little more like a high school reunion where everyone keeps saying, “Wow… has it really been 15 years?” For the record, I don’t dislike Alex Call or Santiago Espinal. Not at all. Both are perfectly respectable utility players. The baseball equivalent of a Swiss Army knife. Not flashy, but handy when you need to open…
Spring Training is baseball’s annual mirage season. A few weeks in Arizona or Florida and suddenly a utility infielder is Babe Ruth, a 29-year-old minor leaguer looks like the next MVP, and fans begin carving statues before Opening Day. Then… the roster comes out and that hero of March is riding a bus to Triple-A. Right about now, many Dodger fans are anointing Santiago Espinal as the World MVP. After…
The annual Top-30 Dodgers Prospect List is baseball’s version of opening a crate of fireworks. Some rockets soar, some spin sideways into the neighbor’s yard, and one explodes so gloriously that the entire league asks, “Where did that come from?” Here is the completely rational, totally unbiased, mildly ridiculous, future forecast of Baseball America’s Dodgers Top 30 Prospect List. 1. Eduardo Quintero – OF Eventually hits a ball so far…
Baseball fans are a unique group. Every February, somewhere in Arizona or Florida, a perfectly rational adult watches a 32 year old utility infielder line a double off a pitcher who will be selling insurance by July… and immediately declares, with the confidence of a Supreme Court justice, “He has to make the team.” Spring Training turns baseball fans into gold prospectors panning a river of box scores. They swirl…
