The Arizona Fall League began play yesterday. The league was founded back in 1992 as a way to give young minor league players a way to extend their season without playing in winter ball or traveling long distances. It is often described as a “finishing school” giving a bevy of young players not only an opportunity to extend their seasons but compete against elite players and continue to work on the…
For six straight years, the Dodgers have been NL West Champs. For three straight years they have won the NLDS and headed to the NLCS. From this point on, it’s really World Series or Bust, but this 2018 version of these Milwaukee Brewers are tough… and opportunistic. While we are at it, let’s no forget that the Atlanta Braves, even though they just burst upon the scene, they were pretty…
Sean Newcomb is left-handed and almost no-hit the Dodgers once this year. The other time the Dodgers faced him, they lit him up. Which Newcomb will they face today? Maybe it’s not which pitcher they face… maybe it’s what approach the hitters take and you will see a different approach because there will be different hitters tonight. Most likely this will be the lineup: C – Grandal (You don’t take…
Continued and persistent rumors of the demise of Clayton Kershaw seem to have been greatly exaggerated. Is this the game where Clayton may have actually recognized that he is no longer the early version of himself, and now must become a finesse pitcher? There is nothing wrong with being a finesse pitcher, but it just may not sit with him very well. In Game 2, he was extremely efficient. He…
It’s really as simple as that! The regular season is over and this is the “Mini-Playoff” to determine who wins the West. While everything is “reset to Zero,” I think it might be good if we list what this team did this year without Corey Seager, because frequently it was all about one of the following: What a stupid lineup Doc ran out (there were complaints yesterday and it turned…
We should know the answer by later in the afternoon (EDT). The Dodgers will play: At the Brewers in the Wild Card game; At the Cubs in the Wild Card game; Verses the Rockies in Game 163; or Verses the Braves in Game 1 of the NLDS. It could take me until this evening to explain it all, so we will just wait and see what happens, but the best…
Pitchers and hitters don’t progress from one stage to another in a straight line. That’s what we would like, because we like predictable. We like things neatly arranged and sequential, but baseball player development happens so differently… and sometimes, so maddeningly different than what we like, that we are frequently frustrated beyond belief. This time last year, Striker Buehler, who was then named “Walker” Buehler, was stinking up the joint…
I understand the frustration in losing last night to the Padres. But I am not going to blame this on Doc or the lineup. The two questions I did have before the game were Kike’ and Freese in the lineup and Bellinger not. But Kike’ and Freese were fine last night and certainly not the problem. Kemp has been getting key hits lately, so I am not going to blame…
I like contrarians. They keep us thinking. Sometimes we end up supporting a player more vociferously than may be called for. Think Bums and Joc, Mark and Grandal, MJ and Toles, and of course me and Wood. Most of us have been frustrated with how this season has unfolded and have made some disparaging comments regarding FAZ or Doc, or players such as Joc, Wood, Puig, Dozier, CT3, and lately…
The Determined Dodgers fell down several times this season, but they got back up and kept themselves in the running. This Band of Brothers understand that as long as you are within striking distance, it’s how you finish, and they are now finishing what they started… and stumbled… and got back up – they never stopped running! In 2008 Heather Dorniden-Kampf, the favorite, was competing in the 600 meter race in…