It sounds funny to mention Grandal and Kemp in the same sentence because it was not that long ago that they were traded for each other. Yesterday, they were a version of the Bash Brothers as Yasmani Grandal takes back his starting job and Matt Kemp takes over in LF. If they both stay on this path of hitting, it could be a long season for anyone that doesn’t have…
I think it was DodgerRick who coined the moniker “El Gasolino” in reference to Pedro Baez. He has also been called “The Human Rain Delay” because an infielder can make a sandwich and drink a beer between pitches. I also call him “Dumb” because you can’t get major league hitters out with a fastball as your only pitch unless you can throw it 120 MPH! The offensive explosion caused by…
Kenta Maeda appears close to mastering a changeup, which could help him pitch deeper into games. We will see. Kenley Jansen did not make his appearance yesterday due to a tight hamstring. Hopefully it’s just tight and not pulled. The Dodgers have 18 players OPS’ing 1.000 or more. That’s sick! Kyle Farmer leads the way at 1.579. Toles and Verdugo have shown they belong although Verdugo wil likely go to…
A few years ago I attempted to predict the Great Lakes Loons opening day roster. It proved to be a very difficult assignment as there are so many variables at play. First, it seems impossible to know which young players may have suffered spring training injuries, perhaps minor, or experienced other delays but it does mean they are not on the opening day 25-man roster as expected. A second variable…
What is the value of each minor league player? That is, how important is each player? For me, the answer to the question is that none are more important than others. Sure, we like to see prospect lists with rankings but perhaps we should look at team rosters and draft lists, players that are signed as non-drafted free agents and minor league players signed after being released by other teams….
Spring training is well under way and the so-called meaningless games have once again become more than meaningful, especially for young players trying to make an impression on the many eyes watching them. And, making that all important favorable first impression is going well for a number of Dodger youngsters. Kyle Farmer, Will Smith, Keibert Ruiz, DJ Peters, Omar Estevez, Edwin Rios, Jake Peter, Alex Verdugo , among others, are…
Many Dodger fans think that Chris Taylor will move to 2B in 2019 after Logan Forsythe moves on. While that is not a crazy idea, we need to realize that Chris Taylor is a pretty good CF – He is a conscientious Top 10 CF… maybe Top 5 by the end of 2018 (that is to be decided). While I am not against moving Taylor to 2B, who plays Center…
An experiment is a procedure carried out to support, refute, or validate a hypothesis. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when a particular factor is manipulated. Make no mistake, the Dodgers are going to carry out the Matt Kemp Experiment… and it is truly an “EXPERIMENT.” We did a few experiments in high school chemistry class, some of which caused violent explosions, but some were pretty…
MLB Pipeline recently came out with its updated Top 30 rankings for Dodger minor league prospects. One addition to the list, albeit at No. 27, is outfielder Romer Cuadrado who played the full 2017 season as a 19-year-old with the Ogden Raptors of the rookie level Pioneer League. Actually, he turned 20 on September 12 just five days before the Ogden squad won their first league championship. MLB Pipeline is…
You all know the story… in 2014, at age 18, a Dodgers minor league first baseman hit .312 with 3 HR and 34 RBI. That same year, Adrian Gonzalez, the Dodgers 1B, hit .276 with 27 HR and 116 RBI. Three years later, that 18 year-old 1B who was 21 by then, hit 39 Home Runs because he seized the day. Adrian Gonzalez was injured and the Dodgers needed a…