Rants & Raves

May 18, 2024

Every now and then, it is all about random stuff: Ambidextrous Freak Jason Gay in the Wall Street Journal has a piece entitled: This Amazing Pitcher Throws 95 MPH Right-Handed—and 93 MPH Left-Handed -Ambidextrous ace Jurrangelo Cijntje is no gimmick—he is a legit major-league prospect helping Mississippi State try to return to the College World Series His unearthly gift must be seen to be believed: a right-handed college pitcher, confident…

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Red Wave

May 17, 2024

Elly De La Cruz has stolen 30 bases in 35 attempts, so it seems logical to keep him off the bases… right? Nah, that’s too easy – let’s have him get on base all five at-bats! Tyler Glasnow will have an occasional bad game. That was one last night. The hitters either show up en masse or they are no-shows. Chris Taylor got an “excuse me” hit on an 81…

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Dodgers’ Defense and Bullpen as a Strength

May 14, 2024

If I had as bad a record of predicting what would happen with the Dodgers as many of you do, I would quit being a baseball fan. Before the season and even during the season, many of you make these dire, wild predictions about how bad some aspect of the Dodgers is, and for ten years now, Andrew Friedman comes back and shoves it in your face. The next time…

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Why Can’t Dodger Catchers Throw Out Runners?

May 13, 2024

It’s not a secret that the Los Angeles Dodgers catchers have not been successful in throwing out runners trying to steal bases for quite some time. This year, Will Smith has given up 13 stolen bases while throwing out 10 of the runners, which isn’t bad, but in 2023, he allowed 72 stolen bases while throwing out just 19 runners. So far this year, Austin Barnes has allowed seven stolen…

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They Called Him a Dog… Turns Out he is a Horse!

May 11, 2024

When the Dodgers traded Ryan Pepiot and Jonny DeLuca for Tyler Glasnow, the naysayers were quick to call Glasnow “Fragile” and “Injury Prone” because they thought they knew what they didn’t know. As it turned out, the pitcher they thought was a dog turned out to be a Workhorse! Tyler Glasnow had one misdiagnosed injury that cost him almost four years of his career. His UCL was not properly attached…

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Who Stays? Who Goes?

May 10, 2024

As the Dodgers prepare to play the Padres in Slam Diego this weekend, it occurred to me that maybe there is a team sitting on a bad contract that the Dodgers might target to get rid of Chris Taylor. I have not had time to consider who that might be, but I’ll bet there is a longer, bigger, bad contract that the Dodgers might take a flyer on. Have fun!…

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FLASH: Progress is not Linear

May 9, 2024

Miguel Vargas, Gavin Stone, Diego Cartaya, Gavin Lux, James Outman and many other prospects prove that the old adage, “Progress in not Linear” is so true. Miguel Vargas had succeeded and mastered every level where he played… except on the MLB Level. Of course, he could play the “broken finger excuse card” but there are no excuses. It is what it is and your stats tell who you are. Miguel…

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It’s Time For CT3 to be the Ultimate Team Player

May 8, 2024

Chris Taylor has always been a big hit-or-miss guy with the bat, but he has selflessly played all over the field and has done a very credible job at it. Need a SS? He can play there. 2B? No problem, 3B? Of course! Anywhere in the outfield? All three spots! Yes, he strikes out a lot… a whole lot, but he is reported to be a very good teammate. In…

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Vargas is Coming!

May 2, 2024

For all the flack that Yamamoto has taken, here he is with a 3-1 record with a 2.01 ERA and 1.09 WHIP. Not bad for a guy who is just starting to pitch up to his capability. Knack went back to OKC so that the Dodgers could have a couple of fresh arms in the bullpen, and both Feyeriesen and Varland did their jobs last night. JP i not a…

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Stoned!

April 27, 2024

Well, as much as I like Gavin Stone (and I like him a lot), I confess that I mostly saw him as a high-leverage bullpen piece… until yesterday. 7 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K. OK, yes, he was a bit lucky, but he went seven innings and allowed one earned run ! WOW! JUST WOW! In my defense, I have never seen Gavin Stone throw a…

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