it is … at least for a while! Remember what I have always said, “Relief Pitchers are fickle?” Well, it has never been more true than this year. Phil Bickford has been bad (and he was not good last year but was great the year before); Yency Almonte had a 1.02 ERA last year – this year, he absolutely sucks with a 9.28 ERA; Alex Vesia has a 9.30 ERA…
There were a lot of “firsts” last night: The first walk-off win was the kind of thing that can galvanize a team. Mike Grove pitched his first great game, and (someone else said this), “Looked like Buehler.” Not bad for a guy who is just trade bait. Disclaimer: I don’t think that, and most baseball people don’t think that. Watch his interview after the game. Shelby Miller, who has been…
So, here we are back at .500 (7 – 7), and predictably people are losing their minds. They only have one mind (well, some have half of one, but that is something I will leave alone), so that is sad. Here is the stuff we hear after losses and fourteen games: “Just like Grove, I’ve always thought of Jackson as a trade chip and nothing more.” – What a comment…
I don’t understand why it happens, but every time the Dodgers go on some kind of losing streak, the novice Dodger fans come out of the woodwork and proudly announce that Andrew Friedman and Dave Roberts are the problems, and they proceed to solve all the problems by getting rid of players such as Muncy, Taylor, Peralta, Heyward, and others. It’s actually comical to see how little many of them…
So, I am writing this as I am digesting the news that I have to have back surgery for spinal stenosis and spondylolysis on April 24th. It’s pretty much what I had expected, but now it is real. Surgery is really easy… when it is performed on someone else! The surgery is called Lumbar Decompression and is the most common back surgery done by my surgeon. I saw three other…
By design, Bobby Miller has not pitched in a Major League Spring Training Game, and I do not think he has played in any minor league or B-Games either, as he allegedly had a “sore shoulder” when he arrived at Spring Training. Allegedly, it is OK now, but the Dodgers are ramping him up slowly. It seems unlikely that he will pitch in the Freeway Series as he did last…
For the past several weeks, we have been discussing who is going to play where and how the rookies will fit in. Will Lux play SS or 2B? Will Vargas play 3B, 2B or LF? Will Outman start in CF? Will Busch play anywhere? There is a lot to be decided, and we are not going to solve all that today. That is why they have Spring Training. If I…
Not a Damn Thing! That’s what’s wrong. He is just failing to make any dope-fiend moves. Now, I want to give you a full disclaimer: It is possible that some of the dope-fiend moves made by other teams could have good short-term consequences (possible, but also not likely). I am not willing to pay off $300 million for 11 years for Freaking Trea Turner! But neither was Andrew Friedman. Max…
The Dodgers now have 110 wins, blowing their old record to smithereens! They now have a four-game winning streak and could sweep the hapless Rockies. The Dodgers are the first NL team in 100 years to win 110 games. The Dodgers team ERA sits at 2.79. They lead all of MLB in starter ERA and are just .07 points behind Houston for the TOP Bullpen ERA. The Dodgers are way…
The Dodgers have 101 wins, and the fact that they were the quickest team to win 100 games in the past 21 years should be duly noted. There are seventeen games left, and it is a foregone conclusion that the Dodgers will set an All-Time Franchise Record for wins. They hardly care. Yes, it will be nice, but the entire focus is on winning the World Series. I hate to…