The State of the Bullpen… and Dodger Pitching In the month of September of teams that are likely candidates to play the Dodgers in the 2019 Fall Classic, here is how they compare in bullpen ERA since September 1st: Dodgers – 3.28 Astros – 3.47 Yankees – 3.81 HR per 9 Innings Dodgers – .95 Astros – 1.52 Yankees – 1.59 BABIP – Batting Average Balls in-Play Dodgers – .242…
We may not know what we think we know and don’t know what we don’t know and I hope we know that we don’t know. Confused? I know… We know Justin Turner can walk – we don’t know if he can run. We will find out today. It seems that they are just being cautious and if this were the postseason he would be playing. We know that Dick Mountain…
1. Kenley Jansen is Fixed False. With his 8th Blown Save last night, he again demonstrated that he was lacking command and in order to get a strike, he throws some very hittable pitches. I was against the re-signing of Kenley Jansen and this is why. Big contracts to relief pitchers seldom pan out, but here we are and the Dodgers have to make do with what they have… and…
After being the best team in baseball for quite some time, the Dodgers are now playing second fiddle to the Yankees and Astros who both have one more win than the Dodgers. The surging Braves are just three games behind the Dodgers for the best record in the NL, having won nine games in a row. In their last 10 games, the Dodgers are .500 while the Braves are 9-1,…
Joe Kelly was a trainwreck early in the season, but when I last checked, he was pretty good. The Dodgers plan when they signed him was to change his grip and smooth out his mechanics. In case you have been hiding under a rock, it did not work very well… at least for a while. But, it’s how you end up that counts. They say that good things come to…
Over the past couple of days, I have heard how stupid it was for Andrew Friedman to sign Chris Negron and Tyler White and that they were a waste! I have heard that bringing Tony Gonsolin up to pitch in Coors was a mistake and I heard that Ryu also couldn’t pitch at Coors Field. I also heard that the league was catching up to Alex Verdugo. Additionally, I heard…
The Will Smith era has officially begun. In his first game as the primary catcher for the LAD, he caught Clayton Kershaw. There were no noticeable miscommunications between the two. Kersh got off to a rough start, but settled in nicely for still another QS. Offensively, you could not ask for a better game. 3-3 with 2 doubles, a HR, sac fly, and 6 RBIs. This new offensive threat for…
It seems to me that most Dodger fans believe that the only thing standing between a World Championship Trophy and the LA Dodgers are a couple of relief pitchers. Some say one, some say two, some say three. They often use the example of the 2016 Cubs who went out and got Aroldis Chapman from the Yankees as a two-month rental. The narrative is that Chapman was the missing piece…
I stole that from Jon Weisman (I steal most of my original material) – I hope he doesn’t sue me, but it seemed appropriate for today’s Rants and Raves: How many teams have an All-Star RF, who is also a Gold Glove 1B, end the game in CF for defensive reasons? That’s what makes him take the place of Mike Trout as the games best player (other than the fact…
Some Dodger fans are up in arms that the Dodgers have moved Joc Pederson to 1B… in the middle of the season, of all things! He has had flashes of good, but mostly he looks like he has never played there before (he hasn’t). The early results have not been great. The Dodgers knew that and were/are prepared to ride through the storm. It makes sense to me for several…