It’s taken over five weeks for this team to start hitting on all cylinders, but it’s finally starting to happen. Yasmani Grandal is indeed waking up and that helps dramatically. Shoot, Chase Utley got a pinch-hit double last night. The team still stranded a lot of runners which is troubling. The Dodgers are 8th in MLB in team Batting Average and 7th in runs scored. Surprisingly, they are 18th in…
It’s not “Does Chris Taylor deserve to start over Chase Utley?” That’s not even a question. The real question is “Does Logan Forsythe have a starting job when he comes back?” Chris Taylor is an animal. I have always said that FAZ likes to trade for guys before they become THOSE GUYS! They might have done just that with both Toles and Taylor! I really, really liked last night’s lineup,…
A picture is worth a thousand words, so I thought I would post scientific evidence of what led to Adrian Gonzalez and Yasmani Grandal hitting 3rd and 4th. Any questions? Actually, what else can you do but throw darts? The lineup is less important than the players in it. I would like to see Toles in everyday. Let him play. Of course, Bellinger has to be in it as well….
Alex Wood is certainly making a case to stay in the rotation. 6 innings, 77 pitcher and 1 hit makes an excellent case for Alex. If Maeda struggles on Friday, I would have Alex stay in the rotation. He was very impressive last night. His pitch count is up to almost 80 and he can build on that. I was impressed about Wood and depressed about the next guy I…
During the dialogue about the Dodgers non-desire to pay for $100M+ pitching, Scott Andes stated “Those guys are expensive because hold onto your hats here, they are good, and you get what you pay for.” Since he knows the Dodgers can afford to sign 10 Greinke’s, obviously he feels the Dodgers have no salary cap to concern themselves with. I like it when people like to spend other people’s money….
Which doesn’t mean it is not valuable. It’s just not worth the price. I can relate. I drive a 2013 Ford F-150 XLT Supercab. I could have bought the Platinum Series but it was $22,000 more and I thought that was overvalued, so I just drive the standard model. Well it does have the twin-turbo 375 HP engine, so there is that. But, it doesn’t have butt warmers and leather…
I said “Two Week” not “Too Weak” Takeaways! Yes, I know we lost yesterday… Yawn! I have a hunch we will lose again this year. Yasiel Puig is starting to make me believe he is getting serious about this game. He is more focused than I have ever seen. It would have been nice to see him homer in the 9th, but this is reality. I’ll take .326/ 4 HR/11…
… which is one of my favorite movies along with The Shawshank Redemption…. but I digress. Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming: Is Starting Pitching Really Overvalued? I’ll answer that question with one word: HELL YES! When Jim Bowden penned a blog on ESPN Insider this week about starting pitching being overvalued, it has created a firestorm among Dodger fans that is extremely polarizing. In particular, a quote by…
Five games into the season and the Dodgers are 3-2. There’s really not much to go on, but we have seen some good things, some bad things and some ugly things. In baseball, it is all about Peaks and Valleys. Peaks and Valleys – write that down! The Good 2.25 – That’s the Dodger’s team ERA. They are among the best in baseball. The starters ERA is 2.93 and the…
Evidently Rich Hill doesn’t flourish in Spring Training, and while he was not in mid-season form last night, he was pretty good. Five innings was enough – let him go six his next start. You have to love this guy’s story, determination and never-say-die attitude. What are the odds that a guy finally figures it out at 36 year old and becomes a star? Probably about the same that he…