32 posts
Will Smith did not play a game in Spring Training until February 28th, when he had three at-bats and struck out twice. He has been nursing an ankle injury that has kept him out of the lineup, and it turns out that this has been a problem for him since early June of 2024! Many of…
Since I started blogging, I have used this as a forum to give my own personal views about certain prospects. I think I have an eye for talent and I have not been shy about picking out certain players and predicting greatness for them. Right around the time I first started posting on Dodger blogs, I was in Vero Beach and became enamored with an 18-year-old prospect who played 3B .
Yesterday, Bleacher Report had a piece where they published the 2020 World Series Odds and again, the Dodgers and Astros are 1-2 in the oddsmaker s eyes to win the World Series. However, right about now, you would think that the Dodgers are some sort of bottom-dweller, second-rate team if you happen to listen to the fans. What happened in the World Series should only reinforce how hard it is to
The Dodgers are still ranked 3rd in MLB Power Rankings and it should not be lost on anyone that the Dodgers were #1 in 2017. What does it all mean? Not much. It s how it all comes together So, as the dust settles, how about the big free-agent signings and trades made by Philadelphia? The team is clearly flawed and Gabe Kapler will likely lose his job, when it should
To lose a game without learning something is a sad state of affairs. Yes, the Dodgers lost last night game, but they learned a few things in the process: If you can t jump out of a boat and hit water, you probably won t win (OK, OK, we already knew that); Hyun-jin Ryu has gone from being left off the playoff roster (in some of your minds) back to Cy Young
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,
The sky is falling! The Dodgers are doomed! Kershaw and Ryu are through! We can t win with Jansen as the closer. Bellinger has regressed to the mean! I just hope that these die-hard Dodger “Homeys” are not fooled by all these wins, because the negatives will be more apparent as they get into the playoffs. I think that Colletti did just as good of job with way less money and
This is AF’s 5th full year, and hopefully he will continue for several more years. He is human so he is prone to making mistakes, but never has he made an error without a very good reason for making a change. Most of us may not have understood the decisions, but they were always made to help the team. And I recognize and appreciate that it was a rhetorical statement,
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
Some people think that I believe everything Andrew Friedman does is wonderful and that I worship at the Church of St. Andrew. Of course, that s not true because he is Jewish and I am not. I do happen to think he is very astute and has a plan which he executes. However, I do have one major issue with him and the Dodgers Organization. That issue is I believe they
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
When the Dodgers acquired Jimmy Rollins, I was pretty vocal that Corey Seager was ready and there was no need for Rollins to be the bridge to Seager. I still think Corey was ready a year earlier, but FAZ made him wait and it turned out OK. FAZ had a plan of succession. In the Spring of 2017, I pronounced Cody Bellinger ready for the Show, but FAZ sent him
A few weeks back there was a recommendation that we provide our opinion on the risers and fallers this year in the LAD Minor League system, and suggested that the AS break would be a good time. DC offered his input a week or so ago, and now I would like to provide my admittedly myopic (and shortsighted?) insight. I apologize for the length, but it is hard for me
A few days ago, Bluto posed the following: “I mean if you are evaluating players from a far then you have to be down on prospects when they fare poorly. But what’s the difference between being down and writing off? And what does writing off mean? Does it mean moving down in the prospect list? Or removing altogether?” I am sure that my opinion of “being down” vs. writing off
Mark and I don’t always agree on everything Blue, although I think we are pretty consistent from a Macro view. But when it comes to the bullpen, Mark and I just do not see eye to eye. I have been a relief pitcher wonk since 1959 and Larry Sherry. Clem Labine would have been my favorite Dodger in the mid 50’s. I am not going to go through the history
Alex Verdugo (23) Happy Birthday Today Yesterday, Alex’s brother posted on LADT. Those guys out there do pay attention. What I have really like about Alex this year is that he has demonstrated a high level of energy and enthusiasm. He is very active in the dugout, not Puig-like, and has really hustled on the field and running the bases. Who wouldn’t like his K/BB ratio which is not
Interesting topic on who goes and who stays when Cingrani comes back. Cingrani has pitched in three rehab games (1 with RC, and 2 with OKC). He had three days between his first game and second and dropped it down to 2 games between games 2 and 3. He still needs to show he can go back to back. May 4 – 16 pitches/10 strikes May 7 – 20 pitches/11
I expect at the start of the 2019 season many of us would have guessed that at this point in the season the top hitter for the OKC Dodgers would be Edwin Rios, Will Smith or perhaps Matt Beaty. Most of us might not have guessed Kyle Garlick. Right now Garlick is the team leader in hits (26), home runs (7), total bases (55), BA (.292), OBP (.394), SLG (.618)
Mark goes with Rants and Raves, and DC now has his Bites and Bits, so I might as well come up with my own Random Thoughts. I cannot get too excited about the last two losses. It really was to be expected in April, at least by me. Admittedly, I am having a tough time getting excited about this early part of the season. It is going better than I thought
The strength of the Farm system is unquestionably the pitching. It is not even close. The breakdown of the MLB Pipeline Top 30 prospects is: 12 RHP 2 – LHP 4 Catchers 5 – SS/2B 4 – 3B/1B 3 – OF Baseball America pretty much resembles MLB Pipeline’s prospect list except BA includes reliever Josh Sborz, and OF Carlos Rincon, replacing Braydon Fisher, Marshall Kasowski, and Leonel Valera .
First of all, Happy St. Patrick s Day. We are down to 10 ST games with one week to go in Arizona followed by 3 against LAA. Two games in Anaheim and one game at Dodger Stadium. Thus far the Dodgers are 12-8-2, as if that means anything. Who have been the surprises? Offensively, Kike Hernandez and Austin Barnes have been red hot and IMO have established themselves as starters. Kike
Finally, ST has arrived, and the first ST game is today against the ChiSox. The 7-man scheduled pitching rotation for Saturday’s game is Daniel Corcino, Jaime Schultz, Kevin Quackenbush, Josh Sborz, Stetson Allie, Josh Smoker and Joe Broussard. Sunday’s game 7 man scheduled rotation will be Hyun-Jin Ryu, Brock Stewart, Dennis Santana, Adam McCreery, Tony Gonsolin, Mitchell White, and Dustin May. I had already written a lengthy response to Mark’s
I listened to the Kyle Glazer (BA) podcast on the state of the Dodger prospects a couple of times last week. Besides some excellent information on few of the Dodger prospects (Lux, Ruiz, Smith, May, Verdugo…), he had some commentary on the 2016 draft by LAD. Recognizing where the Dodgers drafted he was more than complimentary on the draft and stated that it may be one of the very best
I do not look at skeptics as a negative. I think we are all skeptics. I think everyone is asking what the Dodgers could do “IF”… The difference is that while the questions are the same, it is how most of us perceive and respond to those “IF” questions. MT, 59inarow, and Bobby do not see many negative outcomes of any of the questions, if any at all. MT sees
Per JT on the Suits: We trust them, said the third baseman and team leader. The front office has done a great job. They build a 40-man roster, not a 25-man roster, and that s the biggest difference between the Dodgers and other teams. I have been saying that for 4 years running. AF is a master at building the 40-man roster to play in a 162-game season. The Dodgers should
As we are winding down to less than 2 weeks before pitchers and catchers report, I was having a tough time trying to find a single topic to write a novel on. So I am going to just give some of my thoughts on a few topics. 1. Yes, Stan Kasten stuck his massive foot square in his mouth at the FanFest, and for no good reason. I am by
Well now that the Dodgers have signed AJ Pollock, what comes next? Maybe something. Maybe nothing. Is JT Realmuto on the horizon. Apparently, the Pads are very much in on JTR, but they are insisting on extension talks before they consummate the deal. Obviously, either Francisco Mejia or Austin Hedges will be going back in a package. The Pads have ML OF’s available as well a bucket load of high-level
Jeremy Rodriguez Bench Coach Rodriguez will serve as the team’s primary third base coach, work with the infielders and help with defensive positioning in games. He’s the staff’s youngest member at just 29. He played five seasons within the Padres’ organization. The former catcher was born in Burbank, California and graduated from Crespi Carmelite High School in neighboring Encino. He was selected by the San Diego Padres in the
Because of the lack of player personnel movement, all of the national publications and national writers are creating the best of the remaining lists. Where will the top 10 remaining free agents land? How about where will the top 15 free agents and major trade personnel land? They all have opinions, and some of them are well thought out. However, while they have much better contacts, none of them no
With apologies to the late great David Bowie. I continue to read about all the possible changes coming to the Dodgers, and I have zero comfort that any one of them will ever transpire more than another. I do believe that there will be at least one significant change, maybe more, which is why the negative comments on the Reds trade are curious, unless it gives those who just do
