52 posts
I wrote about the possibility of a slow start for the Dodgers but did not predict one. I know Mark liked to chide me with that after the first two series. But 5-2 against arguably two of the worst 3 teams in the NL was nothing to brag about. The Padres played the same two teams and went 4-3. And now LAD gets to face the Rockies without having to
There has been a lot of discussion about the potential of a slow start this year. I and others have pointed out how the “starters” cannot get through 5 innings before the proverbial melt down. Both Hill and Strip went a solid 4 innings, and then came the 5th. Hill is penciled for his final ST outing on Friday (Saturday?), while Strip is scheduled to start Sunday’s game against LAA
In the last thread, Tylerdurden31 stated that “If it clear we are one if the best five NL teams. We could be the best right now (even after an abysmal start). Between now and October we will experiment, test, and look for new ways to get production. Occasional failures like today must be tolerated in order to locate the growth potential in our roster. Win games? That’s last year. This
Yesterday, these were no wholesale changes on the Dodgers roster. Who the hell predicted that anyway? What a moron! No names will be mentioned to protect the guilty. Never speak of this again! The first game of the doubleheader allowed the Dodger bats to break out against the Giants with 15 runs, as the Dodgers won 15-6. The Giants came back and won game 2 by a 8-3 score, even
Heading into a double-header with the Giants and having the bullpen implode is going to give rise to some roster changes today. Before I get into that, you should consider what Vegas Dodger said, so eloquently: Guys you need to relax….even though after the Rams 1 pick tonight I went out to the casino, choosing not to watch the game, sensing a negative outcome. Doc Roberts is getting frustrated with
No pitcher should ever be called Walker, so I have taken the liberty of changing his name to Striker Buehler. I thought about spelling his name with a Y instead of an I but that just wasn t as effective. Also, if a pitcher struggles with an aspect of his game, like walking too many batters, which Buehler does, you should never call him by his weakness. It s negative thinking and
Many Dodger fans (including me) think Joc Pederson should be in Siberia or Tulsa or OKC. But he started the scoring with a home run off of Stephen Strasburg. Joc was 2-4 last night. Many Dodgers fans have wanted Kike Hernandez banished, especially because he can t hit RHP. But he hit another home run off Strasburg last night and the last I checked Strasburg was RH. Imagine that! Many
With all of the statistics discussion yesterday, and much of it directed to relief pitching, I thought that I would gather some Dodger relief pitching comparisons, keying on inherited runners and inherited runners scored. See table below. With the recall of Adam Liberatore, the Dodgers have now used 10 relief pitchers. 6 of those relief pitchers have entered into the games and have inherited runners. On 13 different occasions, 20
The fact that the Dodgers are 4-9 is not what bothers me. This stuff happens in baseball, but what bothers me is how this happens to a team that won 104 games last year and finished a game short of winning the World Series. What bothers me is that the team went 52-8 and then lost 16 in a row. How can that happen? Why are they sooooo good and then
There s not much to talk about for the 4-8 Dodgers who are struggling with the cobwebs between their ears, so I thought I would focus on a player that I happen to really like whose name is not Andrew Toles or Alex Verdugo. Dodger fans assume that Toles and/or Verdugo will be the next callups for the Dodgers and they may be, but the Dodgers have a player who does
It is rumored that the Phillies and Dodgers are in trade talks for their managers although the 6-5 Phillies are asking for a GM to be named later if they take the manager of the 4-7 train-wrecked Dodgers. Move along folks, there s nothing to see here. Look, it s simple! I try to break it down to the simplest explanation. The Dodgers only have four problems: (1) Can t Hit; (2) Can t
It s easy to blame the loss yesterday on Wilmer Font and that would be correct at any level, but does that mean that the Dodgers should dump him? Someone said that the only reason FAZ kept was so they would not lose him. Well, duuuhhhh. Of course, that s why they kept him! Maybe the Dodgers have seen enough, but I haven t. His control has not been great, but he has
Yesterday, e-6 and Hawkeye were commenting on the relief pitching (or maybe lack thereof) that seems to be coming to LA this upcoming week. When I thought there were going to be only 7 relievers I listed Kenley, Alexander, Baez, Cingrani, Fields, Stripling, and Chargois as the 7. Now that it is back to 8 (at least for right now), I agree with Ken Gurnick that Font will be #8 .
The Dodgers are now one week away from playing for real. Kershaw vs Bumgarner to kick off the season. While Kershaw has not been automatic in the playoffs, he is unbeatable in opening games. The Dodgers have been 7-0 in Kershaw’s opening games, including 2 games against the Giants. The Giants fans I know have been drooling especially since JT broke his wrist, and the Dodgers and Giants face off
Don t think about that too long. It might hurt your brain. I know it did severe damage to mine well, I ll blame it on that anyway! Here we are less than two weeks from OPENING DAY and we know a lot, but we don t know what we don t know, and that is the conundrum under which we currently operate. What We Know We Know OK, I ll get this first
I think it was DodgerRick who coined the moniker El Gasolino in reference to Pedro Baez. He has also been called The Human Rain Delay because an infielder can make a sandwich and drink a beer between pitches. I also call him Dumb because you can t get major league hitters out with a fastball as your only pitch unless you can throw it 120 MPH! The offensive explosion caused by
Many Dodger fans think that Chris Taylor will move to 2B in 2019 after Logan Forsythe moves on. While that is not a crazy idea, we need to realize that Chris Taylor is a pretty good CF He is a conscientious Top 10 CF maybe Top 5 by the end of 2018 (that is to be decided). While I am not against moving Taylor to 2B, who plays Center
An experiment is a procedure carried out to support, refute, or validate a hypothesis. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when a particular factor is manipulated. Make no mistake, the Dodgers are going to carry out the Matt Kemp Experiment and it is truly an EXPERIMENT. We did a few experiments in high school chemistry class, some of which caused violent explosions, but some were pretty
AC provided an Always Complete list of the Top 30 Dodger rookies and it s not hard to see why the Dodgers still have a Top 5 Farm System. The Dodgers have the most depth at catcher of any team in baseball and have a glut of outfielders to go with a plethora of live arms. Middle infield is the only positions where they have a lack, but a trade of
Contrary to what the Dodgers say, I do not believe there is a battle to determine who the starting left-fielder will be. It has already been decided. When Matt Kemp showed up early to Spring Training 40 pounds lighter and looking to be in the best shape of his life, he had a leg up on the competition and when he blasted a HR in his first game, the deal
Some Weekend Observations: Wilmer Font was extremely efficient and effective. He had excellent command of both his 4 seamer and 2 seamer. He threw his breaking pitch just enough to show it and it was never left out over the plate. If he continues along this path, it will be very hard for the Dodgers to not keep him on the 25 man. On January 2, I posted
It s nice, but it means nothing well I guess it means something, but, not a lot! It s ONE Spring Training Game. The first one. That said, what a great game! Baseball is back. One game means nothing but if it did, a lot of cool things happened and you might draw the following conclusions: Wilmer Font should be in the Dodger s bullpen; Logan Forsythe will have a career year; Matt
The Dodgers will not win 104 games this year and I am not saying that they aren t as good as last year. Depending upon how things shake out, you could be even better. They just won t win as many games because all the teams in the NL West are better in fact, most of the teams in the NL are better except for maybe the Marlins and the Pirates. Competition
I am going to go out on a limb and make a few predictions as to what could or might happen during Spring Training. Pitchers and Catchers are just hours away from reporting, so I am going to throw out a few things to look for. Watch Kiebert Ruiz. You are going to be amazed at how good of a catcher he is and expecially his footwork behind the plate,
Just Say No Yu The Dodgers Ace, Clayton Kershaw had a 4.02 ERA in the World Series and he s a goat? The Astros Ace, Justin Verlander was awesome with a 3.75 ERA and he is amazing? Dallas Keuchel (the Astros #2) had a 5.32 ERA in the World Series. Yu Darvish ERA in the World Series? 21.60. Let s sign him. Hell no! On the biggest stage in baseball, namely the
MLB.com listed some prospects who just missed the Top 100. Among them were the Dodgers own Mitchell White. They had this to say about him: Mitchell White, RHP, Dodgers White had Tommy John surgery after graduating from high school and didn t start to take off until late in his redshirt sophomore season at Santa Clara in 2016, which is why he lasted 65 picks in the Draft that June. He
Three weeks before pitchers and catchers are scheduled to report, and the free agent market is still in slow motion. MLBTR listed 50 top free agents. Of those 50, 25 remain unsigned, including eight of the top ten. Of those eight, only Darvish is rumored close to signing. What’s to become of the other seven; JDM, Hosmer, Arrieta, Moustakas, Cain, Lynn, Holland? There are no fresh rumors. Four of
Buster Olney recently listed his TOP 10 SUPER UNITS. Now, this will likely change as more players sign contracts or more trades are made. In fact, Gerrit Cole being traded to the Astros arguably changes the Starting Rotation Power Ratings. Here s where the Dodgers landed on Olney s lists: Top 10 Rotations Nationals Dodgers Indians The Astros could now be #1 on paper. Top 10 Lineups Astros Yankees Dodgers were #10 .
A year ago, Dodger fans were wondering whether Adrian Gonzalez had anything left. I stated that if he didn t, the Dodgers had an option at 1B who was ready to take over one Cody Bellinger. I had watched Cody and Corey Seager progress and grow through the ranks of the Dodger farm teams, and I knew he was ready. I have only been that sure with two other current
What’s happening to this year’s crop of free agents? This is December 27, and out of the top 50 MLB TradeRumors free agent predictions, only 19 have signed new contracts, and one decided not to opt out (Masahiro Tanaka). Of the 30 unsigned players, none of the top 11 have signed new contracts (excluding Tanaka not opting out), and 15 of the top 20 are still unsigned. Of the
