Pinkie Problems The first casualty of Spring Training occurred a few days ago when Miguel Vargas took a bad hop to his right pinky finger, which caused a hairline fracture. Since he is a RH hitter, his right hand is not his bottom hand, and he would likely play if it were the playoffs or an important game, but he will likely miss a couple of weeks. He thinks he…
Tonight’s game against the Giants could likely prove to be one of the most important… if not THE MOST IMPORTANT START of the season for a Dodger pitcher. Why? Simply because in his last start, Mitch White gave up ten Hits and six Earned Runs, raising his ERA from 3.38 to 4.20. Mitch has started twelve major league games in his short career, and eight of them have been this…
I continue to read about the sensational LAD prospects. Mark has the Dodgers as a top 10 MiLB organization while no major publication does. After the loss of Keibert Ruiz and Jo Jo Gray, the publications dropped them to mid-level (around 15). Certainly not bad, but also not elite. Just this week DodgerLover said the team needs to clear the deck for the next wave of prospect talent. Is there…
With Mark on the 10-day inactive list to attend to family business in Las Vegas (ever notice how these trips are never to Des Moines, Iowa or Wichita, Kansas?), Jeff (AC) was desperate for some assistance on the LADT writers roster. With his options limited, he had to resort to adding someone from the alternate training site, and had no choice but to call on me, the Zack Reks/Edwin Uceta…
Earlier in the week, there was a little difference in opinion with respect to the Billy McKinney acquisition. I continue to read how porous LAD’s defense is, and with a gimpy Mookie Betts who may need late-inning defensive help to get him off his hip, a slowing AJ Pollock, questionable defense of Matt Beaty, and the need for CT3 to spend more time in the infield, AF went out and…
Yesterday Singing The Blue asked who Clayton McCullough – the Dodgers new first base coach – is and seemed to find the hiring out of the blue. Within the Dodgers coaching ranks it isn’t out of the blue and most likely is overdue as he marches toward becoming an MLB manager. This is an article I pulled out of the archives from April 23, 2016. The article has not been…
It is time for a little Devil’s Advocacy. I have been an unapologetic fan of Andrew Friedman and what he has accomplished, and just as critical as to what he has NOT accomplished. I was critical when AF did not beat out the Astros offer for Gerrit Cole before the 2018 season. The Astros traded a #5 SP in Joe Musgrove, a decent but unceremonious 3B, Colin Moran, a RHRP…
BRAVES AND THE PEN: Braves have now signed 3 pitchers who will serve as late inning high leverage relievers. On Monday they signed Chris Martin to a two year $14MM contract after signing Will Smith to a three year $40MM deal. Earlier this month, they signed Darren O’Day to a one year $2.25MM contract. They also have Mark Melancon in the final year of his four year $62MM contract. Thus…
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,…
I have been working on about ten different ideas for what to write, and none of them came to a cohesive blog post. Maybe this one will not as well. There has been a lot of speculation as to who the Dodgers may trade for and who they may be required to include in a trade. It is a huge climb from AAA to MLB, and yet we are ready…