After 150 games, the Dodgers are trailing the San Francisco Giants by just one game. The Giants have the best record in baseball and the Dodgers are just one game behind them for the best record. Both teams have today off and then the Dodgers play the Rockies, who have been very good of late while the Giants play the Padres who are a trainwreck. I always said that we should not question AJ Preller’s ability to screw things up. Well, he assembled the team, and with Machado and Tatis now fighting, Dodger fans can only hope they will engage in a group hug and decide to destroy the Giants.
Clayton Kershaw looked to be a solid #4 starter as the Dodgers beat the Reds soundly in Great American Ballpark while the Braves shut out the Giants. Here we go! This is for all the marbles. If the Dodgers want to win the Division, my advice is: Win the game you are playing… 12 more times! But this is baseball and you just never know how this is going to end.
The Dodgers have won eight of their past nine games, and their starters are 7-1 with a 1.46 ERA (9 ER/54.1 IP) in that span with just one home run allowed. After a two-month stay on the injured list, Clayton Kershaw held the Reds to one run over five innings in the win on Sunday, and he’ll be stretched out even further in his next outing. Frankly, I am surprised he is able to pitch that far into a game after missing two months.
Clayton threw mostly curves and sliders and did not thow a pitch over 91 (that I saw), but with fireballers Scherzer, Buehler, and Urias ahead of him in the rotation, he gives the hitters a different look.
Cody Bellinger (fractured rib) might be back on Tuesday and AJ Pollock will allegedly be back for the four game series with the D-Backs. Mookie, JT, Corey, Will, and Max seem healthy. Albert is the Dodgers Secret Weapon off the bench and Gavin Lux and CT3 are coming alive at the right time. This is potentially the best the Dodgers have been all season. It seems like they are all coming together for this stretch run ending with three against the Brewers.
As it stands right now, the Dodgers would have to play the Wild Card game and Buehler and/or Scherzer would be ready if you count the days. It would be best if they just win out in order to avoid that situation. Anything (literally ANYTHING) can happen in one game. It’s time to seize the day… one game at a time!
Mitch White will get the call… probably on Wednesday or Thursday. He pitched 4 innings at OKC last night and allowed no earned runs while striking out 6. Victor Gonzalez could also get called back up, but most of the roster churning is over. Matt Beaty is the man on the bubble. His defense is hard to hide, so McKinstry could be a possibility. The roster is pretty well set – there could be a tweak or two, but this is for all the marbles. Can the Dodgers tear first place out of the Giants grubby paws? That’s what I want to see!
Discussion (18)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Blake Treinen has been great for the Dodgers this year. In a few interviews on Sirius MLB he has been courteous, kind and humble. He always seems to give credit to his teammates and coaches.
Not sure why the SF chronicle needs to write an article about Blake’s Instagram and social media activity.
The chronicle writer sounds like a leftist sportswriter, who thinks someone with different opinions than himself is dangerous. Not sure why Blake possibly liking a Christian recording artist is reason for criticism.
Keep up the great work Blake!
https://www.sfgate.com/athletics-column/article/Athletics-Dodgers-pitcher-Treinen-conspiracies-16473910.php
One game back. I still say we’re going to win the Division. I love our line up and pitching. We are on a nice roll and see no reason why it can’t continue. I haven’t posted much lately because I’m not interested right now in:
* Whether Bauer is guilty or getting screwed (pun intended) and don’t want to argue about it
* Whether Seager will be back next year. Same for CK, KJ, CT3, Price, Kelly and Max
* What’s the infield look like in 2022?
* Whether Doc is the best Manager or not, this year and ever.
* Whether Graterol or V-Con make the post season roster.
* Whether Manny and Tatis are buddies again.
* Which posters are incompetent, stupid or pea-brained?
* Will there be quick resolution with the CBA?
* These are all very interesting topics and are great talking points that I can’t wait to discuss …………………….. in late November.
* What I care about is Tuesday in Colorado. And than Wednesday in Colorado. Give it our best effort every single day. Take care of our business and see what happens.
I like our chances.
Interesting article in FiveThirty Eight about the Dodgers success this year despite having lots of guys either out or performing below their expected production.
Also, a pretty complete analysis of Cody’s drop in production for those who like numbers.
Long story short, the article is basically complimentary even though it includes lots of negative stats.
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-dodgers-are-so-deep-that-they-dont-need-all-their-stars/
You might have thought Torre’s would be fifth came when Girardi won their last title. Most of those players were from Torre’s teams. A great manager? A great manager wins when he is clearly outclassed by the opposition. 59 Dodgers were not as good of a team as the Go Go Sox, but won anyway. Mets beating a powerful Orioles team in 69. Dodgers besting the Bash Brother’s A’s team. If Dave was such a great manager he would have beaten DC in 19 and a far superior Red Sox team in 18. Some of his missteps in big games have loomed large. A managers bad decision was directly responsible for the Dodgers winning game 6 of the Series last year. Pulling a pitcher after a simple single who was dominating the top 3 in the Dodger lineup was a huge blunder last season. Mookie took advantage, and the Dodgers never looked back.
The loss of Jake McGee for at least this week,is a major blow to the Giants. He has been superb this year, and in most of those games which the Giants kept finding a way to win in late or extra innings, McGee was there to get the save , or shut the opponent out in the top half of a crucial inning. His being out could definitely matter, though it will depend on whether the Padres can keep the games close.
I like Bill Shaikin, but this is a silly article seemingly intended to grab headlines. He is giving Roberts most of the credit for the Dodgers piling up all those wins, in a division which up until this year, had a bunch of bad teams in it, except for the one year when the Rockies were competitive? If Roberts is the best manager in baseball history, why did he lose to a better team in the Cubs, a better team in the Red Sox, a presumably lesser team in the Nationals, in the playoffs? Where does his great managing manifest itself? How did the Dodgers get down 3-1 to the Braves, before a series of great defensive plays and home runs saved them? He does have the one World Series title in a shortened season with no home playoff games for any team.
Was Bobby Cox a great manager, because he won something like twelve divisions in a row with the Braves? Joe Torre won FIVE world championships, but Roberts is better than Torre? Casey Stengel won ten pennants in his twelve seasons with the Yankees, and SEVEN world championships? But Roberts is better? Oh, those two had great talent. So does Roberts. Writing an article trying to claim that Roberts is the greatest manager in baseball history, is the kind of thing I would expect from an attention-grabbing sports pundit, not a respected writer like Shaikin.
This is the year the Dodgers repay the Giants for 1951. Dodgers led most of the year, Giants caught them and won the playoff. LA returns the favor.
Interesting blurb in The Athletic. Cody Bellinger has the 30th worst OPS for a regular in the last 100 years.
https://stathead.com/tiny/UVPUv
He’s just behind the 1988 version of Mike Davis.
First off, Mark, all of the Dodgers remaining series are 3 games. They play this weekend in AZ for 3 not 4. Go home and face SD for 3 and then finish with Milwaukee. I do not think Lux has played enough OF to man CF. No way that happens. Belli, if healthy enough will be in CF hitting low in the order. Pollock should be available by Friday. He and Taylor would play CF if Bellinger cannot make it. Dodger pitching staff has the # 1 ERA in the majors and is the only staff below 3.00. Pujols did a fine job at first yesterday and turned a lineout into a double play. Some concern that the top of the lineup was a wee bit stagnant over the weekend. Trea Turner has a tenuous hold on the batting lead. Burnes gave up 3 earned in his start, so Max has both the ERA title and the Cy Young squarely in his sights. Kersh got his 10th win for the 10th time in his career. He missed his first two years, and in 2018 because of injury and last year because of the truncated season. Buehler could get his 15th win his next start. Scherzer has 15 now, with 6 coming as a Dodger. As for Machado and Tatis, they are both weinies. Machado could not lead a Cub scout troop let alone a baseball team. Tatis is a showboat type player. His dad had more class.
Has everyone read what Bill Shaiken wrote?
Dave Roberts, best manager in baseball history?
Perhaps that sentence should end with a period instead of a question mark. The Dodgers are in the playoffs, again. Never have the Dodgers missed the postseason in a year Roberts has managed them.
For all the never-ending second-guessing from an engaged and spirited fan base, this statistic speaks for itself: Nobody in major league history has managed more games with a better winning percentage.
Roberts’ career winning percentage is .618. That averages to 100 wins per season.
In the immortal words of Tommy Lasorda, “This [freaking] job is not that [freaking] easy.”
The job is much more difficult today than it was in Lasorda’s day.
Lasorda was the face of the Dodgers. He commanded the attention, and enormous power over who played and who did not, who stayed in L.A. and who did not. He could share a buffet table of Italian delicacies, or overturn it and yell at his players.
Today, the front office has most of the power, and a manager shouting at his players and tossing tables aside would be considered out of control. The buzzword in the modern baseball operations department is “collaborative” — not just the general manager and the coaching staff, but a village that includes nutritionists, and biomechanical and statistical analysts.
After the Dodgers clinched their ninth consecutive playoff berth Tuesday, Roberts embraced the organizational village.
“There’s a lot of sacrifices, a lot of guys pitching in and picking each other up — coaches, front office, training staff, scouting, player development, everyone,” he said. “It takes a whole army to get this thing moving forward in the right direction. There’s a lot of people that should be very proud.”
Roberts is the spokesman charged with explaining all the Dodgers’ decisions, making him the inevitable target for criticism on “Dodger Talk” and in the weekly letters column in The Times. In last Sunday’s column alone, he was blamed for not sending Cody Bellinger to the minor leagues, for resting players too often, and for treating “pitchers like glassware,” all decisions that would flow from organizational collaboration.
Roberts declined to say that he took personal satisfaction in another postseason berth, even in a year the Dodgers lost 14 of 18 games and fell into third place in May.
“I don’t take much time to reflect personally, but it’s great,” he said. “I’m surrounded by so many great people that make me look good and make my job so much fun. We have a lot of talent — not only on the field, but in the entire organization. Personally, I’m just very fortunate to be a part of the Dodgers.
“Like I said from Day One, when I got hired, I’ve got the best job in the world.”
On television, it might appear a manager’s most important role is to decide when to change pitchers. In reality, nothing is more important than managing a clubhouse in an era where star players bounce around the field and the batting order and fringe players come and go on a daily basis.
“He’s been great,” Justin Turner said of Roberts. “He’s been great for us since the first day he put on the Dodger uniform as our manager. He’s a positive guy. He loves the game. He loves his players. We love going out and competing for him.
“I can’t say enough about him and what he’s done. We’re going to do everything we can to go out and win him another championship.”
In October, Roberts’ career winning percentage is .585. The only man to manage more postseason games with a higher winning percentage: Joe Torre, who led the New York Yankees to four World Series championships in five seasons.
Six years is hardly the test of time. Torre managed more than 4,000 games. Lasorda managed 3,000. Roberts has yet to manage 1,000.
And, yes, Andrew Friedman runs an outstanding front office, and players along the lines of Turner, Clayton Kershaw, Mookie Betts, Walker Buehler, Kenley Jansen and Corey Seager could make any manager look good.
But check out that T-shirt the Dodgers wore in celebration Tuesday night: “Built for October.”
October is never guaranteed. The Dodgers are built for October every year, and Roberts steers them there every year.
Hands up. Who had their chips on blue 9 to lead the Dodgers in their September drive to another division title? Care to double down on blue 35 in October?
Saw this on TrueBlue.
Dodgers 2020 draft could end up being low-key good. With Stone, Beeter, Miller and Knack. Not to mention that Catcher, Taylor.
Landon Knack, the Dodgers’ second-round draft pick in 2020, finished off his Double-A season in style with four scoreless innings in Tulsa’s win over Wisconsin. Knack struck out five on Saturday, lowering his Double-A ERA to 4.37 in six starts.
Unless the 24-year-old Knack joins Triple-A for the final two weeks, his first professional season ends with an impressive 82 strikeouts against only eight walks in 62⅓ innings, with a 3.18 ERA between High-A Great Lakes and Double-A Tulsa.
Jomboy’s breakdown was better…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-V7spSg1CQ
Good for Machado. Tatis is a douche carrying on like that.
Yes Mark, the Dodgers are going to snatch that pebble just like Kwai Chang Caine snatched the pebble from Master Po and it will be delightful.
This team is clearly the best team when at full strength. Sadly for most of the year, we’ve been cheated out of our rightful place at the top due to injuries.
It all starts with pitching and defense. Both areas have been much better in recent games. The pitching has been incredible and the defense has been better that good enough. The bats have shown they can score runs even off the best pitchers. Just enough to win most close games, even with a lineup missing a key bat from time to time.
I like the idea of keep rolling out Lux in LF, but that’s not going to happen. Don’t forget that Pollock was one of the best hitters on the team before the recent hammy strain. They’re going to give him every opportunity to get going before the playoffs start. I doubt they will put Lux in Center with just a handful of games ever in the outfield. Maybe in an emergency situation, but not as a planned option.
Dodgers or Giants, who do you think is feeling more pressure right about now? I’m thinking the Giants. The Dodgers have taken the slow and steady route like the turtle. They’ve been there before. The Giants have just a couple of players that have been there.
Schedules are pretty even, even if we have to play to Brew Crew at the end of the season. The Brewers will want to hide their best pitchers for a potential postseason meet up. They’ll have nothing to play for in those last three games having locked up their division title, too far back to catch the West division leader for home field advantage and too big a lead over the Center to lose it.
The Padres will need to step it up right now in order to salvage their season. Otherwise, they only play to spoil.
Mark, you mention that Machado and Tatis are fighting. I haven’t seen that. Can you elaborate?
Lux has hit at every stop. He’s hit occasionally at the big league level. It’s always been my belief he just needs to play. What position that will be is a good question. He can play anywhere. I like him in the outfield. His speed can come in handy there. Yes, he could learn centerfield and no doubt be good out there. I hope he doesn’t have to. Left field is fine for now and maybe a CT3 role would work for him.
Kershaw was impressive for 74 pitches. Gonsolin not so much.
Muncy. We need him. No time now to take a day off.
I’ve said for weeks I think we will win the West. I still believe that.
Dodgers are technically 2 games behind, if there is a tie, SF has the advantage, right?
From what I’ve read, that wasn’t a fight, it turns out that they say Manny was being a “real leader” in trying to calm Tatis down. … So now it turns out that he is not an asshole, but a leader! !
Thoughts On using Gavin Lux here on out….
What really impressed me yesterday is that he was hitting well against LHP. If he can do that, I’m not sure I would prefer him being on the bench when we face a lefty. I know Pollock and CT3 will play the OF along with Betts, so I guess he won’t play. And, perhaps it makes some sense to not play him, seeing that his overall stats against lefties are not good, but man, he sure looked good yesterday. Is he learning that quickly?
But, don’t you think it would be foolish to have him on the bench against a RHP? I do. The way he is playing now, that makes no sense. However, i see Pollock is batting just as well against RHP as he is against lefties….296 and .298. I would hate to bench Lux every game seeing the way he has been hitting ever since he started playing LF.
Oh, and he has clearly moved passed Cody on the pecking order. The only drawback is, I don’t know if Lux is good enough to play CF. I guess that is moot if we face a RHP- both of them probably would play, with Pollock and CT3 on the bench.
Thoughts on what I said?
TM