I am going to say something that is absolutely true, and if you disagree with it, you are an idiot: Anyone who blames either of the 2-1 loses to the D-Bags on Dave Roberts is also an idiot! End of story. Dave Roberts is the manager – he does not hit or pitch. I don’t care what lineup he runs out there. They should at least score two or three runs, and when you only give up two runs, you usually win. Neither of the losses are on Doc. They are on the hitters! PERIOD!
This is back to exactly what happened last season with the Padres in the playoffs. The Dodgers averaged over five runs a game last season, but against the Padres, they averaged 2.2. The problem was the strikeouts. In a low-scoring game, you have to “shorten up “on your swing – like JDM did when he just reached out and “placed” the ball in RF to drive in the runner from second.
The D-Bags got nine hits and did not get a walk. Only one of those nine hits was for extra bases. They struck out six times. When you put the bat on the ball, good things can happen – you can move the runner, and you can score runs. The D-Bags had nine runners on base, and two of them scored. The Dodgers had just four hits to go with four walks, and one run scored. The culprit was the strikeout. The Dodgers struck out eleven times! When you get four hits and strike out eleven times, you are almost always going to lose. You have no business winning.
The Dodgers outscored a .500 team 20-7 in a four-game series and settled for a split. In Spring Training and during the first four games of the season, Chris Taylor has been to bat 64 times and has struck out 28 of those times. That’s a 44% strikeout rate! He is a black hole (and some want him to be the starting SS?). I don’t know what to say or do, except that he can’t play like this. If I were Dave Roberts, I would have called Mark Walter right as the last out was made and said, “You had better schedule some construction workers to be in the clubhouse later tonight because I am going to take a bat to the place and do about $30,000.00 in damage.” Then I would have proceeded to go on a Tommy Lasorda Epic Rant. These guys need a big kick in the ass! This is unacceptable! I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore!
OK – Deep Breath! “OK these are just two games out of 162, and stuff happens. BUT, IT BETTER NOT HAPPEN AGAIN, OR THERE WILL BE HELL TO PAY! There, I feel better. Actually, I am not that bothered by it, but I would absolutely do what I said.
The Mighty Thor
As good as Tyler Anderson was last season, Noah Syndergaard could be even better. He is still learning his new arsenal, his control is amazing, and I think they will add a couple more ticks on his fastball (but it is not necessary). I liked what I saw. He will be a huge asset at the bottom of the rotation. His Kryptonite has been the stolen base, but if you don’t let the runner get on, you don’t need to worry. Corbin Carroll is the fastest runner in baseball, so there is not a lot you can do, except keep him off the bases.
OKC Dodgers
Jahmai Jones hit a walk-off HR in the bottom of the 9th in a tie game to give the Dodgers, Jr. a 10-9 win. 6′ 8″ Bryan Hudson got the win, but tried to give it away several times as he allowed a hit, 2 walks, committed a balk, and gave up a stolen base. Oh, and he struck out two. At 6′ 8″ his windup is very long and runners on base are a problem.
MiLB Game Summary: For the second straight game, Jahmai Jones sent the Oklahoma City Dodgers to a walk-off win against the Tacoma Rainiers, hitting a solo home in the bottom of the ninth inning Sunday afternoon and securing a 10-9 Dodgers victory at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. With two outs and the score tied, 9-9, in the ninth inning, Jones sent a fly ball out to left field that knocked off the LED board and onto the Budweiser Deck for his first home run of the season. The Dodgers (2-1) overcame a five-run deficit and closed out the game scoring five straight runs. Trailing, 9-5, in the eighth inning, OKC loaded the bases before an out was made. Michael Reed hit a two-run double to center field and Michael Busch later connected on a two-run single to knot the score, 9-9. With the bases loaded in the top of the ninth inning for Tacoma, OKC pitcher Bryan Hudson (1-0) struck out Nick Solak to keep the game in a tie. Tacoma had built a 7-2 lead in the fourth inning as the Rainiers’ first seven runs came via four home runs. After Drew Avans and Jake Reed hit solo home runs for OKC in the first and third innings, respectively, the Dodgers scored three runs in the sixth inning on a RBI single by Justin Yurchak and two-run double by Yonny Hernández to cut Tacoma’s lead to two runs. The Rainiers scored runs in both the seventh and eighth innings to take a 9-5 lead before the Dodgers’ final rally.
Discussion (52)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Some interesting early observations, but Outman is already 3rd on the WAR leaderboard on Fangraphs with .5 WAR. Yes, his K rate is high at 31%, but we expected that. However, his BB% is also pretty good. BABIP is .500, which is obviously unsustainable, and that .333 BA is going to come down quite a bit. One thing to note, however, is that his defensive metrics are outstanding, and he already has 3 Defensive Runs Saved. I don’t think defense is going to be as variable as offensive metrics. Bellinger, meanwhile, is batting .067. I’m glad I don’t have to watch his futility at the plate anymore.
Vargas is also off to an outstanding start and has .5 WAR to match Outman. While Outman has done it with power, with a silly ISO at .583, Vargas is doing it with OBP, walking at a 50% clip, and only striking out 16.7% of the time.
Vargas has also been much better than average defensively. I really like the thinking of putting him at 2nd base. It’s a less demanding position than 3rd base, and for a rookie it puts a lot less pressure on him than the hot corner. At some point he could move over to 3rd, but I like him at 2nd.
Some of the off-the-charts metrics are obviously going to come down to Earth, but we can get a sense of some trends.
Missed the game after two and a half innings due to power outage for six plus hours. Guess it happened at many places but not at Chavez Ravine. Dead cell phone and total blackness with no internet.
UConn Men’s Basketball now has five National Titles since 1999, We are now the men’s college basketball capital of the world .
What a difference a day makes 24 Little hours
I like triples. lol
I guess this means we score 1 tomorrow
Is Mookie odd man out in our outfield!
All-tonight!
Mark and a couple others have mentioned they wanted to see Vargas in the lineup last night. I completely agree the kid takes great at bats.
Unfortunately, Mookie playing second base is the result of trying to find at bats for too many outfielders.
Grove got jobbed. Cost him big time.
Is JDM related to Bellinger?
Chris Taylor!
All is forgiven!
Don’t like the air raid siren. Not crazy about the light show either.
Heyward and Taylor- the great 1-2 punch. How does Roberts not have these guys in the lineup every night!!!! Idiot! TIC
CT3- who saw that coming on a windy night?
At least Michael Grove has 3 nice innings going
Gotta love modern baseball. Seven straight K’s and counting! Against mediocre pitching!
Why does Roberts keep putting Muncy in the cleanup spot? Wait until he starts hitting like a cleanup hitter. Oh, I just remembered a couple of years ago…
San Diego State having a rough first half.
Thor’s the “outlier.”
https://www.si.com/mlb/dodgers/news/dodgers-watching-syndergaards-time-to-the-plate-ability-to-hold-runners-js77
I was caught off guard watching Corbin Carroll’s two stolen bases. Will S. held the ball both times – no way he gets him with the jumps he got. Can’t remember last time I saw all that.
Funniest post I saw on another site–‘Dodgers on pace for 81-81 season!!
Great lineup, but I would rather see Outman in CF.
I could be wrong…
10:10 PM ET
Rockies (2-2)
Dodgers (2-2)
SP Ryan Feltner R
0-0 .00 ERA
SP Michael Grove R
0-0 .00 ERA
Confirmed Lineup
RF Mookie Betts R
1B F. Freeman L
C Will Smith R
3B Max Muncy L
DH J. Martinez R
LF James Outman L
2B M. Vargas R
CF J. Heyward L
SS Chris Taylor R
Clear-day
1% Rain
56° Wind 15 mph L-R
NO Minor .League games tonight
Yes we have many times, feast or famine, poor record in close games. Forget about extra innings, why is that, what’s the solution. Fire the hitting coaches? I’d be tempted to but won’t happen. It’s easy to see the wonders pitching coaches have achieved but for life of me can’t figure out why hitting coaches get praised so often but what do I know just a fan who gets frustrated when bats get so quiet so often. They say hitting is contagious is the opposite of that to
Looking forward to what Grove brings to the table tonight!
We can debate Doc’s decision making, who’s pulling the strings and in-game decisions all we want. The odd pinch hitters. It is a familiar conversation. So is the conversation about how we don’t manufacture runs and have an on or off switch, at the plate.
I thought McCarthy’s drag bunt base hit on a play Graterol didn’t make was a great play. Pressure the defense. Have we done that yet?
But the fact of the matter is that batters 4 through 9 went 0 for 21 with 9 K’s. That just won’t cut it.
How about late innings batting performances? 6th inning – 0 for 3, 2K’s. 7th inning 0 for 3, 8th inning 0 for 3, 3 K’s and 2 walks, 9th 0 for 3, 2 K’s. Innings 6 through 9, 0 for 12 and 7K’s. You don’t win many when you score 1.
Haven’t i seen this act before? SSDD.
So if Taylor, Heyward & Max hit 200 or less through the middle of May, does Friedman make any moves? Evidently Reynolds is off the table now( maybe) does he give Michael bush an opportunity? I know roberts plays who he has, but if you put 4 200 hitters in a can, shake it really good , does it matter who falls out? JD Martinez will be just fine, Rojas will be an above average ss. let Vargas play everyday! There’s no way in hell Barnes pinchhits in my opinion! He’s a capable backup catcher,but the guy is almost like Taylor, k k k k k ! So it’s early I get it. So why not let Outman face a left handed? Hell, Randy Johnson wasn’t on the mound! It’s early, right, but I think back to Joc, are we sure Joc wouldn’t have been better against lefties if had been given more of a chance? And last, Will smith needs to be that lineup 145 games!
So badger your saying Roberts doesn’t make those decisions? Because this is something I’ve been wondering for awhile now if those calls are coming from computer nerds and their analytics. There’s just to many decisions that make no sense at all from a baseball wisdom perspective that’s been around a hundred years like Barnes pinch hitting last night. I can’t get down on Roberts who’s whole life has been baseball at the highest levels and long before analytics became a thing. Did he make that call and others all on his own or was it pre determined. I don’t know.
RF Betts
1B Freeman
C Smith
CF Outman
2B Vargas
3B Muncy
DH Martinez
LF Peralta/Thompson
SS Rojas/Taylor
Here’s what I disliked from JUMP STREET last night.
This is not a team where you have the luxury of playing Mookie at 2B.
Too many other questionable bats come into play.
Vargas would have made them throw more strikes.
Maybe I’m blind on one eye or something but sure don’t see much movement on Graterol’s pitches they come in fast and straight and in sweet spot much to often which opposing hitters find easy to make contact with which is why low k percentage. When three of five or so hitters faced hit to defenders all is fine and dandy but the old adage put the ball in play good things happen. Good things happened for them last night. When he finds the command to paint corners and the savvy on how and when to change speeds that misses bats look out. I sure wouldn’t give up on him.
The Bazooka was not sharp. It happens. Maybe tonight or tomorrow he comes in, throws three pitches and gets three outs. Mookie saved him once in the inning with that great throw home to nail Marte, who should know by now that running on Betts is not a good idea. But he still gave up only one. You score 1 run, you are going to lose a majority of the time. Give some credit to the D-Backs pitching staff who did a good job shutting down the offense.
Is it too late to get our Dodgers back from Red Sox?
If you want Bazooka to take a step forward, then you have to stretch him. This is the time to do that unless you think he is never going to be effective against LH’ers in which case you eliminate him as a possibility or trade him. Some team would love to have a shot at him.
I am 100% in agreement with how Roberts handled Bazooka yesterday and 100% against the decision to pinch hit Barnsie for Outman!
I agree with Mark that players lose the game and not the manager. Also that, at times, they must shorten their stroke in order to put wood on the ball. BUT, isn’t it the managers job to tell them these things? if the situation calls for a certain strategy, the manager should establish that strategy. I am neither a Doc hater or lover, but would like to see him more assertive at times.
So far the new rules are working exactly as intended.
From Jeff Passan.
Games
2023: 50
2022: 49
Time of game
2023: 2:38
2022: 3:09
Batting
2023: .245/.323/.392
2022: .230/.308/.374
SB
2023: 70 of 84 (83.3%)
2022: 29 of 43 (67.4%)
Pitch clock violations
2023: 40 (0.8 per game)
2022: N/A
Best thing about the Dodgers’ start is the starting pitching. Urias, May, Kershaw and Syndergaard had WHIPs of .67 or better.
Thor certainly has higher expectations than Tyler Anderson did last season. Unlike Thor, Anderson was never an all-star and envisioned as a long reliever/ swingman. But Anderson a new approach under the Dodger coaches and turned out to be an all-star.
While Syndergaard had his excellent debut for the Dodgers, Anderson was just as good for the Angels. With Ohtani, Anderson, Sandoval and Detmers, the Angels rotation could be good–and the offense is better too. The Angels are longshots, of course, but I can’t recall a season when October Freeway Series seems more plausible.
I think it would take a fantastic season for the Angels to keep Ohtani on their payroll.
There are a couple indications that Roberts has habits that should be noticed and evaluated when our bats are snoozing. I’m not saying it’s all on Roberts as most of his moves usually work xlntly. We don’t have a crippled Kirk Gibson taking swings down the hall and that was on a wing and a prayer to work out. But for tight games a different formula could be more effective. Dodgers do play better facing better teams and that needs addressing. Losing to lesser teams shouldn’t be so regular.
The stats back up that Graterol shouldn’t have been pitching against a LHB, that’s on Doc. Just like people complaining about T Turner’s error in the playoffs that was on T Turner. Same damn thing. Just like sending out Andrew home run allowing machine Heaney to give up the deciding home run in the playoffs that was on Doc. The manager is suppose to know this shit and put the players in the best position to succeed. I don’t care it’s just one game, but I’m pointing out to the Doc is infallible people here that Doc does make mistakes.
And what the fuck was Doc doing sending out Barnes to hit for Outman.
It all comes down to do you think Taylor will come out of his funk and I do. That’s why I mentioned the SS situation because when Taylor is Taylor he out produces Rojas by a mile. And before I hear it again I do care about defense but not if you subtract offense production by a mile. RIGHT NOW I don’t care because Taylor is in a funk.
If you are a baseball fan you should know this;
1) the game is played by humans
2) you win some and you lose some
3) sometimes you beat teams better than you, sometimes you get beat by teams not as good as you.
I believe those are facts.
We scored 1 run. That ain’t on Graterol. And he had the out to hold them. He misplayed that bunt.
Arizona got lucky. They aren’t that good.
One run isn’t gonna win many games. Complaining about pitching that gave up 2 runs is pointless. No matter who gave them up. Dodger issue parts of last year and last October has been all or nothing offense. Again to start this year.
A wise man warned of underestimating the D’Backs after our game 1 win on Thursday evening, and was roundly laughed off the board with comments about them being nothing but a bunch of Bums who would finish no better than .500!
The wise man opined that it might be better to laud our heroes after the Series was complete rather than after one triumph, and do it transpired!
Patch has written above , far more eloquently than me, about what went wrong, but my point is that many of the Posters here, like many of the Players have developed an arrogance, an entitlement if you will – that wins and ultimately success is a given and not earned.
I’m not a statistics guy, but if I’m not mistaken, we had an embarrassing record against the mighty Pirates last season, and I’m not sure our record against AZ was too impressive either?
Why is this, when a team can win 111 games but stink the joint out against the dregs of MLB?
This place has become a microcosm of the Team.
A few observations:
1 – JD Martinez has a slow bat and runs like he has a piano in his pants;
2 – Chris Taylor is lost. His bat is quieter but he has the same swing path. He is important to the Dodgers’ plan this year so I hope that he gets it but not yet;
3 – Max Muncy – 0 for 5 with 5Ks in Game 1? Are you kidding?
4 – Except for opening day, the Dodgers have scored all but 1 of their runs on the HR. So far, this looks like the teams from 3 or 4 years ago where they couldn’t score without the HR. That’s a very dangerous place to be because they become a feast or famine offense. Yesterday, they had 8 LOB and were 0 for 6 RISP. Friday, they had 12 LOB and were 0 for 7 RISP. Outman and Smith had key hits in Game 1 and Thompson in Game 3. I know it’s early but this is what I see so far.
5 – Dodger starting pitching has been outstanding so far. Dodger pitchers have walked 1 in 4 games vs 23 for Arizona. Kershaw and Syndergaard are in mid-season form.
6 – They have to beat mediocre teams at home – that’s what good teams do.
I posted this above and I am going to post it again for your consideration:
Let me explain what happened yesterday and why he left Graterol in:
If the Bazooka ever evolves into something more than he is now, you do not manage yesterday’s game like it is Game 7 of the World Series. You put him out there without a life jacket, and he has to make it happen or not.
You say he gave up 4 hits. Here they were:
#1 Marte hit a ground ball double;
#2 Walker singles on a ground ball up the middle;
#3 Corbin Carrol is safe at 1st on a Force Out at 2B; and
#4 Jake McCarthy bunts and Bazooka does not handle it.
It wasn’t like he was giving up big flys. All the hits were groundballs and Doc Had to leave him in there for three hitters. In my opinion, Doc was smart in putting Bazooka in the position he did at this juncture of the season. It could help with his growth… or evolution… or not! With growth, there can be pain. That could have been a learning moment. We shall see.
That is my opinion. It is not for the purpose of defending Doc. That is how I would manage a team. That’s how I manage my employees. I let them make mistakes, but with mistakes, comes growth and if not, you get rid of them. Bazooka has to either GROW or GO!
Last year after the first four games the Dodgers were 2-2 so patience is the key but the post does hit the mark with the offense. Like last year the Dodgers are far too dependent on scoring runs via the long ball, and that is why I wanted RVS sent packing after the epic collapse against the Padres last year.
Perhaps AF should have kept Enrique Hernandez as our Swiss Army Knife player and let KT3 walk. Four years for $60 million looks like an albatross if KT3 doesn’t turn it around. His wrist cock/timing hitch/load looks way late and he cannot catch up to a FB it seems. We will need a career year from Will, Mookie and Freddie if we intend to win the division.
The obsession here with defending Doc from any criticism is becoming an unfunny joke. Yes it’s very early, but both those losses were very winnable. The argument that Doc doesn’t actually PLAY is silly ; he wears the uniform , he leads the team.
Fans freaking out over 4 games….
I wonder what the fans down in SD must be thinking…..
I wonder if the laissez faire type of approach to wins and losses during the early part of the season creates a culture of complacency when under the pressure of playoff baseball. You have to learn to have grit. I think the Dodgers and Dave Roberts are good at creating a winning culture up and down the organization, but I think they lack scrappiness.
Example:
Leaving in Brusdar Graterol. Since he came to the Dodgers we have been talking about him being a potential closer, presumably because he throws incredibly hard and has impressive movement on his two seam fastball. Since he’s been in LA he has had glimpses of success, but hasn’t been able to put it all together consistently, and his K rate is surprisingly low for someone with that much velocity and movement.
He came in yesterday and it was clear from the onset that he didn’t have it. Nevertheless, Roberts left him in. You can make the argument that Roberts just likes to let players he trusts work through their issues during the regular season, and for past few years it often seems Spring training runs into the regular season.
There is not a clear sense of urgency with this “let ’em work it out” approach. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not. Metering out your urgency capital can make sense if your objective is to turn it on when the playoffs come around. The Phil Jackson Lakers used to coast at times during the regular season to save themselves for the post-season, which was in contrast to the Pat Riley Lakers, where he apparently flogged his players with grueling practices to the point that they broke down physically and psychologically at the end.
If this was a playoff game, Graterol would’ve or should’ve been removed from that game. He wasn’t yesterday. Yes, I know, the Dodgers only scored one run. The Dodgers should’ve scored eight runs again. They didn’t. Low scoring games are going to be part of the season. Are the Dodgers and Roberts committed to winning them at this point in the season, and if they aren’t, or if there is a planned lack of urgency, does that breed apathy?
Maybe it’s neither of these things. Maybe Roberts just left him in because that’s part of the script, which, if true, is one of the things that really annoys me about Robert’s managerial style. To me that shows a lack of feel for the game as it develops in real time and an inability to react quickly to changes or make adjustments.
Was pleased and surprised by Syndergaard. If he keeps it up I will start calling him Thor again instead of Syndy. I think Vesia and Graterol will work out whatever early season bugs they have and find a rhythm later on.
This is us. It’s going to happen. Hopefully not 50% of the time, but certainly on occasion. This is why anyone who thinks the Dodgers are going to win 96-100 is an idiot. A moron. A knucklehead. I know I’m missing a couple…
It’s going to take some time for this team to gel. And let’s face it, this is a lineup with 2 rookies, a Peralta, KT3, (not mine), a maybe Muncy, an aging JD and Rojas. If Mookie, Smith and Freeman don’t go 8 for 12 there might be days like this.
Patience.
Roberts did not lose the game yesterday or the other game we lost in the series, that much is true.
Still he made a real bad managerial decision when he did not warm up Vesia when it was obvious to everybody that Graterol from his first pitch just did not have it yesterday . If not for the great play by the Mookster it would have been a big inning for the d-backs. During the long review of the play at the plate he should have warmed up Vesia with lefthanders on the horizon. Letting Graterol give up 4 base hits in one inning was not smart.
Pinch hitting Barnes for Outman is also debatable the way the kid has played so far.
You can call me an idiot if you like but I will keep calling it how I see it.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thor did look really good. Was surprised by that and happy, now just need to keep it going