A Beatdown That Means Nothing

It’s always nice to beat SD, but yesterday’s game meant nothing. The Dodgers have to beat them when it counts, and this does not! Noah Syndergaard and Dustin May looked like the best #4 and #5 Starters in baseball, but it was only three innings each. Still, it was encouraging! Gavin Stone saw his first action and struck out 2 in his one-inning pitched. I keep telling everyone…

Will Smith looks to be in regular season form as he went 2-3, and Max Muncy was also 2-3. Miguel Rojas remains hot, as RVS and Aaron Bates are working on his swing. I do not expect him to keep up this pace as he went 3-3 with a double and HR. However, he is tied with James Outman with a .462 BA. Rojas’s best year was 2020 when he hit .304 with a .392 OB% and a .888 OPS. In 2019 he hit .284 with a .710 OPS. and in 2017, he hit .290 with a .361 OB%. The hitting coaches believe he is a lot more than a .260 hitter. Maybe Miguel Rojas is a better hitter than most fans think!

Jonny DeLuca (.329 BA) is doing nothing to hurt his stock, as is Andy Pages (.400). Devin Mann is quietly having a nice Spring (.364 BA). Mann would be a wonderful Swiss Army Knife, but he probably has no shot this year.

The competition is heating up as several players were re-assigned to minor league camp, namely, RHP Dylan Covey, RHP Landon Knack, LHP Robbie Erlin, RHP Nick Nastrini, RHP Bryan Hudson, RHP Jordan Yamamoto, RHP Nick Robertson, LHP James Jones and OF Yusniel Díaz. No surprises here. Tony Gonsolin sprained his ankle (it sounds minor) and will miss his next start on Wednesday. There are just 22 days left for the Dodgers in Spring Training.

The Pitchers

Let’s shift to the pitching, where things are a lot more settled. Tony Gonsolin has a boo-boo, but he will be fine, so the rotation is set with Urias, Kershaw, Gonsolin, May, and Thor. That is an excellent rotation, but what makes it great is that Ryan Pepiot, Gavin Stone, and Bobby Miller back them up. There’s a real chance that if they have injuries, they may get even better! Gavin Stone is my favorite, as he has developed the guts of a cat burglar! Gavin trusts his stuff and puts it in the zone, daring you to hit it. However, Ryan Pepiot has allegedly repaired his mechanics, and the strike zone is no longer a foreign object… his 3.73 ERA wasn’t bad last year, but his walks were. If he corrects that, look out! Then there is “The Right Arm of God,” namely Bobby Miller. The “Left Arm of God” did not blossom until he was 26 years old. Bobby Miller will be 24 this year. All I can say is “Look Out!”

The Bullpen is another story. There are about 20 pitchers trying to fit into eight spots. Something has to give. If Andrew Friedman says that Shelby Miller is on the team, it is because he has information that we don’t because Miller has not looked good as yet (and I am being kind). So, if he makes it, they are seven spots left. Daniel Hudson will allegedly be ready a week or two after the start of the season, so we will leave him out of the mix, as we will Victor Gonzalez, who hasn’t pitched since the Civil War. He needs more time. I think Jimmy Nelson also needs more time.

So, here are those eight spots:

1. Shelby Miller
2. Caleb Ferguson
3. Bazooka
4. Alex Vesia
5. Phil Bickford (he is out of options, and they will give him some rope)
6. Evan Phillips (Potentially the Closer)
7. Yency Almonte ( He has not pitched as yet, but until he’s out, I have him in)

The last spot could go to Michael Grove, Andre Jackson, Justin Bruihl, or Jake Reed. But V-Gon, Hudson, and Nelson are hot on their heels. Wander Suero is also interesting.

After tonight’s game, Miguel Vargas will start swinging the bat. This shall prove to be interesting as many of you have been ragging on me for supporting him. I think that Miguel Vargas could be moved to the #2 spot later in the season, as his speed would fit nicely there. If he does not hit .300 this season, he will be close. He will also hit over 20 HR. He is coming into his “man strength,” and he has more power than you can imagine. So does Diego Cartaya. Miguel Vargas is a candidate for the ROY… and so is James Outman. However, there is still talk that James will start the season in OKC. I say that if he keeps this up, he has to make the team!

This is the Lineup I hope to see by June: and new projections:

1. Betts RF (.292/28 HR))
2. Vargas 2B (.299/21 HR))
3. Freeman 1B (.329/30 HR))
4. Martinez DH (.308/35 HR))
5. Muncy 3B (.275/36 HR))
6. Smith C (.288/29 HR)
7. Peralta/Taylor LF (.260/38 HR)
8. Outman CF (.265/26 HR)
9. Rojas SS (.285/10 HR)

If they can come close to that, look out! I think Batting Averages will be generally up all over baseball due to the banning of the shift!

FROM MLBTRADE RUMORS on how the Cubs are paying both Cody Bellinger and Jason Heyward. Those are the kind of mistakes AF doesn’t make!

Heyward’s chances of cracking the roster seem to have increased lately. With Gavin Lux potentially out for the entire season, it seems that Chris Taylor will be spending more time on the infield and less in the outfield. That subtracts from the club’s outfield depth a bit, perhaps increasing the need for a non-roster invitee like Heyward.

There’s also a bit of positive buzz around Heyward in spring so far. Last month, Freddie Freeman told reporters, including Alden González of ESPN, that Heyward had altered his stance and “might have unlocked something.” Heyward has four hits in ten at-bats so far this spring, including a pair of home runs. A few good spring games don’t mean much and it’s dangerous to draw meaningful conclusions from them, but it’s nonetheless encouraging, especially given the club’s penchant for helping journeymen find the best versions of themselves. Jon Heyman of the New York Post wrote last week that Heyward is impressing L.A. officials and expected to make the team.

Again, this isn’t to get carried away. The season hasn’t even begun and a few good spring games shouldn’t make us forget about Heyward’s past six full seasons. It’s entirely possible that he continues to disappoint and this hot spring eventually becomes a footnote. But the Dodgers have little to lose in that case. It might be a bit embarrassing if Bellinger returns to form after they let him go for nothing. But at least they saved his salary, which was projected to be $18.1MM by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz. They were then able to redirect that money into players like Noah Syndergaard and J.D. Martinez, who will cost $23MM combined this year.

The Cubs are perhaps facing a much more cringeworthy worst-case scenario. There is some non-zero chance that they have to watch Heyward thrive in Los Angeles while Bellinger struggles in Chicago, as they pay the salaries of both players. Time will tell whether that scenario is likely or not, but the Cubs have almost forty million reasons to hope it doesn’t come true.