All Hat – No Cattle!
There is an old saying “All hat, no cattle” which is an American expression referring to someone who is all talk but no action. It is also used to describe someone who presents the appearance of something they aren’t. It is similar to the British expression “all mouth and no…
There is an old saying “All hat, no cattle” which is an American expression referring to someone who is all talk but no action. It is also used to describe someone who presents the appearance of something they aren’t. It is similar to the British expression “all mouth and no trousers”. Watford Dodger can confirm the authenticity of that statement. In the Dodger’s case, it is “All Hit, No Runs.“
I don’t mean to be ungrateful, because the Dodgers did win, but here goes anyway: When a team gets 17 hits, they should score like 12 to 16 runs, don’t you think? Six Dodgers had 2 or more hits. Every starter except Bellinger and Alvarez had a hit. Of course, I know it was the Reds, but the Pitching was great, even though Gonsolin did not have his A-Game – it was sufficient to win and the Bullpen did their jobs, It just bugs me that the Dodgers got 17 hits and only scored 8 runs from that. I did not leave Great American Ballpark with confidence that the Dodgers could sustain a winning streak.
All I can say is that this is a weird season. Max Muncy (.155 BA), Justin Turner (.214 BA), and Cody Bellinger (.207 BA) are all struggling to hit, but that is not something that just plagues the Dodgers. Look at the list of players who are also doing poorly this season:
- Adam Duvall – .203
- Christain Walker – .205
- Javy Baez – .209
- Kike Hernandez – .209
- Salvadore Perez – .211
- Matt Chapman – .211 (Remember when many of you pined for him?)
- Juan Soto – .215
- Jesse Winker – .220
- Jorge Soler – .220
- Darin Ruf – .223
- Alex Bregman – .224
- Brandon Crawford – .227
- Byron Buxton – .228
- Corey Seager – .230
Many of those names were very good players in the past, even stars and superstars. There is something going on this year that does not add up. I do not know what it is, but it is very strange. Other players are doing OK, even if the power numbers are down due to the changes in baseball. Hummm….
The trip to Cincy was great – no hitches. My radar detector and Waze saved me a few times as we made the trip there and back in under 2 hours both ways – even with an unGodly amount of destruction… ‘er Construction! I got my Big Boy – It was wonderful, but no Skyline Chili. That seemed excessive to me for one night (maybe when I was younger). Besides, there is Skyline Chili in Indy. I met more Dodger fans than I ever have in the past, including Kevin Jensen and his son from AZ, who sat beside me. There were a ton of Dodger fans there wearing Blue. When I got on the elevator (Dodger shirt and hat on) in the Parking Garage, there were 8 college boys (men) in the elevator and the shortest one was about 6’ 5″ (the others were taller). I stepped in and said, “Wow, it looks like I picked the wrong elevator.” They all laughed and it was funny.
BTW, there as no sign of Troy from West Virginia.
Future Dodgers Down on the Farm – Tuesday Night
- Ryan Pepiot keeps knocking on the Dodgers’ door. Last night he pitched 6 strong innings, allowing 3 hits and 1 ER. He walked 3 while striking out 10. HIs 1.74 ERA says he is MLB ready and his 98 pitches say “I don’t need to be babied!”
- Garrett Cleavinger pitched 2 shutout innings and his ERA at AAA now sits at 2.00. Carson Fulmer also pitched a scoreless inning and his ERA is 1.95.
- Miguel Vargas hit his 11th HR (he was 2-4) and Mike Busch hit his 5th at OKC. He has been playing LF EXCLUSIVELY and will likely get the call sooner than some expect.
- Look for Jake Lamb next week. He was 1-5 last night (.295/.962 OPS)
- Landon Knack of Tulsa pitched 5 strong innings last night, giving up 2 runs on 3 BB and 5 K’s. He will likely move to OKC at some point.
- James Outman was 2-5 with 4 RBI on his 15th HR – a Grand Slam! He’s on the 40-man so he can be called up. He just doesn’t look like a “finished product” to me. He’s another LH hitter but he can play all their OF Positions. He’s fast, but it’s hard to say if he is “Cody and Gavin Fast” or not.
- Carson Taylor was 3-4.
- Diego Cartaya of GL went 2-5 (again) and is hitting .350 at High A with a 1.047 OPS. I plan to travel to Ft. Wayne later this week to see him.
- After going 2-5 last night, Jake Vogel of Rancho Cucamonga has seen his BA creep up over the past couple of weeks. He is hitting .236 and is fast as the wind. If he can ever hit…
- BTW, any trade proposals that include Busch and Pepiot will likely result in Federal Agents searching your home for Crack.
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Discussion (76)
Disagree, not disagreeable
My humble opinion of Muncy is simply this. Max has zero confidence in the box. He is constantly behind in the count, and rarely gets good wood on anything. When he does hit it hard, it is usually right at someone. He should not be in the four hole.
Watched the game. Only thing that kept me watching were Freeman and Turner’s at bats. Smith did a good job too. Pitching was good. And after the second homer, Catman was nails. Romero? He was a stiff in spring and he will be another hole in the lineup. Alberto won’t be gone long, so hopefully he does run into one. My thinking is that they want as many RH bats as they can muster against Greene. I look for an outfield that day of Romero, Thompson and Taylor.
This team has three guys that can bat leadoff; Lux, Mookie, Trea. It also has 3 guys that can bat third, Mookie, Trea and Freeman. It would be a waste to have Mookie, Betts and Freeman bat anywhere lower than third. While Mookie is out, Lux should bat 1st or 2nd. Will Smith should bat 4th until someone else steps up and should be the DH when Barnes is catching. When Barnes is catching, JT or Muncy should get the day off, not Smith. Lux should play in the Left Field, with Turner moving over to right while Mookie is on the IL.
My Ideal Lineup while Mookie is out…
Trea SS
Lux LF
Freeman 1B
Smith C
Muncy DH/3B
CT3 RF
Belli CF
JT 3B/DH
Alvarez / Alberto 2B
When Mookie is back…
Mookie RF
Trea SS
Freeman 1B
Smith C
Muncy DH/3B
CT3 LF
Belli CF
JT 3B/DH
Lux 2B
WTF would we need another crappy right handed hitting outfielder on the roster? Didn’t we just trade for one in Trayce Thompson?
I agree that Lamb should get a shot. Give him a couple of weeks and cut bait if he doesn’t get the job done. I’m so sick of ignoring left handed hitters who are mashing, in favor of a right handed bat that can’t hit. Sure, Trayce was doing well at AAA. That was worth a gamble. But, Stephen Romero? Sorry, but that’s not gonna get the job done.
It’s going to be a rough road for a couple of weeks with Mookie out. I also think it’s a big waste to have Mookie’s power in the leadoff spot. But, you can say the same thing about TT. Once the lineup turns over, Lux is effectively batting leadoff anyways. The one thing I would change is batting Mookie and Trea back to back when Mookie comes off the IL. This obsession to the LRLRLRLRLRL thing is just pitiful and short sighted. Just stack the lineup with your best players and let the chips fall where they may, bringing us back to why we’re stacking our roster with less than right handed hitters and ignoring the productivity of Lamb and Martin.
It makes absolutely no sense as to why we have so many left handed hitters, on the MLB roster and AAA roster, but the reluctance to have them bat back to back on the game roster. Make a change! If you can’t use them at the MLB level, trade them for an equally productive right handed bat.
Bellinger and Muncy are close to the same person with the bat right now. They’ll typically hit 1-2 balls on the screws each night with little or nothing to show for it. Belli usually pulls off the ball and it’s been going on for quite some time now. I’m amazed that the hitting gurus can’t seem to fix this. Last night he crushed one ball, a scorching grounder that went for a DP. The others were a grounder that was hit straight down, a popup that when straight up and soft liner. Muncy, while not as extreme, is much the same. 3 flyouts that were hit too high, a worm killer grounder and an excuse me base hit. At least these two strikeout machines made contact? It’s tiring to see Belli, Muncy and JT keep floundering. It felt like a miracle seeing JT hit two balls hard last night. Hopefully, this is a sign of a breakout.
Thanks again, Mark for bringing some good luck with you to the stadium. I’m pretty pissed off to hear that you didn’t book a room for tonight’s game.
Everyone says that Trea should be leadoff, I include myself on that list, but we all know how stup##& Roberts is, so surely when Betts comes back, he will be leadoff again… And Muncy batting fourth, and Bellinger batting sixth…
From MLBTradeRumors.com:
The Dodgers plan to select the contract of outfielder Stefen Romero on Wednesday, reports J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group. He’ll take the place of infielder Hanser Alberto, who is being placed on the paternity list. It’ll be Romero’s first big league appearance since 2016, capping a six-year odyssey that’s taken him around the world.
Andrew Friedman said:
He’s upright and drawing air and is a RH Bat so he could accidently run into one! (I made that last part up)
I guess I should have finished your write up on the minor leagues Mark. Thanks. And it’s Big hat, no cattle! That saying reminds me of the time I co signed for a buddy on a business loan and they turned him down because of me. And he told them but the my buddy lives in Montecito. The banker told him “ I don’t care where the guy lives, he isn’t worth anything”!
What do Pepiot and White have to do to get a place at the table? I’m never trading Pepiot! I love a starter with a great change up. Buehler should use his more. And that’s the pitch if Julio is on with then he’s an all star pitcher. Lamb has to be up over Alvarez. And let’s see what he and McKinstry can do over the next month till Rios gets back. And how much worse can Outman be at the plate over Bellinger? Is he a decent CF’er?
I’m ok with Lux batting 9. So he bats before our ‘big’ hitters and great if he gets on base for them.
Skyline has to be the most overrated pig slop in the country. It’s fast food with a weird cinnamon flavor. You can get better chili out of a can.
Glad you enjoyed it and they played well and you saw A win!
Hopefully I see some Blue in ATL this weekend.
Gonsolin, your All-Star game starter, will be starting Sunday night…..
I know Dodger Fans are going to be watching Luis Castillo today and thinking about some package for him that involves Pepiot and Busch.
Anyone who would make that trade should be immediately institutionalized!
Could not find sleep last night so I turned on the Dodgers game though I first did not intended to do so. Game started at 0045 CET but it was a good game so no regrets from me. :-).
I especially liked how the Dodgers played some small ball when they had Alvarez bunt the runner over to third and brought him in via a Lux sac fly. Joe said it was the FIRST Dogers sac bunt all year ! Should use it more often ! Especially when you have a hard time scoring. Had they played some small ball vs the guardians they would have won at least 1 more game, maybe 2. I just hope Roberts finally has wised up and will use it some more.
Gonsolin with win Nr. 9 though he did not have hist best stuff. Wow!
Freddie heating up, need that desperately with Mookie out and too many other hitters at the Mendoza line (Belli , JT) or even under that (MM, Alaverez) in the lineup.
I would keep TT in the leadoff spot even when Mookie comes back. He is an even better hitter when leading off plus Mookies plus power would be better used in the 3 hole or cleanup.
I also would think hard about extending TT on a multi year deal. His production would be sorely missed and tough to replace. Clearly the best and most consistent hitter for the Dodgers this season.
Lux is having an excellent season too sans the power. If the power comes look out.
Cartaya on the fast track threw the minor league system. A promotion to AA should be not far off.
Always liked Vogel . Glad to see the bat is coming alive.
That guy Zuniga throws some GAS isnt he ? next Dodgers closer maybe !?
Good to see Pepiot dealing. Should one of the starters go down he is clearly the next man up.
Vargas and Busch should get a call soon. Can not do worse than MM or Alvarez. Speaking of: MM in the cleanup spot still. What is Roberts thinking ?
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Good start to the road trip. Now we face Luis Castillo and Hunter Greene so that should be another good test. I saw a stat on last night’s broadcast that caught my eye. The Dodgers batting average for hitters 1-9.
Hitters 1-3 were batting .286
Hitters 4-6 were batting .199
Hitters 7-9 were batting .259
That is alarming for power hitters. I would surely think that would be an eye opener for some lineup changes. I think it’s high time to move Lux out of the 9th hole.
By the way another solid outing for the Catman and I love these early games.
Have a good day all.