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 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.