Back From the Grave

In a Theme from a Halloween Movie, the Dodgers came back from the grave and led by Christ Aylor’s three-home run night (see what I did there) scored 11 runs as they pounded the Atlanta Braves 11-2, and send the series back to the ATL on Saturday. The Braves are putting on a “Brave Face” saying that they are confident they are going to win, but after last night’s “beat down” they have to be wondering “Are they going to do that to us again?” This time, however, it will be harder because the last two games are on the road.

Yes, it will be harder, but we all saw some big-time adjustments by the Dodgers as they banged out 17 hits and drew 8 walks. The Braves Ace now has a 5.91 ERA in the NLCS. The momentum has now turned. The Dodgers will start Max Scherzer and Striker Buehler on normal rest and the bullpen will also be rested and ready.

Chris Taylor is now hitting .529 (1.776 OPS), while Bellinger is hitting .429 (1.143 OPS), and AJ is at .353 (1.118 OPS). I think the next game it is Mookie, Trea, and Corey who do some damage. That’s how it is supposed to work. Will Smith is also due, but CT3 went off like a gasoline tanker with a stick of dynamite. Kike Hernandez has nothing on CT3.

Joe Kelly was a causality last night as he suffered a biceps injury. I think David Price or Mitch White gets the call. We really have no idea what is going on with Price, but it does not seem to me that The Price is Right! Maybe he is good for a couple of innings… Maybe V-Gon has overcome his feet problems. We shall see, but we will miss Joe Kelly!

At any rate, on Saturday it is Max Scherzer against Ian Anderson. I like the Dodgers’ Chances in that game. If Game 7 is needed, Striker Buehler will face everyone from the ATL, including Fried! The Talking Part is over. Now it is the Doing Part!

Is the Problem Really Dave Roberts.. or Something (one) Else?

What follows is a response to some of you who fail to grasp that you actually have to hit and score runs in order to win a playoff game. Instead, you want to blame some pitching moves on Dave Roberts when the problem CLEARLY was the Dodger’s failure to score runs. As Badger likes to say: “We score, we win.” As the TBS announcing crew stated: “This series is a second-guesser’s dream.” As you may know, I have zero respect for second-guessers because they are generally people who have never accomplished a damn thing in their lives and in their misery, they love to second-guess and blame people because it somehow makes them feel better about themselves. I ain’t buying it!

I did not have time to address something that William posted yesterday. Of course, William starts out every comment under the premise that Dave Roberts is horrible and should be fired, even though he has the best winning percentage of any manager in baseball history (.622%). Joe McCarthy is second at .615%. I guess that does not impress him. Somehow, William knows that “Roberts made a big mistake, and he did it out of a certain need to micromanage, be some kind of genius.” Of course, he was talking about pitching decisions in a game where the Dodgers couldn’t score, but somehow the fault was Roberts in failing to make or making certain pitching changes.

Next, he goes on to talk about how the Dodgers need “an infusion of talent. The feeling I have watching these games, is that we are a team soon to be in transition, with some talent, but now needing to depend on our minor league system to provide more stars, or being able to somehow, without trade chips, being able to pick up top talent. This current group, minus Seager, is not going to win a pennant. I don’t think this series is bad luck or even Roberts’ mistakes. We look overmatched by a team which has more active bats, runs at every opportunity, and seems to have more esprit right now. In short, a team with Trea Turner batting third is unlikely to win a title.” 

So, to summarize, William says Roberts is a bad manager and should be fired and the team is not very good, needs an infusion of talent, is overmatched, has more spirit, and is not likely to win a title. AND YET, DAVE ROBERTS HAS THE HIGHEST WINNING PERCENTAGE OF ALL TIME with a “team is not very good, needs an infusion of talent, is overmatched, [the Braves] have more spirit, and is not likely to win a title.“

Explain that one, William. That was why my comment yesterday was that you are disconnected from reality and your rabid hatred of Dave Roberts (for reasons that are unknown to me) outweighs your thinking process. I am truly sorry… but that is nonsensical. I personally did not like using Urias in relief, but it is an opinion – not right or wrong. On MLB.Radio yesterday, someone asked if the 14 pitches Urias threw in the game had an effect on his next start and Ryan Spilborghs said “None! He didn’t throw a side session which might be up to 40 pitches, so NO 14 pitches had no effect. He has been tired for a while.” That’s also his opinion – you can disagree but you can’t have it both ways: Dave Roberts is a bad manager and should be fired, but this is a bad team… and oh, yeah, Doc has the best winning percentage of all time.” Nonsense, to say the least!

A Glimpse of Next Year

This is also my opinion, but the Dodger Farm System is in remarkably good shape – they may be TOP 5 in all of baseball. Certainly, they are Top 10, which is amazing considering where they have drafted. Bobby Miller and Landon KNack both got roughed u (a little) in the AFL last night BOXSCORE as they are working on specific aspects of their games. Both are strong possibilities at some point next year. Many fans have lamented that the minor league systems did not produce much this year, but you need to remember that progress is not linear.

Max Fried was up and down until he became what he is now. In 2017, he was 2-11 with a 5.54 ERA in the minors. AJ MInter was up and down… mostly down, until recently. Adam Duval had his best season this year at age 33. I can cite example after example, but player development is now resulting in more players making the Show in their late 20’s. Zach McKinstry started off good this season, then got injured and never was the same. Reks, Raley, Noisy, even McKinney are still in their mid-to-late 20’s and could be very useful players.

Steven Souza, Jr. is a role player for the Dodgers, but he is a professional (I am not implying he will be back next year). Remember Mitch Moreland in 2018? Baseball is a crazy game – you never know, but I am excited about Pages, Miller, Kanck, Busch, Pepeiot, Cartaya, Vargas, Beeter, Bruns, Diaz, Valera, Taylor, Leonard, and others. Sometimes, it is one step forward and two steps back before it is two steps forward and one step back. Patience Grasshoppers.