Back in First Place!
Except for bad pitch selection (4 fastballs) to his last batter, Rich Hill was again terrific. No blisters = a very good pitcher. This is the pitcher the Dodgers are paying for and if he keeps it up, he s a bargain! Blisters have been his kyrptonite! The bullpen was very good again: Floro, Alexander, Chargois and Jansen handled a hot A s team. Oakland has the 4th best bullpen ERA in
- Except for bad pitch selection (4 fastballs) to his last batter, Rich Hill was again terrific. No blisters = a very good pitcher. This is the pitcher the Dodgers are paying for and if he keeps it up, he’s a bargain! Blisters have been his kyrptonite!
- The bullpen was very good again: Floro, Alexander, Chargois and Jansen handled a hot A’s team.
- Oakland has the 4th best bullpen ERA in MLB and it got better when they picked Shawn Kelley from the Nats. Manaea is most respects is their best starter – the Dodgers just made him throw lots of pitches. The RISP stat wasn’t good last night, but the A’s are a tough team.
- The fact that the Dodgers are saying Corey Seager can remain at shortstop is just boilerplate. Of course, they are saying that. What are they supposed to say? Maybe this: “It’s going to be very hard for him to come back so we have some contingency plans?” NO! They have to give him their full support and I hope he is the Dodgers’ starting shortstop next year, but I think it will be difficult. Shortstops make some of the most contorted and difficult throws of any player on the team. I’m not worried too much about his hip.
- Brian Dozier should stay at leadoff – Period!
- Turner is hitting the ball right on the screws. He’s back!
- Looks like it’s Kemp and Bellinger’s turn to get hot!
- This is game of ebb and flow. I smell a hot streak coming!
- From Rotoworld: “Ryu made the start at Triple-A Reno, a very hitter-friendly environment. He scattered five hits and struck out three batters without issuing a walk, throwing 51 of his 71 pitches for strikes and inducing eight groundouts to three flyouts. Ryu should be cleared to rejoin the Dodgers’ starting rotation after one more minor league rehab outing. He’s been sidelined since early May due to a severe groin strain.” So, he will be back soon and someone will go to the pen. Will they be more interested in Starting or Winning? This will prove to be interesting.
- Both Brian Dozier and Logan Forsythe are hitting .412 since the trade in 17 AB’s. Forsythe is OPS’ing .971 and Dozier is OPS’ing 1.506!
- Mike Fiers goes today and once, no hit the Dodgers – It’s time for Payback!
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Discussion (69)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Recognizing that the RISP numbers are relatively poor for the Dodgers, it becomes even more obvious that the Dodgers truly miss their superstar SS, Corey Seager. In 2017, in 131 PA WRISP, Seager hit .361/.450/.583/1.034 (53 RBI). In 58 PA with 2 outs WRISP, Seager hit .449/.534/.816/1.351 (35 RBI).
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One other query…I cannot refute what Hawkeye said about Izturis’ reduced arm speed post surgery. But he did not really become a utility player until his final year in 2013. Post surgery Cesar played defensively 660 games. 592 were at SS, 62 were at 3B, and 6 at 2B. 90% of his games were at SS. 28 of the 3B games were with the Dodgers who were committed to Furcal at the time, and 21 were in 2013 when he was a utility player. And while I do not have a medical degree, and I did not stay in a Holiday Inn Express, I do not understand how a pitcher post TJ surgery can come back and throw harder in a very unnatural delivery with the elbow torqued, but a SS cannot get back to his previous arm speed. That does not compute with me. That’s enough for me on the subject. I am looking for Corey being back at SS game 1 in 2019.
First couple of times through the lineup it didn’t seem like the Dodgers were seeing the ball well. Was it the lights or was it Fier’s delivery? Maybe their stadium needs to improve the center field backdrop to help hitters see the ball.
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Puig only loafs on a ball when he knows he can make a cool, casual, nonchalant catch. He will never let a chance get away to make a play though. If he didn’t hustle it would have been because he wasn’t sure where it was.
Dodgers – 11Ks
7 LOB
1 for 7 RISP
Can’t win that way
another bad K for Belly
Chaggy had done his job… and did it well… last night and tonight.
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I was very surprised to see him go out there for a 2nd inning. I keep hoping that Dave will eventually get a better feel for his pitching staff… but I just don’t ever see that happening.
A’s bullpen is their strength.
I know we all have been bagging on the Dodgers lack of this and lack of that, but damn, let’s celebrate a little bit. Despite missing a buttload of pitching due to the DL, we still finished a Gauntlet of a stretch of contending teams at 9-8, and are coming back on a very hot A’s team tonight after winning a playoff type game last night. And we are right there!!How about more Hope posts instead of Doomsday predictions. To tell you the truth, this season has way more adrenaline as a baseball fan than last season. I am hanging on every daily score, and it’s only friggin the first week of August. Enjoy the ride man, this team reminds me of the ’88 team. Got a few holes, but all we need is for us to get hot for a few weeks in October. Buckle up boys and pass the Pepto Bismo, this is going to be a crazy ride. And you know what, it’s pretty damn cool.
Dodgers are swinging at so much stuff out of the zone. Grandal and Dozier just struck out on junk. Awful.
Barrels are overrated
Everything was hit hard, including the last out by Dozier.
They’re hitting the ball hard now. Machado and Puig hit two near HR’s for outs. Joc just ripped one for an out. Now Machado hits a double. Fiers was done.
Kershaw is doing it with guile tonight. His stuff isn’t good.
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It looked to me like Puig loafed out there.
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They’ve been hitting Fiers the last couple of innings so he’s coming out. The A’s ‘pen is stellar. It will be fun to see if they can come back. Taylor and Bellinger still look lost up there.
Kershaw is so mediocre. I don’t know what happened to him. No velocity, no changeup, no command 4 innings no strikeouts. I guess the back injury has ruined him. Ryu may turn out to be our best pitcher if he ever pitches.
Not watching but if that’s true about Puig I’m pissed. The last at-bat of his I saw he was dancing on his way to the plate then struck out weakly. Getting tired of the act.
Yasmani!
Clayton has hit 92 once and 91 about 3 times. He does not have his slider or good curve tonight.
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Fiers owns the Dodgers.
Kershaw hasn’t thrown faster than 90. He hasn’t thrown his good breaking stuff and can’t finish anyone off – NO Ks SO FAR.
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Puig loafed on the pop up by Laureno. Cost them 2 runs.
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8 Ks in 4 innings for the Dodgers against Fiers.
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Crummy game.
I didn’t realize Oakland traded for Max Scherzer
This feels like a two hit shutout for Fiers. Come on Dodgers get it going.
5 Ks in 2 2/3 IP for Fiers against the Dodgers. He’s a bum.
Watford,
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I reached out to Bobbie17 and here is the reply:
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“Thanks, Mark. I’ve got Dodger fatigue. Too much of the same thing. The team seems a bit boring. Yesterday’s stars are fading. The prospects may be overrated. Roberts’ interviews have little new to report. I guess I just want the team TO WIN IT ALL. Finally. The rest is in the category of “so what?” When the team becomes interesting again, I’ll come back. I hope all is well. Thanks for checking in. “
May pitching well for AA tulsa tonight. So far 5 ip 2 h 2 r 0 bb 5 k. Lux already 2-2 with two singles and is up to .435 for tulsa.
Haha charlie culbertson has hit 5 hrs in his last 6 games against the nationals.
Rick, the Fangraphs article was about his last game. He allededly hit 94 in the previous one:
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Open on www.rotoworld.comhttp://www.rotoworld.com/player/mlb/7537/julio-uriasThe RISP stat has been a problem all season long and it’s not a function of facing the A’s.
The Dodgers have 107 solo HRs out of 155. Only 26 HRs with RISP.
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Dodgers’ hitters OPS with RISP
Barnes .522
Bellinger .610
Turner .663
Machado .679
Kike .710
Taylor .724
Puig .770
Joc .775
Grandal .850
Utley .890
Muncy .899
Kemp 1.045
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Taylor has K’d 31/109 PAs
Bellinger has K’d 34/123 PAs
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Dodgers hit best when up by 4 runs or more; hit worst with 2 outs and RISP.
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Kemp 1 for his last 34 and hits a bloop and now he’s getting hot?