Beat the Team in the Clown Suits!
Jim Bowden, you know, the former failed GM of the Reds who is now a talk show host on MLB and a writer for The Athletic, went on record with this about the trade that brought Amed Rosario to the Dodgers: “ The Dodgers trading righty Noah Syndergaard and his 7.16 ERA (at the time…
Jim Bowden, you know, the former failed GM of the Reds who is now a talk show host on MLB and a writer for The Athletic, went on record with this about the trade that brought Amed Rosario to the Dodgers:
“The Dodgers trading righty Noah Syndergaard and his 7.16 ERA (at the time of the trade) to the Guardians for below-average defensive shortstop Amed Rosario and his 0.1 bWAR. The two teams made the money even. No need for Ambien with this trade. Yawn. Meh.”
— Failed GM, Jim Bowden
I guess we now know for a certainty why Bowden failed as a GM: He’s a moron! Getting rid of Noah Syndergaard (who was one of Friedman’s mistakes) for any breathing stiff was a major accomplishment! However, getting back a player like Rosario, who is a lefty-killer, is priceless! You usually can’t call a trade this early, but I believe the Dodgers are already the winners of the Thor-Amed Trade, and this helps us understand why Bowden sometimes spews such lunacy. Maybe he is off his meds… but I digress!
Amed Rosario, who is primarily a SS (and not a very good one at that), has looked stellar at SS and 2B, and in his 21 ABs with the Dodgers (a very short sample), he has seven hits, two doubles, and 7 RBI. If he doesn’t get a hit the rest of the season, the Dodgers won the trade!
I have no illusions that Amed will suddenly become a Gold Glove SS, but he is an interesting piece in that he hits over .300 against LHP and is a nice platoon partner at 2B or even LF. He has performed flawlessly at SS as well. He is 6′ 2″ and close to 200 pounds, so it is possible that Robert Van Socyoc and Company re-vamp his swing to become a more powerful one (i.e., more HRs) as he did with JDM. That’s what they are trying to do. He will be a free agent after this season, but I doubt the makeover will be complete in two months.
James Outman had a great game last night, bringing his third HR back into the ballpark and then hitting his own shortly thereafter! Someone is going to get all bent out of shape when I say he is not a great defensive Centerfielder, but he is not… yet! However, his athleticism makes up for his route shortcomings and other defensive shortcomings. He will get better and is (in fact) doing that. His batting average is up to .252, and his OPS is pushing .800. His .352 OB% is solid, but his 32% K -Rate is troublesome – especially for a player with a relatively compact swing. It’s not like he is swinging from the heels with every swing. He has a short, compact, powerful swing, which is a little bit “funky,” but that is fine. If in his second season, he can cut down those strikeouts by just 20%, he should be an All-Star!
The Dodgers bullpen continues to shine. Since June 20th, they have been the best in baseball. The bullpen, rated at #29, is now up to #18 on the year. They may make the Top Ten, but what is more important is how you finish. The problems with starting pitching will evaporate over the next 30 days as Kershaw, Pepiot, Striker Buehler, and others try and return.
The Giants are now three games back, and the D-Bags, who are sinking like the Titanic, are 7.5 games behind and falling! It should not be lost on anyone that the Dodgers have the best offense in the NL and are just a few runs behind the MLB leader in runs scored. This is the most powerful offense EVER in Los Angeles, and yet all many fans talk about is how bad Barnes is and how they need another RH bat. Are you crazy? Come on, Man!
Last night, the Padres bullpen let them down as they blew up! Robert Suarez, who is back from injury, gave up 5 ER in his .2 IP, and then the player so many Dodger fans wanted, Scott Barlow, threw more gasoline on the fire, giving up 3 three more earned runs.
The OKC Story
Gavin Stone seems to have found his mojo. Last night, he threw six innings of no-hit ball. He walked two and fanned ten while throwing 85 pitches. He is back on the Dodgers radar! His teammates at AAA, who are also on the 40-man roster, namely Michael Busch and Miguel Vargas, also performed well. Busch led off and was 3-5, while Vargas batted second and was 2-5 with two runs scored. They are playing 3B and 2B, respectively, and that should not be lost on anyone. We could see all three players again before the season is over.
I would never say that any player is “untouchable” via trade, but Stone, Sheehan, Busch, and Vargas are all close! The Dodgers have big plans for them all. This is one of the best times to be a Dodger fan… ever! Enjoy the ride. Ditch the bitch!
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Discussion (108)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Was like Friday’s game in reverse.
Those two games make you realise why you love Baseball so much.
Is Almonte’s family okay? After being held hostage till the game was thrown. Because he sure looked like he did that on purpose.
Win tomorrow, todays fiasco forgotten.
Ugliest loss of the year?
Should be a contender.
Despite the troubles that Vesia has had this season, I trust him more in high leverage situations than Ferguson. Something about Ferguson’s body language just bothers me at times. He completely messed up that rundown, obviously. Already mentioned, but run right at Machado and force him to a base. Step where you are throwing.
I might have missed something but with game tied at three and runners at second and third, Machado up with one out, why don’t we intentionally walk Machado? Seemed to be a strange decision. But neither Joe nor Orel mentioned it. I would rather face Bogaerts with a chance to get a double play and get out of the inning.
This game is informative for Dodgers in that it was a high leverage 8th inning with a lot of intensity and the situation seemed too big for both Almonte and Ferguson. Long time until playoffs but I would guess that Phillips, Graterol, Kelly, Brasier and Shelby Miller will be the right handers out of the pen and Almonte may be watching.
Yarbrough gives Dodgers another lefty though I like him as a bulk guy in a third or fourth playoff game.
Will be interesting to see if Stone or Pepiot pitch for Dodgers over this last seven weeks. I would think Dodgers look at both of them again in majors. Stone has pitched pretty well over his last 4 starts and was dominant last night. Pepiot is a couple of starts away from being built up.
What the hell Kike wanted to do. !!! Poor, Poor 8th inning . Almonte and Ferguson both are not for closed and pressured games
Couple things here: Last time you saw 2 guys throwing like that? (Ramirez connects, TA not close)
Ump steps away and it’s on? Malachi Moore a Canadian?
Gave away a chance to bury Pads!
I’m sorry, but Roberts is a poor tactician. He over manages, he paints himself into corners, he fails to adapt.
Inning started with a gift base hit by CT3 who couldn’t make a play on what looked like a pretty routine ground ball.
Ferguson is not a high leverage RP. Freaking horrible throw by Caleb when they had Machado picked off. Little league taught you to run right at the base runner. Threw the ball when he didn’t have to and threw it high. HE IS NOT A HIGH LEVERAGE RP. Shrinks too often when the pressure is on.
that was not an impressive inning
Shit relay.
Do you trust Ferguson?
You just can’t walk Kim there! And then Tatis. Givin this thing away!! Brutal Almonte!
Horrible AB here in 5th from Rosario. MAKE HIM THROW A STRIKE!!!
Who’s the guy who stole Groves uniform and pitching tonight? Love love love the off speed stuff and keep the fastball out of the middle. Nice to see him have a good outing before he gets sent down! Very promising!
Taylor steals two bags and scores on Kike’s sac fly!
Nice to see the running game for a change.
Looks like Grove wants to do more than be an opener
Karros pitches tonite so I am going to go see how he looks so there’s low A ball and high A ball now when I worked for the Visalia oaks and Kent hrbek and pucket and gagne went threw there pat mahomes it was A ball then AA ball then AAA I also saw when Piazza Stubbs and Karros all played for the Bakersfield Dodger now there’s so many minor league levels.
Hey rancho Cucamonga is playing Fresno this weekend might want to go see this Rushing guy anyone else I should watch out for. A good win last nite now see how this Yarebourgh pitches tonite wish we can get Snell as a free agent this off season he is a good guy to bad he is stuck on the Padres.
8:40 PM ET
Dodgers (63-45)
Padres (54-56)
SP Ryan Yarbrough L
4-5 4.24 ERA PRIM
SP Blake Snell L
8-8 2.50 ERA
Confirmed Lineup
RF Mookie Betts R
1B F. Freeman L
C Will Smith R
DH J. Martinez R
2B Amed Rosario R
3B Chris Taylor R
CF James Outman L
LF E. Hernandez R
SS Miguel Rojas R
73° Wind 7 mph Out
FWIW:
Not a clown suit in site at US Open. Dago laying low. Front runners.
If they win today: bet on the sheep fronting their colors. Always happens.
Friday scores
Oklahoma City 7, Round Rock 1
Tulsa 14, Wichita 7
Great Lakes 8, Fort Wayne 4
Fresno 2, Rancho Cucamonga 1.
Saturday schedule
3:35 p.m. PT: Great Lakes (TBD) at Fort Wayne (Miguel Cienfuegos)
4:05 p.m.: Tulsa (Kendall Williams) at Wichita (Jaylen Nowlin)
5:05 p.m.: Oklahoma City (Landon Knack) vs. Round Rock (TBD)
6:50 p.m.: Rancho Cucamonga (Jared Karros) at Fresno (Alberto Pacheco)
If were moving Smith from the catcher position we need to get a catcher that takes control of the pither it seems like nowadays catchers are afraid to go out and talk to the pitcher when hes struggling.
Grove is the starter tonight. Most likely will be piggybacked with Yarborough.