Carry on!

Beatty is on his way and will be activated today. There is no need to carry 16 pitchers when the big 3 will be pitching this weekend. Because of the short bench yesterday Doc let Knebel hit after pitching an inning and giving up a precious out.

Notion that the Cardinals might bring Pujols back for a final season next year is gaining a lot of steam. With the distinct possibility of there being a universal DH, Pujols could easily slip into that role with St. Louis against LHP. It would also only be fitting that he and Molina, who has already announced that next season will be his last, would both be eligible to enter the Hall at the same time in the same uniform. And it would be a double farewell tour. The public relations benefit for the Cardinals would be huge. To me it is more than logical that they do it.

Dodgers would have been well advised to not give up on DJ Peters with Belli and his season long slump.

Peters would have been able to provide almost the same good cf outfield as Belli and he has some much needed RH pop (now 9 dingers with the Rangers) while his average is hovering around .200. Still better than anybody we trotted out yesterday.

I did not like the move when it was made and I like it even less today.

Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dodger hitting woes can be directed to the hitting instructors, this BS launch angle for the long ball needs to be scrapped. Contact hitter is what’s needed.

All the complaining about resting players. Look who the Giants rested against us in the last seies

So I guess Roberts was resting Seager so he’ll be ready for that wild card game.

I see zero reason to think the Giants mojo will suddenly disappear. They have been the best team all season—and they added Bryant. I see even less reason that the slumping and battered Dodger hitters will get hot. Remember when we were waiting for Lux to take flight? Now Belli is even worse….Before the trading season commenced, I was hoping AF would grab Starling Marte and Scherzer. He topped that by getting Trea in that deal. Turns out he should acquired Marte too. I mean, how could McKinney and Souza both be starting at this point in the season….Geez…

Oh well. Nice to have Gonsolin back—and the bullpen continues to produce.

Those “run differential” stays don’t mean squat with Dodgers back in the habit of losing one-run games.

The Dodgers regulars should be well rested for the Wildcard game.

Hard to believe the last 5 guys in our lineup today were all batting under .200 except Barnes at .217.

No wonder we made the mediocre Cards pitching staff look dominant.

Just for fun, does anyone think the SF Giants would have rolled over like good little puppy dogs like we did, leaving St Louis without getting one base hit in the last four innings of a 2-1 game and going down 1-2-3 in both the 8th and 9th inning without even a whimper?

Like me, I’m sure most of you don’t think SF would have done that. Their resume says otherwise. We have only won one game coming back from being down in the 9th. They have done many times. Regretfully, this is why they are better than us this year.

But, the good news is…..things can change….it’s possible our hitters could turn it around and become more clutch hitters from here on out. People can change, right?

.200 Mendoza Line

.150 Belli Bar

But one Seager like October could wipe it all away!

Just to add, to look at the Giants’ rally yesterday, they are down one in the ninth. Posey is just about the most dangerous hitter in the league in that spot, and he draws a 3-2 walk. Then a base hit through the infield, the Giants specialize in those. Then an infield single hit to the right spot, to load the bases. Then a line drive single to score two runs. A strikeout. A double steal with the next batter, unless it was a wild pitch which got them to second and third. Then another base hit. Five batters, all but one hit the ball, and none of the hits went more than 150 feet in the air, but all were well placed. I don’t think this is just good luck, it reminds me of how Bochy’s teams won. Also, many pinch hits, sometimes home runs, to turn games around this year. Not too many late game rallies for us.

For all the current or former all-star talent in the lineup, the Dodgers are notably unable to hit good pitching. There have been a few exceptions, but in almost every game with one of the better teams, we struggle to score runs. Of course this is why they are good teams with good pitchers, but you have to be able to occasionally have big games against them; otherwise we are vulnerable to any team we would meet in the playoffs. Today we scored one run. Yesterday, one in the first seven innings.

We have a very good record, so one shouldn’t make too much of it, but our lineup seems to lack synergy, the kind which teams like the Giants or Tampa Bay seem to have, where the sum is greater than the parts. We do not often put together innings where we score three or more, except for the occasional games where we score 14 runs which we did not need. Some of this may be due to the fact that we don’t play hit and run, do not try to aggressively take charge from the outset. And we have too many at bats where we do not hit the ball hard, so that we rarely even get someone from second to third with a fly ball, much less score from third on one.

And as many have mentioned, we have hitters are are mired in very bad slumps. I doubt that the team will suddenly put it all together, and start scoring a lot of runs. Our pitching has been quite good, even with the loss of Bauer and Kershaw. I have my concerns about the ability of Kershaw to be a major factor now, but we have to try to let him be. We can still win the division, but we do not look impressive as a team, even when we were edging the Braves at home, and certainly not against the Giants or the Cardinals.

Buckner may be the poster boy for warning track power but he still won a batting title. Make contact Belli.

So much for the “vaunted Dodger depth”!

Just looked at the box score and I can not say I am susrprised. MOF I called exactly what would happen today. No production from 5-9 in our batting order and 1 run scored.

What a shame and Yes, I blame this on Roberts. Can not trot out a lineup like that when you are in a tight pennant race middle of September. Just can not do it. At least if you are trying to win the divsion.

This will end up in a one game playoff vs either the Padres, Mets, or Reds.

Padres can throw Snell at us who has absolutely dominated us even when our O was clicking. Mets have DeGrom. Enough said. Reds can trot out Miley. Probably the least formidable of the three but still having a great season.

Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bring on the one game playoff! I’m not scared of you.

I hope we pitch our bullpen too…that way we can save Scherzer for game one.

Sam McWilliams has been promoted to the Great Lakes Loons from Rancho Cucamonga.

It’s a sad state of affairs when you’re resting players and have to bat a guy 0-23 in the 5th spot in the batting order now batting .158 with no other options to choose from with a team payroll north of $250 million.

Put TT, and Saeager together (one after the other) in lineup. so maybe they’ll have hit after hit, once or twice in a game, putting TT on 3th base After all the injuries they have had, Pollock’s may end up affecting more

I have never played professional baseball so I won’t comment on that. I have been using the toilet since I was very young, a long time.

The guys looked like crap today ! Can I say that?

I used to think that the word impotence referred to something else, but now realize it refers to our offense.

Perhaps, the Dodgers have decided to play their luck in a game against Walker vs. Snell. at the risk of Tatis Jr. having a great afternoon and hitting 3 homeruns

I don’t THINK they are going to snap out of it, I HOPE they snap out of it.

No doubt that they CAN, no guarantee that they WILL.

And yes, it’s FRUSTRATING, VERY FRUSTRATING.

3 things that are not going to happen!!

5 yr 60K contract offer

Beli bunting

Beli going other way

Notes from Internet:

Great stuff from keith law below

Hyun Choi had a rough outing, FanGraph goes a little into it:

Hyun-Il Choi, RHP, Los Angeles Dodgers

Affiliate: High-A Great Lakes Age: 21 Org Rank: 17 FV: 40+

Line: 4 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 0 BB, 4 K

Notes

Hassell struck out swinging twice against Choi, but the righty wasn’t able to keep the rest of Fort Wayne’s lineup at bay, giving up a season-high eight hits. More reassuring was the zero in the walk column, which hopefully indicates a return to the unflinching command that had become his standard at Low-A, where he walked just seven batters in his 65.1 innings of work, good for a microscopic 2.8% walk rate, before his early-August promotion. In his last three starts before Wednesday’s contest, however, he nearly matched that season total, issuing six free passes in just 13.2 innings.

On Wednesday, Choi’s struggles had more to do with his inability to miss bats in the zone, rather than missing the zone itself, which could conceivably (and perhaps correctly) be interpreted as swapping out one problem for another. If he can harness his splitter as a more consistent out pitch, I’m willing to chalk this rough patch up to growing pains.

From FanGraphs’ look at pitching for the playoff stretch run:

For the Dodgers, future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw’s fastball sat mostly 89-91 last night and touched 93 in a 3-inning, 50-pitch rehab start at Triple-A Oklahoma City.

Keith Law Chat:

Pj (Jersey City): What is wrong with cody bellinger at the plate? He looks completely lost.

Keith Law: My guess is it’s a lingering effect from the shoulder injury. He’s getting beat on fastballs. You don’t just forget how to hit a fastball.

Bill S.: Keith, (accidentally hit send too soon, I’ll try again). The Dodgers organization has clearly been successfully through the minors with player development. However, does their perennial contender status actually hurt them with the final stage of player development – young players in the majors?

Thinking about Gavin Lux, and to a lesser degree Zack McKinstry this year. To finish their development young players need to play regularly in the majors. Yet, the Dodgers divisional race makes it hard for them to roll out players who are not fully baked. How should they handle Lux, as well as other talented minor leaguers that will eventually come up and need regular time? Thank you!

Keith Law: It’s a reasonable concern, especially for players who come up at positions where the Dodgers have established regulars – Lux (Seager), Keibert (Smith, plus Cartaya behind). Easier on the pitching side because they can always work in those guys in long relief first. I think the Dodgers are among the top 2-3 organizations for drafting & development, but even they can’t ignore those structural issues and it may mean certain players don’t develop fully unless there’s an injury.

C-Note: Best guess….% chance Bauer pitches in the MLB again?

Keith Law: It sounds like 0%, and I’m fine with that.

Matt: I have a really hard time believing Bauer won’t pitch again. He may be suspended for all of next year and by 2023, I could certainly see some team hoping the public won’t remember what he did and take a chance on him because of the talent. If he was a lesser player, his career would be over, but I have to think some team will think it’s worth whatever PR hit they take.

Keith Law: I don’t think so.

Keith Law: He’s always been a headache. Now he’s a headache who has admitted in court to violent behavior towards women.

Jesse B: Andy Pages is striking out 30% of the time albeit with big time power. Do you think that’s something he can improve or will he always be a 3 outcome player?

Keith Law: He’s striking out 24% of the time, and with everything else he does, he’s a hell of a prospect.

Great, great, great stuff from this Dan Szymborski Chat

L west enjoyer: is this year’s NL West the most difficult division ever?

Dan Szymborski: I’ll say yes

Guest: What’s the change in Bellinger’s ZiPs from his post 2019 MVP numbers to now?

It’s crazy how bad he’s been.

Dan Szymborski: His velocity numbers have been distinctively meh. Dude just doens’t turn on fastballs anymore, like he’s 35

Towson Town Center Floor Fries: Which team in each league is best set up for a 7-game playoff series?

Dan Szymborski: Dodgers

John B: Dan, I get frustrated when I see bWAR and fWAR vary by so much. You basically can see players that are 1 WAR off in a world where most players are 2-3 WAR. It seems to undermine the metric to have such wide variances. I leave out WARP, but I’ve seen similar issues. Why can’t there be more consistency to a stat that we all use every day? Why doesn’t MLB weigh in on how they want their official data presented ?

Dan Szymborski: The thing is, you don’t count WAR. You *calculate* WAR. And you’re going to run into different philosophical concepts of establishing value

If you visit 8 doctors with a stomach ache, you may find that the recommended treatment isn’t identical either. Some might recommend X medication, some X and Y, some may also make a point to suggest diet changes, some may see a need for further tests. But it doesn’t undermine the practice of medicine that approaches are different.

You should think of statistics as an *exploration* of an answer, rather than something that will give you the One True Answer. And sometimes, it’s complicated. Like pitch framing.

Nice look at the former Dodger Prospect AJ Alexy

Baseball America on Vargas ($$$)

Miguel Vargas, 3B, Double-A Tulsa (Dodgers)—Vargas has impressive bat-to-ball skills, but before this season his power lagged behind. He added strength during the 2020 shutdown and …..

Baseball America on prospects excelling vs. older competition ($$$):

Dejesus, Pages, Bolivar and Jose Martinez get mentions.

Dominican Winter Ball draft:

These four Dodgers were selected:

Rd 2 (9th overall pick): Eddys Leonard

Rd 6 (31st overall): Alex De Jesus

Rd 9 (51st overall): Ismael Alcantara

Rd 16 (95th overall): Carlos Duran

Super-Heliumy Jose Ramon is at Rancho and crushing

Via @jokeylocomotive

Jose Ramos has homered on back to back nights for Rancho Cucamonga, it’s his 7th since being promoted from the Arizona Complex League, and it was absolutely crushed

Bobby Miller is now at AA:

Via @FutureDodgers

Bobby Miller faces the minimum in his first Double-A inning. He allows a leadoff single, but the runner was caught stealing and he then induced a couple of groundouts.

Rough second inning for Miller. After a flyout, he allows a single, walk, triple (line drive deflects of Outman’s glove after a dive), and homer, for four runs total. He got the next two batters to end the inning. Fastball consistently 96-98

Apropos of past discussions here, here’s a slightly (SLIGHTLY) more informed debate on Bellinger:

Do the #Dodgers have a better option than Cody Bellinger on the roster / in the organization? I chatted with @FutureDodgers about the alternatives (Beaty, McKinney, McKinstry, Lux, Souza Jr., Reks, Raley, Neuse) in AJ Pollock’s absence.

Two minor league pitchers to note:

Gavin Stone

Emmet Sheehan

A good time to offer Bellinger a 5 year $60M contract.

Bellinger needs to bunt more until his shoulder is at full strength. Also, when he is not taking a big full swing, he actually has very good bat to ball skill that could be used to hit line drives to beat the shift.