Change is Here!
There is a lot to unpack about last night s game, but to blame Dave Roberts for putting in his closer in the 10th inning is just plain silly. If Blake Treinen did his job, Kenley would not have been needed in the 10th. Before last night s game, Kenley Jansen had given up 1 run and 2 hits in his 11 appearances in May! Even after last night s debacle, his ERA
There is a lot to unpack about last night’s game, but to blame Dave Roberts for putting in his closer in the 10th inning is just plain silly. If Blake Treinen did his job, Kenley would not have been needed in the 10th. Before last night’s game, Kenley Jansen had given up 1 run and 2 hits in his 11 appearances in May! Even after last night’s debacle, his ERA for May is 1.50. Now, I get that he is not good at holding runners on 2B and in fact, does not like it when a runner is there, but until last night, he was one of the Top Closers in baseball and the manager HAS to put him in to see if he can handle it. If he continually shows he cannot, then AF will have to get another closer who can (or a co-closer).
Kenley is still a work in progress in that he is no longer a “cutter machine” throwing nothing but cutters. He is still damn good, but walks too many – way too many batters. That comes back to bite you. Can he complete his “re-invention” or is this the “finished product?” I don’t know, but what I do know is that he has looked absolutely filthy at times (most of the time, except for the BB). If he can do it 11 out of 12 times, as he did in May, I guess I can live with an occasional meltdown. BTW, Uceta and White acquitted themselves well last night, and it would have been a different ballgame had Albert put 1 more MPH on that robbed HR.
More troubling to me is Blake Treinen, who look awesome and then suddenly is removed from his body by the invasion of the body snatchers and he pitches like the Cowardly Lion. I guess it is what it is. It is quite common for relief pitchers to have up and down years or even up and down parts of seasons. Craig Kimbrel, who has not been good since 2018, is now “lights out” again. Andrew Friedman has to resources to go out and get him if needed, but that time is not imminent!
When many Dodger fans look at Sheldon Noisy, they see a guy who needs to be back at AAA…. and he probably does, but I also see a guy that I believe will be a solid major league player for years to come. Matt Beaty went back to AAA and came back with a new (or renewed) sense of how to hit. Noisy can play all over and I believe his hit tool will play up, but right about now, he should play every day at AAA.
We know that Zach McKinstry and Cody Bellinger will be back tonight (at least that was the plan). Andrew Friedman seldom listens to me, but here is what I would do for tonight’s game:
- McKinstry and Bellinger replace Neuse and Peters, who are optioned to OKC.
- If Tsutsugo accepts an assignment to AAA, I believe the Dodgers can send him down to work on his swing (correct me if I am wrong). Either that or they can cut bait with him, but I believe he is worth a shot.
- The final move tonight is to call up 29-year-old, Rangel Ravelo, who is hitting .397 (1.240 OPS) at OKC. He has worked his butt off to make himself into a hitter and his RH bat would play well for the Dodgers. He deserves an opportunity and the Dodgers need his bat… or at least they need to see if his bat will play up at the MLB level. He is one of those guys who “got it” later in his career. This is his 12th year in the minors or playing overseas. He has about 85 MLB AB’s and could be a steal. Give him a shot, Andrew!
The Dodgers would have to clear a roster spot to activate Ravelo, since he is not on the 40 man roster. I could see a trade involving Reks or Raley (they are the same guy) to clear a spot!
Injury Updates
- Bazooka Graterol, Scott Alexander, and Jimmy Nelson could be back by next weekend, barring any setbacks as they are all throwing now. Adding those three the bullpen changes a lot!
- Tony Gonsolin is another week to 10 days away, but when he comes back as the 5th starter, the bullpen will be much stronger.
Dodgers Minor League Report
All four teams won last night!
- OKC BOXSCORE – Tony Gonsolin pitched 3.2 innings. Next time they hope he can go 4 or 5 and if so, he will be called up. Nunez got the win, striking out 3 in 1.1 IP and Kevin Quackenbush got his third save and is unscored upon this season. Ravelo, Raley, and Estevez all had 2 hits and Souza, Jr. hit his 2nd HR.
- TULSA BOXSCORE – Donovan Casey played CF (Kendall played RF) and was 4-5 , hitting his first HR. Aaron Noda hit his 7th HR and was 2-4. Mike Busch was 1-3, while Kody Hoese continues to struggle (.158). Andre Jackson started and went 5 innings, allowing 2 Hits and 1 Run to go with 7 K’s.
- GL BOXSCORE – Clayton Beeter started and struck out the side in the first. That was his only inning. 6′ 8″ Cameron Gibbens has a 0.71 ERA and has struck out 27 batters in 12 innings. He looks like a man among boys (Literally). He should move up soon.
- RC BOXSCORE – Jake Vogel was 2-5 with 2 RBI and 2 Runs. He also had a triple. Diego Cartaya looks like he should be at AA or AAA, as he was 2-4.
Mark Knopfler & Emmylou
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Discussion (56)
Disagree, not disagreeable
I’d be surprised if they traded or designated a player for Ravelo.
Can anyone go to the 60?
You have the game on the line and you are relying on 2 guys hitting below the Mendoza line? Please. They have played well, but they did not last night. Uceta and White were fine. Tsutsugo could not hit water if he was immersed in it. Neuse may be good at AAA, but he has not impressed me at the plate, but his glove is MLB caliber as long as it stays in the infield. Mookie would have caught that ball. Taking Taylor out was a dumb move. He is one of their more consistent hitters. Walks kill you. And they killed Treinen and Kenley last night. Today is a new day. Belli back. Lets win one for the Bear.
What is wrong with Mookie Betts?
Injury? Funk? Whatever it is, it’s slowing down the Dodger offense.
Just doesn’t seem like he’s seeing the ball well. Roberts says he 85 percent healthy. Not seeing him wince when he swings. He just swings and misses a lot. Maybe he’s pressing.
But we’ve seen this before with other players.
Good to get Bellinger and McKinstry back. Not expecting Cody to be Cody right away, but his defense will help. His place in the line-up will create some chaos and concern for opposing pitchers. Zack can definitely help.
Dodgers sent out tickets for the rest of the season, good to return to some sense of normal. Full capacity again.
Who goes down today? Doc already said it will be two position players.
I think the easy decision is Peters and Nuese since they both have options, but I like Nuese’s three bombs. Since, Pollock, Graterol and Nelson all come back next week, another position player will have to go as well, bringing us to Yoshi inevitable demise.
Between Nuese, Peters and Tsutsugo, I would probably cut bait on Nuese and Tsutsugo first. I like Peters’ defense, baserunning and right handed bat, so I would wait on him until Pollock returns.
I agree with norcaldogerfan on Nuese. He can play below average all over, doesn’t really help us. I’ve seen mess up plays at every position he plays so far. It’s time to send him down. With CT3 and ZMack on the roster, he isn’t needed at all.
I’m dead serious about bringing Ravelo up. He’s played a lot of 3b, 1B, OF in the minors and really hasn’t had that much of look in the majors. The time is now, while he’s hot. Maybe the solution is to tell Fat Albert that he needs a DL stint to send him to the fat farm to lose a little weight. Cut bait on Yoshi or Raley to make room on the 40 man.
Only one problem with today’s post. “Noisy can play all over”…………err maybe not OF. He played that hit by Longoria horribly and as the baseball god seems to do often, a hit ball will always find a poor defensive player at the worst time.
I think we’ll see Peters and maybe Bickford or Uceta sent down buying AF and Doc another week or so to sort out the returns of Bazooka, Alexander, Pollock, Nelson and Gonsolin and what to do with Tsutsugo (who doesn’t look to contribute much)>
What’s wrong with Mookie. Is it a funk or is it an injury? He simply doesn’t look the same right now. The swing appears late (is it the shoulder), is it timing, is it his back? If Mookie could return to form with the additions of Cody, McKinstry and Mad Max the NL should look out because the Dodgers appear ready to explode. The Padres are for real and will be very formidable. The Giants are not for real and will fade.
You jinxed Kenley and Treinen yesterday “Is there a better back-end of a bullpen than Gonzalez, Treinen, and Jansen?”
Bring up Ravelo now while he’s hot! Seriously, the dude is hitting close to 400 and half his hits are extra bases and he has more walks than Ks. Have some balls and make that bold move now.
We win the bullpen game, then lose with Bueller on the bump. Go figure, baseball is weird.
Pujols almost got the job done, just a couple of inches short – That’s what she said!
Cameron Gibbens 27Ks in 12.2! Bring him up!
Today will be like Christmas with Bellinger and McKinstry coming back. Pollock, Brusdar and Nelson are about a week out.
TsuTsuGo needs to tsu tsu go back to the minors and work on that swing / timing. Do it now, or wait until Pollock comes back next week?
Ahh, Memorial Day Weekend. The unofficial start of Summer. Going to the store soon to see what kind of expensive post-covid meat to burn on the grill, or smoker.
I would keep Peters over Tsustugo every day and twice on Sunday. But I get it that Peters needs AB to improve and with the return of Bellinger hw probably wont get it. Last night was a tough L, no way around it. Especially when Treinen and KJ gave up the big runs. They pitched so well the night before and then so them implode the way they did was hard to swallow.
On a side note regarding Tulsa: When will Yadier Alvarez be ready to play ? I always thought he was the best arm talent I ever saw in live action. If he really wants to turn it around by putting his heart into baseball he still could be a major factor down the road.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!