What changes will really occur in the next 30+ days?
Let me start with what will not happen:
- Dave Roberts will not be fired;
- Robert Van Socyoc, Aaron Bates, and Brant Brown will not be fired;
- Gavin Stone and Bobby Miller will not be called up;
- Dustin May, Victor Gonzalez, Blake Treinen, Tommy Kahnle, Danny Duffy, Jimmy Nelson, Daniel Hudson, Walker Buehler, and Andrew Heaney will not be back; and
- The Dodgers will not make a trade.
What will happen after that:
- The Dodger fans will bitch and demand most of the above should happen;
- After August 1st, you may see several of the above-mentioned players activated; and
- It is possible that the Dodgers will make a trade.
Unless the bottom drops out of Miguel Vargas and Mike Busch’s Games, I believe both will be brought up to The Show in the next 15 days. Yeah, I know that is a stretch, and maybe it won’t happen if Muncy and Turner get hot. But, I think one will get the call and probably both. The Dodgers need to see if either one is overmatched. It’s sad, but Trayce Thompson may be sent back to AAA when Mookie comes back.
Hanser Alberto has not been a factor this year. He was a cheap, under-the-radar signing, but he has underwhelmed everyone. He only has 70 ABs so it is not out of the realm of probability that he would be DFA’ed. Miguel Vargas could make everyone forget about Hanser… with a quickness. I think that in the next 15 days (barring a tank job by Vargas) Miguel will get the call. How he does and how Justin Turner and Max Muncy do will determine if the Dodger might seek another bat.
There are options – Muncy and Turner could platoon at 3B although that is less than desirable or Miguel could play 3B and let Muncy and Turner platoon at DH. After Betts comes back, I would like to see this lineup (the batting order is not as important):
- C – Smith
- 1B – Freeman
- 2B – Lux
- SS – T. Turner
- 3B – Vargas
- LF – Taylor/Busch
- CF – Bellinger
- RF – Betts
- DH – Muncy/J. Turner
Bench – Barnes, Thompson
Give Tyler Anderson a Break!
Of course, the Tyler Anderson Haters will say: “See, I told you he would not keep it up.” I say: “Hello, it’s Coors.“ Clayton Kershaw has a 3.73 ERA at Coors. Max Scherzer’s ERA is 3.89 there. Jacob deGrom has a 4.80 ERA there and Luis Castillo, the guy everyone wants to trade the farm for has an 11.57 ERA there. So, cut the crap about Anderson and Coors! Tyler Anderson has a 4.09 ERA in Coors. Right about now his record is 8-1 with a 3.23 ERA. Not bad for a #5 or #6 starter. Lots of pitchers do not pitch well there, but Chad Kuhl did!
Chard Kuhl pitched parts of two seasons for the Indianapolis Indians and to me, he was a guy who should have been better at the major league level than he was. In 98 games started he had a 4.30 ERA, but at AAA he was lights out. Well, he has kind of “pulled a Tyler Anderson” this year and is having a very solid year. Chad pitched an impressive game and is having a fine season after getting away from one of the worst organizations in baseball – the Pirates. Actually, Tyler Anderson did not pitch bad (for Coors), but he was bound to get a “first loss”.
Of course, the Coors factor is real. You come into Denver from Atlanta (1,050 feet above sea level) to Denver (5,280 feet above sea level), and it takes a while for the body to adjust. “Jet Lag” and “Oxygen Drag” are real things. The fact that the Dodgers looked listless last night was not surprising. Hopefully, after a good night’s sleep and adjusting to the rare air of Colorado they will look better.
Tony Gonsolin is likely to lose one too! Hopefully, Clayton can pitch well tonight, but I doubt it. I have to record the game as we are headed to a Dead and Company Concert.
Watch Diego Cartaya on MLB-TV
Thursday, 7:05 p.m. ET — Dayton (CIN) at Great Lakes (LAD)
MLB’s No. 23 prospect, Diego Cartaya, leads red-hot High-A Great Lakes in a series opener against MLB’s No. 64 prospect, Elly De La Cruz, and Dayton. De La Cruz’s Dragons finished the Midwest League’s first half one game behind the Loons, with the Reds’ No. 2 prospect providing more and more pop as the season goes on. Cartaya, the Dodgers’ No. 1 prospect, hasn’t slowed down a bit since being promoted to Great Lakes at the beginning of the month. – From Dodgers.com
Discussion (30)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Thank God the Padres have been losing too.
Well, did refresh to avoid the echo.
Reyes Moronta is pitching really good.
Shit, echo again!
I’ve mentioned him once before but Reyes Moronta has a career OPS against under .600 against both sides of the plate. That is very good.
CK’s pitching hitting practice. Coors is a tough place to pitch but he looks terrible, and this Dodger offense is offensive. Max needs to sit tomorrow so Lamb can show Dodger fandom there’s hope for some offense from the 3B position
It seems that it will be another one of those games… Fortunately the team has a lot of hitting, right?
CK’s 90 MPH fastball doesn’t look so good at 5,280 elevation. Gonna need a big offensive performance tonight. CK with 4 BB’s through 1.2 innings…..ouch
Hanser Alberto, lefty killer…
It’s official! The Jake Lamb comeback era begins. He’s gonna revive his career with the Dodgers ala JT just as JT fades into retirement. We should be so lucky and I’m hoping for the best. He sure looked like the next best thing after sliced bread for that one year in Arizona and a little less the next.
McKinstry gets some more Major League pay on the IL before being sent down to AAA to get hot again. It was pretty tough trying to get his lefty bat in the lineup with Doc’s allergy to batting lefties back to back. It’s weird how that doesn’t play against lefties, when everyone with a right handed bat get’s a shot with disregard to any lefty righty ratio to be adhered to.
I guess I can’t complain, it’s working in the early going.
With the Lamb promotion, it looks like the Modus operandi for the Dodgers is to utilize all former big leaguers on minor league contracts while letting those prospects bake a little longer. After all, cuts will be made as many of our better players will eventually come off the 60 day in need of a 40 man roster spot. It’s one thing to cut a vet vying for a comeback as opposed to having to cut loose some trade bait or an otherwise useful player.
DODGERS SELECT JAKE LAMB
LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Dodgers selected the contract of infielder Jake Lamb and placed infielder/outfielder Zach McKinstry on the injured list with neck stiffness.
Lamb, 31, appeared in 61 games for Triple-A Oklahoma City, batting .290 (67-for-231) with 15 homers and 50 RBI. The Former All-Star has been in the Major Leagues parts of eight seasons with Arizona (2014-2020), Oakland (2020), Chicago-Al (2021) and Toronto (2021), hitting a combined .236 with 91 homers and 331 RBI. Last season, he split the season between Chicago and Toronto, slashing .306/.368/.674 with seven homers and 19 RBI in 55 games. He was signed by the Dodgers as a minor league free agent on March 18. He was originally drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the sixth round of the 2012 First Year Player Draft out the University of Washington
McKinstry, 27, appeared in two games since being recalled on June 19 and in six games with the Dodgers, he is batting .143 with a homer and two RBI. With Triple-A Oklahoma City, he was batting .328 (60-for-183) with eight doubles, three homers and 22 RBI in 46 games. In three Major League seasons with the Dodgers, he has hit a combined .218 with 10 doubles, eight homers and 31 RBI. He was originally drafted by the Dodgers in 33rd round of the 2016 First Year Player Draft out of Central Michigan University.
Jake Lamb is coming!
Jake Lamb is on the way to LA. – I am not trying to pull the wool over your eyes!
I am a patient man who does not despair easily, my friends say that I am too patient, I apply my patience to everything including of course baseball, I know that in the game there are unwritten codes, that there are hierarchies and that the history of a player it is respected and I agree with that 100%, that’s how I learned the game, but I confess that my patience is about to run out with Muncy and JT, my bag is about to be filled with stones, I consider that three months of the season are enough to start to try other alternatives.
Muncy is not at 100% health and is only hurting the team and the big leagues is not a good place to recover, he should be demoted to the minor leagues.
With JT, father time is simply taking its toll on him and his place should be on the bench and play from time to time during the week, it is possible that he will have a hot streak and increase his average to .240-.245 and then level off and finish at .225-.230, I am so patient that I would last another month until the trade period but I don’t think there will be an improvement, Muncy is not well but there is hope that he will recover and could return, but he should recover in the minors , for JT his best days are behind him.
8:40 PM ET
Dodgers (45-27)
Rockies (32-42)
SP Clayton Kershaw L
5-1 2.00 ERA 45IP 47K
Confirmed Lineup
SS Trea Turner R
1B F. Freeman L
DH J. Turner R
CF Chris Taylor R
3B Max Muncy L
2B H. Alberto R
RF T. Thompson R
LF Gavin Lux L
C A. Barnes R
Partly-cloudy-day
0% Rain
92° Wind 9 mph L-R
OMG.
This silliness over Freeman is beyond anything I could have imagined.
Can we get back to day-dreaming about call-ups from AA, or lamenting Trevor Bauer?
Freeman wasn’t the only player that had strong emotions with the Dodgers in Atlanta. Jansen might have had his heart pounding as well. Who knows what triggers Jansens’s heart issues.
You’re missing my point. It’s not about the reception he got, that’s all fine and dandy, we’d shower Kershaw with love, I get that.
But at SOME Point you gotta ride with the guys your playing for and say just how happy you are here in LA playing for the greatest franchise in Baseball. Albert a bit different as he knew he wasnt going to be in LA long term.
Im curious to see his first few interviews back in LA.
Again im not in that locker room, so if all is fine there, then I’m cool.
But it just doesnt pass the eye/smell test for me. Just my opinion.
I hope Freddie has a presser when he gets back to LA and shows a little love/loyalty/respect for the team that actually signed him and who hitched their wagon to for 6 years.
I believe the fans, the organization, and his teammates deserve that.
I’m not behind the closed doors but not good optics….maybe I am just overreacting.
“Miguel Vargas could make everyone forget about Hanser… with a quickness.”
Isn’t the knock on Vargas is that he can’t play defense anywhere? Hanser plays above average D all over the infield. Vargas is Willie Calhoun without the tree trunks.
Here’s another prospect the Dodgers gave up for a mediocre reliever.
https://youtu.be/tsj6a4_Tvls
Well if we wake up and win these next two at Coors then it’s a 7-2 road trip. Not bad for a struggling team
I would still rather have Mookie and Trea bat back to back in the lineup and have Lux bring up the rear as the leadoff hitter, once the lineup turns over until they’re ready to show some confidence in him. Ideally, I would like to see this in the second half…
Trea
Lux
Mookie
Freddie
Smith
Belli
Taylor
Muncy
Vargas
Those of you counting on seeing Mookie back “in the near future” are surely optimists by nature.
I’d be extremely surprised if he returns before the All Star break and that’s, what, about another 20 games?
As we’ve already discussed, the Dodger front office ALWAYS underestimates the time that a player will miss due to injury. Mookie is no exception.
Phil –
I agree with you….on both points! The more I see of TT the more impressed I am….
Atlanta Braves’ Kenley Jansen put on IL with irregular heartbeat
With Mookie scheduled to return in the near future, does Doc move him back to lead off? Turner has been great in that spot but will Doc move him back to the 3 hole. I bet he does. I wouldn’t.
Jansen out until after the AS break.
Hope he is ok…
Outman is not nearly the defender Bellinger is. Next year is a long ways away.
Kind of funny that the Braves had an off day yesterday and we had to fly from Atlanta to Colorado after playing on Sunday Night baseball. If I was a gambling man and that would have been a no brainer to take the Rockies last night.
The Dodgers will make a trade just not sure who or what position as the deadline is still a month away. A lot can happen between now and then. Some players could get hot, injured or stay cold. Can’t see Friedman being a non buyer.
Schedule has done us no favors at all.
Late Night game in ATL on Sunday and then a game the next day in CO.
Wednesday, we have a night game and then a game next day in LA. Why would this not be a day game?
In comparison SD plays a day game in AZ Wednesday before going to LA. They also had an off day yesterday.
Not excuses but just pointing it out.
It was a pretty frustrating game last night. Not a lot of hits. Not a lot of K’s. Just a bunch of contact that didn’t quite get the barrel. I’m not surprised that Anderson gave up some runs, I am surprised that we didn’t score any. Just one home run all game. Must be some kind of record for a late June game at Coors. I hate when we play in this park.
I would be pretty surprised if either of the two Mike’s are called up so soon. Miguel and Michael are both performing relatively well, but it’s not like they’re putting up Lux type numbers when he was at AAA and we all saw how that’s been going. A very slow adjustment to MLB pitching. I guess for every Lux, there’s a Puig or Belli who burst onto the scene like nobody thought they would.
While both of the Mikes are doing relatively will at AAA, McKinstry, Alvarez, Lamb, Martin and Pillar have all done better. We’ve seen Alvarez and Pillar already and they haven’t been the answer. Busch is a lefty hitter and plays the same position as Lux. Wouldn’t it make more sense to bring up Lamb, who’s played a lot of 3B, is hitting almost 50 points higher and has a boatload of extra base hits? How about Jason Martin, who’s having his best minor league season by a long shot, who’s also hitting much better than Vargas and Busch and also doesn’t have any question marks tied to his defense? He can go to LF and CT3 could slide over to 3B.
Vargas is a different story. He’s been at AAA all year, hits from the right side and is hitting about the same as Martin, just with a little less power. He’s not putting up Lux numbers, but he’s been really consistent with the bat for his entire minor league career. But, his 12 errors in 490 innings at 3B is pretty horrendous. He’s had just two games and 4 chances in LF so far in his MINOR LEAGUE CAREER! Are they really gonna have him play LF in the bigs with such little experience? Would they play him at 3B with all those errors? Would they sacrifice his development with the glove to get his bat in the DH slot?
I was surprised to hear that V-Gone, Duffy and Kahnle could all be coming back as soon as August. I thought it would be July, especially after Hudson went down. Guys are gonna have to really step up in July. Maybe we’ll get a surprise from someone like Betances or Fulmer, but that just makes more difficult cuts later down the line.
On the bright side, Anderson gave us 6 and we only need two relievers to close out the game. Price and Bickford gave the rest of the pen a night off and CK pitches today, so the pen should be in good shape for the next couple of games if CK can give us some length to his outing.
Time flies! Can you believe that Mookie is eligible to come off the IL as soon as this Friday? Couldn’t come soon enough.
It’s starting to heat up, weather wise in Southern California. Unfortunately, like the Dodgers bats, it’s going to start cooling down again just as the Dodgers come home.
It’s incredible that the Dodgers are as good as they overall offensively with Belli, JT and Max in the tank. Can we expect some steady production from any of these guys at some point this season?
* The best thing about last night was it took 2:19. It was played like everybody was double parked.
* I could see this one coming and Karros described the circumstances perfectly, A Monday night game against a last place team after a late plane flight and an emotional weekend with all the Freddie hoopla. Your mind is saying get going and your body says no way.
* It is the reason many players back in the day took greenies.
Not much more to say. Move on. Play better.
How about giving Jake Lamb a shot? Put him at third and Vargas in left. Taylor goes back to super sub role. I question if Busch is ready right now. And bring Outman up to OKC and get him ready.