Change is Inevitable, BUT…
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…
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
More from Dodger Talk
Dodgers Food Trailer
I did this interview a couple of weeks ago with Chef Mike, who runs the Dodgers Food Trailer for the Great Lakes Loons. They are there for every home and road regular season and playoff game. They prepare three meals a day for approximately 50 people (players and coaches). Since games end late most evenings, they do not prepare breakfast. Many of their hotels have a complimentary breakfast anyway. However,…
Meet LAD 2026 Draft Picks 1-12
3 picks were High School players (2 SS and 1 OF). There was a college OF, college catcher, college SS, and 10 college pitchers. Of all the talk for a need for a catcher, the only catcher the Dodgers selected was Luke Bard, son of LAD bullpen coach Josh Bard. Bard was a 4th year senior from Houston Christian University. He is not a prospect, so the Dodgers are still…
Interview with Paul Beachy – Team Bus Driver For The Great Lakes Loons (LA Dodgers Minor League Team)
It’s been a few days since I did this interview. We have evidently been working my son-in-law (the video guy) like a rented mule at US Water Systems. However, I am taking him to London with me in a few days, so maybe Watford will buy him a pint as a tip, but he’s a dang Red Sox fan, so there is that! I thought that it would be interesting…
Thanks for Your Service: Chris Taylor
I was going to do this post when Chris announced he was retiring, then he changed his mind, but since the chances of him ever playing for the Dodgers again are slim and non-existent, I will go ahead with this post. He unretired, went on the IL, then decided to call it quits on May 24th. Taylor was born in Virginia Beach VA on August 29th, 1990. He attended Great…
Discussion (71)
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.
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.