Could the Dodgers Stand Pat?

Was at game last week! Wonderful atmosphere and beautiful ballpark! Wonderful win ! My nine year old grandson commented why is muncy hitting cleanup? He finally swung at a first pitch! (He whiffed) couldn’t tell for sure but looked like Emmit was getting squeezed a little. Saw Will smack his glove on the ground a couple times on no strike calls. Back tonight , grove needs to get them thru 5-6 innings. Good pickup for Friedman with Brasier! Need Nolan at 3rd!

The reason the Dodgers have been on a hot streak is simple. The bullpen now has been nails and not giving up late leads. Bellinger had two more hits in last nights Cub’s loss. Biggest rumor still has him going to the Yankees. He likes Chicago and like Stroman would love to stay there. Ohtani hit #35 last night. Boone getting roasted for pitching to him.

It is time to cut bait on Barnes. He, as Lasorda would say, couldn’t hit water if he fell out of a boat. He is one for his last 16 with 6 K’s. He has driven in 5 runs all year. He is a 1.1 minus WAR player. At least last season he added some pop to the lineup. So, the pitchers get mad, big whoopee. They need production from that spot in the order when Smith is getting a blow. Here is a little tidbit I picked up last night watching DC win their game. Keibert Ruiz has allowed 72 stolen bases when he is catching. The most in the majors.

My final rant is on Max Muncy. Everyone praises his OPS because he draws a lot of walks. But walks rarely drive in runs. Max is healthy now. He is batting in an RBI position in the lineup. He has 53 runs batted in, most of those came early in the season when he was hot. I would like to see how many rallies he has killed with strikeouts, and how many men he has left on base. He has already struck out 87 times in 259 at bats. He is hitting a combined 194.5 over his last two seasons. How much longer can the Dodgers keep this guy in the four hole when he is a black hole in the lineup? I put Martinez in that slot and leave him there. to hell with this left right left right BS.

And I had to follow on MLB Gameday and listen to some on the radio.

How O’s games are blacked out in NC Makes zero sense. MLB needs to change these blackout rules.

Great win. For the Grandpa out there that went give us a report, must have been a blast, congrats!!

Kudos to Sheehan. He could have imploded. But he kept his cool and kept us in the game… A great learning experience…

Bullpen to jaded, dodger fans………. HOW DO YOU LIKE ME NOW !!!!!!!!!

That, kids, was a really nice team W

Orioles were one low and away slider to Taylor from a win!

We’re the favorites as is

As of today, the Dodgers have not signed any of their draft picks.

1. The Orioles, like the Reds and Diamondbacks, are loaded with young talent. Drafting in the top ten for several years in a row makes a difference. They deserve credit for hitting on those picks and developing them. Dodgers have a lot of depth in their system but do not appear to have the top end prospects those organizations have. Each of them have more on the way. Impressive young teams.

2. I think I read where Sheehan is going to bump up against that “ceiling” for innings pitched in a season before too long. He threw 68 innings last year and is at 80 innings this year. Done an admirable job considering he skipped AAA but he would likely be replaced if/when they acquire another starter.

3. This is not the team nor the season to sell off top prospects. There are not a lot of difference makers on the market – especially pitchers. I think with the acquisition of a starter (rental) like Giolito, Flaherty, Hendricks, or Montgomery and a right handed bat (Grichuk, Pham could be had cheaply) they would be favorites to win the West. Winning the West keeps them out of a one game playoff and gives them a legitimate shot to get to NLCS. Like many of you, I do believe success in the MLB playoffs has a randomness to it – a crapshoot, Stay out of Wild Card, win the West, take your chances.

4. With Vesia and Almonte showing signs of the regaining the success they had last year – that bullpen has become six deep. Phillips, Ferguson, Graterol, Brasier, Vesia, and Almonte.

I think I like the Orioles.

THey really went through some extended horrible times, but this team is fun to watch.

CT3!!!!!!! But my goodness, what horrible pitch selection by Orioles. How can you not throw Taylor a down and away slider 0-2? It’s his kryptonite!!

Orel really called it with the difference with Rodriquez when he has to pitch out of the stretch.

If anyone thinks for a second the Dodgers will go late into the season/post season with Miller, Grove, Sheehan in the starting rotation, especially after seeing Sheehan’s shaky performance tonight, is a moron and in need of a vaccine.

That doesn’t mean I don’t want them to succeed, or that I don’t want them to have a long and successful Dodger career, it doesn’t mean I don’t think the Dodgers are bad at developing talent, it doesn’t me I don’t love the Dodgers, it doesn’t mean I’m opposed to young/rookie talent, but it does mean I want them to win a WS and three rookies in the rotation during a pennant race is a recipe for disaster and AF knows it.

I’ve seen enough of Sheehan. He needs more seasoning at OKC. He needs to improve his slider, better command of his change and fastball and please more first pitch strikes. And until Outman can cure his constant swing and miss, his ceiling is an average mlb outfielder

Did any of you see Devin Mann’s home run?

Did any of you see Devin Mann’s home run?

Where Muncy bats pales in comparison to if he bats!

While everyone seems to be ragging on Max and saying he should be moved from the clean-up spot, here’s a stat to consider:

His OBP over the past 30 days is a solid .355, which is slightly higher than Freddie’s and Will’s. (Mookie’s is .439, but he’s in a separate galaxy right now.) Max’s power is a bit down, however, with a OPS at .755.

If Roberts wants to try a different guy in clean-up, Heyward might be the best option. He’s been pretty hot over the past month: a .306 BA, a .390 OBP, and .859 OPS.

7:05 PM ET

Dodgers (53-39)

Orioles (57-35)

SP Emmet Sheehan R

2-0 4.35 ERA

SP G. Rodriguez R

2-2 7.35 ERA

Confirmed Lineup

2B Mookie Betts R

1B F. Freeman L

C Will Smith R

3B Max Muncy L

DH J. Martinez R

LF D. Peralta L

RF J. Heyward L

SS Chris Taylor R

CF James Outman L

87° Wind 8 mph Out

Kershaw to undergo an MRI on the shoulder?

Great!

The Dodgers PR machine strikes again.

“Are we saving starters out of fear of injury? Are we keeping then “ fresh” for September?”

Yes and yes.

* I never could find a TV broadcast of the game yesterday. MLB Extra Innings apparently didn’t carry the game again for reasons unknown to me. I’m blacked out from Sports Net LA since I’m a close 1000 miles away from the stadium. Of course, I missed the games on Apple+ as well.

Can’t find a radio broadcast on-line either. I’m out of the listeners area. So, I’m too close to watch and too far away to listen.

For the expense of my MLB Package, I’m missing too many games and I’m pissed off.

I really wanted to see Scherzer and Bobby Miller and the match up didn’t disappoint. A real pitchers duel.

I “watched it” on ESPN game cast with some jazz playing in the background. Kinda fun actually. I felt like a kid again listening on the radio to games with my imagination presenting all the visuals. My mind could fill in all the details from the pitch by pitch information. I don’t want to make a habit out of it but it was kinda fun.

* I’m sure somebody has ways to stream games and get the audio somehow, but I don’t really care to know. I pay good money to watch games and that should be good enough without being a video Sherlock Holmes. I want to turn on my TV and have the games without going on a snipe hunt.

* It gave me plenty of time to second guess decisions, waiting for the next pitch and the results to pop up on the computer screen. I had such hope for Outman to get a hit in the 9th after Taylor’s nice double. Not to be. We couldn’t seem to get a timely knock.

* Muncy is just killing us in the 3 or 4 hole. Again taking hittable pitches, getting behind in counts and striking out too much. Move his ass down in the order. Better yet, call Mann up somehow and let him platoon at 3rd.

* I’m critical of Doc recently after being easy on him all year. In the last 3 games, we had 3 outstanding starts from Urias, Gonsolin and Miller, for 2 wins.

My question is why has each outing been cut short? We were around 83 pitches per outing. Now, since the break, it’s 72 pitches per outing with NO bad starts.

Urias had 6 innings and 85 stress free pitches.

Gonzo pitch count only 54 pitches in 5 innings on Saturday. Tony has only gotten to 90 pitches in 4 of his 14 starts.

And Miller’s pitch count was 77 in 4.2, by far his lowest total in his 9 starts.

Are we saving starters out of fear of injury? Are we keeping then “ fresh” for September? Is that what’s going on?

I’m good with not overtaxing the starters but 72 pitches and calling it a day? That’s a bullpen session. You get what you ask for from players. We are 3 1/2 months into the season and we asking starters to go 5 innings and 72 pitches. Show me the science that supports such caution.

For no reason that I can see, Doc/the Wizard are relying exclusively on our bullpen which has been great but seems to me to be the NLF. That’s Not For Long, when they have to cover 3 or 4 innings a game. And Duke says we need bullpen help.

Doc is just in his element when he can change pitchers every inning after the 5th.

* I have said this before and I will repeat it – for Barnes to help his team and be an asset, he needs to be the best bunter in the league. He can’t hit so spend quality time learning and practicing, the bunt.

I have largely abandon talking about the bunt because we don’t do it. But I swear there are critical times (like yesterday) when it’s the right play, ESPECIALLY during playoff baseball games. And you just can’t start doing it in the 8th inning of an elimination game. Practice it during the season!

A nice little sac bunt in the top of the 8th with runners on 1st and 2nd and no outs would have kept Barnes in the game and saved Smith to pinch hit later, as needed.

Instead Smith pinch hit and nicely moved one of the runners to 3rd with a fly ball. Nice job but I’d take a sac bunt moving both runners up.

I know, it will never happen and I’ve practically abandoned think about it, but I still believe that play is in order.

* We had our chances. Just didn’t get it done. I’m sure it was a great game to watch. I wish I had.

I don’t think we are even looking at BP pieces. A good quality RH OF would be nice, but not necessary and I wouldn’t want to give up any prospects for what is out there right now unless it’s a surprise player that hits 280-300. Starting pitching is I’m sure where we’re looking, but is a 3rd tier guy really going help??? Arenado would help and I would love to have a 4 year younger version on this team, but he wouldn’t put us over the edge right now. I think if we stay pat it just tells you a lot about our plans for going after Ohtani. Reset the payroll tax throw $500 mil at Ohtani and hope Buehler and May come back strong. That is enough to get us back to the WS.

Everyone seems to assume that Kershaw will be back good as new in few weeks. The first report was that he wasn’t even going to miss one start. So until I see him back pitching I assume he isn’t back on roster.