Dodger Chatter: Great Lakes Loons Roller-ing
The plight of the Dodgers has many Dodger fans concerned about them playing in the post season. More specifically, not playing in the post season. I tend to think they will make it but don’t lose any sleep over it at night. I have lived through all of the Dodger WS championships and do pine for another. Although I am in good health and questionably sound of mind (it has
The plight of the Dodgers has many Dodger fans concerned about them playing in the post season. More specifically, not playing in the post season. I tend to think they will make it but don’t lose any sleep over it at night. I have lived through all of the Dodger WS championships and do pine for another. Although I am in good health and questionably sound of mind (it has always been questionable) I will enter my ninth decade in a couple of years. So, I would kind of like to get another WS championship on my résumé before too long. The best game ever for me was the seventh game of the 1955 World Series. At that time, without TV, we listened to the afternoon games on radio, often with the permission of our teachers as long as we got our work done. Rather than get too antsy with the current Dodger situation, I take much sustenance from the minor leagues.
Presently the Great Lakes Loons are on a run that is not too dissimilar from their 2016 championship year. A few short weeks ago they were all but dead and lingering at the bottom of their division and the entire league. Now they one game up on the Fort Wayne TinCaps for the second half league lead since both the Lansing Lugnuts and Bowling Green Hot Rods qualified for the play-offs in the first half. The Loons are one-half game ahead of the West Michigan Whitecaps for the second half wildcard spot so they have given themselves two shots at making the play-offs. They are 14-4 in their last 18 games and have seven one-run wins in August.
The Loons do resemble the 2016 squad in that they are getting excellent relief pitching from a number of guys – Stephen Kolek, Melvin Jimenez, Devin Hemmerich, Austin Drury, Bryan Warzek, Darien Nunez and Jasiel Alvino. Warzek, presently on the 7-day DL, might just be a Caleb Ferguson clone or perhaps a left-handed Marshall Kasowski. On the season he has walked four and struck our 34 in 18.1 innings.
Kolek has allowed only two runs in 24.1 innings pitched while Drury has allowed no runs in his 15 innings. In his last 28.2 innings Melvin Jimenez has posted an ERA of 1.26 and a WHIP of 0.66 along with 35 strikeouts and eight walks.
The relief pitchers support a group of young starters who don’t usually go deep into games or are on a pitch/innings counts – Andre Jackson, Alfredo Tavarez, Geraldo Carrillo, Joel Inoa and recently added Jose Chacin. On Wednesday evening Chacin went six innings giving up three hits, one unearned run while striking out eight and walking three. He induced seven ground balls.
The hitters are getting into a routine of timely hits led by shortstop Deacon Liput and pretty much the entire lineup chipping in, not so much with power but putting the ball in play, finding holes and forcing defenders to comment errors. Outfielder Josh McLain has a 12-game hit streak in which he has struck out only once. Outfielder Chris Roller has three walk off hits in the last seventeen games and saved another by throwing out a tying run at home in the bottom of the ninth inning to end the game.
The big likeness to the 2016 squad is that although the team struggled for most of the season they now play with a “can’t lose” mentality overcoming deficits and getting walk-off hits.
The team has had a big turnover during the season with outfielder Romer Cuadrado being the only present Loon who was on the opening day roster.
In Tuesday’s game left-hander John Rooney picked off his fifth base runner in his 14 innings pitched with the Loons. The Loons downed the TinCaps 6-3 on Tuesday and 2-1 on Wednesday on Roller’s walk off hit. The final game of the three-game set against Fort Wayne goes on Thursday.
Right-hander Zach Willeman made his debut with the Loons, in relief, on Tuesday pitching three innings while striking out five and walking none. He was the Dodgers selection in the 19th round of the 2017 First-Year Player Draft out of Kent State University. He is another one of the Dodgers many Tommy John surgery survivors.
In other news:
- The Dodgers have signed Korean right-hander Hyun-Il Choi to a $300K bonus, according to a report from Ilgan Sports (Korean language link; h/t Dan Kurtz of MyKBO.net, on Twitter). Choi, 18, will reportedly receive a $300K bonus to join the Los Angeles organization. It seems the young hurler was viewed as a top amateur draft target for KBO organizations before the Dodgers wooed him across the Pacific. Choi certainly appears to be an intriguing prospect. According to Kim, Choi has a fastball in the low 90s, an impressive velocity for someone at his age. The curve needs work, but has a solid difference in velocity from his heater. Choi also has a respectable changeup with downward movement, a pitch that has a great deal of potential.
- Dennis Santana (shoulder) threw a 30-pitch bullpen session Tuesday according to J.P. Hoornstra of The Orange County Register. The bullpen session was the first mound work the rookie participated in since injuring his rotator cuff in June. Santana was able to touch 90 mph with his fastball, which is understandably off the 92.9 mph average posted in a brief stint in the majors this season. The Dodgers didn’t provide a projected return date for the 22-year-old, but with a rehab process from a lengthy layoff beginning late in August, a return this season appears unlikely.
- Jordan Sheffield has made five appearances with Quakes, in relief, in which he has allowed only two hits, no runs while walking three and striking out five.
Dodger News From Mark Timmons
- Dodgers lose again… Wait that is old news and it’s not fake news.
- Now you are seeing why I said I would not have re-signed Kenley two years ago. Relievers are fickle – good one year, bad the next. That’s part of the reason why FAZ is loathe to give them big money. Not many are worth it. Next year, Scott Alexander may be an All-Star and I am not being sarcastic! Right now, without Kenley the Dodgers are screwed and I don’t know if he can recover….
- But, the pen is not the problem. The problem is still the hitting. When your 2 through 7 hitters go 0’fer, it is criminal… especially when 5 or the 6 have been All-Stars and the other one was in the HR Derby.
- I am not saying Dave Roberts makes all the wrong decisions – it’s just that the only chance this team has to win is to fire Doc and try something new.
- At least Joc hit a bomb!
- Ryu, Fields and Stripling will be up soon…. Hey, maybe they can hit!
- Excuse me while I vomit….
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Discussion (59)
Disagree, not disagreeable
The Dodgers have put themselves in this situation, and I’m not sure they can get themselves out of this mess. The players need to execute with men on base, and Roberts needs to play the best players and give the team a chance to win, he won’t.
Despite a mention in the article that this isn’t a coaching problem, it appears to me that something is wrong about how this team approaches these situations. Clearly there has to be a change in the team philosophy regarding how they approach clutch situations. And that is a problem that has to be addressed by the field manager and coaches, and also the upper echelons of Dodgers management.
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There is some is some individual player responsibility, but for the most part I see this as being the outgrowth of overall team approach.
How many home run hitter do you need on a team the Dodgers just about have one at every position all of us on this board have vented and complained gave their opinions evidently the front office does not read this the Dodgers need to concentrate on pitching defense two maybe three home run hitters the rest contact hitters with speed not until then will there be a change from this year to the next’s.
This article sums up the season and the real problem with this ball club. I believe AC and Dodgerrick have been talking about it continually. Here is the proof.
Per Houston Mitchell of the Times:
“Where the Dodgers rank in the 15-team NL this season in different clutch hitting stats:
Runners in scoring position: 12th (.243)
RISP, two out: 15th (.201)
With men on base: 13th (.244)
Two out, man on second: 9th (.232)
Two out, man on third: 13th (.172)
Two out, first and second: 14th (.185)
Two out, first and third: 4th (.289)
Two out, second and third: 9th (.209)
Two out, bases loaded: 15th (.096)”
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“Dodger reliever ERAs in August
Dylan Floro, 0.90
JT Chargois, 2.70
Kenta Maeda, 3.00
Pedro Baez, 4.15
Daniel Hudson, 4.15
Caleb Ferguson, 6.00
Scott Alexander, 6.75
Kenley Jansen, 7.20
Zac Rosscup, 7.94
Erik Goeddel, 11.57
John Axford, 16.20”
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“I am tired of watching Dodger hitters come up with two out and runners on base and swing for the fences. I am tired of Dodger hitters getting two strikes on them and still swing for the fences. I am tired of Dodger hitters coming up with a man on second and no one out and hitting a fly ball to left field. I am tired of Dodger hitters coming up with the shift on and not adjusting. I am tired of them not seeming to be aware of the situation they are in and still swinging for the fences anyway.”
The season is not over. There’s still a week left in August. We need to right the ship and get on a positive run heading into September. I see no point in looking at the standings and hoping for PHI/COL/MIL/etc. to drop out. We have to win and the rest will take care of itself. Last year everything was going our way and we still didn’t end up on top. This year we just need to qualify for the playoffs and then the real season begins. I’m not going to say we can’t win it all because no team in the NL is dominant and no AL team is unbeatable in a seven game series. Y’all need to read some Winston Churchill quotes about never giving up. We might not win this year but it won’t be because we aren’t trying.
I feel Wood should go to the pen and Stripling start Sunday. The Padres hit Wood last time out and beat him, Stripling fired 6 scoreless against them and he was struggling then. Too important of a game, and in my mind the toughest of the series on paper. I realize nothing is a given right now and as Mark said we can lose on off days. But I just feel the bats will hit tomorrow leading us to victory and Kershaw will get us Saturday’s game. The Sunday game will be our momentum builder or killer, Mark my words!!
Cole Hamels throws a complete game victory tonight. 5 games started for the Cubs…5-0. I stated late May that the Dodgers should look at Hamels at the trade deadline. General response – too expensive; over the hill; too old. Of course Maddon let him throw 114 pitches. Not bad for an old man. Doc would have pulled him at 80 to save him for October.
Nothing like being outside at an Elton tribute band to take my mind away from baseball.
I think there is a 50/50 chance the Dodgers won’t lose tonight.
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Yes, I know they don’t play tonight, but they are so bad there is still the possibility they could lose.
Wow Rockies win with another walk off HR, wonder what that feels like.? They have a favorable schedule down the stretch . Since August 7th not only have we went 4 and 10 with tons of gut wrenching losses, and it seems like the teams around us are continually winning in every way possible. So, with that said and the law of averages, we are do some luck and breaks soon.
I think that the Dodgers have been “losing on purpose” so that we can take a pitcher via waivers since being down in the standing, they have preference, and then in September we will see what this team full of stars and talent can and must do!
Mark, do you think something like that could be true? That is, not lose on purpose as such, but they are not too far away and URGENTLY need help in the bullpen!
Could we get Sandy Koufax to speak to the team and explain what a complete game is for a pitcher? Sandy had more complete games a season than the entire NL this year. Sandy also wasn’t the only pitcher completing what he started!
IMO, the Dodgers need to sweep the Friars this weekend. Time is running out. IF they do not, after Sunday’s game, I would put Kemp, Jansen, and Ryu on waivers. If claimed they can always be pulled back, but if they clear, then they can be traded before next Friday. The road to the playoffs should be very clear by next Friday. I think Ryu gets claimed and will be pulled back, Harvey was claimed, so I would expect Ryu to be as well. Kemp will clear, and Jansen is an unknown, but if claimed, I would pull him back. It is better to negotiate with multiple teams rather than 1. The Dodgers do not make many announcements with respect to waivers, so Kemp may have already been placed on and cleared waivers.
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After watching Jansen multiple times this year, I am not convinced that his cutter is an effective pitch right now. But I also am not a pitching coach and cannot state unequivocally that he has lost the cutter. It is just my eyes compared to prior years. Then again maybe it’s my eyes.
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Gio , Wieters, and Zimmerman all cleared waivers for the Nats, and at least one will go (probably Gio). Mark Reynolds was also placed on waivers, but the Braves claimed him and Reynolds was pulled back. The Nats have now pulled Harper and Reynolds off waivers.
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McCutcheon has now cleared waivers, and is waiting to see where he is going to be traded.
Well said Mark, thx for allowing us to get our anger out here, and be patient in our jobs especially those in management of 20 something’s. I can vent on 20 something’s here and be much more patient at work. 🙂
As angry as I am at this club’s play, I have to believe that if we play like we did the last three days minus the Jansen implosions we will sweep the Padres and maybe the Rangers as well. There pitching is no where near the Cardinals so our RISP has to be better and our pitching only gave up 13 runs in 3 games. If we can win 5 in a row we may be only like 2 back going into the AZ series and then 3 out 4 could put us right there going into September and I would even argue favorites again to win the division. A tall task but possible.
😉
I am not angry and if you say I am, I’ll beat the hell out of you.
A frustrated, angry fan sees baseball this way?
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A hero is a hitter that hits a weak ground ball that finds it’s way into the outfield.
A hero is a hitter that bloops a ball just out of reach of the infielders and drops in the outfield.
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A choker hits a ground ball that an infielder makes a diving catch for and throws them out.
A choker is a hitter that hits a ball 100+ mph directly to a fielder.
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There is no difference between a player that puts the ball in play for an out and a player that strikes out. It is either a hit and an RBI or it isn’t.
Watford, I was thinking pretty much the same thing last night, which culminated in Taylor never moving the bat off his shoulder in the 9th. But if I recall correctly, it wasn’t much different with the hitters that preceded him.
AC, I agree that Verdugo is probably not the long term solution at leadoff. In fact, I see him as being a #2 guy. But for now he is probably the best solution.
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I don’t know enough about Locastro to have come to any conclusions about him.
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As for Toles, I don’t think he is anything more than a 4th outfielder. His best tool is his speed, but even that is limited by the fact that he doesn’t get on base enough to use it to maximum advantage, and certainly he’s certainly not a talented base stealer.
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Admittedly, Toles has had only limited opportunities with the Dodgers the last two years, when he had OBP’s of .314 and .292, respectively. He had a .365 OBP in 2016, but that was also in limited play., and I believe that since then his vulnerability to anything that’s not a fastball, had been exposed.
I just don’t understand how the chemistry of this team can get so jacked up by adding two Allstars. Who went around and taught them all how not to hit? Buehler pitched his a$$ off last night and again, no run support. I feel like this team is the Washington Nationals West.
I cannot understand the fascination with Andrew Toles. If anything, he is NOT a lead-off hitter. His 49K are in only 236 AB. And he has drawn only 11 BB. And I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, Toles is a dead fastball hitter who is vulnerable to breaking and offspeed stuff.
Locastro – 273 AB, 25 BB, and 44K
Verdugo – 316 AB, 28 BB, and 44 K
The player with the best stats among the three is the 22 year old Verdugo. Both Locastro and Toles are 4 years older.
I am not an advocate for Joc or Dozier or CT3 leading off for LAD. None have worked. However, with this HR or K lineup that Doc has been saddled with, who leads off. While I would be screaming for a leadoff hitter if I were Doc, he doesn’t have the power to get one. There are three players at OKC that I would be more than willing to give a shot at leadoff…
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1 – Tim Locastro – .297/.400/.436/.836 only 44 K
2 – Alex Verdugo – .335/.390/.481/.871 only 44 K
3 – Andrew Toles – .314/.352/.462/.814 only 49 K
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By the way, Kyle Farmer started at SS last night. Can we start to think of Kyle Farmer as the utility over Kike’? Or Locastro?
Maybe this is what the team needs Doc to do:
We’ve entered the blizzard world. Who would guess that Pedro Baez would be shutting down other teams and Kenley would be giving up 3 home runs in two games.