Dodgers MiLB Teams Go 4-0

Kim’s versatility showed in LF last night. Great catch. Pages again. Ohtani no hits , 6 innings, hits a homer and he was pissed at his performance. Wow.

It opens up a spot on the 40 man roster,only if Teo goes on the 60 Day roster or if they move Kiki to the 60 Day roster.

That does sound bad.

Kike certainly made the most of his too-brief return. He’s batting 1.000, 4 for 4 with a HR and two doubles.

And then Teo comes up lame. “The Hernandez Brothers” head to the IL.

The silver lining, perhaps, is that Kim will get more of test in the UT role. He made a nice debut in LF, with a terrific catch, and he also contributed on offense. And Alex Freeland did a nice job in his return too….

When Tommy Edman returns, who will be sent back to OKC?

Ever hear about the gay Irish teammates ?

Patrick Fitzgerald and Gerald Fitzpatrick.

I’ll see myself out too…

It won’t happen this season… but I hope AF & Associates have their eye on the Brewers’ Misiorowski.

The Miz is a starter but he reminds me a bit of Mason Miller, but with even more velo. When these guys are on, it’s total domination.

Another similarity: The A’s were never going to pay the market rate for Miller. At some point, they were going to trade him. I wanted AF to overpay for Miller–but the Pads got him instead. Opportunity lost. So AF wound up overpaying for Edwin Diaz. Oh well.

Milwaukee won’t be able to afford The Miz as his salary rises in arbitration. It’s just a matter of time, I think, before the Brewers start entertaining bids.

He’ll wind up on a big market team.

Couldn’t they just send the dog down to Great Lakes? Or more training in Arizona?

Experimental defense.

If Teo is out for a while, Suwinski makes a lot of sense.

Well that really sucks…

Why didn’t Tucker play today?

Was he just tuckered out?

Who do you blame?

The person who should have been holding the dog’s collar.

A damn shame.

Underrated comment.

I had to sue State Farm over a house issue.

We moved to Amica for car and house and have had nothing but a great experience. Recently there was water damage and our entire house’s hard wood floors ended up being replaced!

The paid for all of that, a month in a new house and some work on my homes foundation.

Freeland is a very good player, but Corey Seager he is not.

I doubt it. Two players on the 40-man who are not on the active roster but have outfield experience are Ryan Ward and Alex Tomas, who is down in Arizona. Now, they can place Teo on the IL and that opens a spot on the 40-man, but I am pretty certain they do not feel Tibbs is ready for prime time. Players on the AAA roster with time in the outfield in the majors, Tyler Fitzgerald who played there some for the Giants a couple of years ago and Jack Suwinski, who is a legitimate power hitter. Tibbs is not on the 40-man roster.

MLBPA does not control that, they cannot lock themselves out. That is in the hands of the owners. Now at least we know what the MLBPA wants. 1-million-dollar minimum salary is one of their proposals. Most of what they want benefits their members.

Karros was trippin’

Did they post the lockout date?

The MLBPA announced their proposal for the new CBA. Read the MLBTR post for more information.

Verdugo is undergoing shoulder surgery. He won’t be doing anything baseball for a while.

MLBTR said a while ago that he has a significant tear in his oblique. His career as a Dodger could be over.

Lauer did it to LA last year in game 3 of the World Series or don’t you remember? He is the kind of guy who relies on location. Let him pitch in a few before you pooh-pooh his work. He doesn’t need to impress anyone. He just needs to win.

Thanks Dad. I am with Progressive right now but seriously considering going back with USAA. The Hartford was pretty good, but I am no longer a member of AARP.

But the kid plays a mean 2B

So Ohtani mediocre against a bad team is a home run and a no hitter thru 6. Insane!

Then you need glasses!

.147 BABIP is bad luck.

“So, by definition, a 108 mph line drive to the third baseman would not be a barrel.”

No, it’s not a barrel. It’s called an Out.

With the injury to Teoscar, will The dodgers call up Tibbs lll.

The new market inefficiency

Probably. Seager was a monster.

Am I the only one that see Freeland looking like Corey Seager swinging the bat.

No Short Stop?

#Dodgers Lineup vs #Rockies RHP, Sugano:

Ohtani DH/SP

Pages CF

Freeman 1B

Betts RF

Muncy 3B

T. Hernandez LF

Smith C

Call RF

Freeland 2B

He should have seen a proctologist!

Someone picking up Freeland at LAX? Manchester is faster than Jefferson.

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/25431487-dodgers-milb-bat-dog-program-reportedly-be-suspended-after-star-prospect-kendall-georges-injury

Just a shame for poor George!

According to MLB Trade Rumors, Roberts has said that Kike has “a significant tear” of his left oblique. Sounds like he’s gonna be out a while.

Still waiting on the confirmed lineup to be posted.

I’m a bit surprised that Alex Verdugo hasn’t tried to come back as a pitcher. My understanding is when he was drafted teams were wanting to pitch. Of course LA thought a better idea would be as a hitter. Turns out that the best decision may have been a shrink.

Totally agree.

I’m in the Dusty Baker’s camp when said he wasn’t interested in exit velocity ; he was interested in exit hits.

4.5 after LA wins tonight. Machado is hitting .173. His OPS+ is 74. Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy. Tatis Jr. at .259 without a homer. His OPS+ is just 82. More surprising is Jackson Merrill. He is hitting .194, OPS+ 63

Tuck is barely league average. He needs to step it up BIG time.

Depends on the grade of the strain. Muncy was out 3 months with his.

Any final word on the bat-retrieving dog? I hope he too is okay.

He got fired but I hope he was reassigned to more normal retrieving duties. I’m a dog lover and think the poor dog was just doing what he was trained to do for the pleasure of the fans. The incident was unfortunate but stuff happens. Things could have been worse for Dusty’s Baker’s then 4 year-old which too was a poor decision.

I think the bat-dogs are cute but I’m sorry about George’s injury.

Keekay will be out a while.

I wasn’t particularly impressed with Lauer. He threw a lot of 91 MPH center cut fastballs. Try doing that to the Phillies for example and we won’t like the outcome. If he keeps it elevated it plays. I agreed with Karros last night that the curve looked good. I think he should throw the cutter more although I know it’s been hit hard this year. Will he be good enough to get them by while waiting for one of the Dodger wounded to return? We can hope.

I have thought that Mookie had been hitting the ball pretty hard before last night but hitting too many easy fly balls. We won’t know if he’s “fixed” until we know. Too many guys (Freddie, Will, Tucker) just not hitting consistently. They show flashes, but that’s all.

I’m not impressed with Tucker. He has a long swing and a big hole or two. He’s been a little better lately. He has an impossible contract to live up to and he’s not living up to it.

Given the quality of pitching and the number of guys who have won frequently, I still like their chances. Right now the Braves look like the team to beat in the NL and the Yankees in the AL.

Good for you Bear! I have been with State Farm since I started driving. Never thought about switching. Probably never will.

I guess Kike swung the bat too good! What a bad break for him and the Dodgers! They could use more offense in that lineup!

Saw the Yankees had all nine starters with at least 2 hits yesterday. Have the Dodgers had a game where all nine hitters had one hit? I don’t think so.

It was the Rockies, but I thought Laurer looked pretty good last night. 4 hits, one run. I’ll take it! Rojas’ fastball was terrible last night. His off speed stuff was faster than his fastball! Send him down!

Is there a nicer guy in baseball than Freddie Freeman? I’m sure there are some really nice guys,but Freddie is the “one “.

Is Donny Baseball that much better than rob Thompson? Or had thompson just lost the clubhouse? Don’t ever see Doc losing his clubhouse!

I really hope Freeland hits! His defense is exceptional. His bat at the major league level has been less than average. Time ain’t running out, but his opportunity is not going to last forever with the Dodgers.

With all the talk about Skubal, I would rather have Joe Ryan from the Twins. Not that they need either one, but it sure looks like the tigers could move Skubal. The Mets might be interested, but they are a total mess right now. The Soto shuffle has turned into the Soto curse! They can have him! Maybe the Tigers should make a managerial change too! The trash can has left the building!

Dustin May was sharp today! Was hoping he could get that no no!not convinced he is fixed, but nice to see him pitch well.

Please tell me the Dodgers/ Phillies game is not on Apple TV Friday!!!! The ruination of tv baseball is ongoing! First , bad broadcasters. Second, streaming. Third, commercials! They should do “ring” girls like boxing!!!

Dodgers 9, Rockies 2. Ohtani 7 innings. 1 run. 11 k’s

The Padres continue to fade as they just got shutout for the second day in a 3 game sweep by the Phillies 3-0 and are now 4 games back of the Dodgers.

The Los Angeles Dodgers’ Double-A affiliate in Tulsa is reportedly planning to stop letting dogs retrieve discarded bats at certain games after an injury to a star prospect.

The California Post’s Jack Harris reported Wednesday that the Tulsa Drillers “are planning to suspend their bat dog program” after outfielder Kendall George suffered an apparent knee injury while dodging a dog during a Tuesday game against Northwest Arkansas.

The Dodgers fear that George “suffered a moderate patellar injury” while jumping away from the dog as he jogged back to the dugout, Harris reported. The Drillers have used bat-retrieving dogs for the last five seasons. The team has suspended the program “for the immediate future.”

The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya and Jesús Cano reported Tuesday the Dodgers were “not that optimistic” about George’s knee after initial imaging. The Dodgers are still waiting for final results of testing on his George’s, per Adraya, Cano and Harris.

Morales has to be in there

Barrels are overrated.

Somebody mentioned barrels recently.

Not knowing what is actually considered a barrel, I looked it up:

“To be Barreled, a batted ball requires an exit velocity of at least 98 mph. At that speed, balls struck with a launch angle between 26-30 degrees always garner Barreled classification. For every mph over 98, the range of launch angles expands.

For example: A ball traveling 99 mph always earns ‘Barreled’ status when struck between 25-31 degrees. Add one more mph — to reach 100 — and the range grows another three degrees, to 24-33.

Every additional mph over 100 increases the range another two to three degrees until an exit velocity of 116 mph is reached. At that threshold, the Barreled designation is assigned to any ball with a launch angle between eight and 50 degrees.”

Then I looked up the launch angle of a line drive. According to Baseball Savant it is 10-25 degrees.

So, by definition, a 108 mph line drive to the third baseman would not be a barrel.

I beg to differ.

Obvi 🙂

“when he’s in a small sample rough spot”

But that’s just it – it’s NOT a small sample rough spot. Four of the six months of 2025 he kinda sucked. Then in 3 of the 4 post season series in ‘25 he sucked. And now this year he has sucked. That ain’t bad luck, that’s bad baseball.

I hope he snaps out of it. We all do. Maybe last night is the sign he has. Maybe.

Got a notice from Allstate, my claim should be settled by Friday. Copart sent me back my Veterans plates from my truck.

Andrew McCutcheon was DFAd by the Rangers. Angels DFAd Matt Lugo. Twins moving Brooks Lee to third. Tigers traded Connor Sebold to the Jays for LHP, Juanni Vasquez. Sebold was DFAd a few days ago. Royals DFAd LHP Bailey Falter. Royals sent catcher, Elias Diaz outright to AAA Omaha. Blue jays agreed to a minor league deal with reliever Matt Bowman. Angels signed Alex Faedo to a minor league deal, he is being sent to AAA Salt Lake. Former Braves 3rd baseman, Bob Hoerner passed away at the age of 68. RIP Bob. Hoerner was part of the 2006, College Baseball Hall of Fame class. Austin Slater signed a minor league contract with the Rays. Braves resigned Jose Azocar to a minor league deal.

Muncy is starting tonight according to the Doc.

Both Fitzgerald’s have been playing well, Ryan and Tyler. Tyler has more MLB experience than most.

Nope.

I would venture a guess Jeff, that if Freeland does well, then when Edman is activated, Kim gets sent to the minors. It gives LA two players who can play against lefties or righties. Kim is not that guy, and his production is not eye popping at all. And remember, they have Alex Tomas down in Arizona should Call or Teo get hurt.

Karros alluded to that last night. At high speed he may not have time to get his hands up resulting in a lot of pop up’s.

Before we get too excited about Mookie, Freeland is left handed and throwing 90 mph fatballs. Let’s see how Mookie does against 95+ mph fastballs. Hopefully the correction of his hand position stops all the soft fly balls to center and right.

Good for Freeland. Let’s hope he brought his OKC OPS with him! Tough break for Kike

Whatever Taylor wanted done ,no problem.

With Muncy still questionable, you need someone to play 3B.

Freeland is that guy.

I thought he changed his name to Travis Swift.

“Who else do you blame except the dog?”

The dumbshit that came up with the idea, the dog was following training.

No. It will be Freeland.

Tyler Fitzgerald would me my guess

Freddie Freeman recently spoke on his updated retirement plans after he and his wife, Chelsea, welcomed their first daughter into the family last month. Freeman originally wanted to play until he turned 40, but after the birth of his fourth child, things may change for the 36-year-old future Hall of Famer.

“Evan Phillips is facing batters in Arizona on Friday and again at Chase Field when the Dodgers begin their series against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday. From there, he would report to Triple-A Oklahoma City for the start of a rehab assignment.

Whenever Phillips begins his rehab assignment, MLB rules allow for a pitcher to remain on one for a maximum of 30 days. The Dodgers will certainly prioritize health and a prudent process, but the state of their bullpen theoretically could determine of Phillips’ rehab assignment is perhaps closer to 20 days as opposed to the full period allotted”.

Will Smith’s problem last season when he slumped and probably this season, is that his back elbow was not high enough. He hit a couple of balls really hard last night.

Doc said Mookie’s biggest problem was that he had no confidence at the plate. Last night should help that a ton. Is he back? Remains to be seen.

Minority, they did not state the percentage.

I’ve been saying for two years that Mookie’s hands are too low and he drops them when he loads. Finally the announcers said last night that was what they were trying to fix. If your hands aren’t higher than the ball it will be either a strikeout or a pop out. We’ve seen plenty of weak pop outs/fly outs by Mookie the last two years.

With Los Angeles Dodgers utility player Kiké Hernández being put back on the injured list with a strained oblique, a roster spot has opened up.

The Dodgers have elected to bring back up a player recently sent down to the Triple-A Oklahoma City Comets: Alex Freeland.

What he said!*

Exactly and I would think about suing if I’m George.

I hope you are right. I am aware of what has and is happening. The cause? Remains to be seen. If he can put up a .775 OPS, he’s an asset, but not at #2.

We’ll leave the light on for you….

So, his breakout game yesterday is going to quiet a lot of the chatter, but I was glossing through the comments the past several days and there was an awful lot of hand wringing over Mookie’s poor output so far. Lots of comments about his age, inevitable decline, trading him, moving him down in the order, lamentations about how poorly his contract is going to age, low exit velocity and bat speed, etc.

Did people notice his BABIP? That’s Batting Average Ball In Play. For the league and for most players, it hovers around .300. It’s a quick way to determine if someone is suffering from good or bad luck and will return to the mean at some point. Pages’s was over .400 for a time when he was hitting out of his mind. It’s come down a bit, but is still a little high. I don’t think Pages will continue at this current pace, but he is doing great.

Betts, even with yesterday’s breakout game, has a BABIP of .147. That’s absurdly low. It suggests he’s been suffering from a lot of bad luck.

But wait, you say! Maybe his geriatric 33 years and age related decline are causing him to induce weak contact, thus depressing his BABIP? What if it isn’t bad luck and is a true measure of his inexorable decline into bottom of the batting order insignificance.

That occured to me, too, actually. So I looked at his Barrel % – what are the percentage of balls he squares up on and hits hard and on the button. His Barrel % is a little above 10%. This is better than both 2024 and 2025, and well within his historical normative range, though not quite up to his outlier MVP years like 2018 or his phenomenal 2023. It’s still good, though.

And and as for his apparently low exit velocity, it’s 90.8 mph, which is right in line with his career average, and better than 2024 (89.9) and 2025 (89.1). He managed over 92 in 2018, but he also was a 10 WAR player and was an MVP.

As for xwOBA, it’s .328, which is slightly lower than his historical average, but better than last year.

He’s had productive at bats – better than the last two years – but they just haven’t resulted in hits.

Now, is he going to have seasons like he did in 2018, or maybe even 2023? Not this year, and probably not ever. But also he was a right fielder during those peak career years. He plays above average defense at at a premium defensive position where high offensive production is comparatively rare in relation to right field. That makes him more valuable.

Even if you anticipate a lower, but still respectable offensive output of around 120-140 wRC+, .265 BA and 20-25 home runs, and about 30 games where he’s on the IL, he’s still an extremely valuable player. That puts him as a comp to Francisco Lindor, who’s pretty good, and definitely a top five SS in baseball.

I’d say he’s still worth $32 mil.

The Dodgers are not going to drop him to the bottom of the batting order or bench him because:

1. He’s still having productive at bats relative to his career norms, even if the surface results aren’t there yet.

2. The Dodgers have shown a past predilection and can afford to let established veterans work through issues. They don’t overreact to small sample size tends like random people on blog comment sections do – thank God!

The Dodgers are really REALLY good. They’re #1 in runs scored, #1 in team wRC+, #1 in team ERA, #1 in aggregate pitching WAR, and even #2 in defense. They don’t need to panic and do something with Mookie when he’s in a small sample rough spot. They’re going to let him play and not worry.

I suggest everyone else not worry.

I’ll see myself out.

How much did he invest and what is his % of ownership?

Wednesday’s Dodger Affiliates’ Schedule

4:05 p.m. PT: Great Lakes (Zach Root) at Dayton (Reynardo Cruz)

5:00 p.m. PT: Tulsa (Payton Martin) vs. NW Arkansas (Drew Beam)

5:05 p.m. PT: Oklahoma City (Jackson Ferris) at Sugar Land (Colton Gordon)

6:35 p.m. PT: Ontario (TBD) vs. Visalia (Wilkin Paredes)

Mookie!Kiki! Andy! A beautiful ballgame spoiled by an ugly position player unnecessarily relieving! We have plenty of pitching, The offense returns, even tho it’s the Rocks!

The Dog has to have a handler. It’s not the Dog’s fault. The handler should not have released the hound until everyone was done running. Operator error!

Will they call him up? He’s NOT on the 40 man roster.

Travis Kelce purchased a minority ownership in the Cleveland Guardians. Wonder if he got the money from Taylor? Cleveland is his hometown team. Cubs doing their best 1962 Mets imitation. Have now lost 10 in a row.

Padres lost to Phillies 4-3, so LA now 3.5 games in front. Phillies hit 3 solo homers to score their first 3 runs.

I simply do not like it. How is getting 3 outs going to increase the workload on the bullpen. If you are a position player coming in to pitch, throw the damn ball like you would if you were in the field. Sometimes the matchups are amusing, like when Rizzo struck out Freddie when he was with Atlanta. But most of the time, IMHO< they cheapen the game.

Ohtani is making his start against the Rockies tonight. It is still up in the air whether or not he will hit.

Not the Dodgers idea Cassidy. They are on the road in Round Rock Texas. That is the minor leagues teams idea.

I don’t blame the dog; he was only doing what he was trained to do. I do though blame the moron who came up with the idea to have a dog retrieve bats.

Put it down humanely. Offer it a dog biscuit before it dies. It is the only way forward.

Don’t blame the dog. I blame the Dodgers. Stupid idea

Didnt look that bad, freak things happen….I would not blame the dog….

Certainly a knee injury can happen on any play, but not like this. He had to jump over a dog charging out of the dugout to retrieve a bat. Who else do you blame except the dog?

Per Fabian Ardaya, Kendall George underwent imaging on his knee following his removal of the game trying to avoid impact with the bat dog. Initial testing was not that “optimistic” but there are still official results pending.

Here is the play:

https://x.com/js9inningsmedia/status/2059332650343464981?s=20

While I am a Freeland fan, there is a RH hitting middle infielder in OKC…Noah Miller.

Lets not blame the dog. That could have happened on ANY play.

Hopefully he is fine….

Thanks for the info Cassidy. That is a bummer.

A Dayton dog! Wish I could join you for that mesl

Kendall George at Tulsa. Last night he injured his knee jumping to get out of the way of a dog retrieving a bat. Early prognosis looks bad!

I have to admit, I turned the game off when it became a blowout and the 10 run rule should have been in effect.

Cassidy, who’s George and what happened?

Just a shame for George. Breakout year and he gets injured over some gimmicky Dodger stunt! For him a serious knee injury could be career ending!

2 at bats? That’s it?

One Freeland has an ERA over 8. The other has a .646 OPS. Oh well. Ours has been tearing up AAA, again. Maybe he’s ready this time.

Speaking of AAA, Lauer with a nice tuneup against the Rockies. I wonder how good he might be against Major League hitters? Remember when I said the Dodgers would need starting pitching (I got some pushback on that) and asked who in the minors might that starting pitcher be? Well that guy turned out to be a Major League project named Lauer. Sure hope he can keep going 6.

Ryan? Stone? Glasnow? Snell? Knack? Casparius? Stewart, Phillips, Diaz, Graterol, Cousins Dreyer…. anybody remember a stud named Bobby Miller? Is he still alive?

Minors looking good though. Just checked an “updated” top 100 list. The Dodgers have 1 in the Top 10, 2 in the Top 20 and 4 in the Top 50. 7 overall. I wonder how many will be there in August? In reading scouting reports this morning my new favorite to watch is 57th ranked Emil Morales. 19 years old, 6’3” SS with 60 power. Though he struggled with his first few at bats in A+, he had 9 total bases yesterday. Can’t wait to see what he might do in AA.

Miller has pleasantly surprised so far with his bat along with his great defense.

Has shown some pop and good average.

And rightfully so.

Only reason I have Morales and dePaula ahead of him on my personal untouchable list is the age factor.

I’m okay with Freeland coming up and then Edman forcing the next move. Hell, we probably have back-ups in AAA (Miller/Fitzgerald) able to help out in a pinch.

With George injured, the core six to me are Tibbs, De Paula, Sirota, Hope, Davalan, Quintero with Ko runner-up.

I don’t want to trade any of them but Tibbs & Hope seem likeliest.

Only thing I can think is they were saving Gervase in case he needed to cover for Ohtani today.

Rojas entered as a bullpen reliever, so his runs allowed count and a new streak will have to start with the bullpen today. Espinal was put on waivers,not optioned so until he clears in 5 days, I don’t believe he is eligible to resigned until after the 5 day period.

The Dodgers are going to have some SERIOUS decisions to make concerning their abundance of very talented outfield prospects. Who goes and who stays?

Good morning, I have a stupid question (like all the ones I ask).

Even though the streak of consecutive innings without allowing a run has ended, do the runs Rojas allowed count towards the bullpen total?

One more question: if Kike goes on the injured list, can the Dodgers use or re-sign Espinal?

Love last night’s lineup. Been calling for Mookie to move down.Hopefully Doc doesn’t change it for awhile. Need a right handed hitting utility player to replace Kiki if he goes on the IL. Is there anyone at AAA Oklahoma City that fits that bill. Freeland isn’t the answer because he is a better left hand hitter.

While I agree that using Miggy is kind of lame, I guess it provides extra rest to the bullpen.

All considered, I wish the pro baseball culture was a bit more like college–less specialized, with more two-way players. Back at Cal State Fullerton, current A’s manager Mark Kotsay pitched when he wasn’t playing OF. Some years back, w hen Russell Martin entered as pitcher in a blowout for the Dodgers, he was throwing 91-92 mph, not the lollipops that Miggy tossed.

Maybe that HR will help Kyle Karros get a bit more $$ in future arbitration….

BTW, which one of you guys is secretly Dave Roberts? Or does he just visit without commenting?

Stealing an idea from somebody here, he had Pages bat second today–and it sure paid off. (Fortunately, he did not also adopt the plan for dropping Freddie low in the lineup, or provide Mookie with extra rest. )

The L/R/L/R rhythm that Doc likes began: Shohei/Pages/Freddie/Mookie/Tucker/Teo….

Perhaps tomorrow Teo will be followed by Max/Smith/Kim…. Or will it be Rushing’s turn to start?

Mookie and Pages were the highlights for me today. Pages is now leading the majors with 49 RBIs–a 147 pace for the season. Mookie’s bat and overall play will be vital for this team to get through past the NL gauntlet–the Braves are scary–to defend the WS title.

Bummer that Kike hurts his oblique while batting 1.000. A very impressive return.

His injury may allow Kim to stick around a bit longer once Tommy Edman returns.

Tomorrow night, I will be in Dayton watching them play the Loons.

I feel the same about Sirota.

Good to see Mookie bust out of his slump.

Morales and dePaula both should be the two untouchables in any potential trade. Even for Skubal I would not include either one of the two.

I really dislike letting a position player pitch in a blowout, especially when you need just 3 outs to end the game. What happened tonight was a travesty and not baseball. I love Miggy, but this was just wrong.