Dodgers MiLB Teams Go 4-0

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

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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!

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!

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)

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

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.

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….

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

What he said!*

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.

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.

Minority, they did not state the percentage.

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.

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.

“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”.

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.

Tyler Fitzgerald would me my guess

No. It will be Freeland.