All Season, I have been telling everyone who would listen that it is not important how you play in April. It is not how you play in May and June. It’s not how you play in July and August. It’s also not how you play in September. What it is all about is getting to October. Only then is it about how you play. How you play in October is what legends are made of.
… and yet, most fans wanted to throw out Gavin Lux, Miguel Rojas, Chris Taylor, Kike Hernandez, Bobby Miller, Walker Buehler, and now… Joe Kelly… based upon how they have done in certain months like, April, May, June, July, August, or September. Of course, some have come to the conclusion that they were wrong about Kike, Gavin, and Rojas.
It seems that everyone’s favorite player to want off the roster right about now is Joe Kelly and I also have to say when I see him, it scares me too. However, in cases like this, you have to rely on vision… not sight. The first thing you have to know is that Joe Kelly is a “little crazy,” and I mean that in a good way! If one of the Dodgers players gets hit, Joe Kelly is quick to have his back and put a pitch in the ear of the enemy! He is an assassin. Other teams also know this, and it acts as a deterrent, but also know this: Joe Kelly has 60 IP in the postseason… some good, some bad, but in three World Series, he has a 2.03 ERA and a 0.825 WHIP. His post-season ERA is 3.45, but if you throw out the three games he appeared in early in his career as a starter, it is below 3.00… and ladies and gentlemen, that is why he is here!
How many pitchers do you know who can hit triple digits and have a hammer curve that makes the hitters look silly, boy, does his fastball move! It makes hitters fearful of digging in. Joe tends to pitch really well or really poorly. Look at his ERA’s for the year, month-by-month:
- March – 21.60
- April – 2.61
- May – 0.00
- June – Out
- July – 1.80
- August – 7.71
So, I don’t care how he pitches in August. I care what he does in October. Last year, Bruce Bochy, had Josh Sborz who had splits like this in his ERA:
- March/April – 1.08
- May – 8.31
- June – 0.55
- July – 15.19
- August – 5.79
- September – 14.54
In the ALCS he had a 0.00 ERA. In the ALDS, he had a 1.50 ERA and in the World Series, he has a 0.00 ERA. It not how he pitched in August or September, but rather how he pitched in the postseason and all told, he threw 12 innings and allowed 1 Run. Yet, most fans persist in not seeing past the noses on their face! They think they know more than Andrew Friedman, Mark Prior, and Dave Roberts, even though they have about 5% of the information those guys do. Does anyone wonder why I call them morons? Geeez!
Many fans complained that the Dodgers were just built for the regular season and not the post-season even though even Ray Charles could see that they were so good that they were on cruise control in August and September, having nothing to play for. They simply lost their edge as humans are prone to do. This year, it is different, as we enter September, it will be a Dog Fight and I am betting on the Junkyard Dogs in Blue.
The Dodgers have quite a few of these dogs, including Joe Kelly, Chris Taylor, Kike Hernandez, Teoscar, and hopefully, Max, Freddie, Mookie, Shohei, and Gavin will join that JYD Club in October. This year is different, but the morons always jump to the wrong conclusions… that’s just what morons do. Still, the Dodgers have the best record in baseball and are five games up on both the D-bags and Padres! This is the best time – EVER – to be a Dodger fan.
X-CITES
Update on Shadrack
Here he is at 8 weeks:
Here he is at 11 Weeks:
Discussion (14)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Could Miller or Buehler relieve?
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts announced on Saturday that Clayton Kershaw will head to the injured list with a bone spur in his left toe. The veteran southpaw left his start against the D-backs at Chase Field on Friday with toe pain after allowing three runs, including a homer to Corbin Carroll, in just one-plus innings.
“There’s so much swelling, he can barely move around with it,” Roberts said.
Kershaw, who made his season debut on July 25 after rehabbing a shoulder injury, has made seven starts this season, posting a 4.50 ERA with 24 strikeouts across 30 innings.
Right-hander Ben Casparius has been recalled from the minors to take Kershaw’s roster spot, and Plunkett adds that left-hander Justin Wrobleski is set to be called up when rosters expand tomorrow to start tomorrow’s game. That could leave Wrobleski in position to take over Kershaw’s spot in the rotation relatively seamlessly.
I don’t consider Joe Kelly a great postseason pitcher. Maybe early in his career he was. But He has thrown 14 innings for the Dodgers in the postseason and given up 10 earned runs in the last 5 years. His biggest appearance was against the Nationals in the 10th inning of the deciding game 5 in 2019. He gave up a grand slam to Howie Kendrick that ended the Dodger season. I thought the Dodgers overpaid to bring back Joe this year for $8 million. He is a fan favorite and a great personality, but I would not want to put Joe in a crucial spot in a playoff game.
8:10 PM ET
Dodgers (81-54)
Diamondbacks (76-59)
SP Gavin Stone R
11-5 3.33 ERA
SP Merrill Kelly R
4-0 3.98 ERA
Confirmed Lineup
DH S. Ohtani L
RF Mookie Betts R
1B F. Freeman L
LF T. Hernandez R
C Will Smith R
2B Gavin Lux L
3B Max Muncy L
SS Miguel Rojas R
CF K. Kiermaier L
In Domed Stadium
Joe Kelly OMG. Come on people. The Dodger brass knows what Kelly is capable of in Oct. They know what Kike is capable in Oct. They know what CT3 is capable of in Oct. And these are only our scrubs. They are playing 4 d chess while everyone else (the morons) are playing whoops… with themselves. Relax and enjoy. I am parroting now, what a great time to be a Dodger fan!
Book em
If the Dodgers are not built for the playoffs, which teams currently are? The Vegas oddsmakers must be stupid because even they don’t know.
ODDS TO WIN 2024 WORLD SERIES:
Los Angeles Dodgers: +350 (bet $10 to win $45 total)
New York Yankees: +500 (bet $10 to win $60 total)
Philadelphia Phillies: +550 (bet $10 to win $65 total)
Baltimore Orioles: +800 (bet $10 to win $90 total)
Grove and Graterol two other potential bullpen arms going forward. Grove seems more capable of multiple innings.
I wonder if Wrobleski has ever relieved?
From MLB Trade Rumors:
Given the longstanding nature of the injury, it isn’t necessarily clear whether or not Kershaw will need to be placed on the 15-day injured list. Kershaw and Roberts both stated that some testing and evaluation will need to happen before a decision is made, and the Dodgers have some extra time to monitor the situation since Kershaw wasn’t scheduled to pitch until next Friday. L.A. is expected to call up Justin Wrobleski for a spot start on Sunday, and the team has an off-day on Thursday, giving Kershaw more opportunity to rest.
The Knee-jerk reactions are predictable and silly.
Some think the sky is falling.
To others, it is blue!
where’s Landon Knack? he’s been great !
“Ben Casparius is also slated to pitch for Oklahoma City on Saturday, piggybacking with the left-hander Gamboa. We’ll see if that holds after Clayton Kershaw injured his big toe on Friday night in Phoenix, forcing the Dodgers to use seven relievers to cover the final eight innings”.
beautiful puppy! Well it’s not only Kelly some(a lot) want gone. saw stuff this morning and last night, throwing Clayton away too. Let Kershaw decide himself when it’s time to go. He won’t let pride get in the way. He’s been too good for too long! He doesn’t need the money. He has nothing to prove to anyone! He’s simply one of the best ever! When he says he’s done, i’ll believe him. When he says he can still pitch at a high level, i’ll believe him! … As for Joe, love the guy! He wasn’t close to sharp last night. In his defense, he was thrown in there earlier than usual. And not every single reliever is an all star! Banda got rocked last night! We throwing him out too? The d-backs hit the ball, period! And if you didn’t notice, so do the dodgers! That was the lineup we’ve been yearning for! i know they want to keep guys fresh, but that’s a killer lineup! And i can’t state it enough, Rojas has been a Godsend for this team! …. Tonight the dodgers need to beat their ass again! Winning the 1st 2 would be a huge advantage! Puts the pressure back on the d-backs! … Friars 6 out in the loss column.. Pick up a couple more and they’re out of the NL West conversation! But, they are dangerous. Especially if Darvish gets back. … Stone is rock solid tonight! We usually take care of business with Kelly! Hopefully the lineup is the same! Knowing Doc, i won’t hold my breath! lol
Yamamoto (triceps) will throw a bullpen session Sunday and have his next rehab start with Triple-A Oklahoma City on Tuesday, Kirsten Watson of Spectrum SportsNet LA reports.
“Yamamoto began his rehab assignment with Oklahoma City on Wednesday, when he allowed a solo home run and struck out two batters across two innings while throwing 31 pitches. He has been on the IL since mid-June due to a right rotator cuff strain, and he didn’t begin throwing bullpen sessions until early August. Yamamoto is aiming to rejoin the Dodgers’ rotation in mid-September, and he’ll need a couple more rehab starts without suffering a setback before doing so. In the 14 starts before the injury, he went 6-2 with a 2.92 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and 84:17 K:BB over 74 innings”.
Will Joe Kelly make the postseason?
I hope not. I hope that other relief options prove superior.
Who should make the bullpen? Who is high on Roberts “trust tree”?
Kopech, Phillips, Treinen, Hudson, Banda, Vesia, Brasier have all performed better than Kelly this season. I assume that Graterol, when healthy, would also rate higher. Then there are guys like Knack, Grove and probably Miller, assuming he doesn’t crack the starting rotation.
The competition for the starting rotation could shift a couple guys to relief roles.