As you know, a couple of weeks ago I went to Ft. Wayne to see the Great Lakes Loons play the Ft. Wayne Tin Caps and interview some future Dodgers. Earlier this week, I posted the interview with Future Dodger Manager Austin Chubb (I just made that up, but who says it won’t happen?). This interview is with RHP Emmet Sheehan and next week, we will show you Diego Cartaya. If the Loons play in the playoffs at Ft. Wayne, I will have some more interviews for you, but right about now the focus is on Emmet Sheehan.
Emmet Sheehan is a very engaging personality and generates elite swing-and-miss rates on his running 97-98 mph fastball out of his low arm slot. He struck out 34 batters in 15.2 innings in his pro debut, largely on the strength of his plus fastball. He was drafted in the 2021 Draft, in the 6th round as the 192nd pick overall out of Boston College. He has been picking up velocity and has jumped from 92 to 98+ since he was signed with the Dodgers.
He claims to have confidence in all four pitches and at 6′ 5″ and 220 pounds, he is very strong and projects to add 15+ pounds over the next couple of years. That’s a starter’s body, but his control will dictate that. He reminds me somewhat of Gavin Stone, but Gavin has an additional year of experience, having been drafted in 2020. Enjoy the interview:
If you happen to be interested, here is another Interview with Emmet about Transforming Passion to Profession:
Emmet Sheehan likely will spend the rest of 2022 at Great Lakes as a starter. They are keeping his pitch limit at around 50, but in 2023, I can see him starting at Tulsa. He is certainly a pitcher to watch and if he can continue his progress, he could be in LA by 2024.
The Catman May Never Lose!
Here’s why: (1) He has stopped walking batters; and (2) He stays within himself and doesn’t try and do too much or overthrow. Occassionally, someone runs into one, like Morel did, but he keeps damage to a minimum by not allowing Free Passes. Now, of course, I know he will lose again, but he’s not going to do it often.
- I was “underwhelmed” when the Dodgers acquired Trayce Thompson. So far, he has been an amazing acquisition… and a “feel good” story of what persistence can do.
- Mookie Betts is truly a superstar – he is now showing his pedigree!
- Gavin Lux is steady, if not spectacular, which is all you can ask.
- They say the Bazooka just had a “cramp.” Cramps in your side can be problematic. I would not be shocked if he was IL’ed.
- Trea Turner is the best SS in baseball!
- It was nice to see Bickford have a “clean” 2/3 of an inning.
- Kimbrel takes one step forward and 2 steps back, but Vesia saved the day. Kimbrel is worrisome. This is the Craig Kimbrel I was afraid the Dodgers would get.
Mike Brito: R.I.P.
I did not know Mike well, but when we passed each other he always spoke. He always nodded, as if acknowledging “I remember you.” There were baseball people who did that like Mike, including Sweet Lou, Tommy Davis, Don Newcombe, Carl Erskine, Tommy Lasorda, Vin Scully, and others. Many more did not and I will keep those names to myself. R.I.P. MIke! Juan Toribio of MLB.com wrote an excellent eulogy about him.
Future Dodgers Down on the Farm
- OKC DODGERS won 11-2
- Eddy Alvarez was 4-5 with 5 RBI including 2 HRs.
- Miguel Vargas had 1 hit, and made an outstanding catch, and played LF as he prepares for his MLB debut shortly.
- Mike Busch was 3-5 with a double.
- Jamie Martin hist his 17th HR.
- Dellin Betances allowed 2 earned runs without a hit, as he walked 2, and had a wild pitch. His ERA at OKC is 5.06.
- Marshall Kasowski struck out 4 in 1.2 innings, but I do not consider him a prospect anymore.
- Tulsa won 3-0
- Gavin Stone was nearly unhittable as he pitch 6 scoreless innings, calling but 3 hits – none for extra bases and striking out 8. Now, here’s the bad news: He walked 6! Cut that crap out Gavin!
- Kody Hoese was 2-5 and Leonal Valera was 2-4 with a BB. Valera is moving ahead of Eddys Leonard and Jorbit Vivas as a “super-utility” prospect.
- Great Lakes lost 10-1
- Diego Cartaya was 0-4 with 2 Ks
- Eddys Leonard was 2-3 and that was it.
- Never talk about the pitchers involved again! 😉
- Rancho Cucamonga won 10-6
- Yenier Fernandez was 3-4 with a HR and 5 RBIs.
Very Interesting Video
Earth, Wind & Fire
We are going to see these cats tonight. Carlos Santana is supposed to headline too, but he passed out earlier this week at a concert – he’s 156!
Discussion (14)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Nice hops from Muncy!
And Phillips comes through in the 10th. (Nice to see Dodgers winning in OT.)
Yes, a very pleasing win.
Very pleasing win.
6 games up.
I finally figured it out for Bellinger. He had long hair back in 19. Grow your hair back long Samson!
Mookie and Trea are starters for the NL
I will be the guy at Dodger Stadium throwing my Dodger Dogs at Altuve and any other Trashtro
10:10 PM ET
Cubs (34-49)
Dodgers (53-29)
SP Tyler Anderson L
9-1 3.09 ERA 84.1IP 73K
Confirmed Lineup
RF Mookie Betts R
SS Trea Turner R
1B F. Freeman L
C Will Smith R
2B Max Muncy L
3B J. Turner R
DH Jake Lamb L
CF C. Bellinger L
LF Gavin Lux L
Clear-day
0% Rain
74° Wind 6 mph Out
I looked at Kimbrel’s 2022 stats because I was curious and I found that his problem is against LHB.
Against RHB his slash line is .151/.258/.245/.503, that is excellent.
Against LHB his slash line is .367/.424/.517/.941, that is horrible.
I have never seen that big of a difference between RHB and LHB with a big enough sample.
It keeps us watching to the very end! Unless you’re me at Truist Park.
* Nice interview MT.
* RIP to Mike Brito. He was a fixture behind home with his radar gun back in the day.
* Muncy looks like he’s trying to go 5 for 4 again.
* The home plate umpire, Jose Navas is a giant. He’s listed at 6’6” but looks taller. He also misses pitches at critical times. Kimbrel got a gift in the 9th. He has had run ins with the Phillies and others, as he chokes in the clutch.
* Kimbrel does give up more clinkers than most guys. And tons of foul balls.
* His inconsistency is so interesting. He will get ahead and then throw totally non-competitive pitches until it’s 3 and 2. Then who knows?
In the old days we had those iron mike pitching machines. The old slingers. They would have a tendency to throw three or four good pitches and then get out of whack and throw the next one to the backstop or spiked into the batter’s box. That’s Kimbrel. Each release point is an independent event. How can he look razor sharp on some pitches and miss by 4 feet on the next? Initially this year, I thought he was doing that as intimidation but now I think he’s just that wild. He’s really Ricky Vaughn.
No lead is safe. Is it time to move Phillips into that roll? Many here say stay with him. I would not.
Nice interview. I wonder where the Dodgers brain trust ranks Sheehan among their SP prospects. Miller and Stone are now 1-2, but who rounds out the top ten? Off the top of my head I can think of Knack, Beeter, Nastrini, Hurt, Kendall Williams…. who am I forgetting?… Maddux Bruns!….And when we think of “depth” we can add newly minted major leaguers Pepiot and Grove.
And that brings us to MLB.com suggesting that Luis Castillo is a good fit for the Dodgers.
Certainly the Dodgers don’t NEED another front-line starter, but with Montas injured Castillo is clearly the class of the market now. He’s at the top of his game now. Heading into the playoffs, expecting to battle the mighty Yankees in the World Series, would you rather have Mitch White or Castillo on the roster?
So how about something like White + Grove + ???…. Maybe Kody Hoese or Outman? Throw in Andre Jackson as a change-of-scenery candidate. (I think Castillo is under contract for another season, so he wouldn’t be cheap.)
Injuries happen. Buhler and several relievers are down. Heaney has proven very fragile, and you never know when Kersh will go down.
Kimbrel may have some bad luck but he still makes me nervous. One strike away from a clean save, and then there’s two hits and a walk….. gulp.
Albert Pujols, Miguel Cabrera Selected To All-Star Game
By Anthony Franco | July 8, 2022 at 10:10am CDT
Albert Pujols and Miguel Cabrera have been selected to the 2022 All-Star Game, MLB announced this morning. They’ve been selected as the National and American League’s respective “legendary” nominees.
Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic reported this week that the new collective bargaining agreement permitted the commissioner’s office to select one or more players from each league to participate in the All-Star game. The honor is in recognition of the player’s career body of work, not their 2022 performance.
“I am delighted that Albert Pujols and Miguel Cabrera have agreed to participate in the All-Star Game,” commissioner Rob Manfred said in the league’s press release.”Albert and Miguel are two of the most accomplished players of their generation. They have also represented the baseball traditions of the Dominican Republic and Venezuela with excellence for the last two decades. Albert and Miguel are two all-time greats whose achievements warrant this special recognition.”
Wow Kody Hoese has really figured something out the past month. Great to see.
Mark, nice job on the Sheehan interview. Both of you just looked comfortable talking shop.
Gonso didn’t have his best stuff and delivered 7 innings anyway. No walks! That’s the key for him. I might have even seen him sneak a 95 in there in the later innings.
The offense is impressive in that it seems that different players have been stepping up each night. Last night, all the scoring came from big flies. Mookie with a couple of solo shots and JT added one. Lux tapped into a big bomb with a runner on. Muncy and Belli forgot how to hit again.
4 relievers for two innings isn’t ideal. Special thanks to Vesia for finishing it off, but not before a sketchy full count.
Another one bites the dust. We’ll see if Graterol’s cramp turns into an oblique injury.
RIP to Dodgers Legend Mike Brito, the Panama Hat wearing, cigar smoking, radar gun pointing hero that brought us Fernando, Julio, Puig, V-Gone and others.
Kimbrel deserved better. Couple of soft contact bloopers and Wisdom put up a good ab. I think he’s gonna be better in 2nd half. Not giving up on him. We’re going to see Santana when he comes to Charleston in August. Let me know what you think of his show. It’s incredible how much young pitching the Dodgers develop!
Great interview Mark. It looks like another quality starter and quality person the Dodgers have drafted. Love to hear that the Dodger system is second to none in improving mechanics and velocity, Hope we see Emmet in the Show in the near future.