Fair or Fowl?

Sunday afternoon Ross Stripling was not fair – he was just very good, so since his nickname is Chicken Strip, he is fowl and this should be a reminder of how very good he was before the All-Star Break last season. I would say his pitch tipping is behind him and he could be a very solid piece in the rotation all season. His ERA dropped to 2.92 as he was very efficient with just 88 pitches over 8 very solid innings. It turns out there was a reason he was so good: He wanted to get home in time to watch The Games of Thrones. Doc should bribe him with a Free Download of a Season, each time he goes eight!

Starts like that are often contagious to the rest of the staff. With Clayton coming back tomorrow, this can be a nice building block, but this early you never get too high or too low. There is a lot of work to be done, processes to sort and flaws to fix. Rich Hill is on a rehab assignment and Hyun jin Ryu will pitch an “aggressive” bullpen session today. It turns out that Ryu’s injury may have been just a tweak, but when you have a horrible injury like last season to a groin, you can’t be too cautious.

I told you that you don’t sit Chris Taylor when he is struggling like he was. It paid off Sunday as Doc continued to show confidence in him. Joc will only hit against right-handed pitchers, but he is showing he might have that figured out. One step at a time. CT3 and Joc in LF could produce 40 HR, with Joc hitting the majority. By the way, Joe Kelly is not going anywhere either, let alone AAA… nor should he.

Alex Verdugo is seizing the day and showing he deserves the PT. He continues to flash power better than advertised (remember who told you that?) and has 3 HR and 9 RBI is 35 AB’s with only 5 K’s. He is OPS’ing over 1.000 and sports a .343 BA. He is also hitting .500 against LHP in what is a small sampling, but he is in the process of taking the RF job and putting Cody back at 1B where he is a huge asset.

Justin Turner will get more rest as CT3 and Muncy fill-in for Seager, Taylor and Kike. JT will get untracked soon., but the Dodgers literally have EVERY position covered if there is an injury to any player. Literally, ANY player! I think Alex will be in the Rookie of the Year running this year. He is THAT good. He might get 20 HR THIS year. He is hitting .444 with RISP. That stat has to play!

Every loss is not Doc’s fault and they don’t win “in spite of him.” Neither Roberts or Friedman are perfect. Roberts sometimes over-complicates things, but he makes up for that with his massaging of egos, and his players love and respect him…. even Puig after he was gone. Friedman should never select another Cuban player as that has been a disaster, but I think he has learned. I do like Puig and wish him the best… but moving on was best for everyone… and the Dodgers got two very good prospects.

Roughly, this is the lineup I see:

• Catcher – Barnes/Martin (hen he gets back) or Smith
• First Base – Bellinger
• Second Base – Kike
• Shortstop – Seager
• Third Base – Turner
• Left Field – Pederson/Taylor
• Center Field – Pollock
• Right Field – Verdugo

Muncy will play a lB, 2B, 3B and pinch hit. Freese will play occasionally at 1B and pinch hit. CT3 will spell Pollock and others, and Kike will play other positions at times, but I think the above lineup will be the rule not the exception. Kike is the everyday 2B. He wants to win a Gold Glove.

Rest should be frequent as they strive to stay fresh and strong by the end of the season. The Rockies may have already blown their season, but it is still early. The D-Bags and Padres are playing over their heads, but I could see the Padres being a game or two above .500 this year.

The Dodgers have no interest in Keuchel or Kimbrel… nor should they. They have enough arms in the system to plug up several bullpen positions if need be. Even Mitch White is showing out this year after a disappointing 2018. He has 7 IP and has yet to give up a hit, let alone a run. Gonsolin and May are also taking greater steps as are several others. At least one or two of these guys could step up and make the club this year.

Baseball is a very, very long season and it is important to your sanity and blood pressure to enjoy the ride, and the process. I am still of the opinion that the Dodgers need another RH bat, but if Bellanger, Verdugo and Muncy can continue to hit lefties, it’s not as imperative. In fact, it may be unnecessary.

The Dodgers are 9-8 and better positioned than last year, contrary to what the Drama Queens, Knee-Jerkers and Negative Nellies say. I think that even Joe Kelly will come around. He’s too good!

We get to see some old friends tonight…

Minor League Report by DC

Great Lakes Loons – West Michigan WhiteCaps Tigers)

The Loons game was postponed due to inclement weather.

Rancho Cucamonga 3- Lancaster JetHawks 10 (Rockies)

The Quakes had a rather forgettable Sunday afternoon game. They actually were leading 3-2 after six innings but the pitching imploded in the JetHawk top of the seventh inning. The first Quake run was scored on a Nick Yarnell single in the bottom of the fourth plating Starling Heredia who had tripled. Two additional runs scored in the bottom of the sixth inning on a Heredia single driving in Jeter Downs and
Devin Mann. Heredia had three hits on the day while Mann had two.

Unheralded Victor Gonzalez started for the Quakes throwing 3.1 scoreless innings on one hit. On the season he has pitched 8.2 scoreless innings over three appearances. He was followed by Max Gamboa who gave up one run in 1.2 innings pitched on two hits. Sven Schueller who had been “Mr Reliable” for the Quakes in his first four appearances had one of those days in his 1.2 innings pitched. His stat line was 6-6-6. That is six hits, six runs, six earned runs. Devin Hemmerich almost finished up the game with two innings in which he allowed another three runs. The final out came on one pitch by second baseman Brandon Montgomery who induced an infield pop up.

Rancho Cucamonga suffered a four-game sweep at home at the hands of the JetHawks who pummeled Quakes pitching for 34 runs on 44 hits.

Quakes manager Mark Kertenian picked his first ejection of the year after twice committing a cardinal sin. That is, arguing balls and strikes and more specifically calls on strikes.

Tulsa 0 – Arkansas Travelers 1 (Mariners)

Driller pitchers tossed a 9.2 innings no-hitter and lost 1-0. It was a history making no-hitter as it has been 80 years since a Texas League team spun a no-hitter and lost. The last time was on July 22, 1939. Mitchell White pitched four innings with three walks and six strikeouts. Parker Curry tossed three unblemished innings with two strikeouts. Marshall Kasowski gave up two walks in his inning pitched. Louis Head finished up with 1.2 hitless innings striking out five. He did give up the lone run in the game on a hit batter and two walks with a runner starting on second base in the bottom of the tenth inning. It was the first nine-inning Drillers no-hitter since April 18, 1991. That one was a combined effort by Everett Cunningham and Barry Manuel.

Sunday’s no-hitter was not the first in which White was involved. He also threw four innings on April 7, 2017 and combined with Alex Hermeling on the first no-hitter in Class A Advanced Rancho Cucamonga history.

At the plate the Drillers have five singles and one walk but had an unsightly LOB of 12. Lux, Estevez and McKinstry all had their hitting streaks stopped. Logan Landon recorded another hit, continuing his hot start to the season. He has recorded a hit in each of the six games he has started this year and is batting .455 on the season. Jared Walker extended his hitting streak to five games with a single on Sunday. He is batting a healthy .385 so far in 2019.

Oklahoma City 3 – Iowa Cubs 4

The Dodgers had only four hits but walked seven times and came a whisker away from tying the game in the top of the ninth inning. They had scored their first run in the fourth inning on a Kyle Garlick home run. A second run came home in the eighth inning when Will Smith scored on a Garlick single to left field. The third and final run scored in the top of the ninth inning when Jake Peter scored on a Drew Jackson ground out. The Dodgers went 2-for-16 with runners on base, 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position and stranded five runners in scoring position.

On the mound starter Ben Holmes took the loss deserving a better fate giving up only two earned runs in five innings pitched. He struck out five and walked none. He retired 14 of the 17 batters faced including the first six straight and final six straight. The problem was that the relievers were unable to wrap things up. Justin Grimm allowed a run in 1.1 innings pitched as did Josh Smoker. Each pitcher inherited two runners, and each allowed a run to score. JT Chargois secured the last out in the eighth inning.