Fan Appreciation Day
Yesterday’s game was fun and to be appreciated. What a fan appreciation day!!! The Dodgers score 14 and collect 16 hits. Ryu pitched AND hit superbly. He allows 4 hits and collects 8 strikeouts, and ZERO walks, and gets THREE hits. Josh Fields and Julio Urias come in and shutdown the Padres for the final three innings. It is hard to get too excited about shutting down the Padres, but
Yesterday’s game was fun and to be appreciated. What a fan appreciation day!!! The Dodgers score 14 and collect 16 hits. Ryu pitched AND hit superbly. He allows 4 hits and collects 8 strikeouts, and ZERO walks, and gets THREE hits. Josh Fields and Julio Urias come in and shutdown the Padres for the final three innings. It is hard to get too excited about shutting down the Padres, but they did what they were supposed to do.
Manny Machado got things started with a 2nd inning HR. I know I have been hard on Machado, but it is not easy to not only change teams, but to change leagues and change time zones. Machado’s family is on the east coast. He is trying to get a record breaking contract and he has to be pressing with the struggling he has encountered over the last few weeks. But he is a dangerous hitter and the Dodgers need him to be lethal the next 6 games. He does not need to carry the team, just stay within himself. His talent alone can be a big influence on the outcome. Worry about next year after he rides in the Downtown LA parade that is sure to come.
Big day offensively for Matt Kemp, who collected his 1,000 career RBI with his 2nd inning HR. He also had a double and single for a 3 hit/3 RBI day. He is warming up to finish the season as he started. His last 7 games he is batting .353/.353/.765/1.118, and his last 15 games .318/.333/.568/.901.
Are we seeing more of the 2017 version of CT3? In the leadoff role, CT3 went 1-3 with 2 walks. In his last 7 games he is batting .333/.455/.500/.955 and .342/.432/.632/1.064 in his last 15 games. Yes, he is still striking out too much, but a .432 OBP over a 15-game span is more than acceptable. He is not an ideal leadoff player, but the Dodgers do not have one, and he is now getting on base at a far more acceptable rate. I am guessing that he is back in the leadoff role tonight against Robbie Ray.
Max Muncy continues to impress. It is no longer unexpected, but it still is striking. Two big 2-RBI hits in his two plate appearances yesterday. He has his OPS up to .960. 33 HRs and 72 RBIs in 457 PA. He is not going to qualify with sufficient PA, but if he did, he would be 5th in MLB and 2nd in NL (behind Christian Yelich).
Then there is the tale of three LHH OFs; Joc, Verdugo, and Toles. It is hard not to feel for Andrew Toles. There certainly seems to be something percolating beneath the surface with his use. He has all of 5 plate appearances since he was recalled and has unfortunately struck out 4 times. He is a far better baseball player than he is being afforded the opportunity to showcase. He does not need to go back to AAA and he is not able to show other teams what he can do. Verdugo is doing better in his September audition going 6-23 with 3 walks and 5 strikeouts. His shortfall is his power, and while that is not a big deciding factor for some of us, it certainly seems to be for FAZ. Then there is the much maligned Joc Pederson. For the month of September, he is batting .314/.352/.686/1.038 with 5 HR’s in 54 PA. He is striking out more often, but if he continues to hit with authority, I can stomach the K’s.
Austin Barnes is still an enigma. He has never had a problem offensively, so hopefully he will begin to thaw out this last week. Yesterday’s HR is a start. David Freese looks to be a key RHH PH. Brian Dozier looks absolutely lost at the plate. The Twins (and FAZ) seemed to look away from a mediocre to poor batting average because of his power. But he has 1 HR in his last 30 games while batting an anemic .144/.238/.233/.471. Those numbers do not correlate into a playoff roster spot. How does Ryu stick out his bat and collect three hits, and Dozier look inept? It is time to put Muncy at 2B and leave him there. If you need to put Kike’ in for defensive purposes at the end of a game, so be it.
The bullpen is starting to show some real backbone, and Jansen is getting back to his dominant self. Tony Cingrani should not come in for any meaningful innings for the remainder of this year. I think he can be a key contributor for next year, but this year he needs to sit back and watch.
Finally, it was absolutely heartwarming to watch Dad Utley make his final regular season plate appearance at Dodger Stadium and see the reaction of the crowd. I hope he is like Ethier and gets one more hit in his final AB in the WS, but this time with a win for the good guys. I would like to see him as a coach next year but being away from home so much with kids is not easy for the player, much less a coach. The Utley’s live in Sausalito and he would be away from his immediate family for too much of the year. I know we fans want to see Chase in a Dodger uni for many years to come, but he needs to make a decision for what makes him and his happy.
The Dodgers are 16-8 since 8-29, and if they keep that winning percentage through the end of the year, they will win 4 of the final 6 games they play, and hopefully that will be good enough to get them their 6th consecutive NL West title. The Dodgers get Ray and Greinke this series. They need to beat them both.
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Discussion (68)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Rule 5 question: If a player who will be eligible for the rule 5 draft is traded before the draft are they still eligible to be drafted from their new team when the draft is held? If not the Dodgers need to trade some of these eligible guys before the draft if they aren’t being counted on being with the Dodgers next year.
Baseball 1439 is right, one game at a time.
Especially since we are facing Ray tonight, and possibly Bumgarner, in SF.
And although we have always seemed to manage Greinke, he also won’t make it easy on us, either.
The Rockies will be facing the Phillies next.
But the Rockies are only facing one of the Phillies top two pitchers, in this next series.
And since the these last two series for the Rockies are at Coors, that can be wild card within itself, too.
Dozier vs. Utley
According to Eric Stephen, since Dozier’s knee discomfort was reported by the LA Times on 9/8, Dozier has started every game against LHP and appeared in 12 of 15 games overall. Utley, by contradistinction, only had two starts.
To me this suggests that the last spot belongs to Dozier, and Utley will not make the cut. Verdugo likely only makes it if an injury occurs. Toles can feel free to make his fall travel plans.
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Last two bullpen spots
Assuming the same 10 everyone has (four SPs + Jansen/Maeda/Alexander/Floro/Ferguson/Stripling), you have to think Baez has the inside track on one of those spots [I guess Fields might be the main competition] and Wood has the inside track on the other [with Urias, Rosscup, Cingrani candidates as well]. I don’t see any way Hudson or Axford are in the mix and Yimi can share a room with Toles wherever they choose to go.
It’s going to be tough but it’s ours for the taking. I’m expecting at least one play-in scenario taking place. It’s best to treat it all as entertainment and not get too upset if it doesn’t go our way. Clearly we have the talent to go all the way.
The Dodgers just need to play these last 2 series 1 game at a time and win 5 of the games. It’s not about Arizona or the giants trying to knock the Dodgers out, it’s about the Dodgers just doing what they should be doing.
A.C. So I’ll ask you!!! Do you really think the NL is going to the DH and an expanded roster… It seems to me that would take care of a few questions for sure…
Lets Rock n Roll…
Sometimes saying something once is more than enough but here goes anyway–from the bottom of the previous thread; September 24, 2018 at 8:41 am
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The Dodgers are pretty awesome against righties and with Kemp rested, he makes the Dodgers solid against lefties. (added this morning: Taylor is also making the lefty pitcher problem go away this month although I wish he would calm his bat down at the start of his swing)
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Added again this AM–Kemp could be lethal as a pinch hitter with RISP when he does not start.
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Kershaw, Buehler, Hill, and Ryu are solid playoff starters.
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A team never knows how often or how many innings a reliever is needed. A player can’t be swapped out during a playoff series unless they are injured. That is the risk the Dodgers would have if Urias were on one of the playoff rosters. I don’t think they want to use him in back to back games and maybe not in more than 3 games of a 7 game series. Otherwise, he is pitching well enough to have a planet named after him. If the Dodgers wind up in a playoff series with Colorado, Jansen might not pitch in Colorado and that would further reduce the bullpen.
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If Wood is left off the opening playoff roster it would be reminiscent of when Rick Sutcliffe was left off the 1981 roster after winning the 1979 ROY. Might Wood be traded after not making a playoff roster like Sutcliffe? Would Wood do as well after being traded?
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“The Red Barron” led the AL with a 2.96 ERA in 1982, made his first All-Star team in 1983 and in 1984 went 16-1 with a 2.69 ERA after a June trade to the Cubs, becoming the only player ever to win a Cy Young Award after switching leagues midseason. Sutcliffe spent seven more years in Chicago, making two more All-Star teams and finishing second in the 1987 NL Cy Young Award voting for a season in which he led the league with 18 wins. After shoulder injuries shorted his last two years with the Cubs, he threw 237 1/3 innings and won 16 games for the 1992 Orioles, but that was his last gasp of effectiveness. He finished his 18-year career with 171 wins.
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Dozier should not be on the playoff roster nor start any more games down the stretch.
I agree with 100% of what you said AC. I had some hopes for Cingrani to make it back, but guys like Axford, Yimi, and Cingrani shouldn’t getting anything within an 8 run lead. I kind of feel the same about Madson too.
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Verdugo is making a case for a roster spot. It definitely crossed my mind in Friday’s loss that I would have preferred to see Verdugo over Bellinger when Belli K’d pinch-hitting. The last spot on the roster will be interesting with Dozier and Utley struggling.
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There is no doubt that Manny could have had more clutch hits, but he has gotten the offense started early in quite a few games. For those who only think he can hit in Baltimore and not Dodger Stadium, he would be on pace for 35+ HR’s as a Dodger. Yes, I would like to see him bust it down the line, but I’ve often thought that about Seager too.
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Muncy, Taylor, or Kike those should be the only options at 2B right now. The Dodgers have a guy with 33 HR’s sitting a lot to play Dozier. If I see a pitcher with a big heater, Muncy can handle him. If you’re worried about his defense there both Taylor and Kike are better options than Dozier then.
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It was good to see Kemp get his 1000th RBI on his birthday. I’m not one who diminishes the RBI stat. We’ve all witnessed the struggles of this team to get clutch hits at times. We all watched Adrian Gonzalez be an RBI guy even when his power was diminishing. There are certain players that you just don’t want up in a clutch situation(Yasmani, I’m talking to you) and some that come through more than others.
I’m on record as NOT being a Toles supporter. He hustles, has game changing speed, has a solid arm (I remember a strong throw he made in the past), but unfortunately, in my opinion, he is a dead fastball hitter who has problems with breaking pitches (especially down and in breaking balls). I don’t ever see him as being more than a spare outfielder for the Dodgers, and maybe a starter for an under .500 team.
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As for Verdugo lacking enough power, I’m not so sure. He’s hit 11 HRs this year (OKC + LA), and I see him being a guy that will hit a lot doubles. And with maturity and more experience I can see him reaching 20-25 HRs. And even 12-18 would be acceptable if he hits like I think he can. And of course there’s the cannon that is his left arm.