Five Changes That Must Happen Immediately
Change #1 Of these four players, only one can be in the lineup at a time: Kike Hernandez Logan Forsythe Joc Pederson Curtis Granderson They are rally killers. Write those words down. Live by them! Change #2 Justin Turner moves to the #2 spot in the batting order. Corey Seager moves to the #3 spot. Yes, I know they want to split up the lefties, but Cody and Corey don t
Change #1
Of these four players, only one can be in the lineup at a time:
- Kike Hernandez
- Logan Forsythe
- Joc Pederson
- Curtis Granderson
They are rally killers. Write those words down. Live by them!
Change #2
Justin Turner moves to the #2 spot in the batting order. Corey Seager moves to the #3 spot. Yes, I know they want to split up the lefties, but Cody and Corey don’t have issues with LH pitching. Here’s the rationale behind my suggested move: Justin Turner is hitting .328 with a .418 OB% but he is not a big RBI guy for whatever reason. He has 64 RBI in 454 plate appearances. That is an RBI every 7.09 PA. Compare that to Nolan Arenado who usually hits third for Colorado. Nolan has 116 RBI in 587 plate appearances. That is an RBI every 5.06 plate appearances.
As much as I love Justin Turner, he is just not a big RBI guy and you need that from the #3 spot in the order. Flip Justin and Corey in the batting order. I think the run production would pick up with Corey hitting 3rd. This is not an indictment upon J.T. – just something that is not to be ignored.
Change #3
Chris Taylor becomes the full-time Centerfielder. He is better, faster and smarter than Joc. Centerfield should belong to him. He is much more capable of running down balls in the gap that Joc is. Alex Verdugo is too slow for CF. I would also install him as the #5 hitter.
Change #4
Platoon Austin Barnes and Logan Forsythe at 2B. Forsythe plays against LH pitching. Barnes plays against RH pitching. Farmer should be back up today or tomorrow so the backup catcher’s spot is covered. Forsythe should never see the light of day against a RH pitcher. He should have to leave the dugout and go to the clubhouse when a righty is on the mound. He is hitting .198 against righties but is at .298 against lefties WITH A .439 OB%. He should leadoff against LHP. On the other hand, Austin Barnes has reverse splits against RHP. He is hitting .361 against RHP WITH A .475 OB%.
Barnes and Forsythe should be the Dodgers’ leadoff hitters – they get on base against their pitching splits almost half the time. Isn’t that what you want from a leadoff hitter? Hello? What’s up, doc?
Change #5
Yu Darvish goes to the bullpen. Whatever he is doing or not doing – it isn’t working. Let him come in for Maeda or Ryu in the 5th or 6th and pitch 2 or 3 high quality innings. Give him a chance to succeed in smaller slots. Maybe he comes back to the rotation as he works out his mechanical issues… maybe he doesn’t. We are trying to win a World Series here, guys! Deal with it. We have 5 good starters without hi – Kershaw, Wood, Hill, Ryu and Maeda. Change is sometimes good… and necessary. Whatever he is doing right now is not working. Play it by ear.
That my five step plan. The lineup stays the change at the leadoff spot:
- Barnes/Forsythe 2B
- Turner 3B
- Seager SS
- Bellinger 1B
- Taylor CF
- Puig RF
- Grandal C
- Verdugo LF (if he needs platooned, use Segedin)
Roll that lineup out there for the next 10 days, Doc! See what happens. Let Farmer start at C against LH pitchers. I don’t often tell the Manager what to do, but I am today. Listen up, Doc!
- Gutierrez will not return this year… well, his career is likely over. Too bad. A healthy Franklin would have helped immensely. FAZ knew they were taking a risk and it didn’t pan out. Not the first time… nor will it be the last!
- It looks to me like A-Gon is Gone. His back is still flaring up. The experiment is likely over. There’s a pretty strong possibility that he won’t play next year.
- Tony Cingrani and Tony Watson as looking very strong. I have more confidence in them that than Avilan.
The Dodgers “flipped the switch” for a while last night. Darvish didn’t deliver. We wait for another game for the wins that will start again. .715% was unsustainable, so is .000!
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Discussion (54)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Ethier is still a stud. For whatever reason several fans post negative things of him. I’ve said many times he’s not the weak link but some see it as such while they have favorites that produce less.
Dbacks give up 6 in ninth at home lose to pads, Washington loses, Houston loses doubleheader. If dodgers could only win one!!
Terrible route by Taylor. Defense is killing them two nights in a row. Seager not turning DP cost them a run too
If Roberts gives Pederson or Granderson another at-bat this year he should be canned.
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Those still wearing rose-colored glasses need to immediately call their eye doctor to request a new prescription.
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Time for a new video, Mark – “The Thrill is Gone” by B.B. King.
Among other issues, the Dodgers’ bats haven’t been hot lately. Los Angeles is hitting .186 with runners in scoring position over the current 14-game span compared to .260 in its first 127 games.
Dave Roberts is mad at Dodger fans for booing Pedro (El Gasolino) Baez. What about his awful performance – is that OK?
Here’s Howard Cole from Forbes.com:
”
C’mon, Dave. Not cool. Thirty seconds of booing (and it might have been 15 or 20) during an eight-game losing streak is a walk in park. Sorry, bad choice of words for poor Pedro Baez. Thirteen losses in 14 tries and not once previously had you shown the slightest hint of emotion in an interview to follow. The first time you do, and it’s directed at the paying customers, who are among the best in the game, 3 million strong year after year after year?
Now that’s unacceptable.”