Good Night at Coors
Boy, I need to say that Corey Seager has gone into a slump more often. HR (13), double (13), single, 2 RBIs, a couple of good plays at SS. But he sure did choke with that weak ground ball to first when he needed a triple. This is a different Corey Seager from last year. He is now tied for the team lead in RBIs with 36 with Mookie. It
Boy, I need to say that Corey Seager has gone into a slump more often. HR (13), double (13), single, 2 RBIs, a couple of good plays at SS. But he sure did choke with that weak ground ball to first when he needed a triple.☺ This is a different Corey Seager from last year. He is now tied for the team lead in RBIs with 36 with Mookie. It is the leadoff hitter and #2 hitter that lead the team in RBIs by a fairly substantial margin. Not 3-4-5-6. Corey is two behind Mookie in HRs and leads the team in doubles. Mookie has an OPS of .963 while Corey has an OPS of .959. Corey is getting back to the 2016 and 2017 version of Corey Seager. I know there are those who prefer Francisco Lindor, but I am hoping that Corey wants to stay a Dodger forever and can coax an extension out of AF. I love it when Corey gives me a reason to include his picture in the article.
My first favorite non-Dodger was Baltimore’s Brooks Robinson. Mid 60’s favorite Dodger was Jim Lefebvre, followed by Ken McMullen. I was a big fan of Nomar because of how he treated my son when they were Boston teammates. And Corey Seager has been a favorite since he was drafted. What do they all have in common? Uni #5. I cannot say it is because of the uniform number, because I was never a big fan of Mike Marshall who wore number 5 for 9 years.
Now back to the game. This was a game that Doc haters can find fault with, and Doc fans can find positives. After a tough first inning, Julio Urias settled down and pitched brilliantly for the next 4.2 innings. After the Pillar single in the first, Julio retires the next 12 in a row before the Edwin Rios error to open the 6th. He gets the next two and then Doc comes to get him after 77 pitches and a bullpen game the next day? That was a head scratcher for me. What is going to happen when the team needs for Urias to go 90+ pitches? I know the game was tied at 2, with RH Nolan Arenado coming up, but at some point, you have to let the kid pitch out of a jam. Dylan Floro got the weak foul pop out from Arenado, so it worked. But if you are going to let KJ and Baez struggle in similar (or worse) situations to build their confidence, why not Urias? It was unfortunate that Julio did not get the win, but the team won, so I am sure Urias can be satisfied with a Dodgers win…right? Arbitration hearings do not care if you held the Rockies to two runs in 5.2 IP. At some point the W-L discussion is going to come up.
Josh Bard, Mark Prior, and Connor McGuiness need to figure out how to get Urias properly warmed to pitch the first inning. For the season, Urias has allowed 10 runs in the first inning this season, but only 9 runs in the 39 innings following the first.
Corey had a couple of important hits, and Edwin Rios crushed his 5th HR of the season, but for me, the key hit in the game was two out double by Will Smith. That broke the game open. A four run lead at Coors is not enough when the tying run can come to the plate. The one out double off the wall by Kike’ in the 7th got the inning rolling. Don’t look now all you Kike’ doubters, but for the month of September (11 games, 30 AB), Kike’ is slashing .300/.353/.567/.920 with 2 doubles, 2 HRs, 8 RBIs and only 4 Ks. He is heating at the right time. Combined, Max and Cody have 2 extra base hits and 4 RBIs. Max has 21 Ks in September, while Cody has 10. As I said in the beginning of the year, Kike’ has never been the problem. While his bat is rarely a game changer, his glove often is. Cody and Max are supposed to be the game changing bats, and they haven’t been.
Floro should have pitched the 7th unscathed, but Max still has a problem throwing to 2B. With a 6 run lead, why not just get the out at 1st? But the error did allow for Joe Kelly to come in in a non-high leverage situation. After seven consecutive knuckle curves, he seduces a Ryan McMahon 6-3 ground out on a fastball to end the inning. I just am not sure that Kelly trusts his command of his fastball. By the way, Dylan Floro is quietly having a very good season. His ball has always moved, but now he has command of that movement.
Kolarek gave up his first HR of the season. Trevor Story is going to hit a lot of HRs off a lot of pitchers. But it was a bomb.
It was nice to see Josh Sborz come in and finish off the game to save the bullpen for Friday’s game. I would still prefer to see Mitch White start, but I understand why he isn’t. He is not going to be an option for the post season, but the bullpen game could be. Josiah Gray is not going to pitch at the MLB level this year. He is not on the 40 man, and there is no reason to start his clock.
The Dodgers are now up 4.0 games on the Padres, and their magic number for their 8th consecutive NL West title (and best record in NL) is at 5. Philadelphia is now the #8 seed in the NL, with SFG #7. St. Louis (-.5), Milwaukee (-1.0), NYM (-1.5), and Colorado (-2.0) are all still trying to get in.
Don’t look now, but NYY is getting hot at the right time.
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Discussion (97)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Muncy’s confidence is shot, both offensively and defensively. I feel badly for the guy as it appears he is trying too hard, and that never works out. Bellinger remains a work in progress, but his mechanics look much better — if he would just focus on hitting the ball between LCF and RCF — he has more than enough power to hit home runs to any part of any park.
it is now Sept 18, and the 2019 NL MVP has zero extra base hits in the entire month of September.
I say this because law of averages says he’ll get a few the rest of this month. And I think after he gets 1, especially in Colorado this weekend, it could get him to wake up, just in time for October.
We need 1 of Belly or Muncy to wake up. If both do, then watch out.
Good stuff, AC. Corey Seager was indeed the star of the game last night. Was hoping he would hit for the cycle but it was not to be, at least not in that game. I am sure he will get another chance to do that with the way he is hitting. Lindor, although a very good player, never entered my mind to replace Seager. I hope Corey is given an extension and becomes a long time Dodger.
I agree with you about Floro. I was not sure he should be on the 28-man roster at first but he has steadily impressed me with his consistency. Kike, Smith and the bullpen who held on to the lead, had good games also but, what a sweet smooth swing Rios has. Kind of reminds me of Ethier’s swing
Regarding Urias who was excellent after the first inning. Maybe he does need more time getting ready. Usually how many pitches and time does it take? And who determines if a pitcher is ready or not.
I don’t believe you move the 9.4 dWAR SS to second or third, you move the 2 dWAR SS. I would hope if this move is being contemplated Corey would be willing to do what’s best for the team.
I’m not ready to say Bellinger is even close to being back. In his last 25 plate appearances he has 6 singles, 3 walks and 6 Ks. 633 OPS, and exit velocities of a mail carrier. The fact it’s worse over the last two weeks .217/.308/.217./.525 I guess can be considered a step, but there isn’t time for baby steps. He needs to launch some and it should start in Colorado.
Muncy.
A lot of people lost faith in Cory Seager after he got injured and struggled when he returned. But the talent was always there. This is the healthy Seager, which means he’s a dangerous hitter and the fielding is looking better, sometimes special. Impressive season.
As to Cody Bellinger, he’s gradually showing signs of life and it appears he has backed off the plate, which should help. Swings look better. Hitting into the shifts have hurt both Bellinger and Max Muncy. Seager tends to spray the ball to all fields which makes him a bigger threat. But bottom line, the Dodgers need Muncy and Bellinger to make the post season run. I really hate the playoff format, The Dodgers pretty much get nothing for winning the division and having baseball’s best record.
After getting out of the first inning, Julio Urias looked pretty good. Kenley Jansen is still the big question mark in the bullpen. I’m sure that wakes Dave Roberts up in the middle of the night.
So, if the Dodgers win it all, will it actually feel real without fans? Will it have the same meaning? While I’m glad they’re playing baseball and happy it’s on TV, it somehow just isn’t the same. If the Dodgers do win, will thousands and thousands of fans packed downtown LA streets? Or will it just be cardboard cutouts of cheering fans?
AMEN about Seager. Sign him to the extension he deserves and put to rest the Lindor speculation. Use the trade capital it would take to acquire Lindor to upgrade at second, or third base (Turner 36-year old FA after this season). Muncy was a decent defensive first baseman last season, but his confidence is shot — both offensively and defensively.
I finally got to watch the Dodgers last night, first time since A-Rod’s unapologetic breakdown of Bellinger’s swing. You all are right, and Bellinger has backed off the plate since then. Apparently, when you’re publicly flogged for 10 minutes on a nationalized game, word trickles down. I guess thanks are in order to A-Rod, if Bellinger wasn’t listening to anyone else. I only saw his last at-bat for a walk, I’ll always be encouraged earning a walk while fighting thru a slump. Patience and swing selection was the last thing he exhibited in that Astros game, so maybe there’s a light yet. His body language looked a lot better as well (from what little I saw).
Interesting suggesting I saw on twitter regarding Urias and his first inning issues. Maybe duplicate how we handled May the other night. Start a reliever for the opening inning, then insert Urias for his 5-6 innings. It could very well be a mental block and maybe that clears it. If not, I guess we remove opening a game jitters as a reason.
I’ve noticed the Yankees rolling lately as well. They’ve been the team I fear the most the last three years, simply because I think they’re the only team that can match and beat our best baseball.
If Belli and/or Muncy finally heat up, watch out! Nice that others can carry the club in the meantime. What is going on with having Muncy bat fourth, Jeff? Do you have any insight into that? If it’s intended to build up his confidence, I’m not sure it’s working. And regarding Doc, I’m not sure if he can get a break here with respect to Urias. If he leaves in Urias, and the Rockies have a big inning, it could jeopardize our lead over SD. If he takes him out, he puts an extra load on the bullpen. It strikes me as a “lesser of two evils” situation. Choose your poison. It’s not that I feel the need to defend Doc, but there are downsides to both decisions.