Goodbye Farhan Zaidi!

Hate to break up the band but, talent will rise.

I would love to know how many HRs this bullpen has given up, in the last ten days, or two weeks.

If anyone knows how to find this out, I would love to know, because I have been concerned about the HRs this bullpen have given up, lately.

I would say that they have given up at least 7 HRs in the last couple weeks, and that can’t happen, especially in the post season!

I know they have said that Lamb has had problems hitting lefties, but the last time we played the Dbacks, Lamb hit one of our lefties hard, so I don’t know if the scouting report for Lamb against lefties, is a current scouting report.

Because the last time we faced the Dbacks, the broadcasters mentioned that Lamb had trouble hitting lefties, and then Lamb went off on one of our lefties, and that only happened a month ago, when we last faced the Dbacks.

It is hard to see a pitcher like Maeda pitch very carefully and pitch hard and well, for five innings, and then see one of our relievers come into a game, and they can’t pitch even one clean inning.

And this isn’t an isolated incident, and that is why I am upset, and concerned.

There are hitters, that can hit a high fastball at a high velocity, so you can’t always ask for a high fastball, and expect a hitter, won’t hit it, even if it is a little of of the strike zone.

Bottom line, these relievers have to be much more careful.

I don’t know why Baez gave up a second HR last night, but the Dbacks are not the Mets, because the Dbacks can hit, so our relivers can’t just throw any old pitch up there, and expect the hitter, won’t capitalize on a mistake.

And that HR that Puig made a good catch on, was the third HR that Baez has given up, in his last couple appearances.

This is the type of stuff that can cause an easy loss, in the post season, so they better get on these guys in the bullpen.

The Nats went out early and got the A’s closer, and another pitcher, and they also went out late, and got the Twins closer, right before the trade deadline ended.

And it seems like hitters have more trouble hitting pitchers that they have never seen, so I think the Nat’s bullpen might give us problems, in the post season, because most of their new relivers, are from the American League.

And both of our new relievers, the Nat’s players, and the Cubs players, have seen a lot of.

And these two pitchers, we recently got, were having problems giving up HRs, before we got them.

The bullpen plays such an important role in the post season, and that is why I am worried about our high leverage relievers, except for Kenley!

Lamb’s HR may have been a lucky swing, but the amount of HRs given up by our relief pitchers lately is a bit concerning.

It is being reported from numerous sources that Clayton Kershaw is “close” to returning to the rotation.

I and probably most of you think Roberts should of stayed with Morrow. However, I think Roberts needs to find out what the two new relief pitchers are capable of doing. I am not sure what Roberts learned about Watson last night. That is why I think Morrow was taken out. Morrow is capable of getting lefties and righties out.

Farhan Zaidi can put this on his resume:

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Never resorted to slander.

Never complained about bad contracts someone else left him with.

Never tried to use bankruptcy to get out from self-inflicted problems like McCourt and others have done.

Never made wild promises he couldn’t keep.

Never pointed a finger at someone else.

Never tried to force something big and instead made continuous improvements.

Created a team environment with everybody working together in harmony.

Never lied.

OK I’ll bite on the Faz possibly leaving, but I’m more worried about who he will take with him from that list of replacements or others…

I too hate losing, especially when I thought I’d run the table!!! Zack will be on a mission today and let there be no doubt…

Lets get ready to rumble…

Lefties hitting against Morrow are 1 for 35.

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FAZ should be credited with what they haven’t done as much as for what they have done.

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Turner has recovered from Bronchitis and is back to full strength.

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Puig doesn’t smile after making a great catch–just another day at the office doing routine stuff I guess.

Josh Sborz is turning his year around. He started out horribly with a 8.53 ERA after 3 games (down from 14+ ERA after Game 2). He continued to pitch uninspired for the next couple of months, so much so that he has fallen out of the Top 30 Dodger prospects as published by MLB.com. He has been surpassed by one of my favorites, Caleb Ferguson. I have been critical of Josh for much of the year, because I was hoping for and expecting much more from him.

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For the last 10 games, his ERA has dropped from 5.09 to 3.66, or at a 2.10 clip during that 10 game stretch. But something really clicked after another poor start on July 4. Since then, he has had 6 starts and pitched 36.2 innings. Over that 6 game stretch he has allowed 7 earned runs, 27 hits, 16 walks (still a concern), and 26 strikeouts (also a concern). His ERA over those 6 games is a very good 1.72.

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While Josh has seemed to turn around his year after summer started, there are still some considerable concerns. His walks are way up, and his strikeouts are way down. For 2015/2016, his K/9 innings ratio was 9.16. This year it is 6.00. Contrary, his BB/9 innings has gone from 2.75 (2015/2016) to 4.59 in 2017. Even for his last 6 games, while his ERA is 1.72, his K/9 is 6.38 and his BB/9 is 3.93. That is a K/BB ratio of 1.63/1.00. With those kind of strikeout and walk numbers, Josh is not likely to make a move up the prospect lists, or in the eyes of Dodger Player Development Staff.

You are a mind reader! I was thinking about other teams hiring Dodger Execs away just yesterday. Of course the result of such will be a price increase on the scraps the Dodgers have been getting so cheap.