Greetings Earthlings!

Watched the last 8 innings – these extra innings are good for me in home games!

Some very dominant pitching & a really good game to win.

Baez looks a lot better.

I was worried after the 9th inning it might go 15 and wear out both bullpens. After 12 complete there are 6 hits and 4 walks, none by Dodgers pitchers. 31 K’s, 18 by the Cards staff. Rockies and Snakes already won their games.

Bad Throw By Molina.

Wild pitch by the great Molina!

Molina was lazy on the backhand.

Pederson is going to get someone hurt out there, 2 collisions and both caught by the other guy. Cannot fault the effort but the CF has to take charge and call it or back off.

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I am sure Clayton takes the blame for that pitch and the batter was not going to get out of the way but still, 2 bases is a hard one to take and a tough break. Great base running too.

We may have just lost two players.

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Joc was in two collisions tonight – with LF and RF.

By the way, AC’s minor league report was awesome yesterday.

I am sure Yasmani thinks he should have got that ball, but that was a really tough one. I’m not sure Molina would have got it. Dodger pitchers do bounce the ball a lot (by Honeycutt’s design) and AJ Ellis was very good at blocking them. He’s available.

When the lead off man singled sharply I would have gone to the pen, now we need a walk off run in the 9th to avoid extra innings.

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It was called a WP but it took Grandal too long to find the ball and runner scores from second. I believe that breaking ball in the dirt never gets by Molina.

Wild pitch; yes, but remember the guy with the steel glove strikes again – for TWO bases

I have to say Urias going down was the right move for now, If Maeda and Hill each throw well I think Ryu goes to the bullpen where they have been 1 lefty short, but he should get 1 more start.

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Cards were a 2.5 to 1 underdog tonight which seemed crazy as Kershaw has had history with the Cards and Lynn has pitched them tough in the past. Sometimes you just take the under 7 and hope for the best. The game has a playoff feel to it no matter where these 2 teams currently are in the standings.

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Taylor will get some chances at 3B too as Forsythe can’t go every day and Utley is 2B only at this point. Chris can play SS for Cory too in a pinch and he was out taking fly balls today. Super Sub!

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Bellinger just looks like a solid player: even on a quiet night he got robbed of a double and let Joc know he better call it if he wants it in the gap. AGon made a couple nice plays at 1B as well.

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Kershaw is at 94 pitches through 8, I hope they let him go for the shutout with Jansen warming in the pen in case anyone gets on.

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Toles underwent surgery today, here is hoping that all goes well and he’s back for spring training next year!

Dodger news from all around:

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EricLongenhagen chat:

QUESTION: Adam Willie Calhoun’s bat seems ready and he could probably be one of the better leadoff hitters in the game. Could he be adequate in LF or is it still a DH or bust thing?

ANSWER Longenhagen DH

QUESTION: Bleh (12:33) How much longer until we see Buehler in the big leagues? Can he oust someone from the roster (Sergio Romo perhaps) or does he have to wait for a guy to get hurt?

ANSWER Longenhagen I have no idea.

QUESTION: Mike Is Yadier Alvarez back on track or is there still risk after not showing up for two starts.

ANSWER Longenhagen: I’d like to think he’ll be fine from here but it’s going to be hard to wipe away some of these dud starts and rumors of him being out of shape early in the spring.

QUESTION: Oakland A’s fan Is most of Cotton’s problem mental or did you see anything else in his rough outings? I am hoping for a callup soon.

ANSWER Longenhagen: There’s some worry his fastball plays down due to poor extension.

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FanGraphs also has a nice article on Chris Taylor. Here’s the big takeaway:

Every season brings us moments like this. More often than not, they end with the red-hot player cooling back into his usual self, or something slightly more than that. Precious are the times when a new above-average performer suddenly emerges from nothingness. We don’t yet know if Taylor’s newfound patience at the plate will translate into long-term success. But there’s always a group of guys whose performances require further monitoring. Taylor is part of that group right now. He’s outplaying even the most generous of projections, and damn if it isn’t fun.

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In a Baseball Prospectus chat:

Jose (St Paul): What are your thoughts on Will Smith’s offensive production with the Quakes? Has the hit and/or power tool ticked up or is it too soon to gauge his production in the hitting environment he is in?

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Wilson Karaman: Smith’s a tough hitting nut to crack, I still don’t have a great feel for him after seeing him a whole bunch now. He’ll flash some leverage in his swing when he’s in a hitting count and looking to pull one, but broadly his swing plane tends to be quite linear in games. Know a couple of dingers have come at Lancaster, I haven’t seen any of ’em personally yet. I’m wary there’s much more than I saw last year, but he’s a guy I still want to see more of

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Jerry (Earth): Hey Wilson. Wasn’t sure if you had chance to get eyes on or any updates on Oneil Cruz as I know he is in full season and super young?

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Wilson Karaman: Emmett’s had a few looks at him, and I wrote an update based off his notes in an MLU recently: “Described by prospect team member Emmett Rosenbaum as “one of the weirdest things I’ve seen” Cruz is a gangly 6-foot-6, 175-pound shortstop. After turning heads at the Dodgers’ DSL affiliate last summer, he’s been adjusting as you might expect for an 18-year-old navigating his stateside and full-season debut. While he’s highly unlikely to stick at short as he fills out, the profile’s still intriguing at third. More from Emmett: “The power is definitely real, he [shows] some pretty impressive strength given how little his body is filled out.”

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Finally in the latest Baseball America mock draft they note the Dodgers are interested in:

RH 1B Evan White

RH Speedy outfielder Bubba Thompson

RHP Tanner Houck

RHP Griffin Canning

I thought he should be sent down simply because he wasn’t pitching well and we have somebody to replace him. I wasn’t slamming you or even him it was just an opinion. Thus far I just don’t see ace material. At his best I see a good quality pitcher. But I concede at age 20 that could change rather quickly. I get the kershaw comparison at the same age and I know kershaw struggled with command ala Koufax so maybe he just frustrates me with his walks and command issues. One thing about kershaw though is he suddenly come up with the devastating slider which separates him. His strikeouts are down this year in part because he has not found his slider. As Urias develops maybe he becomes an ace but he doesn’t seem to have that dominating pitch. Maybe the change up but the fastball not overpowering. Having said that I hope he turns it around and becomes the number 2 we need in the playoffs. Being from Illinois I am going to get to see the dodgers tonight on cardinals network(ugh) and the cubs are drilling giants ha

So I get Forysthe in the lineup, he needs to play. What I don’t get is Utley (who has flirted with the Mendoza line ALL YEAR) over Taylor? Not only that, but by playing Utley, Roberts is forced to place the slow Grandal in the three hole.

Slammed? If I am guilty of that then, Sorry.

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I am a believer that the Dodgers should pick their best 5 guys and let them start in the rotation. If one if them is unavailable, then someone else starts. I REALLY dislike this 6/7/8 man rotation stuff. Guys coming off of the DL after a phantom stay have generally come back rusty and a loss is a loss, whether in May or September.

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From what I can tell, the current top 5 are Kershaw, Wood, Hill, McCarthy and ??? It could be Ryu, Maeda or Urias. The difference is that Urias has options and he is 20. Seeing which of the other 2 guys make the 5 makes sense to me unless Urias starts really shining or unless Ryu and Maeda keep stinking it up.

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The way that the Braintrust handled the kid this Spring is the probable reason that he isn’t doing well. Pitching 2 innings per start in Spring Training, staying in Arizona and pitching pretend games for a few more weeks, coming up when he isn’t sharp due to lack of game action and isn’t stretched out is a recipe for failure. If he gets real game action in AAA then he can work his way back to sharpness and maybe contribute this year.

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What would I have done? I would have seen whether Urias was ready to pitch now. Stretch him out this Spring and see whether he was ready. If so, plug him in a let him go. There are ways to monitor his usage as the season progresses – skip him for a start, limit his innings during a start, etc.

There is a difference in being wrong in a prediction of what someone else would do (the Dodgers sending down Urias) and being wrong in what should be done. Only time will tell if the decision was successful. If successful, then it was not a wrong decision to send him down. That will not answer the question if you would have been wrong to keep him up.

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That’s what the hot stove league is for–endlessly debate the could’ve, should’ve would’ve.

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Life is good. Hope you keep your head above water this week. Beat the Cardinals!