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Mark, can you include at the top of the page our 3 minor league teams playing in the Arizona Complex League(1) and Dominican Summer League (2) starting today June 6th.

Clayton Kershaw Expected To Be Activated From 15-Day IL Next Weekend

By Mark Polishuk | June 5, 2022 at 10:55pm CDT

Clayton Kershaw tossed 59 innings over four innings of a minor league rehab start today, and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya) that Kershaw will be activated from the 15-day injured list for his next outing. This would put Kershaw in line to start against the Giants next weekend, as the two NL West rivals clash in a big series.

Not a good game. Julio was solid. Not great. But solid.

I had a great weekend. We aren’t Angel fans. I have many friends who are… and they are about to find a virgin and an active volcano to toss her in.

I have great friends. Met more this weekend. I count my blessings. One of those blessings is being a Dodger fan. And having a new faith in the next generation. Which yesterday gave me more faith.

Leif

Very disappointing end to series. How many balls were inches from being fair, I counted at least 3 that could have broken the game open. Then we have the 8th inning, make of it what you will. Losing these close games in the 8th inning and later are heartbreakers to say the least. On to the White Sox and Giants.

Great to see Ferguson back. He is going to be a HUGE asset once he gets back in the groove after his debut.

Runner on 2nd, nobody out, Betts, Freddie and TT coming up and we can not get one freaking run across.

Maddening.

Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!

Exactly told a friend that Dodgers could tie the game, but only to see Mets score 3 in the 10th and lose again!

I’m back in Indy and watching from my mancave.

Eddy Freakin’ Alvarez!

Another game with missed opportunities. Why the hell Lux did not bunt after Alvarez got his single is beyond me. Play baseball and quit looking for the 2 run jack. When Mookie is ofer, they do not win very often. Pillar out for the season with his shoulder needing surgery. Bullpen has not been good the last two games. They really mis Treinen and Kahnle.

Very odd decision to use Graterol for a second inning today. He got clobbered last night and even Ray Charles could see the very predictable outcome with Lindor leading off the 8th inning and having Graterol face Alonzo again.

Some at LADT are occasionally critical of Doc and his decision making. I generally defend him but the use of Graterol on consecutive games (especially after his outing on Saturday night) with the top of the order coming up was odd and not particular good management. Yes, it’s up to the players to execute but it’s a managers job to put his players in the best position to succeed, and Doc failed miserably with that decision.

Where’s Freddie’s HR power?

You could see this coming. Mets moving runners over and in, Dodgers do not.

Dodgers not a good team with the small things.

Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bad base running and lack of situational hitting costing the Dodgers. Again.

Alvarez had a double with his speed but he stopped at first. Would have scored on FF single.

Runner at 3rd with one out earlier and can not score.

In close games things like that will cost you eventually.

Kersh with a good outing at RC. 4 IP.

Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!

The clean up spot has been a black hole for the Dodgers this year! Time to give Smith another slot. Next man up. I like Alonso!

I agree with those who point out Mookie’s season. He was being labeled a “boat anchor” contract after the first month (it still might end up a boat anchor, but I don’t see that for a lot a years).

Above all else, the Dodgers ran face first into a guy named Pete who could probably hit one out and drive in 4 runs blindfolded, shoelaces tied together and with a cracked broom handle instead of a bat. Give credit where credit is due.

Baseball is like running a business, in a sense. Nothing is ever perfect. Something is always going wrong. It’s a bit like playing Wac-A-Mole. Something pops up, you knock it down just so something else can pop up again. When our pitching staff was un-hittable early In the season, Mookie was in a slump, Lux couldn’t throw a ball into a trash can from three feet and our entire lineup after Trea down had dreams of simply being over the Mendoza line. Yet we were the best team in baseball. Mookie and Lux fixed themselves. JT started hitting. Then our pitching staff became the problem between injuries and giving up home runs like they were handing out tiny sausage samples at Costco. But we are still winning more games than we are losing.

This too will get better. Two starters will come off the IL, Walker will figure it out and I’m sure Julio will start pounding down some milk shakes and a dozen donuts everyday for breakfast and be the portly 20 game winner we know and love (or maybe he will find another way, IDK).

And when our staff is “fixed”, something else will go wrong. And when that’s fixed, something else. And I’ll bet we will still be in first place by the AS break.

It’s baseball. And this is the Dodgers.

Another cheapie by TT!

Interesting that Alvarez is starting at 3rd today and, if I’m not mistaken, he pinch hit for Alberto last night. Is Hanser injured?

Add me to the (short) list of people here who aren’t particularly worried about Buehler. He definitely isn’t helping us now but by playoff time (actually I would say by All Star time) I expect he’ll pretty much be back to the Buehler we expect to see out there.

If it was a game 7, I will choose whoever is the guy with the Dodgers in his uniform.

4:10 PM ET

Mets (36-19)

Dodgers (35-18)

SP Julio Urias L

3-5 2.89 ERA 53IP 42K

Confirmed Lineup

RF Mookie Betts R

1B F. Freeman L

SS Trea Turner R

C Will Smith R

DH J. Turner R

CF C. Bellinger L

LF Chris Taylor R

3B Eddy Alvarez S

2B Gavin Lux L

Clear-day

0% Rain

76° Wind 10 mph Out

Go back 5 weeks and read all our comments about Mookie and now he’s the league MVP. I think in 2 months time the same will hold true for Buehler. His stuff is still elite. Those 2 pitches Alonzo hit out last night we’re not bad pitches. He’s just that good. Tip of the cap.

Maybe I’m wrong, but I have the impression that since the day Walker pitched the complete game, since then it started to go down, I don’t know, but maybe that’s the reason why they don’t allow them to pitch as many innings anymore, and that’s why I’ve always totally agreed (On this) with Roberts…

Reminds me of the time a left-handed pitcher from SF (forget the name) was throwing no-hitters against LA until Seager hit in the ninth, then he was pulled after over 100 pitches, and since then that pitcher has never been the same

Willie Calhoun DFA

There is an article in the Athletic that pretty much tells you what I have been saying for weeks. Maybe you just need to hear it from them, because I already told you. Of course, some of you experts said that wasn’t it.

I have a feeling that if DeGrom and Scherzer were on the Dodgers roster, people here would be extremely “concerned” or “worried” about them being available or effective in the post-season. But, since they’re on The Mets, the same people are concerned that our pitchers aren’t as good.

I’m not sure where this comes from when Max laid an egg last year while on the Dodgers and DeGrom is basically the same age as Clayton. DeGrom is currently nursing shoulder and forearm injuries. Yes, shoulder AND forearm. So, maybe The Mets get really lucky and he comes back healthy, is effective and his health stays with him throughout the post season. Max seems to have some recurring hamstring issues and is currently on the IL with an oblique injury, which never seem to heal and it’s also reported that his pitching hand was bitten by a dog!

McKinstry started off very hot last year, went down with an oblique injury and was never the same. But, 82 year old Max will be just fine.

So, very injured Max Scherzer and Jacob DeGrom are going to pitch like aces throughout the rest of the year and post-season. But, healthy Bueller won’t be able to get his fastball back, May and Duffy will only pitch in relief. Clayton will probably suck now. Julio won’t be able to get his mojo back. Anderson and Heaney aren’t for real and Gonsolin will regress. And forget about all these minor leaguers with filthy stuff putting it together and being ready to help.

I had a great time at the Rancho game yesterday. It was great seeing Mark, Jayne and OldBear and also Mark’s son Stephan. What a nice young man you’ve raised.

It is a very nice little stadium with great views of the mountains with tall pines all along the perimeter of the outfield wall. The game was minor league baseball in a sense that you just don’t see balls dropped in the outfield in a major league game like we did last night.

There were some very loud swings with resulting big flies die in the outfield under the cool, damp air. Damon Keith looks like a ballplayer. He’s well built and athletic. Luiz Rodriguez smacked a couple of doubles. His swing looks really good and he’s got some speed on the bases. Vogel got the speed. He also has a nice swing, but he’s a little undersized. If he fills out, watch out. Luiz Diaz and Ken Betancourt also stood out with good looking bats and some well hit balls.

It was more baseball and less flash and noise than you see at Dodgers games. I’m really going to start making it a habit to go to more games there. The fireworks at the end of the game was a nice treat and the Carne Asada Fries at the very end of the night really hit the spot.

It was really fun to sit with Mark and Jayne for about an inning or so and just talk baseball with a couple of baseball rats. Even better, we chose a great time to miss the Dodgers game. What a debacle!

On the bright side, Walker’s velo was up as was his spin on a few of the four seamers he threw. Only 7 of his 4 – seamers where less than 95.5 with 23 of them at or above that mark. Walker averaged 2472 on his 4 seamer last year. He threw nearly half of his 4 seamers at or above 2400 rpm last night with one topping out at 2572. It looks like progress to me and sometimes you need to take a step backwards in order to take a couple of steps forward. Right now he doesn’t look good, but he’s got plenty of time to figure it out.

It makes me wonder if they tweaked his mechanics / delivery to make his secondary pitches more effective and it had an inverse effect on his fastball. Hopefully, this is the low point of his season.

Today, we’ll see our other troubled pitcher, Skinny Julio try to convert a 1PM day game into a series win. I sure hope he’s getting back to his old diet and we see a little more umph on his fastball. I’ll be smoking a rack of baby backs during the game and will enjoy and lazy Sunday afternoon at the house today.

I was more amazed at how Alonso hit that 2nd HR off Graterol.

Either way, whatever, win today and we take 3-4 from the 2nd best team in the NL

One of our ‘jobs’ as fans is to come up with fan-tastical ideas for trades and acquisitions that we know will never happen. Like saying we should try to sign Freddie Freeman. But if the trade deadline were now, and standing were like today, perhaps these players would be available. Pollock, Kike, Jansen, Joc

Great stuff Mark. The Dodger Poke Report is an excellent source to view Dodger prospects at all levels and learn about the ones we haven’t heard much about. The Dodger minor league system is loaded with high quality talent at all positions.

Hoping Buehler and the pitching gurus can figure out what’s wrong with the poor results we’re seeing.

I am not sure what fans are thinking, but deGrom has not thrown a pitch this year and he pitched just 92 innings last year. He is 34 years old and is on the IL as we speak with major injury concerns. I would not be the least bit surprised if he does not throw a pitch this year.

Sherzer is also on the IL, so I don’t know what a person has to smoke to have more confidence in deGrom and Scherzer than what the Dodgers have.

Pitchers have slumps the same as hitters. If Buehler is not injured… and he does not appear to be… then I would liken what is happening to him like what happened to Mookie earlier in the year. How did that turn out?

Buehler’ fastball hit 95, 96, 97, and touched 98 MPH, but threw his fastball a lot less. He either doesn’t trust it, has lost the feel or is possibly trying to change something… I have no clue what?

Patience Grasshoppers!

Not sure what is wrong with Walker, but when your team gives you a 4-1 lead and your labeled as the “ace” the expectation is you run with it and get it done. To give up four runs the inning following your teams offensive outburst is not “ace” like.

Mechanics, poor pitch location, loss of MPH on a FB, sequencing or whatever ails Walker does not portend well for his immediate future and it’s now time for the pitching braintrust (Pryer and McGinnis) along with Walker to put their collective heads together and get this figured out. One of Walker’s problems last night was first pitch strikes, he was only 6/13. with just 5 swinging strikes in his 2.1 innings pitched.

Thank goodness Catman and Anderson have pitched some quality games because Walker and Julio have been underwhelming of late. Let’s hope the return of CK and Heaney give the rotation a lift with Walker getting skipped in a start to reset and figure it out.

Looking ahead the struggles of WB do not bode well for the Dodgers quest of another WS title.

In most postseasons you need that ace starter if you want to win it all. A guy you can write in as your starter in 3 games of a best of 7 series where you know you will likely get a gem.

Walker was that guy for us since he came up, always delivering in the playoffs when asked with the stakes high.

Mets probably will have two of that kind of pitchers in deGrom and Scherzer. They are already a powerful team and will get only better with those two aces on the mound.

Gonsolin and Anderson are looking great but I have some doubts they will be as formidable all season long and in the postseason.

Urias has his own problems and Kersh ? Well, he is always only one step from IL.

Its a long way before the postseason but at this moment I would call the Mets the odds on favorits to come out of the NL to play in the fall classic.

Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!