How Do You Spell Relief?
I think the trickle-down effect of Manny Machado in the Dodger s lineup will be significant. The Dodgers really miss Corey Seager and he replaces Cory with a stronger RH bat. This should help everyone in the lineup. Watch Chris Taylor and Cody Bellinger s stats improve. Depending upon what happens between now and the end of the season, the Dodgers offsense could be more potent than that of 2017 and I
I think the “trickle-down effect” of Manny Machado in the Dodger’s lineup will be significant. The Dodgers really miss Corey Seager and he replaces Cory with a stronger RH bat. This should help everyone in the lineup. Watch Chris Taylor and Cody Bellinger’s stats improve. Depending upon what happens between now and the end of the season, the Dodgers offsense could be more potent than that of 2017… and I salivate to think of a lineup that includes both Machado and Seager in 2019, but I’m putting the horse before the cart! Let’s win this one first!
I am heading to Milwaukee this weekend and doubt if I have much time to post, so hopefully AC can entertain you while I am gone. I hope to get to see Manny upclose and personal. Milwaukee’s Stadium is beautiful… and I get to see Clayton pitch as well. I have not been to Milwaukee for several years, but one of the previous times I was there, Shawn Green hit four homeruns. That was a great game.
Bullpen Help
The next few days should be very eventful. The Padres Brad Hand brought back one of the Top 15 Prospects in baseball… because he is controllable for several more years. That’s the price of control. Manny Machado brought back a lot because he is a superstar, but the relievers that are on the market like Rasiel Iglesais and others of his ilk who are “controllable” for years to come, will bring back prospects generally in the Top 25, or multiple prospects in the Top 50. The bullpen guys we all talk about and want, like Iglesais, Vazquez (aka/Rivero), Bear Claw and others will likely cost Verdugo and Ruiz or one of those and a couple of lower-ranked prospects.
I think that is too much to pay. Relievers are a fickle bunch – very few provide consistent production year-over-year, making long-term control certainly less meaningful. One thing that jumpedIn 12 June appearances, teams were OPDS’ing almost 1.000 against Hand. I think the Dodgers need to try and move some player or players on the 25 man roster (Pederson, Puig, Toles, Wood) in order to get a reliever and it likely won’t be one of the top names that are available. Think: Get Brad Hand BEFORE he is Brad Hand. It should be interestiung how this plays out.
Dodger News
- The Dodgers are up to 5th in the latest power poll by Bleacher Report!
- The Dodgers are said to be going with a six-man rotation and Ryu may start a rehab assignment as soon as next week. TGhat leave him two weeks or so away. What then? a 7-Man?
- Jim Bowden says that “the Dodgers made it very clear in their trade discussions with the Orioles that top prospects — including outfielder Alex Verdugo, catcher Keibert Ruiz, and pitchers Mitchell White and Yadier Alvarez — were all off limits in a “rental” trade for All-Star shortstop Manny Machado. LA’s front office, led by Andrew Friedman and Farhan Zaidi, never wavered from that position, and ended up landing Machado without giving any of them up.” – From TheAthletic.com
- Manny Machado is big, but Ndamukong Suh IS the BIGGEST offseason pickup by any LA team.
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Discussion (69)
Disagree, not disagreeable
I haven’t thought about this a lot, but I was just thinking that with the acquisition of Manny, the Dodgers have quite a bit of extra base hit power following Chris Taylor. I know it isn’t easy to make changes mid-season, but if he can do it, it might behoove Taylor to change his approach and make a concerted effort to cut his strikeouts and better utilize his speed by getting on base more. Again, that sort of adjustment is probably very difficult to achieve mid-season, but if together with Turner Ward, he can pull it off, I think it would make the Dodgers all that much more dangerous. And if Manny then signed on long term with the Dodgers, and Cory Seager returns fully healthy next year, Taylor would become even more valuable next year.
Mlb.tv is free this weekend.
So JT didn’t start any of the last three games of the first half, had a four day respite with the break and isn’t starting game 1 of the second half. Should we be worried? Why not a ten day DL and keep Foles up?
The below is from: https://dodgerblue.com/dodgers-manny-machado-trade-analysis-right-move/2018/07/19/?utm_source=Dodgers+Subscribers&utm_campaign=dd8c6ad05c-The+DB+Report+04-2016&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_5603c26edc-dd8c6ad05c-204389565
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Matt Kemp deserved his start in the 2018 All-Star game, but age might finally be starting to catch up with him. Over his last 25 games, Kemp is hitting .232 with a .655 OPS. Take out a couple big games in the beginning of July and he’s 11 for his last 73.
ROLAIDS
FanGraphs on the team’s 24 YO Righty:
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Tony Gonsolin, RHP, Los Angeles NL (Profile)
Gonsolin debuted among the Five last week following a series of increasingly impressive starts that culminated in an 11-strikeout effort against just 20 batters on July 10th. While he failed to overwhelm his opponents so decisively in his lone appearance over the past week, his July 16th start was notable for another reason — namely, that it occurred against the Arkansas Travelers of the Texas League and represented the right-hander’s debut at Double-A.
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The former ninth-round pick was still quite strong, recording an 8:0 strikeout-to-walk ratio against 26 batters over 6.0 innings (box). ONe account indicates that Gonsolin touched 98 mph, as well, which is roughly in line with previous reports.
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Gonsolin’s slider is naturally effective against same-handed batters, but he appeared to have some strategies for dealing with lefties, as well.
.300/.408/.555
21db/3tp/15hr
48bb/71k
40g @ 1b
37g @ 3b
Previous experience in OF
Bats rh throws rh
How long before we see connor joe in blue?
This will likely be the biggest issue for the club heading into the postseason. What to do with starters and relievers. Ryun wasn’t able to pitch out of the pen last year (but mccarthy sadly was) and that affected our playoff staff. Assuming good health, we could have as many as four starters into the pen in October. How wr handle that could determine our success. Obviously, Houston did it better than we did.
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Nobody wants to see fields or Baez throw a single playoff inning. Some of the other guys are more questionable [floro. Hudson, etc.]. Jansen and Alexander are in and then there are the inevitable deadline additions.
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How will Robert’s and the front office manage the staff heading into the postseason? Big decisions will have to be made and starters will have to be unselfish [like maeda] and take one for the team. If wood or hill turns into a dominant short relief arm like Kenya did last year we could be in luck. We still need to add at least one more durable arm that can be counted on to pitch every day come October.
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I dont think there is that much in the minors that can help us. Maybe sborz or Hernandez but I’m not expecting much.
I think they shouldn’t part with Verdugo or Ruiz, but instead put Maeda, Ryu, or Beuhler in the BP as inning eaters… unless BearClaw is available. Then Verdugo, not Ruiz… especially with Grandal being FA in the off-season.