Is The Manager the Problem?
Pitching changes, lineups, and strategy decisions are subjective… VERY subjective. Additionally, second guessers are seldom wrong. I rarely question tactical decisions because I know that there are frequently underlying reasons. I think I was dead on in what I said about Caleb…
Pitching changes, lineups, and strategy decisions are subjective… VERY subjective. Additionally, second guessers are seldom wrong. I rarely question tactical decisions because I know that there are frequently underlying reasons. I think I was dead on in what I said about Caleb Ferguson, and I think you will find out about it soon enough. The beat writers report what the team gives them; sometimes, they are told not to publish something. Unless they want to be stonewalled, they have to comply. Wait for it, and I think you will learn more about the Caleb Ferguson Ninth Inning Debacle in the future.
Has Dave Roberts lost the Lockerroom? JDM, Freddie, Mookie, Heyward, Peralta, Smith, Rojas, and others are the clubhouse leaders. This is not a rhetorical question. I am asking in all sincerity. This is the 9th year that Dave Roberts has been the Dodgers’ manager. Is his shelf life expired? Does he motivate them or do they just tolerate him?
To me, the lineup doesn’t matter as much as the team’s resolve. Gone are the days when Walter Alston or Tommy Lasorda would manage for 20+ years. Managers now have a “shelf-life,” and at some point, they all “lose the locker room.” In the NBA, they change Head Coaches as often as some people change their underwear. Do the Dodgers need a change in leadership? We saw what happened in Philly last year when Rob Thompson took over for Joe Girardi.
I was not a fan of Don Mattingly, not because he wasn’t a good manager, but because he had lost control of the locker room. Dave Roberts has not lost physical control – this team, as assembled, is composed of a bunch of good dudes, but maybe they need an edge. Maybe Doc is not the guy to give it to them. Maybe you are reading this and think I have lost my mind, or it is being written with AI. I have defended Doc’s moves (usually) because these things are subjective, and to second-guess is petty and makes me wonder if the one who criticizes is self-loathing as well.
Last night, the Dodgers lost a game they should have won. The players seem to be in a malaise. Is it “Syndergaard Syndrome”? Look, I do not fault Andrew Friedman for trying, but it ain’t working. Noah wants to be Thor again and would “give up his firstborn” to do it. He is not trying to become a real pitcher – he wants to be Thor. It ain’t happening. He is the weak link, and everyone knows it. No IL Stint is needed. DFA him immediately and munch on the Benjamins! It’s called addition by subtraction.
Many of you want to trade the Farm for Ohtani, Trout, and six other All-Stars. But I believe there’s more than enough talent on this team and within the Farm System to win the World Series THIS YEAR! Let’s bring back “Pride Night.” I mean Dodger Pride Night. The Players need to play for the name on the front of their jerseys! They don’t need sound bites, and even Ray Charles can see that the locker room is, at least, a little fractured over the Sisters and Clayton’s remarks. These a self-inflicted wounds and should have never happened – hopefully they are smarter now. By the way, in Cincinnati, 16 oz. Beers were $12.00, but Bud Light was $3.50. Go figure. Those Budweiser Marketing Geniuses are so damn smart!
So, what say you? Is Dave Roberts’ shelf live over? Do the Dodgers need a new “Voice?” Of course, the Doc Haters will weigh in, but I am not a Doc Basher – I just want to know!
Dodger News & Notes
- Hunter Feduccia is now hitting .246. Nuff said!
- Daniel Hudson is closing in a July 1st return.
- Julio Urias will allegedly return over the weekend.
- Get your coffee and toast and let’s hope that Clayton can stop the losing streak.
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Discussion (91)
Disagree, not disagreeable
I think think there’s a 40% chance Otani signs here.
Too much smoke.
Metaphorical, not a comment on current weather.
I don’t believe that you can possibly fault Roberts. The problem is personnel, not management. The problem is execution.
Like yesterday – Phillips is his best relief pitcher and he blew a save. It happens. Graterol and Ferguson have been the other most reliable late inning options – they haven’t pitched well lately. But who else is he supposed to bring in?
Both Vargas and Outman are rookies trying to figure it out. So they probably make rookie mistakes and have adjustments to make.
Urias, May, Buehler, and Pepiot are hurt. So someone has to start. What else is he supposed to do?
The issue is that this is a transitional year. The Dodgers are trying to figure out whether anyone from their touted farm system is going to be a big part of the teams’ future. They have gap fillers like Rojas, Heyward, Perralta, Syndergaard who are on 1 year deals. They will take a step back next year to see where the gaps still are and make decisions about some of the prospects who have played this year and where they need to add.
And I don’t think that they will be spending $500MM on Otani.
To kpizzle regarding your snarky remark after my comment about the 5 day layoff during the All-Star break. I know it is the All-Star break moron. But never in all the years I have been watching the game have the Dodgers had one five days long. Usually it is four. And they always have played on the Sunday just before the break so shut up.
Anyone else notice how good Will smith threw the ball to second last night. Syndergard gave him no chance and he still almost threw out runners! I think you’re 90 percent right mark, I think this team can win a championship with a little help from the front office. Go Clayton!
We really are spoiled!!!
We call it a ‘transition year’ when we expect to win 85-93 games.
My immediate reaction after last night’s game is that this team is either too soft, or not properly focused to play good baseball. Don’t know if it’s Roberts, or something else. Maybe it’s as simple as faulty construction of the personnel, or the injuries to May and Urias finally catching up to them. In truth, I knew back in May the loss of those guys to the IL would result in a downturn for the Dodgers, ..but still, .. something’s amiss and the vibe ain’t right. That’s all.
I’m at the ballpark and had to check on the Bud light for $3.50. That was a Tuesday night promotion for all 12 ounce Budweiser product for $3.50.
No such promotion today. Let’s go Dodgers win a freaking game
10.8. Really?
1.7. Again. Really?
Guess what these numbers are.
* De La Cruz, on his triple, went home to 1st officially in 10.83 seconds. I actually had him faster. He was flying around second with those long strides just eating uo ground. Supposedly Byron Buxton ran a 10.52 in 2017. But I’d need to see that. I’ve watched this kid for 2 games and I’m hooked. He is something special.
* 1.7 of course is a Noah Syndergaard time to home with Will Smith trying to throw the guy out.
I’m now past any irritation with Noah. I’ve been pissed when he can’t hold runners, doesn’t cover first, and doesn’t back up any bases. And the fact that he has dick.
Now I just feel sorry for the guy.
I know it’s a production business and I don’t want to watch him anymore. But it hasn’t worked and appears unlikely it ever will, and certainly not with the Dodgers.
But there is a human side of me that feels bad for a guy who has tried to save his career and just hasn’t been able to. It’s sad to see a career end this way. It’s a hard reality when all you have wanted to do is play ball and you’re done. It happens to everybody at some time, but it’s not easy.
* I’m waiting for the criticism again of Vargas at 2nd on about 105 mph tweener bullet that ate him up. A text book THTH. I would encourage any critic to get his own ass out there and try to make that play. Or STFU.
* Joe mentioned the report on Carlos Torres, the HPU from Tuesday. You remember the guy who tossed David Bell for arguing balls and strikes. He was in the 4th percentile. I don’t know how that’s calculated but he called a ton of balls in a zone I call the “5 river”. That’s the area inside to RHH, off the plate, in the area between the plate and the batters box line. The Umpire Scorecard showed he called 15 go 66 called strikes on pitches out of the Strike zone. That’s a 77% accuracy rate.
But that’s based on the box that’s supposed to be the strike zone. It’s not Carlos Torres’ zone. He was actually very consistent with “his” zone. he called 2 high strikes out of the box and 13 in the 1 river. He called it there all day. He gave nothing low and was consistent low.
Don’t laugh but I could make a case that that is his strike zone and he was consistent and that’s his personal strike zone. I’ve had plenty of umpires tell me that it’s acceptable as long as he’s consistent and it’s up to the players to adjust to that strike zone.
Again, you have 2 strike zones in play. The little box on the TV and Carlos Torres’ strike zone.
* Nick Robertson is a big kid with a nice live fastball and nice change on the edges. He’s only about 3 mph different from Noah but the life on his stuff is totally different. Miller, Grove and Robertson have all impressed me so far.
* One of the delightful things about watching the rookie’s debut is the reaction from the families who made it to the game to see a lifelong dream come true. Robertson had a whole section going wild. DeLuca’s kept a smile, as he hit it the ball hard with bad aim. Big fun to see a lifelong dream come true.
* To me, DeLuca looks a little bit like Ron Cey in the box.
* Phillips blew one. It happens to the best of them. He’s still my pick for the closer or the guy used in the highest leverage situations.
* Graterol is a mystery to me. Maybe he needs to throw with less velocity with more command and spin. He just can’t miss bats.
* Our bullpen will continue to struggle as long as we keep getting short starts from the rotation. If you pitch enough guys everyday, somebody’s bound to be shitty after awhile.
Wednesday scores
Oklahoma City 8, El Paso 6 (10 innings)
Arkansas 15, Tulsa 9 (11 innings)
Great Lakes 10, Lake County 1
Modesto 2, Rancho Cucamonga 1
Thursday schedule
4:05 p.m. PT: Great Lakes (Ronan Kopp) vs. Lake County (Tommy Mace)
5:05 p.m.: Tulsa (River Ryan) vs. Arkansas (Kyle Tyler)
5:35 p.m.: Oklahoma City (Andre Jackson, after an opener) at El Paso (Anderson Espinoza)
7:05 p.m.: Rancho Cucamonga (Payton Martin) at Modesto (Michael Morales)
I don’t know how long it has been since we’ve been a couple games back at this point of a season but perhaps it will turn out that the players feel the threat that they’re letting it slip away. They know inside they are better than this. Yes, they should dump Thor today to let others know they have to produce and be proud to be on this team and contributing some reason for pride. 21 was a win record season then followed beating that record by 5 runs in 22. Ships don’t sail on yesterday’s wind and it all depends on how you want to go out. Errors and bad play and unproductive at bats should be addressed immediately to let players know it takes more to play for Dodgers. Bound for glory or bound for gloom.
DODGERS RECALL TAYLER SCOTT
LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Dodgers recalled right-handed pitcher Tayler Scott and placed right-handed pitcher Noah Syndergaard on the 15-day injured list with a blister on his right index finger.
Scott, 30, returns for his third stint with the team and he is 0-0 with a 0.00 ERA (0 ER/1.2 IP) and two strikeouts with the Dodgers this season. He has spent parts of three seasons in the Major Leagues with Seattle (2019), Baltimore (2019), San Diego (2022) and Los Angeles (2023) and he is a combined 0-1 with an 10.50 ERA (35 ER/30.0 IP) and 29 strikeouts in 22 games (two starts). He was signed by the Dodgers as a minor league free agent on January 3, 2023.
Syndergaard, 30, pitched last night, allowing six runs on seven hits in 3.0 innings. On the season, he is 1-4 with a 7.16 ERA (44 ER/55.1 IP) and 38 strikeouts in 12 starts. He is in his eighth Major League season, and he is a combined 58-45 with a 3.65 ERA (368 ER/908.0 IP) and 910 strikeouts in 158 games. He was signed by the Dodgers on December 16, 2022.
This, much like the silly hub-bub with the aforementioned Pride Night, will quickly pass.
Roberts’ bullpen usage will never fully work for me. But I guess id rather have a manager who errs on too much confidence on his RPs, than too little.
I just wish his instincts were different.
How about a little swap of minor league pitching for some minor league bats.
Please wave Roberts goodbye, and send Thor with him!
One more:
We’ve seen glimpses of the Dodgers’ first wave of young pitching, from Bobby Miller to Gavin Stone, Ryan Pepiot to Michael Grove. Well, another wave is coming behind them, and club officials are gushing over the potential of that group.
How’s this for dominance? Through Sunday, the Dodgers’ rotation at Double-A Tulsa had a 2.30 ERA, according to STATS Perform. The next closest team in the Texas League was San Antonio at 3.81. Every other club was at 4.92 or above.
Yes, the Dodgers possess greater financial resources than most clubs, but their major-league success routinely forces them into low draft positions. The Tulsa rotation is a testament to their scouting, player development and shrewd trading, not their financial might.
The highest pick of the six Tulsa starters was Landon Knack, a second-rounder who went 60th overall in 2020. Nick Nastrini was a fourth-rounder in 2021, Emmet Sheehan a sixth-rounder that same year. The other three members of the rotation came in minor trades — River Ryan from the Padres for Matt Beaty, Kyle Hurt from the Marlins in the Dylan Floro deal, Nick Frasso from the Blue Jays in the Mitch White exchange.
Not all of these pitchers will end up stars. Some might not even make it to the majors. But the group’s current strength gives the Dodgers potential depth not only for their major-league club, but also potential capital for trades. Under Andrew Friedman, the Dodgers frequently have moved young pitching at the deadline, and rarely been burned.
Frankie Montas, Dean Kremer and Josiah Gray are the only former Dodgers pitching prospects to achieve major-league success, and each was part of a package that brought back high-level players — Montas went to the A’s for Rich Hill and Josh Reddick, Kremer to the Orioles for Manny Machado, Gray to the Nationals for Max Scherzer and Trea Turner.
The Dodgers might not want to part with better prospects at the deadline if the available talent is as meager as many executives fear. But however the Dodgers play it, they are once again well-positioned for the future.
From The Athletic:
Since ‘20, Bieber’s average fastball velocity has dropped from 94.1 to 91.2 mph, and his strikeout rate has fallen from 41.1 percent to 16.3. Per Statcast, the hard-hit rate against him this season ranks among the highest in the league.
“I can’t say with 100 percent certainty he’s a playoff difference-maker,” said an executive who was granted anonymity so he could speak candidly. “He may help you get there, but I don’t know that he’s the answer in the playoffs.”
Bieber, who turned 28 on May 31, has a 3.57 ERA in 80 2/3 innings. He is earning $10.01 million this season, and has one more year of arbitration remaining before becoming eligible for free agency after next season.
SCARY STUFF!
I would not touch that with a 10 foot pole.
Said it before the season and stand by it: This season we will find out a lot about Roberts and his managing abilities.
This is not the same star studded roster of the last years. Lots of rookies and veterans looking for new life to their dwindling careers.
So far Roberts has done a good job this season , better than I expected. Last few games he made some bonehead decisions IMHO, now we are on a four game losing streak and 2 games behind the D-Backs.
I will give him the entire season and if we miss the postseason I would look for a new manager.
Thor has to go. He is living his personal Ragnarök. 🙁
I would keep Grove in the rotation and subsstitute Julio for Syndergaard as soon as ready to go. If Julio needs extra time to be ready go with Sheehan or Frasso or Knack for a start or two.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Key injuries and a front office philosophy to stay under CBA and reset the payroll for 2024 with few if any major signings is not Robert’s fault for being in second place. If by the time his next contract comes up for renewable and the Dodgers have not won a World Series, I would part ways and move on. If our minor system is as good as advertised, it’s time to bring up more prospects and access what we have that will stay or be used as trade capital. If you go back and read my previous thoughts this is a transition year and this team as presently constructed is NOT a World Series caliber championship team even if tinkered with at the trading deadline. My previous prediction of 92 to 93 wins still stands and a second place finish in the division. Also we will not give 40 to 50 million per year to Ohtoni next off season.
Were they really 3.50?
I think we’ve been here before during this incredible 10 year run. No time to panic! The season is notlinear. I think someone has mentioned this theory before here. It’s not Roberts fault he has to run Kindergaard out there every 5 days!
Next 5 game win streak will end this discussion. But sending Thor out there certainly has to be depressing for rest of team
Maybe it’s less Roberts and more the philosophy he implements. To me, it seems there has always been a lack of urgency during the regular season. Winning each game is a little less important than managing workloads with the goal of peaking for the playoffs. The danger is this type of mentality can become habit forming.
The Dodgers did not go into the playoffs sharp last year. They coasted for about the last month of the season, and when the playoffs started, forgot how to hit.
I can understand the decision to leave Ferguson in the game. He’s going to have to learn to cope with adversity and get himself out of less than optimal situations. The Dodgers will need that mental toughness come playoff time. The downside is that it risks teaching complacency, too. If a team culture gets comfortable losing when they should be winning, there’s no guarantee that it can suddenly flip a switch when the playoffs start.
Yeah, the Dodgers could win the World Series this year, just like the Brewers could win the series this year. As currently constructed, I would say it’s not likely they can because they have obvious flaws that would only be exploited in the playoffs.
The Dodgers were a very fortunate team last year. Everything that could have gone in their favor did.
We keep talking about the trade deadline like somehow AF is just going to pull something out of his hat and all the problems will be solved. There will be very little available on the trade market. Both Cease and Bieber are having inexplicable bad years and are under team control and there’s a ton of potentially competitive teams that are going to be in the market for pitching. Burnes? The Brewers are in the playoff hunt and it will take Miller just to start a conversation.
EARLY GAME!!!
12:35 PM ET
Dodgers (35-27) 2nd place NL West 2.0GB
Reds (29-33) 3rd place NL Central 5.0GB
SP Clayton Kershaw L
7-4 3.25 ERA 69.1IP 84K
SP Graham Ashcraft R
3-4 6.64 ERA 62.1IP 49K
Confirmed Lineup
RF Mookie Betts R
1B F. Freeman L
DH J. Martinez R
3B Max Muncy L
LF D. Peralta L
2B M. Vargas R
SS Chris Taylor R
CF James Outman L
C A. Barnes R
Clear-day
0% rain
71° Wind 8 mph L-R