It's About That Time…

LHP Andrew Heaney (left shoulder discomfort)

Expected return: Mid-to-late June

Heaney threw a 50-pitch, three-inning bullpen session on May 26 at Chase Field. The left-hander came out “feeling well,” according to manager Dave Roberts. It’s another positive step in Heaney’s progression. Heaney’s next step is to face hitters at Camelback Ranch on May 29. — Juan Toribio (Last updated: May 26)

So the LA Times is reporting that Muncy’s elbow is bothering him and he could be headed for the injured list–and Pillar has been added to the taxi squad.

Makes sense. Pillar could free Taylor to play more 2B and 3B.

Something I just don’t understand….

White throws four scoreless innings (with help from the defense) and Bruhl throws one scoreless inning.

But Bruhl is credited with the W.

Are the scorekeeping rules that strict? In a game like this, it seems obvious that the guy who threw the most innings deserves the win.

Not important in the grand scheme, but it just makes no sense.

OK, so the batting practice is over.

Two questions:

–How often has everybody in the starting lineup Dodgers had at least two hits each?

–How often have FIVE players had at least three hits each?

Pretty funny after yesterday’s 1-0 loss, when they couldn’t get a hit with runners on base.

Maybe Muncy needs more rest, if this is the result…

Wow! That was a web gem by Lux right there.

I put on my negative hat and a thought came to me. Yes, there was some tin foil and a spinner in that hat but how else are revelations discovered.

Rarely have the Dodgers had a good hitting team. Rarely meaning there have been a few decades where they hit like the 50’s, 70’s, and the last 5 or so years. They use their top draft picks on pitchers and can’t teach hitting. The Giants can teach hitting. They fixed Joc, they can fix Max. Trouble is the Giants wouldn’t trade Joc for Max even if Rios were thrown in.

I am back to wearing my white hat now and am back from space.

Doc says an IL stint for Muncy is possible with his arm hurting. Yes please do it now. Pillar can fill his spot on the roster and can spell CT3, Cody and Mookie, Lux is the full-time 2B and Rios can play 3B to spell JT.

Max is not right and 10-15 days to rest, watch and watch film is what he needs.

Absolutely delighted that the Dodgers have finally decided to retire Kike’s number. Long overdue.

Kevin Pillar and Ryan Pepiot are with the Dodgers in Arizona.

Dodgers today announced that a Freddie Freeman bobblehead will be given away on August 10th at a game with the Twins.

9:40 PM ET

Dodgers (29-14)

Diamondbacks (23-22)

SP Mitch White R

1-0 6.17 ERA 11.2IP 13K

Confirmed Lineup

RF Mookie Betts R

1B F. Freeman L

SS Trea Turner R

C Will Smith R

DH Edwin Rios L

3B J. Turner R

CF C. Bellinger L

LF Chris Taylor R

2B Gavin Lux L

In Domed Stadium

Luis Castillo pitched a pretty good game yesterday for the Reds. I know they checked in on him over the offseason and probably will at the Trade Deadline. Any idea what we would have to give up for him? If healthy he is as tough as they are. I am sure the Reds will want a significant package in return. The Reds and Dodgers have pulled off quite a few trades in recent history.

DODGERS TO RETIRE GIL HODGES’ NUMBER 14

LOS ANGELES – Gil Hodges, an integral member of the 1955 and 1959 Dodgers World Championship teams, will have his number “14” retired by the Dodgers on Saturday, June 4th during pre-game ceremonies prior to the 7:10 p.m. game against the New York Mets.

Hodges, who was elected to Baseball’s Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee, will be inducted into the shrine in Cooperstown, NY on Sunday, July 24. He became the 61st Dodger to receive Hall of Fame recognition as either a player, manager, coach, scout, executive or broadcaster.

“When you mention all-time greats in Dodger history, Gil Hodges is among the finest to ever don Dodger blue,” said Dodger President and CEO, Stan Kasten. “We are thrilled that he will finally take his place in Cooperstown alongside the games greats and look forward to honoring him.”

Hodges number “14” will take its place among those previously retired in left field on the club level—Pee Wee Reese (#1), Tommy Lasorda (#2), Duke Snider (#4), Jim Gilliam (#19), Don Sutton (#20), Walter Alston (#24), Sandy Koufax (#32), Roy Campanella (#39), Jackie Robinson (#42), Don Drysdale (#53) and announcers Vin Scully and Jaime Jarrín.

In an 18-year Major League career, which included 16 with the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers (1943, 47-61) and his final two with the New York Mets (1962-63), the right-handed hitting Hodges played in 2,071 games and compiled a .273 batting average, 370 home runs, 295 doubles, 49 triples, 1,921 hits, 1,274 RBI and 1,105 runs scored. He made seven consecutive All-Star Game appearances from 1949-55, all seasons in which he drove in more than 100 runs, and became an eight-time All-Star in 1957. Among other accolades, he garnered three Gold Glove awards (1957-59).

On the Dodger franchise’s all-time Top 10 lists, Hodges can be found in several categories, including second in homers (361) and RBI (1,254), third in total bases (3,357), extra-base hits (703) and walks (925), fourth in games played (2,006) and fifth in runs scored (1,088). He is the club’s career leader in games played at first base (1,851).

Hodges passed away on April 2, 1972, two days shy of his 48th birthday. He was about to enter his fifth season as manager of the New York Mets, having guided the 1969 “Miracle Mets” to a World Series crown.

With the Dodgers, Hodges had several tastes of postseason play. In addition to the 1955 world championship club, he played on five other pennant winners (1947, ‘49, ’52. ’53 and ’56) while part of the famed “Boys of Summer” Brooklyn teams. Hodges then followed the team to the West Coast and earned a second World Series ring in 1959. In the 1959 Fall Classic against the Chicago White Sox, he hit .391 (9-for-23) and slugged an eighth-inning tie-breaking homer in Game 4 that gave the Dodgers a 5-4 win and 3-1 series lead. He batted .304 and knocked in eight runs in the 1956 World Series and hit .364 in the 1953 Series. When the Dodgers topped the Yankees for their inaugural title in 1955, Hodges drove in the game’s only two runs in the decisive Game 7.

Hodges is the eighth member of the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers to earn a ticket to Cooperstown as he joins manager Walter Alston, catcher Roy Campanella, pitchers Sandy Koufax and Tommy Lasorda (inducted as a manager), shortstop Pee Wee Reese, second baseman Jackie Robinson and center fielder Duke Snider.

Hodges hit 22 or more homers for 11 consecutive campaigns (1949-59), including highs of 42 in 1954 and 40 in 1951, ranking second in the National League each season. He belted 32 homers three times (1950, ’52 and ’56) and had 31 in 1953. The 42 homers set a Brooklyn single-season mark for a right-handed hitter and that same season, he collected a career-high 130 RBI. He topped the NL in sacrifice flies in 1954 (19) and 1955 (10).

On August 31, 1950 in a game against the Boston Braves, Hodges became only the sixth player in Major League history to hit four home runs in a game. In that contest, he went 5-for-6 and knocked in nine runs, a franchise single-game RBI record that has since been matched only by James Loney on September 28, 2006 at Colorado.

But as noteworthy as his offensive efforts were, he drew just as many raves for his defense. Converted from catcher in 1948, he quickly established himself as one of the game’s top defensive performers. When Gold Glove awards were handed out for the first time in 1957, Hodges was a recipient, as he was each of the following two campaigns. He finished his career with a .992 fielding percentage at first base.

A native of Princeton, IN, Hodges signed with the Dodgers in 1943 and played one big-league game (at third base) that season before joining the United States Marine Corps and serving in World II. He returned to the Dodgers organization for the 1946 season, playing 129 games for Newport News and leading Piedmont League catchers in putouts, assists and fielding percentage. The following season, he rejoined the Major League club for good, staying with the Dodgers through the 1961 season before he was selected by the Mets in the expansion draft. On April 11, 1962, in the inaugural game in Mets’ history, Hodges slugged the franchise’s first-ever home run. The Washington Senators acquired Hodges from the Mets on May 23, 1963, so they could name him as their field manager. Hodges piloted the Senators through the 1967 season, before they traded him back to the Mets on Nov. 27, 1967, allowing him to take over the managerial reins of the New York club.

Hodges is survived by his wife, Joan, son Gil Jr., and daughters Irene and Cynthia. Gil Jr. and Irene will participate in the Dodger Stadium ceremony

I already said no to Soto but I don’t want to be negative today so I’ll now say YES to Soto… going somewhere else for $400 million. As I pointed out, at the same age Bellinger was better and look what happened to him. Soto at $400 million is overrated.

Yeah, there are dozens of pitchers who would trade places with Buehler. I won’t say anything negative about Walker. I’m trusting his spin and velocity will return soon.

Yeah, our farm system is good. Everything I’ve read about system rankings says there are others that are better. So what? It hardly matters as our ML roster is stacked. Those systems that are better are owned by organizations that won’t be favored to win much of anything.

As much as I’d love to have Soto on the Dodgers, I can’t see AF being willing to make that move. He’s a FA after the 2024 season. So you’d only be guaranteed 2 1/2 seasons of service. His agent is Boras, so he won’t sign an extension. And we know Boras won’t let him tip his hand on where he really wants to play. Even if he was all in on signing with the Dodgers, I’m already surprised AF has signed two massive contracts. A third would tie his hands and make it impossible to manage the team the way he has done so successfully for a decade. That said, in a trade it would take at least 3 of our top 5 prospects and at least 2 or 3 additional in our top 30. That for only a guarantee of 2 1/2 years of Soto would literally (and figuratively) be betting the farm. AF values flexibility and he’s proven he’s the best in baseball in utilizing that flexibility. If he hits the block I have no doubt SOME team will pay that price. But that’s also why some teams find themselves with a decade of missing the playoffs.

I predict AF will make moves by the trade deadline. And I’ll bet we won’t see them coming. After 2022 the Dodgers have a lot of financial flexibility. I think he will leverage that in a trade(s) with a team who is looking to dump salary. As opposed to trading prospect capital.

Just MHO.

Phil asked above, who the play by play guy was last night. It was Daron Sutton, Don Sutton’s son, who has previously done work for the Brewers, D’backs and Angels.

If I’m Andrew Friedman, there is no way I pay the prospect price the Nats would ask for Soto. On the other hand, I would certainly consider signing him in free agency. He’ll probably wind up getting 32-35 mil per year over a period of 12-15 years. That’s a whole hell of a lot of money, but it won’t seem like all that much per year year after the first few years. Lots of guys will be getting that kind of yearly salary by the end of the decade.

This year, still 2.5 years before Soto signs a free agent contract, 14 players are earning an average salary in excess of 30 million per year.

We always called negative people energy vampires.

But alternative thoughts and ideas, whether anyone agrees or not, should always be part of the dialogue.

The debate about Max Muncy will continue until he hits or sits down. I’m rooting for Max, but he doesn’t appear to be seeing the ball well. Or maybe there is just a hole in his bat. Cody Bellinger is making hard contact at times and someone catches it. Bad luck. Other times he drives the ball for hits. He still needs to take advantage of the shift and bunt. His speed is playing up. Take advantage of it.

The Dodgers had some opportunities yesterday and failed to cash in, strikeouts and pop-ups killing potential rallies.

I won’t say the Juan Soto trade or signing won’t happen in the future. Considering we’re talking about Friedman and the Dodgers, all bets are off. But it doesn’t make a lot of sense. How much would that cost? Seemingly endless money won’t make the difference. Is that even a good idea. Doesn’t it really make sense for teams to spend $400 to $500 million on one player. Who is his agent? Maybe in basketball where one or two players can make a championship team. How much money do the Nationals have tied up in two pitchers. Not exactly like that worked out. No guarantees. Might end up hurting the team moving forward.

The Dodgers do an amazing job staying on top. Give Andrew Friedman and the organization credit. But you need a strong farm system to make that work. The Dodgers have created that.

Agree with Tedraymond. No to Soto. We have Mookie and Freddie. Pitching and Will Smith have to be paid. Let’s see what can be had to beef up starting pitcher at trade deadline. Create a pathway for players like Vargas,Cartya, and Miller. I don’t see Andrew paying $30,000,000 for every position.

Can somebody explain to me why Betts is credited for the Dodgers world series win in 2020 and not Seager?

Or better yet why 1 guy is credited and not the overall team?

Speaking of Soto, it is said that he is a generational player, and which or when did LA have such a player? It is always rumored that the Dodgers want or are in the plans to trade those players, so they have never been able to have one of their own? The only one that maybe could be, it would be Kershaw, but not a single hitter, and the ones that are Hall of Famers now, they did it after leaving LA, maybe it’s not a good idea to go for those very expensive players, hoping that they will be as spectacular as they were in their previous teams, sometimes I think (personal opinion) that they get a certain player hoping that he will be the one to take them to win the world series (Betts in 2020) Dodgers do not need them to be spectacular, only that they are effective …

Soto is it? It’s worth giving him $400 million

(No one is worth it by the way)

Former Dodger catcher Joe Pignatano passed away on the 23rd at 94. RIP . Ray Liotta, who played Shoeless Joe in Field of Dreams died last night in his sleep.. He was filming a movie in the Dominican Republic.

This is what Mark just posted:

“OK, here is something that I should add if you want me and many other readers here to take you seriously: DON’T JUST POST WHEN YOU HAVE SOMETHING NEGATIVE TO SAY. When you do that, you have pretty much summed up who you are.”

This is why, for the 3rd time, I have decided not to post here any more. If you have a take, backed up with facts, that isn’t all rainbows and cupcakes, you get abused. Life is too short to subject yourself to abuse on purpose when it serves no purpose.

I quit LA Dodger Talk.

Great Article about Gavin Lux and how he has conquered the mental struggles he once had:

https://theathletic.com/3333580/2022/05/26/gavin-lux-dodgers-mental-health/?source=dailyemail&campaign=601983

More than anything, Lux is comfortable and confident. Be it playing more, be it changing his mindset to deal with the anxiety that had tanked him in the past or finding a version of himself that works, it’s made him a cog that the Dodgers had been hoping he could be. It’s become his fuel.

His stardom can still arrive. But more than ever in the big leagues, he’s comfortable being Gavin Lux.

No to Soto. We have our superstar OF with Mookie. We have an All Star in Freddie. Will Smith has a good chance to be the best overall catcher in baseball. Buehler and Urias need to be paid. That’s five potential All Star players. There’s only so much money to go around. The Dodgers have at least a top five minor league system. Let’s see what all these prospects can do before we start a wholesale cleaning out of the system to get another potential long term, high salaried player. It all sounds good until it doesn’t.

Are any of the prospects we have close to Soto’s talent? Nope. But, that’s OK. We can’t have All Stars at every position. I like what the team has done to make the future of Dodgers exciting. Especially, with the pitching. Sure, prospects can be used to fill in holes at the trade deadline or obtain a solid veteran player (AJ Pollack) in the off season. But, to trade 3-5 of your top prospects for a player. No thanks at this time. Hats off to AF, the scouts, and the coaching/development staff in the minors.

Fun post… and funny too.

One of the funnier aspects, MT, does not appear to be intentional. I speak here of your pro-big bias–that the bigger, the better… and more durable.

Yes, we understand you are a big dude, and perhaps that colors your judgment. But the empirical data we see every day here shows only loose connection between size and performance. The other day the subject concerned the stature of catchers, and how neither Smith or Barnes were big—but then yours truly pointed out that neither were Campy or Berra, and those guys were pretty good. That said, it’s nice that Cartaya is blessed with size–and I hope he’s the next Johnny Bench–but he’d be fortunate to be as good as Will Smith. (To use the lingo, his “ceiling” is high, perhaps because of his stature.)

Now we are told that Gavin Smith is “small–about Walker Buhler’s size.” Smith is listed at 6-1, 175, and Buhler at 6-2, 185. So yes, they have similar builds–but only in the land of the giants (as opposed to Giants) are these guys small. (Speaking of Giants, Lincecum was listed at 5-11, 170–and one two Cy Youngs.)

Let’s pause here to remember that Dodgers once had a young reliever they traded because the profilers thought he really couldn’t succeed as a starter. Pedro Martinez, at 5-11, proved them all wrong, big time. His brother Ramon, a lean 6-4, was pretty darn good–but his average-size baby bro turned out to be absolutely great. (Wasn’t it fun to see Pedro inducted to the HOF along with 6-10 Randy Johnson?)

Full disclosure: I approved of the DeShields deal at the time. Oh well.

Anyway, more importantly, the news about Stone is really encouraging. The video on him looks great. So does the video of Kyle Hurt. If we can get Hurt to grow a bit, he might look like Drysdale. And if we can get Stone to shrink an inch, he’ll be the size of Greg Maddux.

You know it was going to he a long night when he asked for the whooper dooper analysis ( Does it has double O?) WTF!

* So after Doc decided that it was prudent to sit 3 regulars at the same time with those pesky D-Backs coming up, the Bat-Rack gremlins must have snuck around and put those “For Display Purposes Only” decals on our bats.

* WTF is the play-by-play guy with D-Train? He seemed flabbergasted with a runner on 2nd top 7 when Muncy decided to help his club by bunting the runner to 2nd. Mr. Whoever seemed stunned referring to the attempt as “a dangerous hitter who’s SEEKING”. What does that mean? He can’t hit so he’s desperate enough to bunt? Remember the phase in a dugout when the rally cry is “anyway you can?” That’s what Max was trying to do – help his team win. This dipshit announce is drinking the Kool Aid that the only way you win a game is out bash the other team. No moving runners in a close game. Muncy’s mistake was not bunting a strike. Then he scrapped the idea and struck out.

* The Nationals scored 1 run to win; on a walk and a bunt that went for a single and a seeing eye base hit. There’s a place for small ball.

* Alberto has been around long enough to understand a groundball needs to be behind you to advance to 3rd from 2nd. Boy I see alot of base running mistakes on all teams. These mistakes matter in close games.

* another opportunity to play better today!

The Dodgers are marching toward another Division Championship and then hope their playoff pitchers are healthy, rested, and at their best and also hope Muncy turns into Eddie Rosario–the 2021 WS model.

If the Dodgers wind up with a $400M Soto contract then they will need multiple prospects to take the place of high salaried players in the rotation and in the field. Hard to do that if they trade those prospects to get Soto. Might have to wait for him to be a free agent.

Bellinger won’t be going to OKC, and Muncy will continue to play.

That’s just how Roberts manages his players. They will be given every opportunity to get right.

Pillar probably would be marginally better than Bellinger right now, and Lamb/Rios is going to give better production than Muncy, but Roberts sticks by his players.

He plays the long game. For him it’s about peaking for the playoffs. Muncy isn’t going to get better by sitting. He’s going to get better by playing. Same scenario with Bellinger. Looking at AAA pitching is not going to fix him.

People see what they want to see. As bad as Belli has been, Max and JT are worse, much worse. JT is not trending up according the stats from the last 7 days. He was trending up before that, but in the last week he’s tripped over a toothpick and can’t get up. One of those three can run the bases and play defense and the other two have a replacement on the 26 man roster that is hitting much better than they are. All three are bad baseball players with the bat.

As a whole the Dodgers lead baseball in OPS and are 2nd in SLG. So, do you fire the hitting coach when the rest of the team is doing very well compared to the rest of the league? Do you really think Pillar, a career 700 OPS hitter, is going to all the sudden be the answer at age 33?

When you look at statcast data, you would be surprised to learn that Mookie Betts sits right between Muncy and Bellinger in barrels per plate appearance. Muncy slightly higher and Belli slightly lower with Trea Turner behind bringing up rear, lowest among the 7 players on the Dodgers who qualify with the minimum number of barrels to be listed. JT, Belli and Muncy are the three highest launch angles on the team.

In a year where MLB decided to nerf the baseball, it seems that launch angle is the culprit for our three worst batters. I’m wondering if some of those balls will start to carry once the weather gets warmer. Belli and Muncy are also always getting killed by the shift. I wonder what their overall stats would look like if MLB had the foresight to bad the shift when they nerfed the ball to at least get some offense on some hard hit ground balls.

Belli was out of the lineup the last couple of days due to an undisclosed sickness. Before that, he had a nifty little 5 game hitting streak with 2 multi hit games. By no means is that impressive, but it isn’t hollow either. Turner’s been a little worse recently and Muncy is absolutely lost with just one hit in his last 5 games, 19 ABs. If anyone needs to sit, it’s Muncy.

We got shutout yesterday, everyone looks bad when that happens especially when you choose to sit Belli, Smith and Betts on the same day. I’m okay with it. We had a chance to win the game, it didn’t happen. You lose some games and sometimes you get shut out. We scored 19 runs in the prior two games. Where still is a marathon stretch of consecutive games, you have to rest some guys. Arizona tonight, that much closer to home now.

Mitch White gets another start. Let’s see what he can do this time.

Soto is not going to get traded this year.

Serious or sarcasm?