It's Not the Time to Fight!
Who could script all this? This is a Crazy, Amazing, Iconic, Maddening, Awesome Game. The Giants are showing no sign of letting up or falling down in this Magical Season. Their starting staff is decimated and their relievers are a mess, but they just keep winning. Last night…
Who could script all this? This is a Crazy, Amazing, Iconic, Maddening, Awesome Game. The Giants are showing no sign of letting up or falling down in this Magical Season. Their starting staff is decimated and their relievers are a mess, but they just keep winning. Last night their starting pitcher was paid by the Dodgers to start for the Giants and despite being out of baseball for about 20 years, he did not give up an ER in 4 innings. Does anyone here want Scott Kazmir back? Of course not, but he’s part of the juggernaut that is the Giants.
I believe that it is time for the Dodgers to concede the battle… so that they can win the war! What I mean by that is I believe it is time to concede the division to the Giants and gear up to win the playoffs. Sun Tsu said this in The Art of War:
He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight.
Is the goal to win the NL West… or the World Series? I would say that the latter is the goal. Forget the consecutive NL West Championships. Let’s get laser-focused on the ultimate goal: The World Series! Max Scherzer may be fine (although I would pitch him 5 or 6 innings in his next two starts). Clayton Kershaw probably needs to build his pitch count, but it appears that Julio Urias and Walker Buehler are running out of gas.
They need some rest in order to get revitalized for the playoffs. It might be wise to let them rest seven or eight days and then have one final “tune-up” before the end of the season. Stack the rotation so that if there is a Wild Card Game, Max Scherzer is the starter. It’s time to rest… not fight. Get AJ Pollock, Justin Turner, Chris Taylor, Max Muncy, Cody Bellinger, Corey Seagar, Mookie Betts, and the Catchers healthy. The Dodgers are already in the playoffs. They should gear up for the playoffs… not the NL West Championship.
STAND DOWN!
If they keep trying to win the division… and God knows they have tried – they have the best record in baseball over the last 30 to 40 games – they may flame out early in the playoffs. Phil Bickford and Alex Vesia are also gassed. They have pitched a lot. Give them some rest. Let’s forget the NL West Championship and focus on the World Series. Rest the players who need to rest and keep everyone else sharp. Then come back with your guns blazing!
Yes, that is easier said than done. Sometimes when you pull it back, you can never get it back, but right about now, the Dodgers have some pitchers who need some R & R. Right about now, the focus should be on the ultimate goal, not something you think would be really cool to accomplish. That is a slippery slope, but it is something I would absolutely do right about now.
I know that it is difficult to pitch in Colorado, but I can also see that some pitchers are tired. They call it Dead Arm Syndrome. Urias and Buehler have pitched more innings than they ever have in a season. The same is true with Vesia and Bickford, and even Treinen could benefit from some rest. It’s time to win the war… not the battle!
Pack it in! Live to fight another day.
The Giants are in the midst of a magical season. No one thought they could even finish .500 and they will win over 100 games. It’s the Baseball Gods I tell you! Maybe this run will carry them to a World Series win (I threw up in my mouth as I wrote that), but if the Dodgers re-group for the final battles, maybe they can steal the Giants magic… and make no mistake about it: it is magic… smoke and mirrors. I would not be surprised to see them play below .500 next year. But, here we are and it is what it is.
There’s nothing to be ashamed of – there have been a lot of injuries and the Bauer Debacle, but there are no excuses. Play Ball! The Dodgers will win over 100 games and not win the division. Someone should look up the last time that happened. Get a little R & R, boys, and then let’s get ready for the Real Battles!
Finally, I have noticed that Trea Turner makes some really avoidable knuckleheaded plays. Mookie and JT need to speak with him privately and tell him to stop acting like he is “too cool for school – Don’t worry what it looks like – just do it!”
Waterloo
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Discussion (126)
Disagree, not disagreeable
He also said this:
I think the Dodgers will trade Bellinger this offseason and use their resources to try to keep Scherzer and Seager instead. I do think Bellinger is salvageable, if he commits to returning to the mechanics he used in 2019, when he hit 47 home runs and led the league with 351 total bases. Bellinger is only 26 years old, and the average prime years for major-league players are 26 to 30. If I’m another team, I’m making trade offers the minute the postseason is over.”
I say: If you can get value back… then do it!
From Jim Bowden in The Athletic:
“If you had told me in March that the Giants would have MLB’s best record now, I would have fallen out of my chair laughing. What did I miss? First, that Brandon Crawford and Brandon Belt would have career years at 34 and 33, respectively. Second, that Darin Ruf, LaMonte Wade Jr., Wilmer Flores and Alex Dickerson would each hit 13 or more home runs. Third, that Logan Webb, Anthony Desclafani and Alex Wood would all post ERAs under 4.00 with 20-plus games started. And finally, that Jake McGee would convert 31 of 36 save opportunities. It’s what I love most about baseball: Always expect the unexpected.
By the way, I still have the Dodgers winning the National League West. In terms of the Giants’ playoff chances, I think they’re good enough to run the table in October, but so are the Dodgers and Brewers.”
My thoughts exactly as last night played out. Honestly I think we would either need to win out, or lose max of 1game to even tie or win the division. That is a pretty big gamble based on the last couple games we have seen from our starters & middle relievers. Let’s play one at home and get into THE REAL playoffs. Would rather have that than have to play a 163 in SF and then another one and done if we do not win that game.
cheers
pb+
Well one good thing happened last night, i got my pickup back that had been stolen. But I won’t feel good until I catch up to the punk who stole it and play a little baseball myself. I’ve got pictures of the guy. And I’m pretty sure I know where he frequents. So I’m gonna follow the same advise knowing he’s gonna run into me sooner or later and I won’t be any less angry. So for now I’ll just concentrate on the repairs from the damage the piece of sh*t did to it.
I think you’re right Mark as hard as it is to accept. And while throwing in the towel might seem out of standards for the divison title, thinking about it probably makes the most sense and taking it sorta like spring training is to the season, those games don’t count. Putting in every effort could very well be harmful to the chances of making the best run in the playoffs.
Bueller looks like he’s running on empty. Id like to see him get a break before the playoffs. Redturn looks like the battery is running low also.
Not yet.
There’s not enough time left in the season to rest our starters. Pitch counts maybe, but not days off. I say again, suck it up buttercup. This race isn’t over.
“Brisbee: The Giants’ approach is to crush mistake pitches. That’s, lemme check my notes here, every team’s approach, give or take, but the Giants have been better at executing this plan than almost every other team. They don’t chase junk pitches. They don’t swing at the strikes that they can’t hit hard. It’s a fantastic approach.”
That’s suppose to be our approach. They stole it from us! Or, maybe Farhan was actually the wizard behind the curtain.
Whatever. Until eliminated we are still the best team in this Division. I don’t concede yet.
“The first time you quit its hard. The second time it gets easier. The third time you don’t even have to think about it.”
It’s exactly what I was thinking, you have to focus on the world series, and I even thought of a very bad idea: pick up Arrieta for a couple of starts and give the starters a well-deserved rest … Leave Price and Gonsolin open for the rest of the season.
Nice run by the Dodgers in a quest for a 9th straight division title. In doing so they’re burning up pitcher’s arms because of the injuries to previous starters and bullpen games and the long 162 game schedule after the short 60 game schedule. Time to get ready for the wild card game and give Buehler and Urias extra rest in the next two weeks by using White and Jackson in their place and concentrate on playing the Cards and advancing from the Wild Card game which will be no easy task.