Chris Taylor has always been a big hit-or-miss guy with the bat, but he has selflessly played all over the field and has done a very credible job at it. Need a SS? He can play there. 2B? No problem, 3B? Of course! Anywhere in the outfield? All three spots! Yes, he strikes out a lot… a whole lot, but he is reported to be a very good teammate. In short, he is a baller and a great clubhouse guy. It’s also time for him to fall on his sword!
I don’t mean that he needs to commit Hari Kari, but I am suggesting that he voluntarily goes back to Camelback Ranch and work on his swing. He has been to bat 56 times and struck out exactly 28 of those times. He is striking out at a 50% clip. This cannot continue. He cannot be optioned to the minors… unless he agrees to it. His career average for striking out is 33% of the time. He also has a career OPS of .745 and has had two seasons with an OPS over .800, but this season, it is .280! That is beyond horrid!
The Astros’ Jose Abreu accepted an assignment to the minors. He was hitting .099 while striking out at a 25% clip, which is half of what CT3 is. I think Chris will do it. He should do it. Do it today. Make the Dodgers Great Again. While we are at it, James Outman is also flirting with Disaster.
James is now hitting .163 and should get his ticket punched back to OKC shortly. If that hurts his psyche, then he’s not the guy. James will never hit LHP, but he should be solid against RHP. He needs to go back to the minor leagues and adjust. “But, he has hit the ball hard at times!” Yes, that is baseball. Last year’s BAbip was unsustainable, and the birds are coming home to roost. Is Vargas ready to take over? I don’t know. He is still OPS’ing around 1.000, but they are not pitching to him either. He might be better served by coming back and starting every day in LF. If Heyward is activated, he simply won’t play as much. problem solved.
Something has to change… Gavin Lux is waking up and is playing outstanding defense at 2B. I have a lot of hope with Gavin. Yamamoto threw 97 pitches, 73 for strikes. what a strike-throwing machine. His ERA is 2.79 and his WHIP is a measley 1.00. He’s 4-1 now. With Buehler back, the rotation looks solid. The Dodgers are now up to 5th in team ERA – 7th in starter ERA and 7th in Reliever ERA. JP Feyereisen is rounding into form. Quit sweating it! 😉
Down on the Farm
OKC – Not much to see here except a Ricky Vanasco meltdown in extra innings. He started out the season pitching very well, but has slipped way back.
TULSA – Wrobleski started and went 5.2 innings, allowing 3 ER and striking out 5, while walking 0. Ronan Kopp then came in and walked 5 straight batters without getting an out! He threw 27 pitches, 7 for strikes. Yikes! Lao looked good in his 1 inning.
GREAT LAKES – EK’s kid went six innings allowing 2 Hits, 0, ER, 0 BB while striking out 5. He is 5-0 with a 1.74 ERA (0.77 WHIP). He needs to move up quickly. Jake Gelof moved up to GL and had a hit and a stolen base.
RANCHO CUCAMONGA – Perez continues to rake, but at 19, they might move him slower than Gelof who is 22. Payton Martin went 2.2 innings, allowing 6 hits but only 2 runs.
DSL –
Discussion (19)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Teo is the Butter and egg man!
Grove absolutely got screwed on 2 perfect strikes. Umpiring continues to get worse not better!! … Heard Mookie leads all of baseball in pitches called strikes that were completely out of strike zone. Amazing how he always maintains his composure! …. Stone was “rock” solid again yesterday. Could be some interesting decisions coming to Dodger stadium in the near future! Miller,Clayton, possibly Dustin May?
Mark, on the top of the page Minor League Affiliates, I have no access to induvial minor teams by clicking on them.
I saw a comment from a dude named (Wayne). He stated that Outman couldn’t start for OKC. It may me think back before the Dodgers brought up Pages, I felt the OKC outfield as a whole were better than the Dodgers. I don’t believe it any longer Hernandez has been good to very good all season and Pages is good. As far as the Dodgers farm system is concerned I’ve always one of the best in baseball. When I was coaching I would stress to my JV, Freshmen and Jr. High coaches that winning is important but development is your job. I coached basketball and we required that an hour a day for those levels was devoted to fundamentals, like blocking out, help and recover, etc. Same could be said or minor league teams. I’m not sure if the DODGERS way is still taught in the minors but it seems that we either have the ability to bring someone up or have the personnel to make a trade to fill a gap. It isn’t consequential that the Dodgers are either in the playoffs or in the hunt every year. It helps to have a good resources but other teams like the Yankees and the Red Sox’s have all the money they need but still miss the playoffs or are out of the running by Labor Day. The injuries to the pitching staff through the years and having people step up is telling of our depth. Outman may or may not be a great or even good career MLB player but he sure stepped up last year. That’s what good organizations do.
Re: yesterdays blog.
Mark, I don’t agree.
I will fully admit that my assessment of the Dodgers org depth in position players is likely skewed by the sheer volume of talent that I’ve been privileged enough to watch progress through the system. Outside of the current group of MLB ready talent, Im simply not impressed with what I have seen in the lower levels. With the exception of Rushing, there isn’t much that I’ve seen that impresses me.
I was able to watch Joc, Seager, Bellinger, Smith, Lux, Bush, Pages and Vargas work their way through the minors. Outman surmised me last year. I didn’t see him being as good as he was, last year. Not only were they all obvious MLB level talent there was all star level talent. There is an MVP in that group and there would have been another if Ohtani hadn’t played in the AL last year. There are All Stars there and likely many more seasons of All Star level production among that group. I still believe Vargas has what it takes to be a solid, potentially AS level talent. Same with Lux. Even if neither ultimately reaches their highest level potential. That’s not just an impressive few years of talent production it’s among the best baseball has produced in that period of time. As far as position players are concerned.
I simply don’t see that level of players in the system today. Not to say that a couple of the players you mentioned won’t turn into solid MLB contributors. But the next crop of position talent simply doesn’t impress me like the players the Dodgers have produced in the past decade.
The pitching has never been deeper. But I’m simply not impressed with what I see in A, A+ and AA. At least not impressed in a way I’ve been accustom to.
Just MHO
Has Mookie got any Options left ?
Fantastic series for LA. They were expecting to win but sometimes those are the toughest. Teoscar did the damage. Stone Cold again. Mookie made 2 errors but the scorer changed to hits. Grove looked great! Umpire screwed him out of 2 strikes in one batter but he still got him. I’m glad Weathers is no longer with San Diego.
No way Outman replaces either Avans or Vargas in the outfield at OKC. I guess he replaces Padlo if he gets sent back there.
So what exactly does the FO do with Outman in OKC?
absolutely dodgerram! If the offer was right they could have both of them if they wanted. ….. Gosh it would be hard to give up on Lux! Defense is good at 2nd, speed is coming back, and there’s still some hits in that bat of his! …. rumor has Rushing and Bruns for Chisom. Wonder what Scott would cost?
Looks as if Marlins might be looking to trade. Chisom. …. would LA have any interest ? KC is considered the favorite to land him. saw it on a mlb rumor site.
Is this some right wing conspiracy to send Taylor back to Arizona and make the Dodgers great again? Just give him more money. Thats what works in the real world!
Approaching rehab assignment
May 7, 2024
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Tuesday that Miller (shoulder) is coming up on a minor-league rehab assignment “pretty quickly,” Bill Plunkett of The Orange County Register reports.
“Miller threw a bullpen session Monday, his second since being placed on the injured list with inflammation in his right shoulder April 13. Roberts noted that the right-hander’s velocity was “good” in the session and sounded optimistic about Miller’s progress in his recovery from the injury. The second-year hurler will make at least one minor-league rehab start, though it’s still unclear how many more bullpens he’ll throw before he reaches that point”.
Dodger Minor League Standings 5/8/24
AAA – Oklahoma City Baseball Club 20-14 2nd place 3.0 GB
AA – Tulsa Drillers 11-15 4th place 6.5 GB
A+ – Great Lakes Loons 19-9 1st pace 2.0 GA
A- – Rancho Cucamonga Quakes 15-11 1st place 3.0 GA
Arizona Complex League (Rookie League) 2-1
3:10 PM ET
Marlins (10-28)
Dodgers (25-13)
SP Ryan Weathers L
2-3 4.54 ERA
SP Gavin Stone R
2-1 4.06 ERA
Confirmed Lineup
SS Mookie Betts R
DH S. Ohtani L
1B F. Freeman L
RF T. Hernandez R
LF E. Hernandez R
3B Max Muncy L
CF Andy Pages R
2B Miguel Rojas R
C A. Barnes R
74° Wind 3 mph In
And just like that, Dodgers are top 5 in MLB in Team ERA.
Feel bad for Chris Taylor. But his swing and miss is crazy. Obviously swinging from the heels isn’t working. Will he accept going down? No idea. But it would probably make a lot of sense. James Outman is hitting some balls very hard for outs. But only so many roster spots.
Yamamoto is something else. Always in the strike zone or nearby. His ball really moves. Love watching him pitch. He’s like an artist. The brush strokes are like perfection.
Good to see Max Muncy kick it loose and find his power stroke.
Wednesday Dodger Minor League Schedule
9:05 a.m. PT: Oklahoma City (Elieser Hernández) at Sugar Land (Blair Henley)
3:05 p.m.: Great Lakes (Peter Heubeck) vs. Lansing (Blaze Pontes)
4:30 p.m.: Tulsa (Orlando Ortiz-Mayr) at Midland (Blake Beers)
6:30 p.m.: Rancho Cucamonga (Patrick Copen) at Visalia (Caden Grice)
Why is Crismatt on the roster? He hasn’t pitched in over a week after giving up the two run walk off homer to Walker in Arizona, our last team loss. Landon Knack should be brought up this weekend and replace him on the roster and start against against the Padres.
Taylor is a great guy and great teammate and does a lot in the Los Angelis community but does NOT belong on the 26 man roster. Enough is Enough!!!! He has to agree to go to the Minors and work out his swing and miss problems. He can carpool with Outman when Heyward comes back.
Good morning from Virginia! Yamamoto continues to get better every start! Now it was Miami and they are bad, but 8 innings, and giving the bullpen much needed rest. …. Max strikes again!! …..Lux at times looks like he might be on the verge of breaking through! …..If Heyward comes back healthy and productive, then Taylor will probably be gone and Outman sent down. …… Good opportunity for Stone to pitch deep into the game today! …Looking forward to the weekend with the Friars. I actually believe they are better this year than last. 7 games out in the loss column, chance to bury them even deeper. Go Barnes!!!