On December 13, 1963, the Chicago Cubs, looking for a RHP, traded Jim Brewer and C Cuno Barragan to the Dodgers for Dick Scott. The trade would be very one-sided in the Dodger’s favor even though Barragan never played a single game in L.A. Scott spent 1964 with the Cubs and was gone. Brewer would go on to be an integral part of the Dodger bullpen for 12 seasons. A member of two NL Champion teams, one of them, 1965, a World Series winner.
Brewer was born on November 17, 1937, in Merced, California. He was the second son of James and Pauline Brewer. For a while, the family lived with his paternal grandparents in LA. While California was the land of opportunity for many dust-bowlers, the Brewer family went in the other direction, moving to Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, which is just outside of Tulsa. Being native Oklahomans, it just seemed natural.
Jim was a preschooler when the move was made. Growing to 6’1″, he was a star on the Broken Arrow High School team. When he posted a 0.87 ERA in his senior season, with 76 K’s and just eight walks in 52 innings, the Cubs signed him with a $10,000 bonus in June of 1956. Following his first season in Class D ball, he married a hometown girl, Patricia Smith.
He moved up the Cubs system the next three seasons. In 1959 he went to spring training with AA San Antonio. During an exhibition game against a semi-pro team, the opposing manager heckled him without pause until he coughed up seven runs in a single inning, including three straight homers. After he recorded the final out, he charged across the field, knocked the manager to the ground, and bit his nose.
Demoted for a second time to Class-B Burlington, Iowa, he turned a corner and posted a league-leading 2.67 ERA. That got him a promotion to AAA and a spring training invite in 1960 with the Cubs. Back to AAA, where he made the All-Star team, and the Cubs called him up in July of 1960. He made one really bad relief appearance, but then manager, Lou Boudreau, put the 22-year-old into the starting rotation. He pitched well in his second start against the Braves but lost the game when Bob Buhl shut out the last-place Cubs.
He had lost three straight decisions when he faced the Reds at Wrigley on August 4th. With two out in the second inning, Brewer threw a high inside pitch to Billy Martin, who ducked away. On the next pitch, Martin swung and missed and then flung his bat towards the mound. He later admitted it was deliberate since he felt Brewer had thrown at his head. As he went for his bat, he thought Brewer came towards him with his fists clenched. Brewer, on the other hand, thought Martin was looking for trouble “simply because of the look on his face.” Brewer yelled, “you want to fight?” Martin replied, “relax kid, I’m just getting my bat.” As Brewer turned away, Martin pivoted and sucker punched him in the cheek.
Both benches emptied, and in the melee that followed, Brewer was punched repeatedly in the face. Some Reds said that most of it was done by Red’s hurler, Cal McLish. Whoever it was, Brewer was taken to the hospital with a broken orbital bone under his right eye. It would take three surgeries to fix.
Martin was fined $500 and suspended for five days. When it became clear that Brewer was lost for the season, the Cubs sued Martin for around a million dollars. Martin quipped, ” They want that in a check or cash?” 8 1/2 years and two trials later, Brewer was awarded $10,000 plus legal fees and court costs, bringing Martin’s penalty to E$22,000. That was more than his total salary for a season.
Over the next three years, Brewer struggled to hang on to a major league job. He spent most of 1962 at AAA. He was then traded to the Dodgers AAA team at Spokane. He came to the Dodgers for spring training in 1964. Just before the start of the season, the Dodgers traded Larry Sherry to the Tigers, and it opened a spot on the roster for Brewer. He had a successful season with a 4-3 record and a 3.00 ERA. Walter Alston, with the Dodgers going nowhere, gave him five starts in September, and he won three of them.
He still was no better than the #3 out of the pen. He knew he needed another weapon; he could not get by just on his fastball and a mediocre curve. He had toyed with the screwball but was not confident with it. One day he spotted Warren Spahn, one of the few practitioners of the pitch, in the bullpen. Spahn was 43 at the time but a 300-game winner. They had never met, but Brewer asked the old master how he threw the pitch. Brewer recalled, “he never said a word; he just took a baseball out of his pocket, showed me how he gripped it, and how he released it.”
That 30-second lesson would turn his career around. Brewer did not pitch much in 1965 and 1966. It was partially due to injury and partially to not always being able to control his new pitch. But Alston and the Dodgers had enough confidence in him to pull off a huge trade at the winter meetings in 1967. After two straight World Series appearances in 1965-1966, the Dodgers had fallen to 8th place in the 10-team league following the forced retirement of their Ace Sandy Koufax. Trying to turn things around, they shipped Ron Perranoski, Johnny Roseboro, and Bob Miller to the Twins for SS Zoilo Versailles and P Mudcat Grant. Then shortly after opening day, they traded Phil Regan, leaving Brewer as the #1 option out of the pen.
He remained the Dodgers closer from 1968-1973. He had 118 saves and 38 blown saves, a 76% success rate. Brewer was not your typical closer. Back then, Alston liked a left-right tandem, and he never appeared in more than 60 games or threw more than 90 innings. And he also said he did not have ice water in his veins. “When I came in to pitch, I was as giddy as a kid.” He also said Perranoski had schooled him on how to handle the role.
In 1972, he was having breakfast with his wife. He reached for a cup of coffee and felt a sharp pain in his left arm, followed by numbness in two fingers. His season was over, and he went to see Dr. Jobe. When 1973 spring training rolled around, Brewer was the oldest Dodger, aged 35. He would kid about his age and tell his teammates that he pitched to Ty Cobb. He was also a fanatic about conditioning. The season was not without injury, though; he spent two weeks sitting out in June with a tired arm. He made the All-Star team for the first time. He spent three days in traction with back pain. He blamed himself when he had three blown saves and a loss in the last week of the season. The Dodgers blew their lead and finished second again.
Uncertain of Brewer’s availability for the next season, the Dodgers sent Willie Davis to the Expos for Mike Marshall. Marshall definitely marched to the beat of his own drum. He felt with proper conditioning, a pitcher should be able to pitch every day. He had a degree in Kinesiology and was certain he knew more about the pitching arm than any coach or manager in the game. He told Alston he could use him any time he wanted. If he could not pitch that day, he would let him know ahead of time. Otherwise, ” use me anytime you feel you need to win a game.”
Marshall would pitch in 106 games that year – 208 1/3 innings. Both MLB records for a reliever. He won the Cy Young Award also. The first time a reliever had ever done that. He was 15-12 with 21 saves. That did not leave much work open for Brewer. He also missed two months with arm and back pains. The Dodgers won the pennant and lost the World Series. Brewer got into only 28 games. But to his credit, he said all the right things, marveled at Marshall’s endurance and said he did not resent being shunted aside. But in private, he asked the Dodgers for a trade. In July of 1975, they sent him down the 5 Freeway to the Angels for a minor leaguer.
He was effective for the Halos when he was available. In the spring of 1966, he was sidelined by a torn elbow ligament. “If I was 25, I would be in surgery tomorrow.” But the end was near, and at the end of the season, he called it a career. He finished with a 69-65-mark, 3.07 ERA, and 133 saves. His 474 appearances with the Dodgers are third in team history behind Sutton and Drysdale.
He did not have to wait long for employment. His skipper with the Angels, Dick Williams, had been hired by the Expos. He asked Brewer to come with him. By their third season, the Expos had the best pitching staff in the league. They led the league in ERA at 3.14. Brewer’s rotation included Steve Rogers and Bill ” Spaceman” Lee. The pitchers had total trust in him, and Williams said, ” he is the glue that holds this team together.” But the team fell apart the final week and lost to Pittsburgh by two games. Williams said it was not the easiest year, the team was infested with drugs, and he fought constantly with Rogers and Lee.
Brewer chose to resign after the season. He wanted to attend to businesses of his in Oklahoma. He also was feeling the pull of being on his farm. He had real estate interests there. He and his wife and sons lived in the house he had built. There was no animosity between him and Williams. Seven years later, Williams tried to bring him to Seattle as a coach, but the owner would not pay a coach 60,000 a year.
He kept his hand in baseball by being a part-time pitching coach for Oral Roberts University. One of his pupils there was Mike Moore, a #1 pick of the Mariners, who went on to have a 14-year career. He loved fishing and was said to love having a can of beer and a 10-cent cigar while doing it. The Dodgers hired him to teach the screwball to their pitchers after the success of Fernando in the 80s. In 1987 he joined the organization as a full-time coach for Great Falls in the Northwest league and the Arizona Fall League.
Brewer celebrated his 50th birthday on Saturday, the 17th, with his family. On Monday morning, he headed to Louisiana for a pitching clinic. He ran into a heavy thunderstorm along the way, and he was killed in a head-on collision outside of Carthage, Texas.
Myself, I believe he was not as appreciated at the time by fans as he should have been. He always seemed so quiet and unassuming. One would not realize what a competitor he really was. Brewer was not the only Dodger even to come out of Broken Arrow. Dodgers long-time SS and short-time manager Bill Russell also hails from there.
Future Dodgers Down on the Farm
- Salt Lake beat OKC 12-1
- Edwin Rios was 1-5
- Mike Busch was 2-4
- Those were three of the four hits (Devin Mann had the other).
- Pedro Baez and Jake Reed each pitched a shutout inning.
- Justin Bruihl pitched one inning and gave up five runs.
- Tulsa was beaten by NW Arkansas 8-1
- John Rooney started and gave up 9 Hits and 8 Runs, and that was all she wrote.
- Great Lakes was also beaten 11-8
- Diego Cartaya was 1-4 with a BB
- Jose Ramos wan 2-4 with 2 RBI
- Damon Keith was 1-3 with a BB.
- Rancho Cucamonga was beaten 10-3 by IE
- Yunior Garcia was 2-4 (.300/.869)
- Nick Biddison (2022 Draftee) was 2-4 with his first double.
- Maddux Bruns was allowed to go 2 innings and allowed 2 Hits, 0 Runs, 3 BB and 2 K’s. In 32 IP he has 30 BB and 50 K’s, He has not given up a HR. He will be special if he can harness his command.
How Sweep it is!
Sweeps are always nice, but they are especially nice when they are against the Sand Diego Clowns. If you don’t like the Clowns, stay away from the Circus! Which brings us to the latest Power Rankings:
1. Dodgers (75-33, last week: 2)
DraftKings World Series odds: 3.7-1
The Dodgers surged their way to MLB’s best record over the past week, reeling off eight straight wins. That stretch included a four-game sweep in San Francisco and a three-game sweep of the new-look Padres. Offensively, Los Angeles leads the Majors in OPS and ranks second in runs, trailing only the Yankees. As for the pitching staff, the Dodgers have an MLB-best 2.87 ERA, including a 2.69 ERA for the starting rotation — nearly a half run better than the Majors’ next best starting staff (Astros, 3.13).
Elbow soreness is never a good things, but Yency Almonte says that it is a “familiar feeling” that he has had before. The MRI later today will be the judge.
IL Return-O-Meter
Back This Month:
- The Bazooka
- Blake Treinen
- Dustin May
- Justin Turner
- Edwin Rios
Back in September:
- Yency Almonte
- Clayton Kershaw
- Danny Duffy
Maybe or Maybe Not:
- Ryan Pepiot
- Gavin Stone
- Bobby Miller
- Walker Buehler
- Tommy Kahnle
- Victor Gonzalez
- Jimmy Nelson (not likely)
If Bellinger and Muncy Get Hot, the Fat Lady Sings!
“The Dragon Up the Highway”
Padres Owner Peter Seidler hung that Moniker on the Dodgers last night. I can see all kinds of uses of that by the Dodgers. Yes, they are a Dragon! A Monster!
Discussion (19)
Disagree, not disagreeable
I’m sure everybody here feels awful that the Padres have been shut out again, 1-0, with our old friend Alex Wood doing the heavy lifting for the Giants. (In happier news, the woeful Angels beat Oakland, 1-0.)
I’d still be surprised if the Padres don’t make the playoffs. But the early returns on the big trade are awful.
When Rios returns, I think the Dodgers will have 14 position players–the usual nine starters, plus Barnes, Thompson, Gallo, Rios and Alberto. I assume they’d like to have 13 pitchers.
So either somebody gets sent to OKC or somebody gets a timely minor injury, right?
Feels awful rooting for the Giants.
For me the Madres will not make the playoffs. Tatis will be a shell of himself this year and Hader will continue to falter in the close games. Things are going to get really ugly down there.
Thank you!! Thank you all for the generous comments about Dad!!
Great article Bear,
A little known fact about Brewer involved the expansion draft of 1969.
Dodger General Manager Buzzie Bavasi was hired by the newly formed Padres and Fresco Thompson was the new Dodger GM. Thompson was sick with cancer ( and died shortly thereafter, where he was subsequently replaced by Al Campanis). During a hospital visit in the 1968 off-season, Bavasi had a conversation with Thompson and told him that his Padres planned on selecting minor league outfielder Bill Russell and Jim Brewer in the draft from the Dodgers. Thompson asked Bavasi to not select those players and Bavasi told him that he better protect Brewer because if he didn’t, he would be crucified for not choosing him. He added that he could get away with not selecting Russell, because few knew of his talent but Brewer was different.
What resulted was Thompson protected Brewer, Russell wasn’t selected and the Padres took Zoilo Versailles and Al Ferrara from the Dodgers. Can you imagine what would have happened if word got out to the Commissioner’s office of their conversation and gentlemen’s agreement?
I always thought highly of Jim Brewer. He pitched in an era when the reliever to close out a game often entered in the 7th inning, sometimes earlier. He was Always solid in that role.
AF is the best but I still think it was a mistake to not insist on second year team options on the Heaney and Anderson contracts. A “ridiculous overpay” at say $14 million just in case they turned things around. Oh well, I guess he can’t think of everything.
The Dodgers claimed infielder Rylan Bannon from the Orioles. If the name sounds familiar, it should. Bannon was part of the package for Machado in 18. They had an opening on the 40-man roster, so no move is expected. Bannon is insurance at third base. Olivia Newton John passed away. RIP.
Shouldn’t we be talking about re-signing Tyler Anderson. I’m not hearing much conversation on such here or on Twitter.
Why not? This guy has been nothing short of amazing.
Raise your hand if you agree……
It’s obviously very premature to judge the Padres on the past few games. But as other have pointed out, the Padres imploded last year around this time. And the reason seemed to be in the clubhouse. Tatis and Machado were not getting along and that resulted in a huge argument in the dugout. That doesn’t happen on healthy teams among your two best players very often.
I’ve said this before, for all the credit AF deserves the one thing I’ve been most impressed with has been how he has learned from his (very expensive) mistakes.
Erisbel Arruebarrena ($25m)
Alex Guerrero ($28m)
Yadier Alvarez ($30m including penalties)
Hector Olivera ($62m)
They are/were head-cases. Or worse. Lots of talent. Poor intangibles. The only one still in the system is Alvarez, and I hope he fixed whatever was wrong with him. Because he had a terrible reputation when he first played pro ball. And I don’t intend to pick on Cubans. That might just be a coincidence or a fundamental flaw in their player evaluation from that country. Or both. The Dodgers seemed (at the time) to be landing all the best young Latin American talent. At the time, I just assumed it was because AF was given unlimited funds to beef up the system. Looking back, I have a feeling we were getting these guys because other teams were walking away. And it very well might have been that other teams recognized intangible issues more readily than the Dodgers. We seemed to get all the major head cases (at top dollar, to boot!).
To AF’s credit. I saw a massive shift in players the Dodgers were drafting and signing. Makeup became much more important. AF learned from his mistakes. Now, makeup certainly isn’t everything. DJ Peters and Jeren Kendall are two of the coolest guys you’d ever meet. Amazing teammates. Amazing work ethic. Neither being enough to equal MLB success.
But the guys I’ve met among the current crop of top prospects are all really good guys.
And then there are the guys we’ve added. Mookie and Freddie are universally respected and liked in the sport. The Dodgers didn’t even make an offer to Machado. And I do believe his intangibles played a big part in that. Yes, there was Bauer. And if he could, I think AF would say that signing was a big mistake. I believe a lot of Bauer’s current issues stem from the fact that he is generally disliked by almost everybody. Nobody is willing to go to bat for him. I believe AF has learned from that move as well.
I don’t believe the Padres will be a threat to us, now or in the playoffs. Preller doesn’t learn from his mistakes. And I don’t believe he really values intangibles in his players. Big names. Big stats. That all he wants. And he’ll implode his minor league system to get them. Over and over again. And I believe he will get the same results.
I could be wrong. But I believe the Padres are going to massively underperform. Tatis Jr’s return should be a big help. Unless his ego and Machado’s crap attitude end up poisoning the clubhouse, once again. The team is going to be under huge pressure to perform. And I wouldn’t bet on the character and makeup of that team to handle it well.
I always disliked all the Steve Jobs documentaries and movies for one reason. Because they all got it wrong. Jobs made Apple what it is today for one primary reason. He failed miserably many times. He got thrown out of the company he founded only to created a competitor which swiftly and completely failed. But he learned from his mistakes and leveraged the one good move he made after leaving Apple the first time (Pixar) and created Apple 2.0. I only use that as an example because people often think greatness come from not making big mistakes. When, in fact, greatness often comes from learning from big mistakes. AF has learned from his mistakes. So he doesn’t make them again.
Padres. Same mistakes. Same result.
Well, this past weekend affirmed what my initial comment was after the Soto trade…..”I’m just glad he wasn’t traded to the Mets or Yankees…”
I believe those two teams stand in our way to winning it all. Not the Padres.
Ron Darling hates the Dodgers. That is so easy to see when he is a commentator in games that Dodgers play. He now gives that up while admitting how good of a team Dodgers are. It’s fun watching him do just that. His love for the Mets and especially Mets pitching gives him hope they can KO Dodgers from winning the Pennant. I hope he has to be the commentator for this upcoming postseason matchup Dodgers vs Mets. Mets are very good especially their pitching but it’ll take a lot O luck on top of Mets talent to overtake what’s going on here in the west coast. I will enjoy Dodgers putting Darlin through that torture with the world watching ……. again!
Can Soto pitch? Since he can’t the Padre’s still have issues.
* Some on us may have been distracted with all that’s gone on lately. First the All-Star Game and all the festivities. Which Dodgers would make the team? Then the Trade Deadline. Are we or aren’t we in? Happily we didn’t Then it was the loss of Vin and all the wonderful, well delivered tributes and memories.
But I needed to Stop and Appreciate what this team is doing and I hope you do too. Since the first of July, we are 28-5. Since July 27th we are 11 and 1. We have had winning streaks of 7, 8 and 8 and counting. Right now we are clicking on all cylinders. Injuries and slumps don’t seem to derail this train. I don’t want to get cocky but this team has been a joy to watch.
* It’s great to see Bellinger and Muncy get it going. Both have shown character throughout their struggles. Belli hasn’t let his frustrations effect his great defense, base running and game outside the batter’s box. Both deserve credit.
* I have been critical of Bellinger’s swing and have broken down what I think is wrong. I haven’t wavered from my opinions. But what I pointed out with each and every analysis is still true. He has a long, complicated swing that creates timing and consistency problems. When his timing is right. he can hit. He is consistently tardy and has to swing from his ass to catch up to that high heater that gives him problems. Right now, his timing is great. As a result he doesn’t appear to swing as hard and pull off pitches. We need to enjoy this while it lasts.
* Tyler Anderson performed surgery again yesterday getting to 13-1. 7 innings and 2 hits. Who saw this coming? Even Kimbrel was a typical walk away from a clean inning. I know he’s gonna do it some day.
* To change the subject, there’s a heartwarming story going on in Seattle with the Mariners and it’s not their improved play. I’m a dog guy. I love dogs. Sadly, my last 2 have passed and my lifestyle now isn’t conducive to having a pet but I miss them every day. Well the Mariners now have a Clubhouse Dog. Tucker the Clubhouse Dog is a handsome 4 year old lab who is a rescue dog. Tucker hangs out at the yard and has the run of the clubhouse and field pre game. He’s kind of a therapy dog as he is friends to everyone. The players love him and he provides fun and a distraction from the pressures of the day. Skipper Scott Servais and his wife are dog lovers and apparently liked the idea and it was arranged to scout, draft and sign Tucker. What a cool story.
It will be fun to watch Frasso and Brito develop.
It IS fun to watch players like Noda, Lockhart, DeLuca, Nastrini, Burns and Kopp develop.
It IS ludicrously fun to watch this team and organization right now on almost all levels.
Interesting note from my Twitter feed. The Dodgers were reportedly interested in this player going into the draft:
Seems to be a loud industry opinion that Milwaukee Brewers 2nd Rd pick RHP Jacob Misiorowski is the steal of the draft. A whole lot of “He’s a Top 100 guy already” going on. Got paid like a first rounder too. Up to 102. Low 90s SL. Unbelievable athlete for his 6-7 frame.
Will be interesting to watch him too.
According to Doc, Treinen and Graterol will both throw to hitters on Tuesday, then embark on their respective rehab assignments. Help is on the way. I wonder if Treinen got moved up because of Almonte’s injury.
More on the Soto trade…
Everyone speculated that the Padres would receive 5-6 major players, a mix of major league talent and top prospects. The actual return was
McKenzie Gore (Once a top pitching prospect that graduated to the majors and didn’t do particularly well in his first showing.)
CJ Abrams (Once a top SS prospect that graduated to the majors and didn’t do particularly well in his first showing.)
Robert Hassell III – The Padres No 1. Prospect, a High A prospect and 8th overall pick.
James Wood – The Padres No 3. Prospect, currently at Low A, a late second rounder at 62 overall.
Jarlin Susana – The Padres No 14. Prospect, an 18 year old International signee.
The original deal included Hosmer, someone the Padres tried to get rid of all offseason and found no takers. It ended up being Voigt, who is arbitration eligible for the next couple of years, so the Nats could turn him into another prospect down the road.
Already this trade falls short of the lofty expectations and it took the Nats adding on Josh Bell to receive this return. I doubt that anyone would think Luke Voight is worth Josh Bell, so the Nats ultimately received the equivalent of 4 top prospects and a little more.
Any way you cut it, it’s a far cry from what was expected.
One article stated that the Dodgers offer would have to look something like this…
Three of the Dodgers top 5 prospects.
Cartaya
Miller
and one of Pages, Vargas, Busch.
Lux
and one of May, Pepiot, or Gonsolin.
The Padres didn’t come anywhere close to this package.
Abrams will never be as good as Lux
Miller and Gore are probably similar as far as risk and ceiling goes.
The No 14 pitcher the Padres gave up isn’t in the same conversation as May, Pepiot, or Gonsolin
And the 2 A ball outfielders aren’t close, Busch, Vargas and Pages have much less risk.
The Nats probably should have traded Soto to us for Pepiot, Vargas and Outman and flipped Bell in a separate deal and received a better overall package.
This is meant almost exclusively for B&P, so if someone with his email could email him and delete this post it may be best:
https://www.baseballtradevalues.com/key-takeaways-from-the-2022-deadline/
The Dodgers are 42 games over .500. That to me is mind boggling.
That was a fun article Bear. Who knew that Warren Spahn walked around with a baseball in his pocket? Screwball throwers always intrigued me.
Hey Jose, I didn’t see your post until comments were closed. I think strikeouts are mostly because of a few different things. With Belli and Gallo, their swings are very long and powerful and they don’t shorten up with two strikes like guys like Steve Garvey famously used to do. They’re also very big guys, so they have a larger strike zone to cover. With Bellinger specifically, PhilJones is convinced that it’s mostly due to unnecessary head movement during his violent swing. I also pointed out that he “pulls off the ball” meaning that when he yanks his front shoulder during his swing, his bat head lags behind and isn’t at an optimal angle to strike the ball deep into the strike zone. He has to hit the ball out in front of him as a result of his swing path also making it harder to hit off-speed pitches. Lastly, pitchers are very good these days.
The Dodgers are very hot right now. I hope they can keep this up, or better yet, get this kind of production once the postseason starts. Health is key for the rest of the season. Thank goodness they’re done with Coors field for the rest of the year.
The Padres aren’t this bad, but Juan Soto isn’t Ted Williams either. Fernando Tatis will be back soon, and will surely be playing in all 9 of the remaining games against the Padres, all in September. So, block out your schedules. We were also lucky enough to not face Musgrove, who’s largely their best pitcher and Snell who seems to give us fits.
All in all, we’re the better team, but baseball doesn’t care who’s best. It only cares about who’s hot when it matters especially with extra teams and series and a buy in the playoffs. This is uncharted territory, so we’ll have to see how this works out. I’m wondering if that buy might cool down a team, giving an advantage to the teams that keep playing without interruption to their schedule. On the flip side, resetting your rotation seems like a huge advantage.
On Paper, the Padres and the Mets are worthy foes. The Mets just took 4 of 5 games from the Braves and their lineup looks every bit as deep as ours and their rotation will be tough with that two-headed monster at the top. We get to see them on the road to close out August and begin September. As good as they are, I don’t think they’re as complete of a team as we are. Especially once we get some bullpen pieces back and a couple of high-octane starters. With a little luck, Walker’s fastball might get a little zing back after cleaning out his elbow.
I think one of the most impressive aspects of this team is the solid defense. The outfield is incredible and I can’t imagine any team that covers the ground that we do. Belli seems to be able to get at just about anything, a major league Kelly Leak. Flanked by Mookie and CT3, or Joey G, or Trayce is just unfair. All of these guys can handle Center Field in a pinch. There’s no old school left fielders on this team. They all have speed and they all have arms.
The infield is almost as good. Muncy is like a Ron Cey, Not a lot of range, but the glove is good and he has a strong and accurate arm at 3B. Justin is better even if he’s lost a step in recent years and those two are the weak spots in an otherwise great fielding infield minus an occasional bad throw from Lux.
Behind the plate are a couple of good glove catchers and one of them has a bat that gives the lineup a huge advantage over other teams. And Barnes has a knack for a big hit in a clutch spot.
In the beginning of the year, I said this was the best team AF has put together so far. It’s taken a while for Belli and Muncy to get going, but watch out now that they’re starting to get their bats back. It’s amazing that we’re five wins better than the Mets, Yankees and Astros with two of our better starting pitchers on the IL for most of the season and just about all of our best relievers out as well with 3 black holes in the lineup for most of the year. Wow! How much better is this team going to be?
After seeing Trayce pinch hit and single last night, I wonder again why Gallo needs to be here and play, while Trayce has already proved he can help us.
I’d rather keep Trayce fresh for possible October than let Gallo practice his swing up here.
There is a small write up about Kevin Pillar in MLBTR. Seems his shoulder is healing faster than expected. He has been cleared for baseball activities. He might be available by the middle of September. Nice win last night. Anderson was great, and for the first time in a long while, Bellinger looked really comfortable at the plate. Nice to see him hit the ball the other way.