Just Ride Out the Storm
A lot of Dodger fans mocked and ridiculed Farhan Zaidi for saying three weeks ago that the Dodgers needed to hit more Homeruns? What? That s stupid! Shows what he knows Here we are, three weeks later and the Dodgers were leading the NL is homeruns and were on a 16-5 streak . well, after last night they are 16-6 and 2nd in HR. Maybe Farhan should say How do you like
A lot of Dodger fans mocked and ridiculed Farhan Zaidi for saying three weeks ago that the Dodgers needed to hit more Homeruns?
What?
That’s stupid!
Shows what he knows…
Here we are, three weeks later… and the Dodgers were leading the NL is homeruns and were on a 16-5 streak…. well, after last night they are 16-6 and 2nd in HR. Maybe Farhan should say “How do you like me now?” Actually, with all the injuries to the pitching staff, it is my hope that the Dodgers can hover around .500 or a little above until the All-Star Game, a month from now.
Maeda and Hill will be back by next week… barring setbacks. Hill threw a 60-pitch simulated game on Saturday and Maeda will throw a bullpen today. Roberts will probably have to hold them to 3 or 4 innings in the beginning, but they can get stretched out quickly. Buehler could be back sooner, but if he spends two or three weeks on the DL he can probably pitch the rest of the season, so that may be a blessing in disguise.
When I was in LA a couple of weeks ago, I observed Ryu throwing and moving well. In fact, he jumped pretty high to catch an errant throw. I think he will be back around the All-Star break. We know he has been able to throw. I look for him back in mid-July. He could give the team a huge boost. He looked to be in great condition.
Then, let’s not forget Julio Urias (remember him?), who is now throwing off the mound. Dave Roberts has said that Julio could be ready to pitch by the end of July. I would only expect a couple of innings in the beginning, but he could be in the rotation by September. He will likely be on the OKC Shuttle for a while.
Tom Koehler threw a bullpen session on Thursday and may get a rehab assignment by next weekend. Finally, Clayton Kershaw has resumed playing catch, which is a good sign, but the Dodgers will be cautious with him. We could see him back before the All-Star break.
Alex Wood has not been as bad as his record shows, although his last 3 outings were bad. Players go through bad streaks.. in case you are a novice and have never seen the game played. Wood still has a decent 1.19 WHIP. His fastball velocity was 91 MPH consistently last night, so I think he is just going through some mechanical stuff.
The team just has to stay afloat until the troops return. Maybe not all will return successfully, but most will and it will make a difference. Andrew Toles led off at OKC last night and had a hit (2B). Verdugo is hot and went 3-4. Andrew Sopki pitched 6 string innings at Tulsa and I have a sneaking feeling Sborz could be sighted in LA.
It’s always darkest before the storm. The storm has hit. They will ride it out and move on. Never fear! The best we have – Ross Stripling goes today! The news on Justin Turner who has missed the past three game is that his wrist pain could last weeks or months. Players who have had the same injury say the pain persists… so we really have no clue if or when he will be able to return to form.
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Discussion (129)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Starting Rios’ clock now is not an insignificant factor in “giving him a shot.”
Would any reasonable GM add him to the 40 and bring all that entails simply because Turner has a sore wrist. What happens if the impossible happens and Rios hits and fields well? He still goes back down when Turner can play regularly and now the team has to deal with tougher arb.
The upside could be a downside.
“Puig’s problem was he had the IQ of a fencepost….”
If memory serves, that must be a smart fencepost. I believe that I read in the past that Puig is the go to guy in the Dodgers’ clubhouse for computer related problems. Also, both his parents are engineers (See #53 in the link that follows).
Open on www.dailynews.comhttps://www.dailynews.com/2013/08/17/66-things-we-now-know-about-yasiel-puig-the-rookie-sensation-who-wears-no-66-for-the-los-angeles-dodgers/Brooklyn – I’ve ran into alot of high IQ kids in my job over the years that had the common sense of a toad stool… I wouldn’t bet on the gene pool…
Computer skills, great… I taught after retirement in a continuation school and 90% of the kids had computer skills well beyond my comprehension, but they had just little or no use for regular schools and that’s OK…
P.S. I like Puig and I’m he turned it around…
Rumor is that Manuel Banuelos will be called up and start tomorrow. I”m glad he’s getting his shot as well. Hopefully he takes it and runs with it
I would love to see Rios get a chance also. He can flat out hit. Right now though I think we have to make sure joc and Muncy get at bats while they are hot. What would that look like? If bellinger was in center and Rios at first who is out? Against a lefty kemp could play right with bellinger and Hernandez center and left with Muncy at second which would leave joc , Puig,and Forsythe on the bench. For defense late bring Forsyth and puig in. Against righties bellinger, puig, and joc in the outfield with Muncy at second. That would mean kemp, Forsyth on the bench. Would you really bench a guy leading the nl in hitting? Rios just doesn’t seem a fit at the moment.
Rios is a lefty hitter and the Dodgers could use a backup righty bat at first base. They already have a lefty bat in Muncy. Rios has slow bat speed and a long swing. He muscles home runs mostly with strong hands. His best shot at a MLB salary is as a DH. Do him favor and trade him to the AL.
The only guarantee I have is that the LA Dodgers will not lose tonight!
OK, here’s my final offer:
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Forsythe (to balance salary)
Sheffield
Ferguson
Diaz
Rios
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To KC for:
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Merrifield
Hererra
Moustakas
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KC re-stocks the farm.
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Moose plays 3B until Turner comes back… he can also play 1B!
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Merrifield plays 2B and leads off
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Hererra is setup man.
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The price is steep!
I haven’t checked the won lost record against lefty starters but few Dodger righty bats are hitting for much of an average against them. Pederson is platooned against lefties and Bellinger is getting close to being in the same category. The Dodgers could use Machado. They have players that can hit righties and that includes righty bats like Puig and Taylor, both of who are not hitting lefties.
Doc just announced Caleb Ferguson will be starting tomorrow. I’ll be going, so looking forward to seeing him get his first career win!
Oh, and I want to see what kind of reaction Beltre gets now (14 years after leaving us)
Lost in all the injuries is the fact that in the midst of a battle for the division the team gets early looks at the kids. Buehler and Muncy got earlier call ups than planned and they have seen Santana, Ferguson, Valera, Corcino, LoCastro and Verdugo already. The move to claim Goeddel has paid off big time as well. Solano and Banuelos will be called up at some point as well and perhaps Rios.
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They don’t need Kershaw to be a Cy Young candidate this year, just healthy for the stretch run and playoffs. How well might he pitch without all the wear and tear he usually has on his arm and back in October?
Way too early playoff rotation:
1) Kershaw
2) Buehler
3) Stripling
4) Pick one: Maeda, Hill, Ryu, Wood
The rest can go to the bullpen with Jansen, Fields, Cingrani, Goeddel and Baez.
With the way the team has been hitting, I like their chances.
Be nice if Kershaw could come back and just eat some innings. If Maeda and Ryu could come back and do as well as they were doing when they were injured….. Hey, maybe Zaidi should come out and say the pitchers need to throw more shutouts.
Who goes on the DL to make room for Ferguson?
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Turner?
Doc also announced that Maeda would start Wednesday
BTW, Ryu is going to start throwing off a mound, this week, most likely!
I had a feeling Caleb was going to get the start on Tuesday, which is why I put quotes around “scheduled” to start tonight for OKC.
.
Poor OKC. They have had more bullpen games than the ML team. Chad Girodo has started 2 of the last 3 games and 3 since June 3. He is a middle reliever. That is what happens when both the ML and AAA teams run out of starters, and Yadier Alvarez is not showing any potential to move up whenever he is pitching. And Mitchell White started the season on the DL. Alvarez has not pitched since May 5.