Making it to The Show
About twelve or so years ago, I wrote a blog about Jason Repko, who was a prospect for the Dodgers. While I do not recall exactly what I wrote, I am sure that it was crass and inconsiderate. Well, Jason Repko s dad read this blog and took me to task (and rightfully so). He cut me down very eloquently and said that I had no idea how hard Jason had
About twelve or so years ago, I wrote a blog about Jason Repko, who was a prospect for the Dodgers. While I do not recall exactly what I wrote, I am sure that it was crass and inconsiderate. Well, Jason Repko’s dad read this blog and took me to task (and rightfully so). He cut me down very eloquently and said that I had no idea how hard Jason had to work and what he had overcome to get to where he was. I was crass and inconsiderate and took what he said to heart. I apologized and vowed not to be that way again. I realize how hard it is to get to play in The Show and know that I could have never made it and most of you could not have made it either.
Andy Dominique, Jeff’s son played in the majors and got a World Series ring from the Red Sox. In nine years in the minors, he hit .270 with a .354 OB% and hit 122 HR. All that work, got him into 9 games with 14 ABs in the majors. It’s damn hard to get there. Was it worth it? I’ll bet he thinks it was. He lived his dream and at age 22 he hit 24 HR with 102 RBI in the Sally League. Talent is important… and so is timing and luck. My point is that there is a ton of talent in the minors, but luck and timing come into play too.
I see fans say “This guy is bum” “Send him back to the minors.” “He’s horrible.” … and I cringe. Tyler Gilbert of the D-Backs is the most recent case-in-point. By no-hitting the Padres in a 7-0 win on Saturday, Gilbert became just the fourth pitcher in big-league history — and the first in nearly 70 years — to toss a no-hitter in his first big-league start. The Athletic has an exceptional piece on Tyler and his journey, written by Zach Buchanan. I will publish a few tidbits:
To fully comprehend the unlikelihood of what happened Saturday in Phoenix requires an understanding of Gilbert’s journey. It’s that he’s not just any rookie — or, conversely, that he could be just any rookie. He is not and has never been considered a top prospect. At this time a year ago, he was apprenticing under his electrician father. A Dodgers farmhand at the time, Gilbert had not been invited to the alternate site. “I was trying to make ends meet,” he said.
As he was making ends meet, it seemed entirely possible that his career could soon be meeting its end. The Dodgers didn’t protect him in the Rule 5 draft — not just the major-league portion, but the minor-league phase that only required him to be placed on their Triple-A roster. He was 26, had never reached the majors and seemed to have stalled out.
But the Diamondbacks had been following him. They plucked him away from their divisional foe in that Rule 5 draft and turned the longtime reliever into a starter. It was a flyer — the stakes are not high in the minor-league portion of the Rule 5 — but Saturday it paid off in ways that almost no one would have predicted. A no-hitter in the big leagues? Many wondered if he’d even make it to the majors at all.
But not Gilbert.
“I knew there was never anything that was going to prevent me from getting to the big leagues,” he said Saturday night, a half-hour after he bequeathed his glove to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. “That’s something I really bought into, especially this year. No matter what. I was just so confident in myself. I know my stuff can play up here. There was never a doubt.”
Matt Hahn, a scout for the D-Backs had this to say about Gilbert:
“I watched Tyler improve every single season,” Hahn said. He looked on as Gilbert pitched to a 3.63 ERA at Triple-A Lehigh Valley in 2018 and then watched him post a 2.83 mark at the same level a year later. He watched him in the Dominican Winter League in between. He saw Gilbert add a cutter — a pitch the lefty threw 47 percent of the time Saturday — and then continuously improve upon it. “I watched a guy who was always challenging hitters,” Hahn recalled, “who always knew what he was doing.”
Ultimately, what happened was that Gilbert was switched THIS YEAR from being a reliever to a starter. At age 27 (he will be 28 in December) Tyler finally made his dream come true and he put it all in context:
“I’m happy to be here. I’d rather be doing this than pulling wires,” said the owner of just the third no-hitter in Diamondbacks history. “No offense, Dad.”
I’ll bet no offense was taken! I do not think Tyler Gilbert will be a great pitcher. He may not even be average, but he threw a no-hitter in his first start and that’s something no one here has ever done. If Darien Nunez and Edwin Uceta are bums, we are all pond scum or worse!
Progress is not linear or even predictable. Max Muncy, Chris Taylor and Justin Turner are living proof that dreams come true and all three were picked up off the bone pile. Muncy and Turner were cut and signed as free agents and CT3 was traded for one of the biggest draft busts in Dodger history, Zach Lee, who happens to be nice young man. Zach will be 30 next year and is out of baseball, but he at least, did make it to the show.
I root for guys like Billy McKinney, Luke Raley, and Zach Reks. There is still hope for them all, just like Tyler Gilbert, but at least they made it to The Show. That’s something very special. If you are perceptive, you can see that pitchers like Nunez and Uceta flash talent – it’s just a fine line between success and failure.
Dodger Rants and Raves
- People talk about Max Scherzers eyes and it a fact they are very different! Scherzer has a condition, called heterochromia iridis, which impacts the color of his iris. The condition affects less than 1 percent of people. Scherzer has one blue eye and one brown eye, and he said that the pigmentation of his eyes can even change. The shades of blue and brown fluctuate
- Cody Bellinger is slowly getting his mojo back. He has had some big hits and played a role in this winning streak. Sometimes, it’s one step forward and two steps back, but he is becoming a force again. Let that be a lesson.
- I agree that the Dodger defense needs to improve, but some of the mistkes were just plain wierd and likely never to happen again… like Trea Turner almost falling on his face trying to throw. Sometimes stuff just happens.
- The Dodgers, who have the largest positive run differential in baseball at +193, have won 10 of 13 games since July 31, the day after the Trade Deadline. Max Scherzer has been as good as advertised, allowing four runs over 16 1/3 innings (2.20 ERA) to start his Dodgers tenure.
- Trea Turner’s bat woke up and he went 3-4 with 4 runs scored. When he gets on, it’s hard for the Dodgers to lose.
- Look for the Dodgers to be tired tonight after the cross country trip late last night. This is where you have to suck it up. The Giants aren’t going away… yet, but one has to wonder how long they can keep this up. No offense.
- I have a friend who is a Giants fan who insists that Bruce Bochy never tried to win after each of his World Series Championships. He claimed that Bochy said “It’s too hard to go back-to-back. The team needs a year off from the pressure.” I have serious doubts that Bochy ever said that, but the results speak for themselves.
- Here’s what I want to know about Trevor Bauer: Did the latest woman who said Bauer choked and punched her have a record of saying that, or did she just say it now? That would tell us a lot…
- Who will the Dodgers put on IL to bring Mitch White back tonight?
- Lux was 2-4 at OKC last night and played 2B.
- Mike Busch was 2-5 with a double at Tulsa.
- Miguel Vargas was 3-5 and is still hitting over .300 and OPsing .911.
- Yurchak is still insane. He went 3-5 for Tulsa and is hitting .431 with a 1.119 OPS. Whew! Thta’s after 54 ABs.
- 20-year-old Eddys Leonard hit .295 at RC and was promoted to GL where he bis hitting .341 and playing CF. He mostly played SS in RC
- Jorbit Vivas is still hitting .318 at RC with a .925 OPS after going 3-5 last night.
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Discussion (141)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Mark, I remember that Jason Repko piece you wrote and his father’s reply. It was a sobering moment for a lot of us. When you consider the hours of work to get to that level, it is staggering. I think I mentioned my wife’s cousin, Jonathan Loaisiga of the Yankees. The kid has a million dollar arm and can hum up the velo to near 100. But he went through the TJ process and years of rehab to get there and we all know it can all disappear with one pitch and another arm injury.
Jonathan’s younger half brother, Mike, was a shortstop, signed by the Dodgers. He was a well thought of prospect and he entered the Dominican Summer League with high hopes a few years back. He never panned out, couldn’t even approach the Mendoza line in that League and was a total bust defensively. The number of hours he put in aside from within the organization but with personal trainers and coaches were immeasurable.
My point. The game is hard. Only a few achieve and get to the highest level. Sitting back and criticizing is pretty easy. Those guys are human and I think our fandom gets in the way at times and we can easily forget. Nothing said here is earth shattering, but I catch myself from being overly critical for these very reasons.
Dodgers back to having the second best record in the majors. They would be leading any other division but the NL West.
You guys should really wait until the game is over to bellyache about Roberts and his lineups, sitting a player and assorted other gripes. They won. That is the most important thing. Kept pace with the Giants, gained ground on the Astros and no one got hurt. They have no control over what the Giants do and they need to take care of their own business.
We win a nothing game! We win a nothing game!!!! And thank you Dave for starting McKinney against my wishes. And for overmanaging and pulling Graterol mid inning for Treinen. And trusting Kenley to close it out. In fact Dave just stop listening to me from now on!
I have always been a Doc supporter, but totally disagree with the spring training lineup tonight. Just got back from a great road trip and you sit Smith, Bellinger and Seager st the same time. This is a total trap game, and we made the pirate starter look like Cy Young. You kind of see a pattern over this season. We all get pissy when we can’t beat the Padres or give a few away to the hated ones, but how many times this season did we lose to the bottom feeders on the nights the Giants won? A handful of them were because of our weak lineups, and a game lost here and a game lost there and you look up one day and we are 4 games out. Don’t get me wrong, I know you gotta rest guys, but sometimes Roberts sits a guy for a rest day when the dude is on fite, like Will Smith. This game has trap game written all over it,
I love Big Barrels- I cannot lie!
Billy McKinney I take it ALL back!!!!
7th inning stretch was the most cheering we’ve done all night!
Wow! Jet lag defense and jet lag offense!
So far another nothing following an all!
Jackson did a great job! His off speed stuff was very impressive. He couldn’t command his fastball tho. I thought he had more giddy up on his fastball . He sat at 92-93 most of the night.
Mets 3 Giants 2 5th inning. Jackson wiggles out of another jam. 4 scoreless innings. The kid has poise for sure. Best thing about tonights game, Orel is not there!
Come on when I was a young man I worked hard jobs and rarely got eight hours sleep I mean come on these guys are playing a goddamn game
When I was 19 I worked all day carrying the hod, Then came home got cleaned up went out and played a softball game
If you’re a baby you’ll never get used to it and that’s what they treat them like babies
Jackson five, five strikeouts were Andre just the beginning
Is this umpire call strike happy enough?
Cole Hamels placed on the 60 day IL effectively ending his season. He recently suffered another undisclosed arm injury that has derailed his comeback efforts.
Nunez and Uceta to OKC. Feliz and Jackson called up. Padres getting beat so far by the Rockies, 5-1 in the 5th at Colorado.
Could be another long night for the offense with another ridiculous lineup….Barnes, McKinney.,Pujois, pitchers spot.
44 games and counting and yes there should be some urgency or we will be playing a one game playoff. Yes we do have the #1 run differential but we have seen too many times to have a dud game offensively after 10-15 run outburst.
At Dodger Stadium tonight. Hopefully not to see a nothing following an all yesterday. Ned predicted a 3 homer game with TT being one of them. We’ll see! Looking forward to seeing Jackson and if he can throw strikes!
What’s up with all of this resting guys. Tonight’s lineup looks horrible. It use to be that guys would play all the time unless injured, with just a few days off throughout the season. Nowadays Doc babies his players. Hello, we are 4 games back of the Giants and the clock is ticking.
Continue down the Billy McKinny path, or cut bait and sign Adam Eaton? Both are good defenders and neither are hitting much. Or is that just swapping spit.
I am a 69 year old white dude with no problem with Tatis’ antics. He is a great player with great skills. He is fun to watch. I never considered race to be a factor in how I watched the game. I do not like him solely because he is a Padre. That is not the same for Machado who I despise. For those with a problem with Tatis and the SD dugout after a HR, I assume none of you had a problem with Joc and his little hop and skip and exaggerated low five with Dino around 3rd after a HR. On one of his HRs this year, he did the Tatis dance around 3rd, and Chicago loved it. Or Max Muncy as he stands at the plate, flips the bat, and admiringly watches his HRs. How about the bubble machine in the dugout after a HR? The Braves and their selfies?
I loved watching Tim Anderson hit his walk off in the Field of Dreams game, with his bat flip and skipping to first. Was he showing up Zack Britton or celebrating a win? After the game, Anderson said; “The fans came to see a show, and we gave them a show.”
Was Kirk Gibson’s fist pump in the ’88 Game 1 WS walk off HR unsportsmanlike? Was he trying to show up Eck, or was he celebrating a win? It is fun. It is a game filled with personalities. I think one of the problems with this year’s team is the absence of the two biggest kids on the bench for the last several years: Joc and Kike’. Where is the personality for the 2021 team? Hopefully it will be Mookie going forward, but it is hard while he is not playing.
One of the greatest celebrations I watched was Tiger Woods chip on the 16th at the 2005 Masters. Was he showing up Chris DeMarco or was he celebrating with Stevie Williams? The gallery loved it and played off of Tiger’s reaction. Tiger changed the game of golf with his fist pumps. I loved watching Tiger make those great shots and celebrate with Stevie. It is a different era.
BTW, I am also just as fine with a Corey Seager non-descript trot after his HRs.
Tonight’s lineup:
SS Trea
2b Max
1b Albert
3b Justin
LF AJ
CF Chris
RF Billy
C Austin
P Justin Bruihl
No Cody or Corey against the leftie
When Dodger fans called Max Scherzer for a curtain call and he obliged, was he showing up the opponent? Was that a lack of sportsmanship? At one time it was considered that. Now curtain calls are a tradition.
Different era’s, different traditions.
So CC is saying that baseball traditions are racist? Don’t show up your opponent is racist? Sportsmanship is racist?
I get tired of everything being called racist if a “POC” doesn’t like it.
Vince Lombardi famously said “When you get to the end zone, act like you’ve been there before.” Doing something good is good enough. Hitting a HR or getting a big K speaks for itself.
I was taught sportmanship by my Dad. I believe in it. Gloating and showboating is not being a good sport. Why is that racist?