Of Puppets and Men

I find it hilarious that some of you think Doc is a “puppet manager.” I guess it is human nature to ridicule what we don’t understand. “Puppet” implies that Dave does exactly what the front office says, which is so much beyond silly; it is ridiculous! The job of a baseball manager has changed dramatically in the past 20+ years. It used to be the manager was a “John Wayne-type” guy – a loner who rode into town and laid down the law. With the birth and proliferation of Sabermetrics, Moneyball, and Analytics, baseball management style has changed.

Managers have so much more information today. They meet with the front office on a daily basis and go over all this data, and while I do not know how it is organized, I presume that the information is readily available as the situations change and the circumstances dictate. Even companies like US Water Systems use data and analytics in the management of our companies. How you interface with that data is critical, and my son has become adept at creating “dashboards” that act as an interface so as to access this information quickly. If you brought Walter Alston as manager today, he would be run out of town quicker than Trevor Bauer in a (you fill in the blanks).

Baseball has changed – you may not like it… or understand it, but it has, and it takes a different type of manager to operate. I do not think for a minute that Dave Roberts is a “puppet,” but to truly be a “manager,” you have to be on the same page as upper management. The Dodgers Front Office does not tell Dave Roberts who to play or what pitchers to use, but I think in many cases, it is very obvious what the answer is. More than ever, today, a manager is more of a “manager” than ever before. They have players and more data to manage than ever before. For example, Cody Bellinger should not be in the lineup on such and such a day because there is a LH Pitcher starting. So Trayce Thompson should be starting his place? Well, Trayce does not hit lefties as well as righties, but what if Cody is 7 for 12 against this LHP? There are lots of other variables that also come into play.

Many of you are not Dave Roberts fans. That is your choice, even though you cannot defend that position statistically. Dave Roberts is not the rugged, independent manager who dumps over a water cooler and kicks dirt on the bases. Managers have evolved or moved on. Tony LaRussa may be the last of the breed, and look how great he is doing – He has been a trainwreck for the ChiSox, who were a pre-season favorite to go to the World Series. Analytics brought about “the shift.” Next year, it goes back to what it once was.

Baseball America Rankings

Baseball America just came out with their Updated Organization Talent Rankings, and the Dodgers were #2 behind the Orioles, who haven’t had a winning season since Christ was in Cleveland. Speaking of Cleveland, the Guardians are #3, and the D-Backs are #4… ready to compete in the next couple of years… again. The Padres dropped to #23. By the way, Juan Soto has 7 RBIs as a Padre – SEVEN! In 119 ABs.

Here are the BEST TOOLS RANKINGS from BA:

MLB LEVEL:

• Best Hitter – #1 Freddie Freeman
• Bets Hitter – #3 Mookie Betts
• Best Baserunner – #1 Mookie Betts
• Most Exciting Player – #1 Trea Turner
• Most Exciting Player – #2 Mookie Betts
• Best Defensive OF – #1 Mookie Betts
• Best Arm – #1 Mookie Betts
• Best Defensive 1B – #1 Freddie Freeman
• Fastest Baserunner – #1 Trea Turner
• Best Control – #1 Clayton Kershaw
• Best Pickoff Move – #1 Clayton Kershaw
• Best Defensive C – #3 Will Smith
• Best Strike Zone Judgement – #3 Max Muncy
• Best Manager – #3 Dave Roberts

AAA LEVEL – PCL:

• Best Batting Prospect – Miguel Vargas
• Best Changeup – Ryan Pepiot
• Best Defensive 1B – Ryan Noda
• Best Defensive 3B – Miguel Vargas

AA LEVEL – TEXAS LEAGUE

• Best Fastball – Bobby Miller

A+ LEVEL – MIDWEST LEAGUE

• Best Strike Zone Judgement – Jorbit Vivas
• Best Defensive 2B – Jorbit Vivas

A LEVEL – CALIFORNIA LEAGUE

• Best Strike Zone Judgement – Austin Gauthier
• Best Pitching Prospect – Ronan Kopp

There’s a lot to like about the Dodgers Farm System.

Frustrating Prospects

I know that I get frustrated when I watch Ryan Pepiot. It drives us crazy to see all those walks, but in reality, he is pretty dang good, and we just have to be patient because progress is not linear. I was reminded of that when I went back and looked a the minor league stats of a player who went to become a dominant starter and Cy Young Award Winner. Look at this:

• Age 23 – Lake Elsinore – 4.54 ERA
• Age 24 – San Antonio – 3.45 ERA
• Age 25 – Columbus – 5.56 ERA and 8.31 ERA with a MLB Team
• Age 26 – Columbus – 3.59 ERA and a 5.13 ERA with a MLB Team
• Age 27 – 3.85 ERA with a MLB TEam
• Age 28 – 2.44 ERA in 235 innings – Cy Young Winner

I am talking about Corey Kluber. The path to stardom was not linear. It took a lot of work and patience. We need to realize that too. Patience Grasshoppers.

Dodger Notes & News

• Ryan Pepiot went five innings, struck out 8, and walked 1 with allowing 0 Runs on four hits.
• Lake County shut out Great Lakes to even the playoff series 1-1. Winner takes all today!
• Dustin May vs. Snidley Whiplash Webb tonight on Apple Sucking TV