One Step Forward – Three Steps Back
The simple way to blame someone for last night’s debacle ‘er, loss, is to say it was on Dave Roberts for starting Chris Taylor at 3B after Max Muncy’s big night. However, that would be short-sighted as well. Max has not fared well against Alex Wood – having just one hit in 9…
The simple way to blame someone for last night’s debacle ‘er, loss, is to say it was on Dave Roberts for starting Chris Taylor at 3B after Max Muncy’s big night. However, that would be short-sighted as well. Max has not fared well against Alex Wood – having just one hit in 9 career at-bats against him, and it could be that Max Muncy is becoming a platoon hitter as he has not gotten a hit against a LHP this season!
There’s another reason Chris Taylor started at 3B last night: Doc is a players’ manager, and showing confidence in a player breeds confidence. In case you have never played the game, the most important aspect of hitting is confidence. The opposite of confidence is indecision, and indecision will kill a hitter. Dave Roberts and the Dodger staff are trying hard to “fix” CT3… but sadly, it is not working. I feel I am watching a Cody Bellinger re-run!
Here’s the deal: when the top four hitters in your lineup get one hit and the bottom four hitters get two hits, you are not scoring, let alone winning. Mookie did walk three times, so I give him a pass, but Freddie Freeman was 0-5 and still has just 2 RBIs on the season. That is insane.
Here is what else is insane: Making a determination at this juncture of the season that a certain player is a good or bad MLB player. It’s way too early for that. Dave Roberts can’t do it. Andrew Friedman can’t do it, No rational baseball person can do it. I can’t do it. But maybe you possess some special power that enables you to determine that at this juncture. If so, I would recommend selling that to the highest bidder. If you prove you can do that, someone will pay you millions. If not, right about now would be a good time to be still.
This is not close to playing out with CT3, and it is painful to watch, but it’s just one game. It might take 20-30 more before we can reach a determination. In the meantime, we have to remember that it’s a team game, and when you lose 5-0, with just three hits, it’s more than one problem. For the short term, Muncy is going to play against RHP, and CT3 will likely play against LHP. This puts Max in the best place to succeed and also gives Chris his opportunity. It’s a process, and it takes patience… no matter how ugly the game.
Miguel Vargas is playing exceptionally well at 2B, so I would hesitate to put him over at 3B, but maybe there is a plan to do that if CT3 can’t cut it. Busch is hitting .326 at OKC, and I think his bat is MLB-Ready, and he can play 2B. But a lot has to play out before that happens. By the way, Gavin Stone struggled with control again last night. He gave up two home runs and allowed three hits and three runs in 4 IP. He walked four batters. YIKES! See, even I did not know Shineola about him being ready! The OKC Dodgers did win, however, as Nick Robertson is taking the next steps forward. The 6′ 6″ RH went two innings and got his second win. He has struck out 12 in 7 IP, and you may see him at a Ravine near you this summer. Harold Uhlman (Dodger Chatter) is loving it from his vantage point with the Big Dodger in the Sky!
Other Dodger News
- Andy Pages was 2-4 at Tulsa last night with 3 RBIs.
- Emmett Sheehan pitched four innings, allowing two hits and 2 ER while walking one and striking out 9.
- By the way, if you click <Minor League Affiliates> at the top of the LADT page, you will go to every team’s home page, where the box score is located. I do not have time to do a re-cap.
- After first-inning control issues, Dustim May came back with a vengeance! I like the growth I am seeing from Dustin.
- Tonight, it’s Kershaw vs. Cobb.
- I can live with being 6-6. I do not like sub-.500!
Question
As you may know, I was supposed to have back surgery on Monday (Lumbar Decompression), but in the Pre-Op Meeting, they did an EKG and said I have A-Fib. It is now postponed! I am getting an Apple Watch today (as it detects it). I have no symptoms. Does anyone have experience with this?
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Discussion (74)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Can Julio pitch every game? Otherwise…….
Outman with a nice RBI and did you see JDM running without a piano on his back for his second triple?
The league is running wild, stealing bases, and leaving the Dodgers in the rearview mirror!
Outman 306 BA 457 OBP 722 SLG 1179 OPS
Vargas 208 BA 474 OBP 333 SLG 807 OPS
You tell me who is doing better by far so far?
Is anybody really surprised that the Dodgers exploded tonite? Tick tick tick BOOM!!!
The reports of Muncy’s demise are greatly exaggerated.
After tonight, he would be tied for the lead in home runs at 5, would be fourth in RBIs with 14, and will raise his average to .220, which isn’t far off from the .250 of his peak years.
He’s had a bad stretch, but I think he’ll be fine.
Alex Verdugo had another mult-hit game, and is quietly starting to have a decent offensive year finally. No, I don’t want the Dodgers to get him back.
Wander Franco is quickly turning into the best SS in the game.
A hot hitter who has one hit in career ABs against a certain pitcher is a pretty lame reason to sit him for someone who has an ice-cold bat.
The good news is that Max continued to swing his hot bat despite the misguided day off in which his sub struck out three times in 3 ABs. Maybe he just likes hitting in SF–and that would be another reason to play him.
Questions: What was Taylor’s career record against Wood? Did Max’s other ABs end up in ugly Ks or were there some line drives that got snagged? I once had a brief conversation with Al Campanis who talked about how he onces promoted a prospect after a 0-for-4 day because each out was actually a rocket that found a glove. But sure, we can’t know how Max would have fared against Wood–but we do know that Taylor struck out three times.
That said, I appreciate the stubborn determination to defend both Roberts and AF as geniuses of the game.
I will also argue, again, that AF was not a genius when he decided that Outman didn’t deserve more of a chance in ’22. If nothing else, Outman’s current success shows that his 2022 performance was not some sort of fluke. Wouldn’t the ’22 club have been better off down the stretch and in the postseason with Outman on the roster instead of Gallo and Vargas?
While Max was the star, and Freddie had that epic base on balls, Outman had another good night. Just a fine performance from the guy who is really only Dodgers’ 4th or 5th best OF prospect according to the sage Zen master of LADT.
Boy, the Dodger OF will be great when Pages, Ramos, DeLuca and Busch come up! Mookie will have to play 2B and Busch can be the DH.
And then Outman will fulfill his destiny as a 4th outfielder, just as the wise one predicted.
Well, maybe I should eat a little crow this time.
Or maybe not.
Just saw that a few years back Taylor had a career .333 against Wood, including two doubles and two HRs. So yeah, he belonged in the lineup…
. But Houston Mitchell’s report also said Max had gone 2 for 5 against Wood, including a HR. So the claim that Max only had one hit in 9 ABs against Wood seems to be in error.
Anyway, Mitchell’s report dates back to when Sheldon Neuse was on the Dodgers and Freddie wasn’t. Found it via google. Not sure what the career numbers are.
At any rate, I think hitter/pitcher matchups shouldn’t be ignored.
But if Taylor’s are better that Rojas’s, perhap he should have played SS to keep Max in the lineup.
So the season is about 8% over and I’m ready to conclude that the Non-Devil Rays will finish 162-0.
The early stats are kind of fun, though.
Dodgers, as a team, are second to the Rays in OPS at .858, so it’s strange when the offense just disappears. The Rays are at .945.
As for pitching, the Rays are in front with a 2.17 ERA . They also have a 0.95 WHIP and .194 batting average against.
And the Dodgers are…. ouch….down in 15th position with a 4.30 ERA. The WHIP is 1.19 and the BAA is .253.