Playing in Major League Baseball is Hard
OK, so what? Yeah, it’s hard to play baseball in the major leagues. Let me take it a step farther, who here could have played AAA baseball? AA Baseball? A Baseball? Rookie League Baseball? I am sure some will say they could have, but unless you did, you really don’t know. You…
OK, so what? Yeah, it’s hard to play baseball in the major leagues. Let me take it a step farther, who here could have played AAA baseball? AA Baseball? A Baseball? Rookie League Baseball? I am sure some will say they could have, but unless you did, you really don’t know. You just don’t! It’s easy for all of us to say that the Dodgers should just get rid of Max Muncy or send Cody Bellinger to AAA, or that CT3 should just be a utilityman.
“DFA Muncy” OK, then what? Oh, call up Busch and Vargas. Max Muncy is a bum anyway. Right, MLB baseball is easy! Due to the pandemic, Max has logged only three full seasons, in which he has hit 35, 35, and 36 HRs. As a Dodger he has a career OB% of .368 and an OPS of .870 – that’s really close to “superstar status!” So, the Dodgers just DFA Max Muncy? Really? Because Mike Busch is struggling with AAA pitching right about now. Miguel Vargas is hitting AAA pitching pretty well, and he’s all of 22, so he is ready, right? Just toss Max Muncy on the bone pile. Kevin Pillar is hitting .309 with a .405 OB% and a 1.031 OPS at OKC, Let’s call him up to take Cody Bellinger’s place. Yeah, that’s the ticket.
Most fans who propound those things also think that it’s all on Dave Roberts. Let me shatter your illusions, but I guarantee that Andrew Friedman, Josh Byrnes, the Dodger Brass, Dave Roberts, and the Coaches are all singing out of the same hymnbook on this. It’s not going to go on forever, but both Cody and Max have earned the right to play another day. Sooner or later, the push will come to shove and they will either snap out of their respective funks or they will be replaced… but that day is not today. Patience, Grasshoppers!
Baseball is hard. Major League Baseball is even harder! I have said it before and I will say it again: “If you have done it before, you can do it again!” That doesn’t mean you will… but you have the ability to do so. Max Muncy has done it before – several times, so he gets a long leash. Cody Bellinger has the longest leash because he is one of the best centerfielders in the game. He can bet you with his legs, glove, arm and power. His leash is very long… but it is not unlimited.
At What Point is This Robert Van Scoyoc’s Fault?
Hitting coaches have a short shelf life. Some teams change hitting coaches more often than some people change their underwear! It’s a lot easier to fire the hitting coach than it is to fire the whole team. It’s easier to put the blame on one person than on 14 or 15 players. The Dodgers’ Head Hitting Coach is none other than Robert Van Scoyoc (“RVS”), who has somewhat achieved “rock star status.” Brant Brown and Aaron Bates assist him.
RVS has been credited as the person who fixed JD Martinez’s swing so that he went from utilityman to superstar. He has also been credited with helping CT3, Belli, and Max Muncy (hold it… am I detecting a trend?) In many respects, Chris Taylor, Cody Bellinger, and Max Muncy are the same player, even though one is right-handed. You can’t run a team with those three players as cornerstones. Some people just want to “blame” someone. I don’t care about blame. I care about what is best for the team.
The fact that the Dodgers have performed so well this year, even with Bellinger, Taylor, and Muncy performing so poorly, is a testament to how good this team is. I think I have gotten close to the end of my rope. It may be time for a change, but before we talk about that, let’s think about what the cause might be. MLB is the Great League of Adjustments. Has the league finally caught up to RVS? Is it time to chart a new course?
I think that is fair question. If you blame the hitters, can you blame the hitting coach(es)? The Dodgers have at least three players who are really struggling with the bat. If the coaches can’t help, then do you change the coaches before you change the players? That is the question…
Andrew Friedman Reclaims Another Pitcher
Last night Tyler Anderson pitched 8 shutout innings. He was simply outstanding and is now 5-0 with a 3.30 ERA. While everyone is playing checkers, Andrew Friedman is playing chess. It seems that he does this every year. Last year it was Phil Bickford, Corey Knebel, and Evan Phillips – scrap heap projects who have become very useful pitchers. This year is is Yency Almonte and Tyler Anderson. So far, both have been exceptional. I keep hearing that the Dodgers need another starter, but name the number of starters who have a 5-0 record with a 3.30 (or better) ERA! Yency Almonte is dominant, but Tyler Anderson is very crafty and has learned how to pitch to his strengths with a 70’s Curve, 89 MPH Cutter, and his 91 MPH 4-Seamer.
How many Dodger fans were fans of the Anderson signing. I said that it was probably unnecessary, but he has been a key piece for the Dodgers. Baseball is hard and Andrew Friedman is good at running a baseball organization. Ultimately, it is his decision as t what happens to Max Muncy and Cody Bellinger. Stop blaming Doc! It’s all on the man playing chess, while we are playing checkers!
Questions?
If Miguel Vargas is called up, will Hanser Alberto be the odd-man-out?
I like what I am seeing of Gavin Lux. It seems that those yips have been exorcised!
Hopefully, Walker Buehler can answer some questions tonight.
The Dodgers are #1 in baseball in team ERA, even though the bullpen has been spotty lately because of use. This too shall pass!
Dodger Poke Report – Part 1
This is excellent and I am going to start publishing these:
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Discussion (102)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Predictions of Muncy’s benching have been greatly exaggerated. Muncy currently leads the MLB in BB rate at 19.5%. He’s a walk machine.
About this time last year he had a BB rate nearly identical. I think he broke 20% last April. He was also mired in a horrible slumping start last year.
Eventually he began to walk less, became more aggressive, and hit 10 HRs in May with a .330 AVE. He wound up with a BB rate of 14% on his way to hitting 36 HRs (led the team) with a wRC+ of 140 (third best after Seager and TT) and leading the team in WAR.
Roberts is going to give Muncy every opportunity to regain his confidence and aggressiveness at the plate, even if it takes all year. He kept Bellinger in the lineup without exception all of last year, too. Being terrible in April and May is acceptable as long as you’re playing at a high level in September and October. That’s how Roberts manages.
For those clamoring for Muncy’s banishment, you’re going to have to deal with disappointment. Rios will be rotated in the lineup with more frequency because he’s performing, but it won’t be a straight swap with Muncy. It will be a little more like what we saw yesterday.
Yes. Players get injured in a long season, especially starting pitchers. I’m not sure what the near constant hand wringing over this potentiality really accomplishes, except for providing an I-told-you-so opportunity for the Nostradamus’s here. Is the Dodgers predicament any more dire than any other team’s?
To this point, I read somewhere that average inning per start is down across the league. Roberts is reducing the workload on his pitchers, which is his MO, but so has the rest of the league. However, we did see the limits of this strategy when Bruihl and that Yency guy were put in high leverage setup and closer roles – even if you want to rest your starters, eventually you run out of relievers.
But who cares? April and May are extensions of Spring Training tryouts. By Roberts throwing guys like that Yency guy out there, maybe he becomes this year’s Phil Bickford. Building a relief corps for the playoffs is a little like throwing spaghetti against the wall to see what sticks. It’s ok to make a little mess in the first half.
I was broken down as a Sophomore in High School! Bad knees and shoulder. I was somewhere between above average to good before that!
Muncy doesn’t need a DFA, he needs a sit on the pine for a while until he starts attacking pitches in the zone. At least stop batting him in the middle of the order? I don’t think that unreasonable. Speaking of DFA, I don’t think Hanser is close to that status either. He’s a useful piece that doesn’t get to play very often.
Of course it didn’t take long for people to step on Rios. I wonder what he can do if you give him a “runway”. 2 games in a row isn’t a runway. It looked like he was swinging for more playing time yesterday, trying to do too much. He was swinging out of the zone a lot.
I don’t think Tyler’s going to have to make 32 starts with 10-12 starting pitchers on the 40 man. But, he sure looked good yesterday. How long did his perfecto last?
Glad to see CT3 bounce back after some bench time. It’s Muncy’s turn now.
I was just thinking that the Dodgers are blessed with great pitching coaches over years. Hitting coaches, not so much. Just wait until they “fix” the baseball again, and they’ll start coming around.
It’s been a relatively mild Spring this year. Not many Santa Ana wind days. This probably has a lot to do with baseballs not going out. The crazy thing is that the ball just seems to die. Hard to remember many homers hit to Center Field this year.
Here’s a fun video talking about the balls…
I won’t be able to watch the whole game tonight. Going to 555 steakhouse in Long Beach.
And another thing I’m grateful for is that I’m not a Nats fan. They’re aweful! So glad to be an ungrateful and complaining Dodger fan!
I had 2 buddies who made it to AA. They both came home with drinking problems and one died soon after in a drunk driving accident. Back then it was even worse than today. Those long bus rides were a killer. Literally! Don’t think you missed anything special Badger. Of course anything was better thanplaying with grenades in a far away jungle! I’m thankful for a high draft number.
I’m pretty sure I could have played AA. I say this with confidence as several guys I played with and against made it that far or farther. As it turned out I played dodge rockets with the Marine team. I was pretty good at that too.
I am surprised by Anderson’s success. Is it sustainable over 32 starts? Guess we’ll see. What I’m not surprised by is Heaney and Kershaw on the IL. My concern is, who’s next?
The Dodgers score runs as well as anyone. They’ve proven that year after year. What they haven’t proven is they are best team over 180 games. They were the best team over 60+. And they did get cheated out of one, but the fact remains they’ve been in the playoffs a lot in the last 15 years or so but have only sealed the deal once. Once. Yeah, it’s hard to win it all in MLB. Boston has done it a few times. St Louis won it a couple of times. SF won it 3 times. Heck, Kansas City has as many championships this century as the Dodgers do.
So what’s the secret? Clearly it’s how you finish. Last year, after trading for Scherzer, he ran out gas on the last lap. Hate it when that happens. That happened to Kershaw a couple of times too.
So what to do? Keep reloading I guess.
“Tyler Anderson is very crafty and has learned how to pitch to his strengths with a 70’s Curve, 89 MPH Cutter, and his 91 MPH 4-Seamer?….you didn’t even mention his best pitch THE CHANGEUP!!