Quick Hits

My father is almost 90 years old, and every night or evening, he watches the Dodgers, his most beloved event of the day. I don’t want him to watch the game on the night of the sisters, because I know that this is going to bother him a lot. What a pity that something like this can damage the spirit of an great old fan like my father. Pity.

Another article in The Athletic about the Sisters and Houston Mitchell’s Newsletter today was also about the sisters. He stated what I also suggested: This issue could be enough to drive Clayton to finish his career in Texas! The simple solution is to just drop all the “group nights” that aren’t related to baseball. Duhhhh! or maybe we just create new ones, like

1. Dodger Stadium Elephant Night

2. Bring a Crocodile to the Game Night

3. Bring a Convicted Felon to the Game Night

4. Dodger Stadium Lice Night

5. Dodger Stadium Anti-Vaxxers Night

6. Skydive into the Stadium Night

… I am sure I am offending someone by leaving them out. They could do all kinds of stupid shit… or maybe just play baseball.

Dodgers and D-Backs now tied atop the NL West. We get the Yankees while they play the Braves. They travel to DC next week while LA is playing the Reds in the Queen City. Dodgers then go to Philly while Az visits Detroit. They come home to play the Phils and Guardians while the Dodgers host the Sox and the Giants. Tomorrow is Lou Gehrig day. All teams will fete celebrations for the Yankee great and host ALS benefits.

Cartaya hit his seventh homer tonight. Might be turning his season around.

DODGERS ACQUIRE RICKY VANASCO

LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Dodgers have acquired right-handed pitcher Ricky Vanasco from the Texas Rangers in exchange for minor league left-handed pitcher Luis Valdez. In order to make room on the 40-man roster, the Dodgers designated right-handed pitcher Zack Burdi for assignment.

Vanasco, 24, pitched in two games for Double-A Frisco since being activated from the injured list and allowed six runs in 2.1 innings with two strikeouts. The right-hander posted a 4.68 ERA (48 ER/92.1 IP) with 118 strikeouts in 23 starts last season between High-A Hickory and Double-A Frisco. He has been in the Rangers farm system since being drafted in the 15th round of the 2017 First Year Player Draft out of Williston High Schoool (FL) and he is a combined 9-10 with a 3.84 ERA and 236 strikeouts in 178.0 innings. He was designated for assignment on May 29.

Valdez, 19, appeared in eight games for Low-A Rancho Cucamonga, posting an 0-2 record with a 3.12 ERA (6 ER/17.1 IP) and 24 strikeouts. The southpaw was in his third season with the organization and was a combined 3-3 with a 2.70 ERA (20 ER/66.2 IP) and 84 strikeouts in 24 games (21 starts). He was originally signed as a minor league free agent on November 4, 2019 out of Navojoa, Sonora, Mexico.

The Dodgers are now tied with the same exact record as the Snakes for 1st place as they just swept Colorado in a 4 game series.

The Marlins have a 26 y.o. Left fielder who won’t be eligible for free agency until 2028 he has been really solid since 2021 he bats right handed. His name is Byron De La Cruz. Would he be someone the Dodgers would be interested in at the deadline?

Please know that I am not one of the media sycophants who want to silence dissenting opinions because they are conflicted by cognitive dissonance.

I hate to say this but I always thought Vargas was brought up to early. I figured he would need another half year in AAA and then go from there. The half year point is in a month.

To me the Dodgers just don’t have enough good relievers. Phillips, Gonzalez, Ferguson (Even though he looks like a deer in headlights), and a surprise to me S Miller are about all there is. Almonte and Vesia were one of the best last year so I’m hoping they return to last year’s performance. Yes there are 3 guys in my opinion on the IL that are good, but will they be back this year. But as of right now there’s not enough good relievers.

Everyone has talked about the starting pitching so I won’t go there.

The outfield platoon situation is still there. Nobody that can platoon against LHP.

With all that said the Dodgers record is 34-23. To me that is thanks to the top 5 in the batting order plus in April Outman.

I agree with a lot of the takes today:

1) Thor is done, at least on the MLB level. And from a human perspective, it’s sad that he’s mentally going thru all this, and that he’s questioning himself and his career. Perhaps being amicable to go down to AAA and figure it out would be best for him, without flat out waiving him and telling him we don’t want him anymore. If he truly does want to reclaim what he had, or find a new version of himself, then he’ll understand it’s best to do that in AAA and not in LA.

2) I”m not happy with Miguel Vargas at bats lately. He’s failed a lot of times lately, when I would’ve hoped his bat to ball skills would come into play. Last night’s pathetic, weak foul out with bases loaded and 1 out was a perfect example. Weak, pathetic, useless at bat by someone who I expect results from . And I say that with confidence in him, while I have no expectations from CT3, who struck out, or Rojas, or Barnes (and currently Outman). I expected Vargas to come thru in these situations, because I expect him to hit 6 or higher for us for years.

3) I think I’m going to the 4p game Saturday, to watch the Yanks’ Ace vs. our 18th rookie, Grove. Anyone going? I’d love to grab a drink with anyone on this blog (already had drinks with Mark and his son Steven a few years ago)

4) I expect Denver to cakewalk over Miami in the NBA finals in 5 games MAX. I also expect Vegas to beat Florida in the Stanley Cup.

Thor’s situation isn’t unique. Tim Lincecum had a similar career trajectory. 3-4 years of dominance followed by several years of decline and ultimately became unserviceable by his early 30s.

It’s sad to see.

The article that Bluto posted by Passan provides another example of the impact of the new playoff structure. With so many teams remaining in the playoff run, the number of teams in sell mode will drop. Maybe that was one of MLB’s intentions. To keep two or three teams from blowing up their roster every trade deadline. But it also results in the better teams having difficulty improving going into the post season. That will result in a bit of a feedback loop where the good teams will be under less pressure to go out and land a impact player at the deadline because they know the other top teams are unlikely to land one either. The end result will be making the modern MLB playoffs even more of a crap shoot.

The one name I thought was interesting was Bellinger. He’s on a one year deal and (assuming he continues to hit when he comes off the IL) will likely get a big raise and a multi year contract. It may be very unlikely, but how strange would it be if the Dodgers make a run for Bellinger at the deadline?

I think it would make sense, at this point. Again, assuming he plays well post IL.

I think Sindy’s issues can be fixed but he needs to adopt a new mentality. He needs to work on command, pitch mix and tunneling his slider. Maybe a change up or screw ball could be added to give him another option. He is a big leaguer and relatively young. Can’t give up now.

Apologize for being chatty. Love to talk and discuss baseball. In most games whatever type, there are normally two or three plays that play a huge role in the outcome. Tuesday night that play is when Heyward went from first to third on a potential double play ball. The Nats shortstop was given an error but it was still a tough play. Most base runners would have sled into second base. When Heyward saw the ball trickling to the outfield he didn’t break stride and went to third. Extending the inning and help the Dodgers get momentum and have huge inning. One never knows what play will turn a game.

* Is there an avenue for both Corbin and Syndergaard to pitch in the Home Run Derby?

On second thought, they don’t throw enough strikes.

* I actually have sympathy for both Corbin and Syndergaard. Patch talked about realizing Noah’s mortality and having a struggle learning how to get guys out without velocity. And he was hurt last night with some poor defense.

But while I have sympathy for them as individuals struggling to save their careers, this isn’t Boys Town. They keep score in this league. It’s a production business. You are paid to perform. I’m with AVForte about Noah’s time being up. But until some reinforcements arrive, we’re stuck.

* Will Smith took a shot to his inner thigh that had to leave a mark. I don’t think it rang the bell. He was on that knee, exposing that thigh. He he been on his feet, it may have been all shine guard. I hate how they are catching. Maybe the ABS will make framing obsolete and they can again catch with 2 feet on the ground.

Passan takes a look at the upcoming trade ($$$$) market:

Dylan Cease, Bieber, Bednar and maybe Aaron Nola!?!?!?!?

Poor Thor. Cashin checks he doesn’t deserve. But he’s hardly the only issue. Urias and Kersh both struggling. And the bottom of our lineup is a black hole. And our two prized rookies are a lot closer to OKC than ROY. Top of our lineup has us in first but they need some help to keep us there.

The Dodgers lost a very winnable game yesterday, and certainly Thor was a big part of the loss. But other players were also instrumental in the loss including Graterol and Vargas. As John Doll pointed out, if not for the errant throw by Vargas, Thor would have finished the game with 5 IP, 3 ER and in line for the win. We wouldn’t even be having this conversation yet regarding releasing Noah. Vargas also went 0-5 and popped out with the bases loaded and one out in the third inning right after Taylor struck out with no outs and bases loaded. The Dodgers had a chance to build a big lead in the 3rd and three batters in a row failed to produce even one run. Overall, a very poor game for Vargas.

And Graterol was solely responsible for giving up 3 runs in a tied game in the 8th inning. The box score will show zero earned runs, but he was the only reason those runs scored. He hit the lead off batter on the first pitch which is already a huge mistake, then committed a costly error, and then hung an 0-2, two out slider for a HR. Graterol was more responsible for this loss than Noah in my opinion. And there are always numerous plays and players that contribute to a loss.

Noah will probably exit the starting rotation going forward, but since Dodgers are already paying him either a move to the IL, to AAA or into the bullpen makes sense to me before just releasing him. At least he is taking personal responsibility for his poor performance and willing to try options to improve.

It’s sad to see, but it’s time to move on from Thor if the Dodgers have any aspirations of holding on to first place in the West. The experiment has lasted long enough. Hopefully Urias will be back soon to fill the void.

Thor needs to go to Camelback or OKC and work on his craft. Better location, more deceptiveness is needed. And who knows maybe the velo ticks up a bit then too. No place on the big league roster for him when he is going like that.Not even for mop up duty. Bickford is the better mopper.:-)

Cartaya is heating up. Another dinger last night at AA.

Good to see.

Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wednesday scores

Reno 6, Oklahoma City 5

Wichita 7, Tulsa 2

Great Lakes 4, Beloit 3

Rancho Cucamonga 8, Inland Empire 7 (12 innings)

Thursday schedule

4:35 p.m. PT: Great Lakes (Ronan Kopp) at Beloit (Edgar Sanchez)

5:05 p.m.: Oklahoma City (William Cuevas) vs. Reno (Brandon Pfaadt)

5:05 p.m.: Tulsa (Nick Nastrini) at Wichita (Aaron Rozek)

6:30 p.m.: Rancho Cucamonga (Joel Ibarra) vs. Inland Empire (Jorge Marcheco)

All 4 Dodger Minor League Teams are in 1st place in their respective divisions

Not to be contrary but Yogi said 90%mental. On a previous comment I stated that Roberts said Betts was totally tuned in. I meant to say according to Roberts Mookie wasn’t always tuned in.

Simply put, ‘ships don’t sail on yesterday’s wind’. His glory level was high and it’s clear that makes the fall deeper with pain, but at least he he has the memory of glory. I don’t think he is able to make the best out of the situation he now has to face. t’s too late to start from scratch and that is where he is at.

Since Mark is stirring up conversation, I thought it was interesting that right after Roberts suggested that Mookie was totally tuned in, Roberts played him at short and second. By taking Betts out of his confront zone (right field) Betts just by his nature of waiting to excel had to really dial in. May have not been the reason but as Yogi stated 90% of the game is mental…

Thor had another tough day no doubt. Remember that two runs scored after the Dodgers botched a double play on the line drive to Vargas. Vargas had all day to throw to Rojas. You can’t flip a throw in baseball, pitchout in football, or pass in football with your weight on your back foot, the ball will float and take off high. Getting out of that inning without giving anything up would have been a confidence booster. Thor still needs to find a new occupation, time is up on this job.

He is young enough to learn how to ‘pitch’. It’s just will he be able to move on form what he used to be.