- Who will go down next? That seems to be a broken record for this season. Hopefully, everyone gets healthy for the stretch run. Tonight, Trevor Bauer goes against the D-Bags in AZ.
- The Dodgers are 3rd in team ERA… within .06 of the Padres and .10 of the Mets. They are still #2 in starter ERA behind the Mets, but deGrom keeps breaking down (he’s older than Clayton) and it is just a matter of time. The Dodgers are still tied for #8 in bullpen ERA, but the Padres bullpen is WAY overworked. That will become apparent down the stretch.
- The Dodgers still are #1 in the NL in runs scored, although their OPS has dropped. They just need to get healthy.
- I root for guys like Steven Souza, Jr. He could be a solid player for a team that needs RH bats.
- Remember when I wanted Nicholas Castellanos? Through 250 AB’s he is hitting .348 with a .401 OB% and 1.005 OPS. He has 23 Doubles and 13 HR. Just sayin’…
- I have ZERO doubt that the Giants can keep this up! ZERO!
- In his second Low-A game, 22-year-old Ismael Alcantara went 3-3. I know very little about him, but I will try and learn more.
- In his past two games, Sheldon Noisy has gone 3-4 and 4-4 and raised his BA to .300. Something is starting to click.
- In 12 games, spanning 13.1 IP, 6′ 4″, 32-year-old Kevin Quackenbush has a 1-0 record with 5 saves for OKC. He has allowed six hits and has 12 K’s. There are two stats that jump out at you: 1. He has not given up a run; and 2. He has walked 9! Close, but no cigar!
- Miguel Vargas took the collar in his first game at Tulsa. It will be a process.
- Bobby Miller has no pitched 21 innings at Great Lakes and has allowed 11 hits to go with 24 strikeouts and just 5 walks. His ERA is a deGrom-Esque 0.86 and his WHIP is 0.76. I think he is ready to move on to Tulsa, but they seem to be restricting his innings.
- 20-year-old Jorbit Vivas (2B) is hitting .28 with a .355 OPB% (.851 OPS) at Rancho Cucamonga. He has 7 Home Runs to go with 4 doubles. He is worth watching.
- Cole Percival is somewhat of a puzzle at Great Lakes. He has pitched 25.2 innings, allowing 13 hits. while walking 19 and striking out 17. His ERA is 1.75, but the walks are worrisome. He is 6′ 5″ tall and has a high-leg kick like his father, Troy. His fastball occasionally touches 94 to 95 MPH, but he had a high 80’s slider that is his best pitch. With the control issues, it appears that the bullpen is his future, but I think he should be able to add 2-3 MPH to his fastball with a Driveline program.
The Latest on Dustin May
Trevor Bauer’s Solution to Foreign Substances
I pretty much agree with Trevor Bauer 100%, but the timing is wrong. It should have been done in the last offseason, but Rob Manfred is his typical bonehead fashion makes the wrong decision at the wrong time. Who let this clown out of the circus (I am talking about Rob Manfred)? Add this to the fact that MLB made the balls “slicker” this season. It’s pretty clear to me that whenever Manfred makes a decision, it is the wrong one. Here he is while contemplating this latest rule change.
Headed to Vegas Tomorrow
I like Vegas for about 2-days and then I am ready to go home. God Bless You if you live here and love it. The 115 degree heat is hard for me to take. I have to come back at the end of July. So, I may be off the grid until Tuesday. I will be checking the blog and maybe posting and I have access to e-mail. I am a high-roller, but I have a limit on how much I lose gambling. It’s $20.00. Usually takes me less than an hour….
Discussion (22)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Will the real Dodgers lineup please stand up?
Very happy for Souza. You have to love a guy like that who was so close to quitting until the Dodgers came calling. He went down to OKC and did the work, and it paid off. I also loved that he hit that laser right after he picked himself up out of the dirt. And Burns getting their second hit and it being a double was nice to see too. Vintage Jansen tonight. He just pounded the strike zone.
Can we please score some runs.
So much for the theory that Bauer is worse because he can’t use the sticky anymore.
Saw the cap that they are selling for the All Star game. Not even Dodger blue. It is navy blue, with a lot of red in it. Not something I would run out and buy. I have the spring training cap with the curly D on it, a camouflage cap from Memorial Day, and a 4th of July cap that is Navy with a red bill. But those are the only variants I have. I do have a LA cap that has Kershaw’s # 22 and his signature embroidered on it.
Today is the anniversary of Kershaw’s no hitter against the Rockies. Some say the most dominant no hitter ever, and just a Hanley Ramirez error away from a perfect game. Some also forget the great play Miguel Rojas made at third to preserve the no hitter. I think it was a great performance, but I think Koufax’s perfect game was the best pitched game in Dodger history. Especially since he got absolutely no run support in a 1-0 win where his own team was held to 1 hit by the opposing pitcher, and it was not involved in the scoring. Plus Sandy struck out the last 6 hitters he faced.
Alexander at Rancho for a rehab assignment.
Also try Lotus of Siam. Best Thai food I’ve ever eaten.
Well dinner on dad at Joel Robuchon at the MGM!
Lest I forget… today is my son’s 22nd Birthday:
Remember this:
1. Not every guy who hits at AAA can hit in the major leagues.
2. Guys who can hit in the majors don’t always hit right away.
3. Some guys learn to hit MLB pitching.
4. Some don’t!
I’ve given up on the OKC outfield bats
The Dodgers need to go on a winning streak to take first place in the division.
Sweep the Diamondbacks
2 of 3 against the Padres
3 of 4 against the Cubs
Then the Giants
July schedule looks easy except 7 against the Giants.
National League stats:
Dodgers 4th in team batting OPS
Dodgers 2nd in team starting pitching ERA
Dodgers tied for 4th in team bullpen ERA
Does anyone know a website that gives team starting pitching OPS and team bullpen OPS stats separately? Not just overall team pitching OPS stats? If so can you give me a link? I would absolutely appreciate it.
I’d rather know how the team starting pitching is doing compared to the team bullpen by OPS stat instead of ERA stat. I don’t like ERA stats.
14 pitchers again. As bad as the offense has been, they should have replaced Raley with someone who knows how to hit.
I wonder if the front office has considered about looking into trading for Pittsburg’s reliever Richard Rodrigues. He is sporting a 2.43 era since 2018. What do you guys who know more about this, is he a good choice? The pirates have 2 more years of control.
Morning guys, nice refreshing day at the lake fishing, caught our limit. Vegas is ok for a short time, but I never win there. Did much better down by the state line when the Nevada Landing was there. Used to get some nice jackpots on the 1.00 machines. Never anything huge, but 800.00 a few times. Loved the Red, White and Blue Sevens. Anyway back to baseball. Giants have a 2.5 game edge on the Dodgers now, but over the next month and a half, the Dodgers have a lot of games against them. After September 5th, they do not play them again, so, they are going to have to win a majority of those games. Next 6 games against SF are all at Dodger Stadium. Last 6 are in SF. Bauer, Buehler, and Gonsolin against the Dirtbags this weekend. Should be able to take 2 of 3, or maybe even sweep which would be nice heading to SD.
I like Trevor Bauer and agree with him 100%. He is well-spoken and out-spoken. We’ll see if he becomes a target during the crackdown. I’m on record as being an opponent of starting this crackdown mid season and not thinking this through, clarifying, and exploring every solution and start fresh in Spring Training. What’s the hurry? This has been going on for sometime now, as Bauer states, and nothing has been done. Now all of a sudden MLB thinks the problem has reached critical mass. Is it due to .238? Maybe MLB has .240 as the magic number. Once the leagues batting average dipped below .240 it’s panic time.
I’m not an advocate of screwing around with the baseball all the time but the most simple solution is to come up with a baseball with a less slick surface. Make the hide more tacky. It is very doable. Oddly MLB made the baseball fly less to help the pitchers but now they want hurt a pitcher’s ability to grip the ball. That’s a little convoluted. There are other, better ways to address this over the winter and implemented changes next spring. But no. Steve Stone has some great ideas. Bauer has shared his. I’m sure there are many more that MLB could have considered during their “research” and collection of evidence. But that fell on deaf ears. Now they hurry up, to screw up.
So let the “shit-show” begin.
That pic of “manfred” is so timely & funny to me. I just bought a tee from officialhodgetwinsdotcom that says “I was going to be a liberal for Halloween, but I could not fit my head up my ass”. True story.
Thanks for the laugh!
I’m with you Mark. I love Vegas for a weekend. I go up on Friday, come home on Sunday. Two nights, one full day and then get the hell out.
I have found a way to have fun while losing my money slowly. I get $100 in $1 chips at the Roulette table. I spread my $10 bet around by placing chips on two corners, and play the same 4-6 numbers every roll of the ball, I might double up 2 numbers. By doing this, I will sometime get on a roll and even make some money. If I start to roll, I increase the chips on each roll. If I go cold, I bet the minimum $10. The goal of the game is not to win money, but to lose my money slow enough to get really drunk and tip the waitress generously. It usually works out pretty well.
Ahh Nick Castellanos. He’s crushing it this year, but he wasn’t very good last year. Would we have the ring if we went that direction? He’s a bad outfielder, but not as bad as Matt Beaty. He came up as a prized third base prospect, but couldn’t handle that position either and was a bit of a late bloomer. He is a big right handed bat and a first baseman, but he doesn’t want to play there. He’s a bit of an enigma. That’s a guy I would put in LF over Pollock.
Bobby Miller looks like a stud, but they are doing their baby steps thing with him. 7 starts and 21 innings. He won’t be MLB ready for a while at that rate. I don’t mind bringing along prospects slowly. I would rather they reach free agency at 30 than at 27 before entering their prime years.
I sure hope something miraculous happens in regard to Muncy and Belli on the recovery front. The feeble lineup that we used in the last game makes me a little worried, even against the D-Bags. After that we get the Padres, Cubs and Giants. Not a great time to be banged up.
We have a short bench with 14 pitchers going into the series. But, at least we have Julio and Kershaw available to pinch hit. Good thing we added a left handed pitcher just in time to face a team that struggles against right handers.
Any chance Bobby Miller gets a shot to be a playoff reliever on the 2021 Dodgers? We tried it with Buehler in 2017.
I’d guess for that to happen, he’d need to be in Tulsa soon.
Update above. I published it prematurely.
Totally agree with Trevor Bauer. No thought goes into anything anymore. Typical Manfred nonsense. Why would you do this at this stage of the season?
Bobby Miller, if he stays healthy, looks like a future Dodger ace.