Rant & Rave Monday
12-1 in August – I’ll take it, but be prepared for the next losing streak… and there will be one. Miguel Rojas – You cannot stop this beast! 4 RBI! Wow! 😉 The starting pitching looks much better right about now than it did in July. Urias is starting to pitch like an Ace and…
- 12-1 in August – I’ll take it, but be prepared for the next losing streak… and there will be one.
- Miguel Rojas – You cannot stop this beast! 4 RBI! Wow! 😉
- The starting pitching looks much better right about now than it did in July. Urias is starting to pitch like an Ace and Kershaw is back, Miller has had his best game and then there is Lance Lynn to go with a resurgent Tony Gonsolin.
- Ryan Pepiot pitched 6.2 innings (90 pitches) and allowed 1 hit yesterday. No runs and 11 K’s to go with Zero walks. Sounds like he is ready!
- Miguel Vargas is 0-19 in his last 5 games with 12 strikeouts. Something is going on. I heard they were working on his swing, but… his swing is unrecognizeable to me. Hopefully they know what they are doing (they do).
- This is just Michael Busch’s third full season in the minors. Don’t forget that he played 4 years at North Carolina. He will be 26 in November and many baseball types believe he can be a solid 3B. I think he will be just that next year in LA.
- MLBTR had this to say about Joe Kelly’s IL Trip: “This is Kelly’s eighth IL trip since the start of the 2020 campaign, and the third of this season —he previously had minimal 15-day absences with a groin strain and elbow inflammation while with the White Sox. Any forearm or elbow injury will be treated with particular caution, though if it is just inflammation rather than anything more serious (and Kelly and the Dodgers have had a few days to evaluate the issue), it is possible Kelly might again only miss a minimal amount of time.” Translation: Who knows? It could be serious… or not. Blake Treinen suddenly looks more important!
- Oevr the winter, I said to “Never underestimate AJ Preller’s ability to screw something up.” Why are the Padres so bad? They have a fractured lockerroom. Character matters. The Padres are a dysfunctional family. You should be happy that character matters with Andrew Friedman.
- It’s possible that the Dodgers could have four players with 30+ HR and 100 +RBI’s. When did that last happen?
- MLB.com says this about the Dodgers: “The Dodgers continue to combine winning and developing prospects better than anyone, graduating Bobby Miller, Miguel Vargas, James Outman and Emmet Sheehan to Los Angeles this season and still maintaining a deep system. Their top three prospects currently are hitters (Dalton Rushing, Michael Busch, Diego Cartaya) but they have a wave of pitching in the upper levels (led by Nick Frasso, Gavin Stone and River Ryan) as well.”
- Two fast risers: Peyton Martin and Wilman Diaz!
- Watch out for Joe Vetrano – he may be Freddies Replacement at 1B!
- Later this week,I will have a column on the Dodger Prospects.
- Gavin Stone could see time in the Dodgers bullpen!
- Greg Spruill nailed it: “Over the last 3 seasons I’ve noticed a trend in the comments. When the Dodgers play well AF and the players get the credit. When they play poorly Roberts gets the blame.” Totally irrational and totally true!
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Discussion (78)
Disagree, not disagreeable
No question August has been fair sailing for the Dodgers, the starting pitching seems to be better and the bullpen good at times. Clutch hitting and power making a difference.
I definitely expect Michael Busch to be given a full shot to be the starting third baseman next year.
Looking forward to your prospects column.
Good to see Pepiot back.
Yes the Dodgers are generating tremendous buzz for the development system, the envy of the rest of baseball. You go back to what Stan Kasten said when the new ownership took over, it’s about the farm system and player development. Andrew Friedman and company have made that happen.
No question, the Padres are a mess. Too many superstars not focused on team goals, but on individual play. Oh, they’ve got talent, but chemistry is lacking.
The best free agent signing is Freeman.
Totally agree about Peyton Martin. He’s a monster. Will have to google Joe Vetrano now. Looking forward to the prospect content. Cheers!
Roberts best managing job yet. I guess sometimes he gets overlooked because of the fact other managers don’t have to deal with platoons every day. Braves trot out pretty much same lineup every day. Roberts has a different lineup almost daily. I get the left -right matchups, my only issue is why pinch hit so early in games when a pitching change happens? Usually if an early pitching change is happening, that means we’re scoring runs! Just my thoughts. Nice to see Rojas contribute yesterday! That’s a big bonus’ now if. They could get even a small contribution from Barnes! Not good news on Kelly. But as you commented, if Treinen can get back we’re ok. So, Mark, if Pepiot is throwing the hell out of the ball what do you do with him? Do you put him in the rotation or bullpen? I’m not completely convinced on Catman! But I don’t think Tony is effective out of the bullpen. 6-man rotation? Pitching as he did yesterday, just can’t leave him down in AAA! Getting back to Roberts, if Dodgers keep winning, he should be given serious consideration for manager of the year! But he won’t get it because of the payroll. Right now, I think it would be between Ross (Cubs) and Councill(Brewers)
I dont want to think about Freddies replacement until 2033 at the earliest….he will retire a Dodger and go in the hall with a Blue Cap.
Great weekend, great team. Don’t look now but we are sneaking up on the mighty ATL bravos.
Watched the post game interview with Doc and he downplayed the IL stint for Joe Kelly mentioning (paraphrased) it has been a season long issue for Joe and the IL stint is a pain management stint and a time to settle the elbow down. He didn’t make it sound like he was alarmed or too concerned and I was left with the feeling it will be just the 15 days and then brining him back for the remainder of the season and getting him right for the post season.
Gonna need Joe for some big outs in the post season.