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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…

By Mark Timmons2 min readJump to 78 comments
  • 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!

Discussion (78)

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  1. Mark TimmonsAugust 14, 2023

    @foulterritory NEVER stop dancing, Kiké Hernandez #mlb #baseball #dodgers ♬ original sound – Foul Territory

  2. OldBear48August 15, 2023

    Little over an hour to game time, Varland has not been added to the roster yet. I expect he will be shortly.

  3. Singing the BlueAugust 15, 2023

    No game today, Bear. They have until tomorrow.

    And Kelly’s going on the 15-day IL doesn’t create a spot on the 40-man roster. They still have to dump somebody from that to add Varland. I’m guessing it will be Marisnick, either dfa or 60-day IL.

  4. Jorge ValenzuelaAugust 15, 2023

    About Kike, I read that many Dodgers fans, Latinos more than anything, are upset because Kike did not show respect to Fernando when he was walking to the field, I saw that Kike did not even get up and continued on the ground warming up while that all the other players were applauding, I personally do not give importance to the matter.

    And about Wander, it seems that he promised to give the 14-year-old girl money in exchange for keeping the relationship a secret, but she got angry because Wander never gave her the promised money.

    There is nothing more dangerous than an angry woman!

  5. BlutoAugust 15, 2023

    If political humor is too close to political talk, please delete:

    How bad has this season been for the White Sox? Their 1-2 hitters in the order, Tim Anderson and Andrew Benintendi, have fewer homers (3) this season than Trump has indictments (4).

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