- I am convinced that there are “alleged” Dodger fans who are secretly (and some not so secretly) rooting for Michael Conforto to fail so they can say “GOTCHA” to Andrew Friedman. They feel the same way about others, including Dave Roberts and Robert Van Socyoc. Actually, they are not real fans. Hand me the troll spray!
- Kyle Hurt, Bobby Miller, Bazooka Graterol, and Julian Fernandez each have a shot at making the playoff roster (maybe one or two).
- Brock Stewart will be a massive factor in the playoff bullpen.
- Could Roki Sasaki be in the playoff bullpen?
- What role will Clayton play in the playoffs? We have to look at this without prejudice. Yamamoto, Ohtani, Glasnow, and Snell seem to be an all-RH rotation, but what role do Kershaw and Sheehan play?
- Boy, there are going to be some hurt feelings by some pitchers who are worthy of making the playoff roster… but won’t!
- I doubt that Kike Hernandez plays another game for the Dodgers. Alex Freeland changed everything! The bat will come… but the fielding is there… from anywhere.
- Did you see Justin Dean dive for that ball in CF Friday night? It won’t be the last time! That’s who he is. It’s a shame he will go back to AAA when Edman returns.
- Nice hit by Dalton Rushing last night to drive in two runs.
- I don’t know that Dave Roberts needs to “go to the whip.” I think the Dodger players just “whipped” themselves into shape.
- Dodger fans are going to be begging for Kyle Tucker and Bo Bichette in the off-season. I vote no!
- James Outman is 4-30 with the St. Paul Saints (the Twins’ AAA Team) and has struck out 43% of the time. James is a great man… but a terrible hitter.
- Finally, my sixteen-month-old grandson (my only grandson – I have six granddaughters) is the sweetest, happiest kid I have ever seen. He is ALWAYS smiling. His name is Van. He is a Dodger fan but is mesmerized by football.
Discussion (27)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Edmund, Kim, and Freeland should make it so we never see Conforto when they’re all healthy.
9:38 PM ET
Dodgers (68-50)
Angels (56-62)
SP Y. Yamamoto R
10-7 2.51 ERA
SP Jose Soriano R
7-9 4.01 ERA
Confirmed Lineup
DH S. Ohtani L
SS Mookie Betts R
1B F. Freeman L
C Will Smith R
3B Max Muncy L
CF Andy Pages R
LF M. Conforto L
2B A. Freeland S
RF Alex Call R
79° Wind 7 mph Out
I think Nick Senzel is worthy of a shot at the majors. He had a high rating coming in with the Reds but didn’t produce. He got off to an awful start with oKC but has been good for a while. He can play all over the field.
If you would have told me we’d win 2 of 3 vs the best team in the AL and a great chance to sweep (with Mookie getting hot…), I would have signed up.
Yesterday sucked, but we move.
Lets take the series in Anaheim and play our best ball this coming weekend!!
first of all, dodger bullpen was actually better than toronto’s. trienan was the biggest issue. he doesn’t have a put away pitch right now. 11 walks by Jays pitching yesterday? that loss was the result of 2 things. (1) the offense . swinging at 3-0 pitches with the bases loaded. bad base running. and i agree. ohtani refusing to take pitches completely out of reach!!! (2) Dave Roberts. i’m not bashing or criticizing him mind you, but Casparius should have been in there in the eighth inning! He threw what, 5 pitches in the seventh? Trienan is not the same trienan right now. Dave is loyal to a fault sometimes. just believe Trienan isn’t ready for high leverage situations right now……. Glasnow is still regaining his command. when he does look out all other opponents! Same for Snell! if they get 6-7 innings from the starters, the bullpen is gonna get better. especially with hlp on the way!…. finally i’m the dumb*ss who wants more steals! ohtani couldn’t have picked a worse time to listen to me!!!!
The very first pitch in MLB history with a female umpire behind the plate was saved and authenticated. Few seemed to notice the pitch was way inside, about three inches off the plate, yet she called it a strike. Nerves, I guess. I think she will be fine.
Reminded me of the loss of Yamamoto’s immaculate inning by a very bad HPU call a few weeks back.
Dependable bullpens hold on to their leads. The Jays did exactly that.
Whatever happened before, It came down to based loaded ONE out in ninth to at least tie it up. Now you may say it should have never come to that with all the blown chances before. But it did
Maybe the Dodgers need a 7-game losing streak and to fall behind the Padres by three games in the middle of August?
The Dodgers went into the 8th inning with a 3-2 lead. Any team that constantly coughs up leads late in the game is not getting very far in the playoffs.
There is a reason why baseball celebrates players who fail to hit their way on base 7 out of 10 times. That is a 70% failure rate!
Bottom line, elite offenses are going to fail to get on base 60% to 70% of the time. The Jays are a first place team. If the Dodgers plan on winning during the “dog days” of summer and in the playoffs, they gotta protect leads late in the game. Period!
Could the offense have come through during some key ABs? Sure, but to say they should is very short sided.
Pitching is paramount. If the boys in blue can’t protect leads in close games against competitive teams, I don’t care how good the offense is, we’re not getting very far.
Smith, Hernandez, Conforto, Ohtani and Betts all make outs with the bases loaded. No sac flies, no hits just useless outs. Bad bullpen (once again) It’s a team loss for a game that should’ve been won.
Starting pitching and offense weren’t the problem today. The bullpen couldn’t hold the lead. Reinforcements are coming.
Blake is a long way from right!
better not go to the bathroom when Trienan pitches!!
And not everyone can be hot at the same time. Smith now 2-20, 0-13
10 Hits
10 Walks
… and lose 5-4.
They did not deserve to win, and Mookie and Shohei bear a lot of the blame.
“AF knows better than any of us.” EXACTLY, my point. If they didn’t they wouldn’t be making MILLIONS YEARLY to make these decisions. And when a PBO or GM doesn’t make these decisions successfully they are gone pretty quick. The fact that AF has been integral in making them for well over 10 years very very successfully means HE KNOWS WHAT HE’S DOING!
With all due respect, I have heard enough about Ryan Ward. He is a LF’er who occasionally can play RF, but is not good defensively. He is also a below-average 1B. His best position is DH, but the last time I checked, the Dodgers had a decent DH. More than anything, the Dodgers need utility players who can play excellent defense: Kike, Kim, Freeland, Edman, Rojas, and Dean. I will sum it all up with this: If AF thought he would be an asset, he would be on the team. Next year, he will likely get a chance with another team. Fans used to say the same thing about Drew Avans. “The Dodgers should give him a chance.” Well, the A’s and Brewers did this year and his BA is .118. AF knows better than any of us.
I have watched Fernandez pitch a couple of times. I don’t think he has a shot at being in the Dodger pen. Hurt maybe, and maybe Bobby Miller. One of the posters has said Mookie is selfish and should be moved back to RF. He also stated that Betts, ” wants to be the man”. What horse puckey. No, it wasn’t someone here. Betts is the #2 rated defensive SS in the National League with a +8 defensive runs saved. Freeland might get the job next spring, and they move Mookie to second. Betts is the kind of player who wants to win and will do whatever the team wants him to do. But I doubt he moves back to right field.
“My season’s kind of over, so I’m going to have to chalk that up for not a great season, but I can help the boys win every night,” Betts said. “Do something, get an RBI, make a play — do something. I kind of have to shift my focus there. Obviously, everyone wants to have great seasons, but it’s a lot easier when you just don’t worry about the season. You just worry about the game to game. And so I think I’ll take this perspective for the rest of my career.”
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts praised Betts for taking this approach and said it is the best way to navigate the final stretch of the season.
4:10 PM ET
Blue Jays (68-50)
Dodgers (68-49)
SP Eric Lauer L
7-2 2.59 ERA
SP Tyler Glasnow R
1-1 3.06 ERA
Confirmed Lineup
DH S. Ohtani L
SS Mookie Betts R
C Will Smith R
1B F. Freeman L
RF T. Hernandez R
CF Andy Pages R
3B Max Muncy L
2B Miguel Rojas R
LF Alex Call R
84° Wind 8 mph Out
First; Beautiful baby! There’s nothing more important than grandchildren; they’re the ONLY things we leave behind unless we’re Lincoln, Napolean or FDR.
I totally agree the strategy is & was conserve the best starting pitchers for the post season run. That’s why the Dodgers sign outstanding but health-challenged ones. Kersh will be “platooned” in playoffs with maybe Ohtani? Same with Sheehan. Agreed Kiké is likely gone. But so is Rojas- God speed to both.
Still surprised Muncy came back nearly as hot as he was!
Why do “fans” think they know more about prospects they’ve rarely EVER seen? Truly ridiculous.
PS: Giant shout out to Jen Parwol!
Mark
I didn’t have time to post yesterday.
Best of luck on meeting your completion date of next May.
For the ones who have been participating on this blog over the years – we all know you have walked a path least taken (not by choice) due to the unfortunate family issue.
Of course you can go 24/7 once the Dodgers with the last game – so no problem:)
Do we send you an email if we are wanting a copy? Or let us know how we can buy it.
I agree with D.Jack above, even if Ward is no more then a AAAA player it would be a a really nice reward by the Dodgers to bring him up for a few games – they do with pitchers all the time so why not with position players.
Wow – about Snell!
Our starting pitching is going to be proven the best in the league after a few more weeks.
Now just need to get the bullpen figured out.
seems to me with the ridiculous “ghost runner “ rule for extra innings, the bunt should be a bit more of a priority! hit and run for the dodgers? nah, they ain’t built for that. although stealing bases wouldn’t hurt! …. do believe If Ward was mlb material, someone would have already taken a shot with him. hopefully he gets a shot with someone. ……. Maybe Outman should consider overseas. A clean restart of sorts. i’m pulling for him. ……..Alex Freeland should be on the postseason roster! ….. if Blake Snell ever gets his pitch count down, he’s unbeatable!….. And yes, the dodgers will be in on kyle tucker. why wouldn’t they?…. Totally agree on Stewart. nice to see him get back on track last night!……..Diaz shouldn’t sniff the post season! …. How many errors has Freddie saved Mookie? …. kinda was hoping Doc would give Dalton two in a row today. Wouldn’t hurt to give Will consecutive games off, and get Dalton a chance for 2 good games in a row!! Glasnow continues the starting pitching resurgence today!!! go blue!!
With all the talk of Smith and Ohtani being MVP candidates, Muncy is turning out to be the real deal.
Why don’t the Dodgers teach bunting in the minors. Twice Freeland’s been asked to do something at the MLB level that he’s never done in game situations before. It was even mentioned last night, that as a team, they are practicing bunting as part of getting ready for the playoffs.
As mentioned last night, Diaz has some good stuff but will probably go down when someone else becomes available.
Some of you more seasoned guys called it. I thought it conceivable, but did not really expect it based on historical norms. I am now convinced the Dodger brain trust truly started the season with a strategy to use the regular season as a mere spring training extension. Mark calls this “going to the whip in August”. I like the spring training analogy because in spring training you see young players get significant playing time to gauge their actual major league fiber while starting pitchers are given only enough time to tune up but not enough to wear them out. I see some Stan Kasten in this. He of the 14 division titles with the Braves but only one World Series championship. Could this strategy change the “crapshoot” of MLB playoffs into something more predictable where the best team actually wins the WS say 50% of the time instead of 20% of the time? This is going to be interesting over the next 10 years.
Happiest guy in Dodger Stadium last night was Rushing, and rightly so.
What do you do with a guy who is hitting. 300 in AAA and had 100 RBIs? Why, you keep him there and then trade him to a post season rival, where he can flourish, AKA Michael Busch. Nothing wrong with the guy they brought up but leaving Ward down in OKC is cruel and unusual punishment. You can’t tell me we can’t find a place for him as bench piece and OF/DH relief.
Enjoy your Sunday with the grandkids