Rants & Raves – What Did You Expect?
The photo (L → R): Badger, Roger Doger (RIP), and a guy who looks like he still asks Siri how baseball works. Yamamoto isn’t just the best pitcher in baseball… he’s operating on a different firmware. The league is still buffering. I buried Blake Treinen . Wrote the eulogy…

- The photo (L → R): Badger, Roger Doger (RIP), and a guy who looks like he still asks Siri how baseball works.
- Yamamoto isn’t just the best pitcher in baseball… he’s operating on a different firmware. The league is still buffering.
- I buried Blake Treinen. Wrote the eulogy. Picked the flowers.
- Now he’s back, throwing bowling balls and ruining lives. Awkward.
- Dodgers bullpen? Not a bullpen. It’s a horror movie cast list:
- Dreyer. Casparius. Klein. Vesia. Scott. Treinen. Diaz.
- You don’t face them… you survive them. Maybe.
- Kyle Tucker is what happens when you ignore a problem, and it turns into a boss fight.
- Postgame interview math:
- Freeland: “5’11”
- Kirsten Watson: “6’3”
- Yeah, and I’m 6’5 in church shoes. I’m taking the over and calling Vegas personally.
- Freeland? That’s not a “prospect.” That’s a dude who already knows where your fastball is going before you throw it.
- Hyeseong Kim at short?
- That’s not a position change… that’s a quiet takeover.
- Mookie Betts is moving to 2B just to prove he can dominate yet another zip code.
- Tommy Edman is coming back in May or June like a midseason cheat code.
- Who, what, when, where, why?
- Doesn’t matter. Dodgers.
- Kirsten Watson? Legit now. Smooth, confident, asking real questions. Glow-up complete.
- Alanna Rizzo would love to come back… but that bridge didn’t just burn, it got nuked from orbit.
- Andrew Friedman is somewhere in a dark room, turning spare parts into All-Stars like a baseball mad scientist.
- Ferris stumbled.
- Jake Eder? Different story.
- Eder’s not “on the way”… he’s already in the driveway, engine running.
- I need tickets to see the Ontario Tower Buzzers immediately. That name sounds like they either play baseball or fix your Wi-Fi.
- Dodgers: 9–2
- Giants: already stress-eating and pretending it’s “early”
- Buster Posey updating LinkedIn like:
- “Experienced leader. Open to new opportunities. Prefer teams not getting steamrolled nightly.”
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Discussion (74)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Where do Kike and Edman fit in when they return?
We’ve been debating Kim or Freeland all spring. Turns out the answer is Kim and Freeland. With those two and Tibbs at first and Rushing catching, it’s now time to trade Smith, Mookie and Freddie!
In Ontario, Nieves went six innings of one hit, one walk ball.
All of that above sounds like a Billy Joel song. He didn’t start the fire. Go Dodgers.
Max has always been a sucker for the slider from a lefty. Also, age might be catching up on him. Hope not, but if Freeman (or a RH corner) can play a platoon against strong LH starters, Muncy would have better numbers and finish his Dodger career on top. He is so proud to be on this team and wants to contribute. I love the guy!
We didn’t start the fire.
Good plan Cassidy! Outside the box thinking. But as with my cats, it’s better to keep it inside the box. (I know it was a joke) For the next few weeks, they will get their chance to prove they belong. Then what? Demotion or trade is likely.
Duke, I understand the popularity of Kiki and his contributions,but can’t see how he improves in the team at this point with all the talent rising up, including cheapies like Freeman and Kim and the hoard of solid prospects on the farm. We loved Barnes but finally parted company when younger, better talent surfaced. Sending down those two guys would probably do more harm than releasing or trading Kiki but it is probably going to happen. This team is rocking right now and that wouldn’t improve the team one iota.
Sad news for Miggy Rojas as news is coming out that his father passed away suddenly yesterday and that was the reason for the late lineup change.
Dodgers big mid-season pitching acquisition will be a guy named Blake Snell.
Condolences to Miggy and his family. Let’s not jump the gun here guys. One good game does not a season make. It shows some progress for Freeland and Kim, but when Edman and Kike get activated, both will be back at AAA.
Encarnacion-Strand DFAd by the Reds. Josh Fleming DFAd by the Jays who called up Tyler Fitzgerald and Patrick Corbin, who they just signed.
He’s 20 years old. Is he a legit prospect?
3:07 PM ET EARLY GAME Dodgers (9-2) Blue Jays (4-7) SP Shohei Ohtani R 1-0 .00 ERA SP Dylan Cease R 0-0 2.79 ERA Confirmed Lineup P S. Ohtani L RF Kyle Tucker L C Will Smith R 1B F. Freeman L 3B Max Muncy L LF T. Hernandez R CF Andy Pages R 2B A. Freeland S SS Miguel Rojas R In Domed Stadium
I should have recognized it. That is the way I roll as well.
Rojas playing today?
According to the posted lineup he is. He might leave the team after the game.
Ahhh. Too many walks. The plight of the LAD MiLB pitcher. Frist stat I look at with MiLB is BB by pitchers.
325 foot HR. Why do you think Ryan Ward has led the PCL in HRs the last two years?
LADY gurus, tell me what is wrong with my plan (something must ba as AF appears to be interested in nothing close to it): The problems; 1) will smith needs to be fresh for the playoffs 2) we don’t know which one will show signs of aging first but Freddie and max will eventually deteriorate. 3) Ohtani does not need to DH when he pitches IMO 4) Rushing shows too much promise to sit too much My solution: 1) Rushing plays 3 times a week spelling Max once, Freddie once, and Smith twice ( let’s assume for the sake of this exercise that Rushing can learn to play 3rd base) 2) Smith is DH when Ohtani pitches
Yes. But not a frontline starter…yet.
After watching the last 2 games I think that the Dodgers are renting space in the Jay’s heads. Bases loaded no outs and no runs. Vesia nails, but it seems the Jays don’t do much right vs the Dodgers. Dodgers catching them at the right time – tons of injuries, lost 6 in a row (including a sweep vs Chisox and a series loss to the Rox).
As per the wise ones at BP ($$$$$) https://www.baseballprospectus.com/news/article/27482/pitching-backward-there-is-no-such-thing-as-tinstaapp/ “There Is No Such Thing As A Pitching Prospect” (TINSTAAPP) is a baseball adage emphasizing that minor-league pitchers are inherently risky and unpredictable due to high injury rates and performance volatility. Coined by BP’s Gary Huckabay, it advises against over-investing in young pitchers, as many top prospects fail or get injured.
Not sure if hitting vs lefties is a weakness of Kim, when his small sample size last year showed the exact opposite.
And yet the Dodgers do.