Remember Freedom Isn't Free
247 years ago, the first shots of the American Revolution were fired just after daybreak on April 19 in the little town of Lexington, thrusting the farmer-colonists of our yet-to-be-born nation into war. At every turn since then, when the nation has called for those willing to…
247 years ago, the first shots of the American Revolution were fired just after daybreak on April 19 in the little town of Lexington, thrusting the farmer-colonists of our yet-to-be-born nation into war.
At every turn since then, when the nation has called for those willing to wear the uniform of our nation in service around the world and here at home, there has been no shortage of people willing to do so. They are people who entered the service knowing full well they might not return.
It is not a day of celebration, nor a holiday to glorify war. Rather, Memorial Day is a day of remembrance, a day of honor, and a day of respect. Thank you for your service to those soldiers who did and did not return. Never forget!
Frankie Montas Would be Nice… But I Would not do it!
It is really tempting to make a trade for a pitcher like Frankie Montas, who has made 10 starts for the Oakland A’s. In those 10 starts, he has compiled 66 Strike Outs in 57 IP. He has 15 Walks, and a 0.988 WHIP to go with a 3.28 ERA. Frankie is 29 years old and his only question is durability. He did pitch 187 innings in 2021 but has never accumulated more than 96 innings in his career prior to that. He would look good in the Dodgers’ rotation… no doubt. He’s probably the best pitcher available and it will take a Pirates’ Booty to get him. It would take a couple(at least) of the following pitchers to get him:
Landon Knack, Clayton Beeter, Jordon Leasure, Nick Nastrini, Maddux Bruns, Carlos Duran, Michael Grove, Gavin Stone, Peter Huebeck, Hyun-Il, Choi, Kendall Williams, Nick Robertson, Mark Washington, et al (I probably forgot a couple). I would trade a few of those pitchers, but probably not the one Billy Beane would want. Notice, that I did not include Bobby Miller or Ryan Pepiot – the Dodgers will not be trading either of them.
Of course, not every pitcher listed above will be great or even good, but the more you have in the pipeline, the better the odds are. Growing your own pitching down on the farm is the best way to build a team and the Dodgers pitching pipeline is loaded with excellent prospects who should be traveling the path to Dodger Stadium. We have seen Michael Grove and Ryan Pepiot already this year and a few others are yet possible in 2022.
- The Dodgers have the best record in baseball with a .702 Winning Percentage – that’s on pace to win 114 games, which doesn’t seem likely, but…
- The Dodgers are #1 in Team ERA at 2.67, and WHIP at 1.08;
- The Dodgers are #1 in Starting Pitcher ERA at 2.40; and
- The Dodgers are #3 in Bullpen ERA with about half the bullpen on the IL!
By the way, the Bullpen is #20 in Innings Pitched so they are not overworked. The Starters are averaging 5.7 IP. No other contender has that high of an average. Tyler Anderson, Tony Gonsolin, Julio Urias, Ryan Pepiot, Mitch White, and Michael Grove have all looked solid to good. Andrew Heaney and Clayton Kershaw should be back next month, with the Ace of the staff being the only question mark with a 6-1 record and a 2.91 ERA. I still believe he has been “tinkering” with something that is affecting it, but time will tell. I would not trade for another starting pitcher. I think the Dodgers have enough, but what does Andrew Friedman think?
Dodgers Minor League Notes
- I heard the rumor last night that Diego Cartaya was about to get the call to Great Lakes.
- Of course, a couple, of days ago, Ben Casparius got that call too. He is a guy to watch!
- OKLAHOMA CITY DODGERS
- Mike Busch was 1-5
- Carson Fulmer went 2 innings, allowed 2 hits, walked 3, and struck out 1.
- Noda, Wolters, and Lamb all had 2 hits
- TULSA DRILLERS
- Brandon Lewis was 2-2.
- Jordon Leasure went 1 inning, striking out all 3 batters.
- GREAT LAKES LOONS
- Jorbit Vivas was 2-5 with a double.
- Jonny DeLuca hit his 13th HR
- Jose Ramos hit his 2nd HR
- RANCHO CUCAMONGA QUAKES
- Diego Cartaya was 1-4 in what may have been his last game at RC.
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Discussion (84)
Disagree, not disagreeable
A shout out to all those who have served, thank you! And a thank you to Mark to start today’s post with such a reminder.
I took a couple of days off to travel to see my wife’s family in Visalia. It was a quick trip and a beautiful drive up the 5 to the central valley. A great BBQ with some great people and a couple more Dodgers wins. A great trip.
I was a little afraid of the fact that Diego would get called up soon and I would miss seeing him next weekend.
Kevin Pillar made his Dodger’s debut yesterday and did no hitting. But, his glove sure does play. He won’t be here for long if the bat doesn’t show up.
I’m glad to see Rios get the runway he’s been waiting so long for now that Muncy is on the IL. Up until now, we have seen flashes what could happen if were able to play on a regular basis. Now, we’ll actually see what will happen. I think this is his big opportunity and I can finally decide if he’s for real.
There wasn’t a whole lot going on in the final day of what seemed to be a very long road trip. I think the trip just seemed longer than most with an East Coast swing and no off days. Just 4 hits yesterday and Lux had one of them. I think Gavin is starting to look more comfortable. He’s hasn’t really gone on a tare, but there’s been some solid moments and mostly great defense from him. I don’t think we’ve seen the best of Gavin just yet, there’s much more in there.
At the end of April, Patch and his fellow Giant’s fans would say things like “Why can’t the Giants just be a good team”. I told him that they would be buried by the end of May. With just two more games remaining in MLB’s second month and the Giants are right where they should be. They were in first place in the West at 14-7 when May began. A lofty 7 games above 500 and a half game ahead in the standing. Now, they sit at 25-21 and 7.5 games behind. That’s 11 wins and 14 losses for the month and showing who they really are after a year long aberration. Maybe Farhan will be able to hold his garage sale a year too late.
I guess the elephant in the room is that the Padres are the good team and they will be giving us trouble most of the season. With their best player on the IL all year so far, they’ve had superman streaks by Eric Hosmer who they desperately tried to trade all offseason and Manny Machado. MacKenzie Gore is looking like the Ace his prospect status said he would be and Joe Musgrove is continuing his rebirth in San Diego. Bauer’s best buddy, at least before the incident, is coming along nicely after TJ and Darvish and Manea are pitching good enough to be the Dodgers’ 7th and 8th starters.
Tonight, we’ll begin our homestand with Bueller and his “worrisome” fastball against our favorite whipping boys Pittsburgh Pirates before we start a showdown with the Mets, White Sox, Giants and two against the Angels, aka The team that doesn’t know which city they play in. This might be our toughest stretch of games this season. Time to step up and start playing our best baseball.
Kershaw or Koufax? 3 Rings vs 1. Enough said.
A thank you to all who have served our country here at LADT!
A little history on Ben Casparius from my great State of Connecticut born in Westport Connecticut that Mark has his eye on:
2021 Season: Drafted in the 5th Round of the 2021 MLB Draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers. ABCA First Team Northeast All-Region. Second Team All-BIG EAST. BIG EAST Championship All-Tournament team. Finished second in UConn single-season history with 127 strikeouts. Led the Huskies and BIG EAST Conference in starts (15), wins (8), innings pitched (91.2) and strikeouts (127). His 127 strikeouts ranked No. 12 in the nation. Threw 8.0 shutout innings with 11 strikeouts vs. Miami (OH) (3/5) to notch first win at UConn. Pitched 5.0 strong with just three hits allowed and eight strikeouts at No. 9 Texas Tech (3/12). Threw 6.2 innings and struck out 11 in victory at Saint Joseph’s (3/19). Fired 7.0 shutout innings with eight strikeouts vs. UMass (4/2). Notched a complete-game shutout with a season-high 15 strikeouts vs. Georgetown (4/9). Struck out 14 in 7.0 innings of work in a victory vs. Bucknell (5/1). Recorded 6.2 innings, walked zero and struck out seven in a win at Villanova (5/15). Picked up the win vs. Seton Hall (5/21) with 6.0 innings of one-run ball and seven strikeouts. Dazzled against Creighton (5/29) with 7.0 shutout innings, just three hits and 13 strikeouts in the BIG EAST Championship.
2020: Had to sit out the 2020 season due to transfer rules.
Transferred from the University of North Carolina after the 2019 season.
MiLB Career Stats 1 2 2.78 14 8 0 35.2IP 53K 1.12Whip