Ships
This first item falls under the category of “that Ship Has Sailed.” I had always predicted big things for Kike Hernandez. In fact I likened him to JD Martines. I had hoped that Andrew Friedman would keep him, but ultimately Kike wanted to start, and Boston gave him that…
- This first item falls under the category of “that Ship Has Sailed.” I had always predicted big things for Kike Hernandez. In fact I likened him to JD Martines. I had hoped that Andrew Friedman would keep him, but ultimately Kike wanted to start, and Boston gave him that opportunity. He racked up 585 AB’s for Boston and hit 20 HR while OPS’ing .786 with a .250 BA and a .337 OB%. He played 93 games in CF, 8 at SS, and 47 at 2B. He has made some great defensive plays and gotten some big hits… especially in the postseason. I am glad for him, but I am a realist, which is why I don’t wish he was back in Dodger Blue. It ain’t happening. That ship has sailed.
- Joc Pederson’s ship has sailed TWICE as he signed with the Cubs and was traded to the Braves. He is dangerous and has a playoff reputation, which I think is overblown, but he remains dangerous. I would not let him beat me if I were any Dodger pitcher. The Dodgers know more ways to get him out than anyone. Exploit that!
- The Chris Taylor ship is sitting at port. I think Chris Taylor will be a $60 milion/4 to 5 year contract… but not from the Dodgers. He is a year older than Kike and in many respects, they had simiar seasons. Kike’s OPS+ was 107 while CT3 was 110. CT3 is not worth $18.4 million (which is the qualifying offer), but if I were the Dodgers I would offer it… knowing that there is a possibility he would take it, but realizing that he would not walk awy from a better offer. That nets them another draft pick and when you pick as high as the Dodgers do, you need all that you can get.
- There is no ship for Clayton Kershaw. Clayton will either retire (and if the Dodgers win the World Series, I think that is a likely scenerio), OR he will sign an incentative-laden contract with the Dodgers. He is not going to the Rangers and be a part of rebuilding. He has made his money. The only possible reason he would come back is to get another ring! On MLB Tonight, Harold Reynolds nailed it: “Clayton is not going to play for anyone else but the Dodgers. He knows the value of playing with just one team. He has made a lot of money and the only reason he will come back is to win another World Series. Right now, what team has a better opportunity at being back at the World Series than the Dodgers? No one!” I rest my case!
- There is a ship for Max Muncy. That ship is sailing with a brace on his elbow. Max will not play in in NLCS and I doubt he plays in the World Series either. If you saw the injury, you will know why. I think it will be miracle if he does not have to get surgery to tighten those ligaments. They would not normlly do surgery until all the swelling has went down anyway. He will make great cheerleader, but while the Dodgers will miss hos bat, they can wether that storm with their depth.
- There is a big ship for Max Scherzer. Max, like Clayton wants to win. He has embracecd LA and I believe AF will work out a contract with him… unless someone like AJ Preller gives him a 4 or 5 year deal. I know AF will go 2 years… maybe 3. There is that age factor.
- Corey Seager has a huge container ship sitting at the dock. I believe the Yankees are the only team that could sign Seager, but I do not think they will. They have talked to Gio Urshela about moving to SS and he has embrsned it. That moves Torres to 2B (where he is much better). I think this ship has about 8 years and $295 million written on it.
- Trevor Bauer is on a ship that is just going around in circles. Will that ship sail? Only a fool answers that question without all the facts, so I have no opinion.
- Dave Roberts’ ship is anchored in the port of Los Angeles with a long-term permit. He ain’t going anywhere and have you noticed how smart he is when players execute?
- Juan Toribio of Dodgers.com talks about what pitcher will take a ship to the mound tonight in the ATL. It all hinges upon Scherzer. Personally, I would do a bullpen game today. Start Knebel and then work in Price and Gonsolin with all the rest. Do not let Bazooka pitch to Freeman. Then, Sherzer goes Sunday on an extra day of rest and Buehler is well rested for Game #3.
- Albert Pujols ship is sailing to St. Louis, but that is next season. Tonight he will be at 1B for the Dodgers. Let me take a stab at the lineup:
- Betts RF
- Seager SS
- T-Turner 2B
- Smith C
- J-Turner 3B
- Pujols 1B
- Pollock LF
- Lux CF
- Knebel P
FRIDAY:
- Cody Hoese was 1-2.
- James Outman was o-3 with aBB and run scored.
- Bobby Miller went two innings, striking out 2 and giving up a HR to Jeter Downs who is playing SS.
- Landon KNack went 3 innings, struck out 3 and allowed 1 hit with no runs. He is on a fast track.
THURSDAY:
- James Outman was 1-4 with a BB and 2 runs scored
- Jacob Amaya was 2-3 with a 2-run HR
- Jeff Belge went 1 inning and gave uo 2 runs on a hit and 2 BB.
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Discussion (68)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Giving up only three runs in the bullpen game you think we should win this game. But once again despite getting 10 hits to their 6 we find a way to lose. So frustrating. 11 runners left on base, nobody appears to be able to come up with the clutch hit. And when in addtion to that problem you give them easy outs on the basepaths most of the time you are going to lose. A blooper , a sb and that is all she wrote.
Lets hope our bats hold true to form and will be smoking tonight.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Not sure what Taylor was thinking. Venus de Milo has a better arm than Joc.
As Badger says: “we hit, we win”, tonight like almost all games the pitchers doing a great job, but we don’t hit, we don’t win.
It seems that the Dodgers after winning a series and then celebrating, the next series always lose the first game, I hope that now history repeats itself and from tomorrow that carburetor starts and has to open all four throats, we are going to win this !! !
Taylor with his speed should have tried to steal 2nd in the 9th with Smith ‘s ordinary move and the catcher not great at throwing out base runners. Cody would have driven him in. You have to take chances on the road in a tie game in the 9th. Not smart baseball.
Man on 3rd with one out with Mookie coming up and he pops out and then TT strikes out. That was the game right there. Horrible hitting with RISP and a really, really bone head base path out by CT3. Not quite sure what CT3 was thinking.
I’ll wait for the post season press conference for a comment from Doc but there is really no way he can “spin” that 3rd out on the base path. Just a bad big league baseball play.
Frustrated.
Guess we just like coming from behind! Bloop and a steal beats us. Our offense is just SO frustrating!
Estoy frustrado
Wow! Dodgers just giving this game away! Two outs. What is Taylor thinking!
Kelly with closer stuff! Awesome
hope this doesn’t come back to haunt us. 11 men LOB.
JT is 1-23 since his game tying HR against Wainwright. Dodgers will need him to come up big before this thing is over. His bat looks very slow right now, but I’m hoping he’ll find it.
Don’t you just love the aggressiveness of based running by the dodgers so early in the game
You make it so damn e z poodle…
You have so many good takes and then your colon takes over your pie hole..
God knows how great Amy would have been..
Things I already don’t like…
Setup for two bullpen games.
Lefty only going once in the series.
One lefty hitter in the lineup.
Game on. Let’s go Dodgers!
Damn!!! I really feel good for Doc and his family… Poodlesandrockhopper has stated
“Doc is learning, so if he can guide this team to another WS Championship, I will be more than happy with his growth and continued success with the Dodgers.”
If that ain’t a lease on life, I don’t know what the heck is…
Lets quiet the tomahawk chop tonite!!!
Kike, who screwed up his chance at the cycle yesterday by hitting a second homer when he needed a triple, has a single and homer so far today (bottom of the 4th). Maybe he’ll manage to pull it off this time.
I could see the Dodgers bring back Kershaw on a 2 year, incentive laden deal and be healthy enough to start the season next year. He’ll have some rehab to do for that “forelbow” problem in the offseason.
I could see the Dodgers bringing back Scherzer on a 2-3 year deal. He says he wants to pitch into his forties and he looks recharged with the Dodgers.
Those two signing would fortify the staff for the next couple of years allowing them to develop the next wave of starters and nurse Dustin the Great back to health. They could ride Bauer for whatever’s left on next year’s contract and let him opt out after he re-establishes his value.
That would basically be an FU pitching staff with Urias, Bueller, Scherzer, Kershaw and Bauer.
Not only do the Yankees have Urshela and Torres, but they also have a tippy top shortstop prospect that’s just a year or two away. But wait, there’s more. Carlos Correa recently hinted that he wants to wear pinstripes. Some say that could mean Mets or Yankees, but we all know that really means Yankees especially with Lindor firmly planted up the middle for the Mets.
I would love for Seager to stay home. Trea Turner is a shiny new toy, but I like Seags better. We’re also seeing the new and improved Gavin Lux and I’m sure a couple of the upcoming prospects will strike gold, whether that will Vargas or Outman or Busch or Pages, or my new favorite Brandon “Fat Boy” Lewis. “Let’s go Brandon!”
Joc wanted a chance to play full time. He ultimately became trade bait and he’s back to a familiar role. I wish him well and have always loved him.
Kike is what he is. He’s a very streaky hitter and I’d be more than happy for him if it leads to a trip to the big stage because that would mean the Astros lost. I saw him dive for at least three balls he had no chance of catching in recent games. He still makes bad decisions on the field and on the bases and his bat was a little above average this year. Nothing to write home about. But, he’s having a great postseason. The last I checked, we took care of the team with 107 wins, so there’s that. I don’t miss him.
Doc is learning, so if he can guide this team to another WS Championship, I will be more than happy with his growth and continued success with the Dodgers.
I sure hope Albert goes back to the Cardinals next year and finishes his career in the 700 club. Hopefully, he’ll have a couple more big moments in Dodger Blue and he’ll have another ring on his finger. I’ve always respected the Cardinals organization.
I also hope the Dodgers are using some misdirection in regards to their pitching staff and Max Muncy. I hope they injected Max’s elbow with some PRP, stem cells, plutonium and nanobots and they’re just waiting for it to kick in.
They’re talking about Pushing Buehler to game 3 to give him an extra day of rest. I don’t like it. I would prefer that they ride these horses on 4 days rest so they can all pitch twice during the series. Give Gonso the bullpen game for game 4 and sandwich the three headed monster before and after.
I honestly can’t remember a time the Dodgers farm system has been this loaded, especially with position players and power arm starting pitchers. I would think they will be shooting up the farm rankings in the coming months. By this time next year, we will be top 5 or better in the rankings.
AF is just amazing. We literally have an All-Star team at the major league level and our farm is about to pop again. Sorry for all you Farhan envyists, he’s a pretender until he can do it year after year and get some rings out of it. He was AF’s assistant for a reason.
Sox are taking the cheaters to the woodshed right now.
Courtesy of Bill Plunkett, Orange County Register:
Seager the only left-handed hitter vs. Fried who had reverse splits this year:
v RHB — .223/.277/.334, 10 HRs
v LHB — .240/.298/.409, 5 HRs
I think the Braves are no where near the team they were last year in the playoffs without Acuna and Ozuna. Soler is not even on the NLCS roster, so they lost a big power bat there. Pederson is so well known to the Dodgers that while he might run into one, they can take away his power. Duvall strikes out a lot. They have a lot of info on this teams strengths and weaknesses. DO not let Freeman beat you.
The way things align right now, if needed, Scherzer will get game 6 and Buehler, game 7, I think the team that won 18 more games than the Braves during the regular season and was 4-2 against the Braves will not need 7 games to advance. The Braves have the pitching edge today, but their offense, while good, is missing Soler, who is out due to Covid, and was almost evenly matched during the regular season, both hitting .244. LA having a higher OPS and OBP outscoring the Atlanta offense by 40 runs. Atlanta’s team ERA almost a run higher. Their staff gave up 183 long balls to LA’s 161. Teams hitting .207 against LA and .234 against the Braves. Teams hitting .178 against LA in the playoffs.
Regarding Seager and the Yankees remember Cole and Giancarlo Stanton are owed roughly $60 million between them annually through 2027 (Cole is signed through ’28, Stanton has an option that year). Aaron Judge will be a free agent after 2022. Add one of the two big free-agent shortstops, and the Yankees would be paying at least $110 million annually (probably more) to four players, who for most of those years would be in their 30s.
That would mean something on the order of 110 million for 4 players.
Scherzer is still hungover.
After being included on the NL Division Series roster, left-hander David Price and outfielder Billy McKinney were left off the NLCS roster in favor of right-hander Evan Phillips and lefty Justin Bruihl.