Sleepwalking & Old Age
The Dodgers are 7-2, but it feels like they can do better. Tonight starts the World Series rematch, and the Blue Jays are 4-5. It feels like they have slipped a notch or two in the talent department. It will be fun to watch the series, but games right about now mean very little…
The Dodgers are 7-2, but it feels like they can do better. Tonight starts the World Series rematch, and the Blue Jays are 4-5. It feels like they have slipped a notch or two in the talent department. It will be fun to watch the series, but games right about now mean very little. It also feels like the Dodgers are just sleepwalking.
Mookie Betts again has had another setback. Last year, it was some sickness, and now it’s an oblique. These can linger for some time… ask Max Muncy. As much as I love Mookie Betts, my eyes are wide open. Mookie will be 34 years old in June. He plays the game the right way: HARD! However, at 5′ 9″ tall and 180 pounds, his body takes a toll. When the Dodgers swindled the Red Sox to get him, I said that I worried about the end of his contract. This is his 7th year with the Dodgers after 6 years with the Red Sox. If he makes it to Cooperstown (not a given), he will go in as a Dodger.
The thing is, he has six more years on his contract. He will make $30 to $35 Million a year for those six years. Can his body hold up? I doubt it. He plays at 100% effort all the time… he has to. Freddie Freeman will be 37 this year, but his game is different. Freddie has one more year under contract and will be a free agent in 2028. I love Freddie, but is it prudent to believe that he will be able to play to age 40 with the ability to DH? The Dodgers already have a guy who does that!
Max Muncy will be 36 this year and is signed for one more year on a team-friendly deal. Will Smith turned 31 last month and plays a demanding position. He will need to be spelled by Dalton Rushing frequently. Teoscar Hernandez will be 34 this year and appears to be in the best shape of his life… but you never know. Shohei Ohtani will be 32 this year… YIKES! Yes, he is a freak… maybe he’s Superman… or not.
The oldest of the bunch is Miguel Rojas, at 108, and he will retire after this season. My point is that there may be some hard decisions to be made in the near future. Freddie says he wants to play until he is 40. Can he? Is it wise to re-sign him? JT3 looks like another JT from yesteryear and can play 1B. I think Teoscar could be traded to a team looking for a DH after this season, but the Dodgers have a full pipeline. How long can Mookie play at a high-level? Some of the decisions they will have to make will hurt. Are you ready for it?
Josue DePaula, Mike Sirota, and JT3 are close. Others, such as Hope, Quintero, Morales, and Davalan could also move quickly. Who stays and who goes? Nothing lasts forever.
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Discussion (59)
Disagree, not disagreeable
On 3 hits? I don’t doubt your analysis Jeff, you’ve always been thorough. But I think maybe there should be a larger sample size.
Projected pitching matchups vs Blue Jays: Monday: LHP Justin Wrobleski vs. RHP Max Scherzer Tuesday: RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto vs. RHP Kevin Gausman Wednesday: RHP Shohei Ohtani vs. RHP Dylan Cease
Well deserved!
Stay hot, D-Rush. And keeping talking that shit to opponents.
Andy Pages named NL player of week.
7:07 PM ET Dodgers (7-2) Blue Jays (4-5) SP Justin Wrobleski L 0-0 6.75 ERA SP Max Scherzer R 1-0 1.50 ERA Confirmed Lineup DH S. Ohtani L RF Kyle Tucker L 1B F. Freeman L LF T. Hernandez R 3B Max Muncy L CF Andy Pages R 2B A. Freeland S C D. Rushing L SS Hyeseong Kim L In Domed Stadium
According to Baseball Savant, Freeland is also in the 90th percentile in barrel percentage, 89th percentile in average exit velocity and 86th percentage in hard-hit percentage. You do not quit on that. But you need to swing. to get those results.
The Dodgers will miss Juan Soto on the next home stand. He was placed on the IL retroactive to Apirl 4. He would be eligible to come off IL on April 14, but the prognosis for his calf strain injury is 2-3 weeks. That will take him past the Dodgers series April 13-15.
I have made it abundantly clear that I prefer Freeland to Kim at 2B. I may be wrong. It will not be the first time, and it will not be the last time. But I continue to get frustrated with Alex. He has the exact opposite problem that Pages had last year. He is in the 92nd percentile with chase, but in the 8th percentile in K’s. He does not swing. I cannot count the number of times he has watched two strikes go by and then try to hit the pitchers best pitch. When Freeland was struggling early in MiLB, he asked the coaches what he needed to do to get to the next level. He was told to improve his plate discipline and not chase as much. Mission accomplished. Now start swinging at strikes. The last two games I have seen him watch two strike three’s. They were on the black, but if you are looking to walk, you will never hit. You cannot always watch strikes go by and wait for the mistake. Be aggressive, especially early in the count. Right now he is beating himself.
A simple grip change can increase movement on his fastball. Get some instruction from Hershiser on it. He had the best two seamers in baseball for several years. Why more pitchers don’t use that pitch is a mystery to me.
Yeah. Only the catcher faces the outfield. But, I think you knew that.
Joe Davis mentioned yesterday on the broadcast that fastball usage across the league is way down. Dodgers hit the breaking pitch pretty good yesterday. Nats bullpen is a disaster waiting to happen. Clayton Beeter, the former Dodger prospect pitched 1,2 innings and got the blown save. 3 exe Dodgers appeared in the game, Vivas, Ruiz and Beeter. DC has 4 on their roster, the other is Varland. Dodgers are the only team in the west with a plus on the run differential, having outscored their opponents by 20 runs.
I like this post! This isn’t football or hockey which are very physical sports (physical as defined by person to person contact.) Why would size have any impact on injuries in baseball? Worth investigation, me thinks.
Hey I clearly saw a third pitch so that’s a start. When I watch him–and also Sheehan–I feel like screaming, “Throw the fastball!” It’s become a breaking ball league. I think over half the postseason pitches were offspeed.
Read an article this morning on yahoo sports about Sasaki not having a feel for what used to be his best pitch, his forkball. His sliders were ho hum, his fastball is straight as an arrow, and his changeup was usually down in the zone. He grunts louder than Nolan Ryan when he throws the ball. You could hear him all over the ballpark noise. Right now, I do not have much confidence in him when he starts. Same with Sheehan. Bullpen did a great job again. Rojas made a couple of great plays. Congrats to the UCLA Women’s basketball team on winning the NCAA title.
He’s been taking fungoes at three different positions for months. It might take some time to settle in at short. He has more range than anyone on the team, so hopefully that will translate to more OAA.
“in fact, sometimes see the opposite argument.” Agree…. I can remember a few years ago on here some were commenting that Seager was a bit large for a SS and that it made him prone to injury diving all over the place. Maybe you have to be exactly the right size?? 🙂
position facing home plate?
So for the short term, Kim and Rojas will platoon at SS, and Freeland will play 2B. I think it’s a good idea to try Kim at SS. He is not supposed to be as accomplished there as 2B…. but we shall see.
I’ve noticed when I post from my iPad it doesn’t show up immediately there, but does on my iPhone. Weird, but I’m used to it now. Good takes in here this morning. There is a lot to consider for so early in the season.
Seems like management is going all out to find a spot for Freeland, now 2B, and sliding Kim to SS. Actually makes sense since Freeland has more power potential. Hopefully, he picks up his game. Then who knows what happens when the IL clears up.
Don’t know what I took this morning but I keep seeing double on this blog.
Big fit guys like Garvey, Freddie and Mike Schmidt playing corner infield slots last longer with less injuries. SS/2Bs are normally smaller (Kent being an exception) and have to do much more athletic moves which contribute to more injury. As we get older, the muscle lose elasticity, leading to more injury and longer recovery periods. Bottom line: Freddie could make it to 40 (in LA or somewhere), but don’t expect Mookie to be effective for more than two more years. Also, if you can’t turn on a 97 mph fastball anymore, you ain’t gonna live in the Show. When Schmidt was in his last year, he couldn’t and Philly fans booed him, a freaking future HOFer. But then they booed Santa Claus. Injuries and slowed reaction time are both part of the aging process and this team is aging.
Mookie hurt himself on a checked swing not in the field. His bat, not his glove is the future liability.