Slow Start Says Who?
Some fans thought the Dodgers would miss the almost 70 HR they lost in three players I can t seem to remember who they were. Ha! The team is on pace to hit 696 HR. They might cool off a bit. (eyes rolling) The outlook after the first four games are promising, but we played the Little Sisters of the Poor and will continue with the Littler Sisters of the Poorer
Some fans thought the Dodgers would miss the almost 70 HR they lost in three players… I can’t seem to remember who they were. Ha! The team is on pace to hit 696 HR. They might cool off a bit. (eyes rolling) The outlook after the first four games are promising, but we played the Little Sisters of the Poor and will continue with the Littler Sisters of the Poorer tonight.
There have been a lot of interesting things happening. Half of the bullpen looks terrible, but it’s way too early to pronounce it a failure. The offense looks very solid. They have scored a lot of runs and yesterday staged a come from behind win. We know they are versatile and while they have a knack for the long ball, they are also delivering more clutch hits. Many of the players look to be shortening their swing with two strikes.
The Athletic has a great read on the new Dodger hitting approach today. I won’t print much, but it is a good read by Pedro Moura and discusses the Dodgers increased focus on bunting, limiting player access to the batting cages and the fact that the Dodgers scored 42 runs in a four game series, an LA record!
I have been on suicide watch since Duke got beat by Michigan State, but the Dodgers success has eased the pain. We just can’t get all happy over beating like the Dirt Bags. Tonight we get look at our LH Ace-in-Waiting, Young Julio. He is ready to go 5 or 6 innings and he’s going to be hard to limit. Striker Buehler is just building innings slowly. They want him to be fresh in October. This is a marathon, not a sprint.
P.S, I am officially announcing that I am renouncing my support of Friedman and have officially become a Cincinnati Reds fan.
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Discussion (74)
Disagree, not disagreeable
The hope that Joe Kelly has a repeat of his WS performance without a solid contribution during the season is far fetched and without any redeeming quality, IMO. He has looked woefully unprepared, so far. It’s a long season and it will remain to be seen if he can get it together, otherwise, our BP problems will be biting us for a while. We did see Baez have a bounce back game and the rest of the BP did quite OK.
The Dodger offense was sluggish. 2 HR’s, both solo, are not going to usually win a game. I am still waiting for meaningful contributions from Seager and Freese. Both players are not anywhere near where their potential is. It’s a shame to waste Urias’ start like this. Like Stripling, they both should have come away with the win. Joe Kelly needs to sit for a spell. BP is rested. Let’s see Ferguson get Kelly’s innings. They couldn’t be worse. Kelly, 2 games, 7 hits, 6 earned runs, ERA of 18! Keep Kelly and Stewart off the mound and use Fergie, for now. To continue early on losing games by the BP is disheartening. Maybe also time for a call up and get one of the young guns in while Strip and Urias are in the starting rotation.
I think Joe Kelly is baseballs version of the Manchurian candidate.
AC nailed it when he questioned the entire approach to ST and the pitching. The reluctance to “stretch” out the starting pitchers beyond 5 innings has required Doc to use the BP far too early in games #2 and 5 (Stripling and Urias) and with Buehler only pitching 4 innings Sunday, the BP usage has been woefully bad and the production by Kelly, Baez, Alexander has been equally horrible.
At this rate the BP will “gassed”by May 1st. Kelly’s early season performance has me very very concerned.
Disappointing loss but I guess you have to take it on the chin.
There’s always tomorrow.
Calling Mr Kimbrel. Mr Kimbrel
now I see the need to have Strip and Urias in the pen.
BP fail again. Kelly and Alexander not getting it done
Kelly is currently my least favorite player
Heard on DodgerTalk this morning, Vasseghe and Colleti were talking, and Uncle Ned said that Kelly was very pedestrian with the Sahx during the regular season last year, but was unhittable in the play-offs. He mentioned that when he talked to Freidman a couple of days ago that he said they got Freese, Kelly, and Pollock for October. Kelly might drive us nuts during the season, but I am glad he’s in our bullpen come play-off time.
Will age finally start to slow Buster Posey down this year? The Gints are banking on him to punish the Dodgers and keep them from making the WS if it’s the last thing they do
Joe Kelly so far sucks eggs
Welcome to LA again, Joe Kelly!
59
You know how it works, the first time we say something about a particular player they produce, and sometimes big.
Good lord we have a lot of talent. Now let’s get Urias the W
Good for Verdugo! And Taylor for that matter!
That works too.
Good God Farhan and Friedman are a couple of nerds. Like an SNL skit.
Man, Urias now has a veteran’s composure out there.
Just checking the Cincinnati dodgers box score. Puig with a couple rbi. 5 of the nine in the lineup are former dodgers.
With what both Joc and CT3 have done so far I think the smart money is on giving Joc a chance to prove himself against LHP. If Joc struggles give CT3 a shot, but now Joc is dialed in.
CT3 flat out isn’t. Tonight is the night to see what Joc has, it’s not that night to experiment with CT3.
But hopefully we will all be pleasantly surprised and stoked.
And then again, maybe Joc would like a rest tonight and be ready to be top dog tomorrow.
Like I already mentioned to Bum, Joc does have good numbers against Anderson, who is the fourth leftie we will face.
If Taylor doesn’t do something at the plate, other than SO, Joc should be in the lineup Tuesday and Wednesday. Regardless of what the spreadsheet says.
Line up tonight
Hernandez 2B
Turner 3B
Seager SS
Pollock CF
Freese 1B
Bellinger RF
Taylor LF
Barnes C
Urias P
I’d definitely like to catch a Rancho game this year. Looks like an interesting team.
Tulsa Drillers Roster
A total of 11 hurlers have previously spent time in Tulsa. In the starting rotation, Mitchell White, Yadier Alvarez, Dustin May and Justin De Fratus all pitched for the Drillers in 2018, combining for 13 wins. The lone newcomer in the rotation is expected to be J.D. Martin, a veteran right-hander who has pitched parts of two seasons in the major leagues with the Washington Nationals.
The bullpen will consist of a number of familiar faces. Returnees will include Layne Somsen, Shea Spitzbarth, Michael Boyle, Marshall Kasowski, Nolan Long, Andre Scrubb and Parker Curry. The group combined to make over 100 appearances for Tulsa last season and amassed a total of nine wins and seven saves during the regular season.
The only newcomer to the bullpen will be lefthander Adam McCreery. McCreery, who pitched in one big league game with Atlanta last season, was obtained by the Dodgers in an off-season trade.
A pair of intriguing catchers will handle the pitching staff. Keibert Ruiz, who is ranked as one of the top catching prospects in Minor League Baseball, will look to continue his strong play from the end of 2018. He was a key figure in the Drillers post-season, hitting .333 with 2 homers and 8 runs batted.
Josh Thole is the only other catcher on the roster. The 32-year-old has eight years of major league experience with the Mets and Blue Jays.
The infield will feature the return of Gavin Lux at shortstop. Lux joined the Drillers in August of last season and was the team’s top hitter in the playoffs with a .424 average.
Newcomers on the infield will include third baseman Cristian Santana, second baseman Omar Estavez and first baseman Jared Walker. The trio combined for 56 home runs and 238 runs batted in 2018 for High-A Rancho Cucamonga.
Returnee Zach McKinstry and ex-big league first baseman Chris Parmelee are also on the opening day roster. McKinstry appeared in 25 regular season games for Tulsa last year, while Parmelee has six years of major league experience with the Twins, Orioles and Yankees.
Three of the four outfielders played for the Drillers last season including D.J. Peters, Zach Reks and Logan Landon. Peters led Tulsa with 29 home runs in 2018, while Reks hit .288 in 78 games in the Texas League.
The newcomer is a familiar name for area sports fans as former University of Oklahoma quarterback Cody Thomas will open the season with the Drillers.