Snakebit!
If you all want to lose your minds have at it! I will not participate in the insanity! This is simply a prolonged slump and everything the Dodgers do right about now is wrong! It has not happened for a couple of years, but it s baseball where anything can (and will) happen. They somehow managed to score 5 runs on just 4 hits. Buehler struck out 10 and only walked one but gave up 5 runs. Go figure! They’re 2-7 in their last nine games and are 9-8 on the season against teams that aren’t the last-p
Jesse Winker of the Cincinnati Reds will be 28 in August. This is his 5th year in MLB and while he has been up and down the first four years, this year it just clicked! As we speak, he is hitting .397 with a .443 OB% and a 1.183 OPS. That’s Mike Trout, Babe Ruth, Micky Mantle territory. However, he has not always hit like that and if you took any small sampling from any of his seasons, you would possibly conclude that he was Luke Raley, Matt Beaty, Edwin Rios, Zach McKinstry, Sheldon Neuse, or DJ Peters (OK… maybe not Peters).
Winker has 73 AB’s this year, so that means he is the next Mike Trout? Does that mean that Raley, Beaty, Rios, and others are chopped liver? Only a moron would think either case was a possibility, so most of this small sampling means nothing. However, if Jesse is still hitting like this in a couple of months, the NL may have a new MVP. On the other hand, he could do what his teammate, Nick Castellanos did last year: The first month of the season Casty hit .375 with a ..464 OB% and 1.214 OPS. However, he ended the season hitting .225! Casty is back to his old tricks again hitting .322/.366 OB% and 1.021 OPS. Which player is he?
Right now, Justin Turner is the only Dodger hitting with regularity. Even Mookie Betts is a shell of himself. The problem is that they have not hit! Oh, they can get on base. In fact, the Dodgers currently lead all of MLB in OB% with .344! That is really good, but sooner or later, you have to hit to get the runners across the plate and they are not getting that job done. This, in turn, puts pressure on the pitchers who may try and make the “perfect pitch” every time, which leads to never making the perfect pitch. This too will change – some hitter will breakout big time and then the team will follow… if we all live long enough!
If you all want to lose your minds… have at it! I will not participate in the insanity! This is simply a prolonged slump and everything the Dodgers do right about now is wrong! It has not happened for a couple of years, but it’s baseball where anything can (and will) happen. They somehow managed to score 5 runs on just 4 hits. Buehler struck out 10 and only walked one but gave up 5 runs. Go figure! They’re 2-7 in their last nine games and are 9-8 on the season against teams that aren’t the last-place Rockies.
Sean Doolittle got his first save last night after blowing his first opportunity. HIs ERA sits at 4.66. He would fit right in with this bunch! With Gonsolin, Price, and Knebel out for extended time, the bullpen is thin and while he may not inspire confidence, Joe Kelly will likely be back in the next couple of days. All we can do is hope! Victor Gonzalez and Mitch White are also on the IL – it was not disclosed if their injuries were real or imagined.
It sounds like Bellinger is getting closer. The pain in his leg has subsided and he is taking BP every day. It will be a big shot in the arm when he returns. Let’s hope it is soon. I think this losing streak could last a little longer. Sometimes when you are down, it’s hard to get up.
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Discussion (49)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Stuff from around:
CW (Montana):
You are BA’s Mr Dodger. Outman or Vogel to have a better career?
Kyle Glaser: It’s closer than you might think. Both are really athletic outfielders with swing questions. This might seem like a cop-out, but I want to wait and see what Vogel’s swing adjustments look like this year before answering. He should be out in Rancho Cucamonga at some point this year. Let’s circle back on this in a few months.
Do the Dodgers still see Michael Grove as a SP or will he begin transitioning to becoming a reliever?
Kyle Glaser: They’re starting to view him as a more of a potential long man, simply because he hasn’t shown he can maintain anything for more than 2-4 innings at a time. This year will be big for him to prove he can.
Who’s LAD’s second baseman in 2023, Gavin Lux or Michael Busch?
Kyle Glaser: Lux. I think Busch is either their DH (because I expect the DH to be universal beginning in 2022) or more likely they push Muncy to DH and Busch is their everyday 1B. He’s gotten better at 2B and, as one veteran evaluator put it “it’s not a no”, but Lux at 2B and Busch/Muncy at 1B/DH is going to be a much better defensive alignment for the Dodgers.
Old Friend Ross Stripling on pitching:
Open on blogs.fangraphs.comhttps://blogs.fangraphs.com/ross-stripling-talks-curveballs/Fan Graphs on the Dodgers-Padres
Open on blogs.fangraphs.comhttps://blogs.fangraphs.com/decades-in-the-making-the-dodgers-padres-rivalry-has-arrived/Jake Mailhot on Dustin May
Open on blogs.fangraphs.comhttps://blogs.fangraphs.com/dustin-may-has-finally-discovered-his-strikeouts/Keith Law on an old friend:
ivy: Do you see Dean Kremer as having the potential to become, say, a #3 starter? He can look terrific for several innings, seems to have problems sustaining his performance for more than a few innings. How fixable is that sort of problem?
Keith Law: The delivery isn’t great, but I think he can be a back-end guy, a 4 or a 5 who eats innings but is worse than league-average at run prevention.
Baseball America
Mock Draft: https://t.co/WW30io8ozD?amp=1
BA’s newest mock gives the Dodgers prep righty Chase Petty, who would immediately rival guys like Bobby Miller, Clayton Beeter, and Gerardo Carrillo for the most pure arm talent in the Dodgers’ system.
MLB Pipieline
Mock Draft: https://www.mlb.com/news/mock-mlb-draft-2021?t=mlb-pipeline-coverage
First legit connection of the draft season: “The Dodgers have definitely been scouting [Peyton] Stovall.”
Transaction Wire
The Dodgers trade Jimmy Titus & Albert Suarez to the Mets for cash considerations last week.
Titus was a 23rd rounder from 2019, and had only played for Ogden in his pro debut. Suarez signed for $300k in the 2016-17 international signing period, and played his age 18-19 years in the AZL.
Interesting article on how the Padres are employing shifting:
Open on blogs.fangraphs.comhttps://blogs.fangraphs.com/no-team-is-shifting-like-the-padres/It seems to me that the Dodgers are in love with the walk. By being ultra patient your obp looks good, but it hurts your batting average and your run production. Two and three run walks are very rare. Also, you wind up with a lot of two strike counts where one swing and miss puts you on the bench. I like Seager’s approach.
Love that photo of Ali (then Clay) standing over Liston.
Iconic.
What’s the most iconic Dodgers photo? Easy to point to video–Gibson’s HR, Jackie stealing home….Iconic audio from Vin and Tommy….
Oh dear.
Just remembered one: Marichal getting ready to club Roseboro.