Some Days the Bear Gets You
… and I am not talking about the Old Bear! Last night was just one of those games, where the bear got us! Some of you want to try and pin it on Roberts, Hernandez, Almonte, or Ferguson, and of course, it is just not that simple. Some of you wonder why on earth Roberts brought…
… and I am not talking about the Old Bear! Last night was just one of those games, where the bear got us! Some of you want to try and pin it on Roberts, Hernandez, Almonte, or Ferguson, and of course, it is just not that simple. Some of you wonder why on earth Roberts brought Phillips in on Friday night when the game was well in hand. Well, Phillips was rusty and needed to pitch – he showed the rust by giving up a run! He had not pitched since July 29th. So lay off Doc. He was doing what he had to do.
You can try and pin this on Doc, but Dave Roberts has to play the hand he is dealt by Andrew Friedman, and two of his middle relievers are very unreliable, and I think that is part of the reason he pitched them last night. You have to expose your weak links, and both Almonte and Ferguson were exposed. In his last seven games, Caleb Ferguson has a 6.00 ERA and a 3.00 WHIP. Digest that one for a moment. In his last 30 games, he has a 4.05 ERA and a 1.76 WHIP! Yency Almonte has a 8.10 ERA in his last 7 games and a 4.97 ERA in his last 30 games.
Both Almonte and Ferguson are boat anchors to a bullpen that has been excellent since June 20 – #1 in the MLB EXCELLENT! Almonte and Ferguson have to go bye-bye – I have seen enough! They may be excellent with another team, but they need to get out of LA! We have seen what they can do and they can’t! ENOUGH! I hate to call players names, but Caleb freezes under pressure, and Yency just cannot throw strikes at times.
Shelby Miller is pitching in the Minors and will be back later this month. Gavin Stone would be a good option out of the bullpen. Maybe Ryan Pepiot, and Clayton Kershaw will be back next week, which also changes others’ roles in the pen. Pepiot pitches today, and if he looks good, he may be back by next weekend. Gus Varland may be worthy of a “look-see” – he has a 2.30 EDRA at OKC. Jimmy Nelson is looking better, and Daniel Hudson is a possibility in September. Shoot, Emmet Sheehan and his fastball would play up in one-inning stints.
All I know is that Caleb Ferguson and Yency Almonte have been given the opportunities, and they have been found NOT CAPABLE! Good Bye! Andrew Friedman: We have seen enough! Thank you for Ryan Braiser (what a great move). Thank you for Ryan Yarbrough! It’s time to move on from Ferguson and Almonte. If they have options (I did not check), send them back to OKC. Otherwise, this is goodbye!
I hate condemning players because they are generally good guys who have worked hard to get where they are, but even Ray Charles can see this! It’s time for a change! Bullpens remain… fickle!
On Another Note…
It was wonderful to see that punk Tim Anderson get cold-cocked by Jose Ramirez! Enjoy!
Down goes Anderson. Down goes Anderson!
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Discussion (103)
Disagree, not disagreeable
* So how is it that Snell and Machado get to argue calls that supposedly, you can’t argue. The HPU was intimidated and needed to grow a pair.
* Grove 1.1 innings? Mark said Doc was just following “the Plan”. I’m with Dodger ram, what kind of plan was that? “The Plan wasn’t bad because it didn’t work”. It was a stupid plan. I think sometimes Doc/the wizard we get too creative for our own good, especially against the Padres.
* I like Yarbrough. he looks crafty and like a relief pitcher to me. Maybe when CK returns, he can replace Fergie in the pen. I’m with Mark, it’s time to part ways with him and Almonte. We have enough arms in the system, and we’ll never miss them.
* Blake Snell is such an enigma. I’ve told this story here before, but I’ll tell it again.
He’s always been schizoid on the mound. Goes from Cy Young to Sayanora in an instant for no apparent physical reason. When he was a senior in high school at Shorewood, near Seattle, he was a dude, obviously. He pitched in the state tourney against my alma mater, Richland High. He sailed through 5 innings (of the 7-inning game) unhittable. In the 6th in a 0-0 game, Snell came out and threw ball 4, ball 8 and ball 12, to load the bases. No Strikes.
He got pulled and the relief pitcher promptly hit the next batter, scoring a run. And that held up and Richland won, 1 to 0, in one of the most bizarre games I’ve ever seen.
Snell has had these psychogenic fugues throughout his career.
Almonte, since he has no options left will have to be DFAd if they decide to remove him from the team. Prior to his last two outings, he was pitching like he did last season. Any relief help is going to have to come from the minors. Only way they can pick up players is if they have not spent any time on a 40 man roster this year. As for Ferguson, he let his anger get in the way. He was () that close to being tossed. Fergie has actually pitched well most of the season. Vesia and Almonte have been the ones from last season who really have flamed out.
Agree with Duke Not Snider. Muncy is a bargain next year at 10 million dollars.
comment in jail
The “plan” as we keep discussing, might have also included seeing how Grove does in a 1 inning, all out effort environment, vs some top hitters.
We already knew Yarborough could go 5 innings or so, but maybe part of the “plan” was to say “hey, if we throw Grove in 1 inning, vs good hitters, how doe he fare? Can he handle it? Is his stuff better when he goes all out?”
Maybe the “plan’ was to see if Michael Grove can be a guy who goes MAX 2 innings, to see if he can be an arm in October we can rely on to get 3-6 outs in the middle of the game when the starter couldn’t go deep. Maybe we just wanted to see if he can be a guy we can trust.
In my mind, if that was the plan, it worked. I like what I saw of Grove. I liked what I saw from Yarborough. The rest of the game wasn’t a plan. It was our natural course of events with guys we trust to get us to the 9th; the guys we should trust to get thru the 8th inning a close game. Those guys failed, not Roberts or Friedman, or “the plan”
It’s comical to read comments from those who have never watched the Dodgers the past 10 years.
On Machado arguing, I believe it was about quick pitch, not the called 3rd strike.
DODGERS PRESS RELEASE
DODGERS RECALL BRYAN HUDSON
LOS ANGELES– Los Angeles Dodgers recalled left-handed pitcher Bryan Hudson from Triple-A Oklahoma City and placed right-handed pitcher Michael Grove on the injured list with right lat tightness.
Hudson, 26, returns for his third stint with the Dodgers and he is 0-0 with a 9.82 ERA with three strikeouts in two games. He is 5-0 with a 2.61 ERA (12 ER/41.1 IP) and 66 strikeouts in 36 games for Oklahoma City this season. He is a combined 36-27 with a 4.23 ERA (234 ER/498.1 IP) and 434 strikeouts in 186 career minor league games (74 starts). He was drafted by the Cubs in the third round of the 2015 First Year Player Draft out of Alton High School (IL).
Grove, 26, pitched last night striking out four straight and tossing 1.1 scoreless innings. On the season, he is 2-3 with a 6.61 ERA (47 ER/64.0 IP) and 67 strikeouts in 15 games (12 starts) for the Dodgers. He has been with the Dodgers two seasons, and he is a combined 3-3 with a 5.98 ERA (62 ER/93.1 IP) and 91 strikeouts. He was drafted by the Dodgers in the second round of the 2018 First Year Player Draft out of West Virginia University.
Was that the best ever at bat lefty-lefty by Freeman that you ever saw? How he laid off the pitch before the homer was incredible!! I’m thinking that 99 out of 100 that’s swinging strike 3.
Watching on ESPN2, is there a way to get rid of this awful sideshow going on with ARod and Michael?
First 50 pitches from Lynn.
47% Four-Seam
15% Cutter
13% Curveball
13% Sinker
6% Changeup
6% Slider
Still reduced cutter/sinker usage, but not as drastic as last time
Lynn is a beast.
Defending my take on Muncy. First I agree his defense is much better. His option is ten million, In baseball today that isn’t bad. I stated, it’s better to let one go to early than to late. Muncy this year is hitting .118 against left handed pitching with an on base average of ,272. One could say that he’s just having a tough year. Last years numbers were better, .178 OPB.272. It’s trending that he has problems against left handed pitching. If I were a king for a day, I’d move Will Smith to third but our immediate catching isn’t ready for MLB although we have great catching in the system. If we are going to keep Muncy we need to obtain a good right hitting 3rd baseman to platoon with Muncy. Third base is historically a position for a power hitter. Muncy qualifies as a power hitter but he’s a liability when we face left handed pitching. I think 10 million for a player that can only hit right handed pitching is an overpay.
bumfan, thanks what a relief.
Great job by Lynn, just what the Dodgers and the BP needed. Six complete innings so far with 96 pitches. Dude is a horse getting through Soto, Machado and Boegarts in the 6th inning.
Thank god for no Jessica Mendoza.
Looking like AF did a pretty good job at the deadline after all!
Almonte againi
Almonte para cerrador!!!
The way I see it we’re playing with house money tomorrow. Coming into San Diego facing a hot Padre team at home and the least we can do is split.
Kudos to everybody what a great all-around team win
Now let’s go out and smoke those lousy Pendejos tomorrow hey, Jorge
So far, the Dodgers have won the Trade Deadline!
Hernandez
Rosario
Lynn
Kelly
…have all played a part in helping the team.
Got to Hill early. That was the key.
Dodgers won the trade deadline. LA Times can suck it.
Shocked Almonte pitched. But I’m not as smart as the Dodgers brain trust.
Angels went all in. They are imploding. Sad for my friends.
I’ve said for a decade; it’s good to be a Dodger fan.
Who still wants Rich Hill?