No, not that Bear… the proverbial bear! I guess you are going to lose one-third of the games. It’s baseball… and sometimes it is maddening. The bottom of the lineup continues to be a problem. Vargas got a nice hit but now has to demonstrate that he can keep it up. Lux was 2-4 and is now at .203, but Teoscar is in a slump, having hit .219 in his last 30 games. Andy Pages is struggling, but there’s no reason for alarm… yet. By the time Max Muncy comes back, I think things will be a little clearer. I cannot see CT3 on this team past this month.
Vargas will have to seize the day if he wants to stay up, and while it was only one hit, the piece of hitting on his double last night shows his skill level. He quickly adjusted, got his hands in, and just went with the pitch…not trying to loft it. I think you will see that he can be a professional hitter. The onus is on him.
I still wonder about Andre Lipcius…
Down on the Farm
OKC BOX – Lipcius hit his 13th, and Outman was 1-2 with two walks and two runs scored. Feduccia was 3-4 with four RBI, and Gauthier had three hits as well. Casparius pitched five solid innings as well.
TULSA BOX – Dalton Rushing left the game early with a shoulder injury.
Discussion (53)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Game is in the balance Doc, use a high leverage reliever. The game is not always decided in the 9th inning.
Seems to me, Doc should have used one of his more high leverage relievers in that situation..
Lux opens his hips too soon, timing off, makes his swing loopy when he tries to pull pitches.
Vesia 1.61 era can’t throw strikes either. In his defense I don’t think he was warmed up. I just point the era to say that certainly doesn’t always tell the story. I have to agree why is Ramirez on the roster? But I am sure we will hear the usual. This is one game we are playing the long game blah blah …Cincinnati has been one of the worst teams in the league with a terrible offense with 9runs by the fifth.
garbage!
….Feyereisen gets sent down and sits in OKC while Ramirez gets a roster spot. Ain’t no defending AF in that move, just makes you shake your head.
Why exactly did AF acquire Yohan Ramirez? They have to have a kid at OKC or Tulsa who could have done that and we gave that POS a spot on the 40 man roster.
2-in-a-row sub-par outings (Glasnow/Paxton) for the SP’s.
nice swing Chris!!!!
My dad served in korea. and no he didn’t lose his life there , i still cherish his service and memories! …. guess i’m confused Bear. you said Barnes was a black hole and i agree. Does not throw any runners out and he doesn’t really impress as a receiver. Other than that , he’s ok.
I’ve never actually heard a pitcher saying that about Barnes and I listen to all interviews I can. Not saying they don’t but if I’m pitching would much rather have smith and his bat back there especially with the current bottom of our order
We were discussing the release of Pomeranz above.
Sometimes answers come quickly.
He just signed a major league deal with the Giants.
In his last outing for OKC he struck out 5 in 2 innings.
This one may come back to bite us. Time will tell.
7:10 PM ET
Dodgers (33-19)
Reds (20-30)
SP James Paxton L
5-0 2.84 ERA
SP Graham Ashcraft R
3-3 4.25 ERA
Confirmed Lineup
SS Mookie Betts R
DH S. Ohtani L
1B F. Freeman L
C Will Smith R
RF T. Hernandez R
2B Gavin Lux L
LF Chris Taylor R
CF Andy Pages R
3B Miguel Rojas R
81° Wind 6 mph R-L
Friday Dodger Minor League Schedule
3:05 p.m. PT: Great Lakes (Jackson Ferris) vs. Beloit (Karson Milbrandt)
5:05 p.m.: Oklahoma City (Landon Knack) vs. Reno (Humberto Castellanos)
5:05 p.m.: Tulsa (Justin Wrobleski) at Springfield (Tink Hence)
6:30 p.m.: Rancho Cucamonga (Cam Day) vs. Modesto (Tyler Gough)
3 very good starters on the mound today, Knack,Wrobleski and Ferris.
Remember when Dean Smith was at North carolina?? He often substituted for all 5 players at the same time. Basically the second 5 weren’t that less talented than the 1st 5. Wait!! you can’t have players as good as Mookie ,Freddie,Ohtani, Will on the bench. No but you can have 3 really good bench players. So no matter who I or anyone else suggests might be an upgrade it’s just silly and we’re panicking! Barnes is bad. no matter how much the coaches “love” him. Taylor is probably unfixable. Vargas? Will he get enough playing time to find out? Kiki has won me over with his play at 3rd. (still a bit of a liability at the plate). So no, there is no panicking at the moment. But there is a big problem with quality depth. The talking heads always gush about the Dodgers depth! Sorry it ain’t there yet!!……. Everyone have a wonderful Holiday weekend!! Take time to remember your loved ones that aren’t around any more. My parents have been gone several years. They loved my brother and me so so much! we were both adopted and so proud of it too!!!
Fans are fickle. Fans come up with the most ridiculous trade scenarios. Fans lose their minds when the team loses to a team that is floundering. The lead is down to 6.5 over the Padres, let’s make some trades and fill all the holes. Mookie needs to move back to the outfield. They need a SS and a centerfielder, a good hitting second baseman and a backup catcher that can hit. They have played 52 games, they are 33-19, and leading their division comfortably. They have the largest lead of any division leader. Only the Phillies, who lead Atlanta by 6 games, are even close. They are in a team wide scoring slump. Two of the top four in their lineup are slumping a little right now, hurting the run production. One of their power bats is on the IL. When Muncy returns, the lineup gets longer. Hernandez is in a little slump right now too. The good hitters, Freeman and Smith, will figure it out. Hernandez is who he is, high K rate, lots of power, streaky. They do not need a SS. Mookie is a happy camper right where he is. He is not going to move back to the outfield, and sure as hell not during this season. If they decide this winter to go get a very good defensive SS, my guess is that Mookie would simply move over to second next year. They do need an outfielder who can hit consistently. But who??? Who is going to be available at the deadline? The White Sox at this point are probably going to unload several players at the deadline. But what would be the cost of say, Robert Jr? He is injury prone, has played more than 100 games just once in his career, and is currently on the IL but due back soon. The Sox outfield right now consists of Pham, Benintendi, Grossman, Julks and Fletcher. Jiminez, their DH, just went on the IL also. Robert is only 26 and can become a free agent in 2026. He is owed 15 million next year and has team options for both 26 and 27 of 20 million. He would be the most expensive in terms of players sent to Chicago. Pham is hitting .333 in his 25 games with the Sox. He has 3 homers and 12 driven in. He would not cost a whole lot in prospect capital. But as stated many times, he supposedly is not good in the clubhouse. The Pirates are not going to trade Reynolds, Colorado would not be inclined to trade with a division rival unless they could pick their pockets on a deal. The only outfielder they have that interests me at all is Nolan Jones. But I would bet that AF is not only considering all of his options, but he has also probably had more than a few high-level meetings with staff to discuss ways to improve the team. I think they are still high enough on Lux to give him some more time to get comfortable playing again. His fielding has not been the problem, it has been his hitting. As for Vargas, Miguel is going to get some chances to prove he belongs. Whether that is to showcase him for a later trade, or simply hand him the leftfield job for next year, no one knows. Heyward, Kike, Hernandez, all are free agents after this season. As for Barnes, I believe he is here for the foreseeable future. Taylor? They have to reach some decision on him very soon. He just is not playing enough to get the reps he needs to improve.
10th NL West title in 11 years years and the year we didn’t we won 106 games. Total organizational failure!
Mark , did I see a comment by Eric that appeared and disappeared the same day?
Veteran left-hander Drew Pomeranz was released. Could be related to an opt-out clause, but the 35-year-old was also released on April 19 and re-signed a new minor league contract with the Dodgers the next day.
My opinion is that there is no room at the inn with lefty relief pitcher Anthony Banda in the fold.
Not even stressing. Trolled a few websites, if you want to know how the true blue spoiled Dodger fan base rolls, just check out Spectrum after every Dodger loss,. Never seen so much vicious anger toward Doc and the players , even when they win there is still somebody popping off. New breed of win now fans, most of them have no clue how the Dodgers are run from Freidman on down,, all they see is a loss as a total organizational failure. Tried to reason with a few of them but just gave up. These toolbags don’t want to hear about the long game , preparing for October, all they live for is game to game and the Dodger shortcomings. Feel like I’m on a permenate acid trip .
AVF – explanation please
You said above that we should trade Outman and Vargas for a big outfield bat.
Why do you want to trade them? Because you don’t think they’ll ever amount to enough to help us on a permanent basis.
So why, pray tell, would another team give us a “big outfield bat” for them? For purposes of this discussion would you please give me a couple of examples of a big outfield bat that you would like to get.
I decided not to go to Cincy tomorrow. They are calling for heavy thundershowers all evening.
Dang it!
Trading now the Dodgers would have to overpay. Every team but maybe three are in the playoff race. Owners tend not to trade if they have a shot at the playoffs and fans become enraged. Patience is a virtue, In a month or 6 weeks things will shake out a little more and owners will be more willing letting a high priced player or a player with a contract coming to an end go for a more reasonable price. Leadership looks at the whole picture not just snap shots. We need to hope that our prospects to excel. If they are blocked to make the Dodgers, they will bring more talent in trades. It’s to early to call the Division over but we are certainly in the drivers seat and only trade from a position of power. It would be foolish to give up on Lux who sat out all year and still is young, the same with Vargas and Outman. If they are traded it would certainly be better to trade them when they are hitting well. If they don’t turn it around we have the talent to win the World Series. Our pitching needs to come together with the injured pitchers coming back in a contributing mode and our Big five and hopefully at least several other players pick up their offense.
if i’m a dodger minor leaguer, i’m begging for a trade to Pittsburgh!! lol!! ….. Gosh i hope we miss Hunter Green this weekend! Haven’t checked the schedule, but i imagine he pitches tomorrow. ……Freddie Freeman is good!! Like Ole Bear says, leave him the hell alone!! ……Clayton Kershaw is my favorite Dodger ever!! …. Austin Barnes is not my favorite catcher of all Dodgers! But he has one really big hit!!
The Seattle Mariners claimed pitcher Eduardo Salazar off waivers from the Dodgers on Thursday. Salazar, 26, threw two innings and struck out three batters without allowing a run in his only appearance in the majors this season, May 15 in San Francisco.
Outman is OPSing at 1.000. Time to bring him back up?
Dodgers much needed day off today. Begin a 6 game road trip tomorrow against the Reds and Mets before returning home next Friday the 31th to face the Rockies.
Thursday Dodger Minor League Schedule
3:05 p.m. PT: Great Lakes (Chris Campos) vs. Beloit (Cade Gibson)
5:05 p.m.: Tulsa (Jared Karros) at Springfield (Ian Bedell)
5:05 p.m.: Oklahoma City (TBA) vs. Reno (Tommy Henry)
6:30 p.m.: Rancho Cucamonga (Payton Martin) vs. Modesto (Brody Hopkins)
AF sent Jordan Leasure to the White Sox in the Lance Lynn trade.
“Leasure, 25, has made 21 MLB appearances for the White Sox this season, and has a 2.29 ERA across his 19.2 innings. ”
Win some, lose some.
You’re probably right about Vargas Mark. But why bring him up just to sit??
I like the idea of getting Willie Calhoun back and since he really is best suited to be a DH, maybe we should include Shohei in the trade and if that isn’t enough toss in Mookie. And, of course Vargas and Outman.
If they aren’t willing to take CT3, maybe we could include Freddie to encourage them.
Problem I see: Mookie and Ohtani and Smith are hitting over their respective career averages. In the case of Ohtani about 80 points higher. Can those three keep their torrid pace up threw the season and playoffs ?
Should they drop into their career marks we need help from the bottom of the lineup and the bench.
With MM, Heyward, CT3, Kike, Lux, Barnes we have 6 (!) bats at the moment among the 13 hitters who are at or below the Mendoza line. And the jury is still out on Pages if he can stay above water.
In all likelyhood this likely gonna fail.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Anyone look at JT’s stats lately?
Still miss the guy…
is it possible that the dodgers are trying to “showcase “ Vargas? i’m not suggesting they trade him. , just wondering. Even with Max struggling a little , when he comes back, the dodgers are pretty dad gone good 1-6. It’s 7-9 to worry about! Pages looks like he’s on a slow road back down. Gavin might be coming around , boy that would be huge!! Really could use another outfielder! (one that can hit!)
I agree with you that Freddie will be fine.
Hopefully he get his funk out of the way and has his normal 2nd half. Save the hits for October!
Last night was the final game of a 13-game stretch without an off day. The Dodgers have plunged in their stats from being the #1 offense in Runs, BA, OB%, and OPS, and have fallen all the way to #2 in all of baseball. OMG! They are sinking like a stone, and RVS should be crucified. Roberts should be fired and Friedman relieved of his duties… or maybe this is just a blip in the road?
I do agree that CT3, Barnes, Kike, and maybe Lux (although he is showing signs of life) are the same player. The Dodgers can afford to keep two, but not all four. Let it play out. CT3 should do what Jose Abreu did and voluntarily go down to work on his swing.
Freddie could be in decline… or he could just be in what is a slump for him. Time will tell.
This is baseball. I try and not get too excited or depressed this early in the season.
HR’s and players with multiple-hit games have virtually ceased for the Dodgers; consequently, their offense keeps grinding to a halt. Age is now probably affecting Freeman’s swing; he’s still a good hitter, but no longer a great one. He might prove me wrong later, we’ll see. Pages now doing his best Outman 2.0 impression. Lux is the only one trending up, but frankly, he had nowhere else to go but up. If the offense continues this downward trend, RVS should be scrutinized more and more. .
I like Ward the Angels outfielder he would be a nice addition and willie Calhoun would give the dodgers some bench depth for like say Vargas and Outman and Taylor. Let’s just look at that those three players to the Angel’s for Calhoun, Ward, and a infielder easy trade. Or go to the A’s Gelof, Rooker, and there shortstop Diaz makes are bench better in the playoffs oh and Miller. So there are some outfielders that would make us better bat wise. If they do it or do they go with these minor league guys Pages Outman Lux Vargas in the playoffs. Turner Ward Willie Colhoun and a infielder that just sounds like playoff names the dodgers go after and do something in october.
The Bear got us again.
This team struggles when Freddie struggles.
Mark, Pluto is hurting our feelings!
Holy shit.
Just the dumbest posts.
They never end these days.
Dodgers have an Achilles heel: their offense just don’t score many runs at Dodger stadium. Their opponents exploit this all the time. I have noticed this for a long time. That is why they keep losing in the playoffs! It doesn’t matter who is wearing Dodger white uniforms. Has anyone besides me notice this? “Dodgers baseball” just don’t cut it
Dodger offense is scuffling for sure. Freddie Freeman is on pace to drive in 90 runs with Betts and Ohtani hitting in front of him. Underwhelming given his spot in the order and past performance.
The bottom six position players on the roster , as a group, have been an issue all year. Hope Dodgers look to internal options first before going outside the organization. There is no reason, in my mind, that Teo needs to play every day. They can find at bats for Vargas if they want to and given the struggles, no reason not to. Maybe Lipcius, Gauthier, and Feduccia get a look before all is said and done. But I would not hold my breath.
Bigger picture, the Dodger farm system has not produced an everyday position player in four years. Will Smith is the last one by my recollection. As good as this FO has been developing pitchers and as highly regarded as their player development program is by baseball executives, they have not been able to consistently develop young position players to help the parent club. Could be a lack of patience or opportunity at the big league level but it is a problem.
Arizona puts 2pitchers out here with about 8.5 era. I guess they are due.
Cassidy needs to start mouthing the offense to get us started lol
The other teams wouldn’t keep using the lefty openers if freeman and smith switched. Neither hitting right now but smith is owning lefties. But I know Doc has already figured that out . He is playing chess.
Wednesday Dodger Minor League Schedule
3:05 p.m. PT (doubleheader): Tulsa (Yon Castro & TBA) at Springfield (TBA & Max Rajcic)
3:05 p.m.: Great Lakes (Jacob Meador) vs. Beloit (Emmett Olson)
5:05 p.m.: Oklahoma City (Hyun-il Choi) vs. Reno (Cristian Mena)
6:30 p.m.: Rancho Cucamonga (Garrett McDaniels) vs. Modesto (Ashton Izzi)
10:10 PM ET
Diamondbacks (23-26)
Dodgers (33-18)
SP Ryne Nelson R
2-3 7.06 ERA PRIM
SP Tyler Glasnow R
6-2 2.90 ERA
Confirmed Lineup
SS Mookie Betts R
DH S. Ohtani L
1B F. Freeman L
C Will Smith R
LF T. Hernandez R
2B Gavin Lux L
CF Andy Pages R
RF J. Heyward L
3B E. Hernandez R
63° Wind 9 mph Out
Look at who is batting 6th tonight,Gavin Lux
Xander Bogaerts has a broken shoulder. He was placed on the IL and the Padres brought up David Peralta to take his place.
Still asking, who do you use as a batter off the bench? The platoons don’t go away when the playoffs begin! Sure its a long time till the playoffs, but does anybody believe Taylor and Barnes will be all fixed by then? …not going crazy over last night’s loss. Just saying sooner or later that bench has to be addressed. And yes Bear, Barnes needs to go!! There i said it! First time in a long time! Hell, call up Feduccia. and Ship. Taylor out(il) or something and give Hunter some at bats! Can he be any worse than Taylor or Barnes?
From the Dodger’s Official Page:
“RHP Bobby Miller (right shoulder inflammation)
Expected return: Early June
Miller completed three innings during a simulated game at Dodger Stadium on May 21. The right-hander faced Gavin Lux, Chris Taylor, Miguel Vargas and Minor Leaguer Juan Alonso. He threw around 50 pitches, using his entire pitch mix.
The next step for Miller is to pitch in a rehab game with Single-A Rancho Cucamonga on May 26, according to manager Dave Roberts. That start is scheduled for four innings. Miller will need at least a couple of rehab starts before returning to the Dodgers’ rotation. (Last updated: May 21)”
We lose one game and people lose their minds around here.
Love Chris Taylor. I’m not an expert, but he looks done! How can the dodgers win in october with that bench? Is there any body on that bench you feel good about pinch hitting in the postseason? Barnes? Taylor? Even Kiki? Why not bring Lipcius up?? Maybe he catches fire like Pages did! …. It seems. the pitching in the minors. always delivers, whereas the hitters never really shine. Knack, Sheehan, Stone, Miller, even Grove to an extent all have performed. i’m still not convinced they don’t need to bring in a big bat if they are to win in October. The Bichette rumors won’t die!! If the blue jays continue to struggle he very well may be moved. Not just me saying that.
Some steps to take now:
Move freeman to 4 behind Smith. At 35 Freeman is trending the wrong way.
Betts ss
Ohtani dh
Smith c
Freeman 1b
Teo rf
Muncy 3rd
Vargas lf
Rojas 2b
Pages cf
With smith out move Freddie back
Against righties lux in Heyward in
Of course, to consummate trades there has to be willing partners. But the fact remains, if Friedman is going to make a trade (or 2) to address the Dodgers 5 to 9 production problems, then he’d better not wait until near the July 30 trade deadline to do it. By then it will be much harder for him to get whatever player(s) he covets.
Taylor is the 26 man on the team. He is not costing them games. He plays once a week, maybe.
He is going to be valuable come October, you just don’t toss him aside.
No better teammate than CT3 either. He aint going anywhere.