The #1 Bullpen in Baseball

F.D.A. Aims to Give Final Approval to Pfizer Vaccine by Early Next Month.

I now have sufficient confidence in White.

Wow, that lineup looks as long as a Knock Out count in Bauer’s bedroom.

Cody’s in right, I guess for a few reasons.

1) Out of over 300 games in the outfield for CT3, only 4 of them have been in RF

2) Cody’s arm is stronger

3) Less running for Cody

I guess the Dodgers don’t think highly of DRS. AJ Pollock’s DRS in CF is better than CT3 and CT3’s DRS in LF is better than Pollock’s.

MT, I also had the metallic taste in my mouth from Moderna. I don’t have any flu symptoms today, but the metallic taste persists.

Badger, If you understood math, you would realize that you can’t estimate that the average age of those who died with COVID based on the numbers that were given. So, you can not definitively state that the age is under 85.

Bear, if you corrected everytime someone misused a word, missed punctuation or generally failed at grammar in all the posts on this site, you would need to hire an assistant.

This year, I hate the Giants, Padres and Astros in that order. The top spot never changes for me. Even with the cheating, the Astros are a classy ballclub compared to the Padres. But that’s like comparing COVID Classic to the Delta variant.

Anyone else have butterflies in their stomach for this big game against the cheaters?

Please don’t lose LA…..pretty please!

All our love and hopes going out to our boys,

TM

2b Mookie

1b Max

3b Justin

SS Corey

c Will

CF CT3

RF Cody

LF AJ

P Walker

It’s OK to discuss stuff, but let’s keep it civil. Most of you have. It’s good to see differing points of view, but I will not let it devolve to insults and name calling. Stop it!

Sorry TM, lineup is out, Bellinger in the lineup hitting 7th before Pollock.

Update on Ozuna. Fulton County has decided not to proceed with the felony aggravated assault strangulation charge against him. But they are proceeding with a couple of misdemeanor charges of family violence battery and simple assault. Both carry sentences of up to one year jail time. Matt Shoemaker released by the Twins.

Lets keep it to baseball alright. All this posturing about Covid is about as relevant to tonights game as dandruff.

Off to bed – alarm set for 3am

Don’t wanna miss this series with the Asstros

You guys have been a little behind us all the way on the Covid Curve.

The vaccines have broken the link between number of cases and deaths and hospitalisations here in the Uk.

Delta was a nuisance but we are well on the way out of it.

The country is open with no restrictions – no compulsory mask wearing – although advised in crowded areas such as buses or the Underground. No curfews and no restrictions. It’s been a wonderful

Couple of celebratory weeks, and the number of new cases is actually going down even though we are now totally free.

We have the same arguments – to Vax or not to Vax – it’s a personal choice. No point worrying what others are doing if it’s beyond your control.

There is no plan B – and at some point soon you will all need to move on together, vaccinated or not.

You guys will be at this point in a few weeks time.

I do not check span every day, but I noticed that several posts were marked as “spam” that should not be. Usually, it is a long post that does it. If so, just post “I am stuck in Spam” and that will alert me to get you out of jail.

Isn’t it fun to have an opinion, and to be able to express it, oh wait!

Duck and cover !

Actually freedom of expression runs rampant on this site.

Thank you Mark. I think it’s good for us.

(in-spite of the monkey business)

I was in the Army, I got more injections than I can count and had no say in it what so ever. But I never questioned it simply because the Army knew more about what kind of ailments were waiting for me in some foreign land than I did. If Y’all are worried about a little prick in the arm that has for the most part not harmed most, y’all are nuts. Try getting the vaccination that they gave over seas for Hepatitis. 1 CC for every 20 pounds of body weight. I weighed 220 at the time and got 11 CC’s right in the ass. 5 in one cheek, 6 in the other, try sitting on a hard seat of a deuce and a half with that for 2 hours. Not only did I not get sick, the lumps eventually went away. I am 73, have diabetes and I am at high risk for Covid. But I have not caught it. And I beg to differ porpoiseboy, not everyone who has died from it are fat and old. A lot of young people died too, including a friend of mines 30 year old granddaughter. So unless you have facts to back up that bullshit, just keep the crap in your mouth and off of your postings. Lakers just got another old guy signing Carmello Anthony to a one year deal.

DODGERS RECALL ZACH REKS

LOS ANGELES

– The Los Angeles Dodgers recalled outfielder Zach Reks and optioned right-handed pitcher Yefry Ramírez.

Reks, 27, will be recalled for the third time in his career and has appeared in six games for the Dodgers this season. He has spent the majority of the season in Oklahoma City, batting .312 (62-for-199) with 12 homers and 38 RBI in 53 games. In 309 career minor league games, he has batted a combined .303 (334-for-1107) with 47 homers and 183 RBI. The Chicago, IL native was originally drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 10th round of the 2017 First Year Player Draft out of the University of Kentucky.

Ramírez, 27, made his Dodgers debut Sunday, tossing 2.0 scoreless innings with two strikeouts. He is now 1-10 with a 6.19 ERA (63 ER/91.2 IP) and 91 strikeouts in 31 games (13 starts) in his Major League career spanning three seasons and stops in Baltimore (2018-19), Pittsburgh (2019) and Los Angeles (2021). In his minor league career, he is 43-39 with a 3.75 ERA (278 ER/667.1 IP) and 679 strikeouts in 152 career games. He signed with the Dodgers as a minor league free agent on March 25.

August 3, 2021

Reks was recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City prior to Tuesday’s game against the Astros, Juan Toribio of MLB.com reports.

Dodger Nation quotes Robert’s as saying the team needs to play with more urgency. Lol you think duh!!! My lord he is the one who created the lack of urgency. It wasn’t to long ago he said you can’t go out and play like your hair is on fire for 162. Well mb some of those games they just pissed away because they wanted to c what they had. How about continuously resting players who just had a day off or who are hot. SMH glad to c he is now on board.

Which has been worse, Dodger late inning offence or late inning relief pitching?

I know lots of people who did not get the vaxx. It’s their option. I got the first shot, but not the second (due to a severe reaction, my doctor advised me not to), so it is not clear if I am or am not vaccinated. Here are a few points to remember.

1. Normally, it took about 12-15 minutes of exposure to COVID-19 to overcome your immune system and start the disease. With the new Delta Variant, the transmission time is as little as 5 seconds. There is also no indication that it is any less deadly.

2. I have had COVID-19 TWICE (as in 2 times) and you don’t want it.. especially if you are my age.

3. Masks do very little to prevent you from getting COVID-19. What they do is prevent you or any person with COVID from spreading it as readily. Masks don’t protect you. They protect others.

4. Even if you get the vaccine, you can transmit it to others and you may even be sick, but not as sick and not as dead!

I have to think Bauer is pitching enough to remain stretched out should he be able to return.

I will get a booster shot without hesitation.

Someway somehow America needs to get to 75% vaccinated.

“A coward dies a 1000 deaths, the brave but one. ”

That quote should get a few engines revved up.

I don’t know what the best way to measure a bullpen is, but it is certainly not ERA. Because unlike with starting pitchers, their part of the game does not start at the same point. Come in with a 7-1 lead, walk two batters, get taken out and both score, and your ERA for that game is over 18. Come in with a 10-2 lead, pitch two scoreless innings, and your ERA is 0. What is the context? Oh, one may think it evens out, but I would focus on how the bullpen does in close games, and particularly in the later innings. We have all these bullpen games, with six or so pitchers pitching one or two innings. Actually, you can lower your bullpen ERA with these, because you are using so many different pitchers. But it wears out the bullpen, too.

We are 1-11 in extra inning games. Those were all lost by bullpen pitchers. Yes, not scoring enough in the extra innings is a big part of it, but I have seen great bullpens, like TB’s last year, or KC’s in their championship year, hold for many innings; although of course there was not the amateurish rule about the runner on second. But better bullpens win these, and ours does not. Isn’t that more important than how we are in ERA?

And then of course the focus must be on the closer. Do we have the fifth best closer in baseball? Not close to that. Have we had that for the last three years? No, we rarely even use him in key moments of playoff games. So with that, how do can we rank our bullpen among the best?

We do have some good arms, and I could see the bullpen becoming a strength. But I could also see it letting us down. I do not have too much confidence in it, and not much in Jansen. We will see, of course, and hope for the best. And it will depend on how well Roberts uses the bullpen, as compared to the other managers whose teams we will face in the playoffs.

I’ve never talked about these 2 subjects here until now and I will keep it short and get to the point.

1) I don’t trust the government and especially one that is controlled by the Democrats, so no thank you to a Chinavirus vaccination.

2) I want the Dodgers to win another championship and Trevor Bauer makes the Dodgers chances better, therefore I want Trevor Bauer back pitching for the Dodgers.

There, short and sweet.

I have never posted a word about covid I will say this. People can do what they want as long as it doesn’t effect me. The neighboring county and my county are having a flood of new covid cases flooding the hospitals. The vaccination % of the neighboring county is 47%. Folks can get into hospitals again for needs that have been put off for months. They are again above capacity and many health care workers have had enough. They are finding something else to do and it’s very difficult to find replacements. The vast majority, of these hospitalizations are unvaccinated folks under 39. They aren’t dying but they are very sick with plenty of respiratory issues. It will be very soon that the Governor will require make again as mandatory while in public. I don’t want to do that. I also have a medical procedure on hold while the unvaccinated take up all the hospital space. I’m 70 and may die from any of the listed afflictions mentioned above. I on’t believe I got and chip from the vaccine of will grow a 2nd head or something. At this point I see no reason NOT to be vaccinated to lower the cases. I look at it as a civic duty to help arrest the spread and allowing this stuff from mutating into a form that kills and can’t be controlled.

I might be spewing the company line for many doubters but I wasn’t abducted by aliens and brainwashed. I don’t distrust the science or my doctor’s advice. You could tack me if you want with a chip or use my cellphone. It’s not that interesting. I just personally don’t understand at this point all the resistance. It’s infringing on my person freedoms at this point.

So, it sounds like we are all in agreement here….Jansen should not be our closer……..yet he is!

I wonder how AF feels about this? Does he really tell Doc what to do if he feels strongly about something? Or does he let Doc manage while he GMs?

I have to admit that I find it odd that most of you are very proVax and that Covid is such a bad thing that people should get a drug that hasn’t been studied, the companies have no liability in a court, and that really hasn’t been working all that well.

I need this experimental injection to STILL have to wear a mask apparently, STILL can get Covid BUT my symptoms MAY be less IF I get it. This is for a virus that many people WITHOUT OTHER ISSUES report are fairly mild. I know a dozen or so people that had it. Not one of them said it was that bad. Almost no children have died from Covid unless they have other issues such as Leukemia or something serious, but yet we are going to mask up 6 year olds all day again. Mind boggling.

However, when LA picked up Turner while he is ON THE DAMN Covid DL, everyone here assumes he will be back on day one after his 10 days. That was all I read. He is eligible on this day so we can move this player here and yada yada. Go back and look. I never saw one concern. I don’t think I read ONE thing where anyone said.

oh my. I hope he is OK.

I hope he can still play at MLB level

How could AF trade Ruiz for a guy that could drop dead since he HAS Covid.

Think about that. This awful, killer disease that I need this vax for is sooooooo bad that a guy can go play MLB right after his arbitrary time period is over. I think that if some of you put down your TV remote, all would be better. Not perfect but better.

Hopefully, after the midterms, Lord Fauci will again revise his position and his flock will be free again. You that have the vax WERE free for what……a week or two of no masks before they grabbed that right back from you?

Doubtful as he is celebrity #1, a media darling, has freakin children’s books written about him, with a ton of power and no really accountability and who gives that up?

As to the bullpen, again stats are stats but outcome is outcome.

There just is NO statistical argument to make that Jansen is a quality closer. All you have to do is watch the games WHEN IT MATTERS. He is a mess. He misses spots routinely. Walk way too many hitters. Makes way too many non-competitive pitches. Gives up too much contact. Can’t hold runners on.

Jansen’s stats are like the guy who hits 30HR but 28 are solo shots late in blowout games. Who cares. What do you do when there are RISP late in games when it matters?

I think that the pen gets much better with Kershaw and Max in the mix. Of course. IF Bauer was to return, then even more so.

As long as Roberts/AF keeps using Jansen in tight games with little to margin for error, LA will give away more games. Especially, when Jansen gets to his 4th or 5th batter and there is still NOBODY warming up.

This is going to be a fun team to watch down the stretch as they get to almost full strength. Losing Bauer is a big blow but one I think they can overcome. Adding Max certainly helps, and who knows if AF gets him if Bauer is there, but wow can you imagine Bueller, Scherzer, Bauer, Kershaw as the playoffs 4?!!

Hoping Bellinger can get it together but I don’t have a lot of hope. I wish he had the heart of Barnes or Taylor. I don’t know him of course but the lack of change just says that he doesn’t. I could be wrong.

On paper, the Giants are not even close to a better team. In real life, they have over preformed at a historic level in my opinion. Outside of Posey, they don’t have ONE player that starts in LA or SD but yet they are on top into August. When and IF the Dodgers can get healthy, I think that slowly changes and LA wins the west by 4-6 games but who knows.

Going to be a fun one tonight and tomorrow. I wish I could be there!! Crowd should be wild.

Mark, I too noticed the absence of (hopefully) Joseph (not Joe) Kelly from you list of pitchers.

My list, if the playoffs started today, would be:

CK, Striker, Scherzer and Urias who pitches in relief when a 3rd starter isn’t needed

Price, Treinen, KJ, and Nelson. I’m adding Kelly.

Knebel and Duffy who I have never seen but I’ll take your word for it.

That’s 11 and Gonsolin would make it 12, but I’m not optomist based on no evidence what-so-ever. So, that’s 11 without him.

That leaves Vesia, Cleavenger, Alexander and V-Gon to fill 1 or 2 roster spots. All lefties which we need. For me, it’s Vesia and Cleavenger in that order.

Alexander, if healthy on the taxi squad and V-Gon last. I’ve seen him struggle too much this year to trust him despite his post season success.

I think we can win with this group but they need to do their jobs and execute.

This could all change after we see Knebel and Duffy. Bickford is intriguing but he’s earned a job for me. But I could see him replaced for a left handed arm.

Astros changed their starter for tonight, opting to Lance McCullers Jr. 8-2 with a 3.23 ERA. Only 4 Dodgers have a history against him. Albert, 0-15, Betts 2-5 with a RBI, Turner and Taylor 1-2 each. Correa is the only Astro who has done damage to Buehler, 2-2 with a HR. Buehler named NL Pitcher of the Month. Former Dodger John Axford was traded the other day, players who were in the minors can be traded. And the price Milwaukee paid for Axford?? One dollar. Axford is on the Brewers active roster. Tonight’s rematch with the Astros will be the first time fans have been in Dodger Stadium to see the two teams since game 7 of the series in 17. To say fasten your seatbelts as a sold out Dodger Stadium raises the decibel level to previous unknown heights is an understatement.