The Dodgers are going to lose someday. I promise – they are! I know it does not seem that way, but it is inevitable. Isn’t it? I mean, they are going to lose again… aren’t they? OK… maybe they won’t. Just kidding. Be ready for that one-game losing streak, and try not to lose your minds. Ryan Yarbrough sure is a weapon! Singlehandedly, he can take the pressure off the entire bullpen! This is a game-changer! The Dodgers have been lacking that long man! Now they have one.
- For the rest of this month and into September, they will be auditioning for the playoff roster… especially the bullpen.
- The Giants are nine games back, while Arizona is 13 games back, and the Clowns From Down the Freeway have sunk faster than the Titanic! What a joke! I will keep telling you to never underestimate the power of AJ Preller to screw something up. The same thing happened to the Mets – now we are hearing of their fractured clubhouses.
- Every team in the NL West is 3-7 in their last ten games, while the Dodgers are 9-1.
- Never question Andrew Friedman again! I have been on that wagon since he came to LA.
- For all those fans who wanted Willie Adames: How about that .202 BA? If he was a defensive wizard, it would be one thing…
- Remember when Christian Yelich and Cody Bellinger were running neck-and-neck for the MVP and maybe 50 HRs? Their careers since then have paralleled each other, and now they are doing good… but not MVP great. Who knew? Baseball is a funny game.
- Matt came up with the new Moniker: “Bobby Ice” instead of Miller Time. I like it!
- Miguel Vargas hit a double and had four hits to break his 0-19 skid.
- Michael Busch is now hitting .321 with a 1.0452 OPS.
- Diego Cartaya was 2-4 with his 16th big fly. Still hitting .183.
- The Dodgers enter tonight’s game (Kershaw and Miley) with a fresh bullpen!
Discussion (34)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Every time we bury Chris Taylor he kicks the dirt back off! And what’s with Rojas? Not complaining, just amazed! Regarding Barnes catching twice a week, NO! Once is more than enough! But maybe could use him in games that are out of reach in late game situations to give Will a break. No need for him to play 9 innings in a 10-2 game. Just get a funny feeling watching Barnes behind the plate. Right now he’s by far the weakest link in the roster! And by the way he is no longer Clayton’s Personal catcher! See that Pepiot may or may not get a call up, guess it all depends on Gonsolin s continued success or no. And then there’s Walker! If he comes back in a few weeks, he’ll be in rotation. Then who gets bumped? If Lance Lynn continues his resurgence he has to stay, it’s almost guaranteed Tony’s out if he falters. I wouldn’t be surprised if he were to be left off playoff roster, at least first round. Bobby Miller making a strong statement on being game 3 starter in playoffs. Garland sharp last night! That continues, Almonte may be sh*t out of luck!
Aug 23: 14-1
Aug 22: 22-6
Aug 21: 21-6
Aug 20: 21-7
I guess we should dispense of all the Dodger doom and gloom each year until at least the end of August.
In other news, and showing that there is at least a scintilla of sanity left in the world, Angel Hernandez lost his appeal against the MLB for racial discrimination. The judge decided and I’ll paraphrase, that Joe Torri had reason to believe that Hernandez sucked as an umpire and didn’t deserve a promotion.
Cheers
Let’s say Ohtani gets 50 mil per year. That’s 25 mil for the best hitter in baseball and 25 mil for one of the best pitchers in baseball. And the Dodgers make a fortune off him in ancillary income. Works for me.
One of fun sideshows this season is how the Dodgers and Braves each have two guys who are legitimate MVP candidates. Still a lot of baseball left, but I think if the vote was taken today it might be in this order.
Acuna
Freeman
Olson
Betts
Meanwhile, in the AL, there is one MVP candidate: Ohtani.
Even if we just focus on Ohtani’s offense, we see that he’s far and away the most devastating force. He leads in OPS, OBP, HRs and is third in BA. His OPS is at 1.071, while second-ranked Yandy Diaz is at .906. His slugging percentage of .664 is nearly 100 points over second-ranked Luis Robert.
Seriously, his production outpaces other hitters by so much he’d probably be MVP even if didn’t throw a single pitch.
But since he does pitch, let’s try to imagine what his 10-5 record and 3.17 ERA might be if he wasn’t pitching for a .500 team. He’d have a better defense behind him and would more often be pitching with a lead. He still leads the majors with a .185 batting average against, and he’s struck out 165 batters in 130 innings.
But even if he only was swinging the bat, he’d still be the AL MVP.
And it wouldn’t be close.
10 in a row, nice. Keep it going. Burnes pitching today against Lynn.
Your bet on the Rangers could pay off big!
Dodgers are joint favorites with Braves, I assume.
Seems about right to me. Superstar players in their prime, rebounding stars like Julio, strong role players, impressive rookies, deep bullpen. And Roberts is making some good moves.
Unlike last season, every midseason move this year by AF has clicked–and perhaps we were lucky that the deal for Rodriguez fell through.
With such a big lead in the West, Roberts should start giving Barnes more action and Smith more rest, either on the bench or at DH. Right now, Barnes is the weak link on this team, and playing him more could both help Barnes fix what’s wrong and prepare Smith for a heavy postseason load.
The Bookmakers here currently have the Dodgers as joint favourites to win the WS @3/1eith the Braves
Houston & Texas @5/1 next best.
Do we agree with this thinking?
I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the Rangers keep going as I backed them at 25/1 to win the American League, and had a little bit at 33/1 to win it all.
This young man is who I wanted to see pitch, for some strange reason, I trust him, I think he will be very helpful… Gus Varland
Hard to believe Brasier ever struggled this year. Pitch tunneling, great breaks, and complete command of all his pitches since being acquired.
Faint glimmer for an October Freeway Series as Angels hang on to defeat the Rangers.
Detmer took a no-hitter into the 8th inning before Semiens doubled. High-wire finish for closer Estevez, giving up two hits before striking out the potential winning run.
Ohtani nailed his 42nd HR among three hits. He’s the game’s best DH by a wide margin. His 1.071 OPS tops the majors, and is 70 points ahead of second-best Freddie.
There is a strong possibility that the Rangers will be playing in October. This team was good before they added Scherzer and Montgomery to the rotation and Chapman to the pen.
Even when he doesn’t have his good stuff, Kersh delivers. Hopefully he gets a little more velocity back
Freddie breaks out with a… What else a double
Wade Miley looks like Lance Lynns somewhat slimmer left-handed, brother
Freddie no hits since injury.
And yes Kershaw can pitch to someone other than Barnes
Luke Raley
Pinch hit inside the park homer
Thank you
Ok Mark. How about this. Dodgers are 13-1 in August and if it wasn’t for their idiot manager they’d be 14-0!
David Vassegh
@THEREAL_DV
#Dodgers Lineup vs #Brewers LHP, Wade Miley:
Betts RF
Freeman 1B
Smith C
Martinez DH
Rosario 2B
Muncy 3B
Hernandez CF
Taylor LF
Rojas SS
Clayton Kershaw P
Heavy righthanded lineup today, with Outman sitting and Kike in CF.
Freddie and Max are the only bats from the left side.
The difference is they sent Vargas Busch down if they could they would send Taylor and Barnes down but for who. They replaced the other players with Hernandez and Rosario and Rojas has now started to hit and Peralta and Heyward that’s the difference in team players hitting in the 7,8,9, alot of the lineup where guys weren’t before. If there was a catcher to bring up and a utility guy to bring up they would and send down Barnes and Taylor but theres nobody how do they not have a person that can hit better then those two guys in the minors. Well one reason they keep Barnes is because he is Kershaw catcher when he pitches their keep Taylor because he can play everywhere but dam they can’t hit.
I will celebrate when (if) we win the WS. But still great to watch right now.
Well my wife doesn’t complain when I do something good ,but bad? It’s just nice to be on a good streak! After a rocky start to the season, things are much better. All the credit to Roberts and Friedman. Although Doc still makes my nerves flare once and awhile, he should be manager of the year. Hope Clayton is sharp tonight.
* Yes it’s funny the amount of comments based of the trade deadline recommendations and complaints when we lose. Doc’s gotten a lot smarter lately.
* I think everybody is happy and proud of these Dodgers. The new additions and the camaraderie with this group has been remarkable. This is now my favorite Dodger team in a very long time. They really do play for each other and appear to genuinely like and play for one another. That’s more rare them you think in today’s game. The bottom line is that this team is really fun to watch right now.
* Watching Mookie play now is a window into his personality. He plays better when he is loose and has a smile on his face. He does not play well when grinding and beating himself up. Hell, it’s hard not to when you’re struggling. I think Freddie’s totally nonvolatile, stable, day-to-day approach, eliminating the highs and lows has had a major impact on Mookie and the rest of the squad.
* The first lessons you get your first week of pro ball comes from the veterans including speaking in “pro baseball terms”. The Manager isn’t “coach” anymore. He’s the Skipper or Skip. The bus driver is the “bussie”. You can get fined for bad play and stupid shit. And where you dress and hang out isn’t the Locker Room anymore. It’s the Clubhouse. Did Orel forget that? I hear the locker room term a lot lately but ex-pros should know better.
* By the 8th inning last night I turned off the sound of Joe and Orel. I finally got sick of all the stats and reminders of just how awesome we are. Again, we’re all tickled but do we need to get a constant diet of useless stats and shameless bragging about how this is the greatest thing since the invention of fire?
Joe has stat after stat reenforcing how great we are…….. “this team is hitting .700 since July 18th against left handed relief pitchers on 2&2 counts, after the 7th inning, which is one of the 29 categories where we lead the league since September”.
Or some such useless bullshit. Orel actually said the it was good for the Brewers to get a glimpse of how a great, playoff team looks, preparing for the playoffs. We’re now visually aids for the Brewers? How arrogant is that comment?
I’m paraphrasing but these type comments are unnecessary. We all know how well this team is playing right now. We don’t need one useless stat after another to prove it or Orel’s cocky disrespect for everything not Dodger.
A little more class and a little less bravado would suit me. Don’t get too full of yourself when you’re going well and don’t get suicidal when you stink.
I have noticed that when the Dodgers are doing great, comments are down.
I guess that when people don’t have anything to bitch about they lose their purpose in life.
I have not had to call anyone a moron in several weeks! 😉
Tuesday scores
Salt Lake 8, Oklahoma City 6
Tulsa 7, Frisco 2
Lansing 6, Great Lakes 5
Rancho Cucamonga 5, Visalia 3
Wednesday schedule
4:05 p.m. PT: Great Lakes (Hyun-il Choi) at Lansing (Jose Dicochea)
5:05 p.m.: Tulsa (Ben Casparius) at Frisco (Noah Bremer)
5:35 p.m.: Oklahoma City (Gavin Stone) at Salt Lake (Kenny Rosenberg)
6:30 p.m.: Rancho Cucamonga (Christian Romero) at Visalia (Ricardo Yan)
The Dodgers’ Farm Systems is now rated #6 by MLB:
https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-pipeline-2023-midseason-system-rankings?t=mlb-pipeline-coverage&partnerId=zh-20230816-1003656-mlb-1-A&qid=1026&utm_id=zh-20230816-1003656-mlb-1-A&bt_ee=ZHpMeqCSdB9C3AgolJxFqRXS2zNEuLykgp6qQaEda7p%2BJjMKc9b7Zv1SG2AZnWZJ&bt_ts=1692194897794
6. Los Angeles Dodgers
2023 preseason rank: 2
2022 midseason rank: 2
2022 preseason rank: 5
2021 midseason rank: 16
Top 100 prospects: Dalton Rushing, C/1B (No. 46); Michael Busch, 3B/2B (No. 47); Diego Cartaya, C (No. 60); Nick Frasso, RHP (No. 69); Gavin Stone, RHP (No. 84)
The Dodgers are nearing their 10th National League West title in the past 11 years, and they won 106 games the one season they came up short. A nonstop supply of prospects has fueled that success, and this year alone they’ve graduated Top 100 prospects Bobby Miller, Miguel Vargas and Emmet Sheehan, plus James Outman, to Los Angeles. There’s another wave percolating in Triple-A (Busch, Stone, outfielder Andy Pages, right-handers Landon Knack, Ryan Pepiot and Kyle Hurt) and more talent coming behind them.
Miller did a great job after the first two hitters. Very Drysdale like performance. The Dodgers figured out the Brewers pitcher in the 6th and they got the win. Nice work all around. Don’t look now but Freeman has not had a hit in three consecutive games. He is 0-11 over that stretch. He has walked a couple of times, and he got on last night on an error. Since Thursday he is 2-18. You could actually see by the expression on his face after he struck out his last at bat that he was pretty frustrated. Nice to have JD back in the lineup. Even nicer to see Muncy actually get as many hits as strikeouts. Facing a lefty in Wade Miley tonight against Kersh. Taylor will be back in the starting lineup, and I am guessing Barnes is going to catch.
Never question? You mean that I have to applaud the Trevor Bauer signing? I love AF but…..
And Bellinger is putting up “in the MVP conversation” type numbers.
The Dodgers are currently on pace, based on their current winning percentage, to win nearly 99 games. They can easily reach the 100 win milestone again this year. The Dodgers have been on a run since 2019 where they’ve been winning at a 66% clip. That translates to an average of nearly 107 wins per season. They didn’t reach the 100 win milestone in 2020, but the won 43 out of 60 games during that Covid shortened season. That’s a 71.7% winning percentage, which, extrapolated to a 162 game season, is 116 wins.
The Ruth/Gehrig Yankees didn’t even do that (although, for a fair comparison, I should really break down the Yankees winning % during their peak years and apply that to a hypothetical 162 game season). I can’t think of another comparable era of sustained greatness by any other team, and I’m not even mentioning the run of division titles. The last time the Dodgers even had a losing season was 2010.
Could you imagine if Bellinger hadn’t hit that go-ahead run against the Braves in 2020? The best run in MLB history and not a single WS victory. Thank goodness the Dodgers have 2020.
It’s a good time to be a Dodger fan.
After those first two guys who reached Bobby Miller was lights out. 18 up, 18 down.
If that was a playoff game do you think Doc would have left him in ? I would hope so.
Cartaya went 0-4 last night, not 2-4, average now .182
What a funk this kid is in. way too talented to hit that low of an average.
Right about now that kid Liranzo at RC looks to be our best catching prospect with both Rushing and Cartaya struggling mightily. Liranzo 3-4 with his league leading 20th big fly last night.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It may be a good time to give Will Smith some much deserved time off with a 9 game lead.
@PhilJones: How did the HPU grade out last night? Watching it live it looked like he missed quite a few calls.
Lets win the series today with Kershaw going.
Dodgers are going to lose 20 more games, they’ll finish the season 96-66, but I don’t think they’ll catch Atlanta, which doesn’t matter at all, since the only way they’ll meet is until the National Championship, right?
I think if the season ends today, LA would face the winner of Marlins vs. Phillies (I guess)
Did anyone see that called strike 3 on Justin Turner last night??
Beyond a horrible call.
Watch out for that tree!