The Best is Yet to Come!
The Dodgers are one win away from the most wins in the NL and two wins away from the most win in all of baseball. They have scored the most runs and have the largest run differential by a huge margin, and they still are missing their World Series MVP, who is ranked as one of the Top 2 or 3 SS in all of baseball. When he is
The Dodgers are one win away from the most wins in the NL and two wins away from the most win in all of baseball. They have scored the most runs and have the largest run differential … by a huge margin, and they still are missing their World Series MVP, who is ranked as one of the Top 2 or 3 SS in all of baseball. When he is healthy, this team is to be feared! The pitching is fine and getting better, as the Dodgers are #3 in team ERA barely behind San Diego and the Mets. The relievers are improving, but San Diego continues to lead MLB in Bullpen ERA.
They will not be able to sustain it. Here’s why: The Padres continue to have best Bullpen ERA while leading the majors in Bullpen Innings Pitched. The Dodgers bullpen has pitched 207 innings, while the Padres bullpen has pitched a whopping 275 innings. That’s 68 more innings than the Dodgers which translates into about 180 more innings if you extrapolate that through the rest of the year. They will start breaking down from overuse soon enough!
Hopefully, the injury bug is not back as Cody Bellinger has a hamstring problems and Max Muncy has an oblique strain. Both injuries can lead to extended time on the IL… or they may just require a few days rest. Neither one will likely be in the lineup today… and so we wait! Jimmy Nelson has been the bullpen find of the year and Mitch White is looking more and more comfortable, as he tries to cut down on his walks. I would not be surprised if he stays on the team all season.
Gavin Lux can hit AAAA RH pitching, but he is going to have to hit LHP and he has not been able to do that…. so far. Speaking of not being able to hit LHP, Joc Pederson has improved this year to .231 against LHP, but has only one extra base hit. All his HR’s have come against RHP. He is a “Punch and Judy Hitter” from the left side. While I am at it, Kike Hernandez is who we thought he was: a .233 hitter. Alex Verdugo sits at .294 BA with a .353 OPS.
Finally, I will say it: Albert Pujols can still play as a sub and I love having him on the team. I did feel very sorry for Mike Foltynewicz last night. He once was filthy… it shows how quickly you can lose it. Will Texas keep Bret de Geus (with his 8.14 ERA), or return him to the Dodgers?
Dodgers Minor League Report
- OKC BOXSCORE – OKC continues to be on a rampage. They raised their record to 15-17 with a 9-1 win over the Chihuahuas. Keibert Ruiz hit 2 HR and drve in 3 (.300 BA/1.049 OPS). Dennis Santana started and went 2 innings, allowing 1 hit, but walking 2. Obviously, he is working on his control.
- TULSA BOXSCORE – Tulsa only had 4 hits to go with 7 walks, but the hits were timely. Devin Mann had their only extra-base hit (a double) as Rooney gave up 1 run in 4 IP, while striking out 9. Brickhouse and Hagenman combined for 5 shutout innings to end the game.
- GL BOXSCORE – The Loons continue to be owned by the Dayton Dragons as they lost 1-0! They are now 1-9 this season against Dayton. Ouch! Overall they are 16-18. Bobby Miller pitched 3.2 innings, allowing 1 hit, no walks, and striking out 3 (1.00 ERA). Cole Percival also went 3.1 innings and allowed 1 run (1.99 ERA).
- RC BOXSCORE – The Quakes improved to 19-14 with an 11-6 win over the Storm. The story of the year continues to be Diego Cartaya who hit his 6th HR – a 2-run shot. He was 2-3 with 2 BB and4 RBI. He is now hitting .372 with a 1.335 OPS. He is a giant among boys! Edwin Mateo was 2-5 and Sauryn Lao hit a 3-run HR, as did Eddys Leonard.
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Discussion (107)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Maybe Clayton will want to end his career pitching in Texas like many of you imagined.
Here is the main takeaway from this game: NOTHING!
Sorry to hear about Mudcat I vaguely remember him pitching for the Dodgers.
What I do remember is he hit a home run off us in the World Series, does anyone remember who was pitching at the time
This falls under the category of %^$#@*( happens!
Move along – there’s nothing to see here folks.
Mudcat Grant, former Dodger passed away today.
70 million dollars worth of nothing tonight. Betts and Bauer stinking up the joint. Offense non existent and they are blowing a huge opportunity to gain on the Giants. Way things are now, they will still be 2 games back of the Giants. Oh yeah. Pollock went deep tonight.
Our all or nothing boys in blue! Pathetic tonight. Going to bed!
Hmm…. Maybe we need to get a report on Bauer’s spin rate as Dodgers fall behind 5-0.
But hey, Andy Burns is still batting 1.000!
And now 6-0 as Price gives up a single…
Just another pathetic offensive performance against a no nothing lefty. McKinstry shouldn’t be in the lineup against lefties. Bauer isn’t very good but the offense is even worse! What’s up with Mookie and lefties. Career wise he’s fine but as a Dodger he’s been BAD! Joc bad!
Don’t forget Bauer been pitching with very little run support
I’m not making excuses for him but it does put a lot more pressure on the pitcher
And as for Pollock, Does Anyone know what his average with RISP is ?
1 – I had hoped that last night would be the kind of catharsis that the offense needed to really get kick-started. Maybe not.
2 – Bauer’s RPM is down over 200 since MLB announced that it would start enforcing the rules. The LA Times hypothesized that the Dodgers may have made a $40MM mistake if Bauer can no longer pitch like an ace.
3 – Raley came up when they put Muncy on the IL, so he’s up too.
4 – They needed to DFA Santana to make room for Burns on the 40 man. It doesn’t have anything to do with options.
Good game to win tonight to pick up ground. Bauer is seemingly struggling every game with pitch count. It looks like he would come out sharp. He can’t get the rangers out. Terrible lineup and already 5 hits in 3 innings plus stolen bases at will. Not a good time to stink it up. I realize unearned runs but 5 hits in 3 innings. WTH did mookie do?
Not being able to use the goop not only affects Bauer’s spin rate but also his ability to hold runners on! He’s clearly not the same pitcher without it!
The Andy Burns Era begins!
Really like these stories. A 30-year-old career minor leaguer (save for a six AB stint with Toronto in 2016) gets the call. He has certainly paid his dues, and was crushing in OKC. (An earlier report had Raley coming back. Is he–or did Burns get the call instead?)
I really hope he makes an impact. Can’t help but root harder for these guys and late draft picks like McKinstry more than the annointed ones. (That said, I was annoyed by McKinstry’s slow stutter-step throw to first that nearly gave ex-Dodger Culberson a hit.)
Also, I’m a bit fuzzy on Santana’s DFA…
I guess it means he is out of options so they can’t just send him to OKC. Does this mean Dodgers are likely to trade him? And if they can’t, he becomes a FA like Pujols was?
Giants score 3 runs in their three game series with Nats and win 2 of them. Wow!
Been nice knowing u Muncy. Oblique injury probably out for month plus. It will b another long period to get right. This is terrible news! Next man up but the Dodgers have really been snakebite. Probably caused by ankle issue. They probably should put bellinger on the il before he gets a related injury. Players are so fragile in today’s game.
Ravelo not playing again for OKC tonight. I’m assuming he’s hurt, although he probably wouldn’t have been brought up anyway because that would have necessitated DFAing someone like Tsutsugo, our future playoff hero.
Pepiot started for Tulsa tonight and pitched 5 scoreless, hitless innings with one walk and 8 k’s. Very promising.
Max Muncy to the IL with right oblique strain. Dammit, I was in denial. Raley recalled.
I guess the baseball gods want the NL west to be interesting this year.
When we get all our guys back after the All-Star game, it will feel like we won the trade deadline.
Doc said Corey was about two weeks away from a rehab assignment yesterday. Today he’s about a week away. At this rate, he’ll be in the starting lineup on Monday.
Doc doesn’t sound overly excited about Andy Burns. Worst case you have a guy off the bench that can hit a lefty.
Muncy will be reassessed after a couple of days and they can always go retroactive from there.
Belli might be able to pinch hit, “We’ll see after he starts moving around.”
Do you think Yoshii will miss a little more than ten days? Doc sounded very confident replying in the affirmative. Answered quickly and decisively. He’ll be in OKC’s lineup on Monday. So much for OKC running away with the division.
After all the injuries so far this year, I feel like I’m in denial about Muncy and Belli going down last night.
Hosmer, Machado and Myers are all returning to pre 2020 levels. When their bullpen blows up they will sink quick! And the Giants record is just not sustainable with their talent level. The time is now to make a move and take our rightful place on top of the West!
Did anyone notice that Alex Wood’s ERA is rising faster than a fat kid pinata party? The Padres are in a rough patch right now and the Giants are tethering at the edge of the cliff with Longoria going on the IL and Wood fading back to mediocrity.
Tonight’s winning lineup:
Betts CF
TaylorSS
Turner 3B
Pujols 1B
SmithC
PollockLF
Burns2B
MckinstryRF
BauerP
No Belli or Max, Burns makes his MLB debut tonight.
Giants lose first game of a doubleheader 2-0 today to the Nats. Padres losing 2-0 to the Mets in the 3rd, Chance to pick up some ground tonight.
Well Mark I guess u couldn’t convince AF to keep Santana. I must admit I am surprised. A young pitching prospect who has had Mlb experience even if it has been bad. He has certainly had chances but for AF to give up this quick on someone this young is very surprising. Mb more to it.
Never heard of Burns but if he doesn’t pan out he will be dfa next. It seems like yoshi would have been a better cut. AF must think he can fix him. Mb they can get another young arm for Santana.
I thought the ice was getting thin with Santana. Farewell Dennis, I hope you pitch against us a lot.
Andy Burns has been an animal against LHP this year. This is make it or break it time for him. I’m always excited to see what the new guys can do. I’m sad it wasn’t Ravelo, but am eager to see what Burns can do. Maybe he’ll be our Donovan Solano.
Mark, there is no way in hell that Lux gets traded this year. He’s already showed that he’s a capable, very young shortstop. With more seasoning, he’s got the ceiling of an All-Star shortstop. With Seager’s impending free agency, there’s a better chance I win the lotto than AF taking on the risk of not having a shortstop.
As far as Ruiz goes, he’s doing enough to make him practically untradeable. You certainly aren’t going to trade a catcher with his upside for a closer on an expiring deal. The only way he goes is if an Ace becomes available on a rebuilding team that’s drooling over a catcher that can hit. That or a “Mookie” type superstar on a rebuilding team. The problem is there’s no where to put anyone.
No one is going to displace Smith, Muncy, Seager, Turner, Belli or Betts. It’s going to be a hard find to get someone to displace Pollock or the Lux/CT3/Muncy combo at second base. Ruiz is going to bring in a very big name if he is traded, I just don’t think there’s much supply to make that work. A couple of years ago would have been a different story.
I don’t see Smith moving off his position full time either. Not in the near future anyways. Barnes is most likely the next catcher to be traded. It’s hard to even see a scenario where Smith plays third base in the next couple of years with Justin and Rios locked up. Even if the NL picks up the DH next year, it would make more sense to go and get a Castellanos to fill that role, or a Kris Bryant to job share at several positions.
Like I said, Barnes’ days are numbered. He’s better than a lot of starters around the league, he’s fairly cheap and has another year left on his contract. It’s the perfect time to trade him. Did you notice Clayton’s line score yesterday throwing to Smith?
With Muncy and Belli out with Injury and a lefty on the bump. Is the lineup going to look something like this?
Betts RF
CT3 CF
Turner 3B
Smith C
Pollock LF
Pujols 1B
Lux SS
Burns 2B