It is happening. Slowly for sure, but it is happening. At the beginning of this season the Dodgers had five veteran starting pitchers. Kershaw, Urias, Gonsolin, Syndergaard and May. May obviously the kid in the bunch but entering his 4th season in the majors Many of their back-up players are and were veterans. Some vets they signed in the offseason looked like they would be making the team. Peralta and Heyward stuck. Lux was injured and Rojas became the starting SS.
Now they are down to Kershaw. And he is not at his best. It is going to fall to one veteran, Lance Lynn, and some rookies, take your pick. Grove, Pepiot, Miller, Sheehan and possibly Stone, to get the Dodgers to the promised land. Kersh is going to pitch until he no longer can. Miller has established himself in the rotation with some gritty performances. We have seen flashes from Pepiot, Grove and Sheehan. Stone has pitched better at AAA of late.
The time for change is here. I wanted to see if I could find a playoff team with as many young pitchers on their staff during the playoffs. I did not have to look far. The 2020 Braves had three starting pitchers under the age of 26 that they used in the NLCS against the Dodgers. Max Fried, Kyle Wright and Ian Anderson. They also had another pitcher, 22-year-old, Bryse Wilson, who started one of the seven games. Although 2020 was the shortened season, the Braves had four pitchers 26 and under who got them to the NLCS.
And they had the Dodgers on the brink of elimination after four games. I see no reason we cannot expect the young Dodger pitchers to step up and perform like veterans. If others did it, it is possible for our kids to do the same. Anything in baseball is possible. Weak teams beat strong teams all the time. And I remember many games where the Dodgers facing a rookie that they had never seen and not doing very well against them.
But the real change will be what this team looks like come spring training. 2024. The Dodgers have a lot of payroll coming off of the books. Besides the free agents list, which is huge, they have options on Lynn and Muncy. Kersh, Urias, who at this point is pretty much a given as to not coming back, Peralta, Hernandez, Heyward, Rosario, Kelly, Miller, Treinen, Hudson, Wong, Brasier, Martinez, Yarbrough. All those guys will be free agents. Barnhart has a player option for 24.
I have a feeling there is going to be a huge turnover of the roster this winter. I think CK will make some sort of decision by say the winter meetings. If his shoulder needs surgery, all bets are off. I still have to believe he will retire if surgery is needed. One thing I do know is that the Dodgers will let him take his time to make his decision.
I also think that Jason Heyward will get another year at least with the team. He is solid on the field and great in the clubhouse. Peralta probably will not. I think some rookies, DeLuca, Vargas, and several pitchers, are going to get long looks in the spring. But also remember that next season they are starting play on the 20th of March against the Padres in Korea. Not all of the players will travel with the team. After that opening 2 game series, they come back to the States and play three games with the Angels and then open the home season at Dodger Stadium on the 28th of March against the Cardinals. That is a four-game series.
The winter meetings are going to be of great interest to Dodger fans as we wait to see if AF makes any trades or free-agent signings to bolster the pitching staff. As much as Andrew loves to hold on to prospects, I have to believe if they add a starting pitcher, it will be through free agency. There will be plenty of names out there. Do they take a chance that they can fix whatever is wrong with Giolito and bring him home?
Do they finally decide that they will pick up some of his contract and see if anyone wants Chris Taylor? There will be other players available who can fill his Swiss Army knife role. How will Gavin Lux play after missing a whole year? There are a lot of questions that will need to be answered. And the changing of the guard will begin in earnest.
I think most of us believe the most drastic changes will be with the pitching staff. With May and Gonsolin both down for the count next year, the options will be numerous. I have always felt the Dodgers are pretty good at growing their own. And the kids will definitely get some long looks in spring. Based on what I have seen, Miller is of course, a lock to be in the rotation next season. Sheehan and Pepiot both looked pretty good their last time out. Grove has also shown some promise.
I am looking at Stone as a possible back end of the bullpen piece. But I am not sure the Dodgers look at him as a reliever at all. If he adds a pitch or two that he can control, maybe he becomes a middle-of-the-rotation guy. Right now, with two pitches, I am not so sure.
There are other guys just starting their AAA journeys that might come into play also. Knack, Frasso. Some have mentioned a couple of Japanese pitchers who will be available this winter. Possibly they would sign one. I do not believe they could get more than that. We just have to wait and see what the plan is.
Down on the Farm
- Miguel Vargas was 2-5 with a double and 3 RBI. He is hitting .308 (.909 OPS).
- Jorbit Vivas was 4-5. He could be a roster causality or trade as he is really only a second baseman.
- Kyle Hurt pitched 5 shutout innings (1 BB, 1 H, 6 K’s) for OKC
- Michael Grove pitched an inning and was predictably roughed up.
- River Ryan also pitched 5 shutout innings for Tulsa
- Dalton Rushing caught and was 2-3 with a double for GL
Discussion (30)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Great timing getting JD back! What’s gotten in to Chris Taylor? Like I said earlier, how in the hell does MLB justify blacking out nationals games 6 hours away? Ma’am is not available on my cable , and the mlb package is blocked. Baseball wants to reach out to new. Fans everywhere, but won’t let a dodger fan 6 hours away enjoy his favorite team! I call BS as Mark might say!
CT scan on Mookie showed no damage. He has a bone bruise. He will not play this weekend. Congrats to Freeman on his record setting 53rd double. Tomorrow is Miller time.
Rosarios approach and swings at the plate just look abysmal
All the runs scored on homers. Last night except for CT-3s blast scored without a homer. RISP woes still there as they leave the bases loaded with no outs again. Wow, a sac bunt! Amazing.
Damn. Had to be K-Bear
This looks like it will be the Dodger’s anthem for post season, 2023.
https://youtu.be/VZfEv4JqxHQ?si=EH0eVxJpTbGbPEg9
Good thing we built nice double digit lead. Let the kids pitch and see what we got.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afam2nIae4o
All we can do with Betts is wait and see. It is better he does not play until his foot is better. All this doom and gloom crap is depressing. Just wait until the diagnosis is in. Then we know for sure.
Thursday scores
Oklahoma City 6, Sugar Land 2
Springfield 5, Tulsa 4 (10 innings)
Great Lakes 5, West Michigan 4
Visalia 4, Rancho Cucamonga 3
Friday schedule
3:35 p.m. PT: Great Lakes (Maddux Bruns) at West Michigan (Carlos Pena)
5:05 p.m.: Oklahoma City (Nick Frasso) at Sugar Land (Spencer Arrighetti)
5:05 p.m.: Tulsa (Robbie Peto) at Springfield (Wilfredo Pereira)
6:30 p.m.: Rancho Cucamonga (Gabe Emmett) vs. Visalia (Wyatt Wendell)
Triple-A: Michael Grove started a rehab assignment with Oklahoma City.
CT3 is the Dodger’s Roberto Clemente Nominee.
Considering Roberts’ sketchy history with “optimistic” proclamations on when an injured player returns to action, I would say it’s now totally up-in-the-air as to when we see Mookie playing again.
7:05 PM ET
Dodgers (85-54)
Nationals (63-77)
SP Emmet Sheehan R
3-1 5.31 ERA
SP MacKenzie Gore L
7-10 4.28 ERA
Confirmed Lineup
LF Chris Taylor R
1B F. Freeman L
C Will Smith R
DH J. Martinez R
3B Max Muncy L
2B Amed Rosario R
RF E. Hernandez R
CF James Outman L
SS Miguel Rojas R
47% Rain
85° Wind 9 mph R-L
DODGERS PRESS RELEASE
DODGERS ACTIVATE J.D. MARTINEZ
LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Dodgers activated designated hitter J.D. Martinez from the injured list and optioned infielder Michael Busch to Triple-A Oklahoma City.
Martinez, 36, missed 17 games with groin tightness. On the season, he has appeared in 92 games, hitting .256 (90-for-351) with 23 doubles, 25 homers and 78 RBI. He made two rehab assignments with Triple-A Oklahoma City, going 1-for-8 with three RBI. He was selected to his fifth straight All-Star Game after slashing .255/.303/.570 with 22 homers and 62 RBI at the All-Star break. He has been in the Majors parts of 13 seasons with Houston (2011-13), Detroit (2014-17), Arizona (2017), Boston (2018-22) and Los Angeles (2023) and he has amassed 307 homers and 977 RBI with a career .288 batting average in 1,501 games. On June 27, he clubbed his 300th home run of his career in Colorado, becoming the 156th player in MLB history to accomplish the feat. He was originally drafted by the Houston Astros in the 20th round of the 2009 First Year Player Draft out of Nova Southeastern University.
Busch, 25, played in 27 games for the Dodgers, hitting .167 (12-for-72) with three doubles, two homers and seven RBI this season. The infielder has appeared in 88 games for Triple-A Oklahoma City, hitting .323 (114-for-356) with 23 doubles, 24 homers and 82 RBI. He has been with the Dodgers organization since being drafted in the first round (31st overall) of the 2019 First Year Player Draft out of the University of North Carolina. In four minor league seasons, he has a hit a combined .282 (377-for-1338) with 88 doubles, 76 homers and 259 RBI.
Not surprised about Walker. 2nd TJs are tough.
This is why I don’t believe the Dodgers will sign Ohtani. He will basically be Freddy Freeman, who signed for a reasonable price, but has never played an inning of defense. And likely can’t for an extended period of time after he has surgery. Unless Ohtani agrees to a creative, incentive laden, contract; I don’t see the Dodgers being anywhere near the best offer he will get. There is simply no guarantee he will ever be an effective starter again.
I think there is a chance that Walker spends his last arb year on the Dodgers as our closer.
Did anyone think it was not smart to even try to bring Walker back in September after missing almost two seasons? Wouldn’t it be best to focus on him just getting 100% and return next season instead of rushing him to pitch in the playoffs?
Just got an email. Joe Kelly is pitching tonight in San Bernardino for the Quakes. My son will be at the game with his HS ROTC.
Let’s see how that goes.
According to Dave Roberts this morning on radio, MLB Network radio, Mookie is getting a CT scan this morning. He will probably miss the Nat’s series but return to the lineup on Monday against the Padres. Lakers signed Scotty Pippen Jr. Anyone surprised that after picking up a ball in play that the right field ball person was replaced the next inning?
That, of course, was the right decision!
Whatever happens thru the rest of Sept and into October (and God willing November?), our kid pitchers are getting amazing experience.
Even though we’re running away with this division, and seem to be a lock for the #2 overall seed in the NL, it’s still pennant race experience for the guys. Rookie pitchers on crap teams aren’t facing such pressure or scrutiny.
This will really help the kid pitchers take the next step in 2024. It’s going to be a fun ride for the next 5-8 weeks, but 2024 is getting a huge head start, which is a great thing.
Walker Buehler has been shut down for the season.
On to plan M
Not too long ago I envisioned a six-man rotation for 2024 that included both Ohtani and Kershaw….
But stuff happens.
But some of the stuff is good, such as Pepiot’s emergence in the nick of time. And Chris Taylor seems to be peaking…. But questions persist: Will Buehler make it back? Will JDM be slugging again? Will Joe Kelly get back too?
Down on the farm, Vivas hit for a cycle. He’s a very good on-base guy. Makes contact, draws walks. But as Bear points out, he is primarily a second baseman. Perhaps he can be UT guy.
TrueBlueLA reported that it was the first cycle hit in 2022 since Michael Busch hit two within one week about a year ago. Except that it wasn’t Busch–it was Outman who hit a pair of cycles after he was sent down following his spectacular but too-short debut.
So even after he’s proven himself as a solid major leaguer, Outman still gets the Dangerfield treatment–no respect, of course–in a Dodger fansite.
Walker not coming back this year, though disappointing likely the right call. Clearly there was a setback of some kind.
I do not think our pen is strong enough to compliment our young rotation plus an injured Kershaw. The hitting will have to be torrid for us to have a chance.
* Question Bear – so you think Heyward will re-sign but not Peralta. That’s a tough call for me as I like both a lot. Why Heyward and not Peralta? The ages are comparable and they have aged well. Is it money? Heyward’s been a freebie and Peralta will likely want more than the 6.5 million this year. But we’ll have $. Is it one too many LHB? I like giving DeLuca big look and maybe Vargas in left, but I’d take Heyward and Peralta.
* I don’t know how much salary we would need to pick up, but CT3 has to go. too many utility guys and too many K’s. Thanks and good luck.
* Lux will be interesting but I could get comfortable with Mookie and Rojas up the middle.
* Rojas’ hands are extraordinary. Many of the subtleties he possesses are unrecognizable by the common fan. It takes somebody who played to appreciate that his hands are a level above very good infielders. He has skills like Ozzie Smith. He uses his glove to deflect the ball into his throwing hand as much as he uses it to catch the ball. I played with a young latin kid who showed me how to deflect a throw with the heel of the glove to deflect the ball to his throwing hand. It looked like magic, even throwing the ball around the infield. He played 2nd and could deflect good throws from SS and 3rd to his throwing hand on turns. The ball wasn’t actually caught. I tried for 2 years to perfect that skill and all I got out of it were jammed fingers. Watch Rojas even play catch and see him pull a rabbit out of his hat.
* I have a dream pitcher / hitter match up. It’s Lance Lynn vs Daniel Vogelbach or Rowdy Tellez racing to 1st base on a ground ball to Freeman. It would look like 2 rhinos racing to the watering hole.
Quiet in here when we win huh?
Some people just love to be miserable.
Pepiot was great, bats were great, love it.
No question, there will be changes and turnover.
The Dodgers have some good young pitchers — Miller, Stone, Sheehan, Pepiot and several more in the system. If Kershaw is healthy, I think he comes back for another year. He wants the Parade., deserves the parade. Walker Buehler could become an ace again and give the Dodgers a very good starting staff. I’m guessing the Dodgers try to add some veteran depth with pitchers like Flaherty and Giolito. Short term contracts. Can’t have too much pitching. Maybe Giolito can get more, but it’s a roll of the dice. I know there may be some injury or performance history, but when you’re looking for deals, you can’t expect top of the line talent. There will be risk. Depending on what the organization thinks, maybe they go three years for Giolito. They seem to think highly of him.
Definitely should try to bring Heyward back and add another couple of role players. Lux returns to short. That will improve the offense, lessen the defense.
Muncy probably returns, but he needs more contact, less strikeouts. The offense will be built around Mookie, Freddie and Will. They could use another big bat. Maybe it will be Ohtani, but that seems less likely with the arm injury and upcoming surgery. Even if he’s only a hitter for the next couple of years, it will be expensive. But the Dodgers can certainly afford it.
I suppose this winter we’ll hear cries for Arenado, but I’d pass. He’s not what he once was and who wants to give a big prospect package for a player who might be near the backside of a career.
The Dodgers need to give Busch a real shot. LA isn’t going to trade Outman, but I’m not sure where the future lies for Vargas, outfield?
The Dodgers system will remain loaded next year and maybe years into the future. They seem to have a knack.
I hope they push Mookie to take as much time off as he needs. He had to be 100% going into the playoffs. Foot injuries can be pesky things. I had a few in my day and it’s often 24 hours later before the swelling really takes hold. I remember twisting my ankle playing pick up basketball in HS. Didn’t hurt much. I kept playing. The next morning I could barely walk and I had to take the laces out of my shoe just to get it on. I limped for about a week.
I’m glad X-rays were negative. The division is won so there is no reason to rush his recovery.
Bear I agree about Hayward and Peralta but I think Jason will get a two or three year deal to stay on the team with Freeman.
I would also resign Rosario and maybe Brasier.
If I were GM This winter I would:
Trade for Arenado and sign Cody (Outman moves to left field).
I am also on the Rojas bandwagon.
Watching a Maddux like performance last night from Pepiot! Now I’m certainly not comparing Pepiot to Greg Maddux, the kid was money! Don’t believe he gets sent back down now! Anything close to last night is better than Julio was bringing. I look for Lynn and Clayton to rebound from their last starts. Even if Clayton is done, I’ll still watch him till he throws his last slider! He’s earned the right to go out on his terms. A strong start tonight from Emmet is going to happen! But don’t take the Nationals lightly. They have been pretty good at times this season and Dodgers somehow struggle against lower competition. Wow can Chris Taylor shut us up Quicker than he can swing and miss 3 in a row! I would have no issues with Rojas being ss next season! Just need a couple of strong hitters added to the lineup. Hopefully Barnes is playing elsewhere next year! Miller, Bueler, Pepiot, Stone, and 1 lefty next year. Not Blake Snell. I too believe Peralta is not brought back. I’m not sure about Muncy. I do believe it’s Max not Vargas. Or it could be neither. I like Vargas but I don’t believe he thrives in a platoon situation. He needs to play every day. Maybe Max has upped his game enough lately to stick around another year. Scary thing is Braves are set for a long time! Their guys come and play every day, hardly platooning at all. As for our dodgers, guess as long as Roberts and Friedman are here that’s all we’ll see. I agree with an earlier poster, let Heyward play more no matter who’s on the mound. I like James Outman a lot. But I’m not convinced he won’t be part of a trade package during the offseason. And no, Cody isn’t coming back! Probably won’t be able to watch games this weekend. Due to blackout restrictions. I live almost 6 hours away from Washington and can’t watch the game! This sucks as much as Angel Hernandez!
Rojas has saved a ton of hits and runs. He is a Wizard.
On a down note: Mookie Betts left the Stadium on crutches last night. X-Rays were negative, but he has some swelling.
No confidence in Stone or Grove yet…..need to see more minor league domination first before I see them in LA.
And as I’ve been saying all year…ROJAS IS A KEEPER AND SHOULD PLAY SS ALL YEAR.
The guy is awesome in the field (ask any pitcher) and I can take his bat any day of the week.
Please please don’t feel you need to fit head case Lux in that position. Please…
IN ROJAS I TRUST!