The Dodgers Miss Yasmani Grandal

Well… at least the pitchers do!

All that most Dodger fans remember about Yasmani Grandal were the passed balls.  He was regaled, reviled and ridiculed by many fans.  “Sure he hit a lot of home runs, but they were in streaks and he struck out too much even though he had a good on base percentage.  And on top of that he just disappeared in the playoffs last year”. 

He was a free agent this past winter and the Dodgers made him the qualifying offer, which he declined, thus ending his time in LA.  The Dodgers minor league pipeline is full of catchers and there was no way he was going to get a long-term deal from the Dodgers.  I think the Dodgers may have hoped he would take the qualifying offer, but he did not.  It turns out he might have been better off if he had of taken the offer. But, I digress…

Fans look at the passed balls and lose their minds, but consider that Yasmani Grandal caught Dodger Pitchers while they threw to almost 4,300 total batters last season, which is almost 18,000 pitches and only 9 of them were passed balls.  NINE! If that seems like a lot, you are crazy.  That is a tiny number when you look at it from that perspective.  You could live with that if you had to.  Of course, the Friedman Hater’s loved to point to those passed balls.  After all, it was that damned Friedman who traded for him in the first place. They take every opportunity to create fictional scenarios in their tiny little pea brains to manufacture reasons to hate Andrew.

Someone wrote yesterday “This front office is blind to trades.” Have you seen how many trades have been made by them… how many minor league players have been traded away? The Dodgers lost Seager last year and went out and traded for Manny Machado (who did not live up to his press clippings, but helped the Dodgers get to the World Series). The Dodgers have been very active in the trade market since Friedman arrived… probably the most active. That’s the kind of pure irrational fiction that drives me crazy! You might want to “fact check” that. Back to Yasmani…

But, Yasmani’s passed balls were something else in the post-season, as we all remember.  It’s too bad because Yasmani is a good guy.  Here’s the other thing:  Dodger pitchers loved to pitch to him.  Zack Greinke called him “the best catcher I ever had.”

Right about now, the Dodgers miss Yasmani Grandal’s defense and game-calling.  I am sure that as the year wears on, they will become more familiar with Russ Martin and settle in with Austin Barnes, but I think some of the slow start by the pitching staff is simply not having Yasmani Grandal.

I was a big Grandal supporter, but he never quite lived up to my expectations.  Before the trade, I had identified him as a potential “break-out player.”  That is someone who I believe could be an All-Star… and he was once, but simply while his highs were high, his lows were lower… and lasted too long.  It was time for him to move on and maybe in Milwaukee he can reach the level of success I envisioned for him.

Right about now, the Dodgers miss his in-game leadership.  He called a good game and snatched balls and turned them into strikes. Right about now, the Dodgers miss his pitch framing.  Yasmani may have really bloomed under RVS.  That, we will likely never know, but Van Socyoc could have been good for him. 

The Dodgers are going to be fine, but its going to take a month or two for the pitchers to fully adapt to Martin and Barnes… and God help us if Rocky Gale stays more than 2 weeks!  I’d rather see Will Smith and DFA Gale. Smith is off to a good start at OKC.

By the way, the Milwaukee pitchers are still learning Yasmani too.  He has a Catchers ERA of 6.84 so far, but is off to a hot start, OPS’ing over 1.000. We shall see him tonight. Good Luck, Yasmanian Devil… but just not this weekend.

By the way, I have to acknowledge that one of the boldest, out-of-the-box moves made by any GM this winter was the hiring of Robert Van Socyoc as hitting coach. That bold move may pay off in spades… the jury is still out and this is still baseball.

Other Dodger News

• Corey Seager will be evaluated after he took a pitch off his hamstring. I would think he might rest a couple of days just to make sure it is healed. That would seem to be the prudent course of action.
• The Dodgers need to play CT3 until he gets his swing back. They had too many “all or nothing” players and CT3 is one along with Joc. Chris has good trade value if he can break out of this slump. It’s possible both CT3 and Joc could be traded. Alex Verdugo is showing a lot of signs that LF should be his.
• Joc is growing on me, but the Dodgers need to find PT for Verdugo. It’s as simple as that. I would lead him off every game.
• In case you missed, the Orioles returned Drew Jackson to the Dodgers… he’s back!
• Is this Kike’s break out year? I have been predicting it for two years. Maybe this is it. Peter Gammons and the Dodgers think so. Read the story in The Athletic if you are so inclined. It’s a great read by Gammons.
• Muncy made an error at 2B yesterday and the naysayers blame Doc. Everything is his fault because that is your worldview. It’s also fiction, but hey… everyone likes a good book. Last I saw, Muncy had a glove and should have fielded that ball cleanly, but he took his eye off of it. Yeah, that’s Doc’s fault.
• The naysayers are out en mass right about now. When the Dodgers were 8-2, I told you there would be valleys. Don’t lose your minds people. Have you seen what is going on with the Yankees, Cubs and Red Sox? Red Sox Starters have a 8.79 ERA while the Dodgers are bad at 4.57.
• The Nats who went after bullpen help last winter, have a bullpen ERA of 7.79 while the Dodgers are bad at 5.37.
• The Dodgers are 8-6 while the Brewers are off to a”fast start” according to some with an 8-5 record. Perception can be your deception.
• Keep sane my brothers and sisters. It’s going to be just fine. Watch and learn!
• I am writing this from Brooklyn, New York as I spend the weekend with my oldest son.

Minor League Report

• OKC was postponed due to the blizzard that we experienced in Denver Wednesday. It was 80 on Tuesday, 22 Wednesday night during the blizzard and 44 yesterday when I flew to NYC. Crazy!
• Tulsa lost 9-8 as Alvarez was lit up again. He has a 14.73 ERA. Are they trying to prove a point? Ruiz and Peters continue to struggle while Lux, Walker and Santana are shining. Lux, Santana and Walker all had 2 hits.
• Rancho Cucamonga lost 9-8 with Kendall getting a hit and stealing a base. He is hitting .214. Nick Yarnall hit a grand slam in the loss.
• The story of the night was Josiah Gray who (except for an error) fired 5 perfect innings last night. His stuff is already at AAA level. If he can keep that command, look out. GL lost 2-1.