The End is Near, Because the Pen is Here
Most of you probably don t believe it, because the Dodger bullpen has been awful many times during this season, but it went from awful to deplorable when Daniel Hudson, Ross Stripling and Kenley Jansen went down. Of course, Kenley was the biggest loss and there s no way to replace him. That will likely come to an end tonight as if Kenley is approved by his Doctors to play again. In
Most of you probably don’t believe it, because the Dodger bullpen has been awful many times during this season, but it went from awful to deplorable when Daniel Hudson, Ross Stripling and Kenley Jansen went down. Of course, Kenley was the biggest loss and there’s no way to replace him.
That will likely come to an end tonight as if Kenley is approved by his Doctors to play again. In fact, he could be activated tonight. Julio Urias is coming too. The Dodgers are not rushing him, Good grief, it’s been 15 months. The plan is for him to throw 3 innings or 45 pitches tomorrow and then see where he is at. Don’t worry about the results – just worry that he is pain-free!
I think we will see Julio by next Sunday. The same is true with Ross Stripling. He should be activated next weekend. Yimi Garcia and Josh Fields are both getting close. Axford is a couple of weeks away, but I am intrigued by his last two outings. It appears he has cleaned up a mechanical issue and is close to triple digits again.
Zac Rosscup showed no mental scars and pitched and “Immaculate Inning” Sunday to end the game. I said yesterday that a pennant race is a bad time for pitchers like Caleb Ferguson and Dylan Floro is learn their trade, but they are being refined by fire and the learning curve may be shortened. Even el Gasolino has looked impressive his last 4 or 5 innings, but I am not holding my breath… although I remain hopeful.
Both could be useful in the Post-Season. Post season? Playoffs? Playoffs?
Cody Bellinger has found his groove. JT is locked in and Manny is trying to get his stroke back. The hitting will be fine, even if they don’t lead in hitting with RISP. They are hitting the ball on the ground and advancing runners and changing their approach with two strikes, led by one Cody Bellinger. Remember, I also told you he would figure it out and not have to go back to AAA.
Fans have been ragging on Kike (as usual), but did you know he is hitting .303 in August with a .351 OB%?
The Dodgers are leading the majors in stolen bases this August with 24 SB’s in 26 tried! They are running like Freaking Gazelles! They are also leading the NL in OPS for August and are tied for first with the Cubs for 1st for OPS in the NL. They are just 2 runs behind the Braves for the NL lead in runs.
Forget their PAST run differential – all that matters is what happens from here on. The pen is coming back together and the cream will rise to the top in the NL West! The end is near for the D-Bags and the Rocks and the Dodger’s pen is about to be back!
More on The Balk
Pedro Moura of The Athletic added this about The Balk. The fact is: The bulk of Balks aren’t called like that!
The Dodgers did not dispute movement. Manager Dave Roberts said he saw Floro’s knee buckle before he stepped off, on replay, too. Rather, they reasoned that the movement was incidental enough it should have been allowed. The rulebook says balks require the intention to deceive the baserunner, and Floro had no such intention.
“Let the players handle it and determine the outcome,” Turner said. “That’s the worst part about tonight: It was decided by an umpire.”
It feels as if every game the Dodgers have played in August has been decided late, and they mostly have been. In each of their last eight games, the Dodgers have held a lead or been locked in a tie in the seventh inning or later. In seven of those games, they have blown the lead or lost altogether, the bullpen repeatedly charged with the loss, Roberts’ decision-making repeatedly questioned.
Moura also has a great article on Caleb Ferguson today. I highly recommend it!
The Blue Angels were awesome as usual yesterday, but the F-22 Raptor was unbelievable!
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Discussion (74)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Who goes to make room for Kenley?
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Choices:
1. Chargois
2. Rosscup
3. Ferguson
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A pat on the back awaits the person who picks the right one. I pick Rosscup!
I say with highest level of sarcasm that I’m glad we have to work Taylor and Kike in the lineup again tonight. Funny how the team’s best CF is playing LF again too. I read today that the lineup used the most this year by the Dodgers totals six times. Just let Puig serve his suspension if they’re going to keep putting these goofy lineups out there.
What’s Arizona’s magic number?
Mark a lot of what you say is true, but the bottom line is the Dodgers have 37 games left, and if they don’t start hitting with men in scoring position it will not end well for the Dodgers.
The Dodgers need to take the next 3 series from St Louis, San Diego, and Texas and then take at least 3 out of 4 from Arizona. Let’s see how they play.
Dennis Santana has been cleared to throw from the mound tomorrow. I do not know if there is enough time for him to get in any rehab before the minor league season ends in a couple of weeks. It is possible that he will continue to rehab in Arizona and then throw in the AFL, which is due to start October 9.
Kenley is back! I’m going tonight; taking my 9 year old nephew from Baltimore to his first ever baseball game. I’d love for Kenley to come in and close it out.
Just heard Colleti on Dodgertalk this morning and he echoed your words Mark. He believes that once a healthy Kenley comes back, along with Chicken Strip, Meada, a healthy Urias, that the Dodger bullpen could be the best in the league., I am holding my breath. Totally loved the 1st inning yesterday when they scored 5 runs without going ‘Yard. If they start that approach, along with the stolen bases, we might have something here.
I thought you might get a kick outta this. There are 2 more…
Is Your Water Bad as Hell? from US Water Systems on Vimeo.
… and it is shamless self-promotion.
Since the All-Star Game, though, things have not gone well for Kemp. Standing at .310/.352/.522 when baseball took its midsummer respite, Kemp’s OPS has bled about 100 points in just a month, and he’s stalled at 1.1 WAR for the 2018 season. Neither ZiPS or Steamer are optimistic about a turnaround, projecting him to finish at 1.3 and 1.2 WAR, respetively, the primary difference between the two being playing time.
Before Wednesday’s 2-for-4 performance, Kemp last had a multi-hit game on July 23rd and now has hits in four of his last 19 games. Overall, he’s 5-for-58 from that date with only a lone double. The result? A .086/.191/.103 line.
Changed my email and user name and posts still not showing when I post them. And the verify thing comes up every time. They show up later. IDK. No big deal anyway. My posts really are more for me than adding much to the group.
Funny how the stress of a 1 run lead is so different than a 5 run lead. And how it takes a certain very confident individual to thrive in that kind of stress. Guess we can all agree what a vital player Kenley Jansen is to the success or failure of the Dodgers current season. I think they even hit better when the team knows he’s in there and has their backs. Just my imagination? Probably. Kershaw is gaining command of the zone with all his pitches and it’s a wonderful thing to behold. The Dodger starters are paving the way and the BP is getting healthy, and just getting it. They’re a few games behind with head to head games coming up soon. Hope they’re up to it. Go get em Dodgers.
In six starts since the All-Star Break, Kershaw has a 1.77 ERA and 0.86 WHIP with 37 strikeouts to three walks. Not bad for a pitcher who isn’t worth “resigning”.
In six starts since the All-Star Break, Kershaw has a 1.77 ERA and 0.86 WHIP with 37 strikeouts to three walks. Not bad for a pitcher who isn’t worth resigning.
Mark, the Blue Angels come to Jacksonville every year to the beach, that RAPTOR is insane. I was standing next to an Air Force guy watching the show, he said that thing is only allowed to run at half thrust because all the windows in most buildings would be blown out if he really hit it, amazing piece of machinery
A good read from bleacher report:
Open on bleacherreport.comhttps://bleacherreport.com/articles/2791455-i-find-it-very-difficult-to-watch-why-mlb-greats-think-baseballs-in-troubleMark noted Kike’s August batting numbers, I thought it would be interesting to see the remainder of the team’s offensive metrics:
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August batting numbers, in the order of batting average:
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Justin Turner – .439/.522/.789/1.312 – 67 PA
Cody Bellinger – .431/.507/.621/1.128 – 67 PA
Kike’ Hernandez – .303/.351/.485/.836 – 38 PA
Yasiel Puig – .288/.315/.500/.815 – 54 PA
Max Muncy – .250/.302/.650/.952 – 43 PA
Brian Dozier – .250/.395/.467/.861 – 76 PA
Manny Machado – .250/.301/.412/.713 – 73 PA
Chris Taylor – .188/.259/.313/.572 – 54 PA
Matt Kemp – .188/.259/.271/.530 – 54 PA
Yasmani Grandal – .167/.273/.458/.731 – 55 PA
Joc Pederson – .140/.208/.442/.650 – 48 PA
Austin Barnes – .133/.381/.200/.581 – 22 PA
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Two batters (JT and Belli) have OBP north of .500. And while Dozier has a very average BA, he does have an OBP of .395 as primarily the leadoff hitter. Certainly most of the OF is not pulling its weight, and those are often the middle of the order hitters, and the ones counted on driving in the RISP. The two catchers are not having a good August offensively.
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Perhaps the most disheartening for me was to see Joc’s numbers. While his slugging number is okay, his OBP at .208 has to improve. I would expect both Verdugo and Toles would have better OBP than Joc, CT3, and Kemp. I would also expect Locastro to have better numbers other than slugging than CT3.
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It is getting to clutch time, and the players need to show what they can produce to get more playing time in the most needed clutch month…September.