Yesterday, I was supposed to have carpal tunnel and elbow surgery. The Doctor and the hospital showed such a high level of incompetence that I punted. I was all in… until I saw their lack of preparation and understanding, and I walked away. I did get my back procedure approved, and after that is my right shoulder surgery (labrum, rotator cuff, and maybe TJ). Then it’s the carpal tunnel. But that was not the biggest event of the day. Yesterday afternoon, I met with our US Water Systems Team and advised them that I would be transitioning to a new role, focusing on consulting and advising them. They are up 27% this year, and I am sure I could only screw that up, so I am focusing on my new job: author of The Mountainmover, which will finally (after 30 years) be released in May or June of 2026.
This is a book that has to be written… and I am finally going to write it. I have 100+ pages of outline and notes, and I just enlisted a Professor (“and recovering attorney”) at Georgetown University, who has produced 279 (and counting) national book award winners since 2020, to be my editor. I am going to be working on this for five to six hours a day and doing a little for US Water Systems, which means that this blog may get neglected. I am keeping it open, and you can do what you do. I just don’t have time for both, but we will see how this goes.
The White Sox are an embarrassment to all of baseball.
Down on the Farm
- Emil Morales remains Red Hot!
- DePaula’s BA has dropped to .268.
- Hope is at .299
- Sirota is still at .317 – he has walked 7 times in his last two games. They don’t want to pitch to him.
- Quintero is at .318 in RC.
- Hainline is back at RC.
- Sheehan was bombed in 2.1 innings last night.
- Tulsa is beyond bad!
Discussion (40)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Conforto delivers a HR. Each good play extends his runway.
Maybe it just took him half the season to warm up….
May needed a breather against an AAAA team.
I’ve always liked Riley, but I highly doubt they’ll let him go since there aren’t many third basemen of that caliber.
No matter what happens in the rest of the game, thanks May for not making me say “another’s May game again!”
I love watching May pitch.
Muncy is out for six weeks (at least), and then Max is always a slow starter, so can the Dodgers always count on him? I don’t think so.
Go big or go home: Atlanta has tanked their season. Marcel Ozuna is old and a free agent. Albies can also be a free agent. So is Iglesias.
The Braves are in a disarray, and AF has a relationship with AA. The Braves need to rebuild. Put together a package around DePaula, Hope, and others for Austin Riley!
BANG!
So Max goes on the IL with a bone bruise–and it’s Esteury Ruiz who gets called up instead of Outman or Freeland.
Interesting decision.
Ruiz is certainly deserving. He’s hitting about .290 as a Comet with a .394 OBP. He’s stolen 38 bases in 44 tries. He is an ML veteran who stole 67 bases for the A’s in ’23.
While Outman would provide a lot more power and superior defense, Ruiz has better on-base skills and is much less likely to strike out. On defensive, he’s probably limited to LF. He profiles as a great “second lead-off option” and should be a quality pinch hitter and pinch runner.
I hope Ruiz gets a chance to prove that he might be better than Conforto. While the $17-million man has had some nice moments lately, Ruiz could provide a bigger spark. If he does, it would reduce whatever incentive the Dodgers have to shop for an outfielder.
I will be shocked if Max plays again this year, but I would love to be proven wrong.
I do have an excellent alternative, but it will be costly!
But, I have and idea! I’ll wait until I find out for sure about Max.
P.S. It’s not Freaking Bregman… and Will Smith will never play 3B.
07/03/25 Los Angeles Dodgers placed 3B Max Muncy on the 10-day injured list.
07/03/25 Los Angeles Dodgers recalled LF Esteury Ruiz from Oklahoma City Comets.
The Los Angeles Dodgers have claimed infielder CJ Alexander from the New York Yankees, the team announced. To make room on the roster, outfielder Steward Berroa was designated for assignment.
10:10 PM ET
White Sox (28-58)
Dodgers (55-32)
SP Aaron Civale R
1-4 4.74 ERA
SP Dustin May R
4-5 4.68 ERA
Confirmed Lineup
DH S. Ohtani L
SS Mookie Betts R
1B F. Freeman L
RF T. Hernandez R
CF Andy Pages R
LF M. Conforto L
2B Tommy Edman S
C D. Rushing L
3B Miguel Rojas R
72° Wind 10 mph Out
Mookie 97 OPS+
Max Muncy MRI; While initial reports suggested a sprain, the MRI revealed a more significant injury, potentially impacting his availability for the team. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said the team is awaiting official results before determining the extent of the injury and whether Muncy will be placed on the injured list.
Doesn’t sound encouraging.
not any former aaaastro , just bregman, correa,altuve, and springer! kyle tucker is a former aaaaastro and i would love him on the dodgers! he didn’t lie,cheat, and smirk. Love the way you think John!
Ruiz called up
Mark, my respect for you is great but this is not an “if/then” issue. No gray area here. Those guys stole from the Dodgers, the Yankees, from all of baseball. They crushed Kershaw ‘s spirit. He thought he failed his team in the post season again when in reality his demise was because the batters knew the pitches . NO BERGMAN! They all should have gotten lifetime bans.
If I were Clayton Kershaw and the front office traded for Bergman, I would retire mid-season before I had to share a locker room with him.
hell , why not trade for correa, altuve, springer, fire Doc and hire hinch? Bregman does not deserve to ever wear the same uniform as Clayton Kershaw! PERIOD!!!! leave him in red sox purgatory! …. Tip of the cap to Dave Roberts for letting Clayton go back out and get that K in front of the LA Faithful! …. Good for mookie and freddie for the ninth inning rbi’s!!! … Prayers for Max! hopefully just a sprain. He will be sorely missed if he can’t play. If he can’t play? Kike is not the answer. Rojas is a much better hitter right now than kike. i’m sure the Nolan Arenado rumors will start up again soon if Max is down for a while. will be interesting. … Was Vesia trying to throw it through the backstop last night? looked like a wild man last night on the mound!……. Kudos to Stephen Nelson for getting better in the booth! Still sounds like a little too rehearsed, but much better than before. Please, don’t pair him with Jessica M!!! …. Finish the job today! Aaaaaasstros coming to town! tough series i would imagine. Altuve the lone cheater left on the stros. wear the collar please. not the buzzer!
I wonder if Max’s condition turns out to be season ending what our options are? There is a good 3rd baseman in Ari named Suarez but he is 33 and a pending FA. I am not sure who plays 3rd in AAA but I think it’s Hose. Any thoughts on what the Dodgers might do?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgbEbz4cjco
If we sign Bregman it will be a slap on the face to all our 2017 players and fans. I would lose a considerable amount of the great respect I have for our front office. Some things transcend standings.
Closest active pitcher to 3000, Chris Sale, who is 472 away and is going to be 37 next season, which is an option year for him with Atlanta. Right now, though, Sale is on the IL with a couple of fractured ribs. He had 114 Ks in 89 innings before he went down.
Wednesday scores
Oklahoma City 13, Las Vegas 7 (10 innings)
Tulsa 2, Wichita 1
Great Lakes 5, West Michigan 2
Visalia 9, Rancho Cucamonga 6
ACL Dodgers 2, ACL Giants 1
Thursday schedule
Great Lakes (Sean Linan) at West Michigan (Colin Fields), 4:05 PM PST
Wichita (Connor Prielipp) at Tulsa (Jackson Ferris), 4:30 PM PST
Visalia (Adonys Perez) at Rancho Cucamonga (Aidan Foeller), 5:45 PM PST
Oklahoma City (Tyler Glasnow) at Las Vegas (Ken Waldichuk), 6:05 PM PST
Great win!!! Very emotional evening! So happy for Clayton and his family that he could celebrate 3000 in front of the greatest fans on earth. NO letdown tonight.
Any chance that Doc puts Ohtani in to pitch an inning in the AS game and piss off everybody but Dodger fans? In your face! Ant thoughts, good or bad.
One more WS title and Kershaw can hang em up.
Such a nice comeback win on Kershaw’s big night… but Max’s injury is the pressing concern.
Freeland is a possibility to replace Max, but he is not on the 40-man roster. The brass might prefer to hold Freeland back just to delay his service time.
If the Dodgers prefer a veteran–as they had in the past by elevating Kolten Wong over some other options–they could opt for Nick Senzel.
Depending on the severity of Max’s injury, the Dodgers could look to the trade market. Possible target: The Angels’ Luis Rengifo, who they tried to get once before in that Joc-Stripling deal that Arte Moreno backed out of. For that matter, they could even bid for Arenado. Any other third basemen on the market?
The Dodgers also have the versatility to promote Outman, who is on the 40-man. Kike and Rojas have played 3B this season, and Edman and Kim are capable as well.
My no-Max, no-trade lineup….
Shohei DH
Mookie SS
Freddie 1B
Smith C
Pages LF
Teo RF
Outman CF
Kike/Edman 3B
Kim 2B
Roberts optimistic it’s “just a sprain”.
Fingers crossed for Max.
Well done Clayton.
This real bad! (Muncy)
Get Will Smith a Third Baseman’s Glove!
Clayton Kershaw – the last in the 3,000 strikeout club!
This is what I was talking about: Kershaw has little margin for error (sadly).
Oops
They pitched to Sirota tonight, and he was 2-4 with 3 RBI.
Surely, they will move him up after the All-Star Game.
Tulsa is in a pitchers’ league – that will be the test.
Both Snell and Treinen are scheduled to throw to hitters today.
10:10 PM ET
White Sox (28-57)
Dodgers (54-32)
SP Sean Burke R
4-7 4.22 ERA
SP Clayton Kershaw L
4-0 3.03 ERA
Confirmed Lineup
DH S. Ohtani L
SS Mookie Betts R
C Will Smith R
1B F. Freeman L
RF Andy Pages R
3B Max Muncy L
LF M. Conforto L
CF Tommy Edman S
2B Hyeseong Kim L
70° Wind 10 mph Out
I’m a bit puzzled that De Paula is now listed as the Dodgers’ No. 1 prospect on mlb.com. There’s always been a lot of hype about his offense–even comparisons to Juan Soto–but now he’s batting .268 in Great Lakes.
Instead of Soto, could he be the next Cartaya?
Certainly hope not. But it seems to me that there should be more buzz about Zyhir Hope and Sirota. And perhaps Quintero or Morales are true prodigies.
And I still think the Dodgers should give De Paula some training at first base…
Congrats Mark. Hope it is a best seller. Always here for you. Braves DFAd Alex Verdugo so they could activate Jurickson Profar off of the suspended list. Joe Jaques, who was with LA for a while, called up by the Mariners. Wonder how Arte Moreno feels now about nixing the trade for Pederson, Stripling and Pages. Colin Poche elected free agency. Trey Mancini opted out of his deal with the D-Backs. Giants extended Melvin for 2026. Manfred discussed revenue and the possibility of a work stoppage when the present CBA expires on January first. In a surprised move, the Milwaukee Bucks cut Damien Lillard loose.
Would love to see one or two of Sirota, DePaula or Hope get called up to Tulsa. That way Quintero could get called up to Great Lakes. Quintero seems ready. Hes been really good this year.
“Ohtani’s next start on the mound has been revealed. The National League’s home run king will make his fourth pitching appearance in a Dodgers uniform during the team’s next series against the Houston Astros on Saturday”.
Congrats on the book. Best advice ever given to me in a writing program about the secret to it: Ass in chair.
speaking of embarrassment! how about the job clay m. is doing in miami? just a few weeks ago, we were talking about how embarrassing the marlins were. now they just passed the braves in the standings! great job! …. the sox are a AAAA team, no doubt. it’s going to be tough for the front office to get some good major league players to play in chicago. … in my opinion yamamoto was good last night, but not great. i know he went 7 solid innings last night, but he wasn’t facing the yankees either. but a win is a win. …. Freddie strikes out on 3 pitches? don’t see that very much!…….Watch mookie. he will hit! … There’s no doubt Andy Pages should be an all star! Playing all 3 outfield positions, all at a high level? He trails ohtani only in homers. he may be the dodgers mvp! …. 3 for history tonight! he may or may not be better than Koufax, does it matter? Congratulations Clayton Kershaw!
Will be a very very special night at the Ravine tonight!
Phantom injury for Kopech?
Lots of interesting stuff here:
https://www.latimes.com/sports/dodgers/newsletter/2025-07-01/mookie-betts