The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

It is beyond my comprehension as to why the Dodgers hit Conforto behind Pages all the time. Pages is still getting pitches to hit which I also don’t understand if there are two outs or if a runner is in scoring position and first base is empty.

Kim is César Izturis version 2004

Someone pointed out that there isn’t a single Brewer’s player with an OPS of .800. The Dodgers had 5 in their lineup yesterday and managed 1 run. Something’s just wrong.

Verdugo must really be an A-hole. I assumed he would get at least an 8 or 9 million dollar contract this year but it looks like being an A-hole has cost him at least 7 million this year. I know he is trending as very mediocre but the Dodgers are paying some players who are a lot worse a lot more money.

It will be interesting to see the contract he gets next year.

Dodgers Starting Lineup

Shohei Ohtani, DH

Mookie Betts, SS

Freddie Freeman, 1B

Andy Pages, RF

Michael Conforto, LF

Hyeseong Kim, 2B

Dalton Rushing, C

James Outman, CF

Miguel Rojas, 3B

Clayton Kershaw SP

Limping into the Break with this lineup

Dodgers dropping like flies. All Stars playing like chumps. Getting thumped by everyone except the Chisox and Rox.

Dodgers record against .500+ teams is 20-19. They are beating up on bad teams and are only so-so against good teams. That won’t work in October

Alexis Díaz…..

nobody’s panicking! we all see the same thing happening. why not michael chavis? Freeland? How many times will we watch james strike out before someone else gets a chance? Ruiz? not good. would love a line drive hitter mixed in with all the home run swingers. … would love to see Kim lay down a bunt. Would love mookie to hit some line drives instead of popping up so much. maybe doc should move Will into the 2 spot. just some thoughts. i’m sure everything will be fine. But the top 3 and conforto need to hit! then we’ll see the real dodgers.

News from Internet:

Dodgers World Series odds, per FanGraphs

before Astros series: 24.1%

now: 22.6%

The Phillies acquired a Dodger OF minor league prospect:

2022 4th rounder, Biddison is only the 3rd of 18 signed draftees to exit the org. He hit .226/.336/.360 (98 wRC+) in 223 minor league games across three levels (A+, AA, AAA).

Future Dodgers has a big board of potential Dodger targets in the upcoming draft (picks 40/41)

Lodise, Neville and Forbes lead his list.

Jay Jaffe writes about Kershaw joining the 3000K club:

“Note that Kershaw owns not only the lowest ERA- of any pitcher in the club but the lowest of any with at least 2,000 innings. Remarkably, he’s just the fourth lefty to reach 3,000 strikeouts, after Carlton, Randy Johnson, and Sabathia. I dug into that particular oddity on the occasion of Sabathia’s milestone in 2019. It’s founded in the relative scarcity of lefty pitchers….”

New Baseball America Mock ($$$$$)

Dodgers take Cam Leiter, high-upside arm coming off an injury. Sounds on brand.

As per Francys Romero on Twitter:

Randy Maria Moya, a 20-year-old right-hander pitcher from the Dominican Republic, signed today with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Bonus deal: $30,000.

Originally from Cibao, Moya’s fastball touches 92–94 mph.

David Laurila @FanGraphs talks to old friend Ryan Pepiot:

One Dodger makes the “Noteable Risers and Fallers” for July ($$$$)

It’s Sasaki.

Per Dan Valerio:

Harlan is slashing .321/.371/.696 with 5 HR and 6 2B across 14 games. Most encouragingly, Harlan has cut his K rate down to 17.7%

The aforementioned Jay Jaffe had a chat:

Mookie Bats: Thanks for your recent article on Mookie Betts’s excellent SS defense. On the other side of the ledger, he’s running a 99 wRC+ and there’s not a huge difference between his .312 wOBA and his .332 xwOBA. Do we chalk this up to all that weight he lost during his March stomach illness?

Jay Jaffe: I don’t think his illness and the weight loss can be discounted when it comes to his offense. Maybe the extra work he’s putting in at shortstop is costing him some time to iron out his offensive woes, but given the shape of the Dodgers’ roster right now, it’s been a worthwhile tradeoff thanks to his defense

E. Sheehan: Is my control breakout real? Over 38 innings, across the majors and minors, I have 74K to 2BB

Jay Jaffe: I think you’re misreading something. We show him with 34 K and 2 BB in 17.1 minor league innings plus 6 K and 0 BB in 4 major league innings. It’s impressive, and he’s probably one of the Dodgers’ five best starters even if he’s not being treated as such due to workload concerns. But given his 30/40 command grades from Eric, I’m going to remain skeptical until he logs more major league innings.

Baseball America’s Hot Sheet ($$$$$)

#1! Is a DODGER. Emil Morales.

Braydon Fisher was traded for Cavan Biggio. He’s doing pretty well for Toronto.

“When you look at what’s made Fisher so dominant, you’ll quickly find that his slider/curveball combination has been the leading cause.

Both pitches have a sub .212 expected batting average against, both pitches have a sub .320 expected slug% against, and both pitches return a 31% or better whiff rate. The tall right-hander also has a 4-seam fastball in his back pocket, which he uses sparingly, that has outlier traits (18″ of IVB), and a cutter, which he’s used just 3% of the time.”

I quit panicking over things like this years ago. They are not hitting, and the pitching the last 4 games has been atrocious. So, you are going to lose when you play like that. Of more concern is Ohtani’s extended offensive slump, Mookie unable to keep a consistent bat, Freddie finding it and then losing it a game later. He is missing fastballs he usually crushes, and he is striking out a lot more. Teo and Tommy being banged up is also a concern, along with the fact that with Kike and Muncy now down, more playing time is going to be forced on the aging SS, Miguel Rojas. Maybe Miggy can handle it, he is a pro that is a given. But he has also had some hammy issues at times this year. They do not need Ruiz on the team, he has speed, but not much else, I would have brought up someone who could play multiple positions, Freeland or maybe even Michael Chavis, who has played third at the major league level. But AF is in charge, and he has way more info than I do.

the last 4 games have been excruciating to watch! But i watch. I watch every single pitch. I’m looking for a bright spot in a dark sky. this will pass, but dang it is so painful! …. Yamamoto can drive me crazy at times! teams are laying off the splitter , which is dropping below the strike zone, and hitting the fastball. Buthe probably throws 7 shutout innings in his next start! …. Don’t really know what to expect from Clayton today. the white sox just “pecked” him into submission last start. the Brewers are similar in that regard. …. I just don’t see AF standing pat with this offense. Again, i keep hearing they’re the top offense in baseball. Doesn’t seem like it to me. Mookie? not right. Freddie? not being Freddie. Ohtani? the pitching seems to have killed his hitting. Teo? bad offensively and defensively. Max? probably their best hitter except for Will. ( hurry back!). Edman? not healthy. Kim? still learning mlb pitching. ( his defense is very good!). Dalton? probably would be one of their best hitters if he played more. Kike? just let him hang out on the il till the playoffs! Conforto? it’s time. At the end of the day, they need a spark! it’s not the end of the world, they could use a little more energy in their lineup! … Pages being a dodger cost him an all star appearance. He’s got better numbers than the ped guy in san diego. so anti dodger sentiment? you better believe it!

The Dodgers may never win another game!

😉

The Los Angeles Dodgers had a record of 55-36 going into the All-Star break in 2024, according to the Los Angeles Times. This record gave them a 7 1/2-game lead in the National League West. They also had over 50 wins for the 10th consecutive season, which is the longest such stretch in MLB

Seems like Kike to go on IL

“The Dodgers will welcome Tyler Glasnow back on Wednesday, manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including MLB.com’s Sonja Chen). He’ll take the ball opposite veteran southpaw Jose Quintana in the series finale against the Brewers. Glasnow is on the 60-day injured list, meaning the Dodgers will need to create a 40-man roster spot within the next two days”.

This team is badly in need of the All-Star break.

Did the White Sox take the Dodgers offense and pitching with them when they left town? Asking for a friend.

Very easy, very fast, this game…

It looks like the streak of pathetic games will continue for at least one more day.

Dodgers Starting Lineup

Shohei Ohtani, DH

Mookie Betts, SS

Freddie Freeman, 1B

Will Smith, C

Andy Pages, RF

Michael Conforto, LF

Hyeseong Kim, 2B

Miguel Rojas, 3B

James Outman, CF

Yoshinobu Yamamoto, SP

07/07/25 Los Angeles Dodgers designated 1B CJ Alexander for assignment.

07/07/25 Los Angeles Dodgers optioned LHP Justin Wrobleski to Oklahoma City Comets.

07/07/25 Los Angeles Dodgers recalled CF James Outman from Oklahoma City Comets.

07/07/25 Los Angeles Dodgers selected the contract of RHP Julian Fernández from Oklahoma City Comets.

Outman is in Milwaukee

Mark, you made the following statement above:

“Bryan Reynolds has a no-trade provision to the Yankees, Mets, Blue Jays, Dodgers, Giants, and Padres. Evidently, he is a loser and likes being on losing teams.”

My response: Bryan Reynolds has a smart agent who advised him to only list perennial contenders. That way, when they call the Pirates this month, Reynolds has extra leverage for waiving his no-trade.

One year ago we had the following in our starting lineup:

Biggio

Vargas

Taylor

Rojas

Kike

Of that group only Kike started game 1 of the WS

The team you see today will not be the same you see in October…

Let us pause to praise Will Smith, the catcher with the choirboy looks who has quietly edged ahead of Shohei as the team’s OPS leader, .993 to .990.

Will’s league-leading .433 on-base percentage sits on top of his league-leading .332 BA. (Aaron Judge, as if making up for his World Series defense, leads the majors in both categories. )

Who was the last catcher to lead a league in hitting? Was it Joe Mauer?

Will has a big lead on the No. 2 guy, who happens to be Freddie at .307 followed by Trea Turner at .299. A closer look suggests that Will’s splits are agnostic: .350 vs lefties, .324 vs righties. (Rushing bats lefty. No platoon is needed, but Smith needs his rest.)

Rushing has stepped up nicely as the backup catcher, but I want to see him and Will in the same lineup once in a while. More ABs will help Rushing get into a groove. His K rate was over 50% until recently. Over the past 30 days, Rushing has compiled an impressive .382 on-base percentage, while Conforto, despite recent improvement, has had an OBP of only .257.

With Max out, the lineup against RHP could have Edman at 3B, Kim at 2B and Rushing at LF. If Freddie needs a day off, Rushing should play 1B, not Kike.

With the trade deadline looming, I can’t help but think that Conforto’s continuing role with the Dodgers hangs with every AB and ball hit his way. If he hangs on to his job through the deadline, he could still be replaced down the stretch by Ruiz or Outman. Or maybe even Rushing, with Feduccia called up as an extra catcher.

The new Top 100 Prospects is out and here are the Dodgers on it:

#21 – Dalton Rushing

#22 – Josue DePaula

#26 – Zyhir Hope

#37 – Roki Sasaki

#46 – Mike Sirota

#55 – Alex Freeland

#61 – Eduardo Quintero

Barely missing the Top 100 were Jackson Ferris, Kellon Lindsey, Joendry Vargas, and Emil Morales, Chase Harlan, River Ryan and Edgardo Henriquez!