The Hard Way

I am not sure why, but it seems like this season the Dodgers have to do things the Hard Way. Now, that they are down 2-0 they are going to need to win 2-3 games in a row, and in typical Dodger fan fashion, the bitching and blaming has begun!

• You complain about Roberts taking Scherzer out of the game, even though it was obvious he had no fastball because you think Dave Roberts is just stupid, and wants to take out his ace for no good reason? From Max’s own mouth: “My arm was dead,” Scherzer said. “I could tell when I was warming up that it was still tired. … Usually in those situations, once you get past pitch 45, sometimes it loosens up, and you’re able to get deeper into a game. But after that third inning, it didn’t loosen up. It was still more tightening up. So I could tell that my pitch count was going to be limited.”
• You complain that Roberts brought in Urias. Personally, I did not like the move either, but it had been discussed earlier by the staff and Urias was ready. The fact that Julio gave up two runs was on him, not Doc. Blame the right person.
• You complain that Seager should have jumped in front of a 110 MPH line drive. I’ll just chalk that up to the fact thatyou may have never played the game and don’t realize how fast that is. I wish Seager had gotten that ball too, but you have one chance on a 110 MPH linedrive and it ain’t moving your feet! Maybe you should blame Doc: “Trea should have been at SS.” Yeah, that’s the ticket!

The problem with the Dodgers in these first two losses is that they have not hit like they are capable. In the first game, the Dodgers got 10 hits. Last night it was only 4… to go with 9 walks! Every player in the starting lineup has been an All-Star at one time or another, except for Gavin Lux. Max Scherzer is exhausted. Walker Buehler is tired. Julio is likely getting there too. The bullpen is doing their job in the playoffs. The hitters need to hit or this team is going home. It’s that simple! They are capable, but they just have to deliver. One good at-bat after another. It’s an easy solution that is hard to implement!

The Making of a Championship Bullpen

If it appears that I called people idiots for no reason yesterday, I apologize for that. What I was attempting to do was call out everyone who had called me an idiot for championing Dave Roberts, Cody Bellinger, and the Dodgers’ bullpen. I presumed that you would get the nuance of what I was doing. I only meant disrespect to three or four people… all of whom are gone… with their tails between their legs, I might add!

Doc Roberts – He really is not a “doctor” and I personally do not care for Dave Roberts, because he is just a “glad-handing politician,” but he is perfect for this team, AND frequently (just like most managers), his mistakes are simply because of a lack of execution by his players.

Cody Bellinger – I do like Cody Bellinger and thought it was very foolhardy to write him off so easily. This is a very hard game to play and Cody has played at a high level… until injury took over. At age 21, he was the ROY with 39 HR (.933 OPS). The sophomore jinx hit him the next year and he hit just 25 HR while dropping to .833 OPS (still a very good player). The next year (2019) he hit 47 HR and OPS’ed an otherworldly 1.035. However, he “slumped” to a .917 OPS in the second half, which is still SUPERSTAR STATUS. At that point, there was nothing bad that you could say about Cody Bellinger.

It is known that he has had several shoulder separations over a couple of years, and in 2020 (the Covid-19 season) he really slumped in 56 games to a .789 OPS. That’s Kike Hernandez territory. After surgery in that offseason, Cody returned this year, broke his leg, tore a hamstring, and broke a rib en route to what may be one of the worst performances in MLB History. That’s when many wanted to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Cody did not just go “Joe Charboneau” on everyone. He was injured and all of his problems can be attributed to that. Injury leads to favoring a body part and that leads to bad mechanics and patterns. All of his issues correspond to his injury and subsequent injuries. He still is not back. He is still compensating and adjusting and his power probably won’t return until next season. But, he has come to grips with who he is NOW. He has gotten some clutch hits and delivers Gold Glove Defense at either 1B or CF. Additionally, he is a huge threat when on base.

So, those who called me an IDIOT for sticking to my story about Cody Bellinger, deserve to be called “another one.” Cody is a big part of this team and will continue to be going forward. I would lock him up long-term if I were Andrew Friedman.

The Bullpen – I frequently agree with Dodgerpatch and while not totally disagreeing with what he said, I do want to address something. Patch wrote this:

I’m glad that the Dodgers bullpen is rock solid. I give the front office credit for making it happen. However, any criticisms contributors on this blog had about the bullpen midseason wasn’t because we were “idiots,” but because the evidence in front of us suggested that, indeed, the bullpen wasn’t very good.

Yes, that was what the “evidence suggested”… if you were just using your eyes. Your eyes told you that Dustin May was lost for the year. Your eyes told you that Jimmy Nelson was gone for the year. Your eyes told you that Bazooka was gone for most of the year. Your eyes told you that David Price was not right. Your eyes told you that Corey Knebel would miss three months of the season. Your eyes told you that Scott Alexander was injured all year. Your eyes told you that the Catman would miss a large portion of the year. Your eyes told you that Clayton Kershaw was out most of the year and that Trevor Bauer would not return. That also impacted the bullpen.

But I don’t always trust my “Lyin Eyes.” Frequently, I have to trust my vision… and the vision of Andrew Friedman. Alex Vesia, Justin Bruihl, Mitch White, Garrett Cleavinger, then later Phil Bickford, and Joe Kelly intrigued me. I knew Treinen was solid and felt Kenley’s issues were “mechanical.” I said that the Bullpen you were seeing at the time would not be the bullpen you see at the end of the season.

However, the bullpen was not nearly as bad as implied. The Dodger finished just a few points behind the Giants for the best bullpen ERA in baseball, in spite of not being very good all year. They were better than most of you thought. You see, contrary to what many of you thought, Andrew Friedman does know how to build a championship bullpen. What he knows is that you generally cannot “buy” a championship bullpen. He doesn’t go for the “flavor of the week” guy because he knows that next week that guy might be chopped liver.

• Andrew Friedman got rid of Adam Kolarek who ended up being a trainreck, for Gus Varland (future reliever) and Sheldon Noisy.
• Andrew Friedman traded Dylan Floro for Alex Vesia and should be charged with theft.
• Andrew got Garrett Cleavinger in a three-way deal (he is a future high-leverage reliever).
• Andrew knew that Joe Kelly would likely recover from shoulder surgery.
• Andrew knew that Kenley Jansen’s issues were mechanical.
• Andrew trusted White, Bruihl, Jackson, and other young arms.
• Andrew saw something in Phil Bickford whom he acquired on waivers.
• Andrew was not afraid to pickup Sherfy, Phillips, Vasquez and others on waivers.
• Andrew brought the Bazooka along slowly.

Andrew Friedman built a bullpen that is full of very live, but very different arms. OK, I’ll give it to Patch, if the detractors of the Dodgers bullpen are not IDIOTS, then that must make me A GENIUS? 😉 You can’t have it both ways!