The New Rotation

We can beat the drum all day about beating the shift by simply bunting or going the other way, but hitters today are not wired like that. It goes against everything they are taught. As for outlawing the shift, well, I am for restricting it. I think there should be 2 infielders on each side of second base. I also think no infielder should be playing on the grass. Especially in short right field. Makes the game too much like softball. And their designation is infielder. So what the hell are they doing in the outfield??? I do not care about Trevor Bauer. He is not on the team right now, so they need to play with the cards they have. That being said, the whole thing is a lot more distracting than some are making it out to be. I am not worried about Kersh….yet. Have fun in Hawaii guys. Never have been there, but if I went, the first place I would go would be to Pearl Harbor. I would have to pay my respects to my fathers shipmates who were lost. In something totally unrelated and off the wall, rapper Drake rented out Dodger Stadium to have dinner with a lady friend in front of the dugout……must be nice to have a lot of cash to waste.

Kiley McDaniel’s latest mock has:

29. Los Angeles Dodgers

Ryan Cusick, RHP, Wake Forest

Cusick has been tied here for awhile and it’s probably his most likely single spot, but he could also go about a dozen picks higher than this in a best case. I’ve heard mostly speculation about prep bats. Colorado prep RHP Alec Willis is also tied to the Dodgers at a later pick.

I do enjoy this site, lots of opinions and opinionated people.

When I read stuff where somebody is upset with something Molly Knight or Ken Roxenthal wrote in the Athletic or some other site, I honestly find it hilarious. Both are columnist. That’s what they do is write opinion pieces. They are not straight news writers. Dylan Hernandez is a sports columnist at the LA Times. He doesn’t write game stories, he pens opinion columns.

So why be offended? Not sure, since what mostly I read on this site is a reflection of somebody’s opinion.

Now just to clarify, I wasn’t actually suggesting that Bellinger was going to become a .400 hitter. I embellished that statement to indicate he needs to take advantage of the shift instead of pulling balls into the shift.

Since I coached college women’s fast pitch softball for many years, I was once asked what I thought the difference was between how the game was evolving and what was going on in baseball (the mental approach). Easy answer the girls are a lot smarter than the guys..

Case in point, if a softball team shifted their third baseman to short, the girls would literally bunt/slap the other team into oblivion. They would take advantage of the situation. It’s more about team than the individual. The coach wouldn’t have to even point it out, the girls would pick up on it when they saw the shift.

People often complain that baseball today is just not the same game, some think players are about individual exploits. Honestly, I think the game has become predictable, not as exciting as years ago when teams emphasized bunting, moving runners along, hit and run, stealing bases etc. Of course we all remember the three ultimate outcomes. Homerun, walk or strikeout. Today’s game in a nutshell.

How many times do we watch players hitting into shifts? Does this excite anyone? Does anyone writing on this site actually enjoy watching players hitting into shifts, striking out with runners in scoring position. How many times did we see this in the Marlins series. How many times did you see a hitter choke up on the bat, shorten his swing with two strikes?

Oh, and I don’t need a computer, mounds of data or analytics to come to the conclusion that the game needs to change.

Does anybody disagree?

Question on Yadier Alvarez: Before the season I read the Dodgers gave him another shot at Tulsa and he was on the opening day roster yet inactive. He has not played all season long. Is he still in the organization or has he left for good ?

Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!

Thank You for the advice that some gave me yesterday about getting around LA for about 36 hours. The thread closed before I could respond. Our flight leaves for Oahu on the 21st. Stopping at Dodger Stadium became a priority. I haven’t been since 2009.

Dodgers up to 11th in FanGraphs pre-draft ranking of Farm Systems.

For those following at home San Diego fell to 13th.

San Fran is at 9.

Arizona 5

Boston 15th.

From the LA Times re: unilateral cancellation of Bauer’s contract and the “morals clause”:

“Can the Dodgers void Bauer’s contract?

No. Such a unilateral decision would violate the Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Policy, which both MLB and the Players’ Association have agreed on. Under that policy, Manfred has the authority to suspend Bauer (in which case, the Dodgers wouldn’t need to pay him for the duration of his suspension), but the Dodgers themselves can’t do anything unless Manfred transfers disciplinary authority to them.

The standard player contract allows for termination if a player shall, “fail, refuse or neglect to conform his personal conduct to the standards of good citizenship and good sportsmanship.” If such language is included in Bauer’s deal, then perhaps the team could get out of it depending on the results of MLB and the Pasadena police’s investigations. Such a step, however, would be drastic, and unlikely not imminent.”

So the Dodgers apparently can’t do anything – it’s MLB’s decision.

REALLY HARD to swing at only strikes when the zone is as much a moving target as it has been this year. Maybe I am just paying more attn, but I have no memory of ever seeing such consistently bad ball/strike calling. I mean every pitch is a “new play call” in bball. Depending on the current count the pitcher picks different pitches, and the batter looks for different pitches. Easy to see that every incorrect call directly affects the game in some way.

As far as Vesia goes, I like his stuff too. But seeing so many AAA guys circle through this year it becomes obvious how HARD bball is. You can look like Koufax in the minors, come up to the bigs where most guys are just a split second faster & get rocked over and over. Very humbling game at times IMO.

Cheers

Clayton Kershaw’s MRI is today, but he went through his usual workout yesterday, arriving early at the stadium. Dave Roberts pretty much said they don’t believe it is anything significant and it was an opportunity to give him some extra days with the all-star break. They expect him to make his next start right after the break, according to reports in the Times and Daily News. Hopefully the MRI comes back clean.

Finally, Roberts has admitted they intend to use Price as a starter, building him up.

I agree the path to success begins with the hitters. Too many strikeouts in situations with scoring opportunities and at critical points in the game. I still don’t understand the lefties not taking advantage of the shifts, drop bunts for easy base hits or slap the ball past third. Maybe the Dodgers need to hire a softball hitting coach. Cody Bellinger could be a .400 hitter if he would just make that adjustment to the shift. A bunt gets him a single, a slap becomes a double.

I know some wanted to have an issue with Gavin Lux, but he has a higher average than wonderkind Francisco Lindor.

Mookie Betts seems to be coming around. Will he take off after the break and lead the Dodgers to the NL West title?

Listening to MLB TV panel discussion yesterday, no one believes the Giants will be there when the dust settles. They said they should be sellers, which is what Farhan Zaidi really wants to do, but “false hope” is coloring taking that path. They all agreed that the Giants would end up with a Chicago Cubs moment where you lose a bunch of games and go from contender status to third place. Hard to explain to your fan base.

Will the Dodgers draft Max Muncy, the LA Times High School Player of the Year? Muncy is a big time bat out of Thousand Oaks. Cool story if it happens.

Based on the past, MLB is likely to hit Trevor Bauer with a lengthy suspension, according to a story in the Times, no matter what the Pasadena police or DA do. Both the Times and Daily News indicate the Dodgers search for another starter in the trade market is picking up pace. No real surprise.

BP, That is just as inappropriate as the last time you said it

We Need to Talk About Keibert.

“Defeat is the secret ingredient to success” –Conor McGregor

I’m not sure 50 shades of Gray is an appropriate nickname considering Bauer’s situation.

Venguer, it seems that no one paid any attention to your post about radaronline, I’ll leave it right here…

My first inclination was this women is, let’s just say an “unsavory type”. The first word that came to mind was extortionist. I’m not claiming to have some kind of “intuition”, my gift is logic and reasoning. Even Spock knows that if it walks like a duck and talks like a duck. Well, you can see where I’m going with this.

So, this whackadoo was a member of the “Pad Squad – an ambassador team for the Padres and part of the Petco Park experience”.

She was “going to his house” that week and “already [has] her hooks in,” adding, “you know how I roll.”

She was “literally going to get in his head”… “and find pine tar.” She added, “trust me I know what I’m doing.”

Alright, let’s see how this works out now…

Who knew there were so many pitching options? Sure, that rotation looks adequate, but I’m not going to try to convince myself that it’s as formidable as what we had when the season began. It’s certainly enough to get over the hump. – Pun intended.

We’ll learn more about Kershaw after he’s examined now that they’re back in LA. He’s scheduled to have some tests today. My initial inclination is that he’ll be back shortly after the break.

Gray pitched two innings in his first game back and also threw another inning in the pen after his start. So, he’s technically built up to three innings right now. Having pitched on Sunday, he’s due to make another start today or tomorrow and then another sometime during the break. That should get him up to five innings if everything goes well. In a perfect world, he could make his debut against the Giants or Rockies during the first homestand after the break.

I’m hoping that the Dodgers let Price go as long as he wants to tonight. Bueller and Gonsolin round out the last couple of games before the break. The Nats just split a 4 game series with the Pads, hopefully they can step up their game against the Giants over the weekend.

Doc says the comp for Darien Nunez is Ardolis Chapman as is said to have a changeup like Devin Williams. It reminds me of that song. “A body like Arnold with a Denzel face”. The dude is a lefty strikeout machine. He sounds too good to be true.

Speaking of lefties and strikeouts. Vesia is making AAA batters look like little leaguers. 9IP 19K 3BB 3H 0HR 1R. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a K rate like that.

Just three games remain before the All-Star break. Let’s hope the law of averages kicks in and all of our bad luck will be limited to the first half.

You don’t consider Muncy is having a good year?!!!!!! And please no more of Uceta! And I’d leave Bellinger batting clean up. At OKC! It’s a victory for him if he can just foul off a fastballl! They need to have a fastball swing and miss contest at the All Star game between him and Peters!

Whether anyone likes it or not Bauer will b back. He may not b back this year but he will b back. Mlb is not going to end his career. Teams may not want him but somebody if not the Dodgers will play him. The lastros, Yankees to name a couple have no shame so there u go.

That rotation would work if it does. Gonsolin did look much better if he can stay healthy. Price will just be a bullpen game until he can go deeper and probably the same with Gray. Should be good until September without further injury. Urias innings are going to pile up so that will have to b considered.

If our offense doesn’t become more consistent our pitching will not b good enough for a World Series team. Losing May has killed us. I don’t think AF will make any major deadline deals. With our payroll we should have all we need. I just think we weren’t prepared for the pitching issues. His response was the cheapest way is just sign a bunch of milb relievers and put on the Mlb team.

In my opinion, stick-em doesn’t have much to do with the league batting averages declining, too many hitters have fallen in love with the long ball, especially Bellinger, he looks like he’s trying to hit a 500′ homer with every swing and he’s also become a huge sucker for the way off the plate down and in pitch from righties, I’m surprised he hasn’t had more back issues with his mighty cuts, maybe he needs a stint in the minors to relearn how to hit. Play a little more small ball and put the ball in play especially with 2 outs, get back to the basics and quit blaming spin rate, maybe the hitters should stop using gloves and pine tar to level that side of the game, just some personal thoughts.