The Plan of Succession

When the Dodgers acquired Jimmy Rollins, I was pretty vocal that Corey Seager was ready and there was no need for Rollins to be the “bridge” to Seager. I still think Corey was ready a year earlier, but FAZ made him wait… and it turned out OK. FAZ had a plan of succession.

In the Spring of 2017, I pronounced Cody Bellinger ready for the Show, but FAZ sent him back to OKC… until Adrian Gonzalez went down and was Wally Pipped. Cody WAS ready, but there was a plan of succession… and it turned out OK.

Many fans wanted to include Alex Verdugo in trades over the past two seasons. Others said he was ready. I didn’t because of character immaturity issues. After a winter of working with Gil Reyes, I felt Alex was ready. So did Andrew Friedman and he traded away two of the Dodgers starting outfielders for prospects who are currently #7 and #10 in their farm system. However, Alex was not just given playing time. He had to earn it.

Andrew had a plan of succession and it’s a been a success with Alex Verdugo. Alex has seized the day and earned that playing time. It’s like the old Smith Barney commercial:

A few days ago, I wrote this article: “The Will Smith Era is Upon Us.” While I do like Will Smith, I do not feel the same way about Will Smith that I did about Corey Seager, Cody Bellinger or Alex Verdugo. Some of you think he is going to be great because he has gotten off to a great start in all of 29 AB’s. I sincerely hope you are right, but 29 AB’s is a very small sample. I do think Will Smith will be solid, but not spectacular (although he has been spectacular in 29 AB’s).

I am all for Will Smith being the Dodger’s catcher, but he is no different from Corey Seager, Cody Bellinger or Alex Verdugo. He has to “earn it” and it has to occur organically. Austin Barnes is a good soldier, loved by his teammates and batterymates. Doc can’t just tap him on the shoulder and say “Get on the bus to OKC.” The Dodgers have shown us over the past four-plus years that they are not afraid to call upon rookies… and they have plenty to call upon. This year, it has been Verdugo, Garlick, Beaty, Rios, Gonsolin, Sborz and Will Smith.

Seven rookies on a team that has gone to back-to-back World Series! That’s a lot, but the Dodgers are not afraid to use them. They just don’t hand them a regular job – they make them break down the door. It happened with Corey, Cody and Alex and Will Smith is knocking. Many of you who want to get rid of Barnes were the same ones who also wanted to get rid of Pollock, Kike, and CT3 when they were going poorly.

I am not under any illusion that Austin Barnes is suddenly going to become Johnny Bench, but I will say that if you happen to be the starting catcher on the team that has the best record in baseball, the best ERA in baseball and the biggest division lead in all of baseball, why are so many people so eager to get you out of there? Due to those three things (best ERA, record and lead), there is no reason to rush the process. Players respect that the Dodgers give struggling veteran players a lot of grace. They have earned it. In almost every situation where players have struggled this year, and the Dodgers stayed the course with them, they were rewarded (Kike, CT3, Pollock).

All I am saying is that we (you and I) are “hacks” while the Dodger brass and coaches are professionals. Don’t make these decisions at home. That said, I would not be surprised if Will Smith is the starting catcher by the end of the season. However, it may not come the way you envision… it may be because of injury. What are the odds that Barnes or Martin have an injury?

The Pen

The pen sure looks different with Maeda as the setup guy. Last night was a glimpse of the playoff bullpen. In 2017, Kenley Jansen’s average cutter velocity was 93.5 MPH. Last night Kenley touched 93 several times as he looked in command in the 9th inning.

Caleb Ferguson is too good to send back to AAA to develop a new pitch. Odds are he will not do that… and he doesn’t need to. Right about now, his problems are between his ears. He was unhittable at AAA – he needs to have confidence in his stuff and locate it a little more often. Doc will try and work him into low leverage situations for a while.

Right about now, Will Smith, Felipe Vasquez, Brad Hand, and several other relievers are not yet on the market and it’s possible all three will not be. Their teams are in the playoff hunt and decisions will be made at the trade deadline. As much as I would like to have Vasquez, the only way the Pirates would trade him now is if you offered them something they could not refuse, like Lux, Smith, and May. Ruiz won’t do it. They need an MLB-Ready catcher now. That’s a “dope-fiend move.”

So we wait!!!

P.S. For what it is worth an “insider” told me that Joc Pederson was being scouted by several teams and he was “in play.”

Happy Anniversary!

Yesterday was our Anniversary and I just wanted to say “Thank you for being my partner the past 22 years through this amazing adventure. So, I took the advice on one of her favorite songs (below). Happy Anniversary, Babe! I doubt that she reads here. 😉

AC’s Minor League Lowdown

OKC Dodgers 11 – San Antonio Missions 3 (Brewers)

The Dodgers were at home ready to take on the PCL leading Missions, winners of 8 straight. The Missions were 18.5 games ahead of the Dodgers.  The Dodgers jumped out to a 7-0 lead after 3 and 10-1 after 4, and coasted to the 11-3 victory.  Daniel Corcino started and went 6.2 innings surrendering all three runs on 6 hits.  Shea Spitzbarth got out of the 7^th and Stetson Allie and Luis Vazquez returned for their 1^st games in 3 weeks.

DJ Peters was the hitting star for this game going 3-4 with 2 HRs (8).  Kyle Garlick had another big game going 3-4 with his 16^th HR.  Zach Reks went 2-4 with his 14^th HR, and Will D. Smith hit his 19^th HR of the year. 

Tulsa Drillers 5 – Midland RockHounds 3 (A’s)

Edwin Uceta started and pitched a masterful 6.0 innings.  Uceta ended his night after 6.0 innings with a 4-0 lead.  Logan Salow entered and surrendered 3 runs in his .1 inning.  Jordan Sheffield followed and retired the RockHounds without any further damage.  Victor Gonzalez pitched a scoreless 1.2 innings to close out the win with his 2nd save.

In the 4^th, K-Bear singled and moved to 3^rd on a Cody Thomas double (1) and scored on a Connor Wong sac fly.  Cristian Santana had a 2-run double in the 5th.  Santana had 2 doubles on the night (20) Drew Avans inside the park HR (1) gave the Drillers an insurance run.

K-Bear was 3-4, while Santana and Avans had 2 hits apiece.

RC Quakes 3 – San Jose Giants 4

The Giants jumped out to a 3-0 lead after the 2^nd with 3 runs scored against starting pitcher Andre Jackson.  Jackson went 5.1 innings.  Austin Drury and Max Gamboa got through the 9^th without any other damage.  In the 10^th, the Giants pushed across a run against Connor Strain with 2 outs in the 10^th, with a walk-off 4-3 win.

The Quakes tied the score with 3 runs (2 earned) of their own in the 7^th against starter Sean Hjelle.  In the 7^th the Quakes had 2 singles, a sac bunt/error loaded the bases.  A ground out scored 1 run, leaving runners on 1^st and 3^rd.  Deacon Liput stole 2^nd and Niko Hulsizer stole home for the 2^nd run.  The third run scored on an error.

Great Lakes Loons 2 – Clinton LumberJacks 3 (Marlins)

3^rd Round draft pick, Ryan Pepiot, made his Great Lakes debut and pitched an excellent 2.0 innings, surrendering one hit.  Zach Willeman followed with 4.0 innings and gave up the 3 runs.  Aaron Ochsenbein continued his scoreless start to the season with his Great Lakes debut as well, with 2 scoreless IP.  He now has 7.0 innings without allowing a run.  James Bruihl pitched a scoreless 9^th.  The offense could not get going.  There were no Loons with multi-hit games.  Jacob Amaya hit a double (23) as did Romer Cuadrado (10) and Luke Heyer added a triple (3).

Ogden Raptors 9 – Rocky Mountain Vibes 5 (Brewers)

Both teams traded runs early on leaving the game tied 5-5 after 4. Jeronimo Castro started and pitched 4.0 innings surrendering all 5 runs.  3 Raptor pitchers (Melvin Jimenez, Jeff Belge, and Corey Merrill) shut down the Vibes for the next 5.0 innings on 2 hits.  Melvin Jimenez pitched 2.0 and got the win. 

Offensively the Raptors were led by Sam McWilliams who went 2-4 with his 9^th HR.  McWilliams now has 9 doubles, 9 HRs, 22 RBIs, 19 walks, 35 Ks, and a 1.094 OPS.  Jon Littell and Jeremy Arocho each had 2 hits.  Brandon Lewis (5) and Andrew Shaps (4) each had doubles, while Littell hit a triple (2).

AZL Dodgers Lasorda 6 – AZL Indians 15

The Indians jumped out to a 2-0 lead after 1 and a 5-1 lead after 2 with all five runs scored against starter Carlos Duran.  The Lasordas scored one in the 3^rd and 4 in the 4^th to take the lead that stood until the Indians scored 1 in the 7^th to tie the game, and then jumped on three Lasorda pitchers for 9 in the 8^th to close out the game. 

D=Eddys Leonard went 2-5 with a double (3) and a HR (3).  Aldo Espinoza went 2-5 with 2 doubles (6), while Julio Carrion had a 2-4 night.  Jaime Perez hit his 3^rd double of the season.

AZL Dodgers Mota 3 – AZL Brewers 2

The Motas scored solo runs in the 4^th and 6^th for a 2-0 lead.  The Brewers tied the score in the 7^th.  In the 9^th, Alfonso Guillen opened with a double (1).  Jeremiah Vison pinch ran for Guillen and moved to 3^rd on a sac bunt and scored the walk-off run on a wild pitch.

Diego Cartaya had 2 hits for his third consecutive multi-hit game, and a 5-game hitting streak overall.  Juan Zabala had a 2-hit night with a double (2), and Alfonso Guillen had a 2 hit night as well.

Julian Smith had a good outing going 4.0 scoreless innings. 4 pitchers followed with Carlos De Los Santos and Igor Avila surrendering the tieing runs.  Jacob Cantleberry continued his scoreless string and Daniel Cruz got the final out in the 9^th good enough to get the win.

DSL Dodgers Bautista 4 – DSL Red Sox 5

Luis Yan went 3-4 with his first triple.  Jose Ramos (7) and Kiumel Bastardo (4) each had doubles.  The Bautistas got off to a rough start falling behind 3-0 in the first after Martin Santana yielded 3 runs while only getting one out.  He left with the bases loaded and Abel Moya allowed all inherited runners to score.  The Bautistas scored three to tie the score, but Abel Moya allowed a HR as the Red Sox took the lead.  The Red Sox scored an unearned run for the final score.

DSL Dodgers Shoemaker 1 – DSL Rangers 3

The Shoemakers had 8 singles led by Hector Martinez with 3 of them.  The Rangers scored two in the 5^th off Fran Castro, while both teams scored a run in the 8^th to complete the scoring.  Benony Robles started and pitched a scoreless 4.0 innings on 1 hit.  Castro and two other Shoemaker pitchers followed.