The Price is Wrong
Maybe I am just the overly-sensitive type, but David Price just rubs me the wrong way. Of course, we all know that he was part of the Mookie Betts trade and his first season with the Dodgers was 2020. I had COVID-19 twice that season at age 67, but he opted out of the season…
Maybe I am just the overly-sensitive type, but David Price just rubs me the wrong way. Of course, we all know that he was part of the Mookie Betts trade and his first season with the Dodgers was 2020. I had COVID-19 twice that season at age 67, but he opted out of the season because ________________________ (you fill in the blanks). I have no clue why he did it… and I probably don’t care! David Price might be a guy you would go to a tea party with, or maybe to a fashion show, but no one in the history of the world would want to go to war it David Price.
David Price is making $32 million this year. The Dodgers only have to pay $16 million of that, but by my calculations, that is about $20 million too high. David Price doesn’t really seem to care! He has made his money… and is still making it. He is talking about retiring after this season, which indicates he might have already checked out. His ERA sits at 3.63, but he is the highest-paid pitcher in the game of baseball that you cannot count on. Well, actually, you can count on him to choke when you need him the most. Bring him in in a 4-runs game and he can hold the lead. Ask him to keep the team within a run and that is too much to ask! The Price is wrong. Andrew Friedman needs to get it right!
Sooner or later, all pitchers struggle, but Mitch White struggled mightily last night and while I hesitate to say it, I will: “His struggles are between his ears.” I don’t mean that in a bad way – it’s just that Mitch White needs to get mentally tougher. He could learn a thing or two from Max Scherzer who “snarls” when he gives up a baserunner. Mitch has excellent stuff… but he just needs to raise his “snarl response.” That was an ugly outing but the Dodgers could have still won it if the Price was right!
Justin Turner is hitting .423 in his last 7 games, .385 in his last 15 games, and .290 in his last 30 games. That is something the Dodgers can live with. He may not be a superstar, but he is solid and so is his defense. On the other hand, Max Muncy is hitting .143 in his last 7 games, .140 in his last 15 games, and .170 in his last 30 games. Cody Bellinger is hitting .217 in his last 7 games. .184 in his last 15 and .211 in his last 30.
Max Muncy and Cody Bellinger are what their statistics say they are. The Dodgers can live with Bellinger and his elite defense, but they cannot carry both players. Unless Max says he is injured and needs to go on the IL, the Dodgers are going to have to cut him. What other options are there? The team simply cannot carry that bat. The Dodgers should not wait any longer. Find out if Miguel Vargas is ready three weeks before the trade deadline and if he is totally overmatched, then you have time to make a deal. I think he is ready! It’s Sad Max!
BTW, Andrew Heaney threw a simulated game yesterday in St. Louis and is headed to Rancho on July 16 where he will throw 3 or 4 innings. It seems to me that they will be limiting his pitches and that he might not be a starter… at least this season. Still, that guy can be very valuable.
MLB Draft
AS you know, the MLB Draft starts on Saturday. Everything you need to know about it is HERE.
Future Dodgers Down on the Farm
- OKC Dodgers won 15-4
- Miguel Vargas was 2-3 with 3 BB
- Mike Busch was 4-6 with 2 doubles
- Jacob Amaya, Ryan Noda, Janie Martin, Hunter Fedducia, and James Outman all had 2 hits.
- Eddy Alvarez was 3-4
- Ryan Pepiot went 5.2 innings (99 pitches) and is now 7-0. He struck out 7 but walked 2 and allowed 4 ER
- Tulsa lost 7-6
- Kyle Hurt did not get through the first inning
- Brandon “Former Fat Boy” Lewis was 2-4 and hit his 8th HR. He is still hitting .181.
- Ryan Ward hit his 20th HR.
- Great Lakes won 14-9
- Diego Cartaya was 1-5 (a double)
- Eddys Leonard was 2-5 with his 23rd double
- Alex De Jesus was 2-4 (.302/.858)
- Jose Ramos was 3-5 with 7 RBI with 2 HR
- Rancho Cuc won 13-8
- Luis Rodriguez was -12 with 4 BB
- Madison Bruns pitches 2 scoreless innings, allowing 2 hits, a BB and 2 K’s.
CALL UP MIGUEL VARGAS
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Discussion (76)
Disagree, not disagreeable
So Phillips got the W? yep! Strange that starters have to bag 5 innings to qualify for the win regardless of the less than 5 innings score and a RP only has to go 1/2 inning. Phillips did look sharp!
The anti-Alberto league will have to be quiet for at least a day. Roberts pulled the right strings tonight. Fans need to understand that this team has a lot of confidence in their ability to come back from any deficit. AF loves players who are versatile. He signed Alberto because of his track record against lefty’s and his ability to play multiple positions. It is the same reason that the rumor mill has the Dodgers interested in Brandon Drury of the Reds. With Taylor out until maybe mid August or later, recent reports are not great, the Dodgers need that kind of Swiss Army knife type of player. Drury is hitting in the .270’s and strikes out a lot less than Taylor. Oh yeah, the Ump tonight was awful. He missed a lot of calls.
Well, Max came through in the clutch tonight with that sacrifice fly. I was surprised the Cards didn’t walk him (on purpose this time) to set the force at home and/or a doubleplay. And Max, of course, wasn’t the only hero in this comeback. Mookie, Belli and even Alberto delivered too. Everybody delivered when the Dodgers were down 6-0.
Just one game, but part of a new trend. These come-from-behind efforts are nice to see. The Dodgers play with a lot of confidence.
Props to Dave Roberts too for using Kimbrel in the 8th and Phillips in the 9th.
Strateregy!
Well, good morning…
And it’s not “juevos”, it’s “HUEVOS”
as I said before, being pessimistic works
Wow, how many times has this team come back from death over the last couple of weeks? JT, Belli, Muncy, Hanser for the win.
Thanks Jorge,well… GREAT NIGHT!!!!
Win of the year!!!!!! I’m still disappointed in Roberts that he didn’t have the juevos to pitch Price in the 9th!
Interesting Kimbrel was used in the eighth and Phillips in the ninth. Is this a new thing or just a situational thing?
And I take back all the bad things B&P has said about Alberto!
Now we go to Price! Great ab by Muncy!
Eric, is it Bickford or Price time in the eighth?
I haven’t lost all faith in Max. He, JT and Taylor are great diamond-in-the-rough finds of the modern Dodgers. For years he was the team’s most dependable slugger. I see that in the minors the team sometimes sends poor performers down to Arizona for “development.” Is that an option here?
Not-so-bold prediction: AF brings up Vargas and includes Max as a sweetener in a midseason trade in which he deals a couple of prospects for player the Dodgers need NOW. And that would be OK. Because with the Dodgers covering at least half of his salary, Max will join a small-market team and win Comeback Player of the Year honors for 2023.
So the second best player in the NL isn’t even on the all star roster! And the game is at his home stadium. I think the service workers should strike for that reason alone.
Vesia faced a lot of RHB’s there. Only one LHB. He’s vulnerable against RHB’s. Probably doesn’t matter considering the score. He’s excellent and I mean excellent against LHB’s that’s why his overall numbers are decent.
Well you can’t blame Roberts and Price tonight. And I guess you just can’t keep playing the Cubs and Rockies every series.
Tough lineup to get through, especially when you have the Cards worst hitter 5 for6 in the series is so far
Well…. Goodnight!
Biggest difference with the Dodgers these past 2 years is without doubt The Bench.
Sign Brandon Drury ASAP please
Ps
Been saying Price is a bad apple for a while now. How come you never hear any stories of his teammates praising him for off the field mentoring like Chase Utley, or being a great role model like CK?
1st to put his hand up to do less – especially last year after a season of rest, when we really needed him to step up after TB went down – he went AWOL.
Totally with Mark , and have said so many times – DP gave up caring when in Boston. Just going throw the motions now.
7:45 PM ET
Dodgers (56-30)
Cardinals (48-42)
SP Tony Gonsolin R
11-0 1.62 ERA 88.2IP 80K
Confirmed Lineup
RF Mookie Betts R
SS Trea Turner R
1B F. Freeman L
C Will Smith R
DH J. Turner R
CF C. Bellinger L
3B Max Muncy L
LF Jake Lamb L
2B Gavin Lux L
Clear-day
0% Rain
90° Wind 4 mph In
On Mitch White, he hadn’t ever won me over, but in fairness to his performance last night the Cards were hitting pitches that weren’t strikes. They weren’t getting fat down the middle pitches. Maybe I was raiding the fridge at a time and missed something but the hits I saw were not fat. I’m not saying he threw a good game and his facial expressions sorta remind me of Brandon League’s which is not a fond memory. That is probably my biggest gripe.
Glad to see others here coming around to what I saw a long time ago about Price. By the way his slash line this year is .304/.340/.533/.873, there is nothing good there, except maybe he doesn’t give up a lot of walks.
Also glad some here are coming around to seeing what I’ve seen in Alberto. Besides the back up catcher Barnes, who I won’t include because you need a back up catcher, the 2 worst hitters on the team, not including Barnes, are Alberto and Muncy. You make the call who’s worse.
A comparison of slash lines:
Muncy .161/.313/.309/.622
Alberto .222/.232/.346/.577
I’m disappointed in Mitch White’s performance yesterday because I like the guy, mainly because he has similar stats against both sides of the plate. With the 3 batter minimum rule, down the line if he doesn’t work out as a starter (I hope not) and becomes a reliever. and his stats are decent and similar against both sides of the plate, he may become a good reliever. I hate when relievers, according to their stats, are vulnerable against one side of the plate.
Yency Almonte is on a good streak right now, and his overall stats this year are excellent. He’s unhittable against LHB with a .325 OPS this year and above average against RHB with a .672 OPS this year (I’d like to see that get a little bit better though against RHB). Besides this year, the rest of his career has been with the Rockies and pitching in that thin air a good amount of times, so to me, his career stats are not a good source to look at.
He,he, Dodgers had claimed Jake Reed… again!
I’ve said enough about Bellinger and Muncy lately and my wish to being up Vargas to DH. And my feelings on playing Lux everyday at 2nd. I’m hoping Alberto was in there yesterday for a Lux day off and I’m good with that. I just never want to see Lux in left again. IDEA – Maybe we could keep Lux in left and trade for Joc to play first base. Never mind.
Pitchers who make 30 starts are said to usually have 5 starts where they are locked in; everything working, 5 clunkers and 20 normal outings. I think this one of the clunkers for Mitch White.
The MLB rules folks are at it again, Here’s a clip from the Athletic about the latest experimental shift:
“Another shift-limiting change is coming to the minors this season that will alter the way the diamonds look in the Low-A Florida State League. Beginning July 22, chalk lines will appear in the infield dirt behind second base, sources told The Athletic.
The goal? Major League Baseball hopes that the large, pie-shaped chalk line that goes from the far tip of second base to the outfield grass to prevent infielders from playing behind the bag will lead to more base hits up the middle.
There are shift rules, implemented in 2021, already in place up through Double A. One prevents infielders from playing on the outfield grass, and another stipulates that two infielders must be positioned on either side of second base.
The latter rule hasn’t led to the results MLB wanted, as a shortstop or second baseman can station himself just inches to the side of second base, all the way back to the outfield grass. So MLB will watch what happens in the Low-A league closely to see if the change generates more offense.
MLB has put together a competition committee that includes executives, current players and an active umpire to discuss these rules changes. The group will monitor the results in the minor leagues this season and it’s likely MLB adopts shift limits, potentially including a new restricted area of sorts behind second base, as soon as the 2023 season. MLB has to provide only 45 days notice before making rules changes, thanks to a change in the most recent collective bargaining agreement.”
Yes its tough to score with the black hole gang. So if one of them gets a couple of hits then maybe. But if TT or Freeman don’t get on. Then you are down to only 3 hitters or so. As for JT, he got hot at the right time and was big in our recent streak. But lets face it, he is one slide, or one first to third, or one stolen base attempt from being out with a hammy for 1 month. As for Max-we know we don’t know the whole story. So obviously the plan (not just from Roberts), as long as we are winning. Keep him (and Beli) in there and hope they come around. We know a team will only resort to ‘rookies’ as a last resort. After all managers are former old players who felt their knowledge would carry them
The Jays firing Montoyo encouraged me to write one last time about several on this site wanting the same for Doc. I know B&P you are tired of me doing this but quite frankly I am also tired of you (and others) making what I feel are ridiculous conclusions about Doc.
In his five full seasons, his teams have averaged 99.8 wins. You say winning percentage is not important but exactly what is a Manager there to do if not win games. What in the world do all of you want? His teams have won 106 twice and 104 once. How much do you want the 99.8 wins improved? That number is the best in MLB current history. I honestly don’t know if anyone as Manager could make some of you happy.
I know he has had great talent. No one ever argues my point about other Managers with great talent. So here goes for the last time. Bobby Cox with 3 Hall of Fame starting pitchers and an otherwise very good team averaged 90.1 wins over the 15 years he had great players. Sparky Anderson with the Big Red Machine averaged 95.9 over the 9 years with that talent. Joe Torre with obviously a great Yankee team averaged 97.8 wins with that team over 12 years. I only picked those 3 for comparison but any other great Managers with great talent would also prove to have less of a record than Doc.
Most of you are happy with Andrew Friedman. He is arguably one of, if not the best, front office man in baseball. He has the responsibility of making lots of decisions, including who manages the team. Frankly I will always go with his judgement and not the wannabe GM’s the write on this blog.
As Mark has said a few times, when they lose it is Doc’s fault and when they win Doc had nothing to do with it. That is certainly exemplified by B&P’s criticism the other day when Lamb was in the lineup instead of Thompson. When Lamb hit a very important home run, we got great he hit a home run but I would have still played Thompson from B&P. No where did he give Doc any credit for playing Lamb.
I will close by once again saying we are all very lucky to root for this team/organization. Unfortunately some of you expect perfection which, of course, will never happen. Many things go into why a team wins or loses. In game decisions are certainly important but only part of the outcome. B&P, you are a very smart guy with lots of great things to contribute. You do have an obsession with your anti feeling about Doc. I also have an obsession (as a fan for a long time) to try to set the record straight. You can certainly choose to ignore facts but I hope you can also change.