The Solution to the Bullpen Dilution
The talent in the Dodger’s bullpen has gone from being the best team in baseball to literally being the worst team in baseball (or very close to it). What is the solution to the bullpen dilution? I think I have it figured out, and it involves Mark Prior. Before you lose your…
The talent in the Dodger’s bullpen has gone from being the best team in baseball to literally being the worst team in baseball (or very close to it). What is the solution to the bullpen dilution? I think I have it figured out, and it involves Mark Prior. Before you lose your mind and think, I want to fire Mark Prior… I don’t. Let’s establish that first, but when you cannot fire the whole pitching staff, you fire the Pitching Coach. That is not needed right at this moment. What is needed is change.
Before I go on, let me ask a question first: Does it seem odd that many of the pitchers are having bad years… especially in the bullpen?
- Last year, Julio Urias had a 2.16 ER – this year, it is 4.39
- Last year Michael Grove had a 4.60 ERA – this year, it sits at 8.28
- Last year Noah Syndergaard had a 3.94 ERA and came to LA for Mark Prior to “fix him.” His ERA is 7.16
- Phil Bickford had a 4.72 ERA last year – now it is 7.33
- Andre Jackson had a 1.86 ERA last year, and now it is 6.62
- Justin Bruihl went from 3.80 to 4.41
- Alex Vesia was at 2.15 last year -this year, he is helpless at 7.13
- Yency Almonte had a 1.02 ERA in 2022 and now is horrid at 6.52
Gonsolin, Kershaw, Miller & Miller, May, and even Graterol have different stuff and seem unaffected. Some are blaming Andrew Friedman, which is moronic. Who could anticipate that two-thirds of the Dodgers pitchers would regress? No one, that’s who? But things do not happen in a vacuum. There is “cause and effect.” Mark Prior is the “cause.” He has a plan for the pitchers. He has many of them start with a high fastball or a low slider; then, he likes to change the eye level of the batter. Some pitchers throw the “sweeper” to do that. The fact is that it usually involves throwing the pitches in certain areas.
I think the opposition has developed a highly predictive algorithm of the way each Dodger pitcher throws. The Dodgers are not the only team with a large analytics department. Every team does it, and these guys are smart! In 1988, Kirk Gibson knew that Dodger Scout Mel Didier told the team that EVERY TIME Dennis Eckersley had a 3-2 count on a LH batter, he threw a backdoor slider, and Gibby was ready for it.
If MLB hitters know what and even where a pitch will be, they can hit it probably over half of the time. That elevates a .250 hitter to a .500 hitter, and .500 hitters destroy a pitching staff! I believe that is what is happening to the Dodgers. It’s time for Mark Prior to throw the other team a curve – not literally! Baseball is a great game of adjustments. The opposition has adjusted – now it’s time for Mark Prior and Company to re-adjust. If that seems too simplistic, remember that sometimes the simplest methods work the best.
The entire pitching staff did not simply “lose it” this year. The competition just has a better idea of what is coming, and they are waiting for that. Change your pitching sequence, and you will change your results, Mark Prior. If it works, I’ll tell you where to send the checks! 😉
This needs to be done immediately… if not sooner!
Dodger News and Notes
- To say that Emmet Sheehan was good last night would be like saying that the Queen Mary was a boat. He did not get a ton of “swing and miss,” and luck was involved, but still… 6 hitless innings? He will stick around for another start or three.
- James Outman is showing signs of adjusting – he is not swinging out of his shoes at every pitch. I like the progress.
- OTOH, Miguel Vargas needs to sit a couple of games and clear his head. It will do no good for Vargas out Outman to go back to OKC at this moment!
- Gavin Stone got beaten like a rented mule last night – 3.1 IP/11 H/10 ER/2 BB/8 K – How on earth can you even do that?
- Andre Jackson followed up with 4.2 IP/5 H/4 ER/1 BB/8 K
- Zack Burdi struck out 2 in his 1 IP.
- Nick Frasso threw 4 IP at Tulsa with 0 Runs and 3 K’s
- Rooney and Leasure looked good.
- It is always darkest, just before dawn.
- Then there was this, and Jon Miller called it correctly:
Unfortuneatly, this is what Dodger Baseball is about
This is a huge double standard, and if you think it is not a part of Dodger Baseball, you would be wrong… and devoid of common sense! The Dodgers just ignored (selectively) their own code of conduct and caved to the Woke Mob! Shamefully! I do not ignore this bullshit! I call like I see it! It should not be lost on anyone that the Dodgers honored the anti-Catholic drag ‘nuns’ more than an hour before the first pitch inside a nearly empty stadium. They are a bunch of Chickenshit Cowards!
More from Dodger Talk
Dodgers Food Trailer
I did this interview a couple of weeks ago with Chef Mike, who runs the Dodgers Food Trailer for the Great Lakes Loons. They are there for every home and road regular season and playoff game. They prepare three meals a day for approximately 50 people (players and coaches). Since games end late most evenings, they do not prepare breakfast. Many of their hotels have a complimentary breakfast anyway. However,…
Meet LAD 2026 Draft Picks 1-12
3 picks were High School players (2 SS and 1 OF). There was a college OF, college catcher, college SS, and 10 college pitchers. Of all the talk for a need for a catcher, the only catcher the Dodgers selected was Luke Bard, son of LAD bullpen coach Josh Bard. Bard was a 4th year senior from Houston Christian University. He is not a prospect, so the Dodgers are still…
Interview with Paul Beachy – Team Bus Driver For The Great Lakes Loons (LA Dodgers Minor League Team)
It’s been a few days since I did this interview. We have evidently been working my son-in-law (the video guy) like a rented mule at US Water Systems. However, I am taking him to London with me in a few days, so maybe Watford will buy him a pint as a tip, but he’s a dang Red Sox fan, so there is that! I thought that it would be interesting…
Thanks for Your Service: Chris Taylor
I was going to do this post when Chris announced he was retiring, then he changed his mind, but since the chances of him ever playing for the Dodgers again are slim and non-existent, I will go ahead with this post. He unretired, went on the IL, then decided to call it quits on May 24th. Taylor was born in Virginia Beach VA on August 29th, 1990. He attended Great…
Discussion (147)
Disagree, not disagreeable
The Dodgers should be ashamed of themselves for celebrating an anti-Christian hate group. I’ve been a fan all of my life, until last night.
Mookie was a bonehead on the bases last night .
As a Christian, my response to last night should be that of Oswald Chambers.
“Criticism is one of the ordinary activities of people, but in the spiritual realm nothing is accomplished by it. Every time I judge, I condemn myself. (Rom 2:17-24)
Criticism serves to make you harsh, vindictive, and cruel, and leaves you with the soothing and flattering idea that you are somehow superior to others. Jesus says that as His disciple you should cultivate a temperament that is never critical. Yet, speaking the truth with kindness and gentleness.
The Holy Spirit is the only one in the proper position to criticize, and He alone is able to show what is wrong without hurting and wounding.” However, I am still a work in progress.
I also didn’t watch or listen to my beloved Dodgers because of the stupid decison to honor a hate group. I’m pissed off at the organization for allowing this and caving in. I hope it hits them in the pocket book they are smart enough to realize what they did and never do it again. There is enough crap going on in the world that we don’t need a distraction from watching a game that is suposed to take our minds off of the negative.
What a shame the Dodgers let that W for Emmett Sheehan get away like that. Once again a bullpen meltdown with that baserunning debacle ending it.
Kid deserved to win this game. One of the best Dodgers debuts for a rookie pitcher ever.
Speaking of letting one get away:
Once again it cost the Dodgers a win because they absolutely refuse to play small ball when small ball presents itself.
Bottom of the 10th, Caleb just stranded that ghost runner. Why on heavens earth do you not bunt that runner over to third base with a bunt by Outman ? The long fly ball by Bush wins you the game. Instead you let Outman swing away and he does not move the runner over.
Plus Roberts knew he was down to his last pitcher with Vesia already. IMHO yet another prove this guy is a bad ingame manager.
On Vargas: Agree with Mark. Kid needs a couple of games in the dugout. But with all the injureis he probably will be in the lineup due to default. So far Vargas is kind of a disappointment.
And what the he.ll happened to STone ? That is a stat lne from hell.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Another contributing factor to Dodger ERAs being up this year is that they can no longer use the shift to their advantage. Last year the Dodgers higher use and were more more effective than most teams with the shift.
Mark,
Your thesis about our relief pitching makes a lot of sense. We know these guys can alternate good years and bad-especially when 1 or 2 pitches in an inning are amplified by their short stints, but STILL-when it is EVERYONE you would think it is the PLAN that is going wrong.
comment in jail
This is actually a pretty insightful article. Essentially the Dodgers have the same personnel as they did last year, when their bullpen was generally excellent. The fastball velocity hasn’t dropped for each of these pitchers. I presume their command hasn’t declined so much that it would account for just how poor their performances have been. That they are as collectively bad as they are after being as good as they were is almost statistically impossible. It cannot be explained by just a decline in “stuff.” The stuff really hasn’t declined. So, why?
I noted once when watching Vesia getting beaten like a rented mule that his pitches actually weren’t bad. I saw one particular high fastball right on the upper end of the strike zone, if not slightly above it, get ripped for a hard line drive and it perplexed me. I was thinking, “that was actually a good pitch!” It seemed odd. This whole bullpen implosion seems odd.
Mark Prior is not a wizard. People were somehow expecting him to add 3 ticks to Syndergaard’s fastball. His talent was making minor tweaks to arm angles to get a little more command here, a little more rise there; but his real gift was sequencing. He developed a system that worked. The problem is, it’s a system, and as a system it can become predictable.
I dunno. Smarter more informed people than we fans probably have some more insight, but I think the possibility that other teams have cracked the Prior code and the book is out is as good a theory as any.
This was how the relief corps ranked last year. What is going on?
Open on www.fangraphs.comhttps://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=rel&lg=all&qual=0&type=8&season=2022&month=0&season1=2022&ind=0&team=0,ts&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&startdate=2022-01-01&enddate=2022-12-31I boycotted watching the game last night and I’m pissed off that the Dodgers let this travesty happen. I don’t drink and haven’t for five years and took the remaining bottles I have for guests of Bud Light and poured them down the drain. My neighbor’s daughter is getting married and they told me that they pulled the wedding registry from Target. When will these woke companies learn to stop trying to shove this shit down our throats?. In the meantime they’re losing money and market share. I’m sure the Dodgers will lose some fans over last night but not enough to make a difference to their bottom line. As Mark stated this nonsense doesn’t belong in sports. Sports is suppose to be enjoyment and a release from the pressures we face on a daily basis. I hope more MLB players will speak out on this subject.
Why was Kolarek DFA and Vesia kept?