The Solution to the Bullpen Dilution

Why was Kolarek DFA and Vesia kept?

I 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.

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?

comment in jail

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.

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.

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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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.

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.

Mookie was a bonehead on the bases last night .

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.

Last night was KARMA for the Dodgers!

The Big Dodger in the Sky (Tommy was lobbying him) called BS!

Tip of the hat to Mark for getting as much mileage as he can.

2K people protesting in the lot before the game. That’s sizable and makes sense to me.

Funny how we’ve have decades of movies and TV shows that have made parodies of nuns and there was not a peep of protesting… Until the drag group does it. Let’s not pretend this is anything more than LGBTQ hate disguised as religious protesting. Stop giving in to the right wing hate mongers. They are playing you for suckers.

Funny how we’ve have decades of movies and TV shows that have made parodies of nuns and there was not a peep of protesting… Until the drag group does it. Let’s not pretend this is anything more than LGBTQ hate disguised as religious protesting. Stop giving in to the right wing hate mongers. They are playing you for suckers so that they can win an election.

Just curious, I don’t know anything about this “anti catholic/Christian” group so I haven’t made one comment, but this makes me wonder…..do you think the Dodgers would have allowed an “anti Muslim” group to be represented?

I usually agree with Mark’s articles, but putting all of the blame on Prior for the bullpen problems is wrong.

Accountability starts with the players. These relievers with the exception of Phillips have underperformed this year. It is primarily bad execution by the relievers combined with lack of talent and experience. But the players have to perform when given a chance.

Secondly, Dave Roberts is the manager not Mark Prior. He is responsible for all of the coaches including the pitching coach. Roberts makes the pitching changes and he makes many questionable moves. This Tuesday he used Evan Phillips in the 8th inning of a 5-0 game after an off day. The next day Dodgers lost a 4-2 lead in the 8th inning when Dave pitched Almonte in the 8th inning instead of Phillips. Last night Phillips was unavailable again to help hold a 4-0 lead and instead Dave removed Sheehan after 6 no hit innings, knowing his bullpen was thin. Roberts is part of the bullpen problem also.

MT exempts Friedman from any criticism of the bullpen. AF put together a bullpen that pays Treinen, Hudson, Reyes, Nelson $25 million and none have pitched this year. He also paid Kimbrel $16 million last year and Treinen $10 million last year for minimal production. His bullpen roster decisions are part of the problem.

Maybe Prior and the catchers can improve their pitch sequencing, but to think that will solve all of the bullpen problems is silly. Start with the players, the GM and the manager before singling out the pitching coach.

Not sure I agree with the premise that the Dodger relief corps has become too predictable in their pitch sequence and location. Relief pitching varies more from year to year than almost any other performance in baseball. It is why bullpen construction is such a hit or miss proposition. Throw in the new rules on defensive shifts and just the randomness of sampling variability and that seems to be a more logical explanation. Just off the top of my head, the Reds game that Caleb Ferguson gave away was a function of a lack of command, last night Victor Gonzalez could not throw a strike and gave up three soft hits that found a hole (random chance) , Brusdar has had two throwing errors that cost them games or leads. Plus, Graterol gives up a lot of soft contact hits because he can’t put hitters away. I think the Dodgers should look at some of these power arms in the minor leagues to fill in a hole or two in that pen. I know that these pitchers have more value when they are developed as starters but we can’t possibly use them all as starters. Rather than trade these young AA and AAA starters for relief pitching, use Grove, Pepiot, Frasso, and/or Ryan to shore up the pen. Mark has an interesting hypothesis but I trust that the Dodgers have studied the data and if it was as simple as pitch sequence they would have discovered it.

I agree with their approach to Vargas and Outman. This is part of that runway that young players need to develop and succeed at the Major League level. Anthony Volpe was under .200 for the Yankees as their starting shortstop two weeks ago and he was a top 10 prospect last year. Nolan Gorman was sent back to minors by Cardinals last year because he struggled hitting high fast balls and he is back this year with a bang. As fans, me definitely included, we are not the most patient when it comes to player development.

This had all the makings of a “gap year”, as someone called it, for the Dodgers. It sure looks that way. I would be much more frustrated as a Padres fan with the money they have spent and the star power on that roster. Dodgers are going through a difficult stretch with injuries and poor pitching but they have key pieces like Urias and Hudson set to return within two weeks, a deep farm system, and the trade deadline ahead. They are still as good a bet as Diamondbacks, Giants, or Padres to win this division, in my opinion.

Why the Dodgers chose to inject themselves in to hot topic religion/politics by embracing an organization that claims to promote tolerance by mocking and disrespecting the religious belief/practices of others is puzzling to say the least.

Message to the LAD, stick to baseball! If I want to hear or witness divisiveness I can simply dial into CNN, Fox News, CNBC, etc.

I stopped watching football, in part because of politics getting dragged into game and will not hesitate to do the same to MLB if this persists.

Meanwhile on the baseball side of things. Our team has been able to carry on thanks to 4 or 5 guys hitting and NOT getting injured. So only a matter of time before that luck runs out on our 30+year old players. So now Muncy joined by Peralta and Taylor. What if Mookie or Freddie goes down next????

Even if Taylor and Peralta not ‘seriously’ injured and play—well we know how injured players somehow go into slumps

A couple of things to note and maybe consider. First, I think the pitch clock has gotten into some of the pitchers heads. And even though they have had plenty of time to adjust, some have not. Vesia is especially affected by it because it has thrown him completely off of his game. You watch the guy on the mound, he is like a nervous cat. Pacing all over the place. He had time to do that pre pitch clock, not now. Graterol has his moments, and he grooved one last night that cost them a couple of runs. But then Gonzalez, Vesia and Scott gave it all up. Gonzalez is clearly not the same guy, and he was not part of last years pen. Scott is a journeyman trying to hang on and Vesia is trying to re-discover his magic. But all the onus is not on the pen for last night. They had plenty of chances to win that game. Mookie made two bad decisions on the bases. One, he was already in scoring position, there was one out and no reason to try and steal third. Second, he never looked at Ebel when he rounded second on the error to see if he had stopped Busch. He had his head down and was running full steam. Busch did not try to score because the third base coach saw that they already had the ball. He would have been out at home. And they were two runs down, so scoring would not have tied the score. Finally, all the crying about bunting the guy over, this team has zero sacrifice bunts this season. Not one. None of these players except maybe Rojas, are very good at bunting.

Hell, hanser Alberto better than 75% of this bullpen!

Jacob Amaya just promoted from AAA by the Marlins. He was hitting .278 with 9 bombs at AAA Jacksonville. Another problem the Dodgers have pitching wise. They have 6 starters and 5 relievers on the IL. Not many teams can take a hit like that and stay in contention. Somebody is going to have to step up. The bullpen needs to get better as a group. And the starters need to keep going deeper into games. Kersh is the only one who has made it to seven innings all year. This BP will be toast by the end of July.

Clown Show last night, both pregame and during the game. It was actually quite fitting to end the night with a “who’s on third” comedy routine. I’m sure the SF fans found it funny as hell, to F up that badly, only to be outdone by the Dodgers. Absolutely Humiliating.

Does anybody here have an actual number that attended last night’s game? It sure appears that there was quite a loss ticket wise. There could be a reduction of the cost of Dodgerdogs in the next couple games. I’m certain owners got the message.