The State of the Union er Rotation
Hyun-Jin Ryu looked much better last night as he pitched much differently than the power pitcher he used to be. The curve and changeup are his go to pitches with the fastball in the 89-90 MPH range and an occasional 91-92 MPH just for effect. He can be effective when pitching like this, but there is little margin for error. The way I see it, he is our Number 5 .
Hyun-Jin Ryu looked much better last night as he pitched much differently than the power pitcher he used to be. The curve and changeup are his “go to” pitches with the fastball in the 89-90 MPH range and an occasional 91-92 MPH just for effect. He can be effective when pitching like this, but there is little margin for error. The way I see it, he is our Number 5. Lots of teams would love to have the Ryu who pitched last night as their Number 5.
Everyone’s Number 1 goes tonight, as again Clayton needs to step up… again! Brandon McCarthy is pitching like a Number 2. He is focused like I have never seen and has proven the half season with the Yankees was no fluke. Ladies and Gentlemen, as crazy as it seems, Brandon McCarthy may be the Dodgers #2. Thursday night, the Dodgers new Number 3 Starter gets his first start of the season. Julio Urias has only thrown 14 innings (15 K’s, 1.93 ERA) and I doubt they will let him go more than 5 or 6 in his first start. He proved he belonged last year. as he put up a rookie ERA that was a full run below Clayton Kershaw’s rookie numbers.
So the rotation is currently set at 1, 2, 3 and 5. leading to the question, who is Number 4? It appears that Rich Hill will go to the bullpen at least for a couple of weeks to help build up a callous on his blister finger. Alex Wood and Ross Stripling are too good in the pen to put them in the rotation, so that leaves the Number 4 spot up to someone in AAA. Now, the Dodgers may use Wood in the Starter Role, but I think that weakens the pen. I would not do it.
There are three possibilities at OKC:
- Trevor Oaks – 1.89 ERA in 19 IP, 16 Hits, 21 K’s, 5 BB, 0.89 WHIP – I like him a lot. He has a fastball that is 93-94 but can touch 96. He has excellent control but his secondary pitches are works in progress. He pitches deep into games having gone at least 7 innings on many occasions last year.
- Justin Masterson – 2.37 ERA in 19 IP, 10 Hits, 22 K’s, 7 BB, 0.89 WHIP – To top it off, he pitched 7 innings of 1 hit shutout baseball last night. He is 32 years old and once was a top talent until injuries. He has a “heavy” sinker and induces lots of ground balls. When healthy, this guy can be very, very good. He has pitched over 200 innings twice and 2011 was his best year as he put up a 3.21 ERA. To me, his career mirrors Brandon McCarthy. Maybe he too is a late bloomer.
- Jair Jurrjens – 3.78 ERA in 16.2 IP, 12 Hits, 11 K’s, 5 BB, 1.02 WHIP. He had a bad last outing which drove his ERA up. In 2009 he had a 2.60 ERA and in 2011, he had a 2.96 ERA. He was very good at one time before falling to the injury bug.
Jurrjens is currently behind Oaks and Masterson. None of the three are on the 40-man roster, but I would think Masterson has an opt-out! If I were in charge (FAZ has yet to appoint me). I would call up Masterson to fill the Number 4 spot and see what happens. Oaks time will come. Just my two cents.
What about Maeda? “You forgot Maeda!” I’m trying to!
I have a great idea: Let’s start hitting the ball!
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Discussion (78)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Good win although Kenley made hard work of it.
Grandal did a great job, and Mark, Pitch Framing IS a thing like you said.
He got Kenley out of a hole there.
I know it’s early, but I don’t see the Giants being a danger this season. Crawford left the game with s groin problem to add to their woes.
They just don’t have enough offense to compete.
I’m a big believer in the philosophy “if you are good enough, you are old enough”, so good to see Belinger up.
Additional story lines in the RC Quake 9-1 win over the San Jose Giants. Dennis Santana threw another big game. 6IP, 1 R, 6 H, 0 BB, and 7 K (73 pitches) for the win. His ERA is now 1.50. Offensively Ibandel Isabel had three hits including his 6th HR. Yusniel, Luke Raley, and Drew Jackson had two hits apiece. DJ Peters got 3 RBI.
Baez vs their 2-3-4? Not thrilled with this decision. I wonder if Clayton’s leg tightened up on him.
Bellinger wearing #35. He got Bob Welch’s number.
I am not near a TV so I did not see Kershaw’s fly ball with the bases loaded. With Bellinger in the game, wouldn’t it have made more sense for Toles to run for Gonzalez, or was the fly ball not deep enough to get anyone in?
In addition to OKC, Great Lakes also dialed up a shutout – 9-0. Devin Smeltzer, a 21 year old 2016 5th round draft pick out of San Jacinto College North in Texas, pitched 6 innings with 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 walks, and 8K. He threw 66 pitches, averaging 11 pitches per inning with 8 K…pretty impressive. Offensively, Carlos Rincon and Mitch Hansen had 3 hits each. Brandon Davis continued solid hitting with 2 additional hits including his 2nd HR. Oneal Cruz, Cody Thomas, and Keibert Ruiz also had 2 hits each. The Loons were 8-17 RISP.
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The Tulsa Drillers lost 3-2 today, Isaac Anderson started his 4th game and the results were not pretty again. 4.1 IP, 3R (2 ER), 5 H, 1 BB, and 3K. Anderson may be working on a ticket to Rancho with Buehler or White getting to Tulsa. Tim Shibuya 3.2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 4K, and Yaisel Sierra with 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, and 2 K both pitched well. Offensively, Edwin Rios and Matt Beatty had 3 hits each. Rios is now batting .386
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Grant Dayton started for Rancho this evening, went one inning, and struck out all three batters he faced. He is getting very close. I will see if I can include additional comments.
So, Here’s what I purpose:
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We trade Alvarez for Happ.
Pederson and Toles for Lorenzo Cain.
Feeling like all the pressure is on Kershaw in the 3rd. We can’t keep riding this guy. We gotta pull our head out our ass and start hitting. Somebody, ANYBODY, start a darn rally!!! Roberts must be dying inside…
Here’s what Jim Bowden said in February:
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““Here is where it gets tricky. To be conservative, the right move would be for Bellinger to start the year in Triple-A and be ready in case [Adrian] Gonzalez gets hurt in the middle of the season or once rosters expand in September. However, Bellinger’s bat is ready now — he’s arguably the Dodgers’ best hitter after Corey Seager.
I think FAZ made a mistake with Seager. He was ready but they traded for Rollins. They moved quicker with Urias and now Bellinger. Like Clayton, these guys are special talents.
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Verdugo could be – he’s very young for his age. 😉
Hey AC,
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Would you trade Alvarez for Happ?
I’m all for Bellinger being up if he’s playing every day. There’s no need to start his clock otherwise. Like Mark, I’m more worried about Gonzalez than anyone else on the team. Toles is getting himself out on the same pitch which is a breaking ball down and in. Grandal should never hit cleanup. Just shows how the injuries have messed with the lineup.
Very, very interesting that the Dodgers said Bellinger will be playing LF/CF, and nary a mention of 1B.
Don’t ask me. I was 1,000,000% wrong about Bellinger even coming up.
He is in the starting lineup hitting 8th and playing LF.
I wonder why Roberts keeps on hitting Puig fourth, against lefties.
Puig isn’t even hitting above 120 against lefties this year, and he has had reverse splits, against lefties, in his career.
And he has had quite a few at bats, against lefties this year, because we face so many more lefties, then most teams.
Looks like Gunkel is the odd man out (DFA’d)
I like what Brock Stewart tweeted:
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Hey World, if ya don’t know about him… you’re gonna find out reeeaaalll soon.
OKC followed up yesterday’s 3-0 2 hit shutout with a 4 hit shutout today. After Masterson pitched 7 shutout innings, Jurrjens followed up with 6 shutout innings today. Patrick Schuster (1 IP) and Layne Somsen (2 IP) finished the game with no hits and only 1 walk. Willie Calhoun had three hits including his 1st AAA HR. Dickson and Verdugo had two hits each with Dickson getting his 6th HR. Both Calhoun and Dickson had doubles as well. Calhoun has regained his stroke and his now at .333/.362/.470/.832 (only 6K). Dickson is at .328/.357/.672/1.029 (#3 in HR in PCL). Verdugo is at .369/.425/.492/.917 (only 8 K). The Dodgers do indeed have some solid prospects.
I still want Ian Happ.
I see that the Jeb Bush/Derek Jeter Group won the rights to buy the Marlins for $1.3 Billion.
I think I”ll have to go Friday now to see Cody’s first game at home
Put Bellinger in CF. we have another outfielder in AAA batting over 300.
Cody Freaking Bellinger!
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I have not been this excited about a prospect since Corey Seager and Julio Urias and before that…. (long time)…. it was Clayton Kershaw.
And who was that guy who said Cody would be up soon?
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Do you have the audacity, to doubt the veracity of a man of my capacity?
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😉
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Look, if you can play, you can play – screw the $$$$$
He’s coming!!
MLB Trade Rumors is reporting Dodgers calling up Bellinger!!!
Open on www.mlbtraderumors.comhttps://www.mlbtraderumors.com/Good points dodgerrick. I usually enjoy reading your posts as they are well thought out, and your independent thinking resonates with me.
Watching the Dodger hitters ineptitude last night was frustrating.
It seems to me (bright baseball minds on this sight can provide the stats that say yea or ney)
that the inability to hit LH pitching or with RISP goes hand in hand with games like last night where there is a ‘hitting malaise’, when the whole team can’t hit to save their lives.
The above two lack of hitting stats are often sited, but the Dodgers seem to have a lot of games where the bats are silent where good pitching is not necessarily the reason. Last night seemed to be a case in point.