There is No Reason to be Upset!
Well, the Dodgers lost last night for the first time in 10 games and of course, someone must be blamed. Dave Roberts should have never started Trevor Bauer is a theme that seems popular today. Second-guessers are never wrong! However, I guarantee the decision to start Bauer was done by committee. The Dodgers front office sends Dave Roberts all types of data about everything related to the game
Well, the Dodgers lost last night – for the first time in 10 games – and of course, someone must be blamed. “Dave Roberts should have never started Trevor Bauer” is a theme that seems popular today. Second-guessers are never wrong! However, I guarantee the decision to start Bauer was done by “committee.” The Dodgers front office sends Dave Roberts all types of data about everything related to the game and they also talk about it, so it you want to blame someone, blame the Dodgers Front Office and avbe Roberts.
Then I hear that this team is “just a bunch of AAA players“. OK, what’s the point? The Dodgers are 30-19 with one of the best records in baseball while they have a dozen or more players on the Injured List. To top it all, their Superstar, Mookie Betts has played like a AAA player and yet here they are… near the top of the heap! If someone had told me that the Dodgers would lose Bellinger, McKinstry, Seager, May, Graterol, Price, Gonsolin, Alexander, Cleavinger, Nelson, Price, Pollock, Knebel, and Rios for the season, or for months or weeks, I would have said: “Just wait until next year.” But, here we are, in the thick of the pennant race with Mookie Betts hitting .247.
The Dodgers performance this season has been nothing short of “extraordinary.” You aren’t going to like to hear this, but it is the Dodgers’ “depth” that has kept them in this thing. Now, maybe you were expecting Sheldon Neuse to be the next Babe Ruth or Mitch White to pitch like Dennis Eckersley. Maybe you believed Edwin Uceta should have been a young Trevor Hoffman or that Alex Vesia would be a lockdown reliever. You probably thought that anything short of greatness for these rookies would be a big “fail.” What you fail to consider is that while their stats may not look the greatest… collectively, they have had their moments and contributed. That’s why the Dodgers are 30-19, not 19-30!
“Depth” does not mean that a minor league player comes in and in the MLB player of the week. Usually, he is there to put his thumb in the Dyke to help keep the water at bay. They have done that, Luke Raley, Sheldon Noisy, DJ Peters, Mitch White, Garrett Cleavinger, Alex Vesia, Edwin Useta, and Keibert Ruiz may not have “eye-popping” stats, but they have had a hand in keeping the ship from sinking. Even Albert Pujols, who has done little to make us think he can still play, was part of a 9-game winning streak. Maybe just his presence is inspiring to some.
These rookies were “rushed” to the Show, and their cup of coffee will likely help shape what they are and will become. Progress is not linear, but right about now, as Dodger fans, we have to be pretty happy with how the team has performed after being devastated by injuries. Help in on the way, Bellinger, McKinstry, and the Bazooka could be back this weekend or early next week. Gonsolin is healthy and being built up as a starter. Joe Kelly is learning how to pitch without a mass in his shoulder, Gavin Lux is starting to get the hang of MLB pitching, and David Price is learning how to pitch out of the bullpen.
Right about now, Dodgers fans should not be bitching – they should be grateful at how well this team has performed under adversity. Then, considering that Mookie Betts is hitting closer to the Mendoza line than he is his career average makes the 30-19 record even more remarkable. Hopefully, Mookie can come out of whatever funk he is in. Most likely, it is an injury, but we don’t know for sure and the Dodgers aren’t about to tip anyone off. Some of the rookies that fans think have “underperformed” will use this opportunity as a stepping stone to something better.
Kudos to Max Muncy and CT3, who are playing at All-Star Levels. Max Muncy leads all of baseball in OB% at .455. and Chris Taylor is 6th at .408. It would be nice i the Dodgers could extend him, but the reality of the situation is that someone will likely give him 5 years at $75 million or something close, if he keeps up this pace. We will enjoy him while we can.
Dodgers Minor League Report
OKC did not play yesterday, but the other three teams won.
- Tulsa Boxscore
- GL Boxscore
- RC Boxscore – The Diego Cartya Era has begun. He was 3-5 with a double and a HR in his second game at RC.
Foo Fighters
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Discussion (66)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Good for DJ. Like I have said he really seems to only have a shot at pitches down. Wood threw him one down.
Kelly and Kenley looked good. I think I’m looking forward to Belli and Zmac returning. I’d like to see McKinstry get a lot of time at 2B until Seager comes back.
Who is that guy wearing Kenley’s uniform?!!!! Is there a better back three right now than Gonzalez, Treinen and Jansen. Now if only Roberts could manage a bullpen!
Headline: ROBERTS BULLPEN STRATEGY PAYS OFF. Dodgers edge Gnats on Muncy, Peters homers.
Who’s the next Dodger going to bust out??
I’m just glad Mark can’t go back and dig up all the stupid things we’ve said. Right Mark?
Doc and Dodger Bullpen bullpen getting it done. I wish we could go back and look at some of the comments made here about Muncy . That would be funny as hell. I think hes gonna wake up some of the other slumbering hitters.
I just wanted to check in with the DJ Peters fan club here. Also known as the hole in the bat club. Go DJ! You are going to end up in the bigs somewhere. Even if it’s not with the Dodgers!
DJ says “take that Cassidy”! Why would you ever throw anything but a fastball to Peters? Happy for the young man!
Please Joe. Throw the fastball more often!!!!!
So much for the Betts Turner slump!
I don’t understand why Price was taken out of the game.
So that was the throw in guy with Betts? Wow! Price was electric tonight! Stretch him out!
Gonna need to get it done in the first four spots tonight! That is one weak lineup tonight with Betts and Turner struggling!
We better make some hay now. When I look at our draft position I just don’t know how we keep pace. Many of the teams like the pirates just don’t intend to compete. We have no help essentially at triple a. When Gray gets healthy there is one. Ruiz 2
Our farm system just looks weak right now. I just don’t know how AF can keep us up top with no top choices. I understand why he would try to get neuse, vesia, etc etc to try to add some guys who might be able to help later.
In Tulsa you got Busch hitting .240, and a couple of our other top prospects hitting less than .200. We just don’t have much close to the bigs or even starring at their level.
AF is shrewd and he better be because the pads are moving on and I suspect that the giants will make a big splash next year. I know this year is the focus but when the dodgers website brought up the draft it was depressing so we need to go this year.
What are you guys complaining about? We have injuries and still have the third best record in baseball. Do you honestly believe we’re at risk of missing the playoffs, or even not winning the division or having the best record in MLB when it’s all said and done?
The fact of the matter is there’s one team with a better record in the NL and that’s the Padres. They’re also more healthy than we are. I think we’re better when we get our guys back. If you all think they’re better, so be it. We’ll see how that plays out.
Looking forward to the game tonight against the Giants. I’ll say the same thing that I said last time. They should let Price keep pitching until he’s out of gas. It was BS that they pulled him after 2 last time.
Well, I was looking forward to it until I saw the lineup.
We talk like we are the only team with injuries, but…
(from the Athletic) As this week opened, the Padres had the best record and largest run differential in the National League and had 11 pitchers on the I.L. The Mets were in first place with four starting pitchers on the list, not to mention four critical everyday players. The Rays had the second-best record and lowest payroll in the American League and had 10 pitchers on the I.L. Francisco Lindor, Seager and Javier Baez had started fewer games at shortstop than Freddie Galvis, and the game’s poster boy, Fernando Tatis Jr., had started fewer games than 27 other shortstops. The game is on a record pace for the highest percentage of innings thrown by relievers, and the real crunch of returning to a 162-game season after the 2020 stop-and-start won’t fully be felt until teams round the three-quarters/120-game pole in the third week of August.
Here are my thoughts on this.
What Mark said.
Yes the Dodgers have been beset by injuries. Yes they have a lot of AAA players who have no business being on a major league roster playing and none too well. If you want to call these AAA players “depth” then I guess the Dodgers have depth.
Neuse – .189/.204/.377, 20 K in 53 AB
Peters – .182/.400./.273, 11 K in 22 AB
Raley – .182/.280/.273, 16 K in 44 AB
Rios – .078/.217/.137, 18 K in 51 AB
Tsutsugo – .176/.263/.176, 9 K in 17 AB
Pujols – .200/.231/.320, 6 K in 25 AB.
Cleavinger – 1 – 3 , 4.50 ERA, 2.0 WHIP, 6 IP
Santana – 0 – 0, 6.00 ERA, 1.93 WHIP, 15 IP
Uceta – 0 – 2, 5.87 ERA, 1.83 WHIP, 7.6 IP
Vesia – 0 – 1, 6.83 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 7 IP
White – 0 – 0, 1.87 ERA, 1.70 WHIP, 7.7 IP
If they can’t play it’s not depth – it’s cannon fodder.
The Dodgers have the record that they have because they have the best starting pitching in MLB.
I see Ohtani is pitching today. Might have to do some channel flipping.
Who says baseball fundamentals are a thing of the past?
Notes I found on Internet:
The Dodgers have scored 108 runs with 2 outs this year, tops in Baseball.
Open on www.baseballamerica.comhttps://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/hot-sheet-baseballs-20-hottest-prospects-from-the-past-week-52421/Leonel Valera, SS, Dodgers
Age: 21
Open on www.baseballamerica.comhttps://www.baseballamerica.com/rankings/mlb-mock-draft/Carson Williams
Torrey Pines HS, San Diego
Muncy Maxing out
Open on blogs.fangraphs.comhttps://blogs.fangraphs.com/after-a-deep-slump-muncy-is-maxing-out-again/From Kevin Goldstein chat:
Jacques Pederson: How well do internal prospect rankings line up with public lists? I assume the Astros had their own rankings for other teams.
Kevin Goldstein: Everyone has their own rankings, and they tend to wildly differ from public lists.
Jason: Are organizations preparing for the possibility of robo umps? (For example, drafting poor pitch framers higher.) Or will most wait until it’s closer to happening?
Kevin Goldstein: Yes. Many are preparing for automated strike zone. Over/under is probably 2023.
From Ben Clemens Chat
Guest: Are we seeing max Muncy? He’s been on a hot streak.
Ben Clemens: This might even be super-max Muncy. He’s locked in at the plate in a way I haven’t seen someone in quite a while. Not just hitting the ball hard, but swinging where he can do damage and such. It’s quite impressive
Appa Yip Yip: If Mike Trout was teleported, as is, back to the 1920s what would his slash line look like?
2:13
Ben Clemens: Oh man, I have no idea how to think about this but I’m going to say something absurd. Like .450/.550/1.200
Baseball Prospectus takes a look at Bullpen usage, with the Dodgers as a prime example:
Open on www.baseballprospectus.comhttps://www.baseballprospectus.com/news/article/67116/we-need-a-restrictor-plate-for-pitching/From Twitter’s Future Dodgers:
RHP Cameron Gibbens is a strong candidate for an early season promotion. In seven games for Low-A Rancho: 10.1 IP, 23/4 K/BB, and just one run allowed. The 6’8” 25-year old came over from Australia this past offseason.
Dodger MiLB wRC+ leaders after three weeks (min 40 PA)
189 Rangel Ravelo (AAA)
163 Carlos Rincon (AA)
156 Ryan Ward (A+)
153 Michael Busch (AA)
150 Edwin Mateo (A-)
146 Joe Vranesh (A+)
140 Miguel Vargas (A+)
136 Zach Reks (AAA)
126 James Outman (A+)
122 Leonel Valera (A+)
120 Jorbit Vivas (A-)
118 Brandon Lewis (A-)
116 Alex De Jesus (A-)
115 Andy Pages (A+)
107 Ryan Noda (AA)
104 Keibert Ruiz (AAA)
101 Devin Mann (AA)
89 Jake Vogel (A-)
88 Jacob Amaya (AA)
31 Omar Estévez (AAA)
14 Kody Hoese (AA)
PLEASE note that (a) THREE weeks, (b) players go through cold patches (c) For guys like Estévez and Hoese, they’re also seeing new levels for the first time.
On another note, I would like to volunteer to be the guinea pig and test out that “heavy bag theory”. Willing to take one for the team.
It is nothing short of remarkable that we are playing so well, given all of the injuries. Mark is right: This team is built for depth. I assume that the strategy of the bullpen games is to avoid overtaxing the starters to avoid injuries. Very sensible long-term planning. The Padres are for real, no doubt. A short series with them would be a crap-shoot. I like to think that our starting pitching would be a deciding factor, but I’m not exactly objective. You got to love Joe Kelly, by the way. If he ever gets his control together, watch out! In the meantime, we can enjoy his attitude!
Mookie Betts career ba is .298 in 2017 he hit .264 for the year. He is not far off that now. He should be in the prime of his career. No way he is injured unless he is hiding it. The dodgers are not going to pay that kind of money and play him hurt. He had one great year. He is an above average player who is playing average at the moment. We expect more but we may not get it.
We need bellinger back which I think would help mookie on defense. Why? Because he could settle in rf and not be moving back and forth. We would then have 2 gold glovers in the of. Betts is above average but bellinger can b a top 5 player. Bellinger at his best has speed, power, great d, hits above average. If he plays to ability the Dodgers will be getting back as good of player as there is in the league. Even not at his best he can beat u with his speed and glove.
Dodgers Will Throw Another Bullpen Game Tonight Against the Giants
by Brook Smith
The Dodgers are going to stick with a 4-man rotation for a while. That seems to be the case with them waiting on Tony Gonsolin to be ready. When Dustin May went down for the season with Tommy John surgery, Dave Roberts suggested the final spot wouldn’t fill until Gonsolin was ready to go.
The latest update is that Tony will need 2 more rehab starts until the Dodgers consider bringing him back into the rotation. That means he is just over a week and a half away from returning at the minimum. As such, Los Angeles will go with another bullpen game this week.
The Dodgers start a 4-game series with the Giants tonight in Los Angeles. It will be a team of relievers taking down the bulk of the innings for Dave Roberts as he keeps his starters on normal rest. And while he has not named an official opener, David Price seems to be the leading candidate.