These Are the (Junkyard) Dog Days
There s not much left for the Dodgers to play for except maybe immortality! Being immortalized as the best team in the history of the game could be quite and incentive. The Dodgers are playing at .713 clip and could eclipse the record of 116 games. It s a longshot and it really means nothing, but it s withing access. No other teams are within a dozen games of the Dodgers record. The
There’s not much left for the Dodgers to play for… except maybe immortality! Being immortalized as the best team in the history of the game could be quite and incentive. The Dodgers are playing at .713 clip and could eclipse the record of 116 games. It’s a longshot and it really means nothing, but it’s withing access. No other teams are within a dozen games of the Dodgers record. The blue bloods will have to deliver, but it will be the role players – the junkyard dogs – who could help the team attain that immortality.
The Astros and the Cubs depth has been exposed. The Cubs remain dangerous, but after a good start, Jose Quintana has 4.50 ERA in the past 28 days and he be THAT guy – his ERA over the past year is 4.34. He’s OK, but not the savior some thought. Jon Lester has a 6.39 ERA over the past month, including an 11.74 ERA over the past 14 days. On the other hand, Jake Arrieta has been great the past month, with a 1.95 ERA. Kyle Hendricks has also been good since he came back from the DL.
The Nats remain dangerous, but they have pitching concerns and no real closer. The bullpen is a ragtag group and beyond Scherzer and Gonzalez, the rotation is spotty. They have no depth to weather a storm. The Dodgers are built for the long haul – they have the depth and they have the best manager in baseball. They are locked and loaded and I believe they understand, while it would be great to set the all time win record, it would not mean as much if they flame out in the playoffs. The prime objective is JUST WIN THIS GAME! They have to think that EVERY game and they will be fine.
Curtis Granderson will evidently play against RHP. I doubt that he plays much against LH’ers. The question is, should he hit leadoff against righties with Chris Taylor moving to #5? To me, that would cause Cody to get better pitches. Granderson has a career .356 OB% against RH pitching and as a leadoff hitter he has a .340 OB%. I don’t know that there is a RIGHT answer, but it seems to me that this lineup might be most effective against RHP:
- Granderson CF
- Seager SS
- Turner 3B
- Bellinger LF
- Taylor 2B
- Gonzo 1B
- Puig RF
- Grandal C
That puts Logan Forsythe on the bench against LH pitching and he is hitting over .300 against them. These things have a way of working themselves out, due to injury or lack of production, but the team’s depth is crazy. It should be fun to watch.
Rants and Raves
- I don’t think Kenta Maeda’s arm got tired as much as his brain got tired. He seems to lose focus easily! It seems to me that his limit is 5 innings – perfect for a long man in the bullpen.
- Buehler continues to struggle in a relief role. Yesterday 1.1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 K.
- Dennis Santana went 6 innings and allowed 5 hits and 1 Run, while striking out 10 and walking 1 at Tulsa.- He’s making my prediction of him being a reliever look bad.
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Discussion (59)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Off topic, but anyone who has the chance, watch the eclipse. My wife and I just witnessed it in Oregon and it was beyond incredible.
Mark
I think you may be right about Taylor being a better fifth hitter, because he is going to get a hit more often then Granderson, and Taylor is always a threat to hit an extra base hit, or a HR too.
But I don’t understand why that would make Forsythe sit, against lefties.
I also agree that Maeda has trouble baring down, when he has had runners on base, but he had been better lately, until the sixth inning, of yesterday’s game.
But you still have to love the way Ryu fights, when he is out there on the mound!
I really don’t think Gonzo should play much. Just a good playoff pinch hitter and give Bellinger a day off every week.
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The Cards/Pirates game in Williamsport was a huge success. Good to see MLB reach out to kids and develop the next generation of fans and put it on national TV.
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In AZ the eclipse was way over hyped. A bunch of people standing around not seeing a darn thing.
Mark, I don’t get you last part about Forsythe. What does his average against lefties have to do with him sitting in your RH lineup?
Mark, you are still okay with believing Dennis Santana will become a high quality reliever. He still needs that third pitch to become a starter at the MLB level. That is not to say that he will not develop his change, but right now he only throws 3 pitches with his fastball a plus, his slider a slight plus, and a minus change. I think he will be in the LAD bullpen by 2019, and will compete for a high leverage spot.
Taylor
Corey
Turner
Granderson
Grandal
Puig
Agone
Utley
Wood
Mark: Agree with everything you said. This year has certainly been a TEAM effort and with the WD-40 we have added this year seems to be the year we go all the way. Individual records are not the #1 priority for any player on our team.
Personally I would love to see JT win the batting crown but I have my doubts that he will. He’s only hitting .265 since July 1st(39 games & 132 AB’s). Maybe he should be rested more since we are going to need him for the PS.
I thougt about dropping Taylor to the #5 position and giving Cody more protection than he’s been given and letting Granderson lead off vs RHP with Taylor leading off vs LHP. However since we face more RHP than LHP would that disrupt our smooth run to the WS or not. IDK
The rest of the season is interspersed with playoff caliber games including this series with the Pirates. I thought yesterday’s game vs Verlander was such a game. He said he approached it as a playoff game. Our team must play well against these teams to set the tone in the playoffs. Any team that is in playoff contention will present a good rehearsal for the Dodgers, starting tonight. I hope we don’t start packing it in.
Hurry back Cody! So far Granderson does not look good batting cleanup. Cole is getting a lot of ground ball outs. Back to back HR’s put the Dodgers in an early hole.
Curtis Freaking Granderson!
Granderson Slam!
Destiny’s Dodgers
Granderson hits a Grand Slam! I take it all back and admit Roberts knows a lot more than me about his team and making out lineups.
Does anyone not understand why the Dodgers traded for Grandy?
I just take it for granted the Dodgers will come back every game. I am shocked when they don’t.
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It’s becoming commonplace!
Of late, the offense has often looked flat and the bullpen has looked too hittable.
I don’t care which one of you guys buries me with his season long stats, but Baez just kills me. He is so inconsistent, it’s like watching a slow execution. No way do I want this guy in our bullpen come play off time. Bring in Morrow. Baez gives me nightmares of Hatchet. Please, PLEASE make it stop!!! What a waste of a game with Wood and Grandy. Can somebody just pull the guy?!?!
Whose fault is it? Does Baez refuse to throw off speed pitches, or did Grandal just keep calling fastball after fastball. One two strike change or slider is probably all he needed to get out of that inning, on more than one occasion.
Roger, I agree with you. I am not a Baez fan. He does remind me of Hatcher. I am also not a fan of Grandal anymore. He never forces Baez to pitch. He lets him throw fastballs. Baez throws a change and looks good. Never comes back to it. Also Grandal calls way to many high pitches. I like Barnes a lot more now than Grandal. I do not care what Grandal and Baez’s stats are. I do not like either one. I am upset. We had this game won. I could be mad at Roberts for leaving Baez in there too long.
… and yet!
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Drum Roll…..
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Baez still has a 1.90 ERA.
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About 29 other teams would love to have him.
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Yeah, he’s not perfect!
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But 1.90? DAMN!
Might be time for Doc to reconsider Don Stanhouse Jr. in a pressure situation until he gets his act together.
Sometimes you guys kill me.
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The freak has a 1.90 ERA.
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1.90!
Morrow is awesome and he has a 2.37 ERA.
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Selective memory!
August numbers:
Offense – .238/.328/.435/.762
BP – 5 – 3, 4.27, 12 HR in 52 IP
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This was against some bad quality opponents – SD, Chisox, Det, etc.
Roberts need to re-tool.
I have no problem with the Dodgers use of the high fastball. Both Grandal and Barnes call it a lot, and I like it. But Baez was having problems throwing his fastball for strikes, and he has that 1.90 ERA because of his use of offspeed pitches this year.
Simply put, I just had a problem with the unwillingness to throw more offspeed pitches in that inning. In fact, all inning long it was all I could think about.
Mark, they scored two runs on one hit. Three walks and one hit batter. Not very good baseball. I trust Morrow a lot more than Baez.