These are the times that try men s souls
Thomas Paine wrote sixteen pamphlets entitled The American Crisis which summoned up the American revolution in the winter of 1778 as the Continental Army froze at Valley Forge: “THESE are the times that try men s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman .
Thomas Paine wrote sixteen pamphlets entitled The American Crisis which summoned up the American revolution in the winter of 1778 as the Continental Army froze at Valley Forge:
“THESE are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated”
Of course, that was a lot more than a game, like baseball is. However, this game of baseball is very trying to a fan’s soul. Sometimes we forget it’s just a game. That’s easy to do. If you are given to scanning to baseball stats like I am, you have to sometimes be amazed at what is happening to different players and different teams. One could field a “Former All-Star Team” composed of players hitting below .220 with many being below the “Mendoza Line” of .200. It’s May 16th and look at this:
- Marwin Gonzalez – .218
- Kris Davis – .218
- Paul Goldschmidt – .214
- Gary Sanchez – .211
- Ian Kinsler – .209
- Edwin Encarnacion – .205
- Anthony Rizzo – .202
- Carlos Santana – .196
- Michael Taylor – .186
- Jason Kipnis – .172
- Jackie Bradley, Jr.
- Chris Davis – .170
- Kole Calhoun – .162
- Dexter Fowler – .146
- Matt Carpenter – .140
Many of those players are are .280-.300 hitters. How can that happen? There can be lots of reasons, but the fact is IT’S BASEBALL – STUFF LIKE THIS HAPPENS! IT’S A GAME OF STREAKS!
How is it that Joc Pederson, Chris Taylor, Max Muncy, Kyle Farmer, Austin Barnes, Kike Hernandez, Yasiel Puig, Tim Locastro and Logan Forsythe are all hitting below .238? Well, at least four of those players are not proven major leaguers and with the other four, all I can say is IT’S BASEBALL – STUFF LIKE THIS HAPPENS! IT’S A GAME OF STREAKS!
The fact that the Dodgers have only been outscored by 3 runs tells you that it’s just been a lot of bad luck. How can stuff like that happen? IT’S BASEBALL – STUFF LIKE THIS HAPPENS! IT’S A GAME OF STREAKS!
The bullpen failures, the injuries to starters and the collective inability to hit leave the Dodgers 9 games below .500. If you think the team will continue playing like this, you must be new to the game. How can stuff like this happen? IT’S BASEBALL – STUFF LIKE THIS HAPPENS! IT’S A GAME OF STREAKS!
These are the times that try mens souls… but this too shall pass! Blame FAZ if it makes you feel better, but the team won 104 games last year. This team is that bad now, but they aren’t THAT bad! They will figure it and the fun will start. PLEASE, JUST HURRY UP!
From Always Compete on the last Thread
Right now there is not much relief help down on the farm. Sborz has moved to AAA, and is progressing, but I think he was stymied by his desire to start. He still needs time, but he is not a high leverage reliever at the ML level right now. Joe Broussard is not nearly ready. The team is waiting for Garcia and Paredes to continue to improve at AAA with more high leverage opportunities. 32 year old Brian Schlitter is getting most of the save opportunities, and he is doing well enough, but is not not much of an upgrade to what the Dodgers currently have. Garcia and Paredes are on the 40 man, while Sborz and Schlitter are not.
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Dennis Santana is currently starting at AA, and I know Mark thinks he can relieve at the ML level now. I think very highly of Dennis Santana, and believe he can be an effective #3 – #5 SP, and a very effective late inning reliever, potential closer. But I do not think he can be a high leverage reliever right now. ML hitters are a lot better than AA. He should get his first ML opportunity in September. He is not a difference maker right now, and IMO FAZ should not start his clock yet.
Vegas mentioned Donovan Solano above, and that is a huge question in my mind. One of the key reasons for that signing was the unknown about Corey Seager. Solano was considered a plausible substitution for the injured Seager if he needed some DL time. He played very well at SS and hit well in ST, but thus far has not been considered. I do not understand why not. He has done nothing but perform at OKC. Ryu can be placed on the 60 day, and held out until August allowing the organization to move some from the 40 man. Also at some point, the team is going to need to see what they have in Henry Owens.
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At OKC this year –
Offensively – .352/.407/.459/.866 – 11 BB, 19K, 135 PA, 4 SB, 0 CS.
Defensively – 3 errors in 90 chances, 12 DP at SS; 1 error in 40 chances, 4 DP at 2B
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ML Offensively Career offensively – 1168 PA, .257/.306/.331/.636 – 16.8% K rate
MINOR LEAGUE REPORT by AlwaysCompete
OKC was rained out yesterday, and have an off day today.
Tulsa – 8-7 win over Springfield Cardinals
Caleb Ferguson started and pitched well for 5.1 innings. He did allow his first HR of the season in the 3rd. However it was the 6th that was the problem inning for Caleb. After getting the first out in the inning, he allowed a double and then a single that went off his glove hand. There was apparently no injury concern, and he was allowed to pitch to the next batter who hit a 3 run HR. Caleb left with the lead and was in a position to win his 4th game. Corey Copping got into the 9th, and after getting 2 quick outs, he allowed back to back singles, which was followed by a 3 run HR to tie the game.
In the home half of the 9th, PH Zach Reks reached 1st base on a fielding error. RF Luke Raley and CF DJ Peters followed with singles to load the bases for 3B Connor Joe. Joe promptly singled to score Reks for the walk off win. Raley and Joe each had 3 hit nights. Angelo Mora (3) and Raley (8) each slugged solo HR’s. Not to be outdone, C Keibert Ruiz extended his hitting streak to six games with a 3 run HR (his 4th). Ruiz Is 9-23 during this streak.
19 year old catcher Keibert Ruiz is slashing .284/.341/.422/.764 at Tulsa in 2018. He is also growing as a catcher defensively. He still needs to build up his arm strength, but is improving, throwing out 25% of would be base stealers in a small sample (20 attempts). Ruiz is currently rated the #2 catching prospect in MLB Pipeline and #48 overall prospect. He is only behind Indians 22 year old catcher prospect Francisco Mejia (#13 overall prospect). Ruiz should crack a few top 20 mid-season prospect lists this summer.
The Drillers are now 20-17 and reside alone at the top of the Texas League North Division.
Rancho Cucamonga – 5-4 loss to Stockton Ports (A’s)
Zach Pop relieved losing pitcher, Jason Richman (1-4), with one out in the 8th inning of a 3-3 tie. Richman left the bases loaded after a walk and 2 singles before Pop was summoned. Pop surrendered a run scoring infield single and sac fly to give the Ports a 5-3 lead going into the 9th. After a Connor Wong single and Omar Estevez double, the Quakes put runners on 2nd and 3rd with nobody out, but could only push 1 across and fell a run shy in their loss.
Tony Gonsolin started and went 4.2 IP (94 pitches), allowing 3 runs (2 earned), 3 hits, 2 BB, and 7K. Offensively Connor Wong and Omar Estevez had 2 hit games. Donovan Casey hit his 2nd HR, a solo shot in the 7th, temporarily tieing the score 3-3.
Great Lakes – 10-5 Win over Bowling Green Hot Rods (Rays)
Great Lakes won their 2nd consecutive game. They have split their last 10 games, and are showing some signs of life. 20 year old RHP Edwin Uceta started and went 3.0 IP, allowing 3 runs on 3 hits, with 1 walk, and 5 K’s. Andre Scrubb won the game, but allowed 2 runs on 3 hits, 1 walk in 1.1 IP. Dan Jagiello and Devin Hemmerich followed with 4.1 shutout innings to preserve the victory. A trio of Loon players had 2 hit nights; CF Brayan Morales, 3B Jared Walker, and 2B Eric Peterson. Carlos Rincon (3), Starling Heredia (3), and Jared walker (6) each hit a HR. Every batter except Mitchell Hansen had at least 1 hit.
Today’s Starting Pitchers
Tulsa – Logan Bawcom – Recently re-signed and making his first start of 2018.
RC – Dean Kremer
GL – Jesus Vargas
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Discussion (75)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Prediction: Paine
i’m just thankful i haven’t watched them yet this year
raley on the radar yet? diaz injured? does it even matter?
One thing I will say, when you look at other good team’s line ups, almost their entire line up, is not hitting that low, like our line up is.
And it is hard to be a hitter on the wrong side of a platoon, like Barnes, Farmer, Kike, and Locastro are, because they are not getting close to any consistent at bats, like a leftie hitter will get, because there are so many more rightie pitchers.
And it is very hard to hit for a decent average, when a hitter isn’t getting consistent at bats.
And Puig is the only hitter you mentioned, that has hit better then that, more often then not.
And Joc and Muncy are pretty close to their career averages in the majors, so that shouldn’t be a surprise.
At least Turner hit the ball hard three times yesterday, and he would have hit two runs in, if he didn’t hit the ball on the line, right to the defense, of the Marlins.
The Dodgers were 74-31 on July 31st last year. Does this season prove that holding on to prospects and depth is not always the answer? If the Dodgers had gone all in at the deadline, we might have a World Series ring and this season would not be so painful. But the fact that we did not make big moves and are currently 16-25, makes one wonder about the depth strategy, clearly that held depth is not paying dividends now, will it ever?
So many factors are involved to winning a World Series, this year CT3 is not hitting, Bellinger is not hitting, Puig is not hitting, Seager is out for the year, Turner just came back, Kershaw in on the DL, Jansen is not pitching well. But LAST YEAR, they were all playing and mostly playing well. FAZ could have dealt prospects for bigger names at the deadline, they did not. My point is, baseball is a funny game and you can never predict the future, as fun as the thought about being loaded for the next fifty years is, its an assumption and one that does not guarantee anything.
Sometimes you gotta go all in when the cards are right, this season is proving that nothing can be assumed in this game from year to year.
Dennis Santana has been promoted to OKC
The late great comedian John Belushi as Bluto Blutarski in the movie Animal House rallying his Delta Chi comrades…
What over?
Did you say “over”?
Nothing is over until we decide it is!
Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?
Hell no!
Walker Beuhler to start the ball rolling tonite. On the bottom with the Madres . Can’t get worse can it?
If this thing continues, it could turn uglier than we’ve seen in a while. It’s getting close to the tipping point now.
74-31 on 7/31? All the Dodgers have to do to match that is go 58-6 in their next 64 games. Piece of cake. 🙂
Or, all they need to do is go 88-33 the rest of the way, and they’ll end up with 104 wins. That’s .730 baseball. I forget which year it was, but Seattle once won 116 games, which was .720 for the full season.
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Remember, you’re never as good as you are when you’re at your best, and never as bad as you are when you’re at your worst.
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As the great sage says, “IT’S BASEBALL – STUFF LIKE THIS HAPPENS! IT’S A GAME OF STREAKS!”
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If you think I’ve lost touch with reality, you’re probably right.
We’re not dead yet. We are only MOSTLY dead. There’s a big difference between mostly dead and all dead. Mostly dead is SLIGHTLY alive….
I did ask a few Vegas casino sportsbooks about updated win totals for MLB teams. Nobody had that on their boards, so no bet there.
MINOR LEAGUE REPORT UPDATE ABOVE
Now I am not advocating trading Grandal today, but if things continue to spiral downward, it makes sense to move a player like Grandal to a team that desperately needs catching for a special return. Catch a desperate team.
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Yusniel Diaz is back on the DL. He is a wonderful talent, but has problems at times staying on the field. Depending on how things stand in June/July might it be possible to package Grandal, Diaz, and some other prospect(s) in a trade to the Nationals for Juan Soto. The Nats need to win this year, and may need Grandal to do it. Juan Soto could be a prize. He is 19 and a legit left hand hitting power hitting RF, with a rating of 60 hit and 60 power. He has moved from the Sally League (South Atlantic League – comparable to Midwest – full season A), and has progressed to AA Harrisburg (Eastern League) all this year. For the year, he is slashing .364/.468/.755/1.223. He has 9 doubles, 4 triples, 13 HR, 48 RBI, with 29 BB and only 25 K.
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The Nationals absolutely do not want to give him up, but with the number of free agents they have this year(7 on the 25 man), this is the year for them to go for it, and Grandal could be the one missing component for them. There really is not a player in the Dodgers farm that I would exclude if they can make this happen. It borders on the Nats not taking the call, but if I am dreaming of a potential game changer who could be in the lineup as early as next year it is Juan Soto. The Nats also have Victor Robles who is rated higher and more ready for their ML roster.
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The down side is that if the Nats will consider trading Soto (doubtful), you can bet that Realmuto will be offered immediately, and with the prospects they received from the number of moves they made last winter, they absolutely have the other prospects to make it happen.
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Another potential suiter for Grandal would be the Twins. Juan Castro is gone for the year, and they are relying on Mitch Garver and Bobby Wilson (yes that Bobby Wilson). They are only .5 game behind the Indians in the AL Central and maybe Grandal makes them good enough to compete for the AL Central title. There is no possible way the Dodgers could get Royce Lewis, but Nick Gordon could be in play. Nick Gordon could be the 2B the team needs for 2019, or the SS if Seager cannot play there at the beginning of the season. Gordon is 22 and is repeating at AA after a good (not great) season in 2017. In 2018 he is slashing .340/.386/.511/.897. He does not walk much (10), but he does not K much either (25 in 158 PA – 16%). Not great speed, but an instinctual runner.
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Downside on Gordon is that as talented as Royce Lewis is, he is not ready for the ML. OTOH Gordon could be, especially if the Twins cannot re-sign Dozier, and if they cannot find anyone to replace Ehire Adrianza at SS. Lewis and their third top SS in the Twins top 5, Wander Javier, both have 2021 ETA’s.
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I would not trade Grandal unless there was a significant upside for the 2019 season. But the way he is playing now, and the way the Dodgers are playing, if the Dodgers continue to fall, Grandal could bring something significant in return from two teams that desperately need catching.
It’s been one month since the Dodgers’ last three-run homer.
Wow.
Iglesias or Garrett from Cincinnati in a three team trade. The Reds don’t need Grandal and Forsythe to Seattle see what prospects Seattle can send to Cincinnati what do you guys think I’m trying to correct the bullpen first starters will come around
Iglesias or Garrett from Cincinnati in a three team trade. The Reds don’t need Grandal Grandal and Forsythe to Seattle see what prospects Seattle can send to Cincinnati what do you guys think I’m trying to correct the bullpen first starters will come around
I see that Bellinger is starting in CF tonight.
I know how good a first baseman he is, but I have been wondering lately if Bellinger could be a candidate for the outfield next year. This would, of course, depend on a whole bunch of other things.
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Let’s suppose that the Dodgers sign Machado this winter and maybe even LeMahieu, and decide to take it easy on Seager’s elbow, and move him to 1B next year, instead of say, 2B as I have seen suggested. Not saying this will happen, or even that it’s a thought with the Dodgers, but stranger things have happened. Anyone have any thoughts?
THINGS REALLY ARE ABOUT TO CHANGE. A streak on the other side of the coin will surely soon come to be. I just hope it’ll be as dramatic of a change as what happened last season after Dodgers winning streak suddenly went on their losing streak. Don’t stick the fork in it yet because it sure ain’t done. What Brooklyn states above is more likely than Dodgers continuing this losing streak much longer. It’s time for good Dodger baseball. Enough is enough and hopefully not too much.
Re: the”game of streaks” theory:
The reason that the run differential is not to bad but the W-L record is is because of the number of close games the Dodgers have lost. As Mark points out, that’s due to poor offense (especially RISP in close games) and the bad relief pitching. You can’t win close games without a good bullpen, especially if your starters don’t pitch deep into games.
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OK – streaks and all of that, but do you think that the bullpen is going to suddenly improve? Who in the ‘pen other than Jansen has the track record to make you think he’s going to improve? The Dodgers’ bullpen is 24th best (7th worst) in bullpen ERA, 23rd (8th worst) in WHIP, 3rd worst in bullpen losses (10 already), 24th in OPS allowed, but 7th in most innings pitched.
The Dodgers’ pen is second worst in HR allowed with 23 in 41 games.
As the Doc and Joc Show continues, and I hope I am proven wrong, but why in the world does Doc keep putting Joc in the 2-hole? I think it puts added pressure on the poor guy.
D-Rob DGAF
I do think the bullpen could suddenly improve. Though I don’t think enough so that it’d be a great bet. Baez could actually be very good but he’s his worse enemy thus…..Maeda moving to the pen would help. It seems FAZ depends a little heavy on luck where pitching is concerned especially with the pen. It was the last thing they addressed when they 1st arrived in LA even though the pen stood out like a sore thumb. The rewards paid off somewhat last season but not so much this season. Dodger Stadium is a ‘pitcher’s park’ so having a poorly performing bullpen doesn’t speak too highly that all is covered there. A little tweaking and yes the bullpen could suddenly improve.
Dodgers already down a run. Are they doomed?
6 guys in the lineup tonight batting less than .250. Probably Utley, Pederson, Muncy, the pitcher will finish the year under .250. Taylor and Puig who knows but they might recover. We have got to get a more productive offense obviously but if you are going to trot those guys out there every night forget about it.