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Time to Flush the Snakes!

This is what MLB Players live for. This is where legends are made and failures are lamented. This is why they play the game. This, my friends, is called a Pennant Race. May the best horse win. No Snakes allowed! I have said for quite some time that this Dodger team is built for the Post-Season. I might add that it is also built for a pennant race that is

By Mark Timmons2 min readJump to 101 comments

This is what MLB Players live for.  This is where legends are made and failures are lamented.  This is why they play the game.  This, my friends, is called a Pennant Race. May the best horse win.  No Snakes allowed!  I have said for quite some time that this Dodger team is built for the Post-Season.  I might add that it is also built for a pennant race… that is with two assumptions:  #1: I assume that Kenley Jansen will be healthy (mentally and physically); and #2: I assume Chicken Strip will be dealing with Spicy Mustard.  We will see how mentally strong Kenley is, and if he recovers from the bad streak, it could make him even better.  Adversity will make you or break you!  I think Kenley will make this a stepping stone and not a stumbling block.

You may say that is “wishful thinking” and you would be correct – it is!  The Dodgers won’t be successful without Kenley! I think that is just the way it is, so that is what I am wishing for, but with Chicken Strip, Maeda, Baez, Alexander and Floro pitching out of the pen, he should not be asked to do that multi-inning thing often… if at all. Wow! Floro has been a real find for the Dodgers, hasn’t he?  In 20 IP, he has struck out 24, has a 1.74 ERA, .87 WHIP and the league is hitting .153 against him.  Erik Goeddel has also been very solid this season.  I think Julio Urias will be up soon, even though Roberts said he wants him to be able to pitch back-to-back.  I do not think he should do that.  Let him pitch when he can… don’t push it.  

I am feeling very good about the pitching right about now.  I’ll feel even better when/if Kenley is back on his game.  The Dodgers are far-and-away the best pitching team in the NL and even with their struggles offensively, they are barely behind the Cubs in runs scored… and I am going to go out on a limb:  September will be the FIRST month of this season where the Dodgers post a “Positive Clutch” stat!  Why do I say that?  WAG!

Puig Flies: According to MLB.com:  Puig went from home to third in 11.02 seconds, the second-fastest time for a Dodgers player since Statcast™ began tracking in 2015. The only faster time was Carl Crawford’s 10.72 seconds on April 27, 2015. Puig also had a sprint speed of 29.5 feet-per-second on the play.

In case you are old enough to remember:

Discussion (101)

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  1. boboAugust 31, 2018

    There must be a good reason why Verdugo and Toles haven’t been added to the roster. Does anybody know what it could be? Doc can’t play guys who are not on the roster so he can’t be blamed for not playing them.

    The lineup experiment , well ok tried it, it didn’t work so please let’s not pull that one again.

    Looked to me like Rich Hill was about the only guy out there that really really wanted to get a hit. Nice job Rich, tough luck.

  2. DanielAugust 31, 2018

    Turner and Machado are the only can hit the ball

  3. AdamAugust 31, 2018

    Tomorrow’s game is huge, win and we are in postion to win 3 or at least split. Lose and we could be looking at an uphill battle.

    I think playing a few call ups over Taylor or Kemp has no downside. Both are in horrible slumps and just seem lost, how can toles or verdugo be any worse?

  4. QuasimodoAugust 31, 2018

    Did Baez finally look himself in the mouth and see he’s better than he thought? He can probably hit near the top of the order and contribute no worse than most. He sure handles pressure better and even the clock work is par.

  5. Watford DodgerAugust 31, 2018

    That was a reality check I’m afraid.

    Gonna be a quiet October.

  6. the truth hurtsAugust 31, 2018

    Leave it up to the Padres and Rangers to inspire confidence and back to reality

  7. norcaldodgerfanAugust 31, 2018

    I swear if CT 0 for 3 (0 for 4 tonight) is in tomorrow’s line-up I will s&i% my pants. He is unbelieveably bad right now and for the life of me I have no idea why he is even penciled into the line-up. His AB’s are painful to watch, either swinging at a pitch in the dirt for a strikeout or watching strike 3 right down the middle.

    Put his butt on the bench but it kind of shows he has very limited bat to ball skill and last year was most likely an aberration. Kemp is toast and I hope we win the next three but it looks like the five game winning streak against some bad teams was a mirage. When the Dodgers play against good pitching like the D-Backs and Cardinals the team with the horrible RISP and absurdly K rate always surfaces.

  8. dodgerrickAugust 31, 2018

    Dodgers – 15ks. 0 for with RISP.

    Taylor hitting .188 before tonight with 32 k in last 88 AB – last 30 games. Add tonight’s golden sombrero and it’s 36 K in last 90 AB. He shouldn’t be playing. Neither should Kemp. his GIDP in the 8th was a killer.

    Roberts needs to run a regular lineup out there and give them a chance to get into a rhythm.

  9. AdamAugust 31, 2018

    Hate to be right, but said it before the game, Robert’s cost is the game with this lineup with kemp in the 4 hole and Taylor

  10. BobbyAugust 31, 2018

    On a positive note, Austin Barnes got a hit! Can anyone tell me the last time that happened

  11. dodgerrickAugust 31, 2018

    Another solo HR. Boy, they let Ray off the hook. He had no command early and they could have knocked him out. He got himself right and has looked tough. Bad hitting again.

  12. IdahoalAugust 31, 2018

    I like Taylor, but he needs to sit. We really do not have one outfielder that is hitting right now. We need Toles and Verdugo badly. I can only hope they will be in the line up on Saturday.

  13. AdamAugust 31, 2018

    Lack of fundamentals cost us, Robert’s cost us with this lineup.

  14. BobbyAugust 31, 2018

    Welcome to playing a real team again. Real teams like this get 2 out big hits, whereas crap like SD and Tex don’t. Coming back in this one would be gigantic!

  15. dodgerrickAugust 31, 2018

    Dodgers 5 baserunners in 4 innings – 0 for 4 RISP.

    Hill looks good.

    Kemp should not be playing right now. In the last 30 games, he’s hitting .191 with 20 K vs. 10 H and 1 HR.

    They have to figure out some way to get Muncy’s bat in the lineup. He doesn’t have big splits LHP vs. RHP(.985 OPS vs SHP; .968 OPS vs. RHP).

  16. CurdybuffAugust 31, 2018

    I have no faith in Puig right now

  17. Mark TimmonsAugust 31, 2018

    You were right about Taylor… so far.

  18. norcaldodgerfanAugust 31, 2018

    Different day, same story…CT3 with another K!

  19. CurdybuffAugust 31, 2018

    Let’s get his pitch count up

  20. Mark TimmonsAugust 31, 2018

    Kike can’t hit this guy either…

  21. Mark TimmonsAugust 31, 2018

    Damn Kemp should be on the bench. He can’t hit Ray!

  22. Mark TimmonsAugust 31, 2018

    See, you can spin this however you want!

  23. Mark TimmonsAugust 31, 2018

    Damn Turner should not be playing – he’s hitting .202 against Ray!

  24. Mark TimmonsAugust 31, 2018

    Dozier gets the first hit, but should not be playing?

  25. CurdybuffAugust 31, 2018

    Rumor of mccutcheon to nyy

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