What is Really Wrong With the Dodgers
It s easy to blame the Dodger woes on pitching particularly the Bullpen and for most of the season and especially, the past 5 days, they have been the Dodger fans whipping boys. As much as we may want to blame the Dodger woes on the bullpen, we really can t. That s not the problem. Oh, it could be better, but that is simply not what is wrong with this team. The
It’s easy to blame the Dodger woes on pitching… particularly “the Bullpen” and for most of the season and especially, the past 5 days, they have been the Dodger fans’ whipping boys. As much as we may want to blame the Dodger woes on the bullpen, we really can’t. That’s not the problem. Oh, it could be better, but that is simply not what is wrong with this team.
The Dodgers are ranked 10th in the NL out of 15 teams in Batting Average. Interestingly, the Diamondbacks are 12th. Of course, we all know that the Dodgers are #1 in Home Runs. They are 3rd in runs scored and in fact, they average 4.65 runs a game. The Cubs average 4.91 a game while the Braves score 4.90 runs a game. Only two teams in the NL average more runs a game than the Dodgers… and it ain’t by much.
“See, it’s the &%^#@*& pitching” – No it’s not. The Dodgers are #1 in team ERA in the NL with a 3.52 ERA – now the starters are are #1 with 3.27 ERA , while the bullpen is not as good with a 3.96 ERA – they fall in the middle of the pack (#8 out of 15).
The Dodgers average 4.65 Runs a game and give up 3.52 runs a game. They outscore their competition by 1.13 runs a game! Let’s compare that to the other NL teams b looking at their run differential:
- #1 – Atlanta Braves (67-51) Run Differential +94
- #2 – LA Dodgers (64-57) Run Differential +92
- #3 – Chicago Cubs (69-50) Run Differential +90
- #4 – Arizona Diamondbacks (66-55) Run Differential +72
To add insult to injury, the Giants Run Differential is -33 and the Rockies is -13. The Seattle Mariners are 18 games over .500 and have a run differential of -22! What does this all mean?
I won’t sugarcoat it. There’s no dancing around it. The Dodgers offense is TOP 3 in the NL, but with RISP, they are ranked #14 out of 15 teams. Only the Mets are worse! That’s all you need to know.
Translation: The 2018 Dodgers are a bunch of Choke Artists who cannot deliver in the clutch. They need to look in the mirror and say; “I am a choke artist. I suck in the clutch. I cannot get a hit when it counts. I am not worthy to be a Dodger, but if the Big Dodger in the Sky will help me get my act together, I promise to renounce my choke artistry!”
Dodger Hitters: Just shut up and hit… or go home. Choke Artists!
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Discussion (61)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Bull Dozier!
I like this guy. I’d like to see him in Blue for 3 more years.
They can’t hit. Derek Holland is Cy Young, but so is everyone who pitches against the Dodgers.
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CHOKE ARTISTS
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Who be hatin’ on Ryu?
Come on guys, pick your damn pitcher up!
Dang, Ryu is dealing. How about some damn offense!!
Going all righties again. Stupid! Just makes it easier on the pitcher. It’s not Strat-o-matic. It’s real baseball. Stupid to sit Bellinger.
I know that we all say the same five things in different ways over and over again throughout the year.
But since this is primarily a cathartic exercise… I’ll happily say this again.
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Why is it that Verdugo, Toles, and Farmer get one or two chances to get it right while players like CT, Kike, Barnes, Baez, and Joc seem to get an infinite amount of chances?
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I personally like all the players mentioned (except for Baez) but have found it just utterly confounding.
Especially because I feel (like many of you on here) that the first three players mentioned… especially Verdugo and Toles… are exactly the type of (contact) hitters the team desperately needs right now.
2 innings, 0 for 4 with RISP. Rinse, wash, repeat.
Urias – 2nd inning. Did not finish the inning. 1 K, 1 HB, 2 R HR
R Turner D2?
CT 0 for 3!!! See what I did there
Urias – 1st Inning 17 Pitches 9 Strikes, 1 Hit, 0 BB, 1 K
Some here point out why the Dodgers are not a 110 win team. I agree with everything they say.
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For myself, I think the Dodgers will be fine, meaning I think they will get to the playoffs.
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I know that Machado started slowly with the Dodgers but I can see that for a couple of games he is hitting the ball harder. He is good and had a huge first half. It isn’t hard to believe that he will get as hot as Turner unless someone just doesn’t want to believe it.
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I said that Kemp, Muncy, and Taylor should be benched. By saying that, it should be obvious that I would be happy with 90 wins. A great team doesn’t typically bench players that have lots of at bats.
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MJ says I don’t care about the Dodgers, that instead, I only care about a couple of players. I have been rooting for the Dodgers since 1955. Players have come and gone and I have had favorites that I have pulled hard for. It started with Duke Snider and it has included others including Wills, Cey, Russel, Mota, Loney, Sweet Lou, Drysdale, and Pederson to just mention a few.
Is this the Jeter era? Did Donnie Baseball order the hit? One of the budding stars in the game drilled in the elbow by a 97 MPH fastball on the games 1st pitch.
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Open on www.mlb.comhttps://www.mlb.com/braves/news/ronald-acuna-jr-hit-by-pitch-leading-off-game/c-290497832–
I am a bit worried with Puig in the lineup tonight (pending the inevitable suspension) that they throw at him or at least come inside and try to rile him up. Maybe that’s what the team needs but I don’t like basebrawls. I would have sat him tonight, hope he proves me wrong.
Taylor, Kike, Barnes y Kemp in line up?? Roberts make the line up which more opportunities to LOOSE
it is acceptable that THE BATTERS HAVE FAILED BUT THE TRUTH IS THAT IN THESE FIVE PARTIES LOST IN THREE THE BATTERS HAVE GOT THE TEAM FORWARD AND THE BULLPEN HAS LOST IT
And just search for HR thats the problem
The Home run had been a team strategy. If you looking for honerun you wont hit the ball for contac.
Thats the problem. the same thing that has happened with the loose pitchers trainer who do not want to teach the pitchers to be pitchers and only looking to launch at high speed but do not know where the ball comes. in the same way loose batting coaches do not teach you to punt for contact and just search
And you can’t ignore the “contributions” of Dave Roberts. Just learned that Kike, who just has to play today since he’s hitting .169 since the Break, is playing 1B!
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More on the bullpen, courtesy of TrueBlueLA:
” Dodgers relief pitchers have a 6.63 ERA, second worst in the NL, in August. Starters have a 2.68 ERA this month,…”
The run differential tells the story. They win the blowouts and lose the close ones. The reason? It’s the offense with RISP and in high leverage situation and it’s also the bullpen in the same situations. They don’t pitch well in close games. The Dodgers are 3rd worst of 30 MLB teams in blown saves with 22. Dodgers’ pitchers are 5th worst in NL in OPS against in high leverage situation per Baseball Reference. They are 4th worst in NL in late and close situations.
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It’s a deadly combination – they can’t hit in the clutch and they can’t pitch in the clutch either.
Doc has the answer to hitting LHP! Today there is not a LH hitting player in the lineup, including Ryu.
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Will the Giants drill Puig? After the Acuna fiasco on the games 1st pitch by the Marlins today, maybe!
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What is the over/under on starts before the next Ryu injury? I will say 3.
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Old friend Brandon McCarthy announces his retirement after this season.
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Who steps up to blow the game in the 9th inning today?
Interesting post Mark, didn’t know we sucked that bad with runners on base. Part of it seems to be when we have multiple guys in scoring position we strike out instead of putting the ball in play, either by sac fly or scoring ground ball. This seems to be what separates the good teams from us right now. Your right, most of the line up deserve the label “Choke Artists” until they can prove us wrong. Your right, just shut up and hit the damn ball! We are making ordinary pitchers, who we should be batting around like a pinata,look like Cy friggin young. Very frustrating to watch the offense right now. I have heard Roberts time and time again talk about how he doesn’t believe in team meetings and all of the rah rah stuff, instead he talks to guys individually. With that said, I wish he could of at least have a hitters meeting and go over what you just pointed out. Have a productive out and move the runner over for God’s sake. We all know when you start adopting that grinding approach, which we had alot of last year, good things happen. Strike outs do nothing except frustrate the process. In our case, alot of frustration.
I have been posting quite some time that there is no clutch in this team. The only one who even resembles that is Turner and he has not been this year so far. What’s even worse is in critical situations we can’t even make contact. These are major leaguers they have got to change their approach period.