When It s The Middle of July

…and you have two players below .600 OPS (Barnes and Forsythe) and one barely above it (Utley @ .621), it’s time for some new blood. It’s bad enough that the Dodgers have four other KEY HITTERS hitting .245 or lower: Pederson, Bellinger, Grandal and Hernandez. The diference is that their OPS are all .779 to .843. We all know what the definition of insanity is.

Let’s face it: Barnes, Utley and Forsythe are HUGE BLACK HOLES for this offense.  They all need to be replaced… LIKE NOW. They are all nice guys and great clubhouse leaders but the fact of the matter is: none of them could jump out of a boat and hit water. Barnes needs to go to OKC, and of course, the conventional wisdom is that Rocky Gale would take Barnes place, but I would call up Will Smith from Tulsa.  He has power and is hot.  He has shown he deserves it. Rocky is a career minor leaguer and could be a fill in. I want to try and catch some lightening in a bottle.  I’m looking for a Hero – someone who could step in and step up.  I think Will Smith is worth a shot. Yes, a roster spot would have to be created.  Create one. Segedin is the odd man out.

Next, I would call up Alex Verdugo to take Forsythe’s place.  Since Kike can play the infield, the Dodgers don’t have to keep another infielder here, but the next bat I would call up is Kyle Farmer – he can play all over and maybe he can get hot.  I just know that the three boat anchors need to be gone.  Hopefully, Austin can turn it around and get a call back up, but maybe, just maybe, one of these guys might make a huge difference.

It a tough call to send three guys packing… especially when they are all high-character persons, but this is a bottom line business.  You are what your stats say you are.

Memo to Doc:

• Just Leave Muncy at 2B.
• Let Toles start in CF for a couple weeks.  See what happens.
• Play Verdugo everyday.
• Use Kike as the designated rester.  He plays at 3B, SS, 2B, CF, 1B at least 5 times a week to give guys a rest.
• Try something new – stop the insanity.

Good News/Bad News

Actually, Rich Hill was pretty impressive, even though he lost.  He made a few bad pitches, but Cody saved a HR by jumping above the wall to snatch it.  I think Rich Hill is healthy, he went 7 innings and looks like he is close to being what he was in 2016.