Who Do You Believe In?

Let me start this by saying that very little surprises me anymore. I would not be surprised if Joc Pederson hit 40 HR, nor would I be surprised if he hit .190. It would not surprise me if Kike Hernandez hit 25 HR and batted .290. I also would not be surprised if he hit .240 with 12 HR. CT3? It could be boom or bust. I don’t have my horse hitched to either wagon. I do believe, however, that Joc, Kike, and CT3 can all be very key parts of what the 2019 Dodgers want to accomplish.

See, this game that we all love is played by humans and humans do some really dumb things. They can also do some really, really great things. Never underestimate the power of the human spirit, but never forget that things can spiral out of control. It’s the human condition. Little things can turn into big things. A hitter starts out hot and then experiences some bad luck by hitting balls hard right at people. Then he starts pressing, trying to hit a 5-run home run and the bad habits stay.

Or he has a new baby, girlfriend, wife, a parent with cancer, serious health issue, etc. that takes him outta’ his game. “But he’s a professional.” Yeah, a human professional, not a professional robot! Stuff happens! The fact of the matter is that players burst onto the scene and have incredible success (think Cody Bellinger or Chris Taylor), then slump and fall short their next season (think Cody Bellinger and Chris Taylor). Cody has re-invented himself to be better than ever, but CT3 is still a work in-progress (although recently he has been showing signs of breaking out).

Progression as a hitter is not linear (nor as a pitcher). Cody Bellinger changed and adapted to become the best player in baseball (at least right now). Other Dodger players are also trying. Joc Pederson is trying and succeeding, so is Max Muncy. I’d like to think that Kike and CT3 will benefit too, but that is up for conjecture. Who do you believe in?

I don’t always write what I believe. I don’t always have an opinion. I write to make you think… sometimes to make you mad. I write to stretch you. I write to make you consider other opinions. Groupthink is good. Collectively, all of us are smarter than one of us.

Maybe the bullpen needs help. Maybe the Dodgers need another RH bat, but maybe… just maybe… MAYBE, this team is complete. Maybe the Dodgers have all the pieces. Who do you believe in? I am not saying that is the case, but I am saying it is possible. I’m saying that a LF platoon of Kike and Joc could be great. I am saying that the bullpen issues may be solved internally. I guess it depends upon who you believe.

I do believe in Andrew Friedman. I believe in him because I know how he works, what he values and that he “trusts the process.” Some fans feel that Andrew Friedman did nothing to address the team’s bullpen issues. Well, to say he did “nothing” is absurd – he brought in “Wildman” Kelly to be the setup guy. So far, Kelly has not done his job. But, Friedman trusts the process. Many fans would have given up on Kike, CT3, Joc, Petey, Kenley, and others. Shoot, last year some were saying that Cody was a platoon player – that’s all.

Andrew Friedman trusts the process. Will “Wildman” Kelly turn into “Machine Gun” Kelly? It’s possible. Who do you believe in? That one reliever RIGHT THERE would change the entire complexion of the pen. The Dodgers signed Kelly because they believe they could make him better, Honeycutt thought he could work his magic on him. So far, it has not been a success. Who do you believe? We know Honey has a track record of turning pitchers around. There’s still time… it depends upon what you believe.

I think some Dodger fans think the Dodgers should have signed Craig Kimbrel. The fact that NO TEAM has had “meaningful” discussions with him tells you a lot… if you can read between the lines. Number One is the fact that he is asking for too much money. It is rumored that he is willing to take 4 years/$60 million. Number Two is that many baseball people feel his best days are in the past. That he is no longer “elite.” Sometimes the best deals you make are the ones you don’t make.

Most fans look at a player’s past performance and say “We should trade for (whoever) as they are great.” But will they be great in LA? We know how that works out with some players. Washington tried to rebuild their bullpen in the past off-season with the addition of Trevor Rosenthal (36.00 ERA), Dan Jennings (13.50 ERA), Kyle Bearclaw (5.12 ERA, Tony Sipp (6.30 ERA) and Sean Doolittle (3.68 ERA). While the Dodgers bullpen ERA of 4.45 is not good, the Nats are dead last in MLB with a 7.25 ERA. The MLB AVERAGE bullpen ERA is 4.35, so the Dodgers are below average. I suspect they will be “above average” by the first week of June.

Sometimes the best moves you make are ones you don’t make. Even if a lot of you are smarter than Andrew Friedman (I believe some think that), you don’t have access to all of the info he does, and you have no idea what other teams ask in return when a trade is discussed. There was no way he was going to sign Craig Kimbrel… even if he didn’t cost a draft pick, but the fact he would have cost the Dodgers a draft pick, slammed the door on signing him… even if the price were reasonable (which it wasn’t).

The draft will soon be over and Kimbrel will not cost a draft pick. First and foremost: I think Kenley Jansen will be fine, but if Kimbrel was willing to come in and play any role in the pen, I would give it a try, but it would have to be at a reasonable price. I do not ever see that happening and it’s borderline delusional to think it might. There are arms in the minor leagues that could help. Tony Gonsolin has been laid up until recently – maybe this is the year he doesn’t get stretched out and throws out of the bullpen. Jesen Therrien, Marshall Kasowski, Dennis Santana, Dustin May and yes, Caleb Ferguson could play a role.

Who do you believe in? I trust “The Process.” BTW, sitting on the bench causes you to be “cold” with the bat. See what sitting out a few days did for Justin Turner (5 for 5)?

Minor League Report by DC

Player of the Day – Donovan Casey

Casey was involved in all the action on Sunday. The Quakes scored three runs in each of the second, fifth, ninth  and eleventh innings. In each inning Casey had a hit to go go along with his three runs and two runs batted in. In his last 10 games Casey is hitting .342 with 11 runs, 10 runs batted in and three home runs.

Great Lakes Loons 2 – Fort Wayne TinCaps 12 (San Diego)

You win some, you lose some. The Loons took it on the chin on Sunday afternoon which was a bit surprising as they have been a “Walking in the Sunshine” team all year. They fell 12-2 to the TinCaps and saw their first place lead shrink to a single game over the Lake County Captains.

Jose Chacin’s struggles continued for the fourth game as he was touched up for five earned runs over 4.1 innings pitched  on nine hits, two walks and three strikeouts. Joel Inoa pitched two innings giving up two hits, three walks and three runs with two strikeouts. Drew Finley was no more successful in his 1.1 innings pitched as three TinCaps crossed the plate on three hits and three walks. Left-hander Austin Drury stranded a runner left on base by Finley in the top of the eighth inning and pitched a scoreless ninth inning on one hit.

Offensively there was not much action from the previously hot bats. Jacob Amaya and Jair Camargo scored the two Loons runs as a result of a TinCap error. Carmargo had two of the Loons six hits.

Rancho Cucamonga Quakes 12  – Lancaster JetHawks 13 (Colorado)

Geraldo Carrillo had his least successful start of the year giving up six runs in four innings with 10 hits , three walks and four strikeouts. He gave up three in the bottom of the third and three in the bottom of the fourth. Leo Crawford followed Carrillo and after retiring the first two hitters he faced in the bottom of the fifth first baseman Luis Castro homered on the first pitch he saw from Crawford. It was Castro’s second home run of the game. Not to be outdone, Casey Golden followed Castro with a homer of his own giving Lancaster an 8-6 lead at that point. The lead increased to 9-6 in the bottom of the seventh inning on another Lancaster home run. Melvin Jiminez came on in the bottom of the eighth inning and  after a lead off single retired the side. Max Gamboa provided some suspense by walking the bases full in the bottom of the ninth but got two strikeouts to close out the inning. Things got away in the bottom of the 11th inning as Connor Mitchell gave up four runs on two home runs, a third by Castro,  to erase the three runs the Quakes had scored in the top of the inning.

Rancho got in on the three-run innings via the singles route scoring three in the top of the second inning on RBI hits by Marcus Cuiu, Jordan Procyshen and Brayan Morales. They added another three in the top of the fifth to knot the score at six with a HBP, singles by Deacon Liput, Devin Mann, Donovan Casey and a ground out by Jeter Downs. Trailing 9-6 in the top of the ninth inning the Quakes made a run and scored two following a Lancaster error on a Deacon Liput double and a Donovan Casey single. With two out and a two-strike count on Jeter Downs, the tying run came in on a Downs double.

The Quakes forged ahead in the top of the 11th inning with three runs on a Devin Mann single and Eric Peterson double only to fall 13-12 in the bottom of the inning. Mann with three hits and Casey with four lead the Quakes attack.

Tulsa Drillers  0 –  Northwest Arkansas Naturals  4 (Kansas City)

Dustin May took the hill for the Drillers and pitched six innings giving up six hits, three runs, three walks and striking out five. Nolan Long gave up an additional run in his two innings while Chris Nunn pitched a scoreless ninth inning.

The Drillers matched the seven hits of the Naturals but couldn’t turn any into runs. Carlos Rincon and Keibert Ruiz each had two hits. Zach McKinstry was thrown out at home trying to stretch a triple into an inside-the-park home run.

OKC Dodgers 0 –  Omaha Storm Chasers 5 (Kansas City)

Tony Gonsolin returned to action and pitched a scoreless inning although he did allow a hit and gave up a walk. Daniel Corcino followed Gonsolin for five innings with a stat line of seven hits, five runs, five walks, and one strikeout. Adam McCreery and Chris Nunn both pitched a scoreless inning. The Dodgers had but two hits, a double by Connor Joe and a single by  Cameron Perkins.