Who Should Be The Dodgers Catcher?

Very disappointing result.

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This is what I would do now.

Kershaw goes tonight, and hopefully we can get the one win necessary to secure home field all the way.

To me, this has become imperative. We are a much better team at Chavez Ravine. Absolute no brainer to ensure that advantage.

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If CK doesn’t get it done tonight then F##k the Bullpen Game on Sunday, throw the ball to Darvish & tell him to get the job done.

Colorado will have secured the other Wild Card spot & may have a BP game themselves, or at least be in celebratory mood. Darvish won’t pitch before next Saturday (7 days) at the earliest, possibly 9 days if he pitches game 3. He probably would prefer the work anyway.

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I will be absolutely pissed if we don’t do everything we can to secure the #1 seed.

Hmm. Tanking maybe. Rox Snakes one game play in. Maybe the Dodgers are pushing the Rox in hopes they beat the Snakes.

Lots of ideas and scenarios can happen.

Here’s the deal – the Dodgers scored 28 runs in 3 games against the Padres that didn’t mean anything.

Now the Dodgers stink the place up in a game that doesn’t mean anything (to them).

Indians beat the Chisox 10 – 1 in a game that doesn’t mean anything.

I am concerned that the Dodgers can’t just “flip the switch”. The 3 games against SD didn’t prove anything. Does the game tonight prove anything? No. But has the “switch been flipped”?

NO

One run in 7 innings against a nothing pitcher with a +5 ERA and playing in Coors Field should raise a bright red flag. Wait until we face a good pitcher. Yikes.

Is it my imagination, or is Cory Bellinger trying too hard to hit #40? Seems to me that he’s over-swinging a lot.

Since the first time I saw him, I’ve been concerned that Buehler’s fastball is as straight as an arrow. I need to see more movement before I’m convinced. Just hope he doesn’t turn out to be another Josh Ravin. He’s a lot younger, so there’s time.

El Gasolino to enter. That will fix everything.

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They’ve flipped the switch back on? Really?

Another PB for Grandal

Ryu – no to the post-season?

Buehler – welcome to Coors Field

Is anyone surprised that Ryu is getting lit up? His stuff just doesn’t play well at Coors. And coming off an injury doesn’t help.

You can add Ryu to the ever-growing list of Baez, Font, McCarthy, Maeda, Ravin, Stewart,and Stripling, to the list of pitchers currently on the 40 man staff that I hope I don’t have to see next year in a Dodgers uniform.

Tonight’s lineup:

Granderson-CF

Seager-SS

Turner-3B

Belli-1B

Puig-RF

Ethier-LF

Grandal-C

Forsythe-2B

Ryu-P

Other than the leadoff man I like it.

Dodgers called up Locastro. Remember when the carried to Dee Gordon to pinch-run?

I think the Dodgers trade Grandal this offseason, while he still has value.

Adrian can’t play anymore. I would love it it if he could. He’s a great role model for young Latino kids everywhere. I know that a playing contract can’t be transferred to the front office and I forgot to mention good old Loyd’s of London. I wish I could like Verdugo’s game, I just don’t. If he were to stay on the team and contribute, of course like every hypocritical fan I would support him, but my gut tells me he won’t be in LA. I don’t have a direct pipeline but still know people in the travel team business that tell me he’s as obnoxious as ever. From what I was told, Roberts tore him a new one after he was late to a practice or game.

I don’t think Verdugo is aware TEAM isn’t spelled IEAM…..yet. Potential poison so don’t pen him on the roster until he makes that adjustment.

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Jonah Keri on why the Dodgers should be optimistic:

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Three simple reasons:

First, the Dodgers feature the best quartet of starting pitchers among all playoff teams, with Clayton Kershaw backed by Yu Darvish and highly underrated lefties Rich Hill and Alex Wood.

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Second, the Dodgers have addressed their bullpen woes in a more effective manner than we’ve seen in years. Kenley Jansen remains a superelite closer capable of dominating in both the regular season and postseason. But Brandon Morrow, Tony Cingrani, and Luis Avilan lead a revamped batch of setup and middle men who miss tons of bats and perplex opposing hitters with their many different looks.

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Third, the Dodgers trotted out the most potent attack in the National League this year, with slugging rookie Cody Bellinger complementing Corey Seager and Justin Turner in a deep offense that’s even dangerous off the bench.

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And finally, momentum means nothing. Specifically, how a ballclub fares in September has no correlation with how it will fare in October (once you adjust for other variables, such as the overall quality of said teams).

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The Dodgers were an excellent bet to challenge for their first World Series in 29 years before they recently came unglued for a few weeks. They remain excellent bets to do so even after that rough patch.

It seems like every spring some young player “seizes the day.”

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Who will it be next year:

Verdugo?

Rios?

Ramos?

Buehler?

White?

Locastro?

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Who? I want to know NOW!

I have a prediction, Yasiel Puig will not be traded and will be our starting RF next year

You know if Rios can play first, Bellinger could play any position in the outfield. Also if a good SS comes along, Seager could certainly play third. Taylor can play second. So many different options.

The Dodgers need a #5 hitter. I too believe both Puig and Pederson will be gone. They need a bat like J.D. Martinez has provided for Arizona; average plus power. Do any of their minor leaguers fit that bill? Do they have something like that in the pipeline or will they be trading for that piece? I would like Yelich in center, Taylor in left, and Toles in right. But Yelich is not quite the 30 HR guy that they need.

I got Baseball America’s TOP 10 PROSPECTS of the minors today.

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Walker Buehler is on the cover and was named the #1 prospect in the Texas League. They say he projects “at least” as a No. 2 Starter.

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Edwin Rios was the #8 prospect in AA Texas League and was called the “best pure hitter in the Texas League.” His only spot is 1B.

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Alex Verdugo was the #4 prospect in the PCL and was called “one of the most disciplined young batters.” Unlike me, they think he has enough speed to play CF!

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They call Mitch White a “solid No 2 or No 3 with excellent stuff.”

I think we will see Toles, Taylor and Verdugo in the outfield. Good speed all the way around. Pretty good arms. Puig will be traded. Beuhler will be a starter. He will replace Darvish. Pederson is gone. Barnes will play second. These are all guesses. That is all we can do looking at next season. A fun time. I can see one to two farm kids making the team each year.

Verdugo doesn’t pass the smell test for me. There is something shady about him that I have never liked way back when I saw him play HS baseball. He will be packaged along with Puig in a trade this off season. AGon needs to be the laureate batting coach a la Bill Muellar who was paid his player salary as an executive so it wouldn’t count as team payroll. I think the Dodgers are going to be better next year. We just need 2a and 2b starters. Enough with the McCarthy and Kazmir experiments. I’d even consider trading Alex Wood while his value is high. I like him a lot, but I think he will break down soon. I think that Stanton to the LA has legs and is doable if FLA picks up some salary and Stanton defers some money. He can then get traded to an AL team to DH. While I’m glad the Dodgers are white hot I’m not to excited it was the Padres. If it would have been the D-wacks, I’d feel a little better.

This is a great article on how teammates and teams deal with struggling players: