Would You?

Yee-Haw!! Great comeback by the Dodgers! But man-o-man, the Rockies just showed why they are who they are.

With 2-strikes against him, the only pitch that should have been thrown Heyward was a breaking ball IN THE DIRT.

But instead he gets a knee-high hanging slider. What??! So of course, Heyward says thank you and hits his slam.

Then Teo is reeling against that flame-thrower, and no way he hits any fastball that’s NOT center-cut.

So what does he get? – a FB right down the middle to tee up!!! ..hahahahaha .. And the rest is history.

The Rocks truly are an embarrassment.

Looking like losing Betts and Yamamoto finally lite that fire that they had in the Yankee series. And for all you Fire Roberts hating armchair managing sons of bitches, and we all know who you are loss after loss going toxic, going to get my video clip of Doc pinch hitting J/Hey going yard with the slam, pin it to your damn foreheads! Bury the guy all you want when they lose, which is still total shortsighted BS, but suck it up buttercup when he makes the right move. If your going to trash , gotta praise too.

RIP Willie Mays. I have seen a lot of Hall of Famers. The two best center fielders I have ever seen were Willie Mays and Ken Griffey Jr. Mays made it look so easy. He is the one Giant I had absolute admiration and respect for. Him and Willie McCovey. I remember how Mays tried to calm Roseboro down when Marichal went after him with a bat. He kept telling Rosey, John, your hurt, you need to go to the hospital. Willie and that high pitched voice of his. Running the bases and his hat flying off of his head when he would head for third. His stats are legit. He did not need to use anything to be a better player. He just worked really hard at the game he loved. Would have had 3 MVP awards, but Wills beat him out in 62.

Willie Mays Dead at 93!

Best baseball player I have ever seen in person! More importantly, a class humean being. God rest his soul….

What a great comeback! Down 5 runs in the ninth, the Dodgers score 7 runs and win the game. I’m sure glad I hung in there and saw that Fantastic 9th inning.

It’s a shame Buehler doesn’t get the win.

TIC

Are there any Rockies fans in the stadium?

No way I trade those players for Robert, Crochet, and Kopech. Even with the injuries to Muncy, Betts, Yamamoto. They are all expected back well before the end of August. Rojas gives the Dodgers better defense at short and will be fine as a primary shortstop for a six week period of time. I like giving Vargas the platoon role opposite Heyward with a chance to earn a bigger role (two hits tonight!), continuing to start Pages every day in center, etc. Give Miller a chance to get his footing replacing Yamamoto. Definitely let this play out for the next six weeks. They have a comfortable lead in the West which allows them a degree of patience with Buehler and these internal options to replace Muncy, Betts, and Yamamoto.

Comment that I can’t understand but have heard in the past and especially this year “the Dodgers are in World Series mode” or it’s World Series or bust. I’m in my sixth decade of life. Have been a Dodger fan for all the years that I understood what a fan entailed. I cannot recall a year that the Dodgers were not in World Series mode. Admitingly some years were a pipe dream but in most years the Dodgers had as good of a chance of anyone to win the World Series. Hence the Dodgers are in World Series mode at least for the next ten years minimum because of the contracts tho Betts and Ohtani, Freeman, etc. I understand that it is fun to speculate on changes the Dodgers need to make in order to be in a position to win the World Series. It’s hard to fandom that we have the talent, it’s a matter of coming together at the right time. Of course a tweak here and there is okay but not necessary. The Dodgers are dealing in the position of strength. Other teams covert our prospects, we don’t have to overpay at any position. We have not good but great pitching coming off the DL in both starters and in the bullpen. Some coming sooner than later. Of. Course we are down the best lead off hitter in baseball right now but replaced him with now the best lead off hitter in baseball. Rojas is better than adequate as a backup at shortstop, he’s a proven veteran. Will he continue to hit .280? Probably not but his bat and glove will suffice until we get Mookie back. Muncy will be back in the near future. We have several players at triple A that are knocking on the door like Feduccia, Lipcius, Outman, Hoese aand Owings. If need be give Alex Freeman a shot at shortstop, Adrian Beltran came from double A at 19 years old and he carved out a pretty good career. Taylor and Hernandez are a mystery as to why they are stil on the 26 man roster but in Andrew I trust. We all need to take a deep breath and say everything is going to be okay. If we jell in late September we bring home the gold. If another team gets red hot at this time we could see another team win the World Series. The new playoff system is great for revenue but it isn’t great for teams peaking in June, July, August and three weeks of September. If people on the blog don’t think the Dodgers will reach the playoffs I feel sorry for their children.

Thank you CT3

That was an ugly slider to Montaro. Buehler is just lost in space right now. He is the pitching version of Taylor. His 4 seamer is just getting pounded even tho it’s registering 95. Will miss the Say Hey kid

Baseball great Willie Mays has died

That has to be a blow to your ego to be platooned with Chris Taylor

Dodgers AAA going up against Colorado’s Kyle Freeland tonight in a rehab start.

Let’s see if they can get some good AB’s against him.

First inning would be a no.

Outman against a crafty lefty= Strike 3

Go Dodgers !!

Hoping to see Walker take a step forward in a tough pitching environment tonight.

Need him and Miller to step-up over the next 4 -6 weeks and show they can be a factor down the stretch and in the playoffs , preferably as starters.

Although only 1 could potentially be needed.

And if not, strong reliable bullpen arms.

They have time, just stay healthy and improve week to week.

Go Dodgers!!

8:40 PM ET

Dodgers (45-29)

Rockies (25-47)

SP Walker Buehler R

1-4 4.64 ERA

SP Austin Gomber L

1-4 4.26 ERA

Confirmed Lineup

DH S. Ohtani L

C Will Smith R

1B F. Freeman L

RF T. Hernandez R

CF Andy Pages R

SS Miguel Rojas R

3B E. Hernandez R

LF M. Vargas R

2B Chris Taylor R

73° Wind 10 mph R-L

AF is going to make a big move. This team is in a win NOW WS mode. We have a great depth of moderate-good young talent to get something big done. A lot of these young guys are blocked by excess numbers, especially pitching. All chips into the pot! Thats my call. We’ll see at the deadline.

As of now, no to that trade scenario. But in 6 weeks? ..maybe… with a tweak or 2.

A lot can change between now and July 30.

I had suggested over the winter that we trade for Robert, Jr. but again, injuries have dramatically impacted his playing time in four of his five years. He has had one good year and now is struggling mightily. I would not consider trading for him unless he shows a great deal of progress at bat.

DeJong also strikes out a lot and as long as Miggy Ro is healthy, he is better!

With Teoscar, we already strike out in epic proportions. It seems to me that the Dodgers need Miguel Vargas in LF. Let Pages and J-Hey split time in CF.

If you include DeJong and Chris Taylor… YES!

The future does not matter as much as the present, tomorrow we worry about tomorrow, today we must worry about today. Maybe that’s what this team is missing, starting to focus on this season before worrying about the next one.

Hard no to that trade. If they could get Robert Jr. for a lesser package, one that did not include Pages, I might do it. But he is hitting .186 at this point. But he also only has 70 at bats. He now has 7 homers and 10 driven in which means he is doing most of his damage without runners on base. DeJong has 14 homers. My concern with Robert Jr. is that he has 31 Ks in those 70 at bats. On a team like this, which already has some whiff artists, that is just way too high of a percentage. Let’s see what his stats look like when he gets to 150 at bats. DeJong is hitting .240 with 29 RBIs. I would trade no more than one top 10 prospect for Robert Jr.

God no.

Ted –

Great post! The only comment I have is that Kirk Gibson’s famous home run was a major factor in the outcome of 1988 World Series; but he was the team leader all year. The only question I have this year is who is the team’s leader who will make the difference in the 2024 playoffs? While there are 4-5 current players with the talent to deliver big performances that can carry a team, I am not sure I see a Kirk Gibson-type team leader. I would be interested in poster opinions on this question…

I have been as guilty as anyone in the criticism of AF, Roberts, the inconsistent offense by the top of the order, and the non-existent offense from the bottom of the order. Over the past few weeks many have wanted to trade for this player or that player to fill the dark hole that is the bottom 3 (4 with Muncy out and now 5 with Mookie sidelined) in the order. Yep, it’s not the three superstars and three stars that fill the top six spots. It’s the bottom three that are making the difference in whether the Dodgers win or lose..

Recently, there has been improvement from that dark void. Andy Pages settling in and Lux showing signs of hitting improvement there leaves only one true weakness in the lineup. That is currently being filled by Kiki, CT3, or Biggio (again, why?). Miguel Rojas has turned things around so far this season and in just in time with Mookie’s injury. Heyward is continuing to get better after his injury.

In the past when there have been criticisms of Roberts’ sometimes questionable moves, Mark and others have reminded us that it is the players that have failed to produce when called upon. Yes, maybe Roberts’s decisions have put players in a spot to fail. But, bottom line, it’s the player that needs to do what he is paid to do. I mean consider this lineup for October:

Betts

Ohtani

Freeman

Smith

Muncy

T Hernandez

Pages

Heyward

Lux

A starting staff that may be available::

Glasnow

Yamamoto

Stone

Kershaw

Buehler

Miller

Paxton

Knack

And a BP of:that could include:

Vesia

Phillips

Treinen

Banda

Grove

Hudson

Yarbrough

And maybe returning from injury:

Graterol

Braiser

Kelly

Hurt

Talk about position talent and pitching depth! If the Dodgers can’t win a World Series with these players then I certainly don’t know what the Dodgers front office can do to make that happen. It’s up to the players to take advantage of the talented roster they have. A true superstar excels at the biggest moments. The past couple of years they have failed to do so. Will the addition of Ohtani and Teoscar help provide a different outcome?

The 1988 World Series Champion Dodgers had this game 1 lineup:

Sax 2B, Stubbs 1B, Hatcher LF, Marshall RF, Shelby CF, Scioscia C, Hamilton, 3B, Griffin SS

Yes, the group above beat a team that would go on to three straight World Series (1988-1990) Talk about over achieving!!

So, even with the recent injuries, I don’t think we need Robert Jr, Adames, Lindor, JDM, Tucker, Bichette or anyone else right now. We need the players that are here to produce when called upon and to do so in the biggest moments. That’s what a World Champion does!!

Carry on

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

I would not trade Pages straight up for Robert jun. as of today.

Pages is the better player today.

Excellent game by Paxton yesterday. Exactly what the Dodgers needed from their starter.

Feyereisen is toast. Ticket straight back to OKC.

Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A hard NO!!!

We don’t need Crochet and Kopeck. Just Robert Jr. Rushing, Pages and one of those pitchers and another younger player.

You should be thanking Jim Bowden. Gave you something to write and talk about today.