Sometimes, I just step back and let everyone “wallow in their swill.” I think, like pigs, some of you love it. For the past three years, I have heard, “Yes, the Dodgers are a great team in the regular season, but they aren’t built and can’t win in the playoffs.” So, that has been the problem for the past three years: The Dodgers are arguably the best team in the regular season but have been bounced from the playoffs rather unceremoniously in each of those years. So, this year, the Dodgers have taken a different approach, and I have been trying to tell you this, but many of you are too stupid or too stubborn to understand: IF YOU GO HARD ALL SEASON LONG AND ARE SO FAR AHEAD IN SEPTEMBER THAT NO ONE CAN CATCH YOU, YOU BECOME COMPLACENT AND LOSE YOUR EDGE. That gets you bounced from the playoffs.
Last year, the three teams that won 100 games were bounced from the playoffs in the first round. Again, if you fail to comprehend that you should stop reading and just go away right about now. Baseball is played by human beings, albeit very talented human beings, and when they push hard all season and are so far ahead of the competition, they let their guard down and go on cruise control. If you happen to believe that this is not a championship team, then you do not comprehend what I am going to say. However, this year, the Dodgers are changing the playbook. They understand that playing all of September without playing a meaningful game, is not the way to win a championship.
For the past three years, the Dodgers have pushed hard to have the best record in baseball. Just some perspective: It’s all about getting into the playoffs. The regular season doesn’t matter. Who the Dodgers play in the playoffs doesn’t matter. It’s been proven time and time again. Just get into the playoffs. Anything can happen, and the Dodgers absolutely have the skill and talent to beat any of the contenders. So, this season, it appears to me that the Dodgers are not pushing to have that great record. However, for all the wailing and gnashing of teeth, they still have the 5th best record in baseball. The fifth best! Damn… the 5th BEST!
So, what does that mean? It means that Dave Roberts is trying to win the war… not just the battle! There are some major pitching roster decisions coming up. Among the pitchers on the bubble is Yahan Ramirez. Yes, he pitched Friday and Saturday, and Doc wanted to see how he would do back-to-back under extreme duress. Check that box off. Ramirez will not be a Dodger in August. Lose the battle in order to win the war.
The Dodgers have been a .500 team for about six weeks. They have a full roster of pitchers on the IL and two All-Stars (one of whom was in the running for MVP) also on the IL. This is tricky business: Yesterday, Dave Roberts opted to win the war, while losing the battle. Yes, the lack of offense cost them the game, but the pitching is critical and Yohan Ramirez was exposed: He totally imploded under pressure. Better to find out now than in October. In about another month, the Dodgers will start managing with a lot more urgency. Alex Vesia could have come in yesterday, but he is sixth on the team in innings pitched. Do you want him burned out or ready for October? Duhhhh…
Do not dis Ryan Yarbrough. He is 5th in IP on the team, and with a 3.79 ERA, he is a solid part of the bullpen. He eats innings. He wasn’t great yesterday, but the team needs him and Michael Grove as long men in the pen. Yarbrough has had a rough July, but his arm is critical to the Dodger’s success. He eats innings. Let me remind you that Ryan Brasier, Brusdar Graterol, Kyle Hurt, and Joe Kelly are on the IL, but some could return soon.
Anthony Banda (2.19 ERA) has been an outstanding addition. He’s another lefty lockdown reliever the Dodgers need and AF got him at Wal Mart! Brent Honeywell (3 shutout innings) also has my attention. Why anyone would question his acquisition is beyond me… and I would have felt the same way had he given up 12 runs. Many of you have sight… but no vision. Sure, Andrew Friedman can afford to shop at Neiman Marcus, but if Wal-Mart has what he needs, why overpay? Time will tell if the reunion with Brent Honeywell will yield results. Will he be a starter or a bullpen piece? He had four elbow surgeries in three years but is finally healthy and routinely hits mid-to-upper-90s. We shall see.
After the All-Star Break, we will see some changes on this team. I do not expect them to be major, and they don’t need to be. Just because some of you say, “This is not a Championship Team“, does not make it so, the same as me saying “it is a Championship team” makes it so! History will be the decider! Of course, you are going to hear that the Dodgers are looking for starters, and they will be names that are connected to the team. AF is very good at driving up the prices so that other teams have to pay through the wazoo to get players.
We are going to see River Ryan after the All-Star Break. Mookie Betts, Clayton Kershaw, Joe Kelly, Brusdar Graterol, and Jason Heyward are all on track to return as expected. Max Muncy will be shut down until mid-to-late August. Bobby Miller, Tyler Glasnow, Yoshi Yamamoto, and Walker Buehler will likely return at some point with results we cannot predict, but I doubt that it all will be bad. However, the results do not all have to be good either. The Dodgers will be looking to replace Biggio, Outman, and maybe Lux and Vargas at the deadline. Heyward will replace one of those, but a trade is still likely. Who that will be… I haven’t a clue.
I will discuss the draft tomorrow.
Discussion (36)
Disagree, not disagreeable
before we all give up on Bobby Miller, let’s take a chill pill!! Yeah he’s got some attitude, but maybe the dodgers could use a little attitude! Trading away a talent like Miller could hurt for years! And no. I’m not trading Stone either. …. I don’t think acquiring Paredes really matters as far as muncy goes. I’m not sure max even returns this season. and even if he does, what do they get from him? Taylor,Kiki,Biggio? Does Biggio make it past the end of July? Could Kiki be included in a trade? And Taylor ain’t going nowhere! …. Bottom line. They need Mookie back !! They need a 3rd baseman. And they need a left fielder. So if Arozarena cann be packaged along with parades, ok. Bichette would still be my 1st choice, but a deal with tampa bay would work. Rojas and Taylor can man SS the rest of this season. Mookie goes back to 2nd. Odd man out? Lux. Sorry Gavin, but you might need a change of scenery. Include Kiki in the deal along with prospects to Tampa for paredes and Arozarena. ….. i still see some advocating a Zac Grienke reunion. Hell no! He cannot help the dodgers. neither can Rich Hill! ….. Saw soto with a smirk last night after walking against Skeenes. Ball 4 could easily have been strike 3! So you walked Mr. Soto! You also looked pretty bad on 2 pitches!! kid is special! no need to disrespect the guy. ….. No clue who the guy is sang the national anthem last night. At least he wasn’t drunk! …… Sad that somo would be there to honor the flag. and country drunk on her ass! Hey. here’s an idea, let’s let kids sing the nay anthem. at least they won’t mumble and stumble .
Man how good is Ohtani?? We are lucky to have this guy for the next 10 years….and he aint even pitching yet….
Nice knock for Will too.
Lets come back refreshed and take the series this weekend vs the Sawks.
Fans still complaining about the All-Star uniforms. Manfred said they will have discussions about letting the players go back to wearing their teams’ uniforms. I am all for that. White Sox signed Nick Senzel to a major league deal. Cubs purchased reliever Jesus Tinoco from the Royals. One of the Angels draft picks is Lucas Ramirez, the son of Manny Ramirez.
Tonight @ Arizona
River Ryan:
4.0 IP
4 Hits
1 Run
1 BB
5 SO
Brusdar Graterol:
1.0 IP
2 Hits
1 Run
0 BB
0 SO
I would like a legit third baseman that can hit both righties and lefties that’s what I want in the off season. Maybe it is Paredes then have keke and CT3 play second base until mookie comes bac so the Randy Arozarana and what ithee outfiledr do tgey get to go along with Teoscar. . Could it be Taylor Ward and Kyle Anderson if they coul pull taht off and get an every day outfield of teoscar taylor ward and randy Arozarana talk about getting better players and looking then like world series contenders. Yes why not.
I just have 35 things to say:
1 – I’d kill for a Nobel Peace Prize.
2 – Borrow money from pessimists — they don’t expect it back.
3 – Half the people you know are below average.
4 – 99% of lawyers give the rest a bad name.
5 – 82.7% of all statistics are made up on the spot.
6 – A conscience is what hurts when all your other parts feel so good.
7 – A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.
8 – If you want the rainbow, you got to put up with the rain.
9 – All those who believe in psycho kinesis, raise my hand.
10 – The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.
11 – I almost had a psychic girlfriend, ….. But she left me before we met.
12 – OK, so what’s the speed of dark?
13 – How do you tell when you’re out of invisible ink?
14 – If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something.
15 – Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm.
16 – When everything is coming your way, you’re in the wrong lane.
17 – Ambition is a poor excuse for not having enough sense to be lazy.
18 – Hard work pays off in the future; laziness pays off now.
19 – I intend to live forever … So far, so good.
20 – If Barbie is so popular, why do you have to buy her friends?
21 – Eagles may soar, but weasels don’t get sucked into jet engines.
22 – What happens if you get scared half to death twice?
23 – My mechanic told me, “I couldn’t repair your brakes, so I made your horn louder.”
24 – Why do psychics have to ask you for your name
25 – If at first you don’t succeed, destroy all evidence that you tried.
26 – A conclusion is the place where you got tired of thinking.
27 – Experience is something you don’t get until just after you need it.
28 – The hardness of the butter is proportional to the softness of the bread.
29 – To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research.
30 – The problem with the gene pool is that there is no lifeguard.
31 – The sooner you fall behind, the more time you’ll have to catch up.
32 – The colder the x-ray table, the more of your body is required to be on it.
33 – Everyone has a photographic memory; some just don’t have film.
34 – If at first you don’t succeed, skydiving is not for you.
35 – If your car could travel at the speed of light, would your headlights work?
if tatis had a brain, he wouldn’t be playing in san diego! i bet dorothy can get him one!! machado has no heart. bet dorothy could get him one! soto had courage! he got the hell out of san diego!! (maybe not by choice). all in favor of arozarena?? i might pass . parades check mark!!
The Dodgers 4 MiLB full season affiliates are off this week starting back up on Friday.
All 4 teams are hovering around .500
Their 3 Rookie league affiliates are still playing.
Their Arizona team is by far playing the best ball of all the minor league teams.
Some of the kids should be ready to move up to Rancho soon.
Eduardo Quintero-OF (18yrs)
Jaron Elkins-OF (19yrs)
Angel Diaz -C (20yrs)
Victor Rodrigues-C (19yrs) maybe starts next yr at Rancho
Zyhir Hope-OF(19yrs)
Currently on rehab from a broken rib
Would be nice to see Vargas already @ Rancho with Hope and Quintero at Rancho all together soon
Go Dodgers !!
Teo is going to be starting the All-Star game in the outfield, replacing Tatis Jr. who is going to have an MRI.
According to Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times, who caught up with the Dodgers’ starting pitcher at the MLB All-Star Game in Arlington, Texas, Glasnow is expecting to be activated as soon as he’s eligible to return from the 15-day injured list.The 15-day timetable would have Glasnow back on the Dodgers’ active roster this Saturday, the Dodgers’ second game of a three-game series against the Boston Red Sox.
Glasnow was diagnosed with lower back tightness after his last start, July 5 against the Milwaukee Brewers, in which he allowed five runs in six innings.
Keith Law on the Dodger first pick:
23. Los Angeles Dodgers: Kellon Lindsey, SS, Hardee HS (Fla.)
No. 22 on Law’s big board
Apparently the Dodgers are all about speed now, taking an 80 runner last year with their first pick in Kendall George, and taking another 80 runner this year in Kellon Lindsey. Lindsey is a shortstop with a great, athletic frame, earning comps to a young Trea Turner, but between football and some minor injuries he barely played last summer or fall, so scouts didn’t see him against better competition and R&D departments had very little data to work with.
That could be an opportunity for the Dodgers; if Lindsey had hit well in showcases, he might have ended up in the top high school tier with Rainer and Griffin. I think he’s a true shortstop but some folks want to move him to center to take advantage of his speed.
Scouting report: Nobody wants to miss on the next Trea Turner, and Lindsey looks the part — it’s a similar build, 80 speed, good hands, a good right-handed swing, etc. Turner had three years of success in the ACC, however, while Lindsey has faced some weak competition in central Florida and has had issues with breaking stuff. Lindsey has quick hands at the plate and gets the bat to the ball on time, with a good swing path to drive the ball to the gaps. His pitch recognition definitely lags behind the rest of his game at the plate, however, as he has far less experience facing good pitching than just about all of his peers in this draft after he missed the showcase circuit last summer due to injury.
He’s an outstanding athlete who was a quarterback and defensive back before he gave it up to focus just on baseball, and recorded the best running times at the MLB combine in June. I saw strong defense at shortstop, and he probably starts out there in pro ball, with the obvious potential to move to center at some point given his speed. He’s a huge upside play with a ton of downside risk in the bat.
The dance celebration needs work. Not good
Smith and Freeman could have had mom put the kids to bed. Does Othani have a kid we don’t know about?
You could cut the drama with a knife.
Terrible job on whoever sung the anthem.
Would have been a good showing of team unity to ride the Hr Derby out with Teo who became the first Dodger to ever win it.
Was good to see, congrats Teo
Zyhir Hope started a rehab assignment at the Arizona
Go Dodgers !!
congrats to Teo!
The Dodgers need to scrap this year’s version of “the dance” after hits. They look like pussies. I liked last’s years version that David Peralta instigated. It was simple and showed strength. It was cool. This year’s dance looks silly.
Watching the home run derby. The semi finals are matching Teoscar vs Bohm (Phillies) and they had to go to a tie- breaker.
Teoscar won and is now going to face Bobby Witt jr. in the finals.
WHAT A SHOW. Witt came within inches of tying it on the last swing
TEOSCAR WINS
All 6 Philly teammates sat together cheering on Bohm from the get go 2 plus hours ago.
Teoscar – had his great teammate Tyler Glasnow with him and surporting him from the get go . Caught a glimpse of will smith for a short while and othani was there for awhile.
Not sure Mookie went to all star game
And did not see Freeman .
Teoscar biggest supporters were his wife along with Glasnow and Vlad Guerruero.
Where was the team support?
Wasn’t a good look and the announcers even made a comment about all the support Bohm had gotten.
Shame shame
Some discussion that these players could be available:
Nico Hoerner
Connor Norby
Ryan Bliss
I was listening to the dMac podcast and the saying Jaun soto wants to play with shohei ohtani.
Bruce Kuntz has some great write ups of the Dodgers Day 2 draft picks at DodgersDigest. He not only goes into the players, but the above and below slot dynamics:
Dodgers select RHP Brooks Auger, SS Elijah Hainline, OF Brendan Tunink, OF Kole Myers, RHP Seamus Barrett in rounds 6-10 of 2024 MLB Draft
Dodgers select prep 3B Chase Harlan, college LHP Jakob Wright with 98th and 128th picks of MLB Draft
Beyond that here are some comments collected:
First on Chase Harlan:
From Joe Doyle:
Harlan turned heads during the summer in 2023 with thunderous bat speed and a compact stroke at the plate. It’s easy plus power projection from an already-physical frame. Harlan has a chance to play third base at the next level, though some are already projecting him into the outfield where strong throwing arm and physical frame will be best utilized. He can be a bit stiff and mechanical on the dirt, but it works at this stage and he’s effective and efficient in making outs. He’s an average runner who has flashed above average straight-line speed. He more likely projects fringy underway once he arrives to the big leagues considering his size and gait. A Clemson commit, there’s huge offensive potential on this kid
and he’ll be a high follow leading up to the draft itself. There’s something of a Josh Jung comp here.
Brian Recca:
A little Chase Harlan video from this spring. Built like a linebacker. Plus raw power and recorded above avg run times down the line. Big upside and young for the draft class.
https://x.com/brian_recca/status/1773169646922870922
“Shooter” Hunt
24 3B Chase Harlan (PA)
Belted some balls to all field throughout a strong BP showing that provided glimpse @ present/future pwr to all fields.
Unmistakeable presence at 6’3” 205 w/ premium ath. & wide shouldered frame that still projects.
Ranked https://abs-0.twimg.com/emoji/v2/svg/23-20e3.svghttps://abs-0.twimg.com/emoji/v2/svg/36-20e3.svghttps://abs-0.twimg.com/emoji/v2/svg/34-20e3.svg overall.
On Jakob Wright:
Taylor Blake Ward:
Dodgers 4-128: Jakob Wright, LHP, Cal Poly — smaller/athletic lefty w/ real weapon, plus sweeping SL that flashes ++ w/ ability to manipulate, low 90s FB w/ CV/CH all fringy as is control, SL can get him to MLB in relief while delivery/athleticism could turn into rotation future
Some guy with a lame name:
https://x.com/PitchingCoachU/status/1759683275600384498
Patrick Ebert:
Jakob Wright is enjoying a breakout campaign for @CalPolyBSB
, improved to 8-2, 2.77 with 92 Ks in 78 IP with a 9 K performance against Utah Tech last Friday – has been mostly low-90s, touches mid-90s with low-80s slurve
Here he Ks the first 2 batters he faced last Friday
Brooks Auger:
Brooks Auger, RHP, Mississippi State
FB 93-94 t97 w/ tail. Cutter 84-86 t89, potential plus offering. SL vs RHH & CHG vs LHH to develop. Very projectable.
No leverage in terms of signing. 23 years old. $$ saver for the early HS picks.
https://x.com/GGRamzyy/status/1812938421058609332
Brooks Auger has been fantastic for Mississippi State on the hill.
The bite on his breaking ball is DEEP and deceptive with his arm speed as displayed here.
Auger is now through 7IP, 3H, 1ER, 12K, 0BB after another K on this elevated heater. He is DEALING.
Word now is that the White Sox will probably wait until the winter meetings to move Robert Jr. Reason: They are concerned about his value being down with his performance so far this year. They want to get the best package they can, and that is not going to happen right now. Yankees and Padres both making offers to the Sox for Crochet.
What these Dodgees need is get a leader in the clubhouse and say we are the LA Dodgers Damit !!! We shouldn’t be losing to these low teams in the league. They need a leader and I don’t think Betts is or Freeman or Ohtani is they need a guy like Scherzer or Arozrana or Trout or maybe Tommy Pham or Nathan Evoladi someone wo has been to a world series and knows when yiu are a top team you should beat the lower teams especially in a series. Is there a guy out there like a Kirk Gibson that could turn this club around and get the fight back and knock off that hula dancing crap every time you get on base. There’s only one guy and that’s if the could get Mike Trout. But dang he is always hurt but someone like that.
Clayton looks to be back soon. Glasnow will be back soon. Stone needed a break. yamamoto probably back late august early september. knack has pitched well. Wobreski looks like a keeper. Miller, buehler? Not sure. Starting to believe Bear could have a point on efflin in tampa bay. But, if you get him , bring Paredes with him. ….Now bichette would also be nice, but if not bichette, try and convince moreno to part with ward . no thanks to tyler anderson. …. Bullpen could probably fix itself with health! need mookie back asap! Muncy? doesn’t sound good!
PPPPPP The six P’s. Prior planning prevents piss poor performance. Words to live by.
I did not write this. Someone else did:
I find this really odd because Baseball is the only sport where the home team gets a serious advantage in terms of rules (getting to bat last), plus any team can build their team to correlate with their ball park, you can’t do that in other sports. However the last 4 WS game 7’s have been won by the road team. In Football and especially Basketball the good teams are always almost unbeatable at home and which is why the best teams always go far in the playoffs because of home court/home field advantage. Home field advantage is an important factor in other sports but not in Baseball. Football and Basketball parks/courts are all the same (in terms of dimensions) but baseball fields are all different. Football fields may have an advantage because of the weather, some teams in warm weather would struggle in lets say Seattle in late December. Basketball is what puzzles, all dimensions are the same, the arenas all look the same and play in doors.
The Rangers were 90-72, AZ was 84-78.
In their last 10 regular season games they were a combined 10-10. Both did NOT win their divisions.
Let’s stop with all the doom and gloom like the regular season really makes a difference anymore….
Mark,
appreciate your impute and overall agree with many of your insights, but not here.
1) You said:
Among the pitchers on the bubble is Yahan Ramirez. Yes, he pitched Friday and Saturday, and Doc wanted to see how he would do back-to-back under extreme duress.
That is not the reason I read
Roberts said Ramírez was the lone pitching option who remained due to recent demands on relievers and injuries
He did say he would have used Alex in the 10th if he had to but wanted to avoid putting him in harms way if at all possible.
I think most of us can agree Ramirez was never going to be on playoff roster, and won’t even be on the regular season roster as injured pitchers return.
You said:
2) This year Doc is running a country club.
( I believe that statement is true but reflects his coaching style for the last 11yrs.)
That’s just how he manages for the good or the bad of it.
I consider his laid back style a hindrance. I think his teams are not mentally tough come playoff time.
They have not consistently performed under the pressures of the big games for the last 3 yrs.
3) I don’t
Agree with the point Doc can just have a team meeting in August and everyone will unite around a common goal to win the WS.
A competitive athlete can not turn their performance on and off on a moments notice.
Yes they can certainly turn their Effort on and off, and yes there will be times they slow up and even dog it a bit.
I can assure you with the winning runs on 2nd and 3rd in the bottom of the 9th there is no country club attitude happening here.
it is the players, skill and ability to perform . That is what is lacking
But performance is not a snap on snap off ability.
If your saying
a) poor fielding
b) poor base running
c) poor hitting WRISP
d) the inability to move runners
e) overall poor baseball fundamentals are
issues due to running the country club attitude and that
In August or Sept they can have a meeting and fix that , I would strongly disagree.
Not sure how or if they can fix it this year.
I do believe they will be competitive and I do agree having to fight for something ( whether it’s a division or wildcard) in Sept does absolutely help going into the playoffs
Go Dodgers !!
No one will remember July if we win our last game in October
No one can say Freeman is not trying to win. All you need to do is look at his face when he misses a pitch, he knew he should have crushed. Freddie is the consummate professional. I will watch Kersh’s start on Friday. I do think they will go for at least one impact bat at the deadline, and I know for sure they are trying to land one starting pitcher. News yesterday that the Padres have made one offer to the Sox for Crochet. Yanks said to be bidding for him too.
Friedman and Gomes will have many tough decisions to make in the next couple of weeks. What makes it tough is the extensive list of Dodger IL players. It’s damn near an all star team. Like Osteen mentions above, how many are going to actually return and how effective are they going to be? It’s almost a given that there will be criticisms no matter what the front office does or doesn’t do. The bottom line is that it’s up to the players to produce to meet what is expected of them. The better the players produce the less chance of a head scratching Roberts’ decision to affect an outcome.
Mark, I don’t believe that you are stating the Dodgers have put an extraordinary number of players on the IL to see if their replacements can be successful major leaguers? And, if they don’t play well it’s OK because they can count on most of the infirmed to return for the postseason and be ready to play with the same intensity and talent they were playing with before they were injured? That’s seems like a somewhat arrogant and risky approach by the Dodgers. If they put themselves into position to lose too many battles they may not have the players available to win the war. If not careful, losing can become contagious.
What’s wrong with trying to win every battle? They don’t need to play all of their star players every game to do so. There are many inferior teams that give the Dodgers a chance to rest players. They have plenty of talent to do so. Their pitching was deep enough to have starters miss a turn now and then. Or to give the BP some rest by letting a starter go further into a game (like yesterday with Honeywell).
I think the Dodgers are doing what they are doing is because of injuries and not the desire to play .500 baseball. You mentioned that the Dodgers still have the 5th best record in baseball. Why is that important when earlier you wrote it wasn’t? Losing battles were good in order to win the war. No guarantees either way as we have seen in the past.
Anyway, a good, thought provoking article.
Are they really taking a different approach?
Or is it just circumstances?
I think the Dodgers want to win every game. Take yesterday. The game sped up on Ramirez and the Dodgers paid the price.
Rotation after break: Stone, Paxton, Knack, Kershaw, Ryan
I don’t have that much confidence in all the returning from injury players. I think Mookie will be ok but historically I don’t think they will be enough. It’s tough that we can’t wait for Muncy as he “lengthens the lineup”. He is a .223 hitter that strikes out a ton but hits a homer every 15 at bats.
It gets tough to watch when you see Ohtani, Freeman, and Will strike out in key spots looking badly as well. But I get it, it’s part of their plan to save themselves for October. Roberts is doing great at throwing things against the wall to see what sticks.
Well, I didn´t need yesterdays meltdown by Ramirez to know he will have no place on the postseason roster for the Dodgers. That case was settled already, at the latest on Saturday. If Roberts, as you said, needed it, it does not speak for him.
Cost him yet another win. And a long flight home after a 1-5 road trip. But if he wins the war I am on board. We will see. Still 7 up.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It’s funny that all the best teams took their foot off the accelerator going into the all star game. Nobody wants the bye come October.
I may not post much. But when I do, I drink Dos Equis.
Book em
I am becoming convinced that this change in approach for the Dodgers extends to the draft and player acquisition. I thought last year’s amateur draft signaled a sea change in their emphasis. The acquisition of Zyhir Hope last off season and the drafting of Kellon Lindsey yesterday seems to add more evidence to the idea that the FO is prioritizing athleticism (particularly speed) more than they had. They have struggled to develop MLB position players for the past 6 years and with recent rule changes and their own struggles in developing MLB position players change is coming.
Agree with your premise in this post. Baseball season now should be about management with the ultimate goal in mind. In that vein, use the regular season and especially the pre-trade deadline to find out what you have and who fits in the ultimate goal of winning a World Series. That explains why Vanasco pitched the 9th with a 5 run lead and why Johan Ramirez pitched the ninth yesterday. I think they should give Freddie and Teo more time off along these lines but believe Betts will be better in October because he will be fresher. Glad they have plans to see River Ryan in action after the break. They still have a 7 game lead and will, no doubt, get some, if not most, of these key contributors back within a month. Then the push begins in earnest. The phrase that it is a marathon not a sprint is as true in baseball as any other sport. You can’t manage a baseball team like it plays a football season. Maybe this is also been a change in the front office’s approach to winning.
Hey, Philly didn’t do any better than us their last series. Lost two out of three to Oakland including yesterday they lost 18 to 3. Oakland hit 8 homers on them. So that’s how they go into the break. Weird game.