You Can't Have it Both Ways!

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.