Your Attitude Determines Your Altitude!
I think all this winning is going to get old! Just Kidding! I’m not joking when I say this team might win 120 games! Even in a bullpen game against the Giants Ace, they looked dominant. With 5 HR in his first seven games, Mookie Bettes is on pace for 115 Home Runs! Yeah, that…
I think all this winning is going to get old! Just Kidding! I’m not joking when I say this team might win 120 games! Even in a bullpen game against the Giants Ace, they looked dominant. With 5 HR in his first seven games, Mookie Bettes is on pace for 115 Home Runs! Yeah, that will happen! Ohtani, Outman, and Lux have not even got untracked. Hopefully, when Mookie cools down, they will step up.
And why did the Dodgers trade him for a player that they released yesterday? Issues like this are never spelled out in the media. You really can’t even read between the lines. The beat writers and team officials all know about what is happening behind the scenes, and they talk to guys like Caleb Ferguson, but if they want “access” there are certain things they simply cannot say. It is understood. Let me illustrate.
About 10-11 years ago, Jon Broxton was the Dodgers’ closer, and he had a way of coughing up the lead. I wrote a blog and called him a “second-tier closer.” A few weeks later, I was at Spring Training and interviewing Logan White, and I asked him why the Dodgers had a “second-tier” closer on camera. He acted indignant and said, “Mark, that is unfair. He is really a solid closer, and we have all the confidence in the world in Jon.“ When the interview was over and the camera was off, as we walked out, Logan put his hand on my shoulder and whispered, “Yeah, he’s a second-tier closer.” I never told that story until a bout a year ago. Hopefully, Logan doesn’t read LADT!
I am not saying that Caleb Ferguson was a bad guy, but he was left off the playoff roster, and he complained that he should be closing. He thought he was better than Phillips or that (at least) they should share the closing role. I think it was just immaturity. He had a new baby – his life changed, and stuff happened. People around baseball know all this. I knew this, and so did other bloggers. The Yankees were willing to take a flyer on Caleb and hopefully, it works out, but they weren’t willing to play much.
Or maybe you believe that Andrew Friedman could have gotten a lot more in return from Ferguson but chose to just give him away? If you think that, you are certainly delusional! However, when the opportunity arose, Cashman did make Andrew Friedman a good deal on Nick Ramirez, who may or may not be LOOGY! Ramirez averages 90.4 MPH on his fastball and has a changeup, sweeper, slider, and a knuckle curve. He’s worth a look.
This group of guys really like each other and have no bad attitudes, as you can seen in this video with Shojei and Teoscar!
UPDATE
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Discussion (60)
Disagree, not disagreeable
So far, Roberts is employing a Lux/Rojas platoon in the batting order, with Mookie shuttling from SS to 2B.
And so far, so good. Dodgers have 6 HRs from the SS position. (One of Mookie’s 5 evidently came when he was playing 2B.)
Kike took Outman’s place at CF in this game, but he recently took Max’s spot at 3B while Outman played CF. Yesterday, Kike made a great play out in LF. So I’d say Roberts is trying to keep Kike involved in multiple positions. (The other day, Roberts also inserted Rojas at SS as late-inning defense, with Mookie shifting to 2B.) Anyway, I like the way Roberts is using all this “optionality.”
With Heyward out, Teoscar takes over RF full-time… or maybe, “permanently for now.”
I assume we’ll see Trammel in LF soon, with a long-shot chance at a Cinderella story. (Trayce Thompson had one a couple years back. Fun while it lasted.) I guess Trammel makes sense for “roster management,” but why isn’t Mark’s boy Miguelito getting called up? He just hit a grand slam!
The answer, I suppose, is that the greater purpose is served by having Miguelito playing full-time in OKC, polishing his LF skills. Anyway, Trammel is a first-round talent. We can hope he’s just a late bloomer.
I read somewhere Dinelson Lamet described as a “journeyman.” True enough, I guess, but he was hot stuff a few years back, finishing 4th in Cy voting in 2000. But if he keeps this up, we’ll start thinking of him Prior’s new great reclamation success. Year after year it seems like the Dodgers breathe new life into a pitcher’s career.
Interesting that Roberts didn’t pinch hit Outman for Kike against Rogers in the 8th. Did the Giants have a lefty warming up in the pen? Seems like the runway is shortening for both Lux and Outman. Happy for Lamet. He’d be a nice comeback story. And Kelly pitched like a Porsche tonight.