Tuesday, March 19, 2024
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Justin Turner Returns, But Same Old Suck For Dodgers

Justin Turner

The Dodgers have a golden opportunity to get back into the race in the National League West standings. The Dbacks have now lost six straight and just lost their best player, AJ Pollack for at least 4 weeks with a thumb injury. Paul Goldschmidt (the former Dodger killer) is in the worst slump of his career, and the Dbacks have several other important guys out with injuries as well.

Now you would think that with Justin Turner and Logan Forsythe returning to the Dodger lineup would spark the club to a win over a lowly Marlin’s club that is designed with the sole purpose of losing. But it was just the same old suck for the 2018 Dodgers as they dropped their fifth consecutive game, losing to the Marlins 4-2 on Tuesday night in front of an empty Marlin’s Park. For the record, Dodger Stadium will be just as empty as Marlin’s Park in a few weeks if they continue to play this bad.

Dodgers  2 5 1

Marlins    4 12 0

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LP-Wood-0-4

SV-Ziegler-6

HR-Puig-2-Bellinger-6

http://gty.im/958966864

Dodger’s starter Alex Wood pitched well, but received no run support in another losing effort. Wood is now 0-4, and winless on the season. Wood allowed just two runs (one earned) on nine hits and struck out five across six frames. As usual the Dodgers were losing within minutes of the game starting when Wood and the Dodgers allowed an unearned run in the bottom of the first.

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Consecutive singles from Martin Prado and J.T. Realmuto (the new Dodger killer) preceded a botched double play ball from the bat of Brian Anderson. Cody Bellinger was unable to pick a low throw in the dirt from Logan Forsythe that allowed Prado to cross the plate and give the Fish a 1-0 lead.

Wood and the Dodgers allowed a second run in the bottom of the fourth after consecutive singles from Brian Anderson, and Justin Boar. Former Dodger Miguel Rojas’s sacrifice fly put the Dodgers down 2-0. Which is a seemingly insurmountable deficit with the Dodger’s dysfunctional and inept lineup.

The Dodgers were unable to hit Miami starter Wei-yin Chen and a collection of Vagabond Miami relievers. Chen tossed 4.1 innings allowing just three hits and three walks before being lifted in the top of the fifth inning. The Marlins used four relievers, (Nick Wittgren, Tayron Guerrero, Kyle Barraclough, and Brad Ziegler) to secure the win for the Fish.

The Dodgers had just five hits on the day, going 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position. They left six runners on base. The only semblance of offense for the Dodgers came on two solo home runs from Yasiel Puig, (in the seventh inning) and Cody Bellinger in the top of the ninth.

For the record Justin Turner went 1 for 4 with a single and Forsythe took a collar going 0 for 4 with two runners stranded. Turner left three runners stranded on his own. For the Fish, Realmuto had three hits and Justin Boar, Martin Prado and Brian Anderson each had two.

With the loss the Dodgers fall to 16-25 and have now lost five games in a row. Overall they have lost 15 of their last 20 games. The Dodgers continue their quest for the worst record in baseball as the series in south beach marches on. Walker Buehler will take on young left hander Caleb Smith as the Dodgers go for their sixth straight loss.

Scott Andes

Scott Andes: Longtime writer and Dodger fanatic

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Scott Andes
Scott Andes: Longtime writer and Dodger fanatic
https://ladodgerreport.com

62 thoughts on “Justin Turner Returns, But Same Old Suck For Dodgers

  1. Scott, why would you think Forsythe will spark anything? To date, he has sparked little more than derision from the fans. Turner, of course, is another matter. Adding Forsythe to the list of unproductive players, both starters and benchwarmers, is not too thrilling. He just added another error to his total meltdown this season playing his natural position, 2B. Add poor fielding/defense to the Dodger woes.

    Without beating the dead horse, these are the same players who went to the WS. We can’t blame money or the FO because they didn’t ‘upgrade’ the team. Hell, they added Kemp! And until recently, toyed with his PT. Same farm players who were supposed to be Grade A and would help if there were injuries or slumps are not helping and showing they are not ready for the big stage. Buehler is the lone exception, something to get excited about.

    Pitching is in shambles. Injuries, shabby talent.
    Hitting is not getting the job done. No clutch hits, swinging for the hills. No fundamentals.
    Fielding is steadily worsening. Mostly mental.

    Can we put it all on the players who got us to the WS and decided to take a holiday this season?
    Should we put it on the FO whose main talent is to bargain shop the walking wounded and hope for luck?

    Is .500 our only possible goal? The West is weak, but the Dodgers are also weak.

  2. I don’t our home runs are doing jack xxit.

    We may win tomorrow if Roberts lets Buehler pitch into the 6th. And why are we even pitching to Realmuto. The Marlins lineup is full of holes. Just walk Realmuto every time.

  3. “Should we put it on the FO whose main talent is to bargain shop the walking wounded and hope for luck?”

    Works for me.

    Maybe last year was an outlier. ‘15 and ‘16? Colletti can take the credit. This year? The GTO is out of gas. With 121 games to go we got nothing left in the tank. Gonna be a long summer. Maybe I’ll take up water colors.

    After 1 game with the starters back, sans Seager, 5 for 31 and 0 for 7 WRISP. Against a team that is tanking.

    What will spark this team? A trade? A promotion? How about both? We trade for Fernando Rodney and have a Rodney bobblehead promotion the next day.

  4. We just saw two of the worse teams, get runners home when they are in scoring position, but we just continue to hope pitchers walk our players, and pitchers makes a mistake, and throw a fastball right down the middle of the plate, or a hanger, so we can hit one out.

    But of course, that never seems to happen, when runners are on base.

    YF is right, why are we pitching to Realmuto with a runner on third, he hits for a good average and because of that, he can get a hit, even with two outs, and hit an Rbi in.

    The best part of the game, was the fact that Turner hit the ball hard three times, and he would have hit a couple runners in, if he didn’t hit a line drive right to the Marlin’s defense.

    Forsythe starts out just like he started this season, by making a throwing error, that Cody couldn’t dig out.

  5. Kershaw, Wood and Hill are a combined 2-10. Wood has started 9 games, has 3.35 ERA and has no wins.

    You think nothing is impossible? Try slamming a revolving door.

    I don’t know what that has to do with the Dodgers, I was just at a loss what to say next.

    I’m gonna eat some yogurt now.

    1. Badger
      I was looking at the Dodger roster and decided I would see how many I would keep if it were my team. I counted 15 and that includes any that are on the IR. I am guessing you would keep more.

      1. Depends on how they finish.

        If I had to answer today, I don’t keep Forsythe or Pederson. As you know I already traded Grandal, so if he’s still here at the end of the year I let him walk. Utley is signed for another year, why I don’t know but he’s probably a good guy to have around the younger players. The rotation needs an overhaul. I have no idea about the bullpen. Wait and see. Turner is 34 next year and is scheduled to make $39 million through ‘20. I think being very cautious with his playing time is advisable. 5 WAR over those 2 years makes him a bargain, so, give him the off days he will likely require. In the post steroid era, 35 is the new 40. Ask Cano about that.

        Again, no decision needs to be made now. If we are playing like this at the All Star break, obviously something will likely happen. That’s about 50 games. A lot can happen in 50 games. We could be in first place by then. Or not…..

  6. The good news is that if the Dodgers can play .600 baseball for the rest of the season, they’ll win 88 games.

    1. Bluto
      I guess it is over for this year because they will never play .600 ball and .500 ball doesn’t look promising.

        1. I am positive they are not going to win the division or make the playoffs. …….that’s called reverse psychology. Congrats to my nephew Ryan who graduates from Cal-State Dominguez next week……going for a teaching degree.

    2. Ha, and if my granny had wheels she would be a tractor……..they can’t play .500 ball, let alone .600.

  7. It isn’t over pack.

    It’s ugly now, but I have the answer……

    We need to swallow the eyeliner:

    ‘Make-up can only make you look pretty on the outside but it doesn’t help if your ugly on the inside. Unless you eat the make-up.’ Audrey Hepburn

    1. Badger
      I certainly hope that it isn’t over but it will be a challenge for sure. I cannot seem to go blindly into the future knowing the situation but who knows. They had a helluva run last year, we shall see. I will hold the eyeliner.

  8. We have been hashing this out for weeks and more so over the last 20 games. This reminds me very much of the Giants, who totally tanked in the second half of 2016. The difference is the Dodgers are tanking now. As I have said from the offseason to now, this team has many holes. And the so called depth that FAZ bragged so much about has proved to be a myth. The 2 best pitchers at AAA right now are both MLB retreads. Jason DeFratus and Banuelos. None of the teams pitching prospects are really lighting up the gun down there. Except maybe reliever Joe Broussard who has suddenly turned his season around. The best hitters there? Solano the former Yankee is hitting .342. Rocky Gale and Cael Brockmeyer, the catchers, are both hitting well. Toles would be leading the pack, but both he and Segedin are injured. Scavuzzo has been there for about 4 games and is doing well so far. Verdugo is at around .270. There is no immediate help there and as has been said numerous times, teams do not usually do many trades in May. Although they have happened now and then. My own take is they need a serious shock to the system right now. They are in a funk, and the funk is growing darker. Last night I saw genuine frustration on the faces of more than one of them. Including Wood and Chargois. Cody, Taylor, and Puig all had looks of disgust more times than not. They had chances to score runs. 2 on 1 out in the 5th. Turner hit a screamer right at 3rd with 2 outs. In the 4th Woods failure to make the bunt cost them because after Puig singled, they had 2 harmless fly outs by Pederson and Forsythe. Puig’s single would have scored Taylor from second or at least got him to 3rd where Pederson’s fly would have scored him. They are looking for answers and finding none. Interesting story in Yardbarker this morning about the key to OKC’s winning this year. The story was posted by the Think Blue Planning Committee. It seems they believe the key is the manager down there. Bill Hasselman. Read it if you get the chance…interesting stuff. Oh and by the way, unless the Dodgers could get him to agree to an extension, there is no way these guys go after Machado. You need to get that scenario out of your head…..

    1. Besides the bullpen, the problem is quite obvious, they can’t get hits when runners are in scoring position, and that is no surprise, when most of this team is not hitting much over the Mendoza line.

      And they are not doing the fundamental things, like grounders to the right side, a bunt, or hitting a sac fly, even when runners are on third, that doesn’t take a hit to score runs.

      If I was Roberts, any time anyone of my hitters failed and couldn’t get a runner home from third with less then two outs, I would have this same hitter bunt the next time they came up to bat in this situation, to make sure that hitter knows they have to get the run home, in these situations.

      Because I am seeing, the same players failing in these situations, over and over again, and that can’t happen!

    2. In addition to the extension as a deterrent for Machado is the cost. Making Baltimore eat more and more salary to stay under the tax will cost more and more in prospects…

      1. We went over this, I think.

        First, Baltimore doesn’t eat anything. He only makes $16 million. They are going to want, and are going to get, 3 top prospects. They of course will be asking for Buehler, but knowing he’s not on the table they will want the next best 3 we got. Then they will move on because 6-7 WAR players in their prime don’t fall out of trees.

        As for salary, put Maeda in the pen so his incentives don’t vest, then trade about $12 million and we squeak in. Good luck with all of that.

  9. kershaw is not the picture is was ..and never will be…he is on his down side..HILL is on the downside also . so we really dont have any good starters any more. the bull pen suck.. and if Jenson is on his down side…so unless we do something different ..we are going no where…

    1. Kershaw’s injury’s over the last 3 seasons are something you cannot plan for. That being said, the lack of a true #2 behind CK since Greinke left has been one of FAZ’s biggest mistakes. Hill was over the hill when they got him. They talked the owners into forking out 48 million for this clown for 3 years. In my estimation, even at his best he is not worth the money. They spent millions on Anderson, Kazmir, McBrittle and got very little in return. They could have taken what they spent on those guys and went and got someone like Verlander in 17 or maybe Cole this winter and the pitching would look a lot different. Wood being 0-4 is mainly on his offensive support, because he has not really pitched all that bad. Maeda has regressed since his first two starts and is consistently putting the team that cannot score behind the 8 ball early. Ryu was probably an injury waiting to happen. The only bright side is that it was not his arm, but his groin. So, the 2 most effective starters right now are Stripling, who started his career as one, and Buehler. I actually trust Stripling a lot because the guy throws strikes. Buehler has looked very good and we will see if he can keep that up against an offense as mediocre as the Marlins. He may need to throw a shutout to win.

  10. Minnesota loses their catcher Castro for the season with a knee injury. Blake Swihart’s agent asks the Red Sox for a trade citing lack of playing time for his client. Swihart is a C-OF right now.

  11. Oh yeah gang..don’t look now, but the Dodgers are 1/2 game out of the cellar. If you are wondering where rock bottom is, that is it.

  12. Will someone explain to me how the University of Michigan can afford a 500 million dollar lawsuit settlement? Boy, those tuition fees there must be unbelievable.

      1. Badger

        They have a big task to do today, because this will be this Marlin’s pitcher’s first start in the majors, today.

        He started in A ball this year, and he was brought up last week, from AA.

        And Cody is starting in center today, and Joc is in left.

  13. Todays line up. Utley, 2B, Pederson, LF, Turner, 3B, Grandal, C, Bellinger, CF, Taylor, SS, Muncy, 1B, Puig, RF, Buehler, P. Not one player in the lineup with an average over .270, Grandal. Miami lineup has 30 homers total. Dodgers have 24. Turner only Dodger hitter without one, but that makes sense since he has only had 4 at bats.

    1. Mr. Norris
      That was a real good idea by Dummy to put Cody in Center so we could put Muncy at 1st. Afterall, Muncy is hitting.228. We also have the famous Joc Peterson in left so the outfield is covered. Oh wait, no Kemp. Guess he isn’t the caliber of Muncie and Joc.

  14. Mr. Norris
    That was a real good idea by Dummy to put Cody in center field so we could play Muncy at 1st. Afterall, Muncy is hitting .228. We also have the famous Joc Peterson in left so the outfield is covered. Oh wait, no Kemp. Guess he isn’t the caliber of Muncie and Joc. Kemp can’t be tired as he was off Monday. This was a double post as I was trying to see if all would await moderation. Thanks for your patience.

        1. Package

          Never mind Bluto, he has been waiting for his chance to knock Kemp, and if you noticed, it has been quite a long time, because Kemp has been the most consistent hitter on this team.

          But like we said, every hitter has their mini slump to deal with, except the squirrels on the team, that are like clock work, maybe once or twice a year.

      1. Every player has a slump. Grandal was like 3-30 coming into this game in the month of May and his average has dropped close to 100 points. Kemp having a slump is no different than any other player on this team.

  15. Elieser Hernandez, a 23-year-old Rule 5 pick making his first big-league start, has thrown three scoreless innings against the Dodgers.

        1. 92 with no movement is unexpected at this level. Roberts has no answer for it. Just swing as hard as you can and hope you make contact.

  16. Everyone
    I am officially saying that I predict that the Dodgers are through for this year and probably beyond. You cannot expect to win when you have a Dummy like Dummy leading the club. No way do you sit Kemp when you are trying to break a losing streak. Plus this is another stupid lineup. You can’t win like this.

        1. Thought maybe we were coming out of it when we were 2 for 6 WRISP. We’re out of it all right. Now 3 for 11. Which wouldn’t be so bad had we not given up an unearned run. Baez with another hairball. I used to like that guy.

          Are we maybe waiting to play better teams before we get it together?

          1. As per McCullough

            The Dodgers offense should regress toward being better, but the pitching staff is the thornier problem.

            The starters don’t go deep enough, and the bullpen features too many landmines. Trying to find double-digit outs from this relief corps is a nightly crucible.

          2. Interesting concept – regress toward getting better.

            Many of us have been saying the same thing about pitching for some time. Looked to me like this was going to happen last year. Obviously we got through it. Morrow helped a lot. Wish we could go to Morrow today. I think maybe I already used that one. I need new material. Or new hobbies. Perhaps I shouldn’t meditate instead of watching baseball.

    1. Package,

      I said this 2 weeks ago. Anyone that is hoping the Dodgers will have a successful season is simply a fan and we can’t blame them for their optimism, just their stubbornness. Stubbornness prevents the FO from seeing their own mistakes and going after cheap labor. Stubborness prevents Roberts from seeing his own pitching sustitutions as inadequate and unrealistic like Baez, Hudson, and not moving Maeda into the bullpen where he belongs.

      The pitching is a disaster here. I’ve never seen a worse situation that I can remember in Dodger history. There must be as I cannot remember them all. Maybe a worse rotation was led by Brad Penny. Remember those days?

      Dodgers seem bankrupt. They’ve got some premium players but a whole lot of mediocre to garbage time players. They say every dog has its day and last year seemed to be their day.

      But, how big was the losing streak we went on in 2017? Was this the precursor of what we are seeing now and not the WS? Seems likely. Last year, we had the worst losing streak in Dodger history, 10 losses in a row and 15 defeats in 16 games. The Dodgers lost 10 in a row twice before in 1961 and 1987. At the time, Turner said, “Just sitting back and saying ‘We’re still the best team in baseball’ isn’t the answer,” Turner said. “Because regardless of what the record says, right now we’re the worst team in baseball. What we did three months ago doesn’t mean a whole lot right now. No one in this league is going to feel sorry for us. No one in this league is going to show up and be like, ‘Oh, poor Dodgers.’

      What Turner didn’t say and what no one talked about was where did this subpar playing come from? It showed up in every Dodger season for the last few years in slumps and in this year, which could be the worst of them, everyone is slumping at the same time. Add the injuries to the mistakes the FO has made and you have a problem

      1. Jeff
        I have been knowing that the Dodgers were not nearly as good as people gave them credit. Last year was an outlier that should have not ended up as good as it did. You cannot do nothing and expect to get better or maintain. You are either going up or going down. Nothing runs on a straight line. Since FAZ blew the team up before the 2015 season they have been running on fumes and the remnants of Colletti and Logan White. I just hope the fans wake up and demand action and getting rid of that deadhead Roberts is the 1st move. He is the king of stubborn. Well FAZ, what now?

  17. Well, they have hit ROCK BOTTOM> Last place, 1 less win than the Padres….any of you optimists out there believe this team will make it to the playoffs???? Sorry, all I see is a sad sack collection of mediocre players. Bullpen is officially the gas can brigade. If they ever could hold the other team it would be a frippen miracle. I see holes a Peterbilt could drive through up to and including porous defense…Thank you Chris Taylor for putting them behind the 8 ball right off the bat. The offense finally shows some life and Baez sucks big time again. Why not just walk Realmuto? They should have tried to trade for that guy when Miami was unloading all their players. I like him a lot better than all or nothing Grandal.

    1. I have to admit, 6 straight to the two worst teams in the NL has put a frisbee sized dent in my confidence. I really believed these two series would start the team in the right direction. I don’t know what to believe now. We suck. At all phases of the game.

        1. Well, I believe they are playing poorly. I believe they will not add salary. I believe I’ve never liked the all or nothing brand of baseball.

          I also know I have never liked the way FAZ nibbles at the periphery with broken wing pitchers. It worked in the pen last year, but their starters have never impressed me. It would appear it’s caving in.

          Still a long way to go.

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