The Dodgers have now steamrolled New York. Three games, three wins, each in different fashion, each focused around different heroes. The boys in blue have become one of those old-time, barnstorming teams that rolls into a city, toys with the local club, and in the end, shows everyone who’s boss before steamrolling on to the next town.
Tonight the heroes were Hyun-Jin Ryu, Cody Bellinger and Justin Turner – with a bit of Logan Forsythe thrown in.
It looks like LADR has once again done its part to aid the Dodgers by writing an article declaring the Dodgers bench ((or rest) a player, who then immediately goes out and turns his season around. We did it with Justin Turner, Chase Utley, and we may have possibly done it for Logan Forsythe, who broke out a key hit in the first inning of tonight’s game.
The Dodgers came on like big blue gangbusters right from the first inning. They rallied with two out (something they’re mastering) when Justin Turner was called out stealing second. The Dodgers won the replay challenge and Cody Bellinger made it men on first and second with a walk. The skipper pulled the string on a double steal. it worked! Logan Forsyhe singled up the middle, scoring Red and Belli, and the Mets were dead. They just didn’t know it yet.
Austin Barnes then doubled in Forsythe to make it 3-0, and the Dodgers kept adding nails to the Mets coffin all through the night. In the third, Turner belted a two-run homer and the Dodgers went up 5-0. Later, in the eighth, Cody Bellinger added another two-run home run, and the Dodgers rang the score up to 7-0.
The Dodgers weren’t done showing off. Chris Taylor tripled in the ninth, to bring Yasiel Puig home with the Blue Steamroller’s eighth run of the game.
And that’s only half of the story. The other half? The Mets were totally baffled and spanked around by Hyun-Jin Ryu. He was in command of all of his pitches, and he let the Mets know it. He dominated for seven beautiful scoreless innings, only giving up one hit, no walks and he piled up eight Ks. Ryu was brilliant tonight.
The ball is now in Maeda’s court. It’s up to him to build on his last start because Ryu is showing he deserves to be in the starting rotation.
Cingrani [pitched the eighth and showed he’s got something worthy in the can. He struck out two while holding the Mets scoreless. Kenley Jansen came in to mop up in the ninth, just to get some work in, because he hadn’t pitched in a while. Besides that, the folks paid to see the Barnstormin’ All-Stars, so Jansen came in before the big blue show left town. He struck out the side and sealed the win at 8-0.
The Dodgers are off to Arizona. The season is winding down into a heck of a ride.
Oscar Martinez
I was born in the shadow of Dodger Stadium and immediately drenched in Dodger Blue. Chavez Ravine is my baseball cathedral, Vin Scully was the golden voice of summer all my life, and Tommy Lasorda remains the greatest Dodgers manager ever. My favorite things are coffee, beer, and the Dodgers beating the Giants. I also blog about my baseball card hobby at All Trade Bait, All the Time.
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That sound! Wow!
i thought the same thing
Barnstorming, steamrolling … if this team stays focused and healthy the sky’s the limit!
This site knows what’s up. Don’t write the rah rah articles – that seems to put players into slumps.
And I hope Grandal can take his time getting right. His history suggests he can’t play hurt, and I would like him to go on a hot streak in the postseason.
One of the great surprises for me this season is Austin Barnes. Earlier on, I criticized him and said he looked like a minor league player. Boy, was I wrong and it taught me not to judge players on small sample sizes of a player’s time. Some guys just need longer periods to adjust their game in the majors and I think Barnes and Taylor are good examples of players that have stepped up and produced the way that the GM’s hoped that they would. Of course, there are the occasional mistakes that all of them make.
I don’t think Logan is one of those mistakes. We’ve seen him explode at times with multi-hit games for more than a few games. His fielding seems fine and he still continues to contribute, just not consistently. I don’t think the Dodgers should give up on him. After all, look at the resurgence that Puig is having.
Could FAZ really be geniuses after all?
Yes they are indeed. They’re footing two MLB teams and making the most of it. But Theo says hi and he’s the king unless someone takes it from him.
(Seriously though I think Magic also deserves credit for making FAZ interview Roberts to replace Mattingly. Roberts and his staff is very good.)
Roger that because all the spin was that they were going to hire Gabe Kapler to manage the team. Switching gears was the right move.
YF
I agree with you on Roberts and his staff. There is a culture in the club house that is very positive. They all seem to be team players. I liked the way JT protected Bellinger in the interview on ESPN. ESPN really ticks me off anyway. They are so biased toward Eastern teams.
It’s good to see for sure. I play several sports and fortunate to have been pretty good in 3, at least good enough through high school and college (just within the school, not regionals nor nation wide). I’ve always thought of baseball as a lonely sport, maybe the second loneliest sport after golf. And because of that I have always thought that a good manager and coach makes a bigger difference in baseball than in, for example, basketball or soccer where there’s constant motion, or football or rugby where it’s really about motivation rather than player development.
You guys are up early.
Why do you consider baseball lonely? There are only two fewer players per team than football, which is up close and personal with a large group of large guys. Of course, there are several thousand fewer fans watching in the stands. In high school we had over 6,000 watch our football games, maybe 40-50 came out for baseball.
Baseball is one of those games that eliminates those who don’t have good vision and excellent hand eye. My younger brother lost interest early because of his vision. By the time he got it corrected properly he was on to surfing, skiing and playing guitar. Baseball was easier for me because I had 20/10 vision and picking up spin was easy for me. I was fast too, that helped. I probably could have gone just as far with football if I was bigger.
I was talking with my wife about this year’s Dodgers and how the playoffs work, including the Wild Card. She says to me “it doesn’t seem right that a Wild Card team can get in, get lucky for a couple if games and beat a team that for months dominated the entire league.” No, it doesn’t seem right – unless you are fans of one of the teams that does it.
In a 5 or 7 series, supposedly the better team should win.
But in baseball that seems not to prevail. Some SABR guys should figure out why. Or maybe they should just pay me to get the answer – it’ll be cheaper that way.
Idahoal
ESPN had a hard time doing that last night!
But these current announcers are not as bad as some of the other guys have been at ESPN.
Just keep Bellinger away from Joc, there’s nothing to be learned there…
Good point! Joc should be looking at Bellinger videos, actually. Especially the one named “How to Swing for the Gences without Swinging out of Your Shoes”.
RIP Don Baylor
http://www.statesman.com/sports/former-mlb-star-austin-native-don-baylor-dies/krT1C54IldytuifUju9UJM/
Want to go shopping? List of MLB players who have cleared waivers…
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2017/08/players-that-have-cleared-revocable-waivers.html
The best thing about Cody is that he shortens up and hits the ball the other way, even though he has so much power.
And Cody has hit plenty of runs in, with just a single.
Both Cody and Corey are good players, on both sides of the ball, and so is Turner.
That Mets catcher last night, was blocking the plate, before he had the ball, Barnes should have scored.
Forsythe had two hits last night, but both of his hits, were against lefties.
And he has hit lefties well all year, so I wasn’t surprised that he got those two hits, against a leftie.
But he isn’t hitting righties, and he isn’t hitting many extra base hits.
If Ryu eventually gets a little more of his velocity back, he will be that same pitcher he was.
He was at 90, 91 most of the night last night, but he was definitely on.
Ryu was so in to his pitching last night, he didn’t even try to hit the ball, when he was up to the plate.
And Ryu doesn’t have a great swing, but he seems to hit a lot of doubles, when he does get a hit.
We have some guys who can barrel up the ball with impressive accuracy. Joc hasn’t been one of them. Taylor and Bellinger have amazed me. I keep waiting for the league to catch up with them. Their beat goes on.
I think it’s theory that in 5 and 7 game series the best team will win. I don’t believe in practice it plays out. It did last year, but history tells us it’s more often the hottest teams in October that prevail. Just peak at the right time. For all we know that could be Colorado or Arizona this year.
Exactly.
100%
There’s a very good chance someone gets hot, someone gets cold. Something random happens.
Enjoy this, don’t over-sweat the World Series. Just hope the best team wins.
It’s a well designed team that will be good for a while.
IMO there is no one significant or economically available that would truly improve this team as it stands.
I commend Friedman & Zaidi as this is the first time in 3 years that they have finally acted like ‘big’ boys and made some ‘big boy’ moves. And in all honesty I think they got the better end of the deals this time.
Picking up Darvish was yuggge.
This team is in a very good position. Home field favorites throughout. Cubs/Nats have to beat on each other first with the winner getting the Dodgers for the rights to the WS.
The planets are aligned.
What could possibly go wrong?
I’m not gonna touch that one Chili.
Chili
The Dodgers this year remind me of how the Cubbies were last year.
Our guys are playing great as a team, but we are also getting some breaks, but that is what it takes, to have a very good season.
I don’t think the Cubs would have won it all last year, if it didn’t start raining, in that last game of the World Series.
And actually I was not impressed with Maddans’s moves, in the post season.
But I am glad that the move on Darvish woke Badger up, and you agree too, that that was not only a good move, but a very good move and transaction, by the front office too.
And even some of our front offices, little moves, have turned out, to give the team, a player that stands out, like Taylor has, this year.
Toles was that player last year, and these guys kept their minds open, and did not try to get rid of the players, White and Colletti were responsible getting to the team, too.
Because I know Badger was afraid that they would try to start from scratch instead of keeping the good prospects, that the other regime brought, to the team.
I thought they might do what they did twice before. They did not.
Yeah, some of their moves have worked out. Taylor being the most glaring one in my eyes. Wood is a surprise, after not much for two years. I figured he might be a bullpen piece. I figured wrong. Bellinger wouldn’t even be here if AGon was healthy. Everything seems to have gone our way for the last 50 games. The next 70? I doubt we continue at this pace, or even at the .712 season pace. I just want the last game of the year to be a W.
MJ,
No doubt. I was ready to unload on these guys. I figured it was going to be the same song and dance once again.
The best pitcher to help the Dodgers win this year was Yu Darvish and FAZ was able to hold off until the 11th hour and make it happen. I give kudos when kudos is deserved.
Chili and Badger
Roberts and his coaches, have also been a very big part of this team, and I could feel that difference from the middle of last year, or even a little earlier.
The thing is, no front offices doesn’t make mistakes, but that is ok, if they can learn from their mistakes.
And like a post I read, people in LA are going to be critical, when it comes to certain moves, and that is only because they care about, this team.
And that is probably because of the mistakes that some of these different front offices have made, through the years.
Badger, I was afraid that might happen too, so it wasn’t just you.
And Chili I knew you would give credit, when it was due, because I have seen you do just that!
New mailbag from McCullough:
He opines on Gonzalez’ return, platoons in OF and behind the plate and how this and last year’s success may empower the Front Office with regard to resigning Darvish.
http://www.latimes.com/sports/dodgers/la-sp-dodgers-mailbag-gonzalez-dl-20170807-story.html
Also, the official Dodgers blog has a look at 15 key metrics which help explain the Dodgers success. Among them, giving up the fewest hard hits, making opposing batters chase the most pitches, best framing and this one, which is sure to aggravate Michael:
13.4 percent of batters faced third time through order, third-fewest in MLB
Pitching strategy is changing, as teams become more wary of allowing starters to go deep into games. The numbers make it a clear choice, as pitchers very clearly fare worse the more times they turn a lineup over; for the Dodgers, their starters produce a .625 OPS the first time through, then .675 the second time and .670 the third. Meanwhile, their relievers are at .626, making a reliever a much better bet than a tiring starter. Only two teams force starters to face a lineup a third time through less often than Los Angeles does.
Willie Calhoun continues to pound the ball. Last night he went 2-4 with 2 homers. I really hope we get a chance to see him in Texas this season!
Bluto
I do too.
The Rangers have stuck with Gallo for a while now.
He might hit forty HRs this year, but he may also strike out, over 200 times too.
We know that Calhoun can hit with power, and make consistent contact.
I hope Calhoun gets called up soon, and I want to see his first few major league, at bats.
I sure get it. And that is why I’ve been saying 6 pitchers, 27 starts each, 135-150 innings. And I’ll add this – none of those 6 make $30 million. Why buy a Kershaw when you can get Hill, McCarthy and Kazmir for half of what Kershaw makes. Fill up the bullpen with rocket launchers and LOOGY’s. In fact, after we win it all this it might be time to consider trading Kershaw. His back is about to be junk, and we can get two Hill’s for what he’s paid. Trade him to Texas for Calhoun and a LOOGY to be named later.
Last note, and qualify this one as a spaghetti against the wall, WTF one:
Ike Davis, LHP, Los Angeles NL (Profile)
Level: Rookie AZL Age: 30 Org Rank: He’s 30 Top 100: It’s Ike Davis, guys.
Line: 1 IP, 3 K, 0 H, 0 BB
Notes
He’s not a prospect, but Davis was 88-92 last night and struck out the side in a perfect inning. Davis was a two-way player in college at Arizona State and last pitched as a pro in 2015, during which he made two appearances for Oakland. The Dodgers have frequently tried reclamation projects like this. They moved Stetson Allie — who looks like the pizza-eating stoner son of the cop from Stranger Things — back to the mound this year (he’s only thrown two innings but was up to 99 in the one that I saw) and tried Jordan Schafer as a pinch-running LOOGY. Eventually, one of these laboratory experiments will work out, if only for a brief while.
Bryce Harper has cleared waivers. Do you think FAZ is on the horn right now to the Nats, making a trade? I’d bet against it so now Timmons and his posse all have to take the other side…
Jonah,
Would you, if he became available, trade for Trout should he clear waivers?
Pro: He’s the best player in the game.
Con: He’d take a fair number of players currently on the 25 man roster.
Probably yes if I could trade a truck load of distressed merchandise and players who were only “ordinary”. Including Forsythe and Joc, plus the Medicare Brigade….
There are several players currently on the 25 I’d love to trade, in some cases just vacant roster spots would be enough return…
Mike Trout just homered on his birthday for the 4th time in his 6-year career. He also did it in 2012, 2013 and 2015. That’s preposterous.
His 1000th hit was a HR.
Harper. Not FAZ model. Trout. Too expensive.
He may have cleared waivers, but there is NO WAY he is traded. Teams regularly put their stars on waivers in August. You think Brandon Crawford is going anywhere? Nope. Another thing, you always make these trade proposals and all you want to trade back are players that collectively could not carry Harper’s jock strap. At least offer someone Washington might want.
Look at Maeda’s contract, enticing enough to satisfy him, yet not threatening to FAZ. Could the come up with a similar type plan that might be suitable to Yu?
I doubt it. I thought the union was going to step in and step on that Maeda contract. Unionized professional sports is all about guaranteed money. Darvish will get a lot of it from somebody. Probably not the Dodgers.
I was thinking Hill type money to start, $15MM-$16MM guaranteed, plus lots of incentives. He has to be worth that. Kershaw, Darvish, Wood, Ryu, Maeda, plus a couple of prospects… WOW!
It sounds good, but if this guy finishes strong, he’s in the drivers seat for a lot more guaranteed. We’ve never seen a contract like Maeda’s and frankly I doubt we see another one.
You have no faith in The FAZ…
They crossed me up with the Darvish deal. Maybe they just got lucky.
I have faith in the Dodgers. They were good before FAZ got here, they will be good for years to come. I don’t think FAZ will ef that up.
And you?
???
Sound logic.
RIP Don Baylor and Darren Daulton. It is always sad to see a ex player pass. But when that player is younger than you, Daulton was 55, it is especially hard because you hope they all live long and productive lives. Best thing the Dodgers have going for them is home field throughout the playoffs. They are damn good at home. 2nd best thing is their usage of the 10 day DL because all of the arms are going to be fresh. Kersh gets say 4 starts in September, that’s his playoff tune up, plus with Darvish here he should not in any way have to pitch on short rest. Plus they can tweak the roster between series. As it looks now, they will most likely face Colorado or Arizona in the 5 game first round. Right now they have a losing record against the Dirtbags. The can turn that around the next 3 games. They are pretty even against the Rocks. But I believe Darvish is going to make it tough on both of those teams. But like it has been said many times, the best team does not always win and the Giants won 2 of their World Series by getting in via the wild card. I just believe right now that this teams obvious chemistry and never say die attitude will make the difference this year.
Never say die. I don’t think we will be lucky enough to face a team that will roll over for us in the playoffs. There wii be no Mets or Padres in the post season. We will be heavy favorites of course, as we’ve been for nearly every game this year and for most of them for the last 4 1/2 years. (seems to me I remember some loudmouth saying The Trade would handcuff this team for years. Eh, wrong again!) Every team we play will be jacked up to topple the potentate. If we play then like we are playing now, we win. In the mean time, we have a couple divisional races shaping up and football is about to start.