Dodger’s mop-up reliever Brock Stewart has allowed five earned runs in just 3.1 innings so far in this young 2019 season. Yimi Garcia has allowed two earned runs and three walks in two innings. His ERA is 9.00. Flame throwing right hander Joe Kelly whom the Dodgers just signed has allowed two earned runs on three hits without recording a strikeout. Certainly all three of those guys suck, but do you want to read something funny? Do you know how many runs Dodger’s catcher Russell Martin has allowed? ZERO.
That’s right. In case you missed it, the veteran backstop joined the hoards of popularity these days by becoming yet another position player to take the mound during the top of the ninth inning in the Dodger’s 18-5 whitewashing of the Dbacks on Saturday night at Dodger Stadium. MLB is trying to stop this from happening because it’s stupid. Yet we all must admit that much like a fiery car wreck we can’t look away. We all remember vividly a few years back when utility man Skip Schumaker was asked to pitch a couple of innings in a blow out game.
Position players taking the mound is always entertaining. Earlier in the same game the opposing catcher John Ryan Murphy pitched as well. He allowed seven earned runs on eight hits across two innings while issuing three walks. Martin was much more effective.
And so on that night of March 30, 2019 the year of our lord Martin trotted out to the mound and tossed a scoreless ninth inning to close out the game. Not only did Martin need just ten pitches to close things out, but he also proved he was more effective than those other bums mentioned above.
And he wasn’t throwing 65 MPH floaters like Murphy did. Martin was bringing the heat. He was throwing 83, hand to god. He induced two grounders and a fly out to end the game. Everyone had quite a chuckle watching Martin being congratulated by Austin Barnes. It also proved he’s a more viable solution than half of the backend of the bullpen. Think about that for a minute.
Stop it with the silliness. Even with the sarcasm awareness.
Bellinger definitely in a groove. Can he keep this 162HR pace up?
One ace in rehab and the other can’t get past 3. This staff isn’t ready. But, that’s ok. They will peak after August.
First time in Dbacks history they’ve scored 5 or more in the first 4 games. Did I mention this staff isn’t ready?
Scoring is up around the league it seems.
Buehler is not ready and we all said you needed to let the kids build up arm strength in spring training. This is what happens when you don’t.
Maybe all them clubs decided to save their starters this spring. Although I must say Diamondbacks pitchers look pretty horrible, regardless of whether they are being slow played or not.
What I loved the most was Bellinger fouling off a bunch of pitches and didn’t try to swing for the fences. And wonderful to see Muncy get that run in with Pollack at third and less than two outs.
Good team. Good win.
Buehler will get stronger and shed the rust. Kershaw on the return path with his rehab start. When will we see Hill?
Old friends
Puig and Yaz are hitless
Willie Calhoun did not break camp with the Rangers
Frankie Montas had a solid 1st start today – 6IP, 1ER, 6Ks. As mentioned previously, he developed a new pitch and had a really strong spring.
New friend speculation:
Lux, May, Ruiz, and Gonsolin will be in AAA. Downs and Gray in A+. Kendall repeats A+, but a good eight weeks sees him jump to Tulsa. Estevez in AA. Ditto Rincon. Parker Curry in AA, underrated reliever, he misses bats. Kasowski in AAA. Michael Grove mimics the Beuhler path and starts off in extended ST a bit, then starts off in RC, pitching a few innings at a time. Zach W. in either Camelback as starter or Rancho as Reliever.
May and Gonsolin are on Tulsa’s roster as is Mitchell White and Kasowski. Estevez is on Rancho’s roster as is Curry. Downs is at Great Lakes and Gray is at low A Ogden……seems ya missed on every one but Kendall……Ruiz and Lux are at Tulsa…so far the only catcher on the roster. There are 3 on OKC’s roster,, Smith, Thole and Gale. Rincon is at Rancho.
It’s nice to know you guys are keeping track. Some of those names I’m not familiar with. May and Gonsolin are two in whom I have high expectations. Not sure about Lux and Kendall but I sure hope they hit this year. And Peters is another I want to watch. He reminds many of Bellinger. That would be cool. He reminds me of Jayson Werth. I’d sure take that. I hope he hammers AA and gets a call up.
Michel,
Is it possible what you are looking at are the rosters from last year?
The new minor league rosters haven’t been released, as far as I know.
Wait.
The Great Lakes is released, but the predictions I stole don’t mention Tulsa!
It’s highlighted by Amaya, Gray, Leonel Valera, Miguel Vargas and Zuniga.
Nope…these are the rosters posted on the Milb website for the teams. Before spring each team only had a couple of players on them. Now all the rosters are filled. Games start in 3 days so the rosters are pretty well set except you can bet they will send another catcher to AA to help out Ruiz and be his backup. Peters is at AA Tulsa. Reason Gonsolin and May are at Tulsa is because of the non roster guys who were signed to minor league deals. AAA starters look to be Santana, Alvarez, Corcino, Hart, and Sborz. OKC is only carrying 4 infielders at this point and 5 outfielders since 2 of those guys, Perkins and Orlando can also play 1st. And it is Michael not Michel. I just double checked it about 10 minutes ago.
Michael, Michel.
Bluto, Brutus?
I kid, my mistake for misspelling….
Rancho’s Roster:
https://www.milb.com/rancho-cucamonga/news/2019-roster-released/c-305848304
Kendall and Downs are there. Grove too! Interesting.
I’m not sure why the discrepancy from what you found Michael, but at least I got your name right.
Probably because they are filling the holes. Same will be true at Tulsa when they place another catcher on the roster.
Tulsa roster……Pitchers…Boyle, Gonsolin, Holmes, Kasowski, Long, May, Merrill, Scrubb, Solbach, Somsen, Spitzbarth, White….Catcher, Ruiz, Infielders, Ahmed, Lux, McKinstry, Peterson, and Robinson. Outfielders. Landon, Peters, Popkins, and Reks.
Popkins and Reks. Sounds like pet names. A cat and a dog? Maybe a Pekingese and a German Shepard. Pekingnese look like they’ve been popped in mug by Mike Tyson. Or thrown out of a car, landing face first into an oncoming Peterbilt.
OKC roster: Pitchers: Allie, Alvarez, Broussard, Chargois, Corcino, Grimm, Hart, McCreery, Quackenbush, Santana, Sborz, Schultz, Smoker and Therrien. C: Smith, Gale, Thole. Infielders: Beaty, Castro, Peter, Rios. Outfielders : Carerra, Garlick, Orlando, Perkins, Peterson.
Offense is humming.
Hoping for a tad more discipline in game management. Not a big deal at this point. But could be an area to make strides and see improved success.
Last game’s win was very satisfying for me. Bellinger played large and his teammates responded. Not enough of those BIG team wins last year. So this is a great sign.
I am impressed with the Dodgers’ ability to come back in the late innings. Their offensive surges are amazing. Home Run power is indisputable, but the difference this year is they are whacking them out with runners on base. If not for their weak middle relief, in addition to the platoon fiasco, they could have easily swept the Snakes.
So easy to get overly excited over the dominating victories versus the venom-less Snakes. Many of the record breaking runs were a result of errors, walks, weak bullpen, and batting practice tosses. Still way too many strikeouts. Also, should they be concerned with the Padres, who are in second place? Maybe not…. they were just barely beating the Fidgets, so no big deal. I think the Rockies will be the only challenger to worry about in the NL West.
I have been concerned with the excessive beaning of the Dodger batters by the D’backs…. JT spared from another trip to IL by the hand shield. They have no business pitching in, if they have no command, but they do not care….The Dodger pitchers have too much class to try and retaliate, but where do they say, “Enough is enough”.
“Buehler? Buehler?” Absent….Evident he is not ready. This means 3/5th’s of their rotation is toast. Stripling did a commendable job in his emergency start, only to be robbed of a win at the hands of Baez and Kelley. Ryu and Maeda were solid, steady Kenta proving to be a badly needed workhorse, but again he is extremely vulnerable to the long ball. It may be too early to tell, but middle relief appears to be very shaky. Baez, Kelley, Stewart, Garcia are scary to watch. I cannot believe Baez is still in Dodger Blue…. I’d rather see Martin out there, then him.
Time to swat the Gnats….. make a statement.