A little over two weeks ago, Andrew Friedman sent a memo to the entire Dodger’s organization. The memo was a simple request…..lose. The Dodgers with a huge lead in the National League west are under orders from the front office to simply put, stop trying. It is a straight forward thought process. The Dodgers have such a huge lead so the management team doesn’t consider any of these games important enough to risk injury. Just go through the motions, don’t get hurt and forget about the results. The Dodgers received the note loud and clear, dropping their second straight home game on Saturday night to the Padres by a 3-1 score. This is the first time they’ve dropped consecutive home games since April.
Once again the Dodger bats disappeared. Per the front office’s request, the hitters have stopped bothering to have competitive plate approaches. The Dodger offense scored just one run and tallied only six hits off of Chris Paddack and the San Diego bullpen. The Dodgers left seven runners on base.
You can’t blame this loss on starting pitcher Kenta Maeda. The Japanese right hander pitched well. Maeda shut the Padre’s lineup down over the first six frames with the score tied at zero until the top of the seventh inning. The Padres hit two home runs in the seventh and eighth innings to jump out to a 3-0 lead and essentially end the game. Hunter Renfroe smashed his 27th home run of the season, a solo shot over the center field wall to break the scoreless tie in the top of the seventh inning. Then in the following frame after a Josh Naylor single, Manuel Margot hit a two-run home run over the left field wall to give the Friars a 3-0 lead. Maeda tossed 7.2 innings allowing three earned runs on four hits and struck out six. The loss drops his record to 7-5. He deserved a better fate.
Padres 3 4 1
Dodgers 1 6 1
WP-Wingenter-1-1
LP-Maeda-7-5
SV-Yates-29
HR-Renfroe-27-Margot-4
The Dodgers are heads and tails a better club than the mediocre Padres. So losing consecutive home games to San Diego, especially when the Dodgers haven’t lost consecutive home games since April just means that the hitters didn’t try hard enough. Paddack, the San Diego starter pitched 5.2 shutout innings allowing just three hits and striking out six with only one free pass.
The lone Dodger run scored in the bottom of the eighth when Alex Verdugo doubled, and scored on an errant throw from Manny Machado on a Justin Turner dribbler to third. That was the only Dodger scoring opportunity of the night, except when they loaded the bases in the bottom of the fifth. Matt Beaty doubled, Chris Taylor walked and Russell Martin’s flare single to right loaded the bases. Unfortunately there is no sense of urgency for the Dodgers right now. Basically these games have little importance to them. In that fifth inning Maeda struck out and Joc Pederson grounded out and the Dodgers didn’t score. They would lose 3-1.
Let’s not get too critical of the boys in blue here. They have the best record in baseball and they have had an incredibly great season. Yet let’s not forget that these games still count and the Dodgers have won just one series over the last two plus weeks. There are still over 70 games left in the regular season and all of them are important. There is one game left before the all-star break and losing three of four to the Padres at home is embarrassing. Memo to Dodgers, win one and split this series before the break to save face. Enjoy your vacation but remember you have a long road trip after the all-star break that starts with a series in Boston. Nothing is clinched yet and there is still work left to do. Stop mailing these games in. Ross Stripling will start on Sunday in the first half finale.
I thought I had seen it all, when I saw the “Intentional Balk”.
Now we are told that the Dodgers are “Intentionally Losing”? Intentional GIDP”? “Intentional Popping Out”? “Intentional Strike Out”? “Intentional Errors”? “Intentional Catcher’s Interference”? “Intentional Meatball”? I hope you are joking about that Memo, Scott. But again, I would not be surprised if Friedman did pull a stunt like that.
The Dodgers do have a tendency to play down to the level of their opponents. I have seen that.
The fans do not deserve to watch this, if this memo crap is true. Don’t these players have any pride?
Geez, Dodgers…. snap out of it.
It was a joke Blue, but the point being that they are not taking these games seriously because they have such a huge lead in the NL West and do not want anyone getting hurt or over extending themselves. So while they are not aggressively giving up these games, they are not trying as hard as they normally would.
Of course Friedman wants them to lose as many games as possible between now and the end of the regular season. That way he can pitch Yimi Garcia, the best reliever in baseball in the highest leverage situations.
I watched the entire game, and I give a lot of credit to the Padres pitchers. The problem is when they finally got Paddack in trouble, they did not finish the job. Look, both Turner and Bellinger are slumping. Muncy is also slumping. He struck out 3 times again last night and has 3 hits in his last 25 at bats. Pederson, who has not hit a homer in a couple of weeks, is popping up a lot and striking out more lately. It is like a team wide virus. I am pretty sure that if Friedman had sent out a memo like that Kershaw would be sitting in his office ready to tear his head off. Kike is not hitting, the rookies have cooled off although Beaty who is getting some regular reps is hitting well. One game left before the break and then they go to Boston. Seager, Pollock and Freese will all be back by next Friday. Even with the loss they did not lose any ground to the Rockies. AZ and Colorado 14.5 games behind. The Dodgers can play .500 ball over the next 70 games and the Rocks or D-Backs would need 50 plus wins just to tie.
Home runs continue to be the Achilles’ heel of this pitching staff. The one on Friday that cost them the game, 2 last night and a leadoff shot today from Tatis. Offense reply’s by going 1-2-3 in the first. Offense has been AWOL the last few games. Time for the bats to wake up before they get a 4 day rest. I am so tired of this lefty lineup they run out there. Just play your 8 best! Garlick, Hernandez and Barnes are pretty much automatic outs.
“Intentional Dingers”! ????
Garlick, Kiké, Barnes…. 9 “Intentional Outs”!????
They all got Andy’s memo!
Michael, I have been saying this for a long time about the HR’s being served up by this staff being as you say an Achille’s heel. Remember these past 2 WS (12 games combined) this staff served up 23 of them!! Correct on what has taken place with this offense in the past couple of weeks, and of course why Dodgers lost 3 of 4 to the Padres and scored a total of 11 runs in these 4 games. In fact Dodgers recently have looked more like the 2018 version as far as failing with RISP with less than 2 out, striking out a lot. And BTW Michael , you certainly are not alone as far as being tired of this lefty lineup being put out there instead of the best 8. I cannot imagine any team for the life of me who could win a WS ring having 3 automatic outs in the lineup
The Dodgers have the talent that have been winning games despite the ridiculous managing style of roberts. He costs the Dodgers the lady 2 world series with his lack of understanding with pitching. He continues to put in relievers that aren’t very good. He doesn’t know when to pull the starters, hence Madea against the padres. He moves the lineup everyday and batters are never batting in the same order. This isn’t the little league tryouts!!! Mike Sochia is available!!!!
Trying to come back from 5-1. Rios a pinch hit double….
There is an old adage in baseball. Do not give your opponents hope. In their pathetic performance over the last 3 days the Dodgers have not only given the Padres hope, they have let them think they can beat the Dodgers anytime and anywhere. Granted, they are 14 games back at the break and would have to play close to 700 baseball to catch the Dodgers if they were to just play .500 ball the rest of the way. Screw the HR derby Joc, you have not hit a homer in a game in 15 days, try getting a hit that means something and contributes to a win. I do not see you winning the 1 million dollar prize against the guys who are in the derby. They come back from the break and get Seager, Pollock and Freese back. They start with a 3 game series in Boston. The Sox are not the same team as they were in the series, and Pearce who just killed the Dodgers is on the IL. But they still have some solid pitching. Their bullpen is a little suspect, but their offense is still potent. Dodgers will have to play flawless ball to beat those guys in their home park. Their defense has let them down a lot in the last few days.
Pathetic to say the least. I hate DR’s excuse of the team being tired, and need a break. 60 wins?….they should be having fun out there. Now, if you are the Padres, 14 back, that is a reason to be tired…. tired of losing. Dodgers rolled over and played dead this weekend. With half the season remaining, that 14 game lead will disappear before they know it. Now, with three players returning, there will just be more chaotic shuffling in of the lineups and platooning. Bullpen is a shambles, and entire pitching staff still continues to serve up way too many dingers.
Pederson, you might as well stay home. Why embarrass yourself in the Derby? On the other hand, maybe take any of your pitching teammates to toss juicy derby quality pitches to you.
This team is going nowhere in October. They can’t even handle the Padres, at home.
Bluefan, I heard on the Dodger broadcast the other day that when those guys come back from IL, (Freese, Pollock and Seager) he has already talked about how many players will just have to ‘sacrifice’ some playing time in order to keep everyone ‘sharp’ so to speak.
The fact is that as long as lineups change all time, consistancy will be hard to acheive. Yes, the team is slumping, Bellinger has lost over 70 points off his BA since earlier in the season when he was well over .400. You can tell that the team is not trying as it was when they were winning. I some swinging at pitches that they never would have swung at when the winning was steady. Now they chase balls regularly out of the strike zone. It sucks. Now Kelly is doing much better but the hitters are not hitting. Ask Kershaw as he has been robbed of 2 games that I remember lately. If Dummy is so good he needs to jerk a knot in some of their behinds.
LOL, But Package, everything ya said here is right on the money!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Padres will not catch the Dodgers. Neither will the Rocks or the D-Backs who sit 13.5 back. The Dodgers have 70 games left, not 81. The season is more than half over. If they just play .500 ball, that would give them 95 wins. Arizona would have to win 50 of its remaining 71 games, they have played one game less than the Dodgers, just to tie. The offense gets stronger with the return of Freese, Seager and Pollock. Instead of 3 rookies, Beaty, Rios and Garlick who between them have 4 homers. Seager and Freese have 16 between them, and Pollock hit 2 before he went on the shelf. You have proven major league players replacing kids with little pennant race experience. Freese, Seager and Pollock have been there numerous times. Package, it is useless to complain about the rotating line ups. It has been this way since Friedman took over. They play match ups and they give players days off to keep them fresh. The guys who are in the lineup the most are productive. Belli will come out of his slump. Turner will get 4 days of much needed off time, Taylor the same. Muncy has been slumping and Joc has not hit a homer in more than 2 weeks. If you expected Belli to hit .400, well, that’s a pipe dream. But he should hit well over .300 unless he totally goes in the tank, which I do not think will happen. The weak link’s continue to be the catchers and Kike. I would rather see him hit .250 with 15 homers, than .210 with 25. He is a mess up there and a huge hole in the lineup. Do not expect Smith back anytime soon. He is on the IL down at OKC and has not played since he was sent down. No August trade deadline this year and I doubt they will seek a hitter at the deadline. Also when the roster expands on September first, they can only call up 3 players, so any help offensively will have to come from the farm. I expect, unless they are traded, that Beaty and Rios would probably be 2 of the call ups. The other may well be Lux. Unless they call up an arm too.
In yesterday’s dismal “Intentional Loss” to the Padres in the midseason finale, I noticed that the three “automatic outs” were spread out this time. They had one “Intentional Out” in each third of the lineup. That amounted to the Dodgers going to bat each inning, handicapped with only two outs to get something going. Which leads to a question…
Is it better to “clump the (???) lumps” together at the bottom of the lineup with the pitchers spot, literally giving the Dodgers only 5 or 6 innings a game to score, or spread them out in each third of the order, and just have two outs per inning to try and score some runs?
Keep in mind that the situation gets even worse, when the either of the other six in the lineup are sputtering in a miserable slump.
When they come back, the weak link will only be the catchers spot and the pitcher. I think they should consider doing what a lot of teams do and bat the pitcher 8th. With a guy like say Verdugo behind him. Seager is going to make a huge difference in this lineup.
I like the idea of batting the pitcher 8th…. but the way the Dodger pitcher’s at-bats have been doing, they could hit 6th or 7th. They have have had more productive at-bats than some of the others in the lineup, and also, better than their pinch hitters.
How about CT3 leading off, and the pitcher 2nd, sacrificing Taylor to second, setting the table for Turner and Belli?
That would be ok, but, Taylor’s playing time is going to be reduced come Friday when Seager gets back.
CT3 could play LF or 2nd. Got to keep his hot bat in the lineup, or risk him losing his stroke.
I totally get it, but they are going with the 55 million dollar man. With Pederson at 1st, Muncy is going to play 2nd against RHP and Verdugo will be in LF. That’s just the way it is going to be. Kike and Taylor will get playing time, but mainly against lefty’s .
There will be a few players who’s playing time will be reduced come Friday but IIWII. But in any event there still may be 3 automatic outs in the lineup, which of course includes the catcher. But Dodgers and all of us pretty much knew that we would not come anywhere close to getting any offense from the catching dept. coming into this year. I believe they simply recognized that to be a fact and was considering getting offense from the rest of the lineup
Yeah, maybe so, but IMO, The Pederson Experiment at 1st should end. He is not hitting now, and he probably will be worse, coming off the Derby. His swing will be all messed up, like the last time he HRD’d his rookie year. Muncy should return to 1st. They need to ride CT3 while he is hot.
Concur Bluefan4Life. Since Bellinger obviously has done well in RF, earning an ASG starting spot, Muncy is the best other option for 1st base and of course he, like Bellinger and Verdugo can handle LHP well enough. Freese needs to be in there as well when he gets back, maybe not every day but we know what he has done in the 1st half before going on IL.
They do not care boys. That’s why Pederson has been playing first, so they can get his and Verdugo and Muncy’s bat into the game at the same time, and if you notice, the entire team is slumping. Bellinger has not had more than one hit in a game in a while. He is also striking out more than he was. Turner has been slumping and despite the fact that he hit 3 homers against the Pads, Muncy has been in a slump. Face the facts that no matter what we might think or believe, they do not consider Joc at first to be an experiment. 3 players on the team have 20 or more homers, Joc, Muncy and Bellinger. Seager and Pollock and Turner all have 20 HR power as do Kike and Taylor. They have all done it before. So has Martin, but he won’t come close to that and neither will Pollock. They can live with a couple of good glove, weak bat catchers as long as the rest of the lineup remains steady. And with the way Roberts gives guys rest, you know they are not going to be gassed at the end. Pederson is going to sit when a lefty pitches. Taylor and Kike will get their reps then. And remember, Taylor was the starting 2nd baseman for a while and he was not hitting. There are no guarantees that Pederson will fall off the planet after the derby. He is older, has a different swing and is much more disciplined at the plate than he was in 2015.
Don’t get it Michael. Bellinger slumping, Pederson slumping, Muncy slumping, JT slumping, and the three “Intentional Outs”…. and you say CT3, the hot bat in the lineup, should sit?
Probably this is what the Dodgers will do, but I do not have to agree with it. It is insane. To support it, just because it is what they will obviously do, is giving into the whacked out Dodger system and Friedman’s Playbook.
It will be interesting how this all plays out. I think we are all getting too presumptuous over what the most logical thing to do, or trying to read the minds of Dodger Management. No point in arguing over spilled milk, until the milk is actually spilled.
It does, however, make for some interesting conversation.
No we do not have to like it, but that is the way Friedman works. I am not saying Taylor should sit at all. But he most likely will against RHP unless they give Seager a day off. Instead of playing say 7 games in the week, he might get 4. They will mix and match, sit and play. Roberts knows what the FO wants and who they want where in certain match ups. For them, it is a nice problem to have. We will just have to wait and see how it all pans out.
Wow, Pederson “represents!” In the HR Derby. Joc goes toe-to-toe with Vladie Jr. are you sure that was Dino Ebel out on the mound, or was it Jansen serving up “Cookie Cutters”? Guerrero was so tired after round 2, that Alonso had a cake walk in the championship round. I think Joc would have beat Alonso, but missed the final by one jack…. just missed it.
All kidding aside, I hope Joc can bring that energy and power to the real game when play resumes in Boston.
Way to go, Joc.
Concur, Bluefan. When play reumes in Boston, if the Sox throw LHP out there (Price and Sale) Joc will sit HR Derby or no. But Michael is also correct on his take with how FO and roberts work those daily lineups. Bottom line here is this…these strategies employed by Freidman and Roberts will get Dodgers by during the season But THEY ABSOLUTELY WILL NOT WORK in the PS or WS.
Here Here Paul!!
Report today that both Seager and Pollock will be activated Friday. Freese was activated yesterday. Garlick and Rios already optioned and Beaty will go down on Friday. Back to full strength except for Hill who will not be back until August.
Wow, back to full strength. It will be a whole different team for the second half.
All we can hope for is that Seager, Pollock, and Freese come back strong. Dodgers’ “Achilles Heel” all season has been the offense and the nine “automatic outs”. We know how powerful this offense can be, with +129 run differential and 60 wins, even while sputtering with RISP, strikeouts, and the nine unintentional “intentional outs”.
We have got to tip our caps to the kids, who helped hold up the fort while these guys were mending and rehabbing.
The only burning question that has been smoldering all season, is the pitching staff…. Can the starters continue to turn out quality starts, and increase quantity of innings pitched? Can the bullpen take the baton, and can Jansen slam the door shut? And most importantly…. Can the pitchers stop serving up all those dingers?
Max Muncy saw a lot of action, and did extremely well defensively. Ryu pitched a solid 1st. Buehler got a bad break on a hot RBI single, which Muncy had some trouble with, but he struck out two, in his inning. Kershaw got pounded and earned the loss, giving up one run, but saved by the defense….he could have given up more runs if not for the great defensive plays behind him. Belli struggled, as he went 0-2 and struck out twice. Muncy went 0-2 with a K.
So, every Dodger performed, as I expected. Buehler and Ryu were solid. Muncy represented. Kershaw got clobbered by AL elite hitters….I expected that. I don’t think he really deserved to be an All-Star this season. I think he was a Commissioner’s pick, due to his legacy. I figured the Dodger bats would struggle against elite AL pitchers, and they did.
So, based on today’s AS Game, the Dodgers’ elite showed that “if” by chance they make it to their third straight WS, they will again will fall to the AL Champs.
The best thing that happened in All-Star Weekend was Pederson’s epic battle with Guerrero Jr. in the HR Derby semifinals.
OMG… “Back to full strength”?… Really?
Dodgers up to their old tricks, again….REALLY!
Starting pitcher gives up two early dingers, putting the “Listless Lefty Lineup” on their heels.
Starting pitcher gets no offensive support.
Offense 0-3 RISP, 6 LOB, 12 K’s. The Only offense was the “Kid” Verdugo, who was followed in the lineup by two “automatic outs”.
Starting pitcher pitches well enough to keep his team in the game, but falls short, only lasting 5.2 innings.
Bullpen cannot stop the bleeding, giving up an additional 5 runs.
Welcome back Seager and Pollock, but are they really ready for battle? Both show a lot of rust, while the demoted “Kids” tear it up in OKC.
After the first half ended, DR said they guys were tired, and needed the All-Star break to get away from baseball and recharge. Well, looks like they forgot how to play baseball. Not the best ting to do….. Start off the second half, flatfooted, against the World Champs.
Kelly got a video tribute….. What? No bobblehead? Were the fans saluting him, or were they saluting the Dodgers for taking him off their hands? Did you notice as he walked to Bull-#%*% Pen, he waved thanks to the Bosox fans, while his pen mates covered their mouths, hiding their chuckles, as they shrugged their shoulders. What a joke.
Way to limp into the second half, Dodgers!
Dave Roberts needs to go!!! His little league management style is causing this slide into mediocrity. Moving players all over the lineup, moving players all over the field, continually letting his starting pitchers go too long, bringing in washed up relievers that need to be sent down and let younger pitchers get a shot, and terrible pinch hitter choices!!! The talent of this team has been winning games the past 3 years in spite of this idiot!!! Mike Scochia is available!!! He’s a dodger, not a pretender.