Checkbook baseball. That’s what Cardinal’s opening day starter Miles Mikolas accused the Dodgers of doing. I’m not sure what that means exactly, but Mikolas went onto insinuate that the hollywood Dodgers were throwing money around and the little midwestern farmer Cardinals would try their best to plow the fields, hoe the till, and give the Dodgers headaches. Fortunately Mikolas and those podunk agriculturists couldn’t grow a couple of more hits as those glitzy glamorous Dodgers put on a show en route to a 7-1 win on opening day.
Before the game, the Dodgers opened that big checkbook and announced that they had signed catcher Will Smith to a massive ten-year 140 million dollar extension. The Dodger management is showing a huge commitment, making a statement that Smith is the Dodger’s catcher for the next decade. I’m ecstatic that Fresh Prince is staying a Dodger. He’s one of the best catchers in baseball, and a vital cog in the Dodger’s lineup. It makes all the sense in the world.
#STLCards RHP Miles Mikolas on opening vs. the #Dodgers : “We’re not exactly a low payroll team, but you got the Dodgers playing checkbook baseball. We’re going to be the hardest working group of Midwestern farmers we can be. … It would be great to stick it to the Dodgers.”
— John Denton (@JohnDenton555) March 16, 2024
Maybe he was planting bombs 💣💣
— Stacie Wheeler (@StacieMWheeler) March 28, 2024
Meanwhile at the ravine Dodger’s opening day starter Tyler Glasnow kept the farm boys in check, tossing six innings of one-run ball, allowing just one earned run on two hits while striking out five. The Dodgers scored two in the first, three in the third, and solo runs in the sixth and seventh innings. The Dodgers got home runs from Mookie Betts, and Freddie Freeman. Mookie scored three runs, Freddie drove in three runs, and the Dodgers were 3 for 6 with runners in scoring position. Shohei Ohtani notched two hits in his three at-bats, while also scoring a run and walking once. He also had a funny tootblan in the bottom of the first, after he overran Dino Ebel’s stop sign. Mookie stopped at third, but Ohtani was thrown out between second and third. Welcome to the Dodgers Ohtani.
MOOOOKIE! pic.twitter.com/Fl6V547tzD
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) March 28, 2024
No. 5 makes it 5-0! pic.twitter.com/jyG263txO2
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) March 28, 2024
The Dodger’s bullpen consisted of one reliever, (ONE!). Ryan Yarbrough tossed three scoreless frames to earn the rare three-inning save. The Dodgers win on opening day. Can’t ask for a better one folks. The series continues tomorrow night, as the poor red farmers send lefty Zack Thompson to counter Bobby Miller.
Dodgers cashed Mikolas check.
Indeed they did.
A few observations after the Dodgers dismal performance vs. SD Friday Nite, 4/12/24.
It appears that SD has discovered something with Yoshi Yamamoto. A little Deja Vu, with his second start vs. the Padres. Is he tipping pitches? Is it poor sequencing? Is Smith telegraphing the pitch by his positioning behind the plate? The Dodgers, Yamamoto, and WD Smith better figure it out.
DR’s use of the Dodger bullpen seems to be a little too predictable. Same rotation of pitchers out of the pen, excessive use of lefty/righty matchups. The opposition knows what is coming. Vesia needs to work on pitch clock issues. Alex seems to be rushing his pitches. Maybe a trip down to the minors is appropriate.
The Dodger offense continues to struggle with RISP…1-12 is unacceptable. The bottom of the lineup has been a major contributor to these offensive failures…. Nine automatic outs. DR’s offensive strategies, especially in extra innings with ghost runner in scoring position. Reverting to ineffective lefty/righty matchups with a bunch of “Mendozas”, failing to use the bunt to move runners over, and to set up the top of the order, instead DR expects the “Mendozas” to knock the ball out of the park. Extra innings with ghost runner on second… time to revert to smart, effective “Small Ball”! DR seems to have destroyed Outman’s (.173) confidence, reverting to platooning him in center, and yanking him in critical offensive situations, with another “Mendoza”. CT3 (.031) is totally lost, Lux (.163) still not 100%. Lux needs more rehab in the minors.
It’s early in the season, and I’m already starting to sound like a broken record. They can do better.
They can do better. They will do better.
They won’t walk batters in double digits.
It’s so early, the team is so stacked.
They sure do suck though right now
This is how well we have it as Dodger fans.
First place. Top five in every power ranking.
“They sure do suck right now”
Remember the McCourt / Colletti nightmarish days?
“Nightmare days”
The ownership situation with McCourt was the nightmare but the club was regularly winning division titles and reaching the playoffs despite the bankruptcy and shoestring budgets.
And a number of star players (Seager, Urias, Bellinger, Kershaw, Pederson, Kenley, Kemp etc) were drafted and developed during that era.
Only the last couple of years were a nightmare.
And a number of star players (Seager, Urias, Bellinger, Kershaw, Pederson, Kenley, Kemp etc) were drafted and developed during that era.
This is right, except for Kemp, Urias, Bellinger and Seager!
Actually you’re right about Kemp, I’m forgetting he was drafted under Dan Evans but the others were all drafted or signed under Colletti/White
Urias 2012
Bellinger 2013
Seager 2012
McCourt lost the team beginning of 2012, IIRC.
Game 1 vs. Nats, 4/16/24.
Glasnow not “Smooth as Glass”-now! Is Pitch Sequencing the problem? D-Train thinks so. Teams seem to be aggressively attacking the first pitch. WD Smith needs to be smarter on his pitch selection… change things up when thing are not going as planned. Way too many walks or two strike meatballs.
If starters fail, a weak, vulnerable, overused bullpen is not the answer.
Billion Dollar lineup stymied by a rookie pitcher with just a curve and a not-so fast fastball. If the top heavy offense cannot do the job, “The Mendoza’s” at the bottom of the lineup cannot carry the load or set the table. They got Mendozas pinch hitting for a Mendozas… 11-14 automatic outs, per game.
Just 19 games in, and the holes in the roster that Friedman failed to address, are already exposed.
Still time to make some changes if you have any cash left in your wallet, Friedman. No time to panic yet, or is it? Let’s Go Dodgers!
Game 1 vs. Mets, 4/19/24:
Dodger woes continue. 3-12 RISP, 10 LOB, 9 KO’s. Tired, overworked relief pitchers, sloppy defense. Inability to take advantage of mistakes, unlike their opponents, who seem to capitalize on every single Dodger miscue, be it errors, or pitch location.
Yamamoto just OK, no thanks to stagnant defense and offense. Vulnerable to early inning command issues, which puts the team in catch-up mode from the start.
DR just has way too many options with this Billion Dollar Roster, so he seems to be in panic mode, mixing and matching the lineup, trying to find the right combination. Freeman is totally lost at the plate. Maybe the Dodgers’ next experiment should be to move Freeman back into the #2 slot and Ohtani down to #3? Freddie might get better pitches while hitting in front of Shohei, and Ohtani, being a contact hitter, should be able to easily handle pitches out of the zone.
Pitching rotation down to Glasnow, Paxton, Yamamoto, and two or three Bullpen games. In desperation, I hope they do not rush Buehler back too soon. Dodger Brass willing to bring him up, even though his command is questionable.
Dodgers are too top-heavy, not leaving much money on the table to build a strong supporting cast of players.
These games are becoming tough to watch. Come on Dodgers, just play clean, smart baseball.
Game 3 vs. Mets, 4/20/24:
Let’s cut to the chase. No since sounding Iike a Broken record.
Face it, the Dodger Bullpen is inadequate. Overworked and too predictable.
The Starting rotation is “groomed” to pitch 5-6 innings, or two times through opposing lineups. A management that seems to be satisfied that their starters make it that far, and call it an excellent outing. Then, they expect their inadequate bullpen to slam the door shut. Obviously not happening. Entire pitching staff wastes pitches with non-competitive pitches, quickly expending bullets to management imposed pitch counts. Maybe WD Smith needs to call a better game and help his pitchers, not set them up for failure.
The Billion Dollar Offense is pathetic. Top four are productive, but also too predictable. RISP, non-productive at-bats, leaving it up to the bottom 5 to figure it out. The bottom 5 are no-shows. Muncy and Teoscar obviously choke with runners on, followed by the “Mendoza Caliber” bottom 3, who are basically automatic outs. Time to shake things up with this lineup. First, put Freddie back in the 2 slot, followed by Ohtani. Diss the lefty/righty BS with the bottom 5, and stick with who’s hot. It is obvious that these guys cannot hit either, so why platoon them, based on who’s pitching?
Bottom line, DR has to be smarter, but he seems to be falling back to his old managing tactics of the past two dismal seasons. The owners spent Billions, so his head is probably on the chopping block this year.
Come on, Dodgers!