The Marlins are terrible. It’s an absolute joy playing them. After destroying the Fish 15-1 on Tuesday the Dodgers crushed the Marlins again on Wednesday by a 9-1 score. The boys in blue socked 6 home runs and 13 extra-base hits in the opener and then hit another four home runs on Wednesday. They’ve now outscored the Marlins 24-2 in the two games combined.
Wednesday’s bludgeoning featured Edwin Rios slugging his first two major league home runs. The 25-year old Puerto Rican native hit a solo home run in the fourth inning and then added a two-run shot in the sixth. Corey Seager, who homered the night before did it again and Justin Turner smashed his 21st home run of the season contributing another 1000 dollars to the Justin Turner foundation. Even reliever Caleb Ferguson doubled on Tuesday night.
The Dodgers excelled on the mound too. In the first game Dustin May pitched 5.2 innings of one-run ball and notched his first major league win. Then on Wednesday Clayton Kershaw tossed seven shutout frames striking out ten, walking none and allowing just two hits. Kershaw is now 12-2 and the win pulls him even with Sandy Koufax on the Dodger’s all-time win list for left handed pitchers.
The games were so much like exhibition games that Russell Martin entered the first game and pitched the bottom of the ninth inning. Once again for the third time this season he pitched a scoreless inning and is now a better pitcher then Yimi Garcia. Noteworthy was Adam Kolarek (who Martin is also better than) played first base. The Dodgers are so far ahead in the NL West that they will be experimenting with goofy lineups and defensive alignments. In the meantime the Dodgers will finish embarrassing the Marlins in the series finale on Thursday afternoon. The Dodgers are now 81-41, and 40 games above .500
On a side note, it’s unbelievable how awful the Marlins are. Sure they have an interesting ballpark but if you can’t put a semi-competitive team on the field then nobody is going to show up at the ball park which explains the empty seats and massive whistling throughout their cavernous stadium. Can you or anyone name more than one or two current players on the Miami squad? They’re not the worst team in baseball but they’re one of the worst and the worst in the National League. Derek Jeter should be ashamed of himself while he happily skips to the bank. The series wraps tomorrow and then the Dodgers head to Atlanta for the weekend.
Since they are in Miami, the talk has turned to will Miami re-sign Mattingly as their manager? Jeter and DM discussed that prior to yesterdays game. They have had a few discussions and Jeter says that they will make a decision before the end of the season. Mattingly stated that if he is wanted he would love to stay. He has a good rapport with his players and his staff and the players get along very well. Though they are very young and inexperienced, they have consistently played hard. They are not without talent. A couple of their young players are pretty good. Anderson and Cooper have performed very well. In the next couple of weeks we will see if Donnie Baseball continues as their skipper. My thought is that Jeter might want to bring in his own guy since DM was there when they bought the team. In any case, Miami is not really a baseball town. Even when the Marlins were good, once the novelty wore off, the fans stayed away. The teams in Miami and Tampa should be re-located in my mind. Montreal would love to have a team back. There is even talk of San Antonio, or Las Vegas. Angels need to decided soon if they are staying at the Big A or getting a new ballpark. They have a temporary agreement to stay until 2020. The original lease runs until 2029. They have explored building a new stadium in either Anaheim or Long Beach.
It is interesting Michael.
I also find it interesting that there’s a weird minority online who somehow think Ned Colletti was a good GM and is deserving of consideration should the Dodgers have a front office need in the near future.
Why I raise that is because I find it confusing that the same minority doesn’t share a similar affinity for Mattingly.
It’s a very, very, very weird and small part of the fan ecosystem and one that I can’t rationalize for the life of me.
Everyone has their opinions on managers. Just take Pack’s seeming hatred of Roberts. I remember a lot of criticism of DM back when they were in the playoffs, and before. A lot of fans felt he deferred to the veterans on the team and ignored the kids. I thought he was ok as a manager, but like Roberts he was not a great in game strategist. Neither was Tommy or Walt. They just seemed to push the right buttons at the right time. But both made huge gaffs in playoff games. Alston in game 3 of the 62 playoffs against the Giants. Drysdale wanted to come in for the bottom of the 9th with the Dodgers leading 4-2. Alston said he needed to save Big D for game 1 of the World Series, forgetting you have to get there first. He opted for Stan Williams and he imploded. Giants scored 4 and went to the series. Tommy’s biggest probably came when he elected to pitch to Jack Clark, then with the Cardinals, with first base open. Naturally Clark homered and the Dodgers lost the series. DM is also not a great communicator. He had some issues in the clubhouse. Remember Hanley was there then and he was one of those not retained because he was considered a clubhouse cancer. As for Colletti, considering who he worked for, and how awful an owner McCourt was, he did ok. Yeah, he made some real boners with his free agent signings, Schmidt and Jones come to mind. He did bring Manny to LA and did not trade away a lot of the top talent they had in the system. Some of his and Logan White’s signee’s are huge parts of this team. Manny had to be the most exciting deadline acquisition of all time in LA history. Also remember that in the 62 playoffs, Koufax was not available. He had a circulation problem in his hand
Mattingly is horrible.
Lasorda, Alston and Roberts are not the best but far beyond Mattingly.
@Bluto.
Maybe because Colletti never pouted during an interview because of his contract. (Like ‘ol Donnie)
Colletti acted like an adult when McCourt tied his hands and could not make payroll. He accepted a ceremonial position to make room for his successor. And continued to do broadcasts for a team who thought he was not good enough to be the GM. (Despite his impressive winning percentage as a GM) Also he has given nothing but positive reviews to the guy that took his job.
Hope this helps you understand the “very, very, very weird and small part of the fan ecosystem”.
Please credit me in the bibliography of your study.
Definitely agree with you that Colletti has been a good soldier.
That’s not really a reflection on his resume though, and that resume is decidedly unremarkable.
To be fair, colletti built some solid clubs while having a portion of the budget under McCourt that friedman has under Guggenheim. Colletti’s teams made the NLDS three times and won 4 division titles.
And wasn’t Mattingly a part of that?
As I was told a thousand times via Twitter when I was questioning Mattingly’s managerial moves, he didnt build the roster. But yes he was there.
From Wikipedia:
“During his tenure with the Dodgers (2005-2014), Colletti had the highest winning percentage of any general manager in the National League.”
Seems remarkable to me…
He is better than the current Dodgers GM. (Caspar, the Invisible Man, Sue Storm?)
Who is the current GM?
::Checks Internet::
There isn’t one!
Doesn’t Friedman have a higher winning percentage than any exec in all of Baseball for his tenure?
So Bluto logic is that:
Freidman is a genius + Donnie is a great manager = Friedman never offering him a contract before he left?
Ned Colletti’s resume is a joke and does not deserve a job. But Donnie deserves an extension with a .444 managerial record for the Marlins?
I’m not sure what to do with this….
Huh?
Not at all.
Not sure what in the world you are talking about.
My logic/questions as in the OP above is:
Why doesn’t Mattingly get the same love that Colletti does?
Colletti got the shaft from the Dodger ownership group. they didn’t let him do shit for bringing in some key players. In spite of ownership, Colletti collected some good players thru the draft and some minor trades. Donnie Tball was just a miserable manager, he owes most of his money he made as a manager to Puig, without Puig coming in and tearing it up, Donnie Tball would have never been heard from again.
Our bullpen is a total joke, if this is what they go with in the post season, meaning not moving some starters to the key positions in the pen, the Dodgers will go down in flames in post season.
True Blue, with the exception of Baez, we know from a moral CERTAINTY that Chargois and Ferguson, and Sborz will not be on the PS roster.
Ferguson and Chargois shouldn’t be on the roster now.
Chargois isn’t on the roster now. He was sent down and Sborz was recalled today
…. definitely did not beat the Phish today. Buehler had a rare rough outing. Had no command at all. This, in addition to the slow start of the offense, allowed the Marlins to build up an insurmountable lead. The Dodger bats tried to come back, but fell short…. a little too late. The erratic strike zone had the Dodger batters on their heels.
This loss is on DR (with a little help from the Home Plate Ump). He left Buehler in the game too long, then passed the baton to the ragged bullpen. Had the bullpen done their job, they could have stole the win. Baez returned to old form. Chaggie, Fergie, Yimi… not the reliable arms we need in the bullpen, especially in October. All the ‘pen had to do is stop the bleeding, instead they severed the jugular.
Not the best way to roll into Atlanta.
We should have our AAA team play the Marlins.
And we should have our AAA bullpen pitch to the rest of the MLB, we’ve probably be no worse record wise.
Uh, I would not go that far. There is only one guy with a lot of MLB time as a reliever at AAA. Quackenbush. He has 10 saves, but the rest of the pen down there is a hodgepodge of draft picks,. minor league contracts, and a few others of no consequence. There is a guy at single A who has 23 saves, but I do not think he is quite ready. Taylor 2-3 with a HR and 3 RBI’s in his first re-hab game.
As you all know, this is the time to rearrange the deckchairs on the Titanic Bullpen. I suggest that all extra starters must be made into the mainstay of our bullpen with Kelly a part of the mix. The current set up men and closer are trainwreck waiting to happen. I have way more confidence in Maeda, Urias, Hill and Bozo as key members of the pen, and Kelly as the closer. I think the first round of playoffs, Doc will try to run the shit out of the pen, once the bottom falls out of that plan (and if the Dodgers survive the first round) I could see my bullpen plan being put into action. However, Doc has shown the inability to be much of a game manager, thus the thought of changing things might be way out of Berts abilities.
Most of you should know that when Farhan left, the Dodgers did not hire a replacement. They have 2 other guys in the FO with GM experience, and Friedman is making most of the deals. I am sure they do the think tank thing when making decisions that affect the roster. Dodgers down to 39 games after today. Belli hit # 41 and just missed # 42. Maeda was very mediocre today. He walked 4. At one point he struck out 7 in a row, then gave up a single, walked the next guy, and DR pulled him. Kolarek then got the next hitter out. I do not really trust Maeda to eat innings now. He has 1 win since May. They loaded the bases, and Rios grounded into a DP.
What a come back. The offense is hitting on all cylinders the last few days. set a record of 22 home runs in 5 games, also set a record with 4 homers or more 5 games in a row. Thank you messers Turner, Bellinger, Muncy and Smith. Smith hit his 10th, Muncy # 30, Bellinger # 41, and 22 for JT. 82-42 with 38 games left.
We may have 4 hitters with 30 HRs this year: Bellinger and Muncy already there, Turner and Pederson are in their 20’s.
Muncy has proven me wrong so far. I thought he’d regress but he’s improved all around. Pederson hitting a single to score our second run was nice to see. He was kind of fooled by the pitch but stayed with it and made contact. The pitch Will Smith hit out was an excellent pitch – the pitcher couldn’t believe our fresh prince got to that high riser.
Hope Seager starts picking it up. He’s been very steady and looks to be pacing himself.
I think I was the lone voice in here that didn’t see a decline coming from Muncy, I actually posted that he would have a better season this year, as you know.
I could just imagine where Pederson’s numbers would be, had the Dodgers not messed with his confidence, and benched him against lefties. Now he is having problems hitting both lefties and righties. You cannot cure the problem, with spot starts here and there, and benching vs. Lefties.
I think the Dodgers made a big mistake with Joc, and in doing so, have undermined his career, and are depleting his trade value, the longer they hang on to him. If they do not trust this guy, the Dodgers can let him go. Do this now, for their stake, as well as Joc’s stake. Trade him before his stock drops further, and give the guy a chance to resurrect his career elsewhere, where he can get more playing time.
I kind of compare this to what they did with Jason Werth. They showed no confidence in Werth’s worth, so they traded him, and he proved to be a valuable asset to the Nats. Paul Konerko also similar. Give Joc a fair shake. I like the guy, and would hate to lose him, but I really cringe, watching this guy struggle. He needs a change of scenery, and the Dodgers could use some help in the pen.
Werth was not traded and his leaving the Dodgers had more to do with low production and a slow recovery he had from a wrist injury he had suffered. He was granted free agency and signed with the Phillies. He played two years in LA. His first year he was in 89 games, hit .262 with 16 HR’s and 47 RBI’s, and his 2nd year he was in 102 games, hit .232 with 7 HR’s and 43 RBI’s. His chances of being in the starting outfield were not very good in 2006, they had signed Lofton as a free agent and JD Drew was playing right and Either was the regular LF. Kemp joined the team later that year. I do agree Joc probably would benefit from a trade and may well be traded this winter. He is arbitration eligible. Konerko was not all that Impressive in his 2 short call ups, and he was blocked by Eric Karros. He was traded for a closer in Jeff Shaw. That was a need trade. And it was made by interim GM, Lasorda. Karros was the first baseman until 2003 when they got Fred McGriff. Cincinnati kept Konerko for a short while and was traded by the Reds to the White Sox for Mike Cameron in what was one of the Reds worst trades. Konerko had the mis fortune of being a Dodger rookie right when Fox took over and damn near ruined the team.
Right, Werth was not traded, but with his ongoing wrist probs, the Dodgers basically gave up on him and let him go to Free Agency…. Overcrowded roster.
It all boils down to being at the right place at the right time. Werth, Konerko, and Pederson seem(ed) to be at the wrong place, at the wrong time. Like Konerko, Peddie might better serve the Dodgers in a trade, for a much needed reliever…. like Konerko for Shaw. Once again, overcrowded roster.
He has shown his power is coming back. 3 games in a row with HR’s, and he is a doubles machine when healthy. I think he is going to peak when they need it the most, September and October. His defense has been pretty solid lately.
Wow. Thought game was over with Maeda’s early 2nd inning sputter, but he battled back to retire 7 straight, to keep the game close. Offense definitely on fire right now, even with 3 GIDP’s. Urias did a fine job out of the pen. Negrón made a great catch on Culberson’s HR shot, to snuff out a possible late rally by the Braves.
Exciting win.
Werth was 26 when he left LA. Kemp was 25 and if I remember right Ethier was about the same age. Konerko also had the misfortune of being a transformed catcher. They had Piazza and had they not traded him, Konerko would have been blocked there too. So that’s why he was being converted. The outfield situation now is such that Joc is in a very crowded outfield picture for next year. Verdugo, Garlick, Beaty, Joc, Bellinger, and Pollock, along with up and coming DJ Peters. Only Garlick and Pollock are righty’s. And Belli, Beaty can play other positions and we know Joc can’t. I think there is a good chance they thin that competition this winter.
Urias gets a 20 day suspension for domestic abuse. Even though he was not charged MLB thought it was fitting to suspend him. The 5 days he was on the restricted list count against the 20, so he will be out for the next couple of weeks. It does mean he will be fresh down the stretch and it also means that they have 2 lefty’s in the pen for now, Kolarek and Ferguson. Sadler was recalled to take his place.
I mean if he struck his girlfriend they should obviously get rid of him, but 20 games is very light so maybe baseball found something not that serious?
I wish we knew more.
First, his girlfriend refused to file charges, and the police did not have sufficient evidence to charge him so the case was dropped. Normally he probably would not have gotten suspended at all. But MLB because of their policy’s decided to suspend him. To his credit, he is undergoing the required training that MLB dictates for those who are accused of abuse. Dodges are not going to just get rid of the kid. If he was older and a real butt head, they might.
If the Dodgers bullpen were a horse, it would time to put that poor beast down.
Not a very impressive showing in Atlanta. Wasted scoring opportunities have resurfaced, and bullpen woes continue to plague the Dodgers. The Ouija Board Lineup continues to create holes in the offensive attack. RISP, LOB, way too many strike-outs. Also causes many defensive miscues. Constant shuffling creates inconsistencies, both offensively and defensively.
I think it is about time to call it quits on the Pederson Experiment. Why DR continues to throw him at the top of the lineup is beyond my understanding. He is not a leadoff hitter. I seriously do not think Peddie will break out of his funk.
A big series vs. the Braves is not the place to be conducting bullpen try-outs. One month left in the season, and they are still looking for answers in the bullpen? Give me a break…. well I might just get that break, with an early exit in October.
The Dodgers may have one of the best records in the league, but that doesn’t mean squat! The playoffs are a whole new season. This series, vs. a playoff caliber team, has exposed the many shortcomings that will plague this Dodger team in the playoffs.
I disagree totally. One series does not a season make. Joc is in the leadoff spot because he has a very good OBP. He had 2 hits the night before. So they had a couple of bad games, whoopee. Give some credit to the Atlanta bullpen. Who would you put in the leadoff role against RHP? With Verdugo out, they have few options. And Pederson’s stats have stayed pretty consistent. He has struck out more the last few weeks. But he is like Grandal and is a very streaky hitter. Management knows this. He has been the leadoff hitter since day 1. So it is no experiment. As for the BP tryouts, I think trying to turn May into a reliever is not a great idea. And today served to prove that. He has great stuff, but a walk, base hit, hit batter and a grand slam on a pitch right down Broadway shows he is way too inexperienced to be put in that roll. Reinforcements coming on Tuesday. Kike and Taylor have finished their re-hab assignments and will be back. I would think that means 2 guys go down and I would think that would be Garlick and Negron. They become redundant with the return of those 2.