Tonight was the first game of a seven-game homestand at Chavez Ravine, and the first time that Don Mattingly would manage against his former team.
Ross Stripling was on the mound for the Dodgers, and Wei-Yin Chen for the Miami Marlins. The word from Vinny was, if Chen gets three or more runs, he’s 41-10.
Skipper Dave Roberts sent out an all-righty lineup, and after 19 games, Adrian Gonzalez got his first night off of the season.
Nothing much happened for the first three innings, and then Giancarlo Stanton stepped to the plate.
4th inning
Marlins
Stanton got a first pitch, hanging curve ball, and blasted it into Mannywood.
Dodgers
And then Puig happened!
He jacked a big home run to tie the game at one run apiece.
The Dodgers weren’t done with Chen yet. Trayce Thompson also blasted a home run to center field.
5th inning
Marlins
Giancarlo Stanton hit a foul ball that should have been an out. It was a pop up that drifted toward the stands just beyond first base. It was a night off for Gonzalez, so Yasmani Grandal was there. He tracked the ball to the short wall and then just let it drop in foul territory about three feet away. Stanton got another pitch and he doubled in a run to tie the game at two.
6th inning Dodgers 2 Marlins 2
Marlins added ANOTHER run to retake the lead.
7th inning Marlins 3-2
Louis Coleman in to pitch.
After a walk, a HR, and a double, Coleman finally found the secret to shutting down and striking out Stanton.
9th inning Marlins 3-2
Dodgers last chance.
Trayce Thompson- 5-3 But it took a great play to get him.
Joc Pederson– walk
Butter and Eggs man – K
Corey Seager – K
Chen got those three runs, and the Dodgers lost the first game of the series. Which is starting to become a thing now.
Ross Stripling (0-1) went 5 and 1/3 innings with 8 hits, 3 runs, 3 walks, 3 K’s ERA 3.22
Home runs: Yasiel Puig, Trayce Thompson
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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Little more to the game summary than that there Oscar. You could start by saying that young home plate umpire was really pinching Stripling. He threw Stanton a pitch that should have been called strike 3 before the foul ball and the double. Stripling was a little wild, but still managed to get out of most of his jams. Kendrick is still mired in a slump. Turner is not really hitting the ball well, and looks a little out of it at the plate. Trayce Thompson is as good a CF as Joc. And the kid is fast. Puig looks like he has indeed turned the page and is totally dedicated to being the best he can be. Grandal is a mediocre 1st baseman, and still a lousy RH hitter.
Michael I agree with you about Turner. He just doesn’t look like himself, when he is up to bat. He hasn’t been driving the ball, much at all. Both him, and Howie, are just not helping the team right now! We really need Turner, to start hitting, because he is our number three hitter.
Yeah, all that happened. And Mattingly’s sub .500 Marlins walk away with a win. Games like this do occur, and I expect more. Stripling deserved better, but sometimes it just goes this way. I know the box says 3 earned in 5, but we all know it was only 2. Yasmani 0fer with a Little League effort on an easy pop up. Yeah, stuff happens. The pen was clean for 3.2. That’s a positive.
You know, eventually we are going to be playing teams that are actually good. I wonder what our record will be on June 1st. Any guesses?
I think we are lucky to be where we are right now. Both Turner and Howie, are not hitting, and Howie has been just horrendous.
And we do miss Ethier’s bat, in the outfield. Joc and Puig, are both doing better this year, but neither one of them, is the hitter, that Either is, at this time in there career.
So we are really missing Ethier’s offense, in the outfield. But Turner is going to have to start contribuing, to the offense, or his extra at bats, that he is getting, by hitting third, are just wasted at bats.
I am begining to wonder, when Howie is going to start hitting, and will be be able to catch up eventually.
That is because, he has had some really awful at bats, and is striking out more, then he normally does.
I would like to see a set outfield of Thompson, Pederson, and Puig.
Kike’ needs to play against left handers, somewhere. Maybe third or first and 2nd if Kendrick is traded.
Ellis needs to catch when the other team starts a left hander.
And Roberts, is going to have to learn, that Turner doesn’t hit left handers, that well.
One of the worst kept secrets too.
Bum right now Turner isn’t hitting nothing much. The two hits he got last night, was a bloop single and a little line drive, that wasn’t that hard. Turner was hitting really well, in the end of spring training, but not much at all, now.
I had us at 11-9 after 20 games. So I’ll absolutely take 12-8. Of course if 2 double plays are turned correctly we would be 10-10. Hopefully we win tonight!
‘What about the dozen other moves that haven’t really worked yet?
This is what I find odd about those who criticize those who critique. It’s not an opinion that the deadline moves didn’t work, it’s a fact. It’s not an opinion that McCarthy and Anderson were risky moves that didn’t really work, it’s a fact. There are still a lot of question marks here. ‘
Part of an excellent post from a day ago.
An article of a player that the Dodgers released during the season last year…….
http://gazette.com/jeremy-hazelbaker-doing-well-in-cardinals-organization-after-being-released-by-dodgers/article/1555122
Feel free to check out his stat line so far this year with the Cardinals and tell me how he would not help this team.
I can answer that Chili!
The Dodgers are in transition. The Dodgers have new coaches and new evaluators at every level, from rookie leagues to the Major Leagues. This organization is not yet organized. Hazelbaker had three very significant things not going for him. 1. He never hit over .279 (A ball) anywhere and he’s been around for over 2700 at bats at every level since 2009. 2. The Dodgers already have too many outfielders at the Major League level, and a couple in the minors that they figured were better than him. 3. The name Hazelbaker. It’s just not Major League now is it. The Dodgers did him a favor by cutting him loose. If he was still here he would be lost in the outfield herd FAZ has rounded up.
How’s that?
🙂 Appreciate the answer and Yes all 3 of your reasons are valid but releasing a guy before ever giving him a chance to play at the Major League level and then he is picked up by someone else and makes their team and is now performing better than any of the Dodgers OF’s, well that doesn’t bode well.
Like I have been saying all along, play the kids. Why sign Kendrick? Utley? Why not release Crawford? Young talent is being wasted and in this case being released.
Why indeed Chili.
I was content with this being a rebuild year. And with that said, I really believed an infield of Seager, Peraza, Hernandez and AGon would have been worth buying a ticket to watch. I was surprised by the Utley signing, but I understood it. Veteran leadership. Hendricks coming back, under those circumstances, made NO sense to me. Crawford we are stuck with. And if he can somehow remain healthy, he can help. Not $20 million worth of help, but 2 WAR is still possible. The problem as I see it is one of abundance. How do you divide up a full season of 3 outfielder at bats amongst 6 starting outfielders? Now add Kendrick and Van Slyke to the mix. Good thing we keep having injured players, right? When everybody is fully healthy, there are going to be some pissed off Major Leaguers being sent to Oklahoma.
We will see how all of this is going to play out. I am still hopeful we get to see more of Thompson, Hernandez, and Johnson. And something else to think about – Guerrero and Arrueburenna. What the the hell are those two doing these days? We just going to pretend they don’t exist?
Badger do you think that Kike, has a lot of trouble,recognizing, the spin on the ball, or do you think that it is because, he isn’t getting consistent at bats?
Batting average doesn’t tell everything but Arrueburenna is batting .200 and Johnson is batting .236. Arrueburenna seems to be personna non grata in the organization. I haven’t heard of any Guerrero sitings recently.
I dint know MJ. My guess would be my own answer to that question, I found it easier to adjust to spin coming down and in than it was to adjust spin going down and away. But in EVERY league, from Little to Major, there are more right handed pitchers than left handers. Somewhere along the line Kiké pounded both or he would not be where he is. My guess is, and it’s only a guess, he just needs to see more Major League right handed pitchers. When you think about it, he doesn’t have much experience against them at this level. It’s my opinion this kid can hit. At his age I think it’s a shame to platoon him. Like I’ve said many times, he’s my every day somewhere player (I had him at second base) and I don’t care who is on the mound. FAZometrics disagrees with this take.
MJ,
If the organization that you are drafted in continues to sign FA’s, sign as many foreigners as possible and only worries or looks out for their high draft picks, than don’t you think you (or other long time minor leaguers) would feel helpless to fulfilling their dream. What happens to a person when they feel that they have no real opportunity for advancement?
I have felt all along that this is the case in the Dodgers organization and now there is some evidence proving it.
These are good questions. The organization thinks only about depth. The more better players you have, the more better your chances of having a great 40 man roster. I doubt they give much consideration to players feelings. I know I probably wouldn’t if I were in player development. And once drafted, these guys don’t much care where they play, only that they do play. That said, I still don’t quite understand the seeming constant movement of Dodgers prospects. They love Olivera and Peraza enough to spend, wheel and deal then they move them again. How about you find the guys you want and develop them? Now we have Thompson, Hernandez, Barnes and Johnson, all of them at an age to play now, and because of macro depth, racking stacking and unpacking micrometric musical chairs sabre-rama we have more platoons than the Marine Corps. The message to every player in the organization is simple really, take care of your business today and if you’re good enough, you’ll get your shot somewhere. Maybe not in LA, but the money spends well in any town, better in most.
In Hazelbaker’s case, he had to underperform in order to get out. That might now be the ticket for a few others.
Then you were content with the Dodgers deliberately fielding a mediocre team for the sake of “rebuilding.” I’m not, and I think the Dodgers have a chance to win THIS YEAR.
As for your last question: I wish.
The team is currently in first place. They’re projected – not by me mind you – but many pundits, to win over 90 and win the division again. Why on Earth would you deliberately play prospects who are not yet ready for the big leagues and deliberately forfeit a chance at a championship? To me that’s just insane. You people act as if the Dodgers are already out of the running, have no chance, so your strategy is just to throw in the towel and play the rookies, even if the rookies are nowhere near being major league ready. Seriously? You want to see if Urias can pitch 200 innings this year? Fernando’s arm was fried by his late 20s. That’s ok, I can wait on the kids.
And StL just did successfully what this FO does consistently and is constantly criticized for: finding a reclamation project. Utley was signed because the FO saw the potential for him to still be a productive major leaguer and provide a veteran and professional presence for the young players on the team. It’s a way for the FO to make this current team….better…. THIS YEAR. Why is that confusing to you? Kendrick was a solid 285 hitter last year and was one of the few player who hit well WRISP. They weren’t signing him to the multiyear he wanted, but when his price dropped, well, why not? He was comparatively cheap for his performance level, and the team is actually using him. Why is that such an issue? Why is that so mentally taxing to grasp?
I want to see a professional baseball team play and compete for a possible championship….THIS YEAR. I don’t want to see an extension of the AAA affiliate playing in Dodgers stadium. To say that the team doesn’t need an Utley, who’s been exactly what anyone could have asked, because you want to concede the next two years and make the squad an extended tryout session for untested prospects is just plain silly.
Protesteth much?
I must say, being in first place before May 1st sure impresses some people. Not me. I look at the teams currently in first place and I’m confident in predicting not all of them will still be there next week, let alone in October.
I said I get the Utley signing. And I take it you didn’t believe an infield of Seager, Peraza, Hernandez and AGon was good enough. I disagree. I think it would have been electric. Turner goes back to being the great utility guy he was, and at the deadline you don’t sissy out, you go bold. With my team, a mix of youth and veterans, I compete.
The problem as I see it is one you conveniently avoided – the pitching staff. Do you really believe this is a championship staff, or are you just blowing smoke with “I compete every year dammit” bullshit? We all want to compete every year. I’m the one that wanted to go for last year, remember? We didn’t, we got eliminated early and now the smart money is on 4 other teams ahead of ours to win the NL.
I’m saying the same thing I’ve said since Spring Training – the Dodgers, as they are currently constructed, are not good enough to win a championship. I don’t view that positIon as being negative, I simply view it as being not gullible enough to swallow the Blue choad.
Nope, just astounded that folks here would want to blow up this team and go into rebuild mode. And for you, it seems like that’s going to continue as long as Cole Hamel’s name shows up on a box score for the Rangers. The FO didn’t do it how you would have, so forget it.
Am I so blinded by some sort of FAZuphoria over being in first place that I don’t see the flaws in the club? Of course not. Kazmir’s chunking, I think Wood is done, the team’s not hitting right now, and the team still doesn’t have a reliable guy to get to Jansen. No, we don’t match up with the Cubs, Nats, and the other top teams.
With all that, we’re still in first. Just scratch and claw and get through the first half.
I think it’s reasonable for Ryu to come back in the second half, Kazmir to settle down and find his command, which would give us CK (who’s going to opt out because this team sucks), Maeda (who’s going to have his arm fall off because Japanese pitchers can’t pitch on five days rest), Kazmir (who isn’t a stud like Cueto and Samardija), Ryu…and somebody such as Bolsinger. It’s not an insurmountable task to find a bullpen piece or two.
There’s a reason why Peraza was traded by two organizations. Great speed…makes great contact, can’t draw a walk to save his life, has no power…..a slap hitter…..Dee Gordon Lite. Decent glove, average arm….really suited to second base, not shortstop. He was intriguing, but I don’t think the FO thought he was the future, so they got Thompson, who’s paying dividends now, and Montas, who will pay dividends later….we’ll need him actually with our bullpen the way it is. Peraza is still in the Reds AAA lineup. Turner, Seager, Kike/Utley, Agon is a better combination. If you want to field a competitive team now, you’re going to assemble the best players. Utley, the way he’s playing versus Peraza, a 21 year old unproven prospect with flaws in his game? No brainer.
Once Dee Gordon was told he could go ahead and hit he had a pretty good year didn’t he?
NEVER tell a hitter to look for a walk. That’s just dumb. You’re a hitter, hit. The key is always punish mistakes and don’t offer at anything out of the strike zone. You do that and pitchers will be cautious with you and you will get the occasional walk. I laugh every time I hear that “walk” reference. I would welcome the opportunity to work with someone who would rather hit strikes than let them go by trying to work a walk. You’re just taking the bat out of a young man’s hands if you ask him to work a count. With guys like Gordon and Peraza you tell them to hit the ball and run to second.
As for the weaknesses in this club, you are spot on. But patch, why is it ok that you bring them up but when the rest of us do we are cynics, stupid, moronic, negative and so on? This club has the flaws you mentioned, and every one of them have already been addressed by management. Brown at Yahoo spoke to this very topic this morning. The moves made have a tonal synchronicity to them. Their next move will be like their last 50 moves. McCarthy, Anderson, Wood, Kazmir, Maeda, Montas, Latos, Johnson….. see a pattern here? Yeah, if ALL goes right, this team could win 96 games. Since these guys took over, how much has gone right? We won last year on the backs of players already here. We lost in the playoffs…… never mind why we lost. That topic is the proverbial dead horse.
I don’t have the confidence you do. I see what I see. And I hope I’m wrong. I do see a promising future though. As long as the young players are given proper instruction, and instructors insist they play this game right, I see enough talent in the minors, and enough money in the Majors, to do this right. But I don’t believe this gets done by continuing to hire players other teams avoid for the obvious high risk reasons.
Hazelbaker is starting to come back to earth lately, and he himself, said that he wasn’t really applying himself before, when he was on the Dodgers. And he took this new chance more seriously. But like I said, he isn’t all world anymore, is from what I heard, while watching a Cardinal game, or maybe just on the MLB channel.
No one knows where he will end up but he was given an opportunity and has taken advantage of it so far. Have you ever been in a situation in a job or on a team where you felt like it didn’t matter what you did? No one is in playing in the minors cause they are making a great living. They all care and want to play in the Show. But when someone adopts the mentality that it is all for naught than the ‘not applying themselves’ kicks in.
And the ‘all world’ comment…..not sure who has ever said that about Hazelbaker but it’s safe to say that applying the same standards that Pederson and Puig are also not ‘all world.’
Chili any time a career minor leaguer, starts the season, on a major league team, and has fantastic numbers, that they have never before, had, it seems for that moment , that everybody wonders, where these great numbers, are coming from. It is just an expression. Think about when Puig first came up, to the Dodgers, didn’t everyone think, that he was the second coming, of a hall a fame player, because his offensive stats, were out of this world? But Puig eventually, came down, like all players do.
And I have never said that Pederson, is all world. And with Puig, didn’t everyone think, at one time, that he was a really great player, and the second coming, of Bo Jackson?
Chili I have also heard from former Cardinal player, that the Cardinals, don’t just watch the high draft picks, in there organization. The former player said, that everybody in the Cardinals organization, gets a look, and a chance, especially if they are contributing in there minor league system.
That is probably the reason why, the Cardinals, have players, that just come up to there major league team, and are good. And if I ran a team, I would do the same thing.
Believe me Chili, there is no way that you can work, or play, on a team, and not feel the way, that you have described.
On my high school team, the coach, didn’t choose the best players, for the team, or start the right players. And it was so obvious, and , the players, she picked, were always the weak link of the team.
I was on the team, but I, and many of my follow team mates, knew that our team, could have been much better, then it was, but the coach, got away with it, because, we always, came in first.
We had enough players, on our team, that played together, in league play, from a very young age, and everything, is second nature, after that, so the coach, really didn’t need to coach.
MJ,
I would disagree that many viewed Puig as a ‘potential’ HOFer. He was hyped and lived up to it that first year. When you are being compared to Bo Jackson and Roberto Clemente than you are being viewed as HOF material. Has that changed after last years performance, most definitely. Now the jury is out on whether he can perform at an above average level.
Chili I wasn’t even talking about a whole year, about Puig. I was talking about the first couple months, and I shouldn’t have used hall of Famer. I’m talking more about how everyone reacted when Puig first came up. And I am not trying to down play Hazelnaker, because I have had concerns about all of the pitchers, that the Dodgers have had, and gone to Pittsburg, and become decent, or really good pitchers.
Chili I agree, and I don’t like them signing the Cubans especially, because they have to give them big money, and you just don’t know, really, how talented some are. The other prospects, don’t get guaranteed money, unless there a top pick, Unlike the Cubans. Look what happened with Olivera. I wouldn’t have signed him, after taking a look at his health issues, and he hadn’t played baseball, for a couple of years. And he isn’t a spring chicken.
The problem is, your facts are what you project them to be. I thought we had this discussion about facts during spring training. You want to selectively use a statistic or an event or an example – out of context or with a small sample size – to demonstrate facts. The usual naysayers were bemoaning the shoddy defense during spring training. That was merely spring training, and one shouldn’t really read too much into that kind of thing. But those errors were facts, you said. …I don’t think the defense is a problem with this team, and it was actually quite good last year.
This Hazelton guy is a good example of the unpredictability of the game, and is one of the reasons the Dodgers are always signing this minor league castoffs from other teams, or signing players whose value might be depressed because of injury history. Sometimes these moves actually pan out. You don’t know unless you to try them.
You’re still bitterly disappointed that Hamels isn’t pitching for the team, so you check out and are waiting for some mythical 2018, where the team will have the rookies with some seasoning and have a chance to win it all before Kershaw opts out and leaves for Texas. That’s your reality. It’s not mine, and I’m pretty sure it’s not Friedman’s. …..I think this team will be hitting its stride by 18, but this team is still pretty good now, and with tweaks, can compete.
Just to clarify, I don’t think folks here necessarily hope this team loses. I just think the expectations are low. Some people like to gripe. If there’s not much to gripe about then, well, they just don’t got much to say. So yes, it’s a little quieter here when the team wins.
It sounds to me that you, box, and Mark spend more time griping in here than anyone else. You are griping about others opinions with every post.
2018 isn’t mythical. Unicorns and fairies are mythical. Unless there is an apocalypse, 2018 is a reality. It’s coming, and this organization’s #1 minor league system should be providing some exciting talent between now and then. It’s my opinion that, providing the Great and Powerful FAZ don’t ef it up with more McAnderlatos signings, the Dodgers should be in a very enviable position, especially with Clayton Kershaw in an option year. Geez man, I thought for sure that would be something upon which we could agree. Should I just quit trying to find common ground with you?
Tough loss. On the face of it we got outpitched, but it sounded like the home-plate umpire was giving the Marlins every break. As part of the legion of fans who can’t actually see the games, I’ll take Michael’s word for that
I’m still a little surprised that Roberts let Stripling start the sixth inning; he didn’t have his best stuff and he was tiring. Sure the bullpen was tired after the Coors series, but Coleman and Howell were fresh. Not sure why you bring Lee up to shore up the pen and then have him sit for two games. With all these five-inning starts, the team is going to need a long man in the pen. Bonilla got a three-inning save at OKC the other night; we could use a few of those.
I thought the umpire was squeezing a bit, but honestly I’ve seen worse. I’ve seen a lot worse. There were players on both teams groaning.
We were 0 for 3 WRISP. 3 runners in scoring position all night? Yoiks. Chen pitched well. We flatlined with two solo homers the only offensive excitement for the evening. Almost 45,000 in attendance for that sleeper. Against a team that will be lucky if they win 78 games. They’re not awful, and that’s as much a compliment as I can give them.
So, Clayton pitches, we win, and then we slug it out for 4 more until he pitches again. As long as Maeda’s elbow holds up I give us ad in for 40% of our schedule. In the other games, I think it’s a toss up. Coming soon we do have games at home against NY, St Louis and Anaheim, and two days off next week could prove to be beneficial heading into that home stand. May and June. We are going to find out what kind of team we are in the next two months. But then, once we find out it probably won’t mean all that because in July and August we will have some roster turnovers. Yep, we are getting reorganized. One day at a time, one week at a time, one month at a time.
I just think that Grandal wasn’t comfortable in area, and didnt know how close he was to the little wall, and that is why he dropped that pop up. Remember Grandal had recently, made a really good play behind the back stop, that he had to practically dive down on.
And Michael is right about Stripling striking out Stanton, even before that misplay. The ump didn’t give Stripling that pitch, out of respect to Stanton, and because Stripling is a rookie this year. Stripling in his last two outings, has tried to be overly careful with his pitches, and that has caused him to throw way to many pitches.
And Stripling command, wasn’t to good the last two outings, so sometimes an ump, won’t give a pitcher, a strike, if a pitcher, has not been consistent, throughout the game. Stripling pitches, we’re just dropping off a little to low, and barely, would make it over the plate, at times.
And sometimes, his pitches, we’re not quite hitting the corners, of the plate. He needs to stop trying to be too fine, with his pitches, so he doesn’t get his pitch count up.
I am suprised that no one has brought up Puig’s misplay in the outfield, when he slipped. If he wouldn’t have slipped, he would have got the ball in sooner, and that could have saved a run from scoring too. I was really glad to see Puig hit that oppo HR to rightfield.
Puig needs to continue to drive the ball, more up the middle, and to the opposite field. That is where most of his power is, and when he is hitting his best, he is hitting to opposite field, and up the middle.
Puig will hit a lot of gappers, if he continues to hit to the opposite field, and he will be able to run his heart out. If the Dodgers had there regular line up, in the game last night, I think they would have hit that Marlin’s pitcher, but they should have still won. I wish we could have swept the Marlins, because of Mattingly.
And because they lost last night, they are going to have to beat Fernandez, to take the series.
These B team games are ok…..if we win. Or if we have already won the first 2 games of the series. But to lose the first game of the series with the B team, it’s almost like throwing it away. The Marlins are not good, and we should have won even with the B team. But not with errors. Stripling admits that he is struggling now. His curveball sucks, he says. The one that Stanton hit was a Little League Looper. Still he pitched swell enough to win. I like his demeanor. He’s starting to look like he belongs in the rotation. I think he does.
I agree bobbie. Granted, the Miami lineup ain’t all that, but he made some decent pitches to Yelich and Stanton. It’s better for him to miss by one inch off the plate to Stanton than miss over the middle. Stripling is learning. For now I’d like to see him string some QS numbers together. You throw 107 pitches, you’re going to want 6 IP. At 15 per, that could get 7 if you are hitting your spots. This rotation needs game depth or the bullpen will get wore out by August.
I did see that terrible route by Puig MJ. It is worth mentioning. He’s a thrill a minute out there isn’t he. I wonder if he will ever put it ALL together. If he does, he’s a 7 WAR player – for possibly 7 years. Rare talent.
Badger I do love that he wants to play hard for Roberts and the team, and the fans. It was to bad, Puig couldn’t get a couple more hits, with his HR, to win the game, to beat Mattingly.
Bobbie 17 I was wondering where is curve ball was, last night, thanks.
What I’ve seen from Stripling the last few starts is that he doesn’t have an out pitch yet. He gets 2 strikes on a lot of guys, but isn’t finishing them off. Whether it’s because he’s a rookie trying to be too fine, or because his stuff isn’t there yet to finish a guy with 2 strikes, I don’t know.
I like how he battles. Lot of vets don’t know how to battle like this. In the next 3-4 starts, we’ll see teams adjust more to his stuff. Let’s see how he reacts then.
Greinke last night gave up 7 earned runs in 6.2 innings. Now has a 6.6 era for the year. Good thing for AZ that they only signed him for 6 years.
Bum I think that Greinke under estimated, playing for the Dodgers, and pitching behind Kershaw, in a pitcher’s park. But I do think that Greinke is a good pitcher. And I didn’t realize that the Giants, and the Dbacks, played yesterday. That lost cost us, a game in the standings, with both of those teams.
I wouldn’t take Greinke’s slow start as any measure of where he stands in relation to being around for 6 more years. This is Zach Greinke folks. He’s 32, so, yeah, he may not pitch like he did when was 31, but he’s going to take the ball every 5th day, he will eventually have an ERA at or below 3.5 and unless he is facing Clayton Kershaw, every time he faces us I will refuse to bet against him. Here’s something else to consider, we are going to want him to beat the midgets about 5 times this year. Go Zach.
Pitching is not that complicated. Stripling had 0-2 on a few batters. That batter should never see another strike. You throw a slider on the outside corner to make it look like a strike and when it gets to the batter it is outside by 3-4 inches. Same with a 12-6 curveball. You throw it thigh high so he has to swing at it and when it gets there the ball is below the knees. Stripling threw 12-6 curveball at the top of the strike zone and it ended up belt high to Stanton. You know what Stanton did with that pitch. Stripling will learn. But it seems to me that this should be taught in the minors.
Last night’s game was frustrating that is for sure. At times it seemed like Mattingly was managing the Dodgers again. A few missed opportunities with WRISP. When Kike’ nutted that one that went foul I thought he was going to crush another one in that at bat. Oh well.
Blanton scares me though, when he finishes his follow through he is in no position to field anything. Even a simple bunt and he has zero chance to field it. Stripling definitely go squeezed on some calls. I think he will do just fine, as long as Honeycutt doesn’t mess with him. I strongly feel Honeycutt is the weak link in the teaching/coaching chain, always have and always will.
Kendrick is blocking a half-dozen really good prospects. He looks lost at the plate, and he has for sure cost us some runs. In close games those runs are very valuable. Hopefully he will be traded, but with his lackluster performance, for what? Now that Crawford comes up it makes the Howie experiment even look worse.
Utley is playing lights out, can he sustain it? Probably not. But it sure is nice to see, and the kids better be learning from it. I wonder if Utley learned Spanish over the off season and he is schooling Puig. Hey, Ya never know.
I like Chili’s comment earlier. You really have to wonder if some of the prospects are starting to underachieve to get out of the farm, where there is so much blocking going on. And if they do get a call up the ink isn’t even dry on the return plane ticket. I’m sure prospects talk to each on different teams and I guarantee you coaches here what they are saying, just a thought, but a good one Chili.
I am soooo loving watching Grienke blow chunks. He better turn it around fast or the snakes might start coiling on him.
Cheers everyone!!!!!
P.S. I love MLB.tv and unlocator.com. No money in Guggs or TWC’s hands and I can watch my Dodgers.
Isn’t unlocator easy, and cheap?
Hey Tim. Good to see you engaged here.
On this team, if I’m a prospect, I’m going to continue to try to kick the door down. Look at the guys we have starting and tell me which of those positions is secure from impending injury. Short maybe. AGon is as iron as anyone. But every position out there is vulnerable and this organization has a history. Our medical records aren’t sealed. Somebody is going down next and if it happened tonight it should not surprise anyone. Prospects be ready. Your time will come.