The Dodgers may be winning trade wars on office phones, but they’re losing games on the field. Walker Buehler took the mound on a warm summer night with the hopes the Dodgers’ offense would heat up behind him.
Buehler’s fastballs were coming in at 95-97mph, but it wasn’t enough heat to keep the Brewers off the basepaths or the scoreboard. He went 7 innings, giving up 1 run on 5 hits after 105 pitches. It was his longest outing in over 2 months.
The Brewers went up 1-0 in the 3rd behind a single and an RBI double. Enrique Hernandez made two great plays showing incredible range, with one play ending the inning and robbing Lorenzo Cain at the plate. Credit Austin Barnes at the other end with a brilliant block at the plate on that as well.
On the other side, Miley pitching for Milwaukee, kept the Dodgers very quiet. Cody Bellinger hit one to the CF wall in the 7th, but Cain got his revenge when he leaped and stole a HR from Cody.
JT Chargois took over and faced the minimum, picking off Ryan Braun at 1st base.
Still down 0-1, the Dodgers went to Caleb Ferguson in the ninth. He kept Milwaukee scoreless as new Dodger, Brian Dozier (wearing Steve Garvey’s number) stepped into the Dodgers’ dugout. Would we see Dozier PH in the ninth with a chance to be the hero?
Nope. The Dodgers continued their “weak fly ball or strike out” ways and went down 1,2,3 in the ninth to lose their third in a row. At least they lost before it got too late.
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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We just are unable to manufacture runs even against replacement level pitchers. At home.
The Dodger bats have gone AWOL once again. This is getting to be an all too familiar theme every season. We’ve had some surprises in the season with bats batting and going on tears, but generally, this team is on the cusp of sinking. Of course, we don’t believe it will sink as we look a whole lot better than we did at the beginning of the season when we nose dived. Plus, our pitching is top tier in spite what anyone may think. Perhaps this is the most surprising thing to emerge. The pitching is what has kept us in games and most of the losses could be put on the bats not delivering.
What is there to be done? We got the best bat available, Machado. But, we also lost 2 very good bats in Turner and Seager. Kemp looks lost at the moment as does some of our other positional players. Most of the sages will say ‘patience’. It’s just a blip. That’s okay if you are holding a lead in your division and can spare the lost games. But our division is a full on battle field. No one is dominant.
We just lost 2 games to a very good Milwaukee team. They look solid and tight with their clutch players delivering enough to win. They seem to have a good balance of power and their pitching is shutting down other teams like us. It’s jelling for them, but it’s coming apart for us. Losing by 1 run is an awful feeling knowing your team is the leader in HR’s! I am really at a loss as to what the Dodgers can do at this point. They have to find a way to pull themselves together. We’ve got time. Are they hungry enough? It doesn’t seem so right now. I want to see some game faces put on and some real hustle like Kike’s stops at 2B. Is there anything that Roberts can do that another manager would be doing? Does he ever get pissed off at any of the players? Seems like a natural reaction that a manager would have. Steve Kerr is known for blasting players when they are slacking. Some confrontation is positive.
“What is to be done?”
We wait.
Buehler pitched a great game last night. He’s got a fantastic future. Cain is a great player but the joy to watch is that kid Yelich. What a fantastic, exciting, talented kid.
We trade prospects for rental SS and 2B. But we couldn’t trade any prospects for him???? I’d pay to see him over our outfield collage of CT/Joc/Cody/Kike any day of the week.
Artieboy
And Cain is 31 now I believe, but he is what a quality centerfielder is, because he makes every play look easy, but he always gets the job done on defense.
Your right, both Cain and Yelich, are a joy to watch!
Since we are using True Blue math here, I read what ES has to say about payroll. It’s a very long and detailed disquisition but if I got it right we are at $191.1mm and can stay there if Maeda is moved to the pen. He gets 2 more starts we go to $192.1. There are some other innings bonuses, quarter million each, that could be achieved, pressing us closer to $197mm. I’m assuming we are leaving some space for a possible waiver pick up later.
In Friedman’s conversation last night he mentioned the arms that will be coming back and he said the playoff pitching staff will be determined later. The rest of the roster? What you see is what you get. Live by the Thor Hammer, die by it. It’s ugly when it don’t work, but pity the team that gets hit with it.
If that’s right, and I don’t doubt Badger nor Eric, the Forsythe trade was almost one of necessity.
It’s truly a reset year.
That stings and stinks, but I hope it continues to go well.
So we get to the last game of the season, Maeda set to pitch. Win and win the division, lose and play the wild card game.
But pitching Maeda pushes over the 197M. What do you do if you are FAZ???
I’m pretty sure the team would see that situation coming from a long way away and take steps to avoid it being drastic.
Zaidi mentioned it, but the stats bear it out.
Past 6 LH starters vs the Dodgers — Newcomb, Fried, Suter, Heaney and Miley (twice) — have held the team to six earned runs on 22 hits and nine walks over 36 innings, numbers that add up to a 1.50 ERA and 0.94 WHIP.
Kemp and Muncy are definitely regressing. Hopefully that stops. Hopefully Dozier helps. What are Toles/Verdugo’s splits? Oh wait. It doesn’t matter. No room until roster expansion.
This is it for a while. Well, Turner back soon. Hopefully he can hit. The team does not impress without Muncy, Bellinger, Kemp and Taylor hitting. If they don’t improve, we are vulnerable. I wonder if Muncy needs a 10 day jacuzzi chit? Bellinger continues to swing and miss hittable pitches. Not sure about Kemp. Taylor might be regressing to his mean. Last year he was freaky good, as was Bellinger. Guys who swing like that have holes. Major League pitchers mine holes.
I guess we just show patience and wait it out. The good news is the pitching looks pretty not too bad. This is us. The good, the bad, and the ugly.
Hey Bluto, Love Hill going tonight. Got your popcorn ready?
Can’t watch. Post In moderation again
That’s too bad. Nobody loves loves Hill like you do. I’d love love him for you but he ain’t my type.
Moderation sucks.
Dozier is the back up for Muncy, and getting Dozier, is probably putting even more pressure on Muncy, so we will see what happens with Muncy, who is already slumping like Badger said, might happen.
The fans still have to pay for all the stuff the Dodgers raised, like tickets and for concessions, but the rich owners, can’t go over the luxury tax!
Rosenthal basically writes what has been surmised here. Move was to shore up against LHP (19th in the majors with a .699 OPS against lefties, as opposed to second with a .778 OPS against righties.) and to stay under threshold.
More at TheAthletic dot com.
https://twitter.com/Dodgers/status/1024518467095916545
YF
This is nothing new, but the good teams find more then one way, to score.
And it isn’t like these same players can’t do what is needed, but if it isn’t expected, the players don’t do it.
MJ, those teams are composed of good (not necessarily great) players and good management. I believe the Dodgers have good players…What’s missing?
Jonah
Really, just like the guy on High Heat said, the Dodgers don’t have as many talented players, like the other good teams do, even with the big pay roll.
The Astros stress batting for an average, not swinging at balls out of the strike zone, and they know how to manufacture runs, and so does the Red Sox.
The Astros got rid of every all or nothing hitter, in their line up.
It isn’t an accident, that the Red Sox and the Astros have higher team batting averages, and they are better at getting hits, when runners are in scoring position.
Having all these platoon players on the roster, wastes space on the roster.
Most of these good teams, have players that hit both lefties, and righties, and they platoon a little.
Repost of post in moderation:
Rosenthal basically writes what has been surmised here. Move was to shore up against LHP (19th in the majors with a .699 OPS against lefties, as opposed to second with a .778 OPS against righties.) and to stay under threshold.
More at TheAthletic dot com.
https://twitter.com/Dodgers/status/1024518467095916545
Some people feel the Dodgers should have just released Forsythe and kept Raley and Smeltzer. Do you think it is better to have 4ish million of dead money the remainder of the season by releasing Forsythe or is it better to get a potentially better player at the cost of 2 prospects most of us have never heard of? Dozier’s salary for the season is the same as Forsythe’s. The fact that Dozier’s AAV is less ( I believe 5 million compared to Forsythe’s 9) should help from the tax perspective but more importantly it gives FAZ the opportunity to make a trade in August for a pricier player without having to worry about tax implications and higher acquisition costs to offset salary. It’s well known that a lot of people on this site are not fans of Forsythe and have wanted him gone for a while but trading him for Dozier is a much smarter move than DFAing him. I live in South Dakota so I get the Twins games on my DIRECTV package. Dozier has a history of being a second half player. The last 2 seasons Dozier has excelled in the second half of the season so FAZ may be assuming he’ll improve in the second half. Another reason Dozier has struggled this year is due to the lack of support. Escobar and Rosario are the only hitters on the Twins playing well. Buxton and Sano have been terrible and Mauer has been a replacement level player over the past 5 seasons. Couple that with the fact that we don’t know if Kemp and Muncy will continue to hit or will they regress? Will Bellinger figure it out? Is this the player Taylor is? Will Turner ever be healthy this year? Personally, I think Turner is the key. If he can get healthy and produce close to what we’ve come to expect then I think we’ll be fine. Say what you will about FAZ and Doc but we’re leading the division despite all of the injuries and after this season they’ll have reset the tax.
I assumed they would just DFA him because – who would want him? Some of us, me included, said if you attach enough talent, you could trade anybody. That’s what happened. Good move. But it remains to be seen if Dozier is a better option at second than Kiké or Taylor. Hope so
Jimbo
First we are not leading the division today, after these last three games.
And that is because this team can’t get hits when runners are in scoring position, and they don’t do the things, to make the offense more productive.
Before giving all this credit to the front office, why was Forsythe given a raise and kept, in the first place.
He is not hitting much worse, then he did all last year?
I agree with you about Turner, but we have a team of all or nothing hitters, just like Dozier, that know the pitchers in the National League, unlike Dozier.
And Taylor has better numbers then Dozier has.
And really you are questioning Kemp, he is probably one of the few players on this team that has a long history of hitting, so he will hit eventually.
I agree about Muncy.
My buddy Package wants me to give Dozier a chance, so I will, so let’s hope Dozier, is not another Reddick.
My mistake on us no longer being in first.
I agree that we are generally piss poor at situational hitting and it annoys the crap out of me.
Forsythe’s option was picked up and in hindsight it probably shouldn’t have been. However he had a WAR of 1.9 last season and as people ( I think Badger) have said before 1 WAR is worth something like 7+ million so it’s not like he was over paid.
In my opinion Dozier has a better track record than Taylor. Taylor had one really good season and was tailing off at the end of last season. Dozier has done as much or more for longer. Last season Taylor had an OPS+ of 122 and a WAR of 4.8. The last 4 seasons Dozier went 114, 104, 134, 126 & 5.2, 2.6, 6.3, 4.5. At their best Dozier has been better. I wasn’t trying to knock Taylor. More on him in a minute.
Kemp absolutely carried the team the first 2 months of the season. I just don’t think he can sustain it all season. By month his OPS+ is 148,154,105,120 so he’s been good all year but he cooled off in June and heated back up in July. Should we expect him to OPS+ 150 the last 2 months?
We don’t know if Muncy can keep doing what he’s done. If he can’t Bellinger will move back to 1B and Taylor and Pederson will most likely split time in CF.
Well said Jimbo.
I am confident these guys will, at times, hit as a team. I am not confident they will do it often, nor am I confident they will do it when it must be done.
Jimbo
The only reason Forsythe had any value at all last year, was because he had his best numbers defensively, in his entire career last year.
And you don’t bet on what a player has done once in a long career, he was an liability on offense last year, much like this year.
I agree with you about Dozier having a better track record, but Dozier is past his prime now.
And Taylor is younger, and Dozier has not faced most of these pitchers, in the National League.
I agree with you, about Kemp maybe not being able to carry this team, but he will hit more likely then most anyone, on this team.
I don’t think Taylor will be on the bench much at all, I think Roberts sees him as an everyday player.
He is the best centerfielder on this team, and Joc is a defensive liability, in center.
That is why you see more of Cody and Kike in center.
If Corey had never got hurt, Joc would have never got a chance to play as much, as he has.
And if we were making a line up just on OPS, Dozier and Puig, and some other players on this team, would not be starting in this line up everyday.
The best producers on a team, don’t always play as much as they should, unless the team continues to lose.
But I think your right to question if Muncy can turn this around.
And I hope Dozier turns out to be the player you have talked about too.
Thanks for your perspective!
When Turner gets back, what happens? Dozier is a negative dWAR player this year. I don’t know if he’s that bad. He played in Minnesota, nobody knows if he’s that bad. 2 years ago he had a 6 oWAR, last year he had a 4.9 oWAR. I don’t know if he’s that good, but if he is, Taylor might on the bench and Kiké will get fewer at bats
We still have 4 second basemen, 5 if you count Muncy (which I don’t). Not sure how this plays out but am looking forward to it.
Dozier is just as likely to be a waste of a roster spot with his all or nothing approach. A DFA of Forsythe allows a guy like Verdugo or Farmer to play more. I agree that getting a bit more lux tax flexibility could come in handy if there is a trade before the waiver deadline, but I would be very surprised if the FBZ makes a move.
The Houston Astros and Dodgers now co-favorites to win the World Series after trade deadline, followed by the great Red Sox and Yankees, per Bovada
According to 538 the Cubs still have a better chance to win the World Series than the Dodgers. The deadline didn’t change that.
Badger
I was talking about when Turner returns, and you know they don’t always go by the numbers.
I am talking about who I think Roberts is going to play.
Taylor with all his strike outs, did hit in the most runs on this team in July, but I don’t know how many opportunities he had to do that.
And Kike has only hit above 200 in June, but last night even Orel said, Dozier would be getting most of the starts at second.
Because I think Taylor and even maybe Kike, have better OPSes, then Dozier.
And you know how Roberts plays these players they pick up at the trade deadline, even when they are not doing much.
And remember Barnes plays second too.
And some will say, even with all these second baseman they have brought to the team, non are really good second baseman, on both sides of the ball.
And maybe Manny will start hitting better, after he is back at short.
For reasons that escape me (what are the odds of that???:-), the Ds of the
last decade have been moderately to greatly over-rated at this time of
year for success in October….
Bet with the skeptics!
Just read at MLB the Dodgers system has dropped from 7th to 11th post deadline. San Diego is now#1. Gulp.
Badger
I checked to see what Taylor was hitting when runners were in scoring position for July, and he was hitting 440 for July, and 333 in June.
So he has been pretty good numbers in those high leverage situations, in June and July.
I looked at his splits and he had hit in ten runs each month, before July, and he hit in 20 runs in July, and 18 were when runners were in scoring position, even with all those strike outs.
Outside the top 10??!!
Hopefully it was worth it (doesn’t look like they gave up much that’s irreplaceable outside of Diaz) and they can get back in, soon. Won’t be easy drafting late and not signing the top picks.
Yeah, San Diego is in full rebuild.
Olney on the trading deadline:
Los Angeles Dodgers: A-plus. Once they landed Manny Machado, they clinched a perfect score here, because he was deemed by front offices everywhere — from Philadelphia to the Bronx to Arizona to Milwaukee to L.A. — as the one slam-dunk difference-making player. He’s already paying dividends for the Dodgers: With Justin Turner out, Machado has moved to third base and is hitting .304 with a .500 slugging percentage, in keeping with his season-long performance. Even if the Dodgers fail to win the World Series, even if they fail to reach the postseason, the front office can know it turned over every rock to get better during the season, by landing Machado, second baseman Brian Dozier and reliever John Axford.
So, Olney (and Bluto?) believe that even if the team fails, management need not take responsibility for it because they tried.
What is this – third grade? Shall we give them a Participation Certificate?
The goal for this organization is a championship. Anything less is failure.
Badger
Cain has a 3.9 war, and has only hit 8 HRs this year.
He has 17 DRS in center already this year, and you probably already know he is excellent on the bases too, but that last one was a gift.
And although we don’t have the highest payroll this year, there are a lot of teams with smaller payrolls, that are competiting with us.
Cain is a bonafide star and has been for 5+ years. What he is doing should not be a surprise. This Brewers team is legit.
After 4 innings the Dodgers have more errors than hits. This nothing half of all or nothing is boring.
Yeah, that’s never (Championship or bust) been my criteria.
Truthfully I’m not a real fan of Olney nor his opinions. Just share them because he at least is informed.
We aren’t?
I’m not.
Badger
I knew about Cain before this, but with the emphasis so much with HRs now, he shows how you should really play the game.
And he makes it look so easy.
Dozier has already did more the Forsythe, this year.
But hopefully the entire line up, won’t try to hit one out, every time they are up.
Package
That one was for you, from Dozier!
Dreams do come true!
MJ
If Dozier is right, he can rake. He will at times slump and he does strike out a lot. He is also a good guy.
Sounds like this passed ball (wild pitch?) incident with Grandal was something to behold.
He made up for it? With a dinger?
Kenley for a 5 out save looking like second guessing?