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Dodgers Give us Hope, Then Let us Down Yet Again

The Dodgers did it again. They’ve blown yet another extra-inning game, a game that they could have easily won. Once again this incompetent team snatched defeat from the jaws of victory in another long drawn out ugly loss. Originally it looked like the Dodgers were going to lose 5-4. They trailed the entire game and up until the bottom of the ninth were losing by that very score. Rich Hill turned in another terrible outing allowing five earned runs on seven hits while lasting only four frames. Again Oscar figured that the long layoff between starts may have something to do with his god awful pitching. He’s probably correct. It looked like the Dodgers were going to lose within three hours. Then something terrible happened…..The Dodgers rallied.

Enrique Hernandez’s pinch-hit solo home run with one out in the bottom of the ninth tied the score at 5-5, and actually breathed some life into a morose and dreary Dodger dugout. Poor Hernandez, we can’t blame him for this mess. Those darn Dodgers did something that they always do….they gave us hope. Then they let us all down again, because that’s also what they do. The Dodgers left the bases loaded in the bottom of the tenth and then left runners stranded in the bottom of the eleventh before Daniel Descalso’s three-run home run in the top of the twelfth mercifully put an end to our miseries. The Dodgers instead of losing by a 5-4 score within regulation lost 8-5. The Dbacks are clearly a better club in every way possible and it’s not even close.

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But the club had fought back to tie the score and send the game into extra innings. The Dodger attack in the previous innings consisted of an RBI single from Matt Kemp in the first and a Yasmani Grandal home run in the bottom of the third. Grandal delivered again in the bottom of the fifth with an RBI ground ball single, and Cody Bellinger’s slicing run scoring double brought the Dodgers to within one.

I had written the recap before Hernandez’s home run because I figured they wouldn’t do anything in the ninth inning. When Hernandez hit that home run, I had to consider rewriting the entire recap but they ended up losing anyways. This is the 2018 Dodgers people; they’re an unwatchable depressing failure. Anyways back to my original recap….take a read at what I had written just before the ninth inning.

Rich Hill insisted that he was fine to pitch when the Dodgers were in Mexico. But management felt that the humidity would not be good for his ailing fingernail so they pushed his start back until tonight. Oscar felt that maybe that was the reason for his terrible outing in the Dodger’s loss to the Dbacks on Tuesday night. Oscar may have a point, but I don’t think it would have mattered much honestly. The curveball specialist was terrible and the offense did very little while the Dodgers dropped another game to the Snakes in the opening match of the home stand. It’s just another loss to the Dbacks here. Not a whole lot to talk about.

All of the good feelings from the no-no in Mexico have disappeared. The Dodgers combined no-hitter in Mexico was certainly a nice achievement, but it came against the Padres. They’re one of the few clubs that are actually worse than the Dodgers this year. There’s not many of them. It was merely a nice respite from a season full of terrible moments. Now we returned to the awful losing as the Dodgers returned home to play the Dbacks. Take note that the Dodgers are now nine games behind first place Arizona in the National League West. Coming into this series the Dodgers had lost 7 out of 10 against the Snakes. It’s not getting any better folks.

But getting back to Hill, he never looked comfortable tonight. After getting the first two outs in the top half of the first inning he walked Paul Goldschmidt and AJ Pollack followed with a monstrous home run to give the Dbacks an early 2-0 lead. Move over Goldschmidt because Pollack has now replaced him as the leading Dodger killer. That’s his seventh home run this year hit against the boys in blue. I’m sure the Dodgers will continue to pitch to him.

The Dbacks smacked three home runs, all three against Hill. Chris Owings went yard in the top of the third to put the Dbacks up by a 3-1 score. The third jack was a John Ryan Murphy blast with Nick Ahmed aboard in the top of the fourth that put the Snakes up 5-2. Hill allowed five earned runs on seven hits over four unimpressive innings. He struck out five and his ERA is now 7.71. He just might be bad.

Arizona starter Zack Godley wasn’t any better. The Dodgers got to him as the right hander’s control slipped away. Godley walked four and struck out four across 5.2 innngs. The Dodger bats tabbed him for four runs on six hits. But it was not enough.

The one man who is not part of the problem, Yasmani Grandal smashed a solo home run in the bottom of the third. Matt Kemp, another guy who is not a problem knocked in Chris Taylor with an RBI single in the bottom of the first. Grandal would come through again in the bottom of the fifth. After Tim Locastro’s walk and a single from Alex Verdugo that moved him over to third, the switch-hitting backstop’s ground ball single into right plated him to cut the score to 5-3 Arizona. Cody Bellinger’s double scored the next run (off of Godley) to cut the score to 5-4 Dbacks.

That would be it for the Dodger attack. Arizona, who has a real bullpen that actually holds leads used four relievers (Fernando Salas, Archie Bradley, Jorge De La Rosa, and Brad Boxberger) to keep the Dodgers off the boards for the final 3.2 innings.

The Dodger season in a nutshell can be explained by the final three innings. In the bottom of the tenth the Dodgers had victory within their grasp when they loaded the bases with just one out. But Kyle Farmer and Chase Utley both struck out. They had two runners on in the bottom of the eleventh inning. Keep in mind that Dave Roberts made such a huge managerial blunder in that tenth frame that I openly called it out on twitter.

What I don’t understand is taking out your best hitter so a relief pitcher can pinch-run for him. This is so asinine that it makes my brain explode. I get it, Grandal isn’t the fastest runner, actually he’s not fast at all. But it’s not like Stripling gives you anymore speed anyways. Why take out your hottest hitter for a marginal upgrade on the bases? It makes zero sense because we all know that these 2018 Dodgers will just find a way to not score. And what do you know… they did.

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So when runners were at first and second after Hernandez and Chris Taylor reached base in the bottom of the eleventh, instead of Grandal coming up with a chance to win the game it was Kenta Maeda pinch-hitting. Because not only was Grandal removed from the game but Roberts had already used up all of his position players. So Maeda sacrificed the runners to second and third and Bellinger flied to right. Then Yimi Garcia served up a three-run home run to Descalso in the following inning. Terrible management, terrible execution, terrible relief pitching and terrible team.

The Dodgers are now 15-20 and fall to nine games back in the National League west standings. With each pathetic loss the optimists and apologists disappear one by one. Even the biggest rosiest optimist has to admit that the Dodgers aren’t going anywhere this season. Best start making those October vacation plans now. The golf courses should be in pristine condition this fall.

The Dodgers look to get swept and fall 10 games behind Arizona in the series finale on Wednesday evening. Patrick Corbin gets the call for the Snakes while the Dodgers counter with left hander Alex Wood. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 PM PST. Please just lose quickly this time Dodgers.

Scott Andes

Scott Andes: Longtime writer and Dodger fanatic

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Scott Andes
Scott Andes: Longtime writer and Dodger fanatic
https://ladodgerreport.com

44 thoughts on “Dodgers Give us Hope, Then Let us Down Yet Again

  1. If Roberts’ blunders are not enough for any front office to re-think its commitment to him, the pitching that this front office has brought in is so broken and inept, that it will overshadow any need for replacing Roberts. And Roberts does need replacing, my friends. He is a manager who cannot manage in-game situations. He has blundered his way through this season and I am very tired of watching this team shoot itself over and over again.

    With any other pro sports team, the rumors of Roberts demise would be swirling. You don’t go from almost champ to chump without the major sacrifice of its manager/coach. Cleveland got rid of its winning baketball coach after he lost in the Finals to the Warriors and hired Tyron Lue. They won the next year’s Final. Even the Rams hired a young unknown coach after years of desperation, and respectability came after his first season and first place in the division and the playoffs. I say Roberts is expendable and necessary to replace. His replacement will be easy compared to the replacement of our pitching staff because of the same blundering that the FO have accumulated over the last few years. So, I call for their heads, as well.

    Overall, this team is not viable, and is so broken that the healing that they need cannot be brought about by the same hands that put them in this bind. Ownership must change too, as they are not committed to winning if there is no replacement for manager or FO. Maybe it’s true, that the Dodgers are just a money chip in some billionaire’s portfolio of assets and that pride of ownership has little to do with the game of winning other than cashing in for a substantial profit.

    It’s boring and bad baseball, insulting to the real fan of the game.

  2. This happens after every loss.

    We aren’t very good right now. Is it time to rebuild? Of course not. It’s May 9th and we are 9 games out. Some of us are acting like we’ve never been here before. Fact is, we’ve been here more than once.

    I still don’t see this as a manager problem. Yeah, I’m not in line with all things metric, Roberts obviously is, but I see this as a player problem. These guys are not doing their jobs. Each loss can be attributed to a player or players somewhere failing to come through. Last night Hill sucked, Garcia sucked and the team was 3 for 14 WRISP. Roberts did not throw one pitch nor did he fail to come through with ducks on the pond. This is a player issue. We just are not playing well so far.

    Roberts – “We don’t stay in the strike zone with runners in scoring position”. No kidding. Why not? Hill – “to pitch the way I did is unacceptable”. Dude, your ERA is now over 7. That didn’t just happen in the 4 innings you pitched last night. You’ve only pitched 4 times and you’ve sucked 3 of those times.

    This may be who we are in the reset year. If so, it’s going to be a long year. But i say it’s still way too early to judge this team for the year.

    1. It seems like you just want to hedge your bet, Badger. This team is dysfunctional. You are hoping that they will somehow become functional once again. It’s the same players every year and the same failures. We see the same mistakes made by the FO and the manager. Those are real to everyone and quite apparent. I’m not making this shit up. Of course, things don’t stay the same. They will change, but how much they will change depends on the overall decision making of the FO and manager. If the talent is lacking, which seems to be the case with our pitching staff, how do you change it if the players can’t produce because of the inherent problems they have that cannot be overcome like aging bodies, injuries that come back to haunt athletes, etc. How do you fix a manager who can’t manage in-game?

      All you’ve got is hope, Badger. That is not logical and not dealing with what is the case, facts. Turner will come back. The team will probably improve but the same habits and routines will not change much because of the people involved and the decisions they make. Something has been missing from the Dodgers for decades and the FO has not found it. Last year was an anomaly. They had great success and great suckage. No cigar, once again.

      I can only turn to the Warriors, my team as much as the Dodgers and tell you, when the ownership changed, everything began to change. It was a process of bringing a winning culture and most importantly, the ‘talent’ to the team. Ownership was committed to winning. The Dodger FO is not committed to winning. Is it not obvious?

      1. I just wanted to add that when Colletti was hired and the ownership finally forked out the money to do the big trade, they brought Manny and some interesting talent to the Dodgers. It was a mixed bag but the direction was essentially positive. They wanted to win. They made mistakes of optimism and paid too much for some of the pieces and this always leads to trouble. But the passion was there. They spent money. Money is the key to the game. The talent want money. No one can blame them. If you’re not willing to spend, you’ve lost part of your power and have short-circuited the process. FAZ is a disaster for baseball. It is a game of entertainment and they are anything but entertaining. Theirs is a numbers game. They are busy auditioning the lame and unproven talent to try and find the needle in the haystack. This is how they are. I repeat, this is bad for baseball and the fans who want satisfying entertainment. If you are die hard fan no matter what, you have a problem. You watch a team that cannot satisfy you. This causes displeasure and discomfort in the fan. Eventually, the fan, if intelligent, loses interest. If not intelligent, they keep coming back because they are not very smart and keeping hoping that somehow, it will change. Personally, I don’t live my life like that, and am losing interest in this team rapidly. I have fond memories, but I can move on from this team easily. Why would I stick with them? It would be somewhat neurotic, no?

        1. lol. I just wanted to add that Los Angeles has a poor history of keeping pro sports teams in place. I don’t know why that is. The Dodgers have dominated the baseball market in L.A. They moved at a perfect time and have held captive the audience for decades while fielding for many years a subpar product. Lakers have been a different story. They’ve earned the stardom, the showtime. Dodgers have earned nada.

        2. I don’t want to blame the moneyball or the SABR style of management. I like the style, I just don’t think the FBZ is that good at it, and they should not be the posterboys of that method. Just look at the Astros and the Yankees as examples of how things should be done.

          And remember the FAZ blew a lot of money on failed reclamation projects masquerading as starting pitching and “depth”. All the winning talent that we have were already here before they arrived.

    2. Badger
      I think Jeff has it right and I have been saying that forever. I have been very critical of Roberts and the FO over and over on this site but many think that the Robert and the FO have just been hit by the injury bug and they have an excuse for this years team, just like I also predicted. This FO and manager have never done the job. They have failed to provide the pitching or hitting over and over. If it had not been for Colletti, we would not have won those divisional, and league titles. These folks have got to go.

  3. Zero chance any team in any market would consider firing a manager two years removed from winning manager of the year and one year from the world series.

    And what’s without the injuries.

    Zero percent Jeff, don’t post stupid things.

    1. Manager of the Year for me is not a very meaningful award and has zero traction when it comes to the current year we are talking about. An example in the NBA that I gave is Blatt, the former coach of the Cavaliers. They lost to the Warriors in the Finals. The coach was fired and replaced with Tyrone Lue who is still the coach there. Blatt was a rookie coach like Roberts, but he had a winning track record in Europe. What does Roberts have?

      To call my post stupid for pointing out the failures of the manager is not unrealistic. Maybe it is unrealistic for THIS group to let him go because they were the ones that signed him and hyped him without Roberts having any managerial experience except as a supporting coach. He has blundered his way through both years of his stint here. Do you disagree, Bluto?

      1. Of course I disagree, that’s why I called it stupid.

        He’s blundered himself into the admiration of his peers and the World Series. I hope he continues to “blunder” in the same manner.

        Perhaps you could better your case by actually detailing what blunders you feel he has made, on aggregate, in general or in specific.

  4. The Dodgers entered Tuesday hitting .258 with a .751 OPS with runners in scoring position. They finished last season hitting .247 with a .789 OPS in the same situations.

    They went to the World Series last season.

    1. They are not going this year unless they find ways to beat other teams. Knocking in runs when the bags are jammed with 1 out would be a great start. This all or nothing mentality at the plate is getting old fast.

  5. I’m not a FAZ fan. You know this. The best players we have are not FAZ guys. Those non FAZ players are the guys I’m hoping will bring it home before it’s too late. You may be right and it is already too late. I hope not, so, you are right about me Jeff, all I got is hope. I sure as hell didn’t get any of the players I wanted added since Friedman arrived. (Well, actually I thought Darvish was a good deadline pickup. Got that wrong). For the most part their moves have just not impressed.

    But…. we won over 100 and went to a 7th game of the World Series. One step away. Yes, that could have been the peak for this management team. But I’ve got time so, I think I’ll just hang around and see what might happen. Perhaps FAZ will surprise us. Maybe Machado takes over for Seager and the team goes on a 43-7 run. Won’t you guys be surprised. Again.

    1. Darvish was a shot in the dark. I liked the move because it showed a desire to win and do something to replenish a depleted rotation. Darvish has potential but I never liked the way he was pitching. He has the body for the big leagues but I always said his problems were mental and they still are. They did the smart thing not re-signing him.

      Indeed, I would be surprised if the Dodgers could go on any kind of run this year.

  6. Although Roberts gets me upset with some of the line ups, he makes up, and other stuff he does, like Badger, I don’t blame this all on Roberts.

    Because we know Roberts and our bench coach, have regular meetings with our front office.

    And our front office brings in the numbers, and let their thoughts be known about the team, in these regular meetings, with Roberts, and our bench coach.

    And there is no way that Roberts is not influenced by these regular meetings with the front office, and because of this, a lot of the moves that Roberts makes, our not always based from Robert’s ideas, or our bench coaches’ ideas, all of the time.

    And it isn’t Roberts fault that this front office wanted to get under the luxury tax more, then equipping this team with talent, so they could have another chance at a championship.

    What big market team, would worry more about money, then equipping their team with talent, after going to game seven in the World Series, the year before?

    A team’s value goes up inmmensely after they win a World Series, so their is also a monetary reason to try to improve a team, that just went to game seven in the World Series, the year before.

    And a couple of moves from this front office in the off season, are very questionable, considering they stressed they needed to get under the luxury tax, this year.

    Especially when the front office are suppose to be really good with money, and taking that in consideration, why did they waste some of their precious money, on a couple of players that had terrible seasons last year, like Forsythe, and Joc?

    That just doesn’t make sense, when that money could have gotten them possibly a decent arm, for the bullpen.

    Also they could have gotten a couple of good arms for the pen, and paid that luxury tax, for one more year, especially after this team made it to game seven.

    And after all, this will be the last time they would have to pay the luxury tax, since they will be losing a bunch of money on the books, after this year.

    The Dodgers have raised the price on tickets every year, since this ownership took over, and this year, they raised the ticket prices 30 percent, I believe.

    And not another team in all of baseball, raised their tickets prices beyond ten percent, unlike the Dodgers.

    The Dodgers also have the biggest TV contract of any team in baseball, too, and they are the second richest team, in all of baseball.

    When you take all of this into consideration, I don’t think it would have hurt this team much, if they got a couple good arms for the pen, to improve this team, and pay the penalty of the luxury tax, one more time, since so much money is coming off the books, next year.

    Does anyone really think the Dodgers are really hurting that much, when it comes to money?

    1. This may be my favorite post by MJ in more than a year.

      More of this, less on Joc/Toles/Puig, please.

    2. Great points MJ, and so very true…bravo.. Roberts not totally to blame except for his in game decisions which so far are very questionable.

      1. Of course he’s not totally the blame, but he’s so obviously inept at in-game management that someone and something has to be changed. Mattingly, one of the icons of baseball, certainly had a great career. As a manager, he lacked a lot. Roberts lacks even more. Every sports team needs a shot in the arm and this often comes about through the sacrifice of the manager. Would anyone seriously be disappointed if Roberts were replaced?

        1. His contract is up at the end of this year. Whether or not they resign him is up for debate. He does adhere to what they spout, so he is a company man and I believe they renew him.

    3. The answer is that the FBZ (with full support of Guggenheim) is playing the game like it’s a video game. They have spotted a weakness and they keep milking and exploiting it. Like you need 10000 points for an extra life, you find a spot where you can pick up 10 points risk free, so you keep going to that spot a thousand times even if you have to spend an extra hour playing the game. That’s how they think.

      The tragedy is that the “game” they are playing is not the game of baseball. Their “opponent” is not the other clubs. They are playing the game of profitability against the fans. We are what they are playing against, but only a few are awake to this. They know the gargantuan LA market is hurting for a winner and the Dodgers are the best they’ve got in the last few years. The Chargers and the Rams don’t count because they’re recent transplants (and re-transplant). So they are milking the fans at every chance to make a killing. At much lower taxes I might add. Look at the price increases while payroll gets slashed. This is their game.

      They have the LA sports market, for now.

      They know it will turn fast. As soon as the Lakers gets back to contention the FBZphilez will turn on them. But that’s at least 2-3 years away and these big money arbitragers will have moved on from the LA market.

  7. I really had to think about this a long time before I posted anything. I did not want to post being angry. The more I thought about the game and the way it played out, I was not angry, I was resolved to the fact that this team, as constructed right now is not very good. Badger said something the other day that has never rang more true than now. They are a team of utility players and they are playing like it. I, as most of you know am not a huge fan of the saber metric form of evaluating players. Nor do I like it when it is used to select lineups and dictate in game moves. As fans we expect a lot of these guys. And the last 5 years we have been somewhat rewarded. Not the big prize, but at least constant shots at getting there and coming up short. That’s old news. The other day I looked at the Dodger roster and the only catcher listed was Grandal. Barnes and Farmer were being carried as infielders. It reverted the next day and Barnes and Farmer were catchers again. Other than the guys who are pure outfielders, Puig, Verdugo, Kemp, Pederson, pretty much every other guy on the team plays multiple positions and they were even having Pederson take balls at first. There are no position players on this team who are considered elite. Oh Seager would be there and some would argue that Turner is. Bellinger needs more seasons under his belt before he gets that tag. Kemp at one time was one of the best in the game. Players are paid to do a job. If they are successful 30% of the time, they are great players. Of course that is while they are hitting. Complete players are superstars and future Hall of Famers. I hear arguments that this guy or that guy cannot be compared to this player because he does not have as many at bats or some such thing. Well the thing is that ballplayers are supposed to be ready to do the job they are signed for no matter where or when they are called on. That’s why the elite make so much money. I am guilty a lot of the time of expecting a player to live up to that. When they do not, I get frustrated and sometimes pretty POed. I probably have been more frustrated with Joc over the years because I saw a kid who could hit the ball a mile. I never really liked his approach at the plate and felt he swung at too many bad pitches, but I always thought he was young and he would get it. There were times I would scream at the screen of my TV when Yasiel Puig would chase pitch after pitch that he had no chance in hell of hitting. I defended those guys because I had seen flashes. Joc had 20 homers before the all star break his rookie year and has never been the same. Puig came up and ripped the league apart. He was hitting over .400 on first pitches. He has not been the same player since. Chris Taylor was unimpressive in his short stint with the team in 2016. When he came up last year with his new approach he had a pretty good year. I do not see that player this year. In fact the entire team is striking out way too much. 11 more last night. Kemp finally has enough at bats to qualify and is the NL leader in batting. But what I saw last night was a demoralized team. They have a bunch of guys on the DL and whether or not those guys make a difference when they return is up in the air because unless the FO fixes the pitching, their chances of going anywhere or getting back in the race get slimmer every day. Barnes is under the Mendoza line, but has the highest OBP on the team, go figure. The LEADOFF hitters OBP is under .300! So clearly some changes are needed. There is not a clear choice at leadoff, but someone else might be a better choice. Washington moved Harper to leadoff and he responded with a 2 homer game. The starting staff is a disaster. The best pitcher so far, Ryu, went down, Kershaw is not Kershaw, Hill is a frippen train wreck. Wood is no where near the guy he was last year and Maeda is mediocre. Buehler will be in there a while, at least until Kershaw returns. There are not many options at AAA except Banuelos and DeFratus who both have MLB credentials. I call up Venditte right now. I also think going with only 4 bench guys has hurt the team. What and how the FO reacts to all the problems remains to be seen. But the way it is playing out now, this will be the Dodgers lost season. I don’t want to hear that it’s early crap. You can put yourself in a hole in May that you will never get out of. They need to win tonight and sweep Cincinnati. If they don’t I will not be surprised at all. And Badger, I will be surprised if FAZ ever acquires a player that actually has superstar skills. His track record says otherwise and they are barely under the cap, so that ain’t happening.

    1. Michael nailed it.

      There’s no big acquisition on the horizon until the luxury tax resets.

      I doubt the team starts the clock on any new prospects, just to satisfy a subset of fans.

  8. Manny Banuelos, my guy, got clobbered today.

    If there is no help at AAA, then will they reach to AA?

    With the commitment to the reset, I too doubt there will be any stars brought in to help. I know it looks bleak. But nothing is decided in May. There will be a second half of this race. That begins after the first half, which ends in July. Sellers? I don’t see it.

    1. Badger
      The fact is that FAZ and Roberts do not have a clue. They do not know how to build or maintain a baseball club. What you see now is all of them scrambling for some kind of fix but they do not have a goal because they don’t know what action to take. They don’t know whether to make a trade, bring up talent from AAA or AA or anywhere they have authority, or just do nothing and that is what they are doing. They know they can blame injury and that is what they will do. They will then leak this shit to the times and all the writers there will jump on board and the fans that read it will believe it and then nothing will ever change. Gotta get rid of those fools.

      1. Most of that I agree with. I think they do have a plan, I think they know when they want bring up minor league players and when they want to make trades. They sure knew what they wanted out of Cuba. The problem as I see it is that most of their moves don’t mean much as far as helping the team get stronger. All one need do is check the transaction sheets since October of ‘14 and you will see hundreds of moves involving players we’ve never heard of and dozens involving the rehab projects of which they are so fond.

        I think they are now stuck between the proverbial rock and hard place. We are a crippled team and they didn’t see it coming in this, the reset year. I don’t know how they intend to deal with it but another Latos or Kazmir move will not be enough.

        We need to get healthy and we need to play better baseball.

        1. Badger
          Bringing up minor league players and sending other minor league players down and playing musical chairs with the DL are not plans. It is like running around with your hair on fire and never getting any water to put it out. These guys are the worst the franchise has ever seen. Why? Because they only care about money. Never making the team the focal point or the fans. I hurt for the fans because I get it. It is sad, sad, sad. Are they the type people our Grandkids should look up too? The Dodgers should be a team the children love and we cannot point to them in good faith and say they will make an honest effort to win.

      2. Double A is not the answer. One thing I have learned is that the Dodgers are very good at fooling the local press and SABR bloggers about minor league talent. From what I see, based on MLB performance, our farm system has been consistently overrated. They are trained to produce sexy stats in the minors against lower competition but fade in the big leagues – Brock Stewart rose 3 levels in one year and is no better than a young Haren (if even that).

        And I think something is wrong with Yimi García – no reason to send him down to AAA even after a poor outing. I hope he’s all right but won’t be surprised if he isn’t.

        1. The explanation was that they are monitoring Yimi’s innings coming off the surgery, at least that’s what Joe said.

  9. OK so I am watching the giants game and they are getting slaughtered by Philly. That is the extent of my baseball excitement. Frikin Ugh with the Blue.

  10. Yet another example of poor fundamentals. In the outfield, proper mechanics tell you two players always go after the ball, the third outfielder comes to backup the infield anticipating an overthrow. Puig was late getting to center and that was the difference. If he’s running from his RF position he’s there in time to help out. This kind of thing drives me nuts. It won’t get better because it’s no longer insisted on by the coaching staff.

  11. Package I am about soooo over this shit. I called the Guggs BS 3 year ago, and the lack of keeping up with the others in regards to Sabre BS is now out there plain and simple. They are being out thought, and maneuvered. And we are out managing and maneuvering ourselves. Guess what FAZophiles? The emperor has no clothes.

  12. I just tuned in, how the fuck do you get an inside the park home run in Dodger Stadium? Never mind

    1. It took some help from a lazy defense Tim.

      Bellinger misses an 89 mph fastball right down Broadway. Stop guessing dammit.

  13. Roberts at it again. His team is 0 for 6 WRISP.

    DBacks annoucers keep talking about Corbin’s drop in velocity. He’s throwing some mid 80’s lollipops and these guys can’t hit them.

  14. What in the world is Kike doing starting a game? He is hitting .221. He is not that good as an outfielder. He totally misplayed that inside the park homer with some help from Puig. He is supposed to kill lefty’s but his strikeouts in clutch situations are killing this team. He is one of 5 Dodgers over 25 K’s already. He damn sure is no #2 hitter. I would not trust him hitting 8th. Bellinger is still swinging from the heels. All he needed to do was get the ball in play and he cannot even do that . His .280 average is a very weak .280 average. His best asset at this point is his defense. He is not providing much needed power.

  15. This team is the most unmotivated I have ever seen. That pan around the players in the fifth showed not one player pounding their glove or looking the least bit excited. Doc looks like a deer in the headlights. Or should I say clueless. Wow, zero excitement or motivation. Guess making mega bucks is enough.

    1. And demoralized….they are about as flat as I have ever seen them. Good news is that Turner will be back the middle of next week. Hopefully he can inspire these guys a little.

  16. Well thank you Kyle Farmer. I bet if Roberts played you more, you would do stuff like this more often. D-Backs signed a deal today that allows them to move out of Chase Field in 2022. They say it needs almost 200 mil in upgrades and repairs…..like Phoenix is going to pay that……David Price suffering from Carpel Tunnel syndrome.

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