The Dodgers overcame a one-run deficit in the bottom of the sixth inning by hitting two home runs during their 5-3 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday evening at Dodger Stadium. The win evens the series and moves the Dodgers to within 4.5 games of first place in a wacky National League West. Despite the Dodgers still being 6 games under .500. The boys in blue now have a 9-14 record at Chavez Ravine.
We all know chicks dig the long ball, but the Dodgers used some small ball to score two runs in the bottom of the first against opposing starter Chad Bettis. Justin Turner’s ground-rule double and Matt Kemp’s RBI single plated the first Dodger run. Then Cody Bellinger’s double to right and a walk to Chris Taylor loaded the bases as Bettis lost his control. Yasiel Puig’s bases loaded walk forced in the second run and the Dodgers had a 2-0 lead. The Dodgers had Bettis on the ropes, but couldn’t give him the knock-out blow. Bettis got out of the first inning and then didn’t give up anything the rest of his start. Bettis allowed the two earned runs on just three hits and struck out four over five frames. He walked three and made 89 pitches.
Rockies 3 7 0
Dodgers 5 6 1
WP-Chargois-2-1
LP-Shaw-1-3
SV-Jansen-9
HR-Desmond-8-Taylor-6-Puig-5
Of course the Rockies stormed back against Brock Stewart. The Dodgers who have three of their five starters on the disabled list had to turn to Stewart for the spot start. Although for the record Clayton Kershaw is reportedly very close to returning and could be back as soon as this weekend. Anyways, I still don’t understand why they even bothered to start Stewart since he made just 63 pitches, and tossed just four innings. The Rockies scored one run in the second on a solo home run from Ian Desmond and scored another run in the third. Three consecutive singles from Charlie Blackmon, Gerardo Parra, and Nolan Arenado tied the score at 2-2.
The game remained tied until the top of the sixth when sloppy defense gave Colorado a gift run. With JT Chargois on the mound, Trevor Story walked, stole second and then advanced to third on a passed ball from Yasmani Grandal. Desmond’s ground ball single to right scores Story and gave Colorado a 3-2 lead. That’s Desmond’s second run driven in.
The Dodgers roared back in the bottom of the sixth. With Bettis out of the game, and Bryan Shaw in, Matt Kemp singled to get the party started. Taylor followed with a massive bomb into the left field pavilions to put the Dodgers on top 4-3. Yasiel Puig followed suit with a solo dong of his own and the Dodgers were now up 5-3. But could the bullpen hold this lead?
They sure did. Tony Cingrani pitched a 123 top of the seventh, and Josh Fields also tossed a scoreless inning as well. The Dodgers turned the ball over to Kenley Jansen in the top of the ninth and he delivered. Despite allowing a one-out double to Chris Iannetta he was able to get David Dahl to ground out and then struck out Pat Valaika to end the game. Dodgers win 5-3!!!
The Dodgers now improve to 21-27 on the season. They’ll go for the series win tomorrow evening as Kyle Freeland will counter Kenta Maeda in the rubber game.
Praise the bats, but not too much. An important win for us, but our hitting is still not where it should be. Too much dead weight in the lineup but improving. I guess this will be it for the Dodgers this season as far as who will be playing regularly. The auditions seemed to have ended and Muncy is the only player who has stuck. However, I’m not sure he belongs in the leadoff spot. The lineup tonight was an improvement, but I don’t like Muncy replacing Bellinger at 1B. Bellinger is the classic long body that is ideal for this position. His long stretches to beat hitters to the bag are an important element of this position. I guess the problem remains who is going to play CF as long as Seager is out. The auditions for the outfield have been a flop. Pederson remains a backup as long as Bellinger is in CF and I think this is okay temporarily. They need either Toles or Taylor to return to CF, but it still leaves us with SS as an open spot with no one but Taylor to play full time. Kike is not the answer.
We also have 2B to think of. Forsythe is really subpar and is only an occasional streak hitter. I’ve seen enough of him to know we need an upgrade. Muncy could be that player if he keeps his bat warm. We wait and see as Kike is another player who only struggles and who could play the position.
For me, these problems need to be solved, not band-aided. We won’t solve them this season. Which brings me to the pitching, our most problematic area this season. Stewart is a band-aid. Kershaw will return soon. The starters seem to be in rotation with Stripling filling in. The bullpen is definitely not settled. My thoughts:
Goeddel looked decent but he is evidently not a long reliever as he was pulled after 1 inning. Chargois also looks decent and it was Grandal’s PB that screwed up his inning. Luckily, we held. No Baez and Hudson, good!! Cingrani will be given his chances to return to favor and that is probably okay, but he does seem to break down every once in a while. Who is going to be the bridge to Jansen? Alexander or Fields? Roberts is using them both. To me, this is the big situational question right now. Who will hold up? No one is replacing Jansen as the closer. So, who is going to be the long reliever if Stripling is temporarily used as a SP?
Probably Stewart. Venditte could probably pull it off, but they sent him down again. Fields is the best bridge to Jansen right now because he has the most consistent stuff. The couple of bad games he had came after the time off he took for the birth of his kid. Since then he has been pretty steady. Me, I demote Baez, DFA Forsythe or trade him, Seattle could use a second sacker right now, I send Kike down and bring up Solano who is hitting in the .350’s at OKC and also plays multiple positions. Get rid of Grandal who is off again, and I would try and get a regular CF, since Verdugo is not the answer right now and Toles is out indefinately
We got a whole load of problems that’s for sure. But it looks like Puig is getting his swag back, and hope Taylor follows soon.
I repeat, can we please end the Forsythe and Baez experience now?!?!?!?!
There is no upside with them. It’s like we are just clinging to the hope that they’ll be slightly below average rather than abysmal. And the small sample size argument no longer works for these two – methinks they just suck!!
I worry more about Bellinger than Taylor. He is still doing the all or nothing swing. Nothing like last year at all. With two strikes he is trying to hit the ball to Glendale. He is missing fastballs right down the middle that he killed last year. He is definitely not the same hitter.
We can’t get rid of Baez yet. Who do you replace him with? What he must do is trust his stuff and get back into the strike zone. His BB/9 is 5.2. His FIP is a respectable 3.56 but his WHIP this year has ballooned to 1.675. Career it is 1.169. That’s a huge difference. Is it because he’s added some pitches he can’t command? Beats me but it’s a good guess. Throw strikes dammit. If you get hit you ain’t good enough, but if you continue this you’re gone anyway. Might as well throw strikes.
Too many tamales……on the brain…….guy cannot repeat his delivery…
You forgot that Bellinger grounded into a FC after Kemp’s hit before Taylor homered. Bellinger is still not hitting very well and his average has sunk below .250. This game should not have even been this close. They blew a golden opportunity to blow it open early when, guess who, Forsythe flied out to end the 1st inning with the bases loaded and they were only 1-3 with runners in scoring position. Thank you for that Matt Kemp, the player everyone thought would be traded and is the teams best hitter by far. Kershaw throws a BP tomorrow and a simulated game on Saturday and could be back as early as next week. Not a moment too soon. Stewarts value probably lies as a long man, because he is not really good enough to start regularly except maybe at AAA. Goeddel is a 1 inning guy just like he was in Seattle. Chargois has looked good, and sometimes not so good. Cingrani looked a lot more like the guy from last year tonight. Urias is throwing off a mound in Az. But is probably a month away from a re-hab assignment and I doubt it will be a short one. Probably needs 3 or 4 under his belt before he is ready. No word on Ryu. To me, Hill is pretty much finished. He can’t even keep from getting blisters. But they have the slug under contract for 1 more after this one. Utley is sinking faster than the Titanic and Grandal is back to his swinging for the downs all the time style…only time before he slips down into the .240’s where he has lived most of his career. Time to trade him.
They are not going to go out and get a centerfielder, and Toles is not going to be out the rest of the first half, so after he gets back, they will probably let him play enough games in AAA, to get back on his feet, and get use to live pitching again.
Joc should have lost more weight then he did, if he wanted to play center, because he is one of the slowest centerfielders in all of baseball, and because of that, he is a liability in center.
And that is just another reason Toles should have made this team originally.
And Muncy probably won’t continue to hit like he is, once the other teams adjust on him, so Cody will probably move back to first soon anyways.
I still wonder if that extra muscle Cody put on, has been a problem, because like Monday said, it takes a lot of flexibility to swing like Cody does, and he is missing fastballs right down the middle of the plate, that are higher then his belt.
I would continue to stick with Kemp and Turner in the middle of the top of the line up, because Turner will come around eventually.
I would keep Cody in the fifth or six position, and he did get a hit last night, batting fifth.
I still see too many center cut pitches being missed. Anything that catches a lot of the plate is considered a “mistake” by the pitcher. One of the first rules of successful hitting is to punish mistakes. Bellinger, Forsythe and Taylor just aren’t doing it. I have no answer why. But I would tell all of them at this point go up there looking dead red in your happy zone and if you get it first pitch go ahead and try to hit it into the parking lot. If you miss on strike one, the approach must change. Put it this way – strike one I give the all or nothing swing. Strike two it becomes most or nothing. Strike three you go Votto/Bonds, choke up and protect.
Tony Gwynn used a 32 1/4” bat. Rod Carew used a bat that was as light as 29 ounces. Aaron Judge uses a 34” 32 oz bat. Bonds used a 34” 31.6 oz bat. I wonder what size bat Bellinger uses? My last bat was 33” 30 oz, metal of course, but it felt really light. If these guys are swinging big bats (34”-35” and over 33 oz) I would suggest a bit shorter and a bit lighter. Bellinger last year swung a C243M bat, -3. It’s maple. The minus three is weight to length ratio. So, I’m guessing it was a 34” 31 oz bat. Not sure what he swings now cuz that model was discontinued. The way he’s swinging I wonder if 33 1/2” 30oz might help him.
There’s been some very good analysis of Bellinger’s changed approach at the plate.
I think FanGraphs. Maybe BP.
Puig has been swinging a 40 oz bat in BP. Then he goes to the lighter bat during the games. I think lately it has helped him a lot generating more bat speed. I used to take BP in high school with an old Willie McCovey 36 ounce bat I had found. When I went to my 34-31, it felt so much lighter.
The last I read MJ, they had no clue when Toles was going to be back. He had a setback about a week ago, so there was no time table for his return and they are close to the 50 game point now, so I would be surprised if he is back before the all-star break. They sent him back after spring because they did not feel he was totally ready to play because of last years injury and they were right. Maybe he was favoring the leg a little and it caused the hammy problem. What ever the reason, he is not even close to being ready to play right now. I also do not believe Toles is a center fielder. Oh, he could probably be ok out there for a few games, but I have never considered him that great a fielder. Just my opinion of course. The guy can hit. As for Joc, he is no longer a CF to me. Toles has only played 19 total games in CF as a Dodger. By the way, tomorrow is Toles 26th birthday.
Michael
You don’t know that for sure.
Because maybe Toles tried to over do it in AAA, after he was sent down, to prove he belonged, in the bigs.
I saw he was suppose to be off on the 21, but when he was not off on the 21, I looked again.
And it said the 25th now, so I think he might be getting off soon, or I would have just seen, another 7 days.
About Toles defense, Toles actually had better numbers, when he filled in for Joc, last year.
And Joc has played in center this year, as much as Toles did last year, and Joc’s numbers are still not better.
Toles does not have a lot of innings in the outfield, in the last two years, because he got hurt, and he didn’t play in 2015.
He has the speed, and the more innings he plays in the outfield, he wil be better.
His speed also helps him to make up for any bad routes, he may run, but with him, it is more about getting innings in, in center, and in the outfield.
It isn’t second nature for any player, if they miss that much time.
And thanks Michael, for the tip!
I just read a story this morning that said he would not be back until after the all star break at least. He might be playing at AAA in a couple of weeks, but they do not expect him in the bigs until then. He might not be as fast as he once was now because of that surgery. That is why I consider him better as a corner outfielder. His other problem is that he is pretty much blocked at the big league level unless they move an outfielder. And you know they like Joc, so it will not be him, nor Kemp or Puig. If they sent Muncy down and moved Bellinger back to first, then he might be the CF, but DR is really trying to keep Muncy’s bat in the lineup…..
Everything I have read MJ, says after the all star break at the earliest. That’s what I am reading, behind the scenes, who knows? But he still is blocked on the roster and unless they move an outfielder, I see little opportunity for him to get much on the field time. The outfield is pretty set right now with them using Belli in CF, Kemp in LF and Puig in right. I would rather see Bellinger at 1st. I do not think Muncy is anything close to him defensively……One thing I loved seeing last night was the enthusiasm of Matt Kemp. When Taylor homered, he was visibly jubilant.
The good thing about having a deep farm system if you can trade prospects. Say what you will about the front office their recent track record in prospect traded is pretty good:
Schebler: extremely empty 30HR season (100 wRC+)
Peraza: 72 wRC+ in 1000 PAs
Dixon: Called up today
Montas: Combined ERA over 6 between MLB and MiLB last year
Cotton: 130 bad innings and blew up his elbow
Holmes: Hasn’t pitched this year due to rotator cuff injury
DeLeon
Outside of Heaney, There’s a pretty good case that the best player this front office has traded away is Miguel Rojas
Bluto
How does Schebler’s numbers, compare to Joc’s numbers, last year?
And how does Peraza’s numbers compare to Forsythe’s numbers?
Um, what?
What do either player have to do with the point of my post? Neither pair was traded for the other, and one of them was neither traded for nor a prospect.
If it’s just for information, that’s cool:
Schebler:
.778 OPS 103 OPS+ 102 WRC+
Pederson:
.775 OPS 111 OPS+ 114 WRC+
Peraza
.654 OPS 74 OPS+(!) 73 WRC+
Forsythe
.710 OPS 98 OPS+ 99 WRC+
Those are career #s, you can look up last year’s.
No offense.
Thanks Bluto
You are better with numbers, then I am.
They are kind of the same type, of players.
Even though they got the win, I was not all that impressed with the effort. Sloppy play in the field again, and Grandal surprisingly has only 3 passed balls. It seems like a lot more. When he is catching though, there have been 10 wild pitches compared to 2 for Barnes and no passed balls. 6 hits is not exactly tearing the cover off the ball. At least in the first inning they got something out of having the bases loaded. I still have little confidence in the bullpen beyond Kenley. But I do like Goeddel’s stuff. I think if his control was a little better, Chargois would be one of those lights out guys because the movement on his pitches is pretty dramatic. But he seems to lose it now and then, and when he does he is prone to walks. I also read where Rich Hill is going to keep pitching while on the DL to try and build a callous on his finger.
Here’s what I read:
Aided by a single piece of skin-colored medical tape, Hill was able to successfully play catch for about 10 minutes. Just two days earlier, in Washington D.C., a blister on the finger finally burst, cutting short his outing after just two pitches and landing him on the disabled list with a blister-related issue for the sixth time in the last three seasons.
Hill hopes to be able to use the tape on his hand in a game, saying he will petition Major League Baseball to allow him to use it as a means of simply protecting the exposed skin on the finger instead of any real baseball benefit.
Fat chance he wins that. Specifically against the rules and they are not going to bend them for over the Hill…
Tonight’s line up……Taylor, Barnes, Turner, Kemp, Hernandez, Muncy, Forsythe, Puig, Maeda…..I do not like Muncy at 1st over Belli. He is not that great a defender.
Michael
I would rather Muncy play second, while he is hot.
Because your right, Cody can make our infielders look much better, because he does a good job scooping up, bad throws.
Parades called up. He’s someone I’d like to see more of instead of Baez. Baez is more durable and has far better stuff, but I’m not convinced our second tier arms can’t get outs either. I’d like to see more of our AAA guys up here to see who can get outs.
YF
At least you know that Parades will appreciate the chance, he is getting.
Wellington Castillo suspended 80 games for drug violation. Now a member of the Chi Sox. Every time Joc gets a hit, MJ’s heart has to sink, because as long as he keeps hitting, even without power, he is not going anywhere and DR loves him that much more. Lebron loses! Yay. I hate the Celtics, but I dislike James more.
These are not your old Celtics. They have an excellent team, young and tough. Plus, they are doing it without their leader, Kyrie Irving!!! I am hoping for a Boston-Warriors Final!!
I am not ruling out LeBron yet. Both series are likely going to 7 games. It would be nice to see a Rockets and Celtics final actually (the Rockets got bounced by the Celtics in 1986 after Sampson’s last second flip-o-matic 10 footer – Michael Cooper lying on the floor in disbelief is one of the most re-played footages ever).
Ah, I remember that one. Back when basketball was so much more fun to watch. Back in the day I loved watching the Lakers. I went through all those years they were losing to the Celts. Laker’s were always a fun team to watch. Not so much lately. I just do not care much for the game anymore. Like pro football, too many prima donna players. All the in your face antics get old.