At this point I’m over it. The Dodgers are going to clinch the division at some point over the next 11 or games but that doesn’t mean they’re World Series ready and it doesn’t even mean they are postseason ready. Because right now they can’t beat the worst teams in baseball. Honestly they can’t beat anyone as they continue to play crappy uninspired baseball. And you guys know how much I detest crappy baseball. I abhor it and generally want nothing to do with it until it ends.
But who knows when or if this will end for the Dodgers and who knows if it will continue into the postseason and the 29-year fruitlessness will go into year 30? Or perhaps the Dodgers will be able to just turn it back on like a light-switch? One thing is for certain, the Dodgers simply must stop bringing in Pedro Baez in the late innings. The dude is done and I like many others can’t take any more of it.
Dodgers 2 9 0
Phillies 6 8 0
WP-Nola-12-10
LP-Baez-3-6
HR-Grandal-20-Altherr-18
Tuesday evening saw another pathetic frustrating loss to the Phillies in Philadelphia. You can’t blame it on starter Yu Darvish. He wasn’t great but he pitched well enough to keep them in the game. Darvish tossed 5.1 innings allowing just one earned run on four hits and striking out seven, while notching 200 punch-outs on the season. He wasn’t involved in the decision because the Dodger offense and middle relief were terrible once again.
They did take an early lead when Yasmani Grandal slugged his 20th home run of the season in the top of the third. A Cody Bellinger single and a Curtis Granderson double gave the Dodgers a 2-0 lead in the third inning. That would be all they could muster against Aaron Nola. The Philadelphia hurler tossed seven strong frames allowing just two earned runs on five hits with eight strikeouts over the feeble Dodger bats.
The Dodgers had a 2-0 lead until the sixth inning when the Phillies loaded the bases. Cesar Hernandez reached on a throwing error and Herrera and rookie start Rhys Hoskins both singled. Tony Watson was able to get out of the jam to preserve the lead. After giving up a piddly infield single to Nick Williams that was just bad luck, Aaron Altherr (who hit the game winning grand slam on Monday night) to ground into an inning ending double play. Take note Pedro Baez.
But of course Dave Roberts just couldn’t resist brining that bum into the game in the bottom of the seventh with the Dodgers clinging to a 2-1 lead. I think it’s just a sick obsession for Roberts to keep bringing in Baez. It’s like trying to look away from a car wreck. You want to, but it’s hard and you end up looking anyways.
The Phillies scored four runs off this bum, as the Dodgers lost 6-2. J.P. Crawford led off the inning with a triple. Baez then hit Jorge Alfaro with a pitch. But then he got Maikel Franco to pop out. He walked Hernandez to load the bases. Freddy Galvis flies out to right as Granderson makes a great sliding catch on the sinking flare. He fires back into the infield to prevent the runners from advancing. For a brief moment it appeared that Baez may get out of this. LOLZ! But seriously this is Pedro Baez here. And so…..he walks Odubel Herrera to force in the tying run. Then Hoskins doubles to clear the bases and it is 5-2 Philadelphia. Brock Stewart would give up a home run to you guessed it….Altherr in the bottom of the eighth just to piss everyone off even more.
The Dodger bats just slumbered off to forfeit. Chris Taylor, Justin Turner, and Cody Bellinger (bunt single to beat the shift) all singled and not surprisingly the Dodgers scored zero runs in that frame. Thanks to Corey Seager’s rally killing double play.
So to recap this, the Dodgers were 0 for 4 with runners in scoring position and stranded seven runners on base while scoring just two runs. The middle relievers allowed six runs in the final three innings of the game. Boy they are really gearing up for the postseason guys.
With that the magic number remains at 3 as the Dodgers fall to 96-55. However if Arizona loses in San Diego the magic number would drop to 2. The Dodgers will keep dragging this on, and they’ll keep losing. Then they’ll celebrate like they won the World Series. The Dodgers may be a 96-win club, but they are playing like a 96-loss club.
The pathetic month of September continues for the Dodgers as they look to punt away another game tomorrow. Alex Wood will take the mound for the Dodgers as right hander Jake Thompson looks to hold the Dodgers to their usual 4 hits. First pitch is scheduled for 4:05 PM PST assuming the Philadelphia weather cooperates. Today’s game was delayed about 15 minutes.
Keep throwing Pedro Baez out there Dodgers because one day he may just magically figure it out and morph into Hong-Chih Kuo or something. You never know……
Scott
I am just livid, about this game!
We all already knew, that Baez is Hatcher, but from the DR!
Yaye Magic number 2!!
Baez needs to be off the playoff roster. He’s just bad news.
Ethier with a hit after a huge layoff. Hope he gets more at bats.
Baez off the playoff roster, we can only hope that this pornography we witnessed tonight clinched the deal.
Roberts off the playoff roster, you got to wonder.
I mentioned this several time this month, this is going to be very very difficult. Old Mo revved the engine, did a lawn job in the Dodgers front yard, pummeled the mailbox and nearly killed the dog as he left the house. When Mo leaves it is an ugly thing.
You have to wonder why Roberts gave him so many chances culminating in last night.
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That said, Roberts basically solidified Baez being on the outs for the playoffs after the game.
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If anyone thinks that Roberts managed last nights game as he would a playoff game, that person probably has an IQ around room temp. In my opinion, of course.
Agreed. This was Baez’s test. If he wants to pitch in October, he will have to deal with similar jams with a Hoskins at the plate. He failed the test. He’s free falling. Look at his regression:
1st half: 1.43 ERA, 1.221 WHIP
2nd half: 6.14 ERA, 1.591 WHIP
September: 20.77 ERA, 3.923 WHIP
He better not be on the 25-man roster this Oct, and if he takes the field at Dodger Stadium this Sat or Sun against the Giants, I’ll be joining in on the booing.
But enough of the dog piling on Baez. He’s not one of the many under performing hitters stranding RISP. You’re not gonna win many games if you can only put up 2-3 runs a game.
Last night was totally unnecessary. Roberts didn’t have to sacrifice everyone’s efforts to prove anything about Baez. There are a lot of things that Roberts has doing that are really unnecessary to prove anything. There is a balance to managing to find out things and managing to not break the mood and momentum of a team. Some people totally understand what I am saying and some will be totally lost on this concept. That’s the difference between doing it and watching(or reading about) others doing it, probably best described as having a sports IQ or not, in my opinion, of course.
The point is Baez should have been off the post season roster, way before this!
Baez has been this way, since the first time he came up.
He has already been terrible in the post season, when he has pitched.
What upsets me about what has been going on, is that this is not the type of moves, a former major league player would make.
Roberts and his bench coach, do meet with the front office, and they all collaborate with each other, and this stuff is not coming solely from Roberts!
Roberts needs to think about every other player on the team, instead of running Baez out there to pitch, that is not going to help Baez, he is long gone at this point!
When Roberts had to go out to Baez at the end of the first half, against the Reds, to give Baez confidence, that say it all!
And that didn’t work either, because this has been an ongoing problem.
Bringing Baez out there again, brought every other player on the team’s psyche down, especially Darvish, who pitched decently.
I don’t know why they are pitching so carefully against that rookie, that has burned us, they need to attack that kid!
Darvish pitched that kid, a shoulder high fastball, that was in under that kid’s arms, and that kid couldn’t do anything with that, because he wasn’t allowed to extend his arms.
But Darvish didn’t throw him that same pitch, to get him out, he pitched a low fastball, on the outside corner of the plate, and the kid hit that!
That kid will only hit balls, on the outside corner, or just over the middle of the plate.
If he is pitched inside under his arms, he won’t be the same hitter.
Any time our pitchers, stop attacking hitters, we end up with having to many free bases for the other team, and those free bases, usually end up scoring.
To all of us, we felt Baez was toast quite some time ago. However, Roberts needs to make sure Baez knows and all the other players know he will not be on the playoff roster. Last night sent that message. All doubts were removed. He should be shut down for the season. No mop up games.
Now, let me say something about Grandal. I have bitched most of this season about his pitch selection. Last night Baez threw 99% fastball. Even the announcers were talking about all fastballs. Whose fault is that. I blame Grandal. He is the one putting the fingers down. We all know when hitters are looking only for a fastball, 200 hitters become 400 hitters. I have complained about all of his calls for a high pitch. I think it is great one or two times each batter to change the batters eye sight. I have seen him call for three high pitches in a row. Sometimes his target is six inches above the strike zone. Most batters will not swing at a pitch that high. Darvish would not even throw up last night when Grandal called for a high pitch. I am wondering if pitchers are losing confidence in Grandal. Barnes caught Kershaw. Is that sending a message? Maybe it is time for Grandal to be the back up.
Yeah, but he has 20 homers Al! I feel like you do. Grandal is a lousy game caller, a so so defender, and a .240 hitter with some power. He did make a catch last night I did not think he would make, but how many pitches did he miss that were off the end of his glove. How many times was he and the pitcher out of sync. He and Darvish were obviously not on the same page. Me, instead of bringing in Baez, I would have let Watson go back out there. Grandal leads the league in passed balls, and calls for fast balls up in the zone. Lets hope Wood has an outstanding game tonight because losing another game to a 90 loss team like this bunch is going to make me want to puke.
A little comment here about a couple of things. First, the coaching staff, manager and the front office communicate on a lot of things. But IN GAME calls are all on Roberts. He decides who to warm up and bring into the game. The FO rarely travels with the team. They game plan for every team they face. Against these new look Phillies, they are facing some guys who have only been seen by the scouts. Last night Roberts made bad decisions. He did bring Baez into what should have been a low leverage situation. Once that got out of hand, triple, hit batter, he should have immediately pulled Baez. The guys confidence is shot anyway, and all you had to do was watch his body language and you knew it was going to get worse, he leaves him in, boom, 4 runs. Screw his confidence, the idea is to win games and seal home field advantage, which by the way is slowly slipping down the tubes when 3 weeks ago it was a lock. Dave Roberts the last 3 weeks has been a different manager than he was during the run. During the run he pulled pitchers and went to the pen. They were going for the win. It seems now like they are not playing to win, just to get players ready, and like Blue said, Mo has left the building. They have 11 games to get him back. Because this team the way they are playing now, is going to get steam rolled in the playoffs and all that good work will go down the drain.
Michael
First, I never said they do this, during games, although they could, very easily, with today’s technology!
And many businesses do this kind of thing, over Skype, instead of traveling.
But they talk and collaborate, before a game, or before games, or before the team, ever goes out on a road trip!
During these think tanks, they talk about in game situations, , and who they should use, and who they need to see, or take a look at!
And this is why Roberts is not solely responsible, for all of these decisions he has made!
Not many of these moves, look like moves, any former major league player would make, because this just isn’t the moves, the baseball people make!
And that is why this last three weeks, has not look like anything, that Roberts, would do!
MJ, One of the things Roberts has said is that one of the reasons he took the job is because all the in game decisions are on him. The FO has no say in those moves, They might make suggestions in conference calls, but one they are in action on the field, that is all Roberts.
MJ, businesses might do that kind of thing but usually in game decisions are on the manager. And I never said that you implied that this FO does that. Once they are out on the road, it is on the manager to make out the lineups, oh they game plan before hand, but once the game is on it is all on DR. He might ask Honey or Geren their opinion, but that’s it. The lineup and pitching decisions are all his. And just because he played the game does not mean he is not going to screw up making some of those moves. Mattingly played, Davey Johnson played, Russell, Lasorda, they all played for a long time, and they all made moves I would bet they wished they had never made. Modern technology allows a lot, but today it is more studying video, and going over scouting reports. I doubt very seriously that Freidman or Zaidi was on the phone saying leave him in there and see if he can pitch his way out of it. That was all Roberts trying to do what he tries to do with all his players and get them confidence to get the job done by leaving them out there in high leverage situations. Does not always work. But earlier in the year when they were playing lights out, Roberts would pull a pitcher in a spot like that. Not lately and it has cost the team a bunch of wins.
Baez is spelled C-R-A-P.
You know, I understand that Doc is trying to let Baez ‘work’ it out on the mound but there comes a point where it needs to stop. Baez is not working it out and is actually getting worse as the season ends. He truly looks done!
If the club takes only the best and supplements the pen with some starters they may have a chance. If they actually do the unthinkable and let Baez pitch, like him, the season is done. Lordy, what a frustrating team this year.
Todays line up….. Taylor CF Seager SS Turner 3B Bellinger 1B Puig RF Barnes C Granderson LF Forsythe 2B Wood P………..Yeah Grandy gets another start….and Forsythe too……..
Colorado had better get their house in order……Milwaukee is 1 game behind them. And they are losing to the Giants today. Which sports fans means that next weekend in Colorado, the Rockies will most likely be playing for their playoff lives…….