I don’t mean to sound like a broken record here, but the Dodgers seriously need some innings from somebody to take the burden off of a tired but excellent bullpen. It’s unfair to put these kind of innings on the bullpen and it could result in some injuries. The last thing the Dodgers need is some of their relievers blowing their arms out. Last night Scott Kazmir failed miserably to do that in the Dodger’s 10-6 victory on Friday night. Thank god Yasmani Grandal and the bats made up for it. Today they Must have McCarthy at least get into the sixth or seventh inning.
Brandon McCarthy will be making his second start for the Dodgers this afternoon as they take of the Padres in the third game of this four game series. McCarthy’s pitch count will still be limited but it would be nice if he could go past the fifth inning tonight. The Dodger bullpen has been phenomenal but they can’t pitch 5 innings every night. McCarthy looked great in his last start as he tossed five shutout innings against the Rockies to earn his first MLB win since April of 2015.
Dodgers Lineup vs. San Diego
Utley 2B
Seager SS
Turner 3B
Gonzalez 1B
Puig RF
Grandal C
Kendrick LF
Toles CF
McCarthy P
Luis Perdomo-3-3 vs. Brandon McCarthy-1-0
Game Time – 4:15 PM – TV- SNLA
McCarthy has made 8 career starts against the Padres and is 6-1 with a 3.73 ERA. The Padres have hit McCarthy well and former Dodger Matt Kemp is 6 for 12 against the veteran right hander. Alexei Ramirez is 3 for 9 with two home runs as well.
McCarthy vs. Padres
| Name | PA | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | SH | SF | IBB | HBP | GDP |
| Melvin Upton | 17 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | .200 | .294 | .200 | .494 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Matt Kemp | 12 | 12 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .500 | .500 | .500 | 1.000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Alexei Ramirez | 10 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 2 | .333 | .300 | 1.000 | 1.300 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Wil Myers | 9 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | .111 | .111 | .444 | .556 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Yangervis Solarte | 6 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .500 | .500 | .833 | 1.333 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Derek Norris | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .250 | .400 | .250 | .650 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Andrew Cashner | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 61 | 57 | 17 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 3 | 15 | .298 | .328 | .491 | .819 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
The Padres will counter with 23-year old right hander Luis Perdomo. He’s Dominican and is in his first MLB season. The Dominican rookie has made 6 starts and 21 appearances and is 3-3 with a 7.93 ERA. Perdomo has primarily pitched out of the bullpen in long relief this season. Perdomo has struck out 53 and walked 26 but has allowed 92 hits in 59 innings pitched. Perdomo faced the Dodgers back on May 22 and got hammered allowing 4 earned runs on 6 hits across 5 innings. He also walked 6 in that start.
Perdomo vs. Dodgers
| Name | PA | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | SH | SF | IBB | HBP | GDP |
| Adrian Gonzalez | 6 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | .333 | .667 | .333 | 1.000 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Corey Seager | 6 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .167 | .167 | .167 | .333 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Yasiel Puig | 5 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | .800 | .800 | 1.200 | 2.000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Chase Utley | 5 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | .600 | .600 | .600 | 1.200 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| A.J. Ellis | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1.000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Howie Kendrick | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 1.000 | 1.667 | 2.667 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Justin Turner | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | .500 | 2.000 | 2.500 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| J.P. Howell | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Trayce Thompson | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 1.000 | 2.000 | 3.000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 33 | 25 | 14 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 7 | 3 | .560 | .636 | .800 | 1.436 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
Today’s lineup is the same, as Andrew Toles will make his second consecutive start in center field. The rookie is batting eighth and it’s quite a story how he progressed to the majors. Apparently he was working at a grocery store for a few weeks while in between assignments.
Go Bue!
Stating the obvious. They need innings from someone…
Kudos Scott for saying this bullpen has been excellent. Absolutely.
It’s the starting pitching (outside of Kershaw) which has been meh!
Hopefully McC can give the pen a break.
The same lineup two days in a row? Is the Random Lineup Generator offline?
The same line up, the rest of the first half.
Missed on that one MJ….Toles on bench vs LHP
-235. 52% of betting coming in on the Dodgers. 8.5 runs. 73% coming in on the over.
This is the Padres. We can beat the Padres. Dodgers 6-4.
McCarthy won’t complete 7. He will complete 5. Probably.
Olney suggesting Dodgers will take calls on Puig. Yeah. Of course they will.
Rosenthal, not Olney.
They better. The little value he has been able to gain should be used to get a pitcher. I forgot who mentioned this last thread but Puig does try to big league any rooks he plays with. He did that to Joc last year too. Grandal did what all of the team should have done to SD’s shoddy pitching. Didn’t Mark Whiten hit 4 HR on opening day in 1993? When’s his HOF induction. Grandal caught lightning in a bottle – which I’m happy for, but I’m looking for consistency, something Mr. Grandal would admit he has not been in batting and defensive metrics.
I will not get tired of wanting Puig to be traded and the sooner the better for the team.
Gonzo
They got on me because I didn’t like Puig side by side, on the top of the wall, with Toles the new rookie.
I never seen two outfielders, side by side on the wall.
But I don’t dislike Puig, I just dislike some of his behaviors.
He made a great catch today, when Hatcher was pitching, and I loved the catch.
Who knows what could have happened, if that ball fell.
Another 5 inning start. Enough said.
Five innings, 3 runs, and 77 pitches is the new Quality Start. Dan Haren starting throwing program again.
Padres not good. 2 unearned or they’d be up.
Sure looks like a lot of empty seats there.
People may be trying to stay out of the sun. Or they may be at the beach.
I am fine with McCarthy pitching 5 for a couple of more starts. I think letting him build up is the best thing. The pen will get a break soon and there are more arms coming back (i.e., Stewart and Urias and De Leon).
BTW, the Dodgers have 6 players in the Mid-Season Top 100 MLB Prospects. It could be 7 or 8 by year’s end!
It’s reasonable to assume that McCarthy and Ryu won’t be back to normal for a while – and we’re missing Kershaw too. That’s why it’s important for the non-injured guys (Kazmir, Maeda, Norris) to pitch deeper into games than they have been doing lately. It is unreasonable to expect the bullpen to keep pitching this many innings without blowing some games or breaking down or suffering injuries.
Dodger rick
I agree that the Healthy ones need to pull there weight.
I think Maeda will give us seven innings, against this team.
It’s quite possible we will be better in the second half. It’s also possible our geezers keyboards will be disabled, our bullpen will melt down and Ryu, Wood, Kazmir, Norris, Maeda will be at best average. Who knows what COULD happen. I expect the gints to make some moves, and I expect St Louis, Pittsburgh and the Mets to be very competitive in the second half. Is Miami this good? I didn’t expect to see them compete for a playoff spot, but they’re in it. I will admit I was wrong about Arizona. They’re a mess.
Badger
Harvey is out and Snydergaard has a dead arm, he had to be pulled early, in a game yesterday.
And Cespedes just went out, for a strained quad.
I heard. I think the Mets will compete. I may be wrong about that.
There is always a chance.
In the interest of leveling the playing field against Grandal Bashers (and because I know some of you have an illogical hatred of him), when he does well, I am going to stand up in his behalf.
He was one for three today with a walk. His OPS is .753 which is higher than Yadier Molina, Russell Martin, Derek Norris, Matt Wieters, Jason Castro, Francisco Cervelli, Matt Montero and Dionnar Navarro. He is 5th in HR among Catchers and caught a win today.
This is a public service announcement.
Quick observations:
McCarthy looks as good as new – hitting 93-95 MPH regularly.
Ryu struggles to hit 91. He used to hit 93. I worry that Ryu can do it… especially this year.
Brett Anderson will be back by the end of July! He could be a boost.
I think Brock Stewart will be back in the rotation or pen soon.
De Leon will be here before July 20th.
Toles is a guy who will play up to his competition. Let him play.
Julio Urias will cost Hatcher or Howell his job in the pen.
I think Toles has done well, especially from where he started the season.
He doesn’t look nervous, or act nervous.
I don’t consider myself a basher, I am glad he has good games but the reality is he hasn’t been the guy you said he was going to be. He has pop but can he get to 25? If I were a betting man I’d say no. He is just avg plus. Again I could live with him as the everyday backstop if he was more consistent.
It is my opinion that if a GM had to choose a catcher from the list you provided Grandal would be picked second to last. Most of the other catchers are better than him either offensively, defensively or both. If Friedman had to choose between Molina and Grandal who’d he pick? The answer is very easy.
I have been in favor of keeping Grandal for the rest of the year but remain unconvinced that he is the long-term answer behind the plate.
If McCarthy is really as good as new, he is a 5 inning pitcher. I don’t think that he is as good as new yet – he needs time to build up strength and feel for his pitches.
Ryu may never come back – torn labrum is a big deal. Hopefully he does come back.
Anderson back? So if everybody is back they have too many mediocre pitchers and one stud (Kershaw). Not the formula for post-season success. And they are going to add Stewart to a rotation that has Anderson, McCarthy, Ryu, Kazmir, Maeda, Norris, Wood and Kershaw? A 9 man rotation? And you add Urias , De Leon and Stripling in too? I would rather have a stud #2 than 5 mediocre guys.
Toles – where does he play when Joc comes back?
OKC, but Joc may be out longer than anyone thinks. Yeah, Anderson, another pitcher who’ll be on a pitch count. Give De Leon the ball and get out of his way.
I agree that this staff remains iffy. I don’t trust McCarthy, he’s 33, he’s pitched 200 innings once, won 10 games only once, and had an ERA over 4 eight times. In my opinion he’s at best a #3-4. They are all 3-4’s. Maybe it’s good enough if everyone hits.
I don’t either Badger.
A bunch of 2nd tier guys. That is the reality of this staff. What is amazing is that as bad as McCarthy’s ERA is in blue, he has not lost a game in a Dodger uni. 5-0…..weird…
Michael
That why pitcher’s wins really don’t mean much.
But last year, MCCarthy was bad, and still got wins, because he got a lot of run support, from the team.
Deleon has only been in 7 games and is 1-0….Cotton is 7-4..Stewart 3-0….better choices maybe.,..
Here is a weird thing….35 different pitchers, including major leaguers on re-hab have pitched at OKC this year. And that does not include 4 position players who have also logged time..
If Toles produces, he will still be with the team.
If is a huge word, If Thompson was still hitting Toles would be in OKC still. Joc’s injury has opened the door. So we will see. I hope the kid plays well. He has speed, but not much power. They miss Joc’s bat…
I think they miss Joc’s defense more.
Joc was having a pretty good month at the plate, before he got hurt, but like Trayce is having a bad month, Joc had a bad month at the plate, in the second month.
And the month that I said Joc was having a good month, he was only hitting 240 for an average, so there is still a lot to be learned from the kids.
Absolutely they miss it, but what they really miss is that power bat from the left side. With Adrian struggling in the power dept, only Corey to lead the way. Not a good thing…
Thank you…me too…tired of the walking wounded TV show.
Empty seats on a nice Saturday afternoon. The times they are a rumblin. The fans are getting tired of the up and down escalator of players with no set studs to cheer for. A turnstile in the dugout does not make for cheering money paying butts in the seats. The plan is unraveling. Yes the tv contract money is there, but I see a sea change coming. Sorry for those of us in California it’s called an earthquake. Guggss ain’t going to put up with it for too long. Too much $$$$$ in it.
If Grandal continues to hit, it will no doubt help the team. I do not expect him to keep it up because he has never shown that ability. I think he will hit in the .230 range with power. He will continue to have problems blocking balls and throwing out runners. He works with AJ on the game plan, so that might help his game calling skills. There are a wide range of other problems this team faces. Not the least of which is a shoddy rotation. It is a team with a plethora of mediocre sub .500 pitchers, and then Kershaw. What everyone conveniently forgets is that McCarthy, Ryu, Kazmir, Kershaw, all have contracts that guarantee they will be here the next 2 years at least. Through 2018. Maeda is on an 8 year deal. Now Ryu is still not full strength, but those guys are taking up the spots that so many have said the rookies should be filling. Granted, one or more of them could end up on the trading block, but how many takers do you think they will have?? Nobody wants the Dodgers garbage. Deleon, Cotton, Stripling, Urias, Stewart, if anything they will only get spot starts if someone cannot answer the call. If Anderson comes back, which at this point is pretty iffy, then that is another spot taken by an over paid average pitcher. Urias according to all I have read if he comes back, will be in the bullpen. So in reality, nobody has a clue what the rotation or staff will look like in 4 weeks. Friedman was quoted as saying the Dodgers are targeting big names at the deadline. I will believe that when I see it….hopefully, the whole mess gets straightened out and the team makes a run. Prediction, they will not trade Puig, they will not trade Grandal. FO likes him to much. They will not go after Lucroy or Braun. In all likelihood, they send Thompson down for a little more seasoning, rotate Toles and Joc in CF when he comes back. They might move SVS in a trade to unjam the OF since Howie is playing out there so much. Ethier will be little or no help at all and not near full strength until September, and that is when, September, they start calling up the kids. Before that, I doubt it……
Michael
I too, want to see what Friedman considers as elite players.
Because he said that they were seeking elite players.
And I don’t consider Bruce as an elite player.
Yeah…it is amazing he even said that, and they cannot mention names or they say you are tampering.
Orodizzi, Gray, might be on his list. Archer, but I doubt the Rays unload him. As for hitters, I have not a clue, and I doubt he does either.
The pitching staff, is what everyone has said.
And that is to bad, because pitching is 80 to 90 percent of the game.
We all want Grandal to succeed. After all, he’s a Dodger and so is Puig. The difference between the two players is that Puig has a track record for success, Grandal has a track record for mediocrity, so far. His lifetime batting avg. and caught stealing % is pretty poor, under 30%, and that is the pits for a catcher. But, he does hit home runs and he has a knack for getting on base via walks. He can see the ball, he just can’t hit consistently. Will he get better? It’s anyone’s guess. Catcher is not exactly an easy position to fill. A guy like Grandal needs better players around him to camouflage his shortcomings.
Puig, otoh, is a proven hitter and fantastic fielder. His problems seem mental. Why, I couldn’t guess. Since coming back from the DL, he is hitting more consistently. He doesn’t seem to be a good baserunner and makes mental mistakes. Perhaps poor decision making and a strong desire to succeed that overrides common sense.
I’m sure any team would listen to offers for either player, but what either will bring will be questionable as both cannot be relied on for a whole season, it seems. Either the Dodgers stick with them, as they seem to be doing with lesser players like Hatcher, Howell, and several other pitchers, et al, or they do some kind of blockbuster which I don’t think FAZ has the cojones for.
Jeff
Ethier was the best offensive player, on this team last year, and the second half of the season.
I remember when they first got him the saber-metrics geeks were all over his OBP because he does get walks, and his pitch framing ability. I never bought into that and never will. But that’s me. I really looked over his fielding stats and was not impressed at all. His lifetime BA is weak. Other than his first few months in the big’s he has never been consistent. Then last year he became a rally killing machine in the 2nd half. Yes, he was injured, but if it was affecting him that much he should have been on the DL. He, to me at least, needs to prove he can do it consistently. He will never be AJ’s equal in game calling or blocking balls in the dirt. I thought then, and I still do that there were better options. But the FO is committed to him, so we have what we have. As for Puig, and this is a gut feeling, I think a lot of his problems have to do with the different way the game is played in Cuba. He did not get the coaching in fundamentals that kids here do, so things like hitting the cut off man are not second nature to him. That is more a coaching glitch than anything. He has lapses, that is for sure, and sometimes he makes dumb rookie mistakes, but he is 25 and it is way too early to give up on a player with that much natural talent. He learns to harness it and he is a force.
Sorry Jeff I didn’t read that correctly!
There has been a system overhaul since the new management team took over, with new coaches everywhere. With new coaches, and new trainers, comes new philosophies that will in all likelihood take a few years to manifest real change. Obviously I don’t like what they’ve done personnel wise at the ML level. Many of us don’t. Of those that did, only one remains posting here. AC and patch, whose opinions I valued, but often disagreed with, have left. Brooklyn, friddo and a couple others, all of whom were fun to talk baseball with, just got weary of the bickering and have decided to move on. This FAZ movement has clearly divided fans and it seems obvious to me the reason is, the product on the field is just missing the mark. This team is boring. I know season ticket sales are somewhere around 35,000. The announced crowd last night was 48,411, and obviously there were not near that many butts in seats. People with tickets are finding something more interesting to do. Shades of McCourt.
All that said, in looking at what I think is the FAZ blueprint, I think I can see possibilities. We have considerable talent in our pipeline. The question remains, is this group good at finding young ML worthy talent? I don’t know. Can they sign star value free agents? Again, I don’t know. What I know is they haven’t made bold moves at the ML level yet. But honestly I don’t know if the results we are seeing are really not all that surprising to them. They can’t be that stupid. Signing risks like Anderson, McCarthy, Beachy, Kazmir, Maeda et al is a clear sign to me they are hoping for success today and planning on success tomorrow. Will it work? Maybe. Much depends on the free agents for whom they do go large in the coming years.
This organization is new from the Rookie League to all the GM’s. New takes time to develop. I’ve decided to have patience. We have enough talent left from before these guys got here to compete. I don’t think it’s enough, but I’m willing to hold on until we are officially eliminated. I said early it was going to be interesting. I still believe that to be the case. At the All Star break, we are a playoff team. Frankly I find that surprising considering how fragile this group is. Let’s see where this goes.
Gonzo,
I don’t lump you into the group of “Grandal Bashers” – Your posts are thoughtful and even if I disagree, I respect your point of view. I just have a problem with negative, shallow, bombastic drivel by people who talk out their ass.
I have explained this numerous times and I think some people grasp it, but most don’t:
If you don’t want long-term deals with aging pitchers, your only recourse is to take chance on other pitchers in Tier II. They are in Tier II because they have injury problems.
So they have 2 more years of McCarthy for a total of $23 million.
KAZ for two more years at a total of $35 million.
They are done with Anderson after this year.
Ryu has 2 more years at a total of $15 million.
Maeda at a total of $16 million for 5 more years.
Combined, that’s $100 million less than they would have owed Greinke for 5 more years and less than what Cueto makes over 5 more years.
Now, you can disagree with the program or the plan, but to do so now brands you as a fool, especially when you say they just want to sign cheap players. Now, in two years, you might be able to say they failed, but they haven’t failed yet!
The plan is: No long-term deals to aging players and build the farm by hording picks. Yes, you have said ad nauseum that all don’t make it. That’s why more is better! Oh, and Kasten wants to win now too and so they are one of the TOP 6 teams in baseball right about now.
I would like for them to be doing better, but as bad as the first half has been, I think it will change in the second half!
You keep calling them cheap, but they have the highest payroll in baseball. Duuuuuhhhhhhh!
They may or may not make a trade or trades – FAZ just won’t be held up for TOP prospects.
BTW, I am on record as not loving Holmes, but I talked to another team’s scout and he said everyone is asking for him… I may have to re-consider that position.
Mark
You have to pay more to get pitchers that consistently make there starts, as well as pitch well.
Greinke is kind of an exception, for an older pitcher.
Becauce he has already made that tough transition, that pitchers have to make, when they lose there good fastball.
And Greinke is doing that, at a pretty high level.
He also has a pretty clean delivery, and is a complete player.
I know a clean delivery isn’t a sure thing, but Greinke is a pitcher, I wouldn’t mind taking a chance on.
He had already more then full filled his first contract, he had with the Dodgers.
I would like to know the difference in money, between all of those pitchers.
As well as the money, that was wasted on some of these pitchers, that got hurt, and couldn’t make there starts.
Also the money spent on some of these fill in pitchers.
Mark
Friedman is on record that he is going to get elite players, before the trade deadline.
You may well be disappointed with “elite” when you see what it really is…
Wondering I won’t be disappointed, because I don’t think that Friedman and I, have the same opinion, on what are elite players.
We were divided before FAZ came on the scene. The Dodgers did not play good baseball under Mattingly. Everyone left except Honeycutt. Big mistake. He should of been sent packing with the others. That trade and signing Ethier by Neddy has hurt us for years. Those two events divided us and it continues today. Then there was some stupid contracts given to relief pitchers by Neddy that we had to ride out.
It is hard to post here if you support FAZ. Most posters are like you Badger, negative. Most people who support FAZ have left. I have said all of this before. We were called ass kissers by the person who owns this blog. I just try to root for the Dodgers and believe every year they will win the WS.
I dahoal
The signing of Ethier, we can’t blame Colletti for, because the owners wanted Colletti, to sign Ethier, like he did.
That is why Colletti didn’t lose his job.
I think if Colletti, would have got rid of Mattingly, especially after Mattingly had that fit, on national TV, the Dodgers might have done better, in the post season.
Now that I think about Mattingly’s fit, he had some nerve acting like that, after he was given the job, and only had been a manager for three years, I believe.
Ethier had a great year. They were totally afraid of losing him to free agency and there fore half the star power in a city driven by stars. The other half was Kemp. Kemp signed his deal, and was having a monster season until he hit the wall in Denver. Never was the same afterwards. So all of a sudden he was not worth what he was being paid. Fans got down on him people called him a clubhouse cancer and he was traded. And that was possible because he had a monster second half in 2014. Ethier on the other hand had a lousy year, and was untradeable. After last year, they should have traded him while he had value. But they did not, so now he is injured and will be little help until mid August if at all. Breaks of the game, and bad timing.
I think DM was not a great tactical manager, but was he did do was manage huge egos. I think he gets the blame for the post season lack of success, but I do not think it was entirely his fault. 2013, Hanley goes down and the offense goes to sleep…….neither his fault. 2014, his best pitcher gets lit up in a game they had to win. …Not his fault. ..2015…..he has his best pitcher that year on the mound in the deciding game of the NLDS, and he gives up a game winning homer…..the offense sleeps again and they lose……they got beat by better teams at the time. The one decision I did question was not pulling Kershaw in the 7th inning in the series vs the Cardinals in 2014.
Michael
I think the press like to project that Mattingly was good with all of the different personalites on the team, but I don’t think that is true.
Mattingly couldn’t handle conflict.
And when your dealing with a lot of different players, you are going to have conflict at times.
Mattingly wanted the players to look up to him.
That is why he wanted to manage younger players.
Mattingly could have handled Kemp much better.
He should have showed a little more compassion with Kemp, after Kemp couldn’t run well, after hurting himself.
It is hard for an athlete to deal with something like that, especially after Kemp had been such a great offensive player.
Mattingly wasn’t even talking to Puig, at the end of the season.
And Mattingly was the one who continued to put Grandal in the line up, after he got hurt, even though Grandal wasn’t able to hit.
Mattingly also continued to play Joc, when Joc hadn’t hit above 200, since May first last year.
Mattingly continued to put these two players in the line up, even though they were a black hole for the offense.
Was Mattingly making up the lineups? I’m not so sure now.
I do not think that is all on DM… I think the FO had a lot to do with making out the lineup like they still do with Roberts, and I believe they were the ones who were pushing Grandal because they wanted the Kemp trade to look good. I also know for a fact that MOST of the players on the Dodgers liked Mattingly and said so publically. As far as him and Puig, there was conflict there obviously. DM was tired of Puig’s antics. His problem with Matt began because Kemp hated playing LF and insisted he was a CF and nothing else. But he physically could not do the job. When he moved to RF due to Puig’s injury, his play improved and so did his relationship with the manager.
You get 2 fans in a room or 200, there is going to be division. As for Honey, they went on his track record of coaching pitching staffs that were close to or had the lead in ERA in the NL for most of his tenure as a coach. Obviously they did not feel there were any candidates out there who would do better.
Neither Kemp or Hanley return texts to Mattingly.
Mattingly said this publically.
Not all of the players, said that they liked Mattingly.
It was about four players, but Michael your a smart guy, and you know that if players are asked publically, that they won’t say anything badly about players, or managers or coaches.
Why would this front office want two players, that haven’t hit above 200 since the start of the second half, to be playing?
That is one thing this front office know, numbers.
They brought Utley to the Dodgers so that Kike could play center, to get Joc out of the line up, because Joc couldn’t hit.
A week before Joc was finally put
on the bench, Mattingly has said he was sticking with Joc.
Because remember Howie got hurt at the end, and Kike was playing second base, because of that.
And your right about Matt not wanting to play leftfield.
Remember finally Mattingly told Matt he couldnt play center anymore.
But Kemp was more comfortable playing rightfield, and Mattingly never game him that chance because of Puig.
Kemp had been a big star on this team, and it had to hurt to not be able to play centerfield, because he got injured.
Matt probably was in denial.
Remember Mattingly benched Matt because he wouldn’t play leftfield.
And if you remember Matt was the best offfensive player, in baseball, in the second half.
And Puig didn’t do much offensively in that second half.
Kemp was better in RF that year where he played 59 games in RF. He made 2 errors in RF, 4 in CF and 1 in left. He spent most of the last 2 months in LF, and that’s when his bat was the hottest. As far as him not talking to DM, that was pretty much a result of the trade which he more or less blamed on DM. Puig did not like being disciplined by DM, so that caused the riff. But guys like Gonzo and Turner, SVS, CC had nothing but good words and so did Kersh. Puig was injured most of the 2nd half. Matt hit .269 with 8 HR’s and 35 Ribbies before the all star game and .309 with 17 HR’s and 54 Ribbies after….Grandal last year, .282 with 14 HR’s and 36 Ribbies,, 162 with 2 HR’s and 11 RBI’s after the all star break
“I just have a problem with negative, shallow, bombastic drivel by people who talk out their ass.”
So do we. Look in the mirror.
Everything you just said supports my feeling about rebuild and contradicts what you’ve said in the past about “win now”. You don’t win now by hiring low cost high risk injury prone players. I still believe we remain in Wild Card contention mostly because of the players we already had here. You take Kershaw and Seager out of the picture and this team is sub .500. And Seager, as good as he has been, is 40th in BA and 34th in OPS. There are a few additions who are contributing, but the big additions, big as in costly, haven’t added a lot of wins.
Is talking out of your ass actually physically possible? Look, we all know the Dodgers have the highest payroll, M_T is a believer. Others of us are not. We all are entitled to believe what we want. And most of us have invested years in this team. I think getting so many fringe players and injury prone guys goes against a winning philosophy. My take….Not many times have more than one rookie a year made an impact. Now we have a pipeline full of talent, and no where to put them because there are guys signed to multi year deals that are not all that great. Ether blow the thing up or do not. It worked for KC. It worked for Houston too. But if you want to win now, you put the best talent you can get on the field now. That does not include waiver claims no one else wants and hoping for lightning in a bottle. We will see if the owners and the new FO pull the trigger on a major trade or if they keep the status quo. Either way, there is not a thing we can do but wait and watch…..by the way Badger, I know he is referring to me, but I do not care anymore…….he can say what he likes, and I am ignoring it…
The plan sounds a lot like the last days of Fred Claire. A ROY every year but no pennants. Trade away your best players. Then sell the team. Who’s the fool?
I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Guggs sold the team. They already stand to make a substantial profit. Sure would be nice to win something large before they do.
Thanks for the recognition al. Is your “negative” take on me based merely on the fact I don’t see this roster as the prohibitive favorite to win it all, or on my refusal to lie down in front of the pretentious board bully? Heck I thought I was walking the fence with ballet like equipoise. Not now but later is a positive point of view. And Mark has been all over the map lately with everything except his propensity for sophomoric name calling. With that activity he’s been consistent since the elections of 2000.
You know what I find strange about his support of Moneyball is how much he hated it when the Dodgers went that direction with the hiring of De Podesta. His script has been flipped with FAZ. I wonder why. Could it simply be because with the impecunious and clueless McCourt, HIS guy, at the time I thought Moneyball would be the right approach. No. Now I’m being pretentious. It’s not about me. It’s him.
They paid 2.4 billion for the team..last evaluation said the franchise was worth close to 3.5 now. Yeah, they would make some cash that is for sure, but who would be that cash flush to buy the team. Another Rupert Murdoch clone? That would be a disaster. I think they really want to win. At least I hope so. That was the promise they made to the fans.
You all make good points. The team has been successful in every way EXCEPT in the playoffs. It’s not the Braves, after all. Being in the Bay Area, I compare the Dodgers to the giants. All I read about here is giants this, giants that. Sickening. But in all that bs is the fact that the giants have produced better baseball players and are still doing that. Better than ours. I don’t know why, but it must have something to do with scouting amateurs and developing them. The Dodgers have believed in quantity of young players, not quality. The giants seem to have a guy each year who can step up to the big team and perform well. With the Dodgers, that might be one every three years or more. Pederson couldn’t play for the giants. Seager would. The giants farm has guys that hit or pitch average, but when they get called up, they perform better. Opposite for the Dodgers. A mentality thing? Comes from being a champion? Maybe so. This front office just does not know the best place to put its resources; the Cubans have been a huge failure, including 66. He is a joke around baseball and outside. I’m not laughing. These guys just DON’T KNOW HOW TO PICK AND DEVELOP TOP MAJOR LEAGUE TALENT. Too many misses and not enough hits. I don’t care about the pipeline of talent because it is irrelevant until the team can prove that the pipeline is real or just a pipeline. I want to say another positive thing about our Manager Happy: he is taking a page from bochy and using the bullpen for 1 or 2 guys and then getting them out. Don’t press your luck. In this day age, that’s how relief pitchers are used successfully. I don’t like it, but it seems to work. Still the best starting pitchers are with Cleveland, the giants, Cubs, maybe the Nats. Look and see where they are in the standings.
Well, there has been a shake-out in both scouting and player development but it will take a few years to see the results one way or another. Seeing pitchers rushed to the majors who are not ready to handle the workload is not encouraging but desperate times breed desperate measures.
Bobbie
I think it is develpment issues.
Because a lot of the Dodgers prospects, seem to be ranked higher then Giant prospects, right now.
But those Giant prospects, that are ranked lower, seen to produce well, at the major league level.
It is like the Giants have the same formula working for them, like the Cardinals have.
Because prospects, that both of these teams, call up to the bigs, seem to always produce, and fill in for any major league players, that go on the DL.
And both of these teams, don’t suffer any big loses, when these prospects come up.
Yawn.
“My bother hit me, Mom” Of course, you hit him 4 times first!
Predictable and pathetic.
MJ, FAZ is in a position to make a big splash. Last year, they didn’t have enough prospects. This year, they do. But, will they?
Ryan Braun has 5 years left on a $90 million contract. He’s solid now, but in two years, it might not look so good. Just like Greinke. He’s on the DL now and he’s had an “OK” season, but I can’t see him pitching at a high level more than 2 more years.
Badger admitted that AZ was a “Trainwreck” right about now and just a few months ago, they were the Darlings of posters (like The Truth Hurts – tell me if I am mis-quoting you). The Cubs were amazing earlier (14 games ahead) , but now their lead is down to six games. The Giants are flying high now, but can they keep it up?
Cueto looks like Cy Young, but they may rue the day they signed him… much like Zito. Some of you think he will opt out – that’s it’s a two year deal. I doubt it. It’s a six year deal.
Things turn in an instant in baseball. Here’s what may or may not happen.
Kershaw will be back and as good as ever or he may be less than what he was due to his back.
Ryu may return to form or not.
Kazmir frequently have a good half season, but will he this year?
Maeda looks like a solid #3 at times, but what is he really?
McCarthy is progressing – can he be the pitchers he was in NY the second half or is he the old Brandon McCarthy… or will he be injured?
Is De Leon ready to come up and make a difference?
Will Brett Anderson give us a couple of months as a solid (if not great )#5 or will he stay injured?
Is Brock Stewart Ready?
Has Bud Norris re-invented himself (like Joe Blanton) is is he the SOS?
What about Cotton?
Can Urias adapt to the pen?
Blanton and Liberatore are as good as anyone in the game for their roles. FAZ acquired them. Can they get some credit?
Will slumping hitters rebound to their averages or will they all fall short?
Will Andre Ethier make it bad and make a difference?
There are lots of questions…
Not one of us has the answers, but the negatively inclined always see a problem. This condenses it down to the way I live my life and the way others live theirs:
In every problem, I see an opportunity.
Many of you see a problem in every opportunity!
Maybe life crapped on you – it tried that with me too, but I refused to accept it!
I have become proficient at creating opportunities out of problems.
PROBLEMS ARE OPPORTUNITIES IN DRAG!
Mark
The problem is that it doesn’t look like there is as many good players, and pitchers, availble this year, as last year.
I could be wrong about that, but you don’t hear all of the names, like last year.
And if a player, really can’t help this team, I rather they not do a deal, just to make a deal.
Because I rather take a chance on the young prospects.
But I will say this, that puts Friedman in the situation, where what ever move he does, everyone is not going to be happy.
Valid points…..a lot of them have to happen for the team to compete.
You’re right – lots of questions and that’s why they play the games – to discover the answers.
A few responses:
1 – Kazmir has been a 1st half pitcher the past few years – look it up. He runs out of gas in August. Not a good sign if he repeats this year.
2 – Zito was horrible the moment that the Giants signed him. He never had a run like Cueto has had thus far.
3 – No to Braun. He’s Matt Kemp – an oft injured, right handed OF who is poor defensively and tied to a long term deal.
4 – The pitching is an issue because the Braintrust decided it preferred 3 injury prone, unreliable pitchers to one big star pitcher. You sew the wind and you reap the whirlwind. It should come as no surprise that the Andersons and McCarthys of the world are or have been hurt. They have dodged a bullet with Maeda so far. How much longer?
5 – I am in favor of seeing if any of the kids are the real deal. It’s hard to do that by letting them start a few games and then sending them down to save their arms. Let them pitch and see if we have gold or fool’s gold.
6 – Many poster have made the point that the Dodgers have been largely unsuccessful in the player development department in the last several years. They have all new staff there now. It will take a few years to see if the new guys are better then the old ones.
7 – I would be VERY SURPRISED if the Braintrust really went out on a limb and brought in real talent instead of the Mat Latos and Jim Johnsons of the world at the deadline. They are reluctant to give up any real prospects, and that will be the coin of the realm. They haven’t made any real splashes in the 1 1/2 years that they have been in charge, other than to spend $$$ on unproven Cubans. They are either beset with a small market mentality or have this desire to prove that they can build a winner based on market inefficiencies in a way that no one else has thought of before. They don’t have any former baseball players or scouts in high positions in the front office and so rely too much on computers and stats to make decisions about a game played by real human beings on a field and not on a computer. In short, I do not have confidence that this group will pull the trigger on a big deal, and do not have confidence that they will bring a winner to the Dodgers.
7 – In a real sense, the negativity that you have observed by many here is based on a lack of faith in the Braintrust. Until it has done something to dispel that lack of faith, you will continue to see negative viewpoints expressed. It was OK to be negative about Mattingly or Colletti but not about Friedman, Zaidi or Roberts? Give me a break!
I think Brock Stewart is intriguing.
Yes, but young, and inexperienced. Rarely does a player, especially a pitcher advance through the system like he has, and have success at the major league level immediately. There have been exceptions, Steve Howe for one, but not very often. And he is blocked by mediocrity that is already in the rotation.
Yeah, you’re a Super Hero Mark. Everyone thinks so.
Sorry we peons bore you. (Yawn). You no doubt hang around more intelligent people by the US Water Cooler.
Yep. Lots of questions. The odds are against this team prevailing in the playoffs. We’ll see.
Here here!
Many of us saw opportunities to improve the team last winter, but the FO chose to go in another direction, and now the have problems.
Yes they do. And how they solve or not solve them will go a long way in how the fan base reacts. They do after all need your continued support to be financially sound…quit spending and they sink like the Titanic.
obnoxious
If something is obnoxious, it’s annoying and unpleasant. Generally, people like to avoid obnoxious folks.
If something is driving you absolutely crazy, it’s probably obnoxious. Yelling and stomping your feet is obnoxious. Poking someone repeatedly is obnoxious. Driving like a maniac is obnoxious. If the teacher comes in and finds students jumping up and down and throwing books, she might say, “Stop being so obnoxious!” Anytime someone is obnoxious, someone else probably wants them to stop it.
——-
I don’t think it is the points of view that causing the problems in here, I think it is the obnoxious way in which ______________ goes about presenting ideas and treating others. If some civility and respect suddenly reared it’s head, many would love to continue with the sharing of ideas. So do we can continue to be obnoxious in our presentations or do we actually want to have a good Dodgers discussion? Obviously, most are decent and good people, each individual has their limit on what they will tolerate from the “obnoxious class”. My hope is that whoever this applies to will make some changes to their style and attitude towards others. Otherwise the list of those that simply won’t tolerate it will 1. react with harshness or 2. ultimately leave this blog.
Sadly, the obnoxious usually don’t see themself as being a problem, in fact, they are energized with their own obnoxiousness. Why that happens, I guess it is the cussedness of mankind or a very poor self-image. So does misery like company? If I’m miserable, I want everyone else to be miserable.
Hopefully some personal reflection will occur among the brethren. Peace.
Well said
I agree. Well said TBlue.
In the interest of keeping this a Dodger board for everyone, I will not respond to that OverDose!
I always treat people they way they treat me. If you say bombastic things, I’ll do the same… and don’t carefully “cloak” your insults, because cloaked or not, it is an insult.
You will get what you give!
Many of us saw opportunities to improve the team last winter, but the FO chose to go in another direction.
Sign Price, Greinke, Cueto and Heyward – that was the crux of it! Maybe they could have won it this year. Toronto went all in to win last year AND MANY ON THIS BOARD THOUGHT THEY WOULD!
Some even picked them this year. By next year, they may be under .500. Going all in delivers nothing. Being smart does. Here’s the thing: The Dodgers can still win it all this year. A lot has to go right the second half for that to happen, but they are due.
Here’s why some of you talk crazy to me: I have said that FAZ was not going to sign these guys from the beginning..a and they haven’t. It makes perfect sense to me that they didn’t and it evidently makes sense to them. Maybe it doesn’t make sense to you… and that’s OK.
But, it irks me when some of you call players and management “bums” or other names. I learned that a few years ago when I carelessly called Jason Repko a bum. His Dad read my blog and took me to task saying “you have no idea what he has went through.” And I didn’t!
FAZ’ job would be a lot easier if they just did what the fans wanted, but we all know that is foolish. I think they are building a monster, but I also think they have a shot at winning now too! They knew it was a risk – it’s all a risk!
Dare I risk changing the subject? What’s going on with Agon and Matt Kemp? Friday night’s game Matt seemed to be playfully pushing Agon by walking into him. No response, no change of expression by Agon. Yesterday Kemp seemed to say something and push his finger into Agon’s chest. Once again Agon totally ignored it. The Network replayed it if I remember correctly and there was some comment by the announcer but they did not elaborate. Anybody know what’s going on?
I noticed that too…..but have no clue……..must be a guy thing…
When Matt was a Dodger, he was not “tight” with Adrian and (it seems to me) that Adrian did not like his attitude. Matt and Andre were once “crybabys” but in respect to Andre, he grew out of it. Matt is a “Momma’s boy” and the locker room was tense when he was tense. I know that for a fact because I was there then. I watched Fridays game on my i-phone at Guaymas in Tiberon and was blocked from yesterdays game, so I have no further info.
http://www.guaymasrestaurant.com/home
I’m now back in Indy. Got in at 6 AM this morning after all night on American Airlines. I hate LAX!
Mark
I am glad you got home safely.
There is always Ontario airport, which is really close to Rancho.
Or Long Beach Airport which is the smallest and easiest to deal with of them all…
Wondering
you go all the way to Long Beach, to catch a plane, from Rancho?
I’ve been to that restaurant. I worked with a contractor buddy of mine in Napa and one of our investors had a place in Tiburon. That is a beautiful little village.
Wondering
I thought about what you asked.
And I know that Agone was close to Mattingly, and I also know that Kemp doesn’t like Mattingly, so maybe that is it.
For those of you who thought trading for Andre Ethier was a bad move, let me remind you we received “Mr. Clutch” for foul-mouthed, evil minded, contemptious, cancer in the clubhouse, Milton Bradley.
Ethier was a great trade by Ned. Signing him to the extension was not. I have never been a huge Ethier fan, but even Ray Charles can see that was a great trade! 😉
According to Dodgers Nation, 5 stages of Dodger fans grief… 1. Denial: This is not happening! No Kershaw?! How Long? How can we win without Kershaw? We Need Him! Leave me alone. That’s it, leave me alone….I hate baseball! ..2. Anger: Gatorade case beatdown. It may not help, but it can’ hurt…ask Joe Blanton, I can’t help but notice how well he is pitching since he beat the orange out of that case!…. 3. Bargaining: God, are you there? Ok what’s it gonna take? Let’s make a deal, I’ll never drink again….. this beer, gulp, will be the last one I drink! I will never use another dmn errrrrr dang cussword. I will stop HATING the Giants…….uh scratch that one…..but will you please give us back a healthy Kershaw? I will do almost anything!!!! 4. Depression: I give up, the season is over. I have nothing to live for, and I will never experience joy, or more importantly a World Series again. I am going to bed, wake me for Thanksgiving!…….5 Acceptance:….Vin Scully, he’ll guide us through our ups and downs. Cherish the end of the Vin Scully era, no matter what happens on the field……………awesome post, and the comics that accompanied them were awesome…
By the way: I have to say this:
1. I had the longest running Dodger Blog (15 years) ever – longer than Jon Weisman until this year;
2. I was the first blogger in the pressbox in Dodger Stadium.
3. I was the first blogger in the Dodger Stadium Clubhouse.
4. I was probably in the pressbox at all stadiums 75 times.
5. What does that count for? Nothing! I can’t get Guggs and Company to even give my family a tour of the press box.. in fact, they don’t even return my calls.
6. They treat Scott the same way. That’s not Friedman’s side of the business. That’s Kasten!
OK, maybe it’s because I talked bad about Torre, Mattingly, Colletti and Guggs, but why punish Scott too?
Good read Michael.
Mark, are you trying to get a tour by being a FAZophant Kassten kisser? It would explain a few things.
Badger
It sounds like you have been in the acceptance stage for quite a while now.
Even the line about cherishing Vin’s last year.
You let that be known, before the season even began.
I will miss Vin, because I grew up hearing him on my transistor radio. Still remember staying up, riveted to the game and Sandy striking out 18 Giants. Won’t be the same with him gone.
Just a thought, but maybe they do not consider bloggers to be real journalists…
That’s is probably right Michael. But that isn’t good business.
Maybe it is team policy since bloggers do not work for the team or any publication. I have seen writers fired for being too critical….since bloggers do their own thing, that would not happen, so the team retaliates by denying access…
Or hiring them if they’re supportive enough.
Yeah, that might be a perk. But I will tell you, I still miss Bud Furillo….he was a great writer.
They don’t and I’m not!
It was good until Guggs took over.
I’m glad that everyone is good today.
Now the Dodgers need to get this last win, before the break is over.
About Cory, I think Cory mostly wanted to be in the HR derby, in order to share that day with his father.
Cory’s father is pitching to Cory, in the derby tomorrow.
I guess a player rep, asked Cory to be in the HR derby.
And the MLB is always looking for a way, to attract more young people to the game of baseball, and Cory being so young, can do that.
Wil Myers’ 19 year old brother is pitching to him in the Derby.
I don’t believe I’ll be watching this year’s derby. Now that I’m fully entrenched in my prickly old grouch days I don’t much give a damm about these young “look at me” whipper snappers. Baseball is a team game and these All Star games, all of them in my estimation, are ego driven spectacles that if maintained at all, should be nothing but theater. I will find something else to do. As for Corey, frankly I hope he’s out in the first round.
Kershaw “going to need some more time” after the break. I’m not surprised. We will be lucky if he comes back by August. 6 man rotation needs to start soon. Somebody is going to do it. We are the perfect candidate.
Badger
I do too, but I don’t think it will mess with Cory’s swing.
Cory is really not the type of player, that wants all of the attention, and that is why I think he is doing more for his father.
And I was glad that Kershaw wasn’t in the game too.
Because he needed to get some rest, even if he wasn’t hurt.
I quit watching it a few years ago… too many rounds and it takes too long. And the true super stars no longer compete. Kersh threw a light bullpen. Still think it is late in the month before he shows up.
I agree, all that this time it counts crap should be benched. They should rotate like they did before, or have it start in the team with the best records home town. More fair that way.
Michael
They changed the format of the HR derby last year.
It was a lot better, and actually kind of exciting.
You ought to watch it tomorrow, because the format has got a lot better.
And it is quicker now.
Wondering
Everybody at MLB thought that Myer’s brother would be really nervous that day.
Corey is young, and very mature for his age. I doubt he will let it affect him too much. I do think that last year it messed up Joc’s approach. But that’s just me.
I flew into John Wayne, which is nice, but we could not get a direct flight Saturday night out of SF, so we had to fly to LAX to get a direct one to Indy. They did everything they could to make us miss the connection… but we made it by 10 min.
Mark
That was a good thing that you made it.