The Dodgers got a great come from behind victory last night. Bad news followed today with the news that Kenley Jansen will be out for a month with an irregular heartbeat, which has happened in the past in the same ballpark. So the Dodgers need to make a bullpen move. Today the Dodgers put Kenta Maeda on the mound against Jon Gray of the Rockies. Manny Machado wasn’t in the lineup tonight.
The Dodgers got off to a good start as Justin Turner hit a double with one out. Yasmani Grandal then singled him in and the Dodgers took a 1-0 lead. In the bottom of the first the Rockies struck back as Charlie Blackmon singled and D.J. LeMahieu hit a two run shot for the 2-1 lead. Cargo then hit a triple but Maeda was able to get out of the inning. In the bottom of the third, Cargo walked. Trevor Story then doubled him in for a 3-1 lead.
The Los Angeles Dodgers today placed All-Star closer Kenley Jansen on the 10-day disabled list with an irregular heartbeat and recalled switch-handed pitcher Pat Venditte from Triple-A Oklahoma City.
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) August 10, 2018
In the top of the fourth, Cody Bellinger hit a single. Looks like he is breaking out. Max Muncy then hit a two run shot to tie the game. Muncy looks like he is figuring it out. Nolan Arenado had to leave the game due to some sort of injury. He is the Rockies most dangerous hitter. In the top of the fifth, Justin Turner was hit by pitch. Brian Dozier then walked. Cody Bellinger then singled in a run and the Dodgers took a 4-3 lead. Maeda ended up pitching six innings. In the bottom of the 7th, Zac Rosscup came in.
Not hitting at the level he did with the Orioles, but A) it's a small sample size and there's plenty of baseball left, and B) he's contributed.
Also, there really wasn't anyone criticizing what the Dodgers gave up in the trade at the time. Can't have revisionist history. https://t.co/O7sfeNms0W
— Dodger Blue (@DodgerBlue1958) August 11, 2018
D.J. LeMahieu hit a single. Ryan McMahon then hit a two run shot and the Rockies took a 5-4 lead. The Dodgers didn’t hit any late home-runs tonight to come back. Dylan Floro came in to relieve Rosscup. John Axford pitched a scoreless 8th. Jake Mcgee of the Rockies pitched a perfect 8th and Adam Ottavino closed the Dodgers out in the 9th. Tomorrow is game 3 with Walker Buehler on the mound.
James Moya
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Another audition bullpen arm, Rosscup, was sent in to try and hold the game for Maeda, who pitched decently, but not good enough to prevent 3 runs, 2 on a HR. Rosscup had pitched a total of less than 2.5 innings for us with an ERA of 10.13 and a WHIP of 1.88, horrible numbers. Arizona had already lost and this was an important game to win. Why did Roberts go with Rosscup? He could of used Floro and have him go 2 innings if needs be. Floro only pitched 0.2 innings the previous game. This is not too much to ask of a good reliever. For me, another Roberts’ brain fart. We are trying to win the division. Auditions are over!
Great to see Cody hitting so well. Same for Muncy, but not his fielding. Not great to see Joc’s fielding problems in LF. Generally, he is pretty solid in the OF. And, Grandal’s inability to catch surehandedly is worrisome. He’s been hitting well but his fielding is suffering.
Subtract the Roberts’ mistakes, this team is playing well and beginning to do the little things that are needed. They have to tighten up the amount of errors they are making. This is something I saw happening in the beginning of the season.
The better question is why someone named Zac rosscup is even on the roster? Why not just acquire actual Major league caliber relievers?
They keep looking for the Morrow arm that will bail them out. Haven’t found it.
I’ve seen a few articles like this, some dating back to March:
https://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2018/8/10/17673158/los-angeles-dodgers-clayton-kershaw-issues-injuries-velocity-results-averages
They couldn’t afford $7MM for Morrow who was terrific last year-for TWO years!- but no sweat to give $9MM to Forsythe who done nothing for us last year… Whoever made that decision should be fired. I suspect it was the Z part of FAZ….
Jonah
Exactly, what they gave Forsythe would have been the average, Morrow makes a year.
And even if it wasn’t Morrow, they could have got a better quality arm.
How many players on this team did we already have, that could play second, without having to sign Forsythe?
Way to many players, and the fact is last year, was Forsythe’s only season he was tops in defense, at second.
And Forsythe is on the other side of his career now, so those metrics are probably over rated a little, let alone, the guy never hit, when he was on the Dodgers.
And it is nice to have Dozier, but we needed a good arm for the pen, far more, then anything else.
We are so lucky the Dbacks lost to the Reds, yesterday!
We are currently tied with Arizona for the 5th best record in the NL, and we are playing like it. There are 6 teams with a better record in the AL. Why in the world would we believe we are good enough to win a championship?
Because we’re fans. And all fans are bat sh*t crazy.
They’re not. They don’t have the pitching to get to the world series this year. Nobody gets to the world series with Zac Rosscup pitching the seventh innings.
But we’re “insignificant fans” because we don’t buy tickets and concessions, they needn’t worry what we think. They’ll take notice when the morons quit buying tickets.
The good news is that Fields, and Cingrani are getting close. Urias went 1.2 last night at Rancho and gave up a dinger and 3 hits. He is not close to being ready. Morrow and Darvish are both on the DL for the Cubs, so that is a moot point, he is a Cub. That FAZ wastes money is a fact. Forsythe should never have been brought back especially when they decided to bring back Utley too. Maeda will likely head back to the pen if they make the post season, which at this point is no lock. If Roberts is not going to play Barnes against lefty’s then bring up Farmer and send Barnes down. Farmer is hitting .298 playing almost everyday all over the field and has a better plate approach than Barnes or Grandal from the right side. Grandal although he drove in the first run proved again last night that he is not a clutch hitter. He left 3 men on base and Taylor left 5. His strikeouts now stand at 135. Only 7 shy of how many he had all of last year and way too much for a hitter like he is. All that in only 429 at bats. Plus his K to BB ratio is 3-1 in favor of the strikeouts. He is striking out almost 30 percent of the time. Bellinger looks like he is heating up some and Muncy 2 dingers in 2 days might be doing the same. Expect Kemp back in there against Freeland. Machado too. I am looking for Manny to really kick it in here real soon……
Scott
We don’t exactly have the offense to make it to far in the post season, either.
Most of these average hitters, won’t be hitting a lot of HRs, and getting hits, when runners are in scoring position.
Because these hitters can’t hit good pitching, or a pitcher having a very good day.
That is why it is bad to make up a line up, of a bunch of average hitters, with power!
How has that worked for the A’s, when it comes to the post season?
And it is even worse with the Dodgers, because they have almost unlimited resources, as compared to the A’s.
Saber metrics don’t value hitters, who get hits when runners are in scoring position, so it isn’t surprising this line up, can’t get key hits, when they are needed.
Because our GM when it comes to offense, only values HRs, and that is ridiculous, with the way pitching dominates, in baseball.
And that is why most of these team’s HRs, are solo HRs, because pitchers pitch must tougher, when runners are on base, and even tougher, when runners are in scoring position.
You’re correct.funny because I’ve always thought the front office doesn’t value pitching. So I think we can all agree that the dodgers aren’t going anywhere this season. It’s a lost season in my opinion. But the only way they’ll ever win a championship is by cleaning house in the front office.
I don’t think we know for sure about Muncy, until we see what he does outside of Colorado, although both of his HRs, were legit.
Most of Muncy’s HR’s this year have been legit. He has been in a slump so making solid contact is a plus. Bellinger is a much better hitter when he is not trying to hit everything to the moon, so is Joc. Taylor seems like he is trying to hit every pitch out and his strikeout total is indicative of that.
You know how upset we get at the stupid moves FAZ and Mr. Sock Puppet make? Don’t you think it bothers the players who do it for a living a whole lot more? They can’t complain about it at all or really bad things happen to them, things that greatly effect their careers. You know it bothers them and yet they can’t even complain about it. You know every player is trying his best because that is in his best interest. Perhaps the lucky ones are the ones who get traded… Nothing happens until there’s a glitch in the money flow…
Those who do criticize are usually those who are earning good money or do not like the situation they have been put in. Stanton went off on Miami’s new ownership and got traded, not where he wanted to go, but at least to a contender. Harper has criticized DC’s leaders more than a few times. Realmuto was really vocal about the way Miami dismantled the team, and was hoping he would be traded, but he wasn’t. Rarely have you ever heard a Dodger complain for years. Sutton was mouthy, but never really criticized management as much as a team mate he really disliked, Garvey. I think on some level they have to be thinking what the eff??? But most of the guys on this team are definitely team oriented guys. The elation shown by Turner and Wood in the video after FAZ traded for Machado proves that plus not one ever said a bad word about Forsythe or any of the other very bad pick ups FAZ Has made, and they have welcomed all of the new guys with a great enthusiasm. But I would bet more than a few are thinking, when are we going to see the REAL Machado.
Badger
I am following the Central League, because it looks like the wild card will come out of that league.
Every other team, will have to win their league, and we are obviously not as good as some think, are we would have already made some distance between us, and the Dbacks.
Because the Dbacks are not doing any better then we are, right now.
Dodgers top pick, Jaren Kendall is floundering at Rancho. Only hitting .215 and being out played by all the other outfielders at that level. Surely he is a candidate for winter league in AZ.
Question now is, do the Dodgers try to pick up someone who clears waivers or do they wait for the DL to clear up. Think about it, Wood, Fields, Cingrani, Urias, Ryu, Garcia, Goeddel, Hudson, Jansen, all on the DL with Liberatore and Stewart still at AAA. That’s a lot of arms, so they can mix and match at will when all are healthy. If the blood thinners do not work on Jansen and he actually misses a month, then it gets a little more complicated. But even that is moot unless the offense gets off its collective butt and becomes more consistent. Dozier has contributed more than Machado in a lot less time.
They will wait for the DL arms to clear up and also do dumpster dives on the fringes and the waiver wires.
Nosier at Dodger Digest has an article up about the Dodgers shifting to ground ball pitchers. Nice article and backs up what I’ve been saying about how to construct our bullpen for the last two years. But I think Nosler and the SABRfans still don’t get it – the issue is changing eye level with a mix of pitchers and you have to play a bit of chess. Now the guys who are coming back from DL are mostly fly all pitchers, so that’s why I’m not too worried about Jansen being out a month (I say 5 weeks). Cingrani and Field coming back, and assuming their velocity holds up, is a big boost for our bullpen.
Dumb Dave does it again. Kike hitting 4th where he is 6-40 with 2 HR’s. That’s a .150 average folks and he is only hitting .210 against lefty’s. He does have 7 homers against LHP, but that in no way justifies the 4 hole. Kemp behind him. Grandal, who is even worse against LHP hitting 7th and Puig 8th. Still has Machado in the 2 hole and Turner 3rd. Bellinger sits, but he is also abysmal against lefty’s at .210. Muncy is hitting lefty’s at a .295 clip. Better than he hits righty’s. Dozier is leading off.
Bear
He just loves to bat Kike in the 4 hole. Maybe he will be able to put Kike in the rotation after that showing he had the other night. There is no cure for Dummy.
I would have Cody in this game, he is our hottest hitter right now, and he has very good numbers against this pitcher.
Joc also has good numbers against this pitcher, so some lefties must see him well.
Roberts usually gives the outfielder that plays center the game before, a day off, but Cody is hot now, so I think that is a mistake.
I would play Joc today too, because of those numbers, but I would play Joc in left, and have Kemp play right.
Because Puig doesn’t have good numbers against this pitcher, or against lefties.
Tim was right, when he said there is way to much over managing with this team.
And I think most of that, comes from the front office.
Scott you should read the article abouy Alex Cora in the Athletic.
He comes from a winning team.
And he has the Red Sox playing really well, and he has them taken advantage of the athletes on that team, like the Astros do.
That is what this team needs!
From FanDuel:
Enrique Hernandez, LAD vs COL ($2,500): Hernandez should be towards the top of the lineup tonight facing southpaw Kyle Freeland in Los Angeles. Kike has a career .362 wOBA against lefties for his career, and his mark last season sat at .390. Surprisingly, Freeland has struggled more on the road than at home against right-handed hitters, giving up a .373 wOBA last season and a .331 so far in 2018.
He’s recommended for fantasy league starting lineup. He’s going to get 2 hits and at least 1 rbi tonight. Badgerdamus predicts.
Badger
He has not started off to good tonight. A strikeout and hit into a DP. That is Dummy’s MVP on the Dodgers.
Badgerdamus needs some new crystal balls.
Trouble. This pen is not prepared for high pressure 8th and 9th innings. This offense is just too hit and miss. We look beatable and I think the NL knows it.
Not your fault o sage of the desert. Blame it on Dave the Dummy and the Dodger gas can brigade. Better yet, why did Roberts pull a guy with closer experience and an excellent sinker, for a waiver wire castoff with none????? Oh yeah, Kike 0-2 which now makes him 6-42 in the 4 hole and Kemp still in his post all star funk.
I had a feeling this was going to happen, after we didn’t score more then two runs.
And Shaggy is not made for these big moments, you could see that, after he hit Arenado.
Shaggy seems to over threw more then the rest of our relievers.
Cody should have been in this game from the start!