I believe it was Bumsrap who suggested that the Dodgers have a rotation that rotated. This is meaning that the club swaps around the pitchers. Of course the top three of Clayton Kershaw, Scott Kazmir, and Kenta Maeda are locked in. What he meant was that the bottom two spots in the rotation could be switched around based on matchup. So one guy starts this week, next week a different hurler starts.
Maybe an opposing club has an all right handed lineup? In that case perhaps using a right hander would be better. Or if the Dodgers are facing a club with a lefty heavy lineup, then a left hander may be called upon to pitch. Or perhaps one pitcher has a much better track record pitching in a certain park. You get the idea. The moneyball guys just love platoons anyways.
It’s an interesting idea that the Dodgers are probably going to use for their number five spot in the rotation. With Brett Anderson out for at least the next three months, and Hyun-jin Ryu uncertain to even pitch again, the number five spot in the Dodger’s rotation is once again up for grabs.
I’ll go out on a limb and guess that Alex Wood gets the number four spot. Wood threw three innings on Thursday in the Dodger’s 4-1 loss to the Kansas City Royals. He allowed one earned run on four hits walked one and struck out one. There is still a lot of concern about his unorthodox delivery, but Wood is young and talented. I think there is a lot of hope for him to have a bounce back season in 2016.
There are several candidates for that always infamous fifth spot. Two of them were just recently optioned back to the minors. Top prospects Julio Urias, and Jose De Leon were just reassigned back to their respective minor league camps.
Mike Bolsinger, and Brandon Beachy are now probably the primary candidates to take over the fifth spot. Bolsinger and Beachy have both pitched well this spring. Bolsinger has posted a 2.00 ERA across nine frames this spring, striking out 6. While Beachy has not allowed an earned run in five spring innings. Of course spring training numbers don’t mean anything. What’s more important is that they have looked good on the mound.
Zach Lee is also a candidate to be in the rotation platoon. Lee has also pitched well, and has not been sent down yet. Lee has posted a 4.50 ERA in three games. He’s posted a 1.13 WHIP across eight innings. Then of course there is Carlos Frias who is still an internal option. The Dodgers have vowed to define his role and the rumors are that he will be used as a reliever. However the club could still utilize him as a spot starter. He’s pitched well this spring as well. Left hander Ian Thomas is also another candidate. Although I still think he sucks. To be fair he has thrown three shutout innings in exhibition play.
The point is the Dodgers have several pitchers to choose from for a spot they might not need as much as you think. The Dodgers do have two off days on April 11 and 18. They will need a fifth starter on April 8 against the Giants in San Francisco. Now that is a tough assignment for any pitcher.
The Dodgers may employ this rotation platoon for as long as possible until one of their injured pitchers (Anderson, Ryu, Brandon McCarthy) returns from the disabled list. I think it could be a perfect opportunity for one of these pitchers to step up and show the Dodgers what their made of.
Starting pitchers are creatures of habit – in concept that is interesting, but I doubt that any team tries it. I don’t put a lot into spring stats, but I do consider them. What I consider even more is what a player looks like. For example, Trayce Thompson has a .206 BA, but he has played a lot better than that in that he has hit the ball hard right at guys several times. I have heard that he can play CF – so can I, but you don’t want that. He’s a corner OF in my opinion.
Zach Lee has a 4.50 ERA, but my eyes tell me he’s a starter without an out pitch. He will get shelled in the majors. That is my opinion. I think the fifth spot boils down to Bolsinger and Beachy and I know he was sent back to minor league camp, but Ross Stripling has looked good. I am not sure of Beachy’s contract status – maybe he can opt out… maybe not, but I think Mike Bolsinger is the lead horse right now. He has said and done all the right things and improved every year – the Dodgers have to give him a chance… and if at the end of May he can’t handle it – call up Beachy!
This is what I see for the pitching staff (obviously subject to change over the next two weeks):
Starters: Kershaw, Kazmir, Madea, Wood, Bolsinger
Pen: Coleman, Garcia, Baez, Howell, Hatcher, Blanton, Jansen
That means that Frias, Liberatore, Avilan and Wright are on the wrong side of the line. I suppose they could use Avilan, but that would take Coleman, Baez or Garcia out of the equation.
The fact that there is a glut of outfielders is also an issue. There is some major trade value on this team. I am awaiting more moves.
BTW, is Wood the first LH pitcher with a herky-jerky delivery? I have seen pitchers with clean, smooth deliveries blow out their arms too. I don’t put much stock in how he looks – how does he pitch? Same thing with Joc – I don;t care about his form – how’s the function?
Mark, you are not one that could be accused of being form over function so it makes sense that you would not like that in a player.
To me, that is a complement!
I meant it as such.
Mark, I agree on how Trayce has looked this spring. He has hit the ball hard, but has not found much luck. If three of those batted balls gets down for a hit, his BA jumps 90 points. Thus is the life of trying to make sense out of ST stats. It’s the approach more than the result right now. Joc is a good comparison. While his average seems up, he is still on pace to near 170 K’s in 500 PA. Trayce is at a less than 60 K pace over 500 PA. Over an extended period, Trayce should get more of those batted balls to drop and raise his BA. The problem Trayce has is that he is the 6th OF, still has options, and the team will only take 5 OF to LA for the season. Unless CC starts the season on the DL (it could still happen), or if one of the other 5 OF is moved, Trayce will start the season in OKC.
While I do not generally disagree with your assessment of Zach Lee, he has not pitched that badly to not be considered for the #5. You are right, he may very well be hit hard, but it did not happen that often at OKC last year, or thus far in the spring. But if he does not make the 25 man, FAZ has to move him. He has got to be worth a AA middle infield prospect from someone.
Bolsinger would (and should) be the leader for the #5 right now. He did it for several months in 2015, and for most of the year was good through the lineup twice. It’s that third time where he has problems, and needs relief. In 21 starts last year he got through 6 IP only 6 times (6 IP 3 times, 7 IP, twice, and 8 IP once). He averaged less than 5 1/3 IP for the year. I am not going to say that he can’t but he is going to need to do better.
I am not sure of your proposed bullpen set up. You have 6 RHRP and only 1 LHRP, and Howell cannot really face more than that one big lefty. I am not a big Avilan fan, but he has to be there as the other LHRP. He is better than Thomas or Liberatore as the only other viable lefties out of the pen. Coleman has proven that he belongs, as has Blanton. So that would leave either Baez or Garcia to be optioned. My preference is to keep Garcia. That is why I was so much for FAZ going after McGee and Odorizi from Tampa. A legit #2 and a solid 8th inning LHP setup. If I have a complaint about FAZ, it is not the attempt to find the nugget at minimal cost that may or may not prove beneficial, but the unwillingness (my impression – may not be fact), to go after players that can benefit the Dodgers. Odorizi and McGee would have been that upgrade.
I have no idea why Stripling would not have been kept with the big club to continue to compete for that last RHRP spot in the pen. He proved himself this far into Spring. Unless FAZ wants to stretch him out as a starter, I would prefer Stripling to either Baez or Garcia.
You know that I am rooting for Alex Wood, but what scares me is the left forearm tightness/tenderness. This is exactly what happened to the Rays Alex Cobb last year, and he went down with TJ surgery. I am not saying that this is going to happen to Wood, but I am sure that someone on the medical staff is going to monitor it.
I guess they are giving Lee a chance, because he has been in AAA, the longest.
Lee actually has pitched eight innings, and given up four runs. Three of the runs came off one at bat, but it is still four runs.
I guess they must make a decision on Lee, because he is basically in limbo, but I don’t think he will be the number five.
I think they are giving Lee a little respect, to help his moral. Because I think that Bolsinger, will be the number five in the rotation, like you said. And Beachy will be next in line.
This is the time when the cheese gets binding for Roberts and his staff… To send Stripling down yesterday was rough and I hope Ross handles it well…
Bolsinger + Senority = #5… If you wanna make it easy, that’s the formula…
Sitting in your office with your door closed and telling the kids it’s time for minor lg. reassignment or looking into that opening at your hometown USPS is a bitch…
I totally agree about Stripling, he has pitched the best, of all the young prospects. But they still need to stretch him out, because last year, he had just came back, from his TJ surgery. I hope they told him that, after he was sent down, so he knows that they like what they saw.
As long as we are talking about so many pitchers, and who might stick, shall we talk about a 6 man rotation again? Maeda could benefit from it, as could Kazmir I suspect, and an argument could be made that it would help Kershaw as well. With just 28 starts he could still pitch 200 innings and have a better chance to win 20 because he could maybe go 8 more often. Then rotate the last 4 any way you want and throw De Leon and Urias in for one now and then come summer time until Ryu gets back. Bolsinger has the best shot, but he tired last year. Beachy probably can’t go every 5th day. Lee? Maybe he could throw harder if he pitched less. I don’t know. I still see what I’ve seen since last year. We need more better starters.
Crowded outfield. Look familiar?
Bullpen. Yeah, sure.
I like your pitching plan. I think we have the type of execs that might be willing to think outside the box that way.
I believe the Dodgers did this bottom of the rotation shuffle last year. I guess its easier to do with Greinke behind Kershaw. But I don’t think it’s based on lineups. Rather it’s based on innings pitched. All those guys are more apt to get bombed the more innings they pitch. Reduce their innings reduce their chances of getting bombed. A few games for pitcher A, a few games for pitcher B, a few games for pitcher C, cross your fingers and check the waiver wire.
Whatever the Dodgers do with their rotation I think it has to be put together with the fact that only Kershaw and maybe Lee are the only pitchers that the Dodgers are going to get 200+ innings out of. That means whoever they start out with in April will not be pitching in October except for Kershaw.
If the Dodgers want their best in-house pitchers pitching in the playoffs then they will have to figure out how to get part of the 150 innings that Urias, Stripling, De Leon, and Beachy, will pitch to be after September.
Maybe a 6 man rotation is used in OK. Maybe Ryu, Anderson, and McCarthy are the pitchers that take the Dodgers into the playoffs. Maybe there is still a trade coming that will land the Dodgers a 200+ inning pitcher that is at least a competitive #2.
.
I think Thompson was voted the most athletic prospect in the Dodger organization. Although UCLA teams after Wooden were considered the most athletic they were not winners but I like that Thompson is athletic. The Dodgers need more athleticism on the team. I hope he makes the team.
I also like Barnes’ athleticism and now prefer him over Grandal.
I am not sold on Wood yet. I want to see what Lee can do and I like that he has always been in the Dodger organization. All else being the same I think Lee deserves the first shot to shine followed by Bolsinger.
To get that good young inning eating #1.5 starter, Puig, Crawford, 100% of Crawford’s salary, Grandal, Wood, and Baez in some combination are my trade pieces.
Bums, the problem is that there is not a #1.5 or even a #2 pitcher available right now. The time for such a move has come and gone, and we now must wait until July. The Dodgers need to make it to July in contention to be able to make such a trade. They did it last year with really only Greinke. Kershaw had a tough start through June. He was a very unKershaw like 5-6 and 3.2 ERA. At the trade deadline he was 8-6 with a 2.51 ERA. So maybe this year Kershaw puts the team on his shoulders and they can stay in contention to the trade deadline.
If I were FAZ, there is no way Anderson gets a chance to help in 2016. He should stay on the 60 day DL, and not take a spot on the roster until September. Ryu and McCarthy are different. They still have a future with LA, although I would agree that McCarthy would be considered marginal.
Barnes has certainly played well enough to be considered a part of the 25 man, but there really is no room for him right now. Neither Grandal or Ellis are going anywhere. And Kike’ is the utility player, because he can play SS and the OF. The same is true for Thompson. Unless one of the 5 OFs is actually moved (and Guerrero), there is no room for Trayce on the 25 man.
I admire and appreciate depth as much as anyone. But at some point that depth actually becomes a glut, and the individual values begin to decrease. FAZ was hampered with horrible contracts, and unable to move CC or Ethier. If Ethier had a more team friendly contract, he could have been moved for a valuable return. SVS has done everything asked of him and deserves to stay with LA (even platoon with Ethier). That could be a potent right/left combo. The Dodgers are not going to just release CC, and Puig is still too much of a question as to how he is going to play. Roberts has already said that Joc is the CF, so where does Trayce fit in. If the other 29 teams see that Lee cannot beat out Bolsinger or Beachy, just how much value does he bring in a trade? None of Thompson, Lee, or Barnes gets anything out of another year in AAA, but all have players blocking them. Barnes is way too valuable to trade, but LA can move Thompson and Lee. While certainly not ready for social security, at 24 and 25 neither Lee or Thompson are truly regarded as prospects anymore, and another year at AAA will diminish their value even more.
There is no way that I would move Thompson now. We don’t know how Pederson will hit, and he can’t learn to hit on the big team. Joc has looked good at times, but he is still not settled in his at bats, and even in his stance, and swing. I thought he had been doing good, because he was getting one hit, a game, and had brought his averge up, in the last couple weeks. But he continues to be off balance, and is still striking out, to much. I hope he can hit, once the season starts, but after hearing about some of his at bats, I am concerned, because a player needs to feel solid, with the way they hit. It is going to be hard for Joc, to hit good major league pitching, even if he is solid with his bat, but it will be even harder, if he doesn’t feel comfortable with his stance, and his swing. And like I said above, Joc is not going to be able to learn how to hit, on the big team. He will have to show he can hit, and he is not going to get, to much time, to prove this, with Thompson down in AAA, or on the bench. About Thompson not being a centerfielder, maybe he is trying to do, way to much, because he has been rated a good centerfielder. And in fact, he has been rated higher then Joc, in centerfield. I understand why Mark questioned that, because Thompson, hasn’t looked as good as Joc, out there. But Joc isn’t under the same pressure, as Thompson is, because Joc knows he is on the big team, and is the centerfielder. Thompson does not have the comfort that Joc was given, because Joc is not new to this team, and he is the centerfielder. Thompson is having to prove himself again, after he came up and put some good numbers up, on the White Sox, last year. Thompson must prove himself again, and and show that he can hit major league hitting, and that he play centerfield, as well as right and left field.
Time, for a time out.
Here is a funny clip from back in the mid-1940s prior to Roosevelt’s last election about his dog = Fala.
It is 2:19 minutes long.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Cdz-Zbsw2g
I believe this was said at a Chicago convention; after the crowd had a few beer’s. FDR was one of the best speakers to a crowd that ever held the White House.
Roger, I asked you in an earlier thread if you fallowed Alamo Heights HS baseball. I’m guessing the Mules are directly in your same neighborhood. I sorta remember you’re in the knolls and relate ‘heights’ perhaps close to you. I’m also guessing you may know their head coach. Just curious as I knew Jason from elementary school (little league) through high school.
Ryu, McCarthy and Anderson in ’16? Sure, with a mountain of good luck all those guys might actually help sometime later this year. Is the organization really going to look at this year as a potential championship year with 3 starters not available until who knows when? This rotation does not fill me with confidence. Anyone else?
Thompson is a 25 year old prospect with no place to play but Oklahoma. Ethier is staying here not because he is untradable but because he is needed. His contract of $18 million is not that heavy. He hit .294 last year. He put up 2.7 WAR and he did it as a non starter. Impressive. If the Dodgers wanted to move that, they could. They don’t want to because he may be needed again, sooner than later.
This roster does have talent. But the carpenters who are building this thing have an odd blueprint from which they are working.
Because of it’s extreme importance I would say this rotation (and now platooning it) is a disaster.
.
In reality it’s not a disaster. That’s too strong a word. But this doesn’t look very good. Long season though.
.
I understand the blueprint. Maybe it does work. Just not used to it.
Add a great April through June from Kershaw and I agree with what you alluded to AC, the Dodgers have replaced part of Greinke. Greinke and Kershaw combined to start about 36 games in which those games were pitched like an ace would be expected to pitch. If Kershaw pitches like an ace in 24 of his starts in 2016, the Dodgers will only have 12 games started in 2016 that aren’t started by a Greinke like 2015 game.
That was a mouthful. Hope it made sense.
I have said this before, that in the regular season the Dodgers will have a better pitcher than the opposing team in games started by their #4 and #5 pitchers which was not true last year IMHO. That alone should make up for the 12 games mentioned above.
AC, I would have to think that all teams would take the opportunity to improve themselves regardless of the time of the year. Therefore a trade for a pitcher should not have to wait until July. Admittedly, teams that are doing well or not in July will be more motivated to make a trade but those trades are more likely to involve players that are in their last year of their contracts like Price and Cueto. I don’t think that is what the Dodgers want.
Bum do you think Wood and Bolsinger, are better then the Giants, and the Dbacks number four and five?
The Dodgers CAN move Ethier – they just can’t do it without eating half his salary and it all boils down to this: Can they get a player as good as Andre for $9 million? The answer is no. If they could have gotten any team to take his entire salary, he would have been gone so quick it would make your head spin.
Ethier and SVS should make a fantastic platoon in LF.
The same is true with Crawfish! The Dodgers would have to pay most of his salary and they have to pay it regardless, so they have to let him try to play. Odds are he gets DL’ed sooner or later!
AC is right – if the Dodgers add a TOP starter it will be in July!
As follow up on the game yesterday, that is the second time I have seen Wood. Once last year against the A’s in regular season and yesterday against the Royals. He is not a # 4 or #5. He gets hit. Period. Balls hit hard, although the first run yesterday was the result of VanSlyke being lazy on a ground ball. He should be a #6 or 7, playing in OKC. Stripling came in to pitch to the C team, and was dominant. It seems like he pitches from a good angle, with the ball on a downward plane. I say give him the shot. But they just sent him down. This team is very thin everywhere when you consider the injury propensities. I have now seen the giants and Royals, and the Dodgers are not even close to them offensively. And the pitching is probably inferior across the board, except #1.
Spot on Bobbie.
1 – A LF platoon of Ethier and Van Slyke makes too much sense not to do it. Both have big platoon splits. Van Slyke should also spell Gonzalez at 1B more often this season against lefties.
2 – Either Crawford or Guerrero have to go somewhere else – there isn’t room for both of them. My guess is that Crawford stays due to his contract.
3 – The bench will be Crawford, Ellis, Kike, Van Slyke and Utley. The real problem is Utley. They could keep Barnes or Guerrero or Thompson or whomever else but for Utley.
4 – The rotation is the biggest problem for the team for the start of the season. Will Kazmir be able to get anyone out? Throw his fastball more than 86 MPH? Will Wood be able to stay healthy (in light of speculation about his recent forearm tightness) and pitch any better than he did last year? Who will be 5th starter? My guess is Bolsinger in light of his performance last year.
5 – Neither a 6 man rotation nor platoon starters make any sense to me. A 6 man rotation means that your 6th best starter is starting games instead of someone better and that Kershaw gets fewer starts. Starters who platoon don’t develop the arm strength to pitch deep into games and don’t get to develop the routine that starters need to be effective.
6 – The bullpen is likely to have both Avilan and Howell, so the question is whether the Dodgers keep Coleman and option either Baez or Yimi, or keep both Baez and Yimi and DFA Coleman.
7 -There is no way that the current crop of starters make up for what they lost in Greinke. Getting one of the injured battalion of pitchers back sometime later in the season won’t make up for it later as none of them are as good as Zach. The team will have to survive until later in the season and hope that one of the kids is ready to make the jump to the big team and a big impact, or that the Braintrust will make a trade for a big upgrade to the rotation after the All Star Break, which seems unlikely give the recent history (Mat Latos anyone?). I think it more likely that Urias or DeLeon will be called up to try to give the team a shot in the arm.
This team cannot afford to move Ethier any where. I’m suprised this is still being debated. He is one of the Dodgers best offensive players, and he was the most productive offensive outfielder last year. There are to many questions about whether Joc and Puig will hit. We have seen a few of the young prospects, have good offensive numbers in spring training, but spring training, is not Major League Baseball. We don’t know if Barnes will be able to hit major league pitching, or play great defense, at the catcher position, in the bigs. He is a good prospect, but he is still just a prospect. On defense last year, Barnes really didn’t stand out, when he played. And I’m not saying Barnes isn’t a good player, he is still a unproven player, when it comes to the major leagues. Joc had great stats in AAA, and he has had, his ups and downs. And I would say that Joc has not proven he can hit major league pitching yet, so it is not a given.
#4 & #7 – I think these are the most crucial and thought provoking of your points. They are for me anyway. I have no idea about Maeda but my gut tells me no way he gets through this year with 30 starts and 200 innings. I feel the same about every other starter in the group. Kazmir? Who knows. Beachy and Stripling are both surgically repaired and Wood? He’s already sore. And clearly you didn’t buy my argument for a 6 man actually helping Kershaw, and thereby helping the team. That’s fine. Nobody else is buying it either and frankly I’m throwing darts. This rotation has the serious potential to be skunk cabbage. As for a trade in July, sure, I’m on board with that. How many on the 25 man are you willing to trade?
Everybody agrees the Dodgers are going into the year with too many players that have not proven themselves or have proven themselves but have questions about how much they have in the tank.
I am not going to dwell on that.
We will all have plenty of time during the season to moan and groan if this group of players don’t entertain us.
For now I prefer to identify which of the in-house players I would like to have on the 25. I get more enjoyment in the off-season trying to get excited about the potential of some of the players. Thinking about Agon is boring. We know what he is going to do. I will get excited about him when he comes up to bat in the regular season with runners on base. Until then, who cares.
But if Pederson, Seager, Barnes, Thompson, Lee look like they are going to get it done, it is exciting. Now is the time to be optimistic. What joy can there be in saying something now just to be able to say I told you so if the Dodgers don’t do well this year.
But Bum, some people live for that!
If I had my way, Ethier, Crawfish, Kendrick, and Gonzalez would be gone. This would be my lineup:
1. Johnson 2B (L)
2. Barnes C (R)
3. Puig RF (R)
4. Grandal 1B (L/R)
5. Turner 3B (R)
6. Pederson CF (L)
7. Van Slyke LF (R)
8. Seager SS (L)
Bench: Ellis, Thompson, Culberson, Utley, Hererra
I would be sooooooo happy…..
Hey- the Dodgers will entertain us no matter what. If we were entertained by the ’67 – ’68 bunch, then the current group will certainly keep us interested. The question isn’t whether they will be entertaining – the question is whether they will win.
I am not a “glass is half empty” or “glass is half full” guy – I just like to know how much water is in the glass. It doesn’t pay to be an optimist or a pessimist – but a realist.
I think the pessimists may be the realists.
Quas — I know nothing of Alamo Heights H.S. baseball. But I very well might, soon. My wife and I are scheduled to move to a new place — Independent Living facility — being built as we speak. Mid-May or June.
Anyway — it will be just a few block from the H.S. and I could very easily go over and watch some games. Talk to the coach — a pretend to be a Dodger scout. If I can remember half of what Mark taught me over the years — they will be me. I mean Mark is the Talking Dodger Man.
I think it would be extremely simple for him to catch you on that one, Roger. As you have a very large collection of BB cards it’d be a safe bet you have several of him. He’s been with the Angels, he took over Willie Stargell’s spot at 1B for Pirates but most famously played 1B for Tigers. He played 1B at little league too. We didn’t hang out together much, I knew his older sister better. At any rate, I think I’d prize a signed card of his above any and you are likely the best shot on the planet who could make that possible. I’d repay such a favor with memorabilia of higher monetary value.
How do I feel about this team, now?
Last season at this time — I said on the LADodgerTalk site — I did not like the roster.
This season, I like the roster better — but gee are there questions. Take the infield. Not sure just how much AGon can play, SVS is there and even Turner can play — but questions.
2nd Base — too many bodies, kind of a rotation of the roster might be there by the end of the season.
SS — might start the season, if he is ready. No solid good backup, but bodies.
3B – Turner has health issues. More bodies to try.
Outfield — Ethier is the best hitter. Puig is a question mark. Joc can field but he cannot even stand at the plate the same way twice in a row. Crawford scares me in the outfield, and his health over all.
This will all work out by the first week in April — and maybe, just maybe the team will go on a winning streak.
….Joc can field but he cannot even stand at the plate the same way twice in a row. ….That made me laugh. Hopefully that gets fixed. He is making his fair share of hard contact and is going the other way a lot this spring. But where others are making soft contact, Joc is striking out. The results are the same but Joc needs to find a way to reduce his strikeouts if for no other reason than to give him more peace of mind. An out is an out after and at least a strike out stays out of double plays.
For those who are smarter than me (which is pretty much everybody on this board):
Is Rico Noel a legit prospect? Or more of a pinch runner type? He definitely makes things happen when he’s out there
No, he can run like a deer but can’t jump out of a boat and hit water!
Today, Beachy put Lee and Bolsinger ahead of him in the contest for the #5 rotation spot.
In this rotation, Bolsinger may be a number three. Again. Sobering thought. Mark might get his way come July when they start unloading veterans for prospects. He can do the Cam Newton dance for joy.
Was at the game today. If you want to call it that. U G L Y. I know it’s only Spring Training, but our team’s pitching is a mess. Beachy is more horrible than Wood. These guys just can’t get strike 3. They have no swing and miss pitch. Foul after foul, until something bad happens. Both teams had A- lineups. The only good thing I came away with is that Goldschmidt looked bad. Hard to figure. Up and down the lineup, the D’backs pounded away. Avilan had some swings and misses, but in between were 2 doubles. D’backs Yasmani Tomas is a load. He had at least 3 hits today , all shots. Ethier, Kendrick, Grandal, and Puig looked good on offense. Puig looked particularly good. Solid at bats, but only 1 hit. Still he looked good. Made a heads up defensive play backing up 1B early in the game. The suits are crazy if they let Wood and Beachy have a starting spot or spots. I’ve seen the better part of 2 games, and the only pitchers who got guys out have been Jansen and Stripling. Hard to watch. I’m watching someone else tomorrow. I need a break. In 4 innings, there were 15 runs and 16 hits, with the Dodgers also walking about 5 guys. 4 innings took over 2 hours to play. It’s only Spring.
Goldschmidt looked bad right up until his 2 run homer. These Dbacks can hit.
Yeah, the pitching is a mess. I think we knew that. It’s probably going to be Wood and Beachy. They have a few more starts to get it together. If they don’t we have Stripling and De Leon. Then Frias. Lee.