The Dodgers played percentage baseball in game three of their four game series against the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday evening and unsurprisingly forfeited the contest which resulted in a predictable 2-1 loss to the northsiders. The Dodgers decided to rest their two biggest offensive threats because a lefty was on the mound (Adrian Gonzalez, and Chase Utley) and scored just one run on four hits. The lone run came on a lead-off home run from the punch-less Kike Hernandez in the top of the first inning. The Dodgers had just three hits the rest of the game off of opposing starter Jon Lester. Poor Mike Bolsinger pitched well enough to win allowing just a two-run home run to Kris Bryant through five decent innings. Even the bullpen continued their recent stretch of usefulness by tossing four scoreless frames.
The Dodgers are a very uninspiring club right now. Baseball is a game of adjustments and flexibility, but when you purposely decide to remove your best hitters from your lineup because the percentages say to do so then you are probably going to lose. If the club refuses to deviate from their scripted formulas then they will keep losing. The Dodgers also lost yet another opportunity to pick up ground on the Giants who lost in Atlanta again.
Dodgers Lineup @ Chicago
Utley 2B
Seager SS
Turner 3B
Gonzalez 1B
Pederson CF
Thompson RF
Crawford LF
Ellis C
Urias P
Julio Urias-0-0 vs. Kyle Hendricks-3-4
Game time – 11:20 AM – TV- SNLA- WGN
The boys in blue will try to get a series split on Thursday before they fly back home to open up a six game home stand versus Atlanta and Colorado. Today’s game marks the return of super prospect Julio Urias who was called back up because Alex Wood was placed on the disabled list with a sore elbow. The official results of his MRI came back with a diagnosis of a posterior impingement and four weeks of rest before reevaluation. It appears that Urias is here to stay for the time being.
This will be the kid’s second MLB start after he lasted just 2.2 innings in New York against the Mets last week. We hope that his nerves are all settled and that he can give the Dodgers some innings. This will be another test as the youngster continues his development. The Dodgers are really throwing him right into the fire. This is what happens when you sign a bunch of injury riddled starters.
The cubs will counter with Kyle Hendricks. The 26-year old right hander from Mission Viejo has pitched well this season, posting a 3-4 record with a 2.93 ERA in 9 starts. He’s thrown 55.1 innings whiffing 45 and walking 12 and posting a 7.3 K/9 rate. He’s allowed just 6.8 hits per nine and given up only 2 home runs on the year. Hendricks has made two career starts against the Dodgers and has a 1-1 record with a 3.75 ERA.
As usual the Dodgers have shown that they can’t hit another major league arm. They’re batting .192 (5 for 26) with two home runs against Kendricks. Gonzalez and Justin Turner have hit home runs.
Hendricks vs. Dodgers
| Name | PA | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | SH | SF | IBB | HBP | GDP |
| Yasmani Grandal | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .000 | .200 | .000 | .200 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Justin Turner | 5 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | .400 | .400 | 1.000 | 1.400 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Carl Crawford | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| A.J. Ellis | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Adrian Gonzalez | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .500 | .667 | 2.000 | 2.667 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Enrique Hernandez | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Yasiel Puig | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .333 | .333 | .333 | .667 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Bolsinger | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .500 | .500 | 1.000 | 1.500 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Joc Pederson | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .000 | .500 | .000 | .500 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 29 | 26 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 6 | .192 | .276 | .462 | .737 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
|
#
|
Team
|
W
|
L
|
PCT
|
GB
|
HOME
|
AWAY
|
L10
|
||
|
1
|
|
33
|
22
|
.600
|
–
|
16-11
|
17-11
|
7-3
|
||
|
2
|
|
28
|
26
|
.519
|
4.5
|
13-12
|
15-14
|
7-3
|
||
|
3
|
|
24
|
28
|
.462
|
7.5
|
10-14
|
14-14
|
3-7
|
||
|
4
|
|
23
|
32
|
.418
|
10.0
|
9-20
|
14-12
|
3-7
|
||
|
5
|
|
21
|
33
|
.389
|
11.5
|
11-15
|
10-18
|
2-8
|
||
Today is the midweek morning game for the Dodgers on getaway day. That means a weird 11:20 am start time. So call in sick from work, skip school, play hooky or do whatever you have to do to stay home this afternoon. It’s time for Dodger baseball in the morning!
Go Blue!
The Dodgers have a mix of young and old players. The older players need a rest to keep them productive and the younger players are still finding their way.
Puig has a tender hamstring and needs time to let his brain process what he is working on in the batting cages. He needs a break.
The Cubs have started three consecutive pitchers against the Dodgers who are studs. The Dodgers matched their performance, maybe outperformed them given how many more runs the Cubs score than the Dodgers.
Scott said: ” but when you purposely decide to remove your best hitters from your lineup because the percentages say to do so then you are probably going to lose.” Well Scott, when would you give AGon and Utley a rest or would you? For me Scott, you need to give it a rest. It refers to your whining.
There are people here that are analysts by nature and like to offer their diagnosis. I like that. There are lots of weaknesses on this Dodger team and it doesn’t help that the payroll is huge and past appearances in a WS are distant. Sometimes the problems the Dodgers are having are so obvious that there is no need to say anything. The choir already knows about them.
But whining is different. Whining is whining and it gets old.
I actually paid the guys a compliment not too long ago. I think I wrote a general complaint about just…the complaining. I called for more constructive criticism rather than just “the team sucks.” It got to a point where I just came here infrequently because it was just a weird vibe. Seems like it turned a corner a bit and I gave the guys credit for it. Oscar noticed and said thanks.
Just complaining or whining encourages the peanut gallery to simply pile on. Then it becomes just this Fazophobe lovefest echo chamber of the cynical and the miserable patting themselves on the back. It creates a culture. Objective criticism with insight / whining………difference.
I get that Scott has to write with a little levity. He’s got to let his feelings and his personality come through. I still think a guy who does that really well is Grant Bisbee from the McCovey Chronicles. I usually try to read stuff from Dustin Nosler on DD, but it seems like he’s almost better suited to analyzing the minor league system and prospects rather than giving current team analysis. Doesn’t seem like he writes there as much, either. Doing recaps are hard…and just coming up with stuff to say is hard. I kinda skim over the articles most of the time and go right to the comments.
Bum
You know what is getting old? Roberts keeping Turner batting in the third position!
And it is getting old, with me having to say, please move Turner down, until Turner starts hitting.
And I use to say, move Turner down, until he starts hitting like a number three hitter.
But right now, Turner is not hitting at all. His at bats don’t look as bad as Puig’s at bats, but Tuner is not getting much better results, then Puig has.
Bum
I hope Joc gets back to hitting the ball, the other way today, especially with runners, in scoring position.
If he can hit the ball, to the gap into left center, that would be good.
It seems like I haven’t seen him hit to many balls, to the opo field lately, at least, on the line.
I was thinking that the early start today might be the reason for resting Chase and AGon last night. But I think it was a mistake to rest both the same game. One of them could have taken the day game off. Maybe they just didn’t expect Bolsinger to pitch that well.
Resting the old legs is of course necessary, but the logical way to do it is one at a time, unless of course the platoon logic overrides all other decisions.
Those who continue to question the moves made, most of them being of the meh variety, often wonder why, in the face of objective results, the FAZophants continue to vigorously support them, and more importantly, continue to do their own whining about those posters who ask questions. These are just opinions being expressed by opposing views. Nobody is wrong here. Not until the season ends. If it ends like it has for 27 years, then and only then we will know it didn’t work ….. again. Odds say – wait til next year. I’m still hoping we beat the odds. Im not betting on it though. Im just going to watch and talk baseball with those who are willing to engage in civil discussion.
Good analysis Badger. The powers that be have made many moves that most of us have shaken our heads at, and I remember during spring how optimistic so many were because of the teams so called depth. Well, the depth has become a shallow pool as the injuries to key pitchers and players has mounted up. Key guys are not contributing, Turner, Grandal, and some guys counted on to steady the ship are still hurt. It is what it is, which right now is a non championship type team. So the fans keep grumbling, and make absurd trade suggestions, and hope that kids like Urias can provide the spark that sends the team on a run. But the fact remains, that this team does not have the pitching nor the offense at this point in time to beat teams like the Cubs and Nationals in the playoffs. That may or may not change, depending on what the front office boys decide to do.
The Dodgers lost to a quality pitcher. The night before they managed to hold serve against the Cubs best, and beat the bullpen. The problem was not resting Utley and A-Gone. The problem is that 1. They are playing with a short bench, so a guy who kills lefty’s, SVS is not activated yet and they are forced to play Crawford, and Puig could not go. 2 solid RH bats not there in the lineup. The whole team is made up of plug in players. Bolsinger did a good job, but he still is nothing more than a 5 inning guy at best right now, putting pressure on the pen. Do not expect Urias to be a miraculous savior for the rotation. He is still very young and learning, and his innings will be closely monitored. As far as Scott goes, I do not think so much he is whining, I think he is like most fans who have a high frustration level with the current state of the Dodgers. But the Giants at least lost also, and suffered a blow losing Hunter Pence again.
Bolsinger shouldn’t be pitching in the Dodger’s rotation.
Every time he pitches, it reminds me, of the magic, that Badger refered to, about the Dodgers now having Bolsinger and MCCarthy.
And poof, the Dbacks now having Greinke. That is the irony Badger.
Urias has switched from #78 to #7. I know that’s important to you all.
If we can win today, we split a 4 game series on the road vs the NL’s best team. I’ll take that.
Weird to see a pitcher with a single digit. I know Leake of the Cardinals wears 8. But it is something I am just not used to. Of course now days you have guys in all brackets except triple digits. I thought it was weird when Manny wore 99.
I think he should wear the first three digit number – 007
Having already downed a few power drinks, she turns around, faces him,
looks him straight in the eye and says, “Listen here, good looking. I will
screw anybody, anytime, anywhere, their place, my place, in the car, front
door, back door, on the ground, standing up, sitting down, naked, or with
clothes on. It doesn’t matter to me. I just love it.”
His eyes now wide with interest, he responds, “No kidding…..I’m in
Government too. Are you federal or state?”
I would much rather read criticism than about possible trades that will never happen. Reality v fantasy. This road trip has been more successful than I thought. It helps that the giants haven’t run through the Braves. The hated ones travel to St Louis this weekend, and we get the Braves at home. A chance to cut into the lead. Go Cardinals.
Good read. For some anyway.
http://www.truebluela.com/2016/6/2/11808206/dodgers-season-thirds-2016
1. The purpose of a blog is to allow people to post opinions. Whether you or I agree with them, think they shouldn’t be said, or think they’re stupid, doesn’t matter. They (we) have a right to post them.
2. The same is true of proposed trades. And I must point out that GMs and Managers are as dumb as we are. Look at all the dumb moves they have made in the past. Who’s to say they’ll never do it again? Anything is possible.
I’m thinking the FAZ is due for something incredibly geniustical. A move with a level of awesomeness beyond uber.
So let it be overstated, so let it be overdone.
That would require doing something of risk…..not going to happen. Their vision. Hold pat with as many of the Division winners as possible in hopes that they can still win the division. Wait for the #1 farm system (that the great FAZ is taking credit for, when in fact all of the top prospects were inherited) to produce quality but cheap ball players. Sprinkle in a few inexpensive FA’s and shazam…we’re still competing for the Division. What more could the fans want? And our bosses will be very happy and will kick in the ‘bonuses to us’ for getting payroll under the luxury tax. That’s what they call a win, win and WIN!
It’s not risky to trade Dee Gordon and sign high-risk players like McCarthy, Anderson, Kazmir, Ultley and others? It seems awful risky to me.
Let it be a dream unfulfilled
No way that guy has anything close to a brainstorm
I’m not sure why everyone is down on Bolsinger, who had a quality start last night. Would I like to see him get through six+ innings every start? Sure. But who do you have in mind to replace him? Wood is gone for at least two months; Ryu won’t be back before the All-Star break, and I’m not betting on McCarthy. It looks to me like Zach Lee is the last man standing in the shallow end of the depth pool
Technically a QS requires 6 innings, but your point is made. For Bolsinger to go 5 and give up 2 is about all we should expect out of him. The only guy I have in mind to replace him is De Leon, who apparently got his hands on Harry’s invisibility cloak.
Snider
Bolsinger puts way to many runners on base, when he pitches. And he gets away with it at times, but he gets his pitch count up, and because of this, he can’t pitch beyond five innings.
I like Bolsinger. He rarely gets pummeled. He’s a 5, and a pretty good one.
That being said, hopefully DeLeon gets his arm healthy and can come up and take Bol’s job
Apparently this writer is not aware of our depth:
http://espn.go.com/blog/los-angeles/dodger-report/post/_/id/19878/dodgers-see-their-starting-options-dwindling-with-alex-wood-out-month
Moron. Idiot. Knucklehead. Nincompoop.
You guys ready for a win today?
Well done Julio
Wish I was there – looks great.
Big crowd for a day game.
Urias looks much better today! And I am not a Grandal
Hater, but I think AJ gives a pitcher, much more confidence then Grandal does when he is catching.
I have noticed that Maeda tends to pitch better, when AJ is catching. And Grandal’s body language lately, is a little shakey. I think Grandal is a better hitter then he has, shown this year.
And the fact that he is not hitting, is really messing with him right now.
I am excited to see Urias get another chance. He should pitch in the majors for a while to see if he can do it. This guy is an important part of the Dodgers’ future.
If he doesn’t pitch well and isn’t ready yet after a few starts, send him back down. It’s better than sending AAAA guys like Lee out there.
Everyone seems to agree that the farm system and its prize prospects are the keys to the Dodgers’ future. We are also all concerned that the team’s pitching, while perhaps performing adequately now (although this may be debatable), has many holes which will ultimately be filled from among Urias, DeLeon, Cotton, Holmes, et al. The same is true with the bats – Verdugo, Bellinger and others will have to be brought up to supplement the current roster.
The sooner this experiment commences, the sooner that we will see whether the farm system contains real gold or fool’s gold. Also, if the current roster is playing .500 ball, maybe the only way that the team has a potential for real improvement is to bring up some of the kids.
As I have expressed in the past, the Braintrust is not going to take on a lot of additional salary in a deadline deal, a trade or a free agent signing (unless it is a Cuban). The kids are where any real improvement is going to come from, so let’s see them play!
That was really sloppy play by Pederson – cost us an extra run.
Cannot do that against these elite teams.
Watford
I cost us both runs. The hitter before the pitcher, hit a grounder, that would have been a double play.
Both teams have had trouble scoring many runs. We just can’t give them away. That is a couple of errors, by our outfielders, in this series.
Puig made an error in the first game. It is just upsetting, because Urias is pitching, and he is only throwing 90 pitches.
I think he can throw 100 pitches. That isn’t going to hurt him. He has to build his arm up, eventually.
It is bad, because the Cubs pitcher, isn’t pitching better then Urias. And he doesn’t have the stuff that Urias has. We have played to well, on this road trip, to let this game get away. We need some runs!
They need to get some runs for the kid!
Game over
They need to score 5
It ain’t happening
Urias’ pitch count on track for 6. That’d be a good thing.
We may need more than 5 W. It’s early.
WTF was that Joc? Moron. Idiot. Nincomjackwagon.
Uh oh, kid is getting hammered.
Dodger rick
I don’t think that giving up four earned runs, is getting hammered.
Those HRs, especially the HR by Bryant, is a good lesson for Urias.
Because Urias still had the first HR on his mind, and didn’t make a good pitch to Bryant.
Wow. That ball Bryant hit was smoked. Wish we had somebody who could hit it like that. Put a dent in the SCOREBOARD!
man, I thought the same thing. Puig hasn’t developed into our right handed power guy we hoped, and Turner has regressed to what he was in NY. We need a big RH bat. Even our top position players coming up soon are lefties: Bellinger, Calhoun, Verdugo. Combine that with the young lefties we have in Joc and Seager
It’s just a matter of time until someone says it was a mistake to call up Urias…
or someone says this…..’For the record, Julio is not going back to AAA – he’s here to stay!’ That was prior to his last start. Is he going to stay for more than a day this time?
The issue is that they are desperate enough to bring him up……one must ask why is that? If they still had Grienke, would they be rushing Urias up? If they had signed a Scherzer, Cueto, Price…..would they be rushing Urias up?
Currently on a second Manager, many different coaches. New scouts. The blame can only go so far before it finally hits home.
Here’s something to ponder……Epstein signed a 5 year, $18.5M contract with the Cubs in 2011. ($3.7M per) while Friedman signed a 5 year, $35M contract with the Dodgers in 2014 ($7M per). Epstein who already has 2 WS championships and making a serious push for a 3rd is making half of what Friedman makes……who has never won anything. Shouldn’t the Dodger fans be getting TWICE the production from Friedman as the Cubs fan are getting from Epstein.
Good comeback chili.
And of course you’re right. Urias wasn’t scheduled to be here now.
This Cubs starting rotation is impressive. Our offense is not.
Badger
We could have had this pitcher today, instead of MCCarthy, and probably for less.
I believe this Cubs pitcher, was a free agent at the same time.
So where are our Kris Bryant & Kyle Swarzber first round draft picks? Where is our Jake Arrieta, Anthony Rizzo, & Addison Russell trades? Where are our FA signings of Jason Heyward, Ben Zobrist, Jon Lester & John Lackey? Where is our proven winning Manager like Joe Maddon?
And the Cubs ownership is paying 1/2 of what the Dodgers gave Friedman. Amazing.
Mark
When is Roberts, going to move Turner down in the order? It is getting ridiculous now. Turner isn’t to far, from the Mendosa line.
Actually I recall Urias struggled for the first few starts every time he was promoted a level. Then he figured it out and dominated. Happened in A, AA, AAA, and obviously now in LA
I’m planning on going Tuesday night when he’s scheduled to start again (and at home finally). I expect a big improvement because that’s what he has done in the past
If anyone else is there, be great to meet up and grab a drink! Mark, I still owe u a drink for the long time blog
I like Roberts much better, then Mattingly, but he is doing something that Mattingly would do, by keeping Turner batting third.
When Turner was out, and he had the line up, Chase, Cory, and Agone, and that offense looked much better, and scored more runs.
Turner is hitting pretty close to the Mendosa line now. Urias started pitching better today, but he still not quite believing in himself. He needs to go after the hitters, and stop pitching so tentatively.
It would have helped if the team got him some early runs. And played a clean game defensively. But the Dodgers look like they are going threw the motions in this game, today. It isn’t fun to watch.
What is also bad. The Giants won there game today. Unless they have another late rally, they will be 5, and a half games back from the Giants.
Well, that sucked.
Disappointed? Of course. Surprised? Nope.
Badger
I hate to watch a game like this, when the players, look like they are only going through the motions.
And I still think that sitting Agone and Chase, against the Cubs, was wrong.
I still don’t understand why Roberts rested Agone and Utley, in a game against the Cubbies. Wouldn’t you want your best players, playing against the best team in baseball?
And Agone had just had three days off, a couple of weeks ago. Agone was also getting hot, and hitting. And they are playing the Braves, in there next series.
Wouldn’t that the been a better time, to rest Chase?
Agone didn’t even want a day off. And like I said above, Agone had just had three days off.
Have no answer MJ
Greinke is now 7-3. I guess nobody has a comment on the article regarding being 1/3 through the season. Greinke on pace for 20 wins. He probably won’t get it. Won’t matter if Miller continues to flounder. Bumgarner won. He’s 7-2. He probably won’t win 20 either. gnats on pace for 98 wins. They probably won’t win that many. Probably.
Badger
I don’t care what Greinke’s era is, because I know it will be fine, at the end of the season. Everyone here, knows Greinke is a good pitcher, even if they don’t say it.
I still say that it wasn’t a mistake to call Urias up – YET. Give the kid a few games to see if he is ready for the big time. If not, then send him back down and try again later. The options are AAAA types like Lee, who won’t be very good now and won’t be very good later either. Bringing up Urias builds for the future.
I used to hate it when Colletti brought in the likes of Kevin Correia – he’s a bum! I’d much rather see if one of the kids can do it. Teams like the Cardinals do this successfully all of the time.
The Cardinals use them in the pen first, most of the time, like the Dodgers use to do.
Is it time to go after Teheran the next series???
I’d rather have a power hitter in the middle of the lineup, but whatever…
This is beginning to hurt my feelings..
Peter j
I know what you mean. When a team plays a four game series, there is such a big difference from splitting the series, and losing three games to the other team.
Especially after, how well they played against the Mets. That pitcher today, was nothing compared to the Mets pitchers, and nothing.