The past two days in Colorado have been miserable for the Dodgers. After being pounded by the Rockies’ bats, the Dodgers needed a big outing from starter Kenta Maeda. Would he be able to stop the bleeding, and help the Dodgers salvage the road trip with a win?
1st inning
Dodgers
They were about to get something going, but got stopped cold. With a man on, Joc Pederson hit what looked like a double down the right field line. An overzealous Rockies fan leaned over the wall and grabbed the live ball, stopping everything. The Dodgers runners were held at second and third. They never scored those runs.
By the end of the third inning, both teams had a batter accidentally plunked on the foot. Both teams also put up some nice plays with the leather to keep things scoreless.
4th inning
Dodgers
They put up another threat with men on the corners.
Howie Kendrick forced a single through SS to score Josh Reddick. 1-0
Rockies
David Dahl hit a two run bomb and the Rockies went up 2-1
5th inning Rockies 2-1
Dodgers
Corey Seager blasted a Coors Field Special to tie the game 2-2.
The Dodgers weren’t done.
With two out, Yasmani Grandal hit a two run triple to put the Dodgers ahead 4-2. Gonzo and JT scored.
6th inning Dodgers 4-2
Rockies
Kenta Maeda began the inning with 5 Ks and 7 ground outs.
With two out, and a man on first, manager Roberts lifted Maeda for Pedro Baez. Job done.
7th inning Dodgers 4-2
Rockies
Baez in for three more outs.
With one out, Justin Turner made a fantastic diving stop to his right. He reached across his body and made a backhanded grab. Turner them leapt up and fired across the diamond for the second out.
8th inning Dodgers 4-2
Dodgers
They put together a small threat by getting Howie Kendrick to third, but they couldn’t score him. As things turned out, they didn;t need the extra run.
9th inning Dodgers 4-2
Kenley Jansen vs Rockies
Mark Reynolds: K
Rafael Ynoa: 4-3
Christhian Ademes: K
Dodgers win! 4-2
As Scott mentioned in his pregame article, the Dodgers needed an innings-eater tonight. More than that – they needed someone who would stop the Rockies’ offensive machine. The Dodgers’ unsung and under-appreciated Japanese import, Kenta Maeda stepped right up and got both jobs done. He went 6 2/3 and gave up just two runs.
Awesome leather: The Dodgers got some great defensive plays tonight from Seager, JT and Chase Utley.
The Dodgers’ offense put things together to score 4 runs in the middle innings. Four runs usually aren’t enough to win in wacky Coors Field, but the pitching and the defense came together to hold the Rockies down.
Bullpen Comes through: Baez, Blanton, and Jansen held the Rockies scoreless over the last 3 1/3 innings.
After watching the Dodgers being manhandled for the past two days, this game was a pleasure to watch. That said, the game never quite felt like it was in the bag. The offense couldn’t push any runs across in the bookend innings, so the Dodgers’ lead never felt big enough. However, the pitchers came through, which should be a psychological boost to the club, after the home run shows the Rockies posted in the first two games.
As Bulldog Hershiser said, “The Dodgers got just enough from every department to win.”
Finally, a pitching line that I’m happy to post:
Kenta Maeda (W 10-7) went 6 2/3 innings with 4 hits, 2 runs, 1 HR, 0 walks, 5 K’s. ERA 3.22
Home run: Corey Seager
Team with RISP: 3 for 11
Oscar Martinez
I was born in the shadow of Dodger Stadium and immediately drenched in Dodger Blue. Chavez Ravine is my baseball cathedral, Vin Scully was the golden voice of summer all my life, and Tommy Lasorda remains the greatest Dodgers manager ever. My favorite things are coffee, beer, and the Dodgers beating the Giants. I also blog about my baseball card hobby at All Trade Bait, All the Time.
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Great job by Maeda and the pen. Is it me, or is Joc an awful baserunner? If it was Puig making these mistakes, people would be all over him.
Grandal actually knocks in the game winner…..if he makes me eat crow, well good for him…I still do not like the guy……but if he wins some games with clutch hits….I will tolerate him
I’m glad we weren’t swept, and super-glad that Maeda won his 10th. It’s a kind of milestone for him in a transition season that he is not comfortable in. Glad to see he that he is stepping in the right direction.
As for Grandal, he seems to do just enough for the powers that be to self-congratulate themselves. If the guy could only play a full season where he did not go into a major slump, we would not be even thinking about him.
Do we blame runners or coaches for runners being thrown out while trying to advance?
Little bit of both, but Bundy was terrible when he was there…..when Roenicke came over last year he was a huge improvement…
Grandal in my humble opinion will never be the high average, great defense guy. That wild pitch last night should have been on him. He tried to backhand the damn ball and never got his body in front of it. He is mediocre on defense, not a great clutch hitter, and is very average to me.
Michael
Why do you hate Grandal so much?
I know you said you didn’t like him, when he was on the Padres, but what is it about him, besides his play?
Is it because he tested positive?
I’m just curious, nothing else.
There is no excuse for PED use….that is one thing. He sulks a lot, just watch him after he strikes out. Last year it was worse. He would stare at the Ump after a called 3rd strike. A lot of it has to do with his play. I think he is vastly over rated by the front office. The one skill he brought, and it was not defense, was pitch framing, which I believe is a BS stat. He has power, that is sure, but he will never be a great hitter for average. And most of all, I do not think he was worth Matt Kemp. They traded Federowitz with and got Grandal, Wieland and Elfin back. Elfin is starting against the Dodgers next week…..and Wieland is a Mariner, Kemp had 100 RBI’s last year and is over 60 this year…..and none of our OF’s come close to his numbers….I could care less about his errors…
Mr. Norris, your post below I could not have said better. Grandal is a joke and should have never been obtained for Matty. He is a dopehead and is play is not good. FAZ has a habit of getting some players that have less than stellar character. One is Tsao. Anyway good post.
Mr. Norris, your post above I could not have said better. Grandal is a joke and should have never been obtained for Matty. He is a dopehead and is play is not good. FAZ has a habit of getting some players that have less than stellar character. One is Tsao. Anyway good post.
Sorry for the duplication.
Jeff
That is on Joc.
Joc had both plays developing in front of him, and his first running error in this series, was right in front of him.
Joc didn’t need to go to second to insure that Howie would score, because the Rockies stadium is so big.
Believe me, a lot of people were not happy with Joc’s running errors.
I only thing I can think why Joc made that error yesterday, would be that Joc is not quite as fast as he was last year.
Because it looks like Joc has bulked up his legs.
So Joc is having to adjust to not being as quick as he once was.
MJ, had Kendrick been thrown out at third, which he would have been with an accurate throw from the CF, you would have complained about Joc not advancing to second if he had stayed at first.
Joc did the right thing.
I agree. You are taught to hit the ball and run to second until stopped. The throw went off line to third. Keep going. I didn’t see it but Nomar said Joc hesitated rounding first. If that’s the case that was his mistake. He who hesitates is out at second. I think I read that somewhere but if not you can quote me on it.
He would have to hesitate to see where the ball was going.
Michael
As you probably know I totally agree about Kemp.
Some of these saber metric numbers that some people in baseball today, use to evaluate players, are not as good as some people think.
I’m not saying all saber metric numbers, but some of them, evaluate players, that I know are not that good.
I don’t personally dislike Grandal.
I do think he needs to learn to block balls better though, because a pass ball, instantly puts a base runner in scoring position, or allows a base runner to score from third.
I think I haven’t enjoyed Grandal because he doesn’t seem to be having fun.
The other day MLB.com had Puig down as being DFA’d….they have since removed that..
Puig was DFAd (Dumped for Another).
Correct about the baserunning of Joc, if that had been Puig it would have been headline news.
Reddick needs to lose the Dutch Boy haircut or at least start getting clutch hits, the Dodger Clutch Hit Curse strikes another.
I’m hoping Puig gets a wake-up and really applies himself, then returns to his rookie year form and carries the Dodgers like he did his first year with the big club. We all saw it, if Puig goes total Rookie Year Puig, he could really put this team on his back and set this club on fire.
I agree TBT&T — Considering the fan base that Puig has, it’s hard to imagine how the front office could have handled him worse. By not handling the demotion properly there was space for a malicious lie to hit the blogs and headlines. I had suggested the day before the trading deadline that he be sent to the minors to make adjustments. (So I am not complaining about the concept of demotion.) That could have been handled by putting him on the DL or with some concerned explanation. As it stands, I think that it has been a humiliating experience, not in a good way. It was a bush league management operation.
Who and why would someone hate Puig so much that they would propagate an embarrassing story about his storming the clubhouse and etc? It sounds like Puig is not the only problem.
He is scheduled to report to OKC in Iowa on Sunday. I believe he and his agent had a sit down with the powers that be to explain face to face why he was demoted. If the guy really wants to be as good as he can be, he needs to put in the work. I do not think they put him on waivers and then trade him for garbage. He has talent, now he needs the desire and drive to make that talent viable and productive. We saw the skills when he first came up. Maybe it came too easy that first trip to the bigs and he got lazy. What ever the reason, I for one do not want to see a rejuvenated Yasiel Puig in an opponents uniform.
Why would this surprise you, it’s SOP for this FO to screw up everything they touch. Guggenheim better get their nose out of their bankbook and worry about FAZhole running down one of their assets.
Any thing this FO does, does not surprise me at all. Fried Brains and Zilcho are a perfect pair. They think and act small market and try to save money and cut corners. The big names will always elude these guys, and I would not be at all surprised if CK opts out when the time comes and they completely ignore it.
I don’t know why Roberts has Reddick batting fourth.
Agone who isn’t having a good power season, has one more HR then Reddick.
Sometimes it takes a while when a player comes to a new league, with new pitchers too.
Is Roberts the one determining the line up? When an organization trades 3 of their top 13 prospects away for 2 guys with 1 of the guys on the DL, the other guy is going to be placed in the best possible position in the line up to produce. It’s called CYA.
That is a move to get the #3 hitter, Turner better pitches to hit. With Reddick and A-Gone behind him, pitchers cannot pitch around both. But there is an adjustment time to a new league and different pitchers. With the Red Sox here, Reddick should know them a little better since the A’s faced them a couple of weeks ago……..As far as the 3 prospects for Hill and Reddick, I think and this is my opinion that those 3 pitchers were not worth a couple of rentals.
You might be right that Holmes, our #4 ranked prospect isn’t all that but what does that say about our #5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 prospects. Are they all over rated? We’ve seen how well our #1 prospect has performed.
And I view A-Gon as a much better hitter than Reddick so not sure how that gets Turner better pitches. With game on the line, I’m pitching to Reddick.
Reddick’s benefits the most from his position in the line up as he is protected with Seager & Turner possibly being on base and with A-Gon behind him. It is very obvious. A-Gon has the same protection he has had all year. CYA!!!!!!!!!!! (If even possible and I’m sure it was made clear as to how they wanted the line-up.)
****I wonder how many of you get snookered when buying vehicles.****
As for how high our prospects are rated I don’t think it matters how high we rank them, it’s what others think. Check the MLB Top Prospect lists that are out there. If our guys are on it, they are valued. I went round and round with a poster last year on this issue when we talked about the deadline trade possibilities. We had a few in the Top 100 and both Holmes and Montas were on that list. We gave up a lot for our two rentals.
…those 3 pitchers were not worth a couple of rentals.
Luckily or unfortunately, time will tell, the A’s did.
It is pretty funny that Toles got hits right away and he is back in AAA.
I
HPW… Being a Puig fan has been painful for me, but “hating” him seems a lil out there.. They told him he was being traded ahead of the deadline and no one wanted to take the next dance… Closing my eyes every time he attempted a slide, missing the cut off and pulling up lame at first is what got to me… I mentioned Carlos Berneir of the old Hollywood Stars PCL days and I guess I aged myself…
I’m thinking as the dust settles there will be more stories from the clubhouse on Puig’s attitude…
A waste of a player having so many God given talents…Michael N. had it right on…
Peterj, I was referring to “hating” only in the context of the lie that was hurtful.
And by the way, I question that nobody would trade anything for him. I think that no trade was made because no one offered what the Dodgers wanted. That can be tested by putting him on waivers. Why haven’t they?
Agreed, that was a lie to break his confidence. He’s certainly better than that outfielder they traded for. I’d bet the house they didn’t offer Puig straight up for him.
I agree with that wolfe. His early stats and produced WAR numbers cannot be ignored. In nearly all cases where this falloff happens it’s due to the league developing a book on the hitter. The book was written and it isn’t difficult to read as its a Dick and Jane primer – up and in heat low and away breaking stuff. If you can get a power hitter out without throwing a strike you’re an idiot if you don’t do it every at bat. Major League pitchers are not idiots. Maybe they should bring that Saylor guy in for a pow wow. Yassie needs to adjust and the first step in making a change is to admit you have a problem. Sit down with a professional hitting instructor, watch hours of film and learn. If he says no to that then he needs to go. Trade him for less than and watch another organization try to get through to him. It’s my opinion he could go to a place like Tampa or Oakland, play every day, and put up enough WAR (1) to justify his easy to digest contract. For now he is exactly where he needs to be. If he can’t figure it out there then good riddance.
And Badger has been a big Puig supporter, so his words are not because he doesn’t like Puig.
Hpwolfe
That is what really happened from what I have heard and read.
The front office didn’t get a good enough offer for Puig, so they didn’t trade him.
I at first thought he was untradeble too, but that isn’t true.
I can understand why the Dodgers got mad that Puig wouldn’t do the exercises to and other things, to help avoid him having hammy problems.
And I guess Puig really was not being good even at the begining, like we all thought.
After everything Roberts tried to do for Puig, I really question Puig now.
So after the mlb draft in June, we had some of our “experts’ in here complaining about who we drafted. I remember one person whining about our 2nd round pick, a pitcher from Santa Clara, and how that was a horrible pick because “I live near Santa Clara, and I’ve never heard of him”. Sound reasoning, indeed. Well, here’s a little snippet of our 2nd round pick, from Santa Clara:
Mitchell White has been limited to short appearances in his first professional season after being drafted in the second round in the 2016 draft. White has pitched in six games between Ogden and Great Lakes, each of them for two innings. In those 12 innings, he’s allowed one unearned run, five hits, three walks and struck out 17. White pitched 92 innings for Santa Clara this year so his first real test will be in 2017.
Can’t we all agree that Puig is better than most When He’s Healthy and playing good fundamentals..
Puig has put LAD over a barrel when it comes to trading him… How do we know he’s not on the waiver wire this morning??? He’s better than Reddick!!! Thank you for sharing that…
Peter
Puig really didn’t have that much experience in pro baseball, in Cuba.
He only really played two years in Cuba, and that is about 187 games.
But he needs to do what is best for him not to get injured, and if he doesn’t want to do that, how can you blame the Dodgers.
This is the second manager, and new coaches, that gave Puig a clean slate, and did almost anything, to try to make Puig a better player, but Puig doesn’t want to do what he is asked to do.
He wasn’t listening to his manager, or his coaches.
And he couldn’t even hit a 91 mile fastball, right across the plate, so obviously he needs some help.
It is kind of like Michael said, Puig has the natural talent, that any player would love to be born with, but he doesn’t want to do the work, to make himself better.
And it seems like some of the players, with the most talent, take that talent for granted, and that sounds like what Puig is doing.
It is obvious that Puig doesn’t want to learn or work, or he would be a better base runner.
He had Lopes here, who was a really good base runner and base stealer, and Puig didn’t want to take the time, to learn base stealing mechanics, or learn the moves of the different pitchers.
Puig isn’t a good hitter, especially in the clutch.
He can’t hit good pitching, so he needs to listen and learn, and to work to be a better player, and hitter.
If he was hitting at a high level, and playing at a high level, he probably could get away with what he is doing, but he isn’t doing the above.
Puig would not clear the waiver wire….in fact I believe it goes in order of record, meaning the team with the worse record in baseball getting the first crack at him. My guess is whoever that first team is, they would claim him so then the Dodgers would be forced to deal with just that particular organization (if they were to move him), otherwise he’s going to finish the year with the Dodgers.
At the moment the teams with the worse records are Braves, Twins, D-Backs, Reds & Rays.
BUT if FAZ does place him on waivers and he is claimed immediately (no doubt the Giants would claim him) than it flies in the face of the statement ‘that no one wanted to trade for him.’ Doesn’t it sound like used car salesman are running the organization. Just a week ago, we heard they were targeting elite players. What else do you all want to hear from the great and powerful FAZ? These guys are so over their heads it ain’t funny!
Chili
I think it is also all the teams in your division too.
It makes you wonder what all of those former GMs are doing after this last deal.
Doing? I would question what is the plan? Now we’re trading prospects for rentals.
Last year that would have been a dope-fiend move. This year…..it’s well those 3 prospects aren’t all that.
Like I said before, if FAZ acquires them than they are elite. FAZ trades them than they are not. (For example, last year Montas was elite….now he’s not.) And to those that think that I’ve got ocean front property with polar bears on it in Arizona.
If we sign them, they must be great. If we trade them, they’re bums. Fans will root for laundry.
Two aces gave the Dodgers a decent probability of winning the WS last year.
At some point, adding another player is like buying another lottery ticket.
This year the Dodgers had too much invested to not make a trade after Kershaw, Norris, Ryu, etc etc [email protected] down .
Go skivvies!
Carry on.
It would be so much more refreshing to hear some occasional rational criticism instead of just this incessant harping and hyperbole just for the sake of criticizing for criticism’s sake.
No one said Montas was elite. Stop saying that.
I don’t know what your complaint is with how Puig was handled. He’s underperformed and has shown a persistent immaturity for three years. The team got tired of his act. They tried to trade him, didn’t like what they were offered, so they sent him down.
That’s it. What’s the problem?
Those were decent prospects. It might be tough to lose them, but they aren’t the top five. They aren’t the crown jewels. What we traded for is a definite upgrade and has made the team better. It was probably the best and most rational trade to makeunder the circumstances to improve the chances of the team now without compromising the team’s chances in the future.
That’s it. What’s the problem?
Some of you want Chris Sale, AND a top setup guy, AND an impact bat….what planet are you living on where this can happen without completely denuding the entire system and seriously squandering the team’s future?
Some of you are just in love with the sound of your own blathering criticism. For heaven’s sakes, just SHUT UP for a bit.
If a team claims Puig, FAZ can either make a trade with that team or pull him off waivers. If he isn’t claimed, then he can be traded just like before the August deadline.
Chili, you seem too eager to be negative.
Negative? Your interpretation. Please provide evidence where I’ve been negative. I just do not like F & Z and the sooner they are gone the better. How often do I rip on the players? Do I say that I hate anyone? I just give my opinion on things that I would do differently. Please feel free to make argumentative statements but no reason to act as if you are this superior Dodger fan cause you are Mr. Optimism. Just as an fyi, Puig’s 2016 ba was .260, with his career ave in the .280’s. There are other OF’s with worse numbers. They might not want to invest in any LA real estate. Just sayin.
LOL! You just provided the answer to your own interrogative in the very next question.
No….you haven’t given an opinion on how you would do things differently. That’s what drives me absolutely bonkers about the vacuous piling on and smug phraseology from the majority of the incessant whiners here. The FO is “dumpster diving,” and they’re used car salesman…yada yada yada…..blah .blah …blah. Ok….and who should the Dodgers have traded for and who should they have given up. Give some specifics so you can open your own damn self to some criticism.
Criticism, when thought out and coherent and well articulated…something that makes me think a little bit….that’s welcomed. I just lose an IQ point every time I read one of your troll posts like the one above.
And you know what? I don’t think Bumsrap deserved the tone of your response…and while we’re on the topic, I didn’t like how you jumped all over MJ. I just kind of think you’re a dick.
DP-
First of all I have given many examples of what I would have done last year, this past off season and even at this trade deadline. I’m not rehashing all of them.
One must be intelligent enough to understand that FAZ’s questionable acquisitions, trades and non-moves effect decisions down the road. Wasn’t Holmes the #4 rated prospect in LA’s system when he was traded?
Who’s the dumbass?
Then you group what others have said as if I had said them. I’ve never once mentioned anything about a top set up guy. Do you have ADHD cause what you accuse others of is exactly what you do. Anybody can go back and read the comments and decipher fairly quickly who insinuated something that was completely inaccurate. I stand up for myself and you don’t like it. You are really tough behind your computer telling me to shut up. A lot of money says that would not happen in person. Tell me where you live and we’ll see how things go in person. You start it, I’ll finish it.
C’mon, guys. Some people come here to vent, and nobody likes losing games, but let’s not go postal.
Will the prospect expert on the MLB Channel mentioned DeLeon today.
I’m glad he is finally going to get his chance this Saturday.
The bad part is that it is against the Red Sox, who have one of the top offenses in all of baseball.
I hope he can hang in there on Saturday, and if he can’t, I will understand, because it isn’t going to be easy.
I want to see how he handles himself, since he is older then Urias.
I still think Urias needs another year at least in AAA.
He needs to build up his arm, and pitch more then twice through a order.
Until he does that consistently at the AAA level, we won’t know how good he is.
Dwight Gooden was awesome at 18 in the MLB. Okay maybe the cocaine had something to do with it.
We will have to ask Steve Howe about that.
Cocaine came later. Gooden had a one in a generation electric arm. He was the Bob Feller of my lifetime.
Just checked Kazmir’s career splits vs Boston. Could be worse. 9-9 with a 3.99 ERA, 1.466 WHIP, 108 tOPS+. We have a chance. Red Six starter Steven Wright isnt all that. Decent comic before becoming a pitcher. Pretty funny in his time. “It’s a small world, but I wouldn’t want to paint it”.
Dodgers favored -128. 8 runs. As always, I have the Dodgers and the over.
Badger
I hope so, becaue Boston’s offense this year, is suppose to be the best offense in baseball.
Did Boston win last night?
I sure hope so.
I don’t like to face a team that just got swept, like when we faced the Orioles.
I like that Mookie Betts, he is a good player.
He can almost do it all.
He has speed and power, and he is a good base runner.
Theo really did well, with Betts, Jackie and Bogarts.
They are some good young players.
If you measure by statistics, Boston’s offense IS the best in baseball. If you value your own opinion more, maybe they aren’t all that. I try to stick to the facts. I first get them straight, then distort them to my own liking.
Badger
I haven’t seen enough Red Sox games to tell they are that good.
But every time I watch the MLB Channel, all I hear, is that Boston has the best offense in baseball.
Badger-
That sounds like someone else we use to know! 🙂
Bobby: That doesn’t change the fact that he was a no name pick out of the second round. Still stupid. Maybe 6th round. Important win last night. Get away day, etc. Maeda has stopped a couple of streaks this year. Great bullpen. BTW: the guy with the bad arm that the suits signed and let go because of his physical, Iwakuma, has 11 wins for Seattle. Oh. And Maeda has a bad arm too. That’s why he’s pitching on a down payment. giants at Nats tonight. Go Nats. I don’t think anyone around baseball, including our brains, yet has any handle on these elbow injuries. What causes them; how to prevent them. The medical research seems to be way behind the concussion problem, which is more life threatening. Right now, and for the foreseeable future, we will be in a continuous inning/pitch limitation mode from the moment of signing. Where there is doubt, pick the measurables: height, weight, and speed. My personal feeling is t hat the pitching mechanics used for a couple of generations to generate speed are the cause. No more straight ahead motions; just sling the hips and shoulders around and the elbow will follow.
He’s an odd duck, but his ideas on pitching, and his scientific explanations using kinesiologistic terms with which I am from a 40 year distance familiar, make sense to me.
http://www.drmikemarshall.com/ChapterTwenty-Nine.html
We’ve been teaching it wrong for a long time. By the time we draft them they might be hours from needing TJ surgery.
A lot of great posts in here this morning. Got me thinking about a few things. By the way, ears burning? You’ve been called idiots again.
Badger
I was just reading comments at that ThinkBlue site.
I want to thank you for the
comments, that you made there.
I couldn’t believe some of there comments.
And for the head of the site, to say, that he would ban anyone who didn’t agree with his site’s thoughts, was pretty bad.
Almost every Dodger site, is a pro faz site, and if anyone does not get with there program, they are either ostracized or made fun of.
I think Scott gets it right here, because anyone can express there opinion.
One thing over at that site that they are not talking about, is the reason this front office, had to trade these young pitching prospects, in the first place.
If this front office would have not signed pitchers with long injury histories, and starting pitchers, that can’t pitch deep into games.
They wouldn’t have had to make this trade at all.
This trade was made, because the starting pitchers, that the front office bought to the Dodgers, are going down, with injuries.
Who would think pitchers, with long injury histories, would get injured?
And our bullpen arms, are going to the DL, because the starting pitchers, that the front office brought to the team, can’t pitch deep into games.
And they are forgeting all of the wasted money, on these pitchers, that haven’t made there starts because injuries.
And how many pitchers, have the Dodgers had to get, to fill the five man pitching rotation this year alone?
And how much more money, has it cost the Dodgers, to pay all of these additional pitchers?
If this front office would have filled this starting pitching rotation with pitchers, that were more dependable, instead of pitchers, that have been on the DL more then they have ever pitched.
Then maybe, non of these young pitching prospects, would have had to be traded in the first place.
I got a private email from Ron regarding that post. He wasn’t happy.
Badger
What you said, is exactly how I was feeling, after I read there comments.
I liked that you mentioned that Mark wanted to trade Urias for Sale, not to long ago.
Well I wasn’t happy to see his words.
If anyone is treatened from other’s thoughts, they probably don’t have real conviction, to there own thoughts.
Mark won’t stay there for long, because that site is boring compared to this site.
Which post was that, Badge? You seem pretty tame over there.
Snider, the one where I talked about censorship. Struck a nerve.
I have to ignore Mark’s bellicose rants. He is who is and won’t ever change. It’s not worth it anymore.
Softball pitchers got it right!
From some quarters being called an idiot is a badge of honor.
Snider
That is so true.
I’d put a C-note on the Cardinals’ second-round pick being better without even looking at Baseball Reference. But good luck to the young man. As Mike Piazza proved, you never know.
I think the tyranny of the radar gun is behind a lot of the injuries; trying to generate an extra 3-4 mph puts too much stress on the body.
Sborz and Sopko are now both at Tulsa. They have Edwin Rios at 3B. Hit his first HR last night. Watch those 3 and the Kyles: Farmer and Garlic. All at Tulsa now.
I have been following Rios for a couple of months now. It’ll be interesting to see if he can keep it up as he rises through the minors. He had them outclassed in AA (the league, not the organization).
And I should have said A instead of AA.
Saw him play when I went to the Quakes game last month. He absolutely crushed one to left that just went foul………he is supposed to be pretty iffy with the leather though, especially at 3rd.
Our Tulsa team is stacked
Pretty much my last word on Grandal. There is no rule that says just because a guy is playing for the Dodgers that you have to like him. I totally hated Don Sutton. He always came of as arrogant. I disliked Dick Allen when he was a Dodger and could not stand Gary Sheffield. Those guys were all great ball players and I respected that, but there was something in each one of those guys persona that just rubbed me wrong. Grandal is no where near as good as any of those guys, and he just has a way and personality about him that just chaffs my ass I guess……
You’re comedy. I felt that way about JD Drew. But I had to root for him
I want him to help the team, but I do not root for him. Pretty much when he is up I expect the worst and if it turns out the other way, well fine. But I do not have to root for him. JD Drew was another that I was not really happy with….But I do not consider myself a comedy act..I just feel the way I do and that is pretty much it.
Bobby
If you think Michael is comedy, I wonder what you think about Bob.
Michael
I think I know why Grandal got to you.
You knew just like everyone else, that Grandal shouldn’t have been playing, last year, because he was hurt, and wasn’t able to hit.
Not really…….I was mad like everyone was, but my not liking the guy went back to his days in SD, and the fact that he was a PED user. I despise those who feel they have to cheat to play the game, which is another reason I was totally against Braun ever coming to the Dodgers. I was mad at Dee Gordon because he fell into that trap, and lost a lot of respect for any ball player even tied to that stuff. McGuire, Bonds, any of them, and a lot of that started because of what Manny Ramirez did. He hurt the Dodgers because he felt the need to use something. That just pissed me off. And pretty much turned me against any one who used. Grandal included..
I actually think those players cheated the game more then Rose.
And I never liked Rose.
Rose broke a cardinal rule that is posted on the club house wall in EVERY major league ball park. Absolutely no gambling on baseball….his problem was he got caught. Then he accepted the life time ban, and that to me says volumes…he made his own bed, and now he wants forgiveness……most HOFer’s do not want him in the hall while he is alive…
Concerning Performance Enhancing Drugs: Older players should be allowed them. It is important to keep the wife happy! Viagra & Cialis really work for some.
But does that really make the wife happy?
There is a better one out than the Viagara, Cialis, etc. Guaranteed to work 99.5% of the time but it’s expensive. I tried it when everything else failed. It called Caverject Impulse. You inject it yourself and within 5 minutes your’e ready to go. Just FYI
Michael
I know all of that, but steroids had a direct effect on many records in baseball.
I not passionate on Rose,
and actually baseball benefits from gambling a lot now.
If he would have admitted, and stopped gambling it would probably be different.
I don’t like that it these guys are in the record books.
Hank is my HR King.
Wow – I just checked out the Think Blue site – so some of the discussion here has bled over to there. The same lack of civil discussion, name calling, etc. Great
On another subject, today’s Dodgers’ Digest had this little factoid:
” Outside of Kershaw’s (who might not pitch again this season) 7.6 innings per start , the next-best guy is Maeda at 5.7. Wood is at 5.6, while Kazmir is at 5.5. For what it’s worth, Hill averages 5.4 innings per start, but that includes his last start when he was credited with a game started without throwing a pitch.”
I keep beating this dead horse, but no team so situated is set up to do well in the post season.
I am reading Dodgerland (a book about the 1977-78 Dodgers within the context of the social and political doings in SoCal) and it’s amazing how many pitchers were throwing complete games.
It wasn’t that long ago!
Dodgers’ pitchers have to pitch deeper into games.
Braintrust has to obtain better starting pitchers and end its fascination with the injury prone.
Pitching deep into games, and deep into the season, was a major concern for many in early season discussions. 5 per start does not surprise me. What does surprise me is Maeda is still pitching. He came here with a tender elbow and is pitching more often than he ever has. McCarthy, Wood, Anderson, Kazmir – 200 innings? Who believed any would get close? Ok, one person did, but most knew better.
The good news could be a few of those guys could give us some innings during the pennant drive. None of them will be 7 inning pitchers.
Dodgers Place Bud Norris On 15-Day DL
Los Angeles had other pitching news as well. Just-acquired lefty Rich Hill will make his debut with the club on Sunday.
Lofty prospect Jose De Leon was also considered for the assignment in place of Norris, but it seems he’ll receive at least one more minor league start before tasting the majors.
Wondering
Who is starting Saturday?
Stripling
I’d rather see De Leon.
Maybe they are saving him for the day game against Philadelphia next week.