News, update and commentary on the State of the Dodgers, May 8, 2019
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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Funny how the Dodgers decided to use April for Spring Training and not use Spring Training to get most of the guys ready: Turner, Taylor, Muncy, etc. We are finally seeing these guys get tuned up in the last week. The Dodger brass thinks they are saving these guys at the cost of the beginning of the season, yet saving the guys in ST hasn’t earned a ring, maybe this year will be different (okay not if they don’t get some experimenting going on with who should play what roles in the Pen of Abortion. Currently the roles are all screwed up or at least the amount of work the guys are getting is all effed up. I’m pretty concerned that Dr Gaskanley is not a quality closer in the post season and really the regular season as well).
Sorry Oscar, I didn’t watch your video, in case you covered this topic. I’m not a big video blogger type of participant.
Dave Roberts on Joe Kelly: “Ultimately, I know for us to be the best ballclub that we can be he needs to be pitching at the back end of games, in leverage. How we get there can always be debated. … But I know where we have to get to.”
Nice win. CK bit by the long ball again and a sudden spurt of infield type hits. Gives up 4 but Floro stops the bleeding and the offense gets 4 insurance runs. Gas Kan Kelly does a nice job in the 9th with a clean inning. Striking out two and getting a ground out. Kike, Muncy, and Turner connected for bombs……Belli still slumping a little. He is under .400 for the first time this year.
Not a pretty game, but a 6.2-inning win nonetheless by Kershaw. A tough act to follow, after Ryu’s complete game shutout. The former Dodger Ace did not look happy, as he knows he must relinquish his role as “The Ace of the Staff”. He’s lucky that the Dodger offense is on fire right now. They managed to waste many scoring opportunities (3-9 RISP, 7 LOB), but still able to pile on a total of 9 runs, with a 5 run cushion.
Lefties Muncy and Verdugo continue to smack left handed pitching… who knew, Friedman? I know Andy says it is not possible. Turner is still on fire… really seems locked in. JT, Kiké, and Muncy go deep. Really impressed with Muncy’s all-a-round performance. Got to keep him in the game and focused, or he will wilt somewhat like Pederson has.
When the eighth inning came around, DR fooled the Braves with a decoy in the pen…. he had Kelly warming up and that might have got the Brave hitters overly anxious for an automatic 8th inning comeback. Instead he stayed with Floro (0.00 ERA)… a wise decision. JT’s two run shot also kept Kenley locked in the pen, and Kelly came in for a confidence builder with a 5-run cushion in the ninth. Kelly performs some magic with a 1-2-3 ninth inning! I know it is only the Braves, but hopefully a good sign that his case of “Yipes” might be history.
Three game sweep! The Nationals are next.
Good team.
Good win.
Good news in the system, too:
Josiah Gray, off-season acquisition, promoted to Hi-A already.
Mlb reports:
The Dodgers are considered the favorites to sign the top Venezuelan prospect, outfielder Luis Rodriguez. He’s No. 4 on their Top 30 International Prospects list.
One the other side, Jeter Downs is not impressing. Under .200 down on the farm. Ruiz is under .250 at AA. Smith has been slumping, but the entire OKC squad is not playing well.
Yes, I did forget to mention that the Dodger prospect pool is not entirely perfect nor entirely high-performing. I thought that was generally understood.
I have no real interest in pointing out who is not doing well, I’m a fan.
You didn’t mention Kendall who continues to struggle badly. I’d also like to see more out of Stetson Allie and brock Stewart down in the minors. But let’s hope they all come around.
I didn’t mention Player of the Month for April Omar Estevez. Nor Garlick who’s been on a tear. Edwin Uceta also continues to intrigue me.
For those tracking Uceta and the other SPs in the system:
In AAA: Santana, Gonsolin (tho on the IL currently)
AA: May, White
hi-A: Gray (supposedly), Grove, Uceta, Carillo
Speaking of starters, I saw this:
Name the two pitchers (not one, have to get both) with these stats from their past two outings:
Pitcher A: 91.3 – 93.1mph, 76 fastballs, 120 breaking balls/off-speed pitches
Line: 13 IP, 10 hits, 4 runs (all earned), 1 BB, 14 K
Pitcher B: 93.6 – 97.0 mph, 92 fastballs, 128 breaking balls/off-speed pitches
Line: 13 IP, 7 hits, 4 runs (2 earned), 2 BB, 20 K
Kelly kicks ass in those high leverage situations in the ninth, like we saw tonight, oops my bad it was a blowout situation with no pressure. Well at least he did something right, for a change, I’m still in doubt of his abilities just like I was when the Dodgers announced his ridiculous signing.
Yikes, Alexander the Grape got squished yet again. The source of his greatness is when he is sporting that 70s pornstache, until he goes with only pornstache he will struggle.
Thank you Turner for sitting down Dr. Gaskanley for us. I didn’t want to see that gory surgical procedure again.
Note to Bert: Time for Turner, Muncy and Taylor to sit down and get some rest, they have just begun to hit and they need to be cooled down.
Is the entire MLB really as bad as it appears to be? The MLB decided to shrink the size of parks and go with HRs as their number one appeal to fans, well it just ain’t working.
Y’all realize that if the PPP wasn’t such a travesty that the Dodgers would have over 30 wins and have losses in single digit. Again, I say the Dodgers are doing well in spite of the FO and the PPP.
Wrap you melons around that.
Linda Goldbloom, a mother of three and grandmother of seven, died on Aug. 29. The coroner’s report states the cause as “acute intracranial hemorrhage due to history of blunt force trauma” and states that the injury occurred when she was struck in the head with a baseball during the Aug. 25 game at Dodger Stadium.