After much anticipation, trepidation, and just plain impatience from the Dodgers Nation, Rich Hill‘s infamous blister finally healed, and he took the mound tonight at Chavez Ravine. It was a heck of a request to ask Hill to make his Dodgers debut by facing the Giants in this tough NL West battle. Things could go either way – and rather quickly. But then again, that’s the way it’s been for the Dodgers pitching staff all season.
1st inning
It was a decent enough first inning for Rich Hill. He gave up two singles, and flashed an impressive southpaw curveball.
After two innings, the game was scoreless, and shaping up to be a pitching battle.
The Giants had four hits after three innings, but no runs. Hill was making it look – if not easy – fairly unstressful.
After Johnny Cueto no-hit the Dodgers for 4 1/3 innings, Justin Turner blasted a home run over the left centerfield wall. 1-0
Adrian Gonzalez followed that with a single to advance his hitting streak.
5th inning 1-0
1,2,3 outs for Hill. Another scoreless inning.
6th inning 1-0
The Giants hit a couple of deep fly balls, but they were caught, and another goose egg went up on the scoreboard.
7th inning 1-0
Pedro Baez in. He got two out and walked one.
Adam Liberatore in. Job done. Whew!
At the end of seven, the Dodgers were holding on to a slim 1-0 lead.
8th inning 1-0
Joe Blanton in.
With two out, and Giants runners on the corners, manager Dave Roberts had a decision to make.
Would he stay with Blanton to face the left-handed batting Brandon Crawford? Or would he go with the young Grant Dayton?
The skipper stayed with Blanton. Crawford hit one deep, and it was caught at the wall by the Traded Flop to end the threat. Whew!
9th inning 1-0
Kenley Jansen vs Giants
Denard Span: 4-3
Brandon Belt: K
Yo Adrianza: K !
Dodgers Win! 1-0
Just like mama said, some things are worth waiting for: That was an impressive debut from Rich Hill. He used his fastball sparingly, mostly relying on sliders, big curveballs, and sidearm-snapped breaking balls. He was chillingly effective, and owned the Giants.
Per Vin Scully: At the halfway point, Hill dropped in 17 of his first 20 pitches for strikes.
Once again, a Dodgers starting pitcher who wasn’t showing signs of distress – was pulled from the game. Hill seemingly could have gone one more inning. He had mastered the Giants’ hitters, and the bullpen was used for four innings last night. Alas, after six innings, Hill was done.
Butter and eggs keep on churning:Adrian Gonzalez at 17 game hitting streak (Corey Seager’s ended tonight when he went 0 for 4).
The Dodgers stand tall over the second place Giants by 3 games. This loss also drops the Giants behind the Cardinals in the wildcard race. Hehe
Rich Hill went 6 innings with 5 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks, 3 Ks. 81 pitches, 63 strikes.
Home Run: Justin Turner
Team with RISP: 0 for 1
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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Did I mention before how I love 1 run games?
I thought Hill threw 81 pitches? Either way, since it was his first start, I”m glad Doc pulled him. If everything comes back ok, he should be good for 7 or more next time. From being at the game today, I could really see the movement on Hill’s pitches. I”m assuming he must’ve looked great on tv.
As I said above, earlier, before the game, this start by Hill was actually more important than the win itself. If he’s back, and if his blister issues are done with, then we actually have a legit front line starter until Kersh comes back and makes it 2.
As far as Walker Buehler is concerned, I do remember reading last year that he was one of the most advanced pitchers coming out who could be on a fast track to the bigs. His stuff is like Zack Greinke, with a few more mph on that fastball. I’m still amazed he threw 97 in his first start. He will be one to watch for the rest of the year and then next year
There is a lovely post up at McCovey Chronicles. Pretty much sums up how I felt about the Mattingly teams.
And there is an article by Tim Brown today that really lit a lightbulb for me (ok maybe I’m late to the party). It turns out we have a $243 million payroll this year, plus untold millions paying players on other teams rosters!! No wonder we could field two teams whe others can only field one! (Ok 1 team on the DL …)
I’m not complaining, I’m just letting the little guys know we’re the Dodgers and this is LA.
Yeah, but the front office still apparently operates like it’s a small market team because, well, the front office is originally from Tampa and Oakland and that’s all they know. …no mitigating circumstances, such as a huge payroll that needs to be somewhat tamed.
I’ve been loving reading the McCovey Chronicles. Scrolling through the comments (which are often pretty witty, actually), I came across this nugget:
“Has anyone created the #FireBobbyEvans hashtag yet? Cuz it should be in every Giants fans tweets from now until he is gone”
We can complain a lot here about the front office, but it could be a lot lot worse. BTW, Matt Moore is 0-3 with a 4.70 ERA since going over to the Giants. He was their big acquisition.
patch did you look at Moore’s Game Logs. Perhaps you should. He’s taken the ball 4 times, gone at least 5 every time with 2 quality starts and 1 very Maeda like 5 IP and 3 earned. He hasn’t pitched badly for them, but they have played badly in support of him. Something very strange is going on in SF.
Badger
I know Moore walks a lot of hitters, so our hitters, need to be patient.
They also need to hit the ball to the opposite field off of Moore.
I don’t think we will have that whole right hand platoon team, against Moore.
Roberts has said that his splits were not as big, as some lefties, so we might see more our regular line up.
But I’m still sure, Roberts will have a couple of right hand bats, in the line up, besides Turner, and Howie.
I wonder how much longer, they are going to continue to play Reddick, on mear faith?
Great to have a legit starter who can go more than 4 or 5 innings. We’re just not used to it. Knowing our pitchers, 1 run games scare me, especially when Baez is the reliever. Maybe this will turn the tide of luck our way. Now, to only get rid of Riddick.
Actually, the Cardinals are still a half game behind the midgets in the wildcard. Besides, both of those teams are ahead of Miami and the Pirates in the wildcard race for the TWO wildcard spots. Love Vin Scully, but he was wrong about that last night.
Hope what we saw from Rich Hill last night is a harbinger of things to come. And Baez still makes me nervous. As for Reddick, I’m still not giving up on his coming out of it. We’re seeing this guy at his worst, and he’s obviously pressing. And I’m also hoping that Andrew Toles doesn’t turn into the guy I saw last night, trying hit every pitch out of the park, including pitches out of the strike zone. Hope those homers haven’t gone to his head.
Reddick is at his worst and we should be thankful that the rest of the team is above his level. No one making the kind of money he is making should be allowed to play for a major league club at the level that he is playing. This is the main reason I am not in his corner. Gonzalez had a rough patch for quite some time, as did Joc. None of them dove this deep into their dilemma as Reddick has done. For me, the reason is not important. He has already played himself out of a job as any employer would feel the same in this situation. Cutting bait is more important at this point as we have players outplaying Reddick that are front and center and reporting for duty.
I’m just glad that we are seeing Reddick play under pressure.
Hill had even more pressure on himself, then Reddick did, and he a rose above that pressure.
That is the problem with Anderson, Kazmir, and McCarthy.
These pitchers not only have there injuries, they are just not gamers.
They don’t have the mental toughness, that players need to have, to play well in the majors.
They all gladly left the game, when Roberts came out to get them.
Most major league pitchers, have to pitch when they don’t have there good stuff.
The really good pitchers, don’t give up because they don’t have there good stuff, they give there best effort to get there team the win.
First off they are not going to CUT BAIT on their huge deadline pick up. Not when they traded 3 prospects for him and Hill. They are pretty much marking time until Sept 1 so the minor league call ups can get here. Puig will most likely be back, you might see Verdugo. The pitching staff will be bolstered by probably 4 or 5 arms. Johnson may get called up to help the infield along with Taylor and probably Barnes. Reddick will get the chance to play himself out of his huge blue malaise. And as far as Stripling goes. He pitches well at the Ravine, and he no-hit the Giants for 7 innings the only time he faced them. So I am pretty confident he gives them a decent game.
Brooklyn
I don’t think we can assume that, with one at bat.
But maybe that one at bat, taught Toles that he has to stay within himself.
Vin is 86, so he gets a pass on remembering stuff. He has made a lot of mistakes this year, calling players by different names and such, but it can be expected at his age, but there are times when that brilliant mind comes up with stories of the past like the GEM last night about the Dodger staff wheeling over the post game celebration goodies to the Giant clubhouse in the Polo Grounds after that devastating playoff loss in 51…..he is still the best there is.
Does anyone here feel confident that Stripling can hold his own for more than 4 innings against the slumping Giants? I want to feel some semblance of confidence using him, but it’s going to take some time for him to build an image that I can get behind. I have no problem with him in the bullpen, replacing Chavez or Fields, but a starter?
I am confident.
The giants are in complete disarray. Can’t say I much care. In fact, it’s nice to see. Couldn’t happen to a more deserving franchise. I hope the swoon continues.
The Dodgers. I still have the same concerns I’ve had all year, but we are finding ways to win those close games and that shows character. Hill gave us 6, and looked good doing it, but I’m not a believer yet. 1 game since he came over. It’s going to take a lot more than 6 innings to convince me.
Got testy in here yesterday. Threats to post emails, again. I hope it doesn’t come to that. We could all post some very nasty stuff. We all have skeletons in our closets. I don’t want mine revealed. And I’m quite certain at least one other in here doesn’t want his revealed either. Let’s play nice, ok?
Stripling today? I like our chances against a team that forgot how to hit. Cubs up next and those guys are on fire. Will be a good test.
I believe you’re never as bad as you are when you’re at your worst, and never as good as you are at your best. Reddick may never come out of the funk he’s been in since joining the Dodgers, but from what I’ve observed, this guy is a lot better than we’ve seen.
Finally, if the Dodgers keep on playing well, they have a chance to catch Washington for the second best record in the league, which would give them home field in the first round of the playoffs. Of course that’s only relevant if the Dodgers keep on winning, and don’t fall back into the wildcard, or worse.
This is s good point. If we can keep this up and get Kershaw back, getting home field would be huge, because of our iffy pitching. It could have been 3-1 loss today but for the Chavez Ravine air dragging down that 8th inning flyball (and what was Reddick doing with that love tap against the wall …)
Saw that. The giants were about 6′ shy of winning that one.
The two teams were a combined 0 for 3 WRISP. The Dodgers were 0 for 1. How do you win a game when you are 0 for 1 WRISP?
I thought Agone’s ball was hit harder then Crawford’s hit.
It looked to me, that it was Crawford, more getting under that ball, then the marine layer.
And when the ball went to Reddick, I got a little worried.
Brooklyn
I just don’t think Reddick is a really good hitter.
And it is not good for the team, that he continues to play over players, that are producing.
And our loyality should be to our young prospects, not to Reddick, who is just a rental.
I don’t know how long Roberts should stick with Reddick, but he is going to have to do something pretty soon, to justifly playing him, over the other players, that are producing.
I am just glad we are seeing him play now, so the front office doesn’t sign him for next year.
Which players are you referring to? Toles? Toles is doing well in limited at bats, but Reddick has been a major league player for 8 years. Segedin is basically an Inf, and he is on paternity leave and would not have started against Queto anyway. Reddick is a .254 career hitter with 93 dingers. He was hitting .296 when he was traded to the Dodgers. With more homers than Puig had at that point. On those stats and his track record they traded for him. He is not a great hitter, but he is about average for outfielders. I am not defending the guy, he has stunk since he donned #11. Maybe he should change his number. If you are also referring to the fact that Puig has been on fire in AAA, I submit, they are teaching him a lesson, and seeing if it sinks in. If not, he is history come this offseason.
The Giants are dangerous in the Wild Card position so here is hoping the dreaded Cards will keep the Giants out of the playoffs.
Remember Wacha who was drafted after the Dodgers took Seager. Wacha was lights out a couple of years ago against the Dodgers and was intsrumental in sending the Dodgers home. He has had a few injuries since then maybe due to starting in the Bigs too soon. I think we are all glad now that the Dodgers drafted Seager instead of Wacha now.
Whereever Buehler pitches next year, he probably should max out at 180 innings. Maybe the Dodgers should go with a 6 man rotation next year.
Kershaw, Maeda, Buehler, Stewart, Urias, De Leon.
If the Dodgers do not sign Jansen I think Stripling could close. Bullpen: Wood, Garcia, Baez, Libatore, Stripling. Who did I leave off?
If the Dodgers eat some payroll they should be able to trade McCarthy and Kazmir.
Who plays third if Turner is not signed? I think he woud take a 3 year $50M contract with the Dodgers over a 4 year $60M one from another team especially if the Dodgers were to offer him a $5M player option for that 4th year.
SWEEP
Reddick is at his worst and we should be thankful that the rest of the team is above his level. No one making the kind of money he is making should be allowed to play for a major league club at the level that he is playing.
At the start of the season, you could have substituted Turner, Kendrick, Pederson or Grandal for Reddick and it would have fit. In fact, most people did. Where would the Dodgers be without them now? Baseball is a game of streaks. Patience Grasshopper! I do like Toles and Segedin, but you never know how they will fare down the stretch. I have a sneaky feeling about Reddick…
Hill was exactly what the team needed – a #2. Now, if we can get our #1 back, we can win with 3 number 4’s!
Mark
First Turner and Grandal, were coming back from injuries, that require surgerys.
Howie was hurt two times, in spring training, so he missed most of spring training.
Joc was only in his second year in the majors, and even when Joc was having trouble, he produced more then Reddick has at this point.
And it was ok to be more patient with everyone then, because that was the begining, of a very long season.
The question is how long does Roberts give Redddick, with only a little over a month, to go.
They will ride the nag to the finish line.
As someone said, Hill looked great but we still don’t know what he’ll do against major league hitters. Surprised to see that Cueto guy still pitching–I heard his arm was going to fall off. I guess he wouldn’t have fit in to our rotation after all.
I thought he was signed for several years. I did not know his arm had to fall off this year.
Wait, yes I did! I said it would be a bad deal the last two years. 80% of his contract is AFTER THIS year!
With a .563 winning percentage the Dodgers are on pace for a 91 win season.
Scott, are you able to find everybody’s predictions for wins?
I think I was 92 – 94 wins and another Division title.
With a 3 game lead and a potential sweep of the Giants, why look at a glass half full?
Reddick has skills and skills find a way of eventually helping. If the Dodgers do win the Division and get past the first round of playoffs, isn’t it better that they did it without long term contracts to pitchers whose best years are going to end well before those contracts end?
If the Dodgers had signed or traded for several elite players and as a result had a 12 game lead would that be more fun than winning a tight Division race? I guess some like a 1- 0 win and some like a 9-0 win. We might wind up with both a worrisome pennant race and one that winds up being won by 5 games.
I guess if a team doesn’t mind throwing away 100million dollars on pitchers, that don’t even make there starts, or earn there money?
Not even close to that amount.
Mark
How much is Anderson, McCarthy, and Kazmir, getting paid?
I know Kazmir has made almost all of his starts, but this is only the first year.
Less than $40 million
Mark
I wish I didn’t respond to that, because it is a tired argument from either side, and it takes everyone off course.
Bum
Isn’t that making the same point over and over again, about these starting pitchers?
Yea, I guess I did add to it MJ. Funny in that my point was to accept the fact that the path the Dodgers and FAZ took is working to get where the team is now and let lose of what didn’t work.
Bum
I wish I didn’t answer that, like I told Mark, because it runs almost everyone off course.
And I want to just talk more about the team.
But I had to call you on that, because I blame you for starting it, but of course it is on me, because I didn’t have to take the bait.
The Turner quandary!!!
Is it just me or am I the only one that thinks the Blue go after a FA SS next year There will be some good ones available) and coax the R.O.Y. to 3B?!?!
Don’t get me wrong, I love what Turner brings to the table, but 4 @ $50-$60 Mil????
I’ve always advertised my disdain for the MLB Monopoly Money being thrown around and that leads to Mr. Jansen… I remember watching him catch at Rancho C. and then his entry into the RP role… Now here we are and at what cost??? I’ve always believed your minor lg. system can provide that surprise closer… That’s just me…
I do not think the Dodgers have any intention of moving Seager off of SS.
Agree on Jansen.
I might do 4 years at $60 million on Turner, knowing that the last year might be bad, but with the year he is having some Idiot might throw him $100 mil/5 years… most likely a AL team so he can DH!
I would be very guarded about signing him to a 4 year deal. It is not a coincidence that he is having his career year. I would be willing to bet that he does not approach these numbers again.
4 and $60mm is too much, unless it’s an AL team and he can DH half the time. He might could still hit at 36, but his knees will likely be an issue. I remind you, this is a contract year. What he does this year is so he can cruise into retirement. I think he’s the perfect QO candidate and you know how much FAZ likes that move.
Now that would be an interesting decision for Turner if (and assuming) they would extend a QO. If it’s $16.5M I’m betting he doesn’t accept it.
How about three years, Badger and Chili?
I agree with Mark about Cory staying at shortstop.
That would be like when the Angels had Peter Bougis playing center, over Trout.
Trout didn’t hit well, when he was not playing centerfield.
They are going to let Cory stay where he is most comfortable.
And Trout is the Angel’s centerfielder now.
Bum, the O/U we used was 92. I had the under. Didn’t think we would win a Division with this staff. Who knew the midgets would fall apart.
I still want the vacuum with speed and an arm at short peter, and why I had Peraza there. I think Seager goes to third eventually, not sure when. 2018?
Agree about closer. Jansen came out of the weeds. We can do it again. We have a ton of good arms in this system. No, we really do. 10 guys who all weigh 200+.
Even in winning, it is because the other team is worse. Of course, you can’t give any credit to the Dodgers.
They are worse. Worst record in all of baseball since the break. Look it up.
No doubt. If SF continues to fall it would be one for the ages. I think they had the best record in baseball at the All-Star break or sometime just prior to the break.
I had mid 80’s so ‘at this point’ they will surpass my expectations. But I will say that the season is not over yet. Still plenty of time for things to happen. This is the fun part of the season with many teams in contention. The cream usually rises to the top. We’ll see how things go over the next 5 weeks.
I just wanted to say that Blanton pitched really well, in that first game against the Giants, and I forgot to give him credit, when credit was due.
He also pitched pretty well last night too.
And he was one guy that I thought the team shouldn’t have signed, but I was wrong about Blanton.
I think he loves this new challenge of pitching in the bullpen.
He using all he has learned along the way, to get the job done.
And I want to give credit to Roberts, for figuring out which pitcher, or pitchers, he should use in high leverage situations, and what pitchers he needs to bring in, only in the beginng of an inning.
Roberts moves don’t always work, but what manager, is always right?
At least Roberts has shown growth, as the season has went along, unlike Mattingly.
The players win or lose the games. The manager makes moves to give those players the opportunity to succeed. DM had his faults, and Roberts has some too. DM is doing a good job in Miami where there is a whole lot less of a spotlight than in LA. And I think that was part of the problem. Unlike Miami, everything you do here in a pennant race is highly scrutinized. He may not have had the injury issues Roberts has dealt with, but he had a bullpen that was far less reliable. To me, DM always got a bum rap. He is no managerial genius, but he is not as bad as a lot of people think. And consider this, neither he nor Roberts had any managerial experience when they got the job. DM also has the added problem that he was a very good player, and it is hard for them sometimes to relate to players who do not take the games as seriously as they did. Magic Johnson was a terrible coach when he was with the Lakers. And check out Ryne Sandburg, he quit because he could not handle the fact that his players did not play the game with the same intensity he had.
Michael
You know that good former players, make the worse managers.
That is an old baseball adage.
Good players, don’t understand how hard it is to play the game, for some players.
They can’t relate, especially when a player, is born with a lot of God given talent.
Mattingly had much better teams to manage, and had two ace starting pitchers.
Mattingly had a lot of our current relief pitchers, in his bullpen.
And Mattingly didn’t handle the bullpen that well.
And Bonds is the biggest reason, for the Marlins success, not Mattingly.
And even though the Marlins team have a very good batting average, they have trouble scoring runs.
And the Dodgers had the same problem, when Mattingly was here.
He had no ideal, how to have a productive offense.
He was always waiting for a big HR.
I disagree, but that’s what this forum is all about, and Bonds is a hitting coach. He does not make in game decisions. DM might have had some of the same pitchers, but he never got close to the same results, and at one point he had 1 lefty, Howell in the pen for long periods of time, so he could not mix and match like Roberts can because there are 3 lefty’s in that pen now. Like I said, he is not a managerial genius, but what he is, is a players manager. He gets along great with most of his players. He waited for big HR’s in LA because that was the kind of roster he had here. He does not have that in Miami.
And that is not really an old baseball adage, because some great players have been pretty good managers, like Rogers Hornsby. But ususally it is the unassuming player who makes a great manager, Alston, Stengel, Schoendenst, Herzog, LaRussa.
Ellis
Catchers seem to be well suited to managing.
Michael, the problem with Mattingly was he does not adjust. He also rides his bullpen arms, particularly the second tier guys, for too long. It makes it so easy to game plan against him.
Both him and McGwire just seems to have a style and they stick to it. Their style is good but maybe not under pressure when the other side is game planning against you inning by inning.
.
MJ 99.9% agree!
But one small nit – Blanton got away with that 0-2 pitch to Crawford. That pitch needed to be more in (actually why was he throwing anything other than an off-speed in the dirt that with an 0-2 count?!?)
Roberts is going to very good at this.
Blanton with a WHIP of 2 last night and a ball that just missed going out. Yeah, a zero went up, but he knows he got lucky. He got his 22nd H, and that’s what he gets paid for. I’ll take good luck. We have had our share of bad.
Badger
You might be right about last night, but the night before, Blanton did a really good job.
Blanton came in, in that first game, and got the hitters out, and did that, on not many pitches.
That is what baseball is – a lot of luck is involved. But luck is where skill and preparation meet opportunity.
Saw a thing on U-Tube last night. A Don Rickles comedy special. There was a bit where he went to Dodger Stadium and Tommy introduced him as the Dodgers new coach in charge of building up the teams confidence. It was hilarious. Billy Russell, Pedro Guererro, Steve Sax, and Bill Madlock were the players. He gave Lasorda a huge kiss at the end of the bit. Tommy was livid. Oh, he was wearing Bob Geren’s #8. Hill did a good job, and it was impressive, but they need that consistently, and that is when I will be on board with at least this part of the trade. Josh Reddick on the other hand, has a lot of work to do to convince the fans he was worth it.
Here ’tis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nxipk-Oaufo
Yep., that’s it….pretty funny stuff………and would I love to have those 4 guys on this team.
Not true about Reddick. All he needs to do is hit one Dick Nen or Chuck Essigian home run.
Did you know Chuck Essegian had a sister, Marilyn, who was an actress? Her career was somewhat less successful than even his. Carl Erskine;s sister was also an actress and I actually saw a movie she was in. Unimportant trivia…
A couple of thoughts:
Reddick has always been streaky and he is in a cold streak right now. He isn’t a great hitter but generally OK
career numbers – .252 lifetime BA, .743 lifetime OPS, 104 OPS+ (meaning he’s about a league average player), 94 HR in 2843 career plate appearances.
He’s a plus defender too.
I had the Dodgers at 88 or 89 wins and finishing 2nd to the denizens of Baghdad by the Bay.
If we had ready-made guys laying around in the minors to replace Jansen next year, why aren’t they already up and pitching as 8th inning guys now? The assertion that we have 10 guys who can replace Jansen next year – wow, just nuts! And I’ll tell you – some guys with “closer stuff” have their sphincters tighten in the 9th for whatever reason. It takes a special guy who wants the ball in the 9th to get the 3 toughest outs in the game. Baez and Hatcher were supposed to be closers-in-waiting and remember, they closed at the beginning of the 2015 season while Jansen was rehabbing from his foot surgery. How did that work out? And I thought that Montas was going to replace Jansen next year – it was all part of the plan!
The Dodgers have no one on the roster ready to replace either Turner or Jansen.
I want the days back when you knew who the Dodgers were year after year with just a few changes; Garvey, Lopes, Russell and Cey; Koufax, Drysdale and Wills; Robinson, Snider, Pee Wee and Campy. This revolving door stuff doesn’t do it for me. If the Dodgers can keep their good players they should do it.
I wouldn’t mind them losing a one year rental like Utley, but the guys from the Dodgers’ system like Jansen or the guys who were discovered by the Dodgers and became stars like Turner should stay on the team unless they have someone better, and I just don’t see it.
Dodger rick
I agree aboutTurner.
Turner is to big a part of this team, to not try to bring him back.
And the fact this is his home, and where he wants to play, it shouldn’t be hard to bring Turner back.
And like I have said, Turner will probably sign a team friendly contract.
The plan, as conceived fell apart in spring training. Ryu was not ready, Anderson went down, McCarthy was not ready. They had a rotation of Kershaw, Maeda, Kazmir, Stripling, and a cast of thousands. Seager was cemented at SS. But Ethier, SVS and Kendrick were hobbled by injury’s. So we saw what Thompson could do until he went down, the rotating door with OKC has not stopped swinging yet. We got such wonderful players to watch like Tepesch. They finally cut ties with Guererro and CC. Then Kersh goes down, and the anticipation of the acquisition of a elite player as foretold by the FO never happened. Instead we get a pitcher who does not appear in a game until 3 weeks after he is acquired, an OF who suddenly forgot how to hit, and has made a couple of gaffs in the OF, 2 relief pitchers with mixed results….of course one of them cost us the total disaster that was Mike Bolsinger, who could not break glass with his fastball. The plan is still in place. And we have been asked to be patient and let the plan germinate into a juggernaut team somewhere around 2018. I totally understand the FAZ masters idea. What I do not understand is how a team who has such a rich history can subject it’s fans to such mediocrity on a day to day level. Yes, they have been one of the best teams on the planet since Kersh went down, they have made a 12 game turn around on the hated ones. Thanks in no small part to the hated ones total collapse since the all star game. All is good in Dodgerland. But a real test awaits this weekend. The Cubbies come in, and they bludgeon the opposition. So this weekend will go a long way towards telling the fan base what kind of a team they really have. We miss the Cubs ace, but they get the 2nd team from us. Norris and TBD twice. I for one am getting older, and would have preferred a World Series appearance while I can still enjoy it. I may not be here in 2018. But that’s ok. I have seen 6 Dodger teams rise to the heights, I have seen the best pitcher ever in blue work his magic, and I saw Willie, Mickey and the Duke. I have been blessed….
The Dodgers got to a 3 game lead because they have a better 40 players players than ohter teams in their Division. They may not have had the best 5 or 10 but have been able to use all of their assest to get to where they are.
There is no need to take away from what they have accomplished by saying another team faded. Lots of teams and horses have started fast and faded down the stretch. They are on pace for a 91 win season but based on how well they have played it is easy to see where they could get to a 94 win season.
If they get to 94 does it matter if they played better down the stretch than they did out of the gate?
The way the team was built gave us reason to worry. Been there, done that, got the undershirt; lets move on.
A good story yesterday in DD, I think, about Hill. Spin rate, etc. I guess he has learned to pitch with his curveball 50% of the time, which was a big change from before. Big vertical/horizontal break. The highlights I saw were looping curves up in the zone, which most big league hitters would feast on. But they were not the hanging type. It seemed like the hitters were surprised to see those pitches in those spots. And in the strike zone. Will the hitters catch up to it? I guess his fastball has high spin rate too, which makes it move. Interesting stuff. Ball/strike ratio was amazing, yet Roberts said he was having trouble with his command. Doesn’t sound right, unless location in the zone was off. Maybe so. Great win. Now get the brooms out. In the wildcard picture, giants, Cardinals, Marlins. Go birds and fish. Will there be a letdown when the Cubs come to town. Better not be. Might come down to managers.
I think it was Hill that wasn’t satisfied with his command, and that is good to hear.
That tells me Hill only wants to get better
Based on in game reaction, I think Hill had problems with his fastball.
Hills curveballs come at a lot of different angles. Then a rising fastball high and away but still in the strike zone. I think the hitters try to wait for the fastballs and I’d be interested to see opposite field slugging % against Hill.
Anyways, it’s early. But we’d all be saying this even if he had given up 6 runs in his first game and let’s see where he’s at when we go upstate.