It’s Chase Utley’s world, and we are all just living in it.
The Dodgers evened the series in Gotham after they demolished the Mets in a controversial win on Fox‘s Saturday national broadcast. Chase Utley continued his wonderful terrorization of the New York Mets as he slugged two home runs including a grand slam in the top of the seventh that put the Dodgers ahead by a 6-0 score. Utley drove in five of the Dodger’s nine runs in addition to Adrian Gonzalez, Corey Seager, and Howie Kendrick adding blasts of their own as the Dodgers defeated the Mets 9-1.
Dodgers 9 14 0
Mets 1 3 0
WP-Maeda-4-3
LP-Verrett-32
HR-Utley-3-4-GS-Gonzo-5-Kendrick-2-Seager-8-Lagares-2
Met’s starter Noah Syndergaard was ejected from the game in the top of the third inning after throwing behind Utley. Home plate umpire Adam Hamari immediately tossed him without any warnings. It was hilariously entertaining as New York Manager Terry Collins came out to argue and was ejected as well. Right hander Logan Verrett replaced Syndergaard and threw 3.2 innings allowing two earned runs on four hits. The whole thing seemed ridiculous. The Mets still haven’t forgotten or gotten over the incident from the NLDS last year.
Dodger’s starter Kenta Maeda was hit in the hand by a line drive off the bat of Michael Conforto in the bottom of the first inning but fortunately was ok and able to stay in the game. Maeda was fine actually pitching better after the line drive. He stayed into pitch five innings and made 75 pitches before being removed for Adam Liberatore. Maeda allowed just two hits and struck out three picking up his first win in over a month.
The two clubs were locked into a scoreless duel until the sixth inning. The Dodgers had a chance to score earlier in the game when Justin Turner doubled and advanced to third on a Corey Seager ground out. However Turner was running on contact on the next at-bat which happened to be a Trayce Thompson grounder. Turner was tagged out at the plate and the Dodgers didn’t score. Thompson ended up injuring his back and had to come out of the game in the next frame. Puig replaced him in right field.
The Dodger’s offense didn’t strike first until the top of the sixth inning. They scored twice in the sixth frame, four more runs in the seventh, and added two more in the top of the eighth. Met’s public enemy number one Utley homered off of Verrett to give the Dodgers a 1-0 lead. The Dodgers picked up another run when Adrian Gonzalez doubled and then scored on an RBI single from Yasiel Puig. Gonzo may have been thrown out at the plate but Puig assured the run scored by forcing the Met’s defense to focus on tagging him out between first and second.
The Dodgers blew the game wide open in the top of the seventh. Joc Pederson led off the inning with a double. Howie Kendrick singled him to third, and stole second base on the next pitch. Yasmani Grandal was walked to load the bases. The Mets make a pitching change and replace left hander Antonio Bastardo with right hander Hansel Robles. Utley extended his middle finger to the Mets and New York by crushing a grand slam home run into the right center field bullpen. It was quite enjoyable. The Dodgers took a 6-0 lead.
The Dodgers added three more runs in the top of the eighth inning off of solo shots from Gonzo, Seager and Howie Kendrick. The Dodger bullpen tossed four innings of one-run ball. Adam Liberatore, J.P. Howell, Casey Fien, and Chris Hatcher all threw an inning of relief to secure the Dodger win.
What a sweet victory this was. Seeing the looks on the faces of the Met’s fans when Utley hit that grand slam was priceless. The two clubs conclude the series tomorrow night on ESPN Sunday night baseball. Clayton Kershaw will counter fatman Bartolo Colon in the rubber game at 5:05 PM.
Go Blue!
Stupid for Syndergaard to throw behind Utley this early in the game. You make that decision late in the game. It was a good decision for the Dodgers.
At least Fien made it hard for the Dodgers to send him back down. I like it. He forced them to give him another inning. I think.
If they bring up Urias again I hope they let him pitch out of the bull pen. They can manage his innings from the bull pen. Also, it will give him a better chance to get his feet wet. A game like tonight would be a perfect time for him to pitch. If all goes well, then he can start games in Sept.
Idahoal
Your completely right about the Mets, about throwing at Utley!
They could have done it later, with a bullpen pitcher, or they could have done it, in the game before.
But they got to greedy, and wanted there pitcher, with the fastest fastball, to hit Utley!
And they paid the price, in two ways.
There star pitcher, was thrown out, and the Dodgers won this game, because of Utley!
And the announcers were so unproffessional, about this pitch, they couldn’t help themselves, and blamed everything on Utley, and the umpire!
Never once, did they mention, that the Mets, could have done this, in a different way!
While I disagree with sending Urias back down, I have changed my mind on using him as a reliever. I think the Dodgers should stretch him out as much as possible – 6, 7, 8 innings and then shut him down around 140 – 150 innings. Some of that will be at AAA, some will be in the majors. What you saw last night was not the real Julio Urias – he was nervous and rattled. You probably won’t see it again.
The right move was to never have called him up. The Dodgers are notorious for making poor pitching decisions and Urias was a knee-jerk reaction to their dismal rotation. But, with Ryu and Wood (barring injury) nearing a return, and Maeda and Kazmir getting back to form, there would be no room for Urias on that rotation. 6 man rotation is absurd. Another bone head idea by the bone head front office.
The proper way to bring Urias into the fold is through the exhibition season. Given the chance, he would face front-line players as well as prospects. That is the real evaluation exercise that should be used most of the time in making moves. Gambling during the season is not the smart way.
Nice job of destroying the Mets tonight. Very enjoyable.
The throw behind Utley was handled poorly by the umpire. Smoltz had it right. Ump shoululd have issued the warning, and it’s over. This probably isn’t over. And it may very well have cost Syndergaard and the Mets a win. I’m thinking letters will be sent to the league office. Maybe that isn’t over either.
Glad to see you come around to my way of thinking Mark. Nice to have agreement! Peace.
Badger
The Mets could have done that is the previous game, or later in the game, with one of there pitchers from the pen. It isn’t all on the umpire. But like I said, the ump should have just gave a warning, but those annoucers were so pro Mets last night, they made me sick. Buck practically blamed Utley, for what the umpire did.
The Dodgers got lucky tonight – Syndergaard blew it.
No one is talking about Thompson coming out of the game with back trouble.
The Dodgers shouldn’t treat Urias as a yo-yo. It was just one game – either let him pitch or not.
Here’s the latest controversy, courtesy of ESPN.com:
“The Dodgers did not deny using something similar to a global positioning system (GPS), or a laser range finder similar to what might be used during a round of golf, to establish points on the outfield, but flatly denied that electronic assistance is used during games.
“No. 1, we do a lot with analytics and preparing our fielders,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “And so as far as a laser in-game, that has never been the case nor will it ever, unless it is allowed by Major League Baseball, which I don’t foresee. So this is something where, before a series, (we do) to help place our outfielders with depth.”
Really – the nerds want to use GPS to position the OF? Is that really necessary?
On Urias one- game call-up: You can look at it as “Half Full” or “Half Empty.” I guess it depends upon your point-of-view. While I would have preferred to have Urias stay with the Dodgers, my view is that his experience will be invaluable to his development. He was toying with hitters at AAA, but then got his a$$ handed to him in the Bigs. Now, he can go back and work on improving his poise and control in higher pressure environments.
By the way, he looked like a different pitcher Friday night – Julio usually has exceptional command – much better command than Clayton did as a rookie. I have watched him pitch numerous times. He is absolutely ready to pitch in the majors RIGHT NOW and should be. I chalk it up to nerves and I also believe that any great athlete has to be strong mentally and overcome adversity. I think Julio will be back soon, but after using up the pen in his start, it was necessary to call up Mr. Fien who acquitted himself nicely.
I look forward to his next start. There is no need to EVALUATE Urias – he’s the real deal and ready for this step. Michael Waca first pitched for the Cardinals on May 30, 2016 and pitched well. Then he got absolutely bombed in his next start. Urias wasn’t bombed – he just had no control of his fastball and the answer is not to throw less fastballs – the answer is to control your fastball. He didn’t and while he wasn’t “bombed”, the results weren’t good. It’s just as likely Urias will pitch well in his next start as it was for it to happen the other way around like it did with Wacha and Keshaw.
Teams like the Dodgers have a plethora of coaches and advisers around players and they have a good idea if they are ready mentally and physically. I usually defer to them because on our best days we have about 5% of the information they do. My eyes tell me Julio is ready for the show and if their coaches say the same, then that is good enough for me.
By the way, Ron Cervanka is right about all the arms at Tulsa. You could see one this year.
Badger, I came around to your way of thinking? Was I talking in circles somewhere or attributing things to you that were never said? Sorry if I did! I’ll try and get better!
On positioning: I think it gives you a slight edge and if it does, use it. We used to have a QB here in Indy who used to study film incessantly and knew what you were going to do before you did it – it served him well!
I agree with Jeff. Should have stuck with the plan. The first 100 or so innings in the minors, a summer call up. This year was strictly about stretching him out, building his stamina. The reveal should have been in LA. They blew it. Add it to the list.
Yeah you did agree with me. Mark. And you didn’t even know it. You were wrong, then you were right. You must feel better.
Laser positioning? Why not? If the league says no, just wave your arms from the dugout until they land on the correct GPS coordinates. They’ll never know.
Mark
I just think that that was just to big of a moment for Urias.
And he admitted it was. He needs a little more exposure to the big leagues, and he will be fine. After all, he is a young kid, from Mexico.
I thought Synagard was NOT trying to hit Utley. He threw it way behind Utley. It was a pitch designed to make the fans get what the wanted without hurting Utley. He didn’t want to put a runner on base by hitting Utley in the butt or knock him down with a pitch that could kill him.
But if the league has told managers and umpires that there should be zero tolerance for anything that would provoke the clearing of benches and or start a series of hit batters and retaliations, then, the umpire did what he was basically instructed to do by his boss.
You’re right about Syndergaard Bum. He threw it right where he intended to throw it. Message sent. I say again, ump choked the choad on that one. Hopefully he learned something about baseball last night. If the league told the umps something they didn’t tell the teams, then they f’d up too. I don’t believe it happened that way.
Rick Monday said that was a message pitch. To me the message was, “look, I have to stick up for my teammates but I don’t want to seriously injure anybody. I’ll throw one behind you and honor will be served.” The ump (who was a replacement, btw) should’ve issued a warning and played on.
But we’ll take the win, right?
There was no chance for the Mets to turn a double play last year and therefore no need for Utley to slide late and wide. I like all out smart hustle and Utley brings that to the Dodgers but his slide was not good for the game.
I have always liked Utley and now that we get to see how cool and professional he is, I like him more. I thought he was a great signing. The Dodgers drafted him but he went to UCLA instead of signing with the Dodgers.
I still say his slide was like many slides in MLB. Players have been doing that for decades. Sure, it was technically an illegal slide, already covered in the rule book, but that rule has never been enforced. Remember the Rule? I gave it to you a few times here. What made the play different was Tejada, with his back to Utley, trying to make a pivot to throw. Never seen that before. Like he had a snowballs chance of getting a throw off. As a former shortstop I can tell you I would never have done something as stupid as that. You are taught from Little League how to handle the pivot and clearing the runner is paramount to avoid injury. You can bet Tejada won’t do that again, and every other shortstop who plays now, or played before, knows better.
Your right Badger. In the big leagues they are taught never to turn there back, on the runner, coming from first.
Been out of town….just learning that Urias is being sent down….really? I suppose someone is going to tell me that was the plan…to bring him up for one game. This FO is a joke and as I’ve said numerous times….whatever plan they appear to have changes weekly. That is piss poor to bring the kid up to only send him back cause he didn’t perform up to expectations. I would never want to be drafted by these bozo’s. I don’t think FAZ has produced….can someone please send them to ‘A’ ball and see if they can build a winner there first. It is obvious that the Rays won because of Maddon.
They were already in A ball Chili. One was in Tampa, the other in Oakland.
Or, the simple explanation is that a minor triceps strain to Alex Wood and Julio’s performance in AAA created the need and the opportunity to bring him up for a start. You know, that happens. The team brought up Zack Lee and Scott Baker for the same reasons last year. You need a spot start, you bring up your best AAA pitcher. It’s really not that controversial. Even if he goes back down until August, I have not problem with bringing him up as the team did to give him a taste of the major leagues for one game. The team needed him. He earned it. It was a good learning experience for him. That’s it.
All this whining and finger pointing and “I told you so’s” over whether it is, was, might be or can be part of” the plan” is just, quite frankly, silly. Any….any….opportunity will be seized upon to complain and criticize and pontificate self-referentially about this front office. It’s tedious and adds nothing of any insight to the overall discussion.
I think you just took opportunity to serve your favorite whine.
More explanation on the Laser controversy: http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2016/05/quick-hits-mets-dodgers-cutch-lincecum-brantley.html
They have GPS units the size of small cell phones, they could issue these to their outfielders. And I have always wondered why they simply don’t have their field players on an encrypted radio network. They could do the positioning and a lot more.
Urias got hit hard when he was promoted to AAA last year. He made adjustments and has been dominating down there this year. He gets promoted to the bigs and gets hit hard. Some commented on the AAA strike zone being bigger then MLB’s strike zone. I don’t really understand how he is supposed to “adjust” back in AAA. If the strike zone really is bigger in AAA I think he will have a difficult time learning much. He needs to make those adjustments in the bigs. Numerous people have commented on how composed and prepared for the majors he is. Give him a chance to prove that. Give him a few more starts up here and see if he makes the needed adjustments. Judging by the pitch that went to the backstop he was seriously hyped. Who can blame him for that? He’s in NY, his family is in the stands and he finally made it to the show!! Start #2 in the bigs will be a little more “normal”. Let’s see what he does.
Have enjoyed catching up with the comments from yesterday and obviously the great win last night.
I’m not sure what the great furore is about Urias’s start and subsequent sending down.
Wood was injured and unable to pitch. We needed someone for a spot start. Urias was the man in form. He came up and pitched.
I liked what I saw, and thought he was unlucky not to get out of the 1st innings after two good punch outs. Yes, he didn’t have great command over his fast ball, but saw enough to be excited. He was always on a pitch count & came out as necessary.
He then went back down. Think of it as a spot start. Mark is right, this lad is gonna be great. He was the in form guy for a spot start, it didn’t quite pan out, but all part of the learning curve.
Totally agree with Bum about the Syndergaard pitch. He threw it way behind Utley. Just to appease the fans and maybe a nod to his old teammate.
Good to see some power from the boys at last & what can you say about Utley?
MJ, I know you’ve been rooting for him but he really is the leader of this team. I’ve always loved his hustle & professional way he goes about his business. He is surely a skipper in the waiting.
I sense the team beginning to wake up
Watford
We both knew, if he was given the chance to play, he would take that chance, and run with it! He is what this team, needs this year, and he is a valuable teacher, for Cory.
Those Mets relief pitchers, that the Dodgers hit the HRs off of, are decent pitchers. And they haven’t gave up many HRs.
There’s a big furor because some people here need any excuse to work themselves up into a big furor over what the front office has done or hasn’t done or might do. At this point it happens with a clock setting interval of regularity…..and tediousness.
You summarized the reasonable reasons for the call up perfectly,.
It’s hard to give a fair evaluation of how Urias performed. He obviously lacked command that he normally has. I don’t think with his normal poise and control, which he has been praised for, he throws fastballs meant down over the head of his catcher and to the backstop. I think it was just the nerves and the travel and the lack of a normal routine that took him out of his rhythm. He’ll be back, and he’ll be better.
A fair assessment of how he did is to look at his line. The numbers tell the story. It ain’t that complicated. As a FAZ supporter, you must know it’s about the numbers.
Obviously Urias will be back. He knows what he needs to do. Plenty of opinion on how to handle the kid. Second start will likely be where his first start should have been – in LA later in the summer. This Dodgers staff will continue to see changes all year as the FAZ try to figure it out. I think it’s safe to say they will find a need for him down the road.
Fly balls? Not for everybody:
http://www.fangraphs.com/community/the-danger-of-fly-balls/
It seems to me that Joc is hitting lots of popups to LF where he was whiffing those same pitches last year. He just needs to make another half inch adjustment and those popups will find the seats or so I hope. IN the mean time, his babip suffers.
Bum
Joc did hit two line drives yesterday, but only one, was a hit, and that is an improvement, from his at bats, in the prior game.
I just wish the Dodgers could have been more patient, when Degrom was pitching.
Because Degrom was wild high, and just is not the same pitcher, that he was last year.
His velosity has went down, to about 94, from 96, 97 last year.
Cory should help Joc with the oppos, because Cory has had a couple of really good opo HRs.
Is Joc still using that heavy bat?
When he is holding his bat up, waiting for a pitch, his bat looks a little shakey, in his hands.
His bat has the same electricity in it that the lightning struck bat had in the The Natural movie.
I just can’t believe that they need GPS to position outfielders. Really? The next thing you know they will tie the GPS to a nav system, like in your car. I can envision it now…
Exit the dugout and run toward second base. Bear right at second base and run exactly 100 steps until you are standing 20 feet in front of the wall, near the 165 sign at stop. Now, turn around until you are facing home plate. You have reached your destination.
Dodger rick
Do you really want to explain that to Puig?
We win a game against the Mets and all I read is negative. That is why I do not post much anymore. FAZ got Thompson, Johnson and Montas from Chicago and did not give up much for them. Montas will be up soon. Has anybody praised FAZ for that deal.
I agree Urias will be with us a long time. He was very positive after the game. Sending him back does not help him much. The coaches at AAA think he is ready. Let him work out of the bull pen. Then in Sept. start him. He will have by then the experience of facing major league hitters.
I think we are very close to a team concept. The starting pitchers are getting better. The team hitting is getting better. The bull pen has a few issues yet, but help is on the way with Ryu and Montas. My prediction is that we are going to see a different team from now on. Giants, here we come.
Cain to the DL. That could help. A little. Actually, not at all.
Hitting coming around? Ok. I’ll wait a few games before I buy that.
Yeah, it’s unfortunate that you, AC…and myself decline to contribute because of the overall tone. There’s a big difference between discussion that is critical in the objective analytical sense and just negative ranting. I think the community here is poorer for having posters opt out and is not cause for gloating that the “FAZophants have left the building.”
Gloating? I don’t see it that way. Not surprised you do though.
Look, we are divided in how to get it done, we are even divided in what we see on the field. Heck we can’t agree on empirical evidence – the results. But we are united as Dodger fans and when we do finally win it, we will all celebrate together. I look forward to that day. But I never support quitting the conversation. Many from both sides of the debate have left the discussion. I still get messages from guys who were posters years ago. And, I’m still in contact with several who left LADT, and this place. I encourage ALL to engage.
No one has mentioned Maeda’s good performance last night, especially after being hit in his pitching hand. He did a good job, and probably could have stayed in the game longer, but it was right for Roberts, to take him out, when he did.
And Fien looked really good last night, and he threw more then just a good fastball.
It looked like Fien didn’t want to do anything, to be put back down to AAA.
And that is how our pitchers in the pen should pitch.
Some of them have been lucky, because the Dodgers didn’t have anyone else, to really go to.
Maybe this new pitcher, will make the other pitchers in the pen, pitch better!
They said that they made some adjustments, with Fien, in AAA, so maybe he will be a big help, in the pen.
We sure need a good arm, that can throw more then just a good fastball, in the pen.
Fien looked really good last night! And Agone looked like the Agone, of old.
I hope he and the other players, are begining to heat up.
Did everyone hear why Roberts thinks the Dodger players, we’re not hitting well at home?
Roberts said the unusal cold weather, that we are having in southern California, is affecting the flight on the balls.
And I can tell you, in southern California, it has been not that warm at all.
And if you take in consideration, that even in warm weather, it is still hard to drive the ball at night, with the marine layer, that sets in. I do think that could be partly the problem.
Okay, if Thompson continues to hit and Montas reaches his ceiling as a #3 starter this could be the best trade Drew has made. Originally it seemed like Johnson was the centerpiece, which left me cold since he can’t play short and may not even stick at second. Kudos to the front office for the deal, and for having faith in Utley.
I agree with Al on Urias. I think the team has a LONG way to go offensively unless we’re going to be able to hit multiple HRs every game. If Turner doesn’t start hitting soon it may be time to give Segedin a look. And not Alex Guerrero, please!
Puig is looking better so if the outfield consists of Thompson, Pederson, and Puig where does Kendrick play? I would think he would play third before Segedin were to get a chance, especially if Guerrero takes a seat in the dugout.
Mets are worried about Wright. His back and neck are problematic. The Mets could need either Guerrero or Kendrick or both. Toss in SVS to platoon with Loney until Duda gets back and their infield could well be Guerrero, Kendrick, and SVS plus their shortstop. Who else might they want to give up Harvey?
Bum
I don’t think this is a good time to move Howie, because Howie has been heating up, in the last couple weeks, especially with Turner not hitting.
And your right about Puig having better at bats, and he has had a couple of clutch singles, in the last week, and Thompson went out hurt.
Maybe this is all it takes, to get Puig to settle down at the plate, and only hit his pitch.
Just a little competition for his place in the line up.
But MJ, would you move Howie if it helped land Harvey?
Dodgerpatch,
Over the years, Badger and other negative commenters have run dozens, maybe 50 or 60 other commenters away with their incessant negative ranting. You summed it up when you said: “There’s a big difference between discussion that is critical in the objective analytical sense and just negative ranting. I think the community here is poorer for having posters opt out and is not cause for gloating that the “FAZophants have left the building.””
Badger isn’t the only one – there are about a dozen and we all know who they are, who take every opportunity to rag on FAZ, like this moronic drivel:
This FO is a joke and as I’ve said numerous times….whatever plan they appear to have changes weekly. That is piss poor to bring the kid up to only send him back cause he didn’t perform up to expectations. I would never want to be drafted by these bozo’s. I don’t think FAZ has produced….can someone please send them to ‘A’ ball and see if they can build a winner there first. It is obvious that the Rays won because of Maddon.
I guess they are trying to compensate for the lack of something by continually putting down others, when it’s obvious to most that their own words demean themselves. Frankly, that’s a large part of why I ended my blog after 15 years!
I have always been down for discourse, but like Patch said: IT’s LIKE CLOCKWORK!
WaDodgerFan had a great take:
Urias got hit hard when he was promoted to AAA last year. He made adjustments and has been dominating down there this year. He gets promoted to the bigs and gets hit hard. Some commented on the AAA strike zone being bigger then MLB’s strike zone. I don’t really understand how he is supposed to “adjust” back in AAA. If the strike zone really is bigger in AAA I think he will have a difficult time learning much. He needs to make those adjustments in the bigs. Numerous people have commented on how composed and prepared for the majors he is. Give him a chance to prove that. Give him a few more starts up here and see if he makes the needed adjustments. Judging by the pitch that went to the backstop he was seriously hyped. Who can blame him for that? He’s in NY, his family is in the stands and he finally made it to the show!! Start #2 in the bigs will be a little more “normal”. Let’s see what he does.
Watford Dodger has it figured out too (really there is nothing to figure out, unless you just want to MANUFACTURE a irrelevant argument):
I’m not sure what the great furore is about Urias’s start and subsequent sending down.
Wood was injured and unable to pitch. We needed someone for a spot start. Urias was the man in form. He came up and pitched.
I liked what I saw, and thought he was unlucky not to get out of the 1st innings after two good punch outs. Yes, he didn’t have great command over his fast ball, but saw enough to be excited. He was always on a pitch count & came out as necessary.
He then went back down. Think of it as a spot start. Mark is right, this lad is gonna be great. He was the in form guy for a spot start, it didn’t quite pan out, but all part of the learning curve.
At least I’m truthful.
Oklahoma City played a much better game in last night’s game with the Sacramento River Cats. It was Armed Forces Night at River Cat Stadium, honoring our veterans after each inning. Very touching and proud. Stripling was limited to three innings and had good command. Why he was limited to three I do not know. He threw three scoreless innings, 3H, 0BB, and 3K, on 36 pitches. He topped out at 92, but lived in the high 80’s, slider in the low 80’s, and off-speed/breaking stuff dropped in mid to high 70’s. The three hits were not hit hard, and one was erased with a DP. The star of the night was Lisalverto Bonilla. He pitched 4 scoreless innings on 45 pitches, 1H, 0BB, and 5K. He gave up a hit on the first pitch he threw, and then proceeded to retire the next 12 consecutive batters. He hit 93 on multiple occasions with good location, his slider in upper 80’s and low 90’s with a late break, and off-speed/breaking stuff from mid-70’s to low 80’s. I do not remember Bonilla being hit hard with the exception of the 1st batter/hit.
Jordan Schafer is a conversion to pitcher that is not going well right now. He faced 4 batters in the 8th and gave up three hits, loaded the bases with one out. Jacob Rhame came in for back to back games and served up a ground ball. But combined with Danny Ford’s (batter) speed, and the DP combo of Hicks/Johnson and they could not turn the DP. Rhame got the last batter with a K. He topped out a 94 last night after 97 the night before. Grant Dayton came in the 9th, also in back to back games, and worked a one-two-three inning to give the Dodgers a win.
The offense was led again by Rob Segedin (who played 1B last night); single, double, and HR in 4AB. SVS hit a monster HR and a run scoring single. Two of his three outs were line shots to infielders. His last AB was a K where he was fooled by an off-speed pitch low and away from a RHP (not uncharacteristic). Alex Guerrero was called up, and did not look good. 4AB, 3K and 1 ground out. The ground out was his last AB, and it was hit hard but right at 3B. Maybe he turns it around today. Zach Walters had the 3rd HR, 2 run oppo to right to start the scoring. Barnes looked good at the plate, single and double, (robbed of a 3rd hit) and with a HBP was on base 3 times as lead off again. Not so good on the bases; he was caught stealing twice. Micah Johnson and Rico Noel also had a two hit night. Micah stole a base but was then caught off, although it only sounded like he should have been out, because the umpire certainly did not see it. If there was replay in AAA, the call would have been overturned. Johnson’s hand was on the bag when the tag got him on top of his hand. But he dances too much off 2nd, something he will never get away with at the MLB level. ML pitcher will not be so distracted, and the SS will be quicker getting to the bag.
Two good defensive plays during the game. One by the River Cats/Giants 1B to take a hit away from Austin, and one by Dodgers 3B Zach Walters who made a diving stop to start a 5-4-3 DP. Johnson had three plays, charging a slow roller and getting a good throw to 1B on one. The other two were routine right at him. He had 2 DP chances and turned one.
With fireworks at the end of the game, it was a great evening watching the Dodgers win. Today Jharel Cotton goes for the Dodgers, and Joan Gregorio for the Giants. Gregorio is 24, 6’7”/180 pound RHP, who was formerly a higher level prospect of the Giants. Reached as high as #12 by MLB in 2012. Could be a good test for the Dodger hitters.
Great report. Thanks.
Great Report, AC!
Bonilla was once a TOP PROSPECT (#20 with TEXAS). He has had some arm and control issues, but a lot of scouts like his stuff and deceptive delivery. He’s a guy who could surprise.
Always good to beat the giants. At any level. On Urias: What happened to him is not unusual. For some reason, hardly no prospect jumps into the big leagues with immediate success. The Mets have 3-4 of them though. The Cubs have 4-5 of them. We have 1, Seager. The giants have had 1-2 each year for about 6 years. I don’t know why we don’t have a Trout. Instead, we have a Puig. We all keep waiting for a guy to make an immediate impact, but it hasn’t happened yet. In general, prospects are probably overrated. Probably the best bet is to get the successful college player from a big time program and put him on the fast track. Stripling is one of those. I think high school or younger is a real risk because no one can really predict how these young guys develop inside and outside their ears. Urias is one of those. Plus the injury possibility with a guy who pitches about 40 innings in high school until he finally makes it to the big leagues. I compare pitching styles of Urias and Ryu, but with Ryu, when the team got him, he already was a mature pitcher. J-U now has to go back and dominate until then next call up. He might fail again. Hopefully, it won’t be because of nerves. Once is enough. The only thing the Mets pitcher did wrong last night was not to get it closer to Utley. He probably wishes he had thrown it a little more at him. He should have been tossed, if for no reason other than it wasn’t even close to him. Nice job by Maeda, especially after getting hit in the pitching hand in the first inning. He is another one of those older rookies, who have been allowed to mature at a high level somewhere else. Good idea.
If you’re going to get tossed without a warning, might as well hit him.
Urias’ stuff looks good, and maybe it was nerves, but his command was off.
I heard Smoltz, I think it was him, talking about how ML teams now know enough about Asian pitchers to ease them into the new routine. They pitched 1 day a week with a slightly tighter ball. 5 man rotations with a different ball is obviously more demanding. Well of course it is. So Maeda will be on a pitch count and they will give him days off whenever they can. He already has a tender elbow. So I expect more 5 inning, 75-90 pitch games the rest of the year. I think the RotoChamp/ZIPS projections of 165-177 IP may be a bit generous, but I hope he gets there.
I would point out that the Dodgers’ best home-grown players didn’t play college ball…Kershaw, Jansen, Seager, Pederson…
It’s a cop out. Your scouts and talent development people can either get the job done or not.
A player’s development is linear. The later in the process you select, the higher the degree of accuracy.
Then where are the Dodgers who have been really successful who were collegians and who were home grown?
The fault has to be placed on the selectors. They would likely have been just as unsuccessful if limited to college picks. That’s why we pick fruit after it ripens (in most cases).
The last couple of games have shown some spark. Even with the loss on Friday, good late inning effort. We’re not used to that. A lot of that has to do with Utley, who visibly seems to love those situations. I’m afraid Kendrick will have to play 3B or outfield for awhile.
Sorry. But you don’t instill confidence by bringing a kid up and then send him back down after 3 innings…..and not just any kid of which some of you are now treating him…I guess he is comparable to every other 3A pitcher.
So IF he would have pitched well, he was still going back to 3A? Can’t have it both ways. The plan was to bring him up as we all were told….that there was NOTHING left to learn in 3A. Now this. You just don’t demote a top prospect. Either you believe in him or you don’t. I believe in him, the great FAZ, not so much. I would hate to be drafted by these bozo’s.
Everyone that supports the demotion should never claim to bring up the kids again. Again, can’t have it both ways.