Tonight was supposed to be special for Yu Darvish. It was his first time pitching in Dodger Stadium. He wore the home whites for the first time, and it was his birthday. However, it was Yasiel Puig who stole the show.
Darvish wasn’t particularly awful. He pitched six innings and wasn’t really in big trouble during any one inning. That said, Yu and that darn red mitt of his gave up three solo home runs. It was enough to keep the Dodgers behind all night, and it also kept him out of the win column on his special night.
The Dodgers sent out a special lineup as well. Cody Bellinger got a rest for the first time since he joined the squad on April 25th, Austin Barnes started over Yasmani Grandal, Chris Taylor played in CF, and Enrique Hernandez batted clean up. Oh, and the skipper batted Yasiel Puig in the seven hole. Those decisions that looked strange at first, looked like genius when all was said and done.
The White Sox came out looking for blood right from the start. For the second night in a row, they deposited the first pitch they saw in the bleachers and took a fast one run lead. The Dodgers came right back in the second when Logan Forsythe doubled, advanced to third on a ground out, and came home to tie the score on a wild pitch with Puig at the plate.
Both teams scored in the fourth on solo home runs. Kike blasted his third career home run off Sox starter Rodon. The percentages and match ups paid off on that one.
Darvish gave up his third solo home run in his final inning of work, the sixth, and Tony Watson gave up another solo dinger when he came in to start the eighth inning. The White Sox were up 4-2 heading into the ninth, and there wasn’t a faithful Dodger fan who wasn’t sitting on the edge of his seat wondering who would be tonight’s ninth inning hero.
Cody Bellinger came off the bench and delivered a golf shot, one out single to get the Dodgers faithful roused. The Sox changed pitchers and Logan Forsythe continued clawing his way out of his slump with a clutch double to score Bellinger and bring the crowd to its feet. The boys were only down by one run and everyone could feel a comeback starting to take shape.
Austin Barnes singled Forsythe to third and Joe Davis let out with a Scully-esque, “And look who’s coming up!”
Dodger Stadium erupted into loud cheers as Yasiel Puig stepped to the plate. He had a strike out and a walk already in the books, but everyone – including the Sox – absolutely knew Puig wanted nothing less than the game winning hit.
Puig took the count full, everyone in the stadium was on their feet, and fans at home like myself had their eyes glued to their televisions and ears to their radios as the payoff pitch arrived. The mighty Puig swung smoothly and blasted a double over the shortstop’s head and toward the center field wall.
Chavez Ravine exploded in cheers as Forsythe ran home with the tying run and Barnes slid home with the winning run. Yasiel Puig stopped at second base, raised his arms to the sky, and the rest of the Dodgers spilled on the field to embrace him, and jump for joy at yet another incredible come from behind win.
The Dodgers are off tomorrow for a travel day. They’ll open a weekend series on Friday against the Detroit Tigers, 4;10 pm PST. Don’t Yu miss it!
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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What an exciting game and Oscar, your recap was great at capturing that excitement! Nice job!
Puig coming up in that spot and not trying to swing, taking the he count full and waiting for a pitch to drive, was really great. The rest of the league should be concerned if Puig gets confident and gets hot – he’s proven that he can carry an offense by himself for weeks.
Yu was pretty awful tonight, Oscar. 3 solo shots and 6 hits in 3 innings with no strikeouts qualifies Yu to be awful. But, it wasn’t that awful even though he had no command. It could have been much worse, but this was the White Sox, not the Red Sox. Yu will survive so I’m not worried about him at all.
With a lefty starting, Joc had little chance of playing and Kike certainly did his part. Forsyth was big as well as Puig and Bellinger, all clutch hits tonight. This was beautiful to watch as they rallied from behind.
Curious as to why Segedin is in the lineup? His last stint here wasn’t impressive and Agon is coming back.
Yu had a stiff back. It was bothering him in Arizona too. And he struck out two guys in the 6th. His fastball was sitting at 91-93. Not the 97 mile an hour job he was throwing in Arizona last week. That being said, I have waited most of the year for Yasiel to do something special because I believe in the guys natural talent and the fact he is getting better at bats than at any time in his career. He is finally growing up and maturing right before our eyes…..Aren’t you glad the FO did not trade that guy? Next to Bellinger and Seager he is about the most exciting and entertaining player I have seen in years.
Jeff
That is why I didn’t get upset that Kike was hitting fourth last night.
Kike has hit lefties well this year, especially with power.
And anyways we have two players in our almost everyday line up, that are not hitting much higher, or even higher then Kike is.
You are going to give up homers if you leave pitches up in the zone where the hitter can pound them, and give the Sox credit, they came out swinging. Rodan pitched much better than the last time he faced the Dodgers. Here is a stat for you, 1/4th of Kikes HR’s this year have come off Rodan. 3 of his 12. He owns the guy. It is rare when you give up 4 HR’s in a game and win, but they pulled this rabbit out of their hat. Some really nice defensive plays behind Darvish kept it from being worse. Lets just hope it is nothing more than stiffness in his back.
Yu wasn’t sharp, but I agree with Oscar, he wasn’t awful. 3 earned in 6 on 90 pitches isn’t bad. What’s bad is the Chicago White Sox.
I hope what is ailing Darvish is nothing serious. Would I be surprised if he ended up on the JL? Of course not.
Badger
Roberts said he didn’t think it was anything serious, they just always want to go with caution, with any player.
I am glad Puig is getting a little confidence, as well as Barnes, and I am glad we won, but we have to remember the White Sox don’t have many good relivers left in their pen.
But even against a team like the White Sox, these little clutch moments can only help in the long run.
It was to bad Darvish wasn’t 100 percent, but he will pitch another game at Dodger stadium, and right now, we just want to our pitchers to correct any issues they have had.
The game certainly didn’t start out well, because I thought after the game before, the Dodgers would be ready for that first pitch to the lead off hitter, to start the game.
It you notice with Forsythe, every time he has had something good happen, in these last few games, he hasn’t let his count go to long.
Maybe he has finally figured out, that he should swing earlier in his counts, so he isn’t down two strikes, so much.
I don’t know if you guys saw Puig’s interview after the game, but he did it in English, and his English is good, considering he has not been here a long time and with the fact that they say English is the hardest language to learn.
Okay, I have to give Forshyte credit, he did come thru tonight, let’s hope it wasn’t a fluke. From my rough calculations, Forshyte has been paid about $2.5 million for each clutch at bat he has delivered thus far. Good work if you can get it.
O’Foc needs to sit as much as possible. I’d much rather see an outfield that doesn’t include him the rest of the way. If the Dodgers are serious about getting anything out of him this year, they should send him to OKC, work with him constantly and maybe bring him back with a September call up. It helped Puig last season, it helped O’Foc this year after Puig KO’d him (Fraizer is down, Fraizer is down!). O’Foc is totally lost and confused (and getting fatter, he must be doing some depression-eating after each game. Gaining weight actually is a sign of depression in such a young guy).
Put Darvish on the 10-day DL, let his back heal and then be ready for the final month and playoffs.
Kershaw if great but for some reason when he goes down, this team explodes (see last season and this season for reference). So are the Dodgers collectively better when he is wounded? I have to admit they are pretty damn good with him or without him this season.
BTW, good call by Joe Davis, as winning run rounded third “It’s not a question of if, the question is Who!” That had a Vinny ring to it (not to be sacrilegious, and no not a homosexual reference Brutus, LOL)
I have more curiosity than a room full of cats. No offense intended but whom are you calling “Brutus” and why? I think I know the “whom” part….
Samesies.
Don’t worry Jonah you aren’t Brutus.
He may not be able to read.
The ‘he’ left intentionally ambiguous.
Your six words say a lot.
Yeah you found your answer. It is always fun to watch someone take the bait and reveal them self.
He (or she, don’t want to assume anything) came out of the blue to go after me a while back during some stupid narcissist moment in his or her life (there are many if you look thru most of his posts). Once someone goes A-hole on me for no reason, I have a tendency to respond and point out their ignorance, once that animal shows they have been wounded I pick at that scab for a long long time. So Bluto gets to enjoy that stupid battle he chose. Sucks to be Bluto in so many ways, I’m sure.
Agree 100%!
#PuigYourHero
You can safely bet Segedin is on the waiver wire right now. If a team wants to trade something for him, the Dodgers will be all over it. If he clears waivers, the Dodgers can remove him from the 40 man roster and send him down. They could send him down without clearing waivers but they want to free up that precious 40 man roster space to protect one of their young players, perhaps even bring him up to the big club, (Verdugo, Ramos).
Almost every player on a roster gets put on waivers in August. It is pretty much standard practice to judge whether or not a player can be traded by the 31st. Claiming a player can be problematic if you do so to block another rival getting him as the Yankees found out when the claimed Canseco to block him from the Red Sox, and were awarded his contract by the waiving club…..a whopping 6 million back then.
Also good gutsy call by Roberts to send Barnes. He doesn’t score if he’s not in motion. Could also have been a strike him out throw him out DP. What a finish!
Roberts didn’t send him.
Oh, Bluto, why must you continuously disappoint me!!! You have so much potential, like Puig, but then you get so nitpicking, correcting unimportant errors needlessly, just to embarrass someone… Are you a frustrated grammar teacher? Most of us think/know the third base coach gave the sign. But there are other possibilities in play. Maybe Barnes ran through a stop sign. Maybe Roberts had told the coach what he wanted if the situation came up, maybe….Aw, who knows? Please be more kind and considerate of your blog mates. If you are frustrated in your job, then become a grammar school teacher or join the Marines and be a drill instructor.
Jonah
Maybe Roberts gave the sign to the third base coach, to have Barnes be in motion on that pitch, like he did on the pitch before, before Puig hit the double, in the gap.
Jonah, I can tell you have realized how Bluto became Bluto. It’s that kind of shit that Bluto spews that just stinks up a place. Keep up the good work. I think you are right, Bluto probably has been a teacher in his past or a frustrated security guard (not that there is anything wrong with that profession, btw).
Could not be more wrongheaded.
Why and how could Roberts communicate such intricate conditionals to the 3rd base coach?
Run no matter what?
Run if hit softly?
Run if hit to fielder x?
Run if hit to fielder X sharply?
Maybe one or two of these, but even then it’s too specific and case-dependent.
It’s why you pay a 3rd base coach. To make these decisions in the “heat of the battle”, in the middle of the play.
But, please keep telling yourself it was the manager. It’s not like the manager has anything else to do.
And more than anything, definitely, DEFINITELY, use this as an opportunity to speculate on me, my fake name, what it means, my psychological perspective and my occupation.
I don’t post on “the other blog” anymore but I still read it because it is a good blog. MJ, that USA article you linked to over there two days ago? Apparently Dodgerrick posted another link to it later and Dodgerpatch is now giving him credit for bringing it to their attention. I know that doesn’t bother you much but if I were still posting there I would point out to them that you were the first one to link to that article. Credit where credit is due.
Jonah
I did mention that over there the day before, but I didn’t have the link.
I just mentioned the paper, the writer, and the name of the article.
That is no big deal to me, because I saw the article sooner.
But thanks anyways!
MJ….
Thank you for posting the link to that article here on ladodgerretport.com. It was great article, and has been re-posted on other sites….well, you know…you’re on there, too.
And thanks for being such a huge Dodger fan. You’re always posting, always contributing, sometimes getting some flak form Michael or Bluto, but always maintaining your enthusiasm.
Dodger Patch
You didn’t need to do that, but thanks for posting it.
I quite like MJ.
I just think his (her?) perspective on walks/batting average/OBP/OPS are oddly constructed.
A good pessimist can always find something to worry about. My “gut” feeling is that serious injuries befall outfielders more often than infielders and so I worry about two of our best players, Bellinger and Taylor, infielders by trade, playing in the outfield. The closest web information I could find on the subject (http://makenolittleplans.net/age-position-and-injury-risk-in-baseball/ ) seems to disagree with me but I think I’ll worry anyway, thank you….
And from The Black Cat file…
It seems like Left Field has injured quite a few Dodger players over the years. Wasn’t Kirk Gibson playing left field when he was injured? More recently Carl Crawford, Andre Ethier, SVS, Toles, Franklin Gutierrez, and Segedin (?) were injured there or shortly thereafter. Hmmm, I wonder if Roberts should put players he wants to get rid of out there? Playing left field, Joc Pederson….
That’s rather crass and below you Jonah. And from the way he interacts with Joc after at bats and during the games it does not appear that Roberts wishes to get rid of Joc. The only people I hear that rhetoric from is fans. Gibson and Crawford both had gimpy knees to begin with, and Gutierrez has a congenital defect and disease that he uses meds to control. SVS was injured while he was hitting. Segedin the same. Ethier also was injured hitting. I would gather you are implying that left field is jinxed. But Taylor is out there now.
And that’s what worries me… “Beneath me”??? You must have a higher opinion of me than I would have thought. Or deserved. It was in the spirit of fun, though perhaps in bad taste. I really wish no harm to anyone, we all have enough troubles without adding more. The numbers will get Joc as they always get most young people who aspire to achieve things at the highest level. It is a mighty small percentage who do as well as he has.
I just think that you are not the kind of person who wishes bodily harm on anyone. I believe you are a decent guy, very passionate about the Dodgers. Joc is what he is, and a lot of people who really do not understand how hard it is to play the game at the major league level, expect a lot from a guy who has only been in the league a little over 2 years. Some players take longer to adjust to what pitchers are doing to beat them. Just look how long it has taken Puig to finally get it. Seager, Bellinger, they have a far different approach than Joc, who pretty much has always had that let er rip swing. Changing your approach and in his case, stance, can take some time to adjust to. Fans are far less patient than the team. They want Cody and Corey like production up and down the order. Look at Taylor. The guy we are seeing this year looks a whole lot different than the player that joined the team last year. And it was no overnight thing either. He worked all winter, in spring and in the minors at the beginning of this year to get there. I can tell you that since I was a LH hitter when I played, I watch those guys when they hit. Some of the pitches they swing at are totally unhittable. I see a flaw in Joc’s swing that I am sure the coaches and manager have talked to him about. He is pulling off the ball. That’s why his ground ball rate is higher than it has ever been in his career. With teams shifting so much anymore, it is almost impossible to get a hit pulling the ball on the ground. They are trying to get him into a position where he gets lift when he hits the ball. But I think he would benefit from a demotion to AAA for a couple of weeks. He has connected well with the coach down there.
I don’t have a lot of experience background to quote from, never played more than schoolyard and sandlot. What I see different in the last forty or fifty years is now there are a lot of “experts” at all levels making a business of teaching people how to hit. My own (limited) experience, and the way most people start out, was simply “see the ball, hit the ball”. That was the entire thought sequence. But the ball drops and curves… Sure it does, But your brain tells you where to put your hand to catch it, or to swing your bat in order to hit it. When you throw a ball to a kid running down a field, can anyone point out where, when, and how hard to throw it for him to catch it? No, only your brain with input from your eyes can do that. So too with hitting a baseball. Your brain has to train you with thousands of attempts, and some of us will learn that skill better than others. And pre-thinking what pitch and what location it will be actually hampers your brain in doing its equation. Not to mention if the pitch or location is different than what you were expecting. That is the reason for so many players taking a perfect pitch right down the middle, or swinging at one well off the plate. Are hitting coaches useless? Not completely I would say. If a player is insecure and not confidant in his own ability, a coach can help him gain confidence and correct any obvious flaws. But every body and every brain is different, the idea that one coach can tell everybody how to hit successfully is ridiculous. Probably that’s why teams are constantly changing coaches, that plus giving friends jobs.
A lot of it has to do with vision. “See the ball, hit the ball”. That may mean something different to you than it does to me. Seeing the ball means seeing the spin. The sooner you pick that up, the more likely you will hit the ball. If you can’t see the spin, you’re cooked unless it’s a nothing ball over the middle of the plate. And even then if you don’t possess superior hand eye coordination you’re done. Make no mistake – EVERY player at the ML level is gifted. Coaches at the Major League level are dealing with players who all have excellent vision and superior hand eye. With that it becomes about putting in the time on meticulous mechanics and ardent plate discipline.
When I was coaching I tried to have vision information on all my players. It was obviously much easier to coach players with superior vision. Those who could not see the spin at all, or didn’t see it until the ball was close to them, were more of a challenge. Hand eye coordination can be improved through drills. The vision needed to pick up spin out of a pitcher’s hand may need to be corrected.
Let me ask you question jonah. – do you know if you are right eyed or left eyed? Knowing that can assist a coach in helping a young player.
I am right eyed, right handed. Most people are. If the master eye is different from the master hand, it fouls up a lot of things, including target shooting which I was involved in all my life. How do your theories play out for right handed people who learn to bat left handed, or switch hitters? I’m just not all that much into coaching. I seem to remember that 100 years ago batting averages, steals, pitching stats, all were much higher than they are now, despite the fact that human beings are bigger, faster, healthier, more knowledgeable, and who knows what else… Is it possible that coaches are doing more harm than good? No, I don’t believe that. I believe there are some things that coaches can improve for some people, and there are other things that are (now) beyond their ability to teach or cause improvement. And hitting is one of them.
Do you know how to determine which of your eyes is the master? Pick up a pencil or little stick, keep both eyes open and point it at a small object 8 or 10 feet away from you. Now close first one eye, then open it and close the other. Whichever single eye showed you were still pointing at the object correctly is your master eye. Your master eye is the one your brain uses for most of its data functions. The main purpose of the other eye, which is about 60 millimeters away from the first, is to allow the brain to estimate the distance of the object from the eyes. In microseconds it computes focal angle of convergence between the two eyes, computes the trigonometric function to give it distance. Same thing the batter does when he looks at a pitch from the pitcher. I find it hard to believe any coach can improve upon the one God put between your ears.
You’re correct with all that. Being right eyed and hitting left handed is a distinct advantage. If possible, at an early age I would turn hitters around. Worked sometimes, didn’t work others. Had I known in Little League I would have turned myself around. With my speed I would have added 50-100 points to my batting average at every level. I had 20/10 vision in my right eye, 20/20 in my left.
Something I read years ago, and may have mentioned here already, Babe Ruth had 20/10 vision in both eyes and was right eye dominant. Back in his day every car license plate could be id’d by its color. It was said Babe could read the numbers on the car license plate in front of him before others in the car could ID the state. His vision and hand eye was several levels higher than anyone playing the game in that era.
Also, players today are much bigger than players of the past. Aaron, Mays and Mantle were all not that big. Many middle infielders today are bigger than they were. Yesteryear we talked of, and valued gap power. Home run hitters were much rarer then. Now a double off the wall “just missed”. Sounds disappointing. My favorite everyday player in the 60s was Maury Wills because he played like I wanted to play. And, he played everyday. One year he played 165 games. That’s a record that won’t be broken.
I’m still working at getting used to today’s game.
I am a natural RH, but I broke my right wrist when I was 5. So I started to throw the ball with my left. My vision was never all that. I started wearing glasses when I was 11. I batted from the left side because it felt more natural, I experimented from the right, but even though I could make pretty consistent contact, I had zero power. From the left I was much quicker to the ball and had power. I had to work to get good on defense. I played 1B, and the OF. Not much speed, but I knew how to read the ball and when not to run. My biggest asset was having real good hand to eye co-ordination. Unfortunately I only played one year of little league, no pony league and then 2 years of high school ball. My home situation was the reason, but I loved the game, studied it, and played at any level I could. I played a lot while I was in the army. Baseball, slo-pitch and fast pitch. Sometimes I was playing in 2 or 3 different leagues at one time. It was a passion, and it was a lot of fun. I always wished I could have had the chance to play in organized ball but it was not to be. I coached a little, and taught my daughters a love for the game. And the Dodgers were a part of my life. I missed going to games when I was in the Army, and had to make do watching the minor league franchise in El Paso. When I played I had the attitude that there was not a pitcher out there who could get me out. I think that attitude helped my game. I think guys like Corey and Cody have that kind of mentality. It is the reason they go up there and attack. I was never one to sit back and take a lot of pitches. But I had pretty good depth perception which helped me from going after stuff out of the zone. I remember a Army tournament we were in that I went 9-9 in 3 games. Every hit I got went to LF. It was fast pitch and they kept pitching me on the outside corner. I would just shift my back foot and take the ball where it was pitched. I wish Joc could do that, but he rarely goes the other way. I am not sure how important a hitting coach really is, but I think if the player feels he needs that guy, then more power to him.
Yu has nothing more than stiffness in his back. He was pulled Roberts said for precautionary reasons. I watched a video of Ethier hitting in last nights game at Rancho. Well, they said he was hitting. Struck out twice and walked. Did not even hit a LOUD foul. Looks a long way from being ready. It is a shame, I would have liked to see Dre have a good season his last year in blue.
They wouldn’t call him up before September at any rate. I’m afraid you are right, Ethier, for all his promise, will not leave with a bang, but with a whimper. Sic transit gloria…
Since no one else cares to use the blog today, I guess it is all mine, to use as I please. I would like to campaign for some additional software plugins I’ve mentioned before. There are several names, the one I know best is called the “Ignore List”. If there is another commenter on the blog who always annoys, argues with you, or just does anything you don’t like, you can open up your profile and enter his “handle” on your Ignore List. You will never see a single word he posts after that. Any commenter who DID NOT put him on their Ignore Lists will see his comments as usual and he will see yours unless he put you on his list. I’m pretty sure there are some people here who would love to put me on their Ignore Lists, in which case there would be little or nothing for them to read on the blog. For me, I can’t think of anyone I’d want to ignore. Have you ever noticed that both diamonds and gold nuggets come from disagreeable places you really don’t want to be? Blind squirrels and all those other metaphors could apply as well…
https://wordpress.org/plugins/commenter-ignore-button/
Not sure I need an ignore button.
The people who contribute little to discourse, usually can’t write much.
I would again push for a better format, one which makes it easier to respond to comments. Currently, once a message replay chain has reached the third or fourth response all subsequent responses just are dumped in any order, not in the context of the post being responded to.
If this could be fixed it would improve the way conversations grow.
Agree on that point. WordPress has different blog formats and it would cost little or nothing for Scott to change it. If someone told him it might entice more viewers to visit his blog and therefore make him more money, he might even be interested in doing it…
Even more than the Ignore Button, which I probably wouldn’t use, the plugin I would most like to have available is a Private Message option. This would allow commenters to contact other commenters privately to talk, possibly settle differences and keep them from spreading to other commenters and getting larger. It would be an option anyone can use but no one would have to use it or be inconvenienced by it. Here is a link to one, there are others available…
https://wordpress.org/plugins/front-end-pm/
Zack Lee released by the Padres…bet he wishes he had gone on to play QB at LSU. Reds scored 9 in the second inning off the Cubbies and blew the lead! Cubs hit 6 homers.
Zach, not Zack.
The Zach Lee for Chris Taylor trade may go down as a good one. Even if Taylor cools off.
And yes, his decision to forgo his LSU scholarship may have been questionable, but he did make a significant chunk of change with his signing bonus (5.25mm) and LSU hasn’t developed QBs very well.
Thank you for correcting my spelling. I knew it looked wrong. But what the hell, I am old and care less how I spell things anyway. That trade at this point looks like a genius move. And everyone knows how much I hate crediting Faz for being genius at anything. And as everyone who is anyone knows, Bluto was Popeye’s chief protagonist for many many years. Although he also at one time or another was known as Brutus.
I didn’t know that. Thank you for the knowledge, now it makes sense I thought that guy was just being obtuse.
Timmons just predicted Bellinger for the Hall Of Fame. After 100 games, that is utterly ridiculous…. Now if he does this for 20 years, he’s a lock. But that is a big load to put on any man’s back. If, after Bellinger’s career is over, Dodger fans (I don’t expect to be around that long) can look back and put him in the same class as Gil Hodges and Steve Garvey, that’s enough for me, I’m not greedy…
How about putting Karros in there too since he holds the LA Dodger career HR record.
Timmons starts an article and begins to credit Roberts (finally), then can’t help himself and the rest turns into more FAZ rah rah and ends up merely lauding Roberts for not being a FAZ stooge. Meanwhile everyone here has been supporting the whole team including FAZ (we are just not trying to overdo-it and get all big headed – the Big Dodger in the Sky does not like that). He just doesn’t get the Dodgers karma and why Vin Scully says the Dodgers never do anything easy.
Timmons has his own agenda. I am glad he does not spout it here any more. Roberts is a HUGE reason this team approaches every game one at a time. Segedin was sent down to AAA today.
Article on Top Ten Rookies 2017. Dodgers well represented with Bellinger and Barnes. I wonder why Taylor wasn’t mentioned, is he not a rookie?
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2017/08/the-top-10-rookies-of-2017.html
Great quote from that article: “The hype may not be there for Barnes, yet he’s clearly among the reasons the Dodgers are able to form Voltron on what seems like a nightly basis.”
Forming Voltron in the late innings is a good metaphor!
You want to have a sign that the Dodgers are having a historically good season? Oh, it’s not only that USA Today article, but the real tell, the real indicator of just good this team is and just how discredited the FAZophobe Litany has become, is the Dodger Therapy site. He stopped posting articles a long time ago, but was going to keep the posting open as a forum for those “long suffering Dodger fans.” That’s now closed, too, all non sycophantic posts posts (mine) are deleted, and all of his Twitter posts are deleted.
LOL…don’t mean to gloat too much, but I think that guy deserves the opprobrium. He can’t even bring himself to be happy that the Dodgers are doing well, so he just changes his argument, and when that doesn’t work, simply ceases to exist.
He will be back if they don’t win the pennant.
Personally I’ve enjoyed the lack of giving FAZ credit, and giving them crap, that no longer exists here. You and catbox are the only ones that mention the tension. Don’t miss his sorry ass. I’m glad the Dodgers are experiencing success, but I must remind you that it is nothing new. The Dodgers have been playoff good for 5 years running now. Regular season dominance has been fun, but I’m waiting for the post season.
Forming Voltron. Is that a Millenial thing? Means nothing to me. So I just googled it. Voltron, Defender of the Universe. Maybe Mighty Mouse was my Voltron.
I like most of the things FAZ is trying to do, especially reducing payroll. Knocking down the ridiculous Free Agent signing prices is a good thing for all the teams and all the fans in baseball. My complaints about FAZ have been on his talent evaluation. Looking at Reddick, Forsythe, and many of the pitchers he has signed, I’m afraid he doesn’t have a lot of talent in that area. Which might explain his desperation use of SABR stats too much.
Save the Universe? I’ll still go with Wonder Woman. Looking is always a pleasure,,,
Wonder Woman. Good choice. But, Mighty Mouse’s theme song was “Here I come to save the day!” I loved that song. And Wonder Woman’s tv show aired when I was in my late 20s. I loved the early cartoons but I wasn’t much of a comic book guy. Where I came from comic books were for the kids who couldn’t play baseball or ice skate.
Oh, obviously I agree with your FAZ take. I don’t much care about payroll. I love seeing stars in the Dodger uniform. Stars cost money. The Dodgers have it.
I think this is FAZ’s plan:
1.Stars cost money
2.Ticket and cable prices go up and up
3.Many fans cannot afford tickets or cable
4.Grow your own stars
5.Trade them just before they become expensive free agents
6,Advance future stars from farm
7.Repeat steps 4, 5, and 6 ad infinitum
What’s the point in only posting long form articles when things are going poorly (or sub-optimally) or only posting long form articles when things are going well (or optimally)?
Isn’t the point to have a point of view an voice it when in flavor and out of flavor?
????? ‘splain, please…
What part wasn’t clear?
I just read it again and it made sense, but I’m biased.
I think you’re saying I should either love FAZ or hate FAZ. Most of life has ambiguities. I approve of what FAZ is trying to do but I disapprove of the way he does it sometimes. And I think he is a poor judge of ability. If that isn’t it, please rephrase your response to my response….
Oh.
That was not my intention at all. Apologies if that’s how it was conveyed.
My point was if you are anti-Front Office, you shouldn’t stop posting if things are going well. Nor should you necessarily change your opinion.
If you are Pro-Front Office, I hope you don’t stop posting after a start like the team had this season…
Don’t worry about me not posting….. Most people here think I post too much, sometimes I think so myself….
Here’s a question: What is the Dodgers actual payroll this year after you eliminate people who contributed little or nothing to the team. In this category I am including: Kazmir; McCarthy; Crawford; Agon; Gutierrez; Ethier; Kemp, and you may know of others. My point is to show that a very good team can actually be fielded for a fairly low amount of money. So how much do the actually on the field playing Dodgers cost?
Let’s find Forsythe a new home…. Word is the Angels claimed Ian Kinsler but Detroit pulled him back. Do they have a pretty good back-up catcher? Let’s offer them Forsythe if so, and put Barnes on second base, let Utley play there once or twice a week. Barnes could even catch when he’s not playing second or resting… Everyone is better off. The Angels would probably even pick up his 2018 option for him.
We have more than one capable of playing second. Like I mentioned Locastro, a shortstop, is playing second and tearing it up at AAA, we have Taylor and Barnes, either of whom could be starters. Utley is platoon fodder for this year only. We don’t need Forsythe, so what happens depends on the algorithmic functions that Hal spits out. 2B or not 2B. Yeah, that is the question.
Sportrac has our ’18 payroll at $177mm. We are still paying Olivera and Kemp over $8mm, Arruebarrena, Sierra and Toscano make about $13mm. Kazmir makes $17.666mm, Hill $16.666mm (the 666 not lost on me) and McBrittle is still there at $11.5mm. Kazmir makes 10% of the payroll. Yoiks. AGon 12.62%. Hope he can play.
Yes payroll can be cleaned up, but a lot of questionable cash was added after the FAZmobile came to town. As for stars? Butts in seats is not an issue with this team. Folks don’t seem to mind paying money to see reruns of platoon and the tv contract money is there even if cable scripts are not. I still don’t get that one. Whatever the Dodgers games will cost people will pay, so work it out dummies.
I think the Dodgers are in pretty good shape. The system looks good. We have 2 young stars, one already being considered for the Hall of Fame by some. We may keep Kershaw, hopefully Urias is ok and perhaps Buehler is the reincarnation of Mordecai Brown.
Confidence levels remains high.
Hal 9000. Yeah, that’s a good one.
Chris Taylor
http://m.dodgers.mlb.com/news/article/249029318/chris-taylor-paving-way-for-historic-dodgers/
Starting lineups
Pos Dodgers Pos Tigers
SS Taylor 2B Kinsler
DH Seager (L) CF Mahtook
3B Turner LF Upton
LF Bellinger (L) 1B Cabrera
C Grandal (S) 3B Castellanos
RF Puig DH Martinez (S)
1B Gonzalez (L) C McCann
2B Forsythe RF Presley (L)
CF Pederson (L) SS Iglesias
Finally Taylor gets to play his primary position