Well let’s face it, 2023 has not exactly gone the way it was planned so far. Pitching, which was expected to be a strength, has become an anchor around the teams neck. Except for Kershaw, Gonsolin, and Phillips, most of the staff has been a disappointment.
Miller has pitched better than expected, but still walks too many. Graterol has his head on right one night, and looks like a clown the next. Amazing that his ERA sits at 1.86.
But go to the stats page on the Dodger website, you will cringe looking at the pitching staff’s numbers. I have not written here for a few days, so a couple of games have been played. The bullpen had six scoreless innings yesterday, Thursday, in the Dodger extra inning win.
But tonight, they totally ruined Emmett Sheehan’s MLB debut, 6Â no-hit innings and cost him a win. They allowed 7 runs from the 7th inning to the 11th. Shoddy baserunning cost them too.
Biggest culprits were Gonzalez and Vesia who between them gave up 5 runs. Gonzalez let the lead get away in the 8th, and Vesia gave up 2 in the 11th and got his 4th loss. His ERA now sits at 7.13.
Graterol lost the shutout by giving up a 2 run shot to Flores in the 7th. That caused his ERA to go over 2. Scott gave up a hit, but the runs were charged to Gonzalez, who was all over the place.
Robertson worked out of trouble in his only inning giving up a walk and a hit. The Dodgers did come back to tie in the ninth, hanging a blown save on Doval. They had three hits and a walk. But again, they blew a chance to win it.
The bullpen is the biggest hole on the team right now, but trouble could be over the horizon. They lost a game in the standings to Az and to SF. But with Muncy heading to the IL, and then Peralta and Taylor sustaining injuries, their vaunted depth is going to be severely tested. At one point they had five rookies in the game at the same time.
Something is going to have to be done, this time, AF does not have the luxury of waiting.
If anyone didn’t like the first game against the giants I’m pretty sure last night’s game was more unpleasant.
The giants are a good team. A better team than the Dodgers right now.!
So much for the idea that we have a deep team and a gold mine of a farm. After tomorrow’s game, I expect that we will be treading water furiously from the #3 position HOPING not to fall any further. How likely will that be? No Muncy HR’s. Smith coming back to earth. JDM struggling not to SO. The HR has been our lifeline, not the ball to bat tactic that sustains winners. Pitchers who have lost their focus, some who have crumbled before our very eyes. How did it come to this?
all true, but I’m not sure on-field performance will spur serious action out of Friedman.
Here is a great story about Vargas.
https://www.mlb.com/news/featured/miguel-vargas-lazaro-vargas-connect-through-baseball-journeys?partnerId=zh-20230618-945118-mlb-1-A&qid=1026&utm_id=zh-20230618-945118-mlb-1-A&bt_ee=SXmRwlVmBuN6Uus1JllbbP04MjvgmC%2FSbdZhad1ZgUYOyquZD3%2FSUqum0b1lLX1j&bt_ts=1687097290097
What a beating the Dodgers took. I was watching US Open golf for the first few innings. I checked in and the score was 4-0. The golf finished so I flipped to the game and it was 9-0. With Bobby Miller pitching? WTF? Watching some highlights (the Giants of course) there were so many soft hits or hits where the hit ball found a hole in the defense. As Jeff mentioned above the Dodgers lack bat to ball skills to keep rallies alive and to try make contact and put the pitch in play. With so many players having awful batting averages and high K rates the Dodgers still rely too much on the HR. Look at the Giants lineup. No stars at all. But, most of the lineup has hitters batting .270+. I know BA isn’t the end all, but my point is the Dodgers have several players that need to make more contact to try to create more production. Because….
What in the world is going on with the pitching staff? Especially, the bullpen. In the 2019 draft AF selected 21 pitchers. The thought was that they could get the ones with college experience on a fast track to the Dodgers. Where are they all? Besides starter Ryan Pepiot, Nick Robertson is the only one to reach the Dodgers. And that’s with 3+ years of minor league play. Not exactly a “fast track”. Currently, Ferguson (draft 9 years ago) and the above mentioned Robertson are the only BP members drafted by AF. In 2018 it was another 19 pitchers selected with only Michael Grove appearing with the Dodgers. So, in two recent drafts 40 pitchers were selected and only three have played for the Dodgers. I see that as a huge failure on the Dodgers’ front office.
AF prefers to trade or sign FA pitchers to put together a BP. Which is OK. Until it isn’t. Also, he has this fascination with spending tens of millions of dollars on infirmed pitchers who never pitch for the team or do so for a few innings and sign somewhere else. A consistent bullpen staff has been a weakness for AF. The last couple of years they have had some success, but year it’s been a disaster. But, it’s not all on AF. Pitchers that have had success are failing right now. Where to turn? Apparently, not our farm system. A trade? Too many teams chasing too few quality relievers. Bottom line is likely that the current staff has to get better
I wanted to comment on the results so far from the #1 rated farm system. But, I’ve written too much already. So, another day.
Carry on.
This has to be one of the most embarrassing three game sweeps at the hands of the Giants since the Dodgers came into existence. I totally dislike the three true outcome brain set. You bunch together hits, you score runs. You give up 29 in three games, you are going to lose all three. Gonsolin was good until he wasn’t. The offense was pathetic. I have no solutions. Luckily, they are still within striking distance and can still make a run. But I do so hate looking up at the Giants in the standings. One thing I would do. I would move Betts to SS immediately and permanently. Find a RH hitting slugging outfielder somewhere. Next season, put Lux back at second, he is comfortable there and a much better option than Vargas. Revamp the bullpen, and some changes make now. Vesia needs to be either DFA’D or traded. Get the gas can guys off of the roster and out of the picture. My patience at this point is very thin. At least look like you give a flying eff and do something,
I apologize for not getting a new post published for today. I am trying to be judicious with Bear’s other posts. But I am formalizing something in my brain. But for now, ponder, criticize, cajole, dream or reality, on this post.
I do want to comment on Gavin Lux. It is doubtful that Lux is better conditioned or is better athletically than Ronald Acuña Jr. Acuña tore his ACL on July 10, 2021. He returned April 28, 2022. That is 9.5 months from the injury. While Acuña competed, it took him all of 2022 to get reacclimated and back to his All Star form. Lux should be ready for 2024 ST. He was near All Star at 2B in 2022, but that was his first year as an established starter.
Will Lux have the mobility to play SS? His arm is more suited for 2B. I was against moving Mookie from his GG RF, but maybe he is a better option for the Dodgers as a SS. The Dodgers do not have anyone in their organization that can play SS anywhere near an All Star level. They do have a plethora of utility players who can play SS at the MLB and MiLB level, but nobody to build around, like say———-Corey Seager.
It sure would have been nice to have homegrown Corey Seager at SS. It appears AF would rather have extended Mookie to $365MM but not Seager to $300 MM. I say $300MM because IMO if that was offered in 2021 ST instead of $225MM, they would have had a deal. Or not sign Trevor Bauer. They would have difficulties with Trea Turner, but they still could have been worked out.
As Ted would say…Carry On.
In their 66 years of playing in Los Angeles this is the worst pitching the Dodgers have ever had.
That explains why we are now in third place.
I too was hesitant about playing Betts at short. I preferred a shortstop. Well, we don’t have one so now it makes sense to put him there.
Is it possible it’s just somebody else’s turn in the West?
“In their 66 years of playing in Los Angeles this is the worst pitching the Dodgers have ever had.”
Granted, that is not a stat to celebrate, but I’m not going to get overly concerned about a stat that encompasses only 72 games. Let’s talk after 162 games and see where we are compared to the other 65 years.
When you’re already using your #10 guy on the depth chart to start a mid-June game, you can probably predict some pretty gruesome stats. On the other hand, if the year winds up as bad as it is now, hey, if you’re going to be bad, you may as well be really bad and get your names in the record book.
The Athletic surveyed 96 players and asked them who they thought Ohtani would sign with.
Results:
Dodgers – 57%
Angels – 11%
Padres – 7%
Mets – 7%
Yankees – 6%
No other team had even 6%
Unless they asked Ohtani’s best friend on the Angels, this survey probably isn’t any more accurate than if Jeff ran a survey here and asked us.
I’m sure that the Dodgers were picked because they appear to have cleared payroll space this year to make a run at him and they have money, but there are so many other factors involved, including where he wants to play and live. If I were betting and had a choice between the Dodgers and the field, I’d definitely take the field.
Suddenly the Dodgers aren’t looking like the winners they have been for the past 10 years. Will that make a difference? He may want to play on a team with a Japanese player on it. The Padres, Cubs and Red Sox all have Japanese players who will be around for awhile. Most people seem to think he prefers the West Coast. But does he?
The one thing I do believe is that he won’t necessarily go to the team who offers the highest $. I just don’t think money is that important to him so other factors may be more important. Teammates, location, manager will all factor in.
Does Doc speak any Japanese?