Stumblin, bumblin, rumblin, Chris Berman’s favorite line. The football commentator would use that line to describe a team or player trying to cross the goal line. Sometimes this season for me at least, that is how it has felt following the Dodgers pennant chase. 
They have stumbled more than a few times this season, usually against teams you would think they should crush. The offense, especially when Mookie and Muncy were both gone, has been more than a little sporadic. Other times they have made quick work of the other teams pitching staff. They also have blown some big leads, which is very frustrating for the fans.
They opened a series against the Marlins, 12 games to go. Every game is important at this point with just a 3.5 game lead in the division. So, what happens? Bobby Miller happens. Miller is nowhere near the pitcher he was last season.
Injury? Mental stress? Who knows. But one thing is certain, his fastball this year is a BP pitch. Miller was sent back to OKC after the game along with Michael Grove who also did not look good.
Landon Knack pitched game two and did a decent job. He kept the Marlins withing striking distance and the Dodger offense did the rest. They would up with an 8-4 win that was very important since both SD and Az won. The bullpen pitched much better than they did in game 1.
Jack Flaherty, who has become the Dodger ace by default, pitched game 3. This game shall be forever remembered as the 50-50 game, and for the incredible single game performance of Ohtani. 3 homers, 2 doubles, a single, 2 stolen bases, 4 runs scored and 10 driven in. Unreal. None of his homers were cheapies either. The 50th, an opposite field shot, was well over the wall. But 49 and 51 were crushed high into the second deck.
So, the team opened its last homestand, 6 games with the Rockies and Padres. And since the Padres are home playing the White Sox, LA is going to have to take care of its own business.
Pads had to go 10 to beat the Sox. Sox scored 2 in the top of the 9th to tie it. Dodgers took care of business at home with a bullpen game against the Rockies Kyle Freeland who is their best pitcher so far. They get Quantrill against Buehler tomorrow and Sentzatela, who has missed almost the entire season on Sunday against Yoshi. If they win tomorrow, I think they should move Yoshi back a day and have him start the Padres series.
4 games ahead with 8 to go. Tied with the Phillies for best record, but Phils have the tiebreaker. Ohtani set another MLB record tonight. 14th game this year with a homer and a stolen base.
OKC dropped a 6-4 decision to Salt Lake. They have 2 games left in their season. Freeland was 2-4 with a homer.
Magic number now 5.
Kelly was wobbly. Again.
Hudson gave up another run.
Kopech is overpowering even if he gave up that leadoff homer in the 9th.
Ohtani is in The Zone .Hope he stays that way in the playoffs.
Good to see Pages keepping up his hitting. Mookie is slumping a bit.
Lets see what Buehler got today.
Rushing did not play the last two days. Is he in LA maybe waiting for a call ?
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I saw a portion of the Dan Patrick show yesterday, and they were talking about Ohtani’s incredible 50/50 season. Dan asked if there had ever been a greater season than that for an individual and one of his colleagues mentioned that Albert Bell had a 50/50 season, with his being 50 HR and 50 doubles. When Dan heard it was Albert Bell, he just poo poo’d that notion. I got to thinking, if one year Ohtani got 50 HR and 50 stolen bases and the next year he got 50 HR and 50 doubles, the argument would be which of those seasons was his greatest. I think Dan was wrong to diss Albert Bell’s accomplishment. I realize Albert Bell wasn’t the greatest of roll models, but 50 HR and 50 doubles in a season is incredibly awesome too!
Wasn’t that rumblin quote originated by the legendary announcer Keith Jackson?
Hey Bear. Several of us have been discussing Ohtani’s strikeout rate the past few days. Most of us agree that it’s typical for power hitters to have a propensity to strike out a lot. You mentioned that Babe Ruth struck out a ton. I had heard he really didn’t strike out that much and it was misperception that he did so. I checked it out and in fact he only struck out about 13% of the time. He never struck out more than 93 times in a season. There was only one other season where he struck out 90 times. He walked at a 19% rate. Many of those were intentional. Of course, the pitching back then was completely different than what Ohtani has to face now. Most pitchers didn’t throw that hard and pitched much deeper into games. They actually pitched 3,4,5 times through a lineup. Whoa!!
With Ohtani, it’s not the number of strikeouts, but how uncompetitive he is on many of the third strike pitches he swings at. The pitches are balls (and not even close) right out of the pitchers’ hand. It’s surprises me that one of the greatest player ever would swing at such awful pitches. Like you stated Bear, it’s not a criticism but an observation.
Also, I would like to see Ohtani hit in the third or fourth spot in the lineup. But, it would cost him ABs! Personally, I would rather put him in a position to drive in another 20-30 RBIs than have a few extra ABs over the season. But, he isn’t as successful a hitter in those spots as he is hitting leadoff or #2. I checked it out and it’s true he hasn’t been as successful. First, he was on the Angels so RBI chances are not like they are with the Dodgers. Second, probably less than 20% of his ABs have been from the 3/4 spot. So it’s a small sample size. I have no complaints of Ohtani hitting leadoff. I just think he would produce more runs for the team hitting lower in the lineup. But, what about the stolen bases as a leadoff hitter? With him pitching next year I doubt he’ll being stealing anywhere close to what he is stealing now. I mean, he is damn near super human, but come on! Of course, AF and the analytics people will make the decision on where the numbers say he will hit. Just MHO.
Carry on.
I put this on an older thread so no one will probably be blessed to see it, so I will paste it here for all to see. it concerns next year’s lineup. Cheers.
It seems obvious to me the Dodgers want to make “older” Mookie happy, so he should be at 2B and definitely not SS.
As for who plays SS…this is a bit challenging because I want Edman in CF….so Rojas + who else? I don’t want Rojas playing full time, so maybe 120 games is best for him, seeing that he is older. So, I suppose if you don’t want to add a new player, you can re-sign Kike to platoon with Rojas. You lose in defense when you do that. Edman obviously would be the perfect supplement, but if you take him away from playing CF to play SS, then you can play Outman in CF assuming there is a RHP on the mound.
Okay, let’s move on to RF. I propose Pages and Outman to share the job and if Edman is playing SS to give Rojas a day off against a tough RHP, then Outman plays CF and either Pages can play RF or add another LHB to play RF, with Pages on the bench. Do we even have some LH outfielder in Oklahoma?
I sure hope we extend THernandez in LF. Besides being a clutch hitter, he is the ultimate team player and a very positive guy to have in the locker room. Don’t let him go.
Lastly, what to do with Lux? Either he is a back up or you look to trade him.
Is this all clear? If not, let me know. -TM
The two main currents of thought on this comment log are:
This makes sense for a team like Colorado or Atlanta, but COME ON!
Maybe not getting the bye would be in the team’s best interest? Maybe not.
SMALL SAMPLE SIZE WARNING ($$$$)
https://blogs.fangraphs.com/hello-bye-checking-in-on-the-races-for-playoff-seeding/
“In fact, the National League teams who have received byes under the newish system have lost all four Division Series since, two apiece by the Dodgers and Braves…
That 3-5 series record of the bye teams isn’t a large enough sample size from which we can draw conclusions, but it has stirred annual discussions about whether the rust induced by not playing a Wild Card series offsets the advantages…
— the extra rest that allows banged-up players to heal and managers to optimize their rotations. Intuitively, that explanation may make some sense, but it is not supported by the data. As research by Dan Szymborski last year showed, in postseason matchups since 1981 where there existed a notable discrepancy in rest, with one team having a layoff of four or more days facing an opponent that had two or fewer days off, the teams with more rest went 24-11 in their next game. It’s an advantage.”
Every time buehler pitches the defense sucks. Buehler was part of that sucking but lux continues to play like a junior high player. Another first inning screwup on a popup. Grade schoolers make that play. I don’t know where his head is at but it is not in the game.
If Roberts is going to put Hudson in a game in that situation I have no sympathy for it. It’s dumb.