Bitchen song. I wish MLB would let fans pick the song based on trends. That way, walk ups for certain hitters would be better.... Jose Altuve - Short People by Randy Newman Carlos Correa - Asshole Song by Denis Leary Yuli Gurriel - All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes by Pete Townsend
Weird about this team to me is how dominant they've been yet how fragile that dominance is. Three hot bats in any lineup at once might win a team a ring, but it only takes two pitchers to torpedo that offensive strength with shitty starts or meltdown relief. I have looked at that 2001 Mariners team lately. I'm no stat geek but still, it's worth mentioning ... The lineup had McLemore, Olerud, Suzuki, Martinez, and Boone above .372 OBP & .790 OPS. This LA team's top five compare with Freddie, Lux, JTurner, Smith & Trea at or above .346 & .802 (Betts replaces Lux on that second stat). Close but still ... Seattle looked sturdier at end of September. They ended the year with a couple of long win streaks and one four game losing streak. LA? We'll see how they fare vs. StL & Colorado, but they've been on & off since they cooled down after August. Pitching? Seattle had crazy years from Garcia and Moyer, but even then, their ERAs were a full run higher than Tyler, Urias, & Gonsolin. Their pitchers stayed healthy but in October, NYY hitters picked them apart in five games. Those hitters faded except for two and even then, Yank hitters like Posada & Bernie Williams were insane. I keep seeing this team running into a buzz saw from Atlanta while Betts & Freddie get walked while Muncy, Smith, & Trea fold like a cheap suit. I'm still not certain the bye week will help the Blue much. Will the bats cool down and the rhythm be off from the time they get to watch & practice? And will they fix what's broken with Kimbrel, May, and even Phillips, who has looked mortal in recent stints?
Good comparison and all legit questions. You can poll MLB fans and I think you'll get little argument that the Dodgers won the regular season over all other teams. But that don't mean shit once the playoffs begin, other than that first round bye. Bats go cold, pitchers have bad outings. While Trea is a pretty consistent hitter, we've seen Mookie be very streaky. Hoping this October finds him on one of his tears, although that can't be counted on. I wish we were getting better years from the bats at the back end of the lineup. Bellinger had a big double yesterday, but I have no confidence in him at the plate. Taylor too. Lux has been ice cold since his return. Gallo? I mean we can always hope he runs into one, but my point is that if 1-5 is having an off game, we can't rely on 6-9 to cover. At least that's how it feels to me. Maybe over the next twelve games, a couple more hitters will find their groove as JT seemingly has. One can hope. And yes, I'm very worried about the pen without Trienen.
Gallen put on a show. Great stuff. Almost spotless command. Fast forward to the 9th. Belli vs. The Belly. Belli golfs one (obviously ball four) off the RF wall. The Belly never recovers. After Muncy took strike two (fastball down the middle), I thought he was fucked. Muncy showed the value of putting the ball in play with his dribbler to third to tie the game. No shame in giving up a bomb to Walker. But Kimbrel track record says otherwise. If a postseason roster spot was determined by performance Kimbrel would be sitting at home with us watching the games on television. Bullpen injuries are the only way he finds his way on the postseason roster.
Has Dave finally seen the light? @MMoreno1015 Dave Roberts on Craig Kimbrel: “I think the stuff is starting to slide a little bit. … I’ve got to continue to look at this. We’ve got to have our best guys at the backend.” More from Dave Roberts on Craig Kimbrel: "This is a point in time where certainly performance matters. We need our best. ... Obviously the ninth inning is unlike any other inning. But I do think that having other guys that have finished games for us is a good thing."
Provided LA gets past round 1 .... can anyone else imagine Doc leaving Kimbrel off the roster while he gets simulated games in Arizona? If Kimbrel sits out the post, would Dave use Martin, Graterol, Vesia, Phillips, Kahnle, & Ferguson as late innings guys with May as closer? Because two blogs I've read have proposed that. Scary shit entrusting closer duty to Carrot Top, man.
Pitcher with very limited postseason experience, has trouble finding the strike zone and is coming off major arm surgery. What could go wrong? May would have to a 180 from where he's been lately before he should be trusted in high leverage situations. There's a reason some of these internet wizards don't have jobs in legit media (whatever that is).
if treinen isn't ready, my closer choice(s) would be phillips and vesia both throw strikes both have been great, especially lately 6th, 7th and 8th innings... 1st choices: martin, graterol, kahnle and (if healthy) almonte other possibilities: ferguson, pepiot, may, bickford and grove not on the roster: kimbrel
Seconded. I'd really only want Bickford in case LA is down early & it's a lost cause game. Let his arm fall off if need be but let him mop that mess up. I really haven't seen Grove pitch much. Is he worth a shit?
Hudson/Treinen injuries might prove to be killer. Give me either one of those guys in the closer role when they're healthy. I think Phillips would do a really good job but he's been the ultimate get out of jail free card for the team. Seems like he always enters the game in a tight situation and finds a way out of it. If Evan becomes closer, I don't know who fills that role
Alden González✓@Alden_Gonzalez Craig Kimbrel has been removed as the Dodgers’ closer, at least for now. He’ll pitch in a variety of roles moving forward, and the Dodgers will handle it by committee. Pretty decent chance that’s how it looks in October, too. 4:28 PM · Sep 23, 2022 · Twitter for iPhone
2023. Not this year. Same with Pepiot. One of these years the Dodgers have to develop some of these young arms into bullpen pieces.
