Based on what I've read, he's going to be an innings eater at this point or a Tony Cingrani type of project. Appears to have a very good sinker, with a curveball that does get whiffs and a cutter that has good movement but has poor command. His 4 seamer is not apparently good. I think the Dodgers staff see something in him, such as getting him to throw a secondary pitch more often or to tweak his mechanics, that could get him to improve like Cingrani did. He also has better splits against left handed batters at .147. We'll see who gets the 8th inning set up man role. I have a feeling it will be a starter because we have a overabundance of them. I'd go with Maeda because he's proven he can throw well as a reliever, but he's been decent as a starter. I think Buehler and Urias are other pitchers to watch out for in terms of relief roles. That would probably mean that our playoff starters would be Kershaw, Hill, and two of Ryu/Stripling/Wood. I'd go w/ the hot hand at the end of September in terms of starters and push the remaining into the bullpen.
Manny Machado's arm is beyond anything I have seen. The effortless way this dude tosses across the diamond just makes me shake my head. Oh and boom our second walk-off this season. Grandal came to play!
If JT is back and hitting homers too... Oh man. This lineup is INSANE! Right now Matt Kemp (All-Star) and Max Muncy (HR Derby participant) are our cold hitters. Pederson/Machado/Turner/Grandal/Bellinger/Dozier/Muncy/Puig/Kershaw yesterday. No Taylor in there and no Kike in there to start and we still hit 7 homers with 21 runs... No Seager... I mean can you imagine a lineup with: Taylor/Seager/Machado/Turner/Kemp/Bellinger/Grandal/Puig or something like that? It's going to be a huge let down if/when Machado leaves. If that happens, they better pay Harper at least, but f*** I can't imagine letting go of Machado in his prime just to placate Seager coming off a Tommy John.
Well, you knew the Dodgers were going to follow up that run explosion with an impotent performance. Typical. Hopefully we can show some grit tonight. I’m still concerned with pitching though. Nice team ERA, but I don’t have confidence in them this year for the playoffs. Maeda, show something tonight...
I would give them a bit of a break, it was Verlander after all. He had the ability to increase his velocity to 97-98 mph in the 6 to 7th innings, it was unreal. Verlander has been able to regain and maintain velocity into his mid 30's after the trade, similar to....Roger Clemens. It got a few Dodgers fans up in arms in the game thread that I follow and they wondering whether he was doping or not. One thing that Roberts should've done is keep Puig and Dozier out there and sit Muncy and Kemp to give them time to fix their issues. They have been regressing for a while now.
Two awful games in a row. What a sad series. Looks like the "World Series Preview" is worse than the last World Series. All that vaunted offense and we cant score any runs.
We're looking like a feast or famine team right now. It sucks to see that we are slumping when the D'backs are on a hot streak with their easy schedule. It looks like they're still trying to adjust to play with each other with Turner coming back and adding Dozier. I think it would be useful to have more contact hitters like Verdugo in the lineup vs a slumping Kemp and Muncy.
I’m more concerned with not having a better showing against the Astros. Losing 14-0 is mental defeat. They shouldn’t be that soft given last year’s success and having scored 21 runs a few days ago. Frustrating. I’m sure they will play better come playoff time, but you have to fight better than that against the Astros. We will likely win today’s game, but that might be more that the Astros checked out having won this 3 game battle. If we get swept then I’m even more frustrated.
lol. No. The last two games suck. This team is def a feast or famine like Bryant said right now. To me adding the big players will take a bit to build a rhythm. One thing that is disturbing for me right now is that we don't seem to be able to find fire after the 7 inning when we need to. If we start slow it seems we don't spark. Either way i reserve real judgement until they have been playing all together a few series.
To me the worrying part was the psychological aspect. Losing to the Astros is one thing, but losing to them by 10+ runs is another. That's a mental problem. Hitting 9 of their batters and still not swinging the bat well? That's a mental problem. I love that we have power across the board, but guys like Turner, Taylor, and even Machado are all high percentage on base players too. They shouldn't be focused on long balls as much. Muncy and Kemp being so ice cold is a problem. They need time off to get their heads right.
Last year I was talking to a buddy and told him I wished that Roberts would tell his team that for one game each month they only to try and hit singles, bunts, or otherwise draw walks. My point was that yes, the long ball is fun, but I didn’t like that they didn’t do much hit and run. Manufacturing runs through base hits instead of the long ball, which we relied on too much. Houston was pretty effective with all types stuff of hits. I will repeat that wish this year as well. Same issue it appears. And going to the mental part, it’s more mentally taxing to hit homers than singles, or so I would think. There’s no reason for the Dodgers to ever lose 14-0 with this roster.
Weird stuff... I hope he's alright. This season has been a strange one. Turner DLed, Seager out all year, various pitchers in and out of the rotation due to health. It's insane we're where we are right now. Thank goodness the FO was able to get Machado and Dozier to save our skins.
But I don’t feel that same “team” feeling that I had about them last year. They are successful, but will they hold up u see the playoff pressure. Last year I felt they would, but not this year.
