2017 REGULAR SEASON LA Dodgers & international

Quake Griffin · Post #1101 » by **Quake Griffin** » Sat Sep 9, 2017 3:50 am

It was too good to be true.

Yu has been one big disappointment.

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Ranma · Post #1102 » by **Ranma** » Sat Sep 9, 2017 4:05 am

This is why I was hesitant to go after Yu Darvish and in favor of pursuing Sonny Gray. Darvish had the better stuff and higher ceiling, but Gray was the more reliable option with the tenacious mentality. Darvish's volatility was not something I wanted to deal with in the postseason.

His struggles in the 1st inning and vulnerability to collapse at any given moment just doesn't provide a dependable rotation option. He seems to do more to derail the team's momentum than actually building it up.

I've penciled him in as the #2 starter for the playoffs but it's because of his impressive arsenal of pitches and the lefty-righty setup atop our rotation. However, I'm more comfortable with Rich Hill as a postseason pitcher than Darvish and I have Hill listed as my #4 starter for the playoffs right now.

Quake Griffin · Post #1103 » by **Quake Griffin** » Sat Sep 9, 2017 4:13 am

Oh great.

Here comes this idiot to pitch the 6th.

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Quake Griffin · Post #1104 » by **Quake Griffin** » Sat Sep 9, 2017 4:27 am

WHEW!!!11

He gets through it after the initial walk that sure pissed me off.

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Ranma · Post #1105 » by **Ranma** » Sat Sep 9, 2017 4:27 am

Baez strikes out the side in the 6th inning after giving up a walk to the leadoff hitter.

His changeup was working and he did get away with a 96-mph strike down the middle, but the key for him seems to be in utilizing his offspeed stuff more effectively in addition to locating his fastball better.

Ranma · Post #1106 » by **Ranma** » Sat Sep 9, 2017 4:38 am

**** reaches 2B to lead off the bottom of the 6th inning with an infield hit and throwing error. I know he hits against left-handed pitching better, but he still deserves to play more regularly than he has been, especially with Granderson getting all the playing time lately in the OF.

Surprisingly, Barnes actually hits right-handed pitching much better than left-handed pitching this season.

Ranma · Post #1107 » by **Ranma** » Sat Sep 9, 2017 4:43 am

Dodgers come up empty in the 6th inning despite ****'s leadoff reach to 2B.

Quake Griffin · Post #1108 » by **Quake Griffin** » Sat Sep 9, 2017 4:44 am

Curtis Granderson and his "professional at bat" doesn't move **** over and we get nothing from ****'s hit plus the error to put him on 2nd.

Show me where Curtis has the naked pictures of Dave Roberts.

I will burn them and restore order to this clubhouse.

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Ranma · Post #1109 » by **Ranma** » Sat Sep 9, 2017 4:51 am

What's frustrating is that Cingrani, Watson, and apparently Buehler have quickly taken to Rick Honeycutt's pitcher whispering, but Darvish still remains clueless for whatever reason.

Also, Dave Roberts has to stop playing Granderson and Forsythe right now. Give these struggling batters at least a break. Forsythe deserves more playing time than Granderson but both have been unproductive at the plate as of late.

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Neddy · Post #1110 » by **Neddy** » Sat Sep 9, 2017 5:08 am

I hate Granderson.... and I hate Dave for hitting him in the second hole way too often rather than the 8th hole which is still debatable if he deserves that at all.

Neddy · Post #1111 » by **Neddy** » Sat Sep 9, 2017 5:20 am

the ideal Seagerless line up to me, is

1.R SS Taylor
2.L 1B Bellinger
3.S C Grandal
4.R 3B Turner
5.L LF Ethier
6.R RF Puig
7.L CF Joc
8. platoon of Utley and Forsythe.

remember, the #2 hole hitter hits about 50 more at bats than the 3rd and nearly 100 over the 4th in a full season.

Ranma · Post #1112 » by **Ranma** » Sat Sep 9, 2017 5:24 am

I'm higher on Granderson than both of you, but I totally concur with the sentiment of not playing him as much and batting him low in the order. In fact, Dave's usage of him has me actually starting to regret trading for him.

He should never have gotten this much playing time unless he was hot (for us). I envisioned him to be another Utley both as a locker room example and in terms of usage.

I really do like Dave Roberts but his game management and coasting approach to end the season really has us at risk of sabotaging a once wonderful season performance.

Ranma · Post #1113 » by **Ranma** » Sat Sep 9, 2017 5:52 am

Darvish gets the deserved loss.

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Quake Griffin · Post #1114 » by **Quake Griffin** » Sat Sep 9, 2017 6:05 am

Granderson is supposed to be everything our forward thinking front office avoids. But nope. We threw caution (and information) to the wind and bet on him because of annoying magical fairy dust terms like---grit, professionalism, locker room guy etc etc....oh and he was "hot" at the moment (just lol).

The worst part is that Dave seems to have an old school streak in him where he trusts these "professional" vets. It's made a "harmless" trade like Granderson worse because he won't stop playing hin..

He played Utley too much last year after he had more than fell off.

Sticks with Forsythe.

Sticks with A-Gon when healthy.

Sticks with Granderson.

Dream Team FO discussing the lineup with Dave everyday and we still have Curtis at the top EVERY damn day.

There aren't that many idiots suggesting it imo. My guess is it's Dave.

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Quake Griffin · Post #1115 » by **Quake Griffin** » Sat Sep 9, 2017 6:15 am

Do we have any more scheduled days off tomorrow or can we just go balls to the **** wall for a win like a desparate ball club should?

Funny these scheduled off days are never for Granderson

Just lol.

Maybe Cody Bellinger needs some rest for his big toe.
Or Justin Turner needs to clip his fingernails.

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Ranma · Post #1116 » by **Ranma** » Sat Sep 9, 2017 6:32 am

Roberts expressed how perturbed he was that the home crowd was booing Baez and giving him credit for gutting through it by responding with a good outing. Well, maybe he shouldn't keep putting him in position to fail so often. Don't blame the fans for caring about winning more than the team's manager apparently does. Baez has shown that he is not a high-leverage reliever, but Doc can't help but continue his malpractice of giving the wrong players undeserved playing time.

Granderson and Forsythe are other examples as Quake noted. Seriously, it takes quite a bit of mismanagement to lose this many games late in the season when we're supposedly trying to put together a World Series campaign. It would behoove us to build positive momentum heading into the playoffs instead of preaching about the process and taking for granted that things will work out.

Cripes! This whole ordeal of ineptitude has gotten me really cheesed off. :banghead:

Quake Griffin · Post #1117 » by **Quake Griffin** » Sat Sep 9, 2017 6:42 pm

Guys.

Can we fix this or not?

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Ranma · Post #1118 » by **Ranma** » Sat Sep 9, 2017 7:59 pm

I think it's certainly fixable. The Dodgers have shown we have the talent to win the World Series. Things are bad now, but if we can overcome the mental hurdle and start playing the best players as regulars, then we should recapture the form for the postseason.

At the same time, we can't take for granted it will happen eventually. Assuming health is not an issue, we definitely have the pieces to get back to being a juggernaut. It shouldn't be that hard to remind everyone what the team accomplished when the team was running on all cylinders. It wasn't a fluke since the Dodgers were playing at a really high level for a extended length of time.

Funny enough, the Dodgers were doing well before trading for Yu Darvish and he is the one person that concerns me the most given his volatility and inconsistency. I'm still holding out hope that Rick Honeycutt will reach him before the postseason starts.

I don't see us continuing to play Curtis Granderson everyday, but I am concerned Dave Roberts will use Pedro Baez inappropriately. Those and other issues can certainly throw a monkey wrench into our machine, but we have the talent to overcome most of it.

Quake Griffin · Post #1119 » by **Quake Griffin** » Sat Sep 9, 2017 10:15 pm

Joc in LF.
Taylor in CF.
Very weird.
Forsythe at 2nd.

Yasmani on the 1s and 2s for Alex Wood.

While I think Forsythe needs to sit, this is basically the lineup where we lit up the league for 2 months plus. I think I'd rather see Barnes there tbh. In fact, I'm ready to start making preparations for Austin to take over 2nd to close the year and for October.

To not play him in because Yas is catching us to put an inept bat at 2B aka a hole in our lineup.

Sorry, I still like Yas.
__________

Now. We gotta get a good start out of Wood who has a lot to prove after coming off the DL.

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Ranma · Post #1120 » by **Ranma** » Sun Sep 10, 2017 12:55 am

And Dave Roberts has the temerity to be critical of Dodgers fans booing?! Voicing displeasure over bad decisions is much more helpful than continuing to make bad decisions.

Yeah, he didn't say postseason, but stubbornly doubling down on Pedro Baez in high-leverage situations doesn't show that he has the best interest of the team in mind. It's one thing to show support for a player, but it's another to derail the progress of an entire season.

If we come up short of a World Series because of Roberts' stubborn malpractice, I'll be among the first to join the mob that calls for his firing. He's put himself in that situation in spending all his goodwill.

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Bill Shaikin, Los Angeles Times (9/9/17)

Baez has a career-best 2.53 earned-run average, ranking seventh among National League setup men with at least 50 innings. However, the more predictive fielding independent pitching statistic — stripping out defense and focusing on walks, strikeouts and home runs — suggests his ERA should be 4.63.

After posting a 1.43 ERA before the All-Star break, he has put up a 4.66 ERA since then, giving up five home runs and nine walks in 19 innings.

Dave Roberts Says He'll Keep Using Dodgers Reliever Pedro Baez in Critical Situations