2015 season dodgers game thread

[Quake Griffin]

Kemp strikes out to end the series.
Man was he trying to make a point though.


Grandal is really good at that framing thing. I keep looking at pitches like, "nah he wont call that….oh yup he did"
Pretty neat that Greinke came out and said he couldn't "draw up a better catcher" when referring to Grandal.

Also, with Grandal catching McCarthy (who was big on throwing to AJ when signing here), looks like AJ is gonna settle into being Clay's personal catcher (as Ned you said).

[Quake Griffin]

How about that boy Yimi?

very impressive.

[Ranma]

Joc just missed hitting one out for a 3-run lead in the ninth. Now birthday boy Andre Ethier at the plate with two on and two outs in the familiar confines of Arizona.


Update: Ethier grounds out on 3-1 count. On to the bottom of the ninth inning for the D-Backs.

[Quake Griffin]

JUST MISSED that.

was gonna be so happy for Joc if he got that.

[Ranma]

Yasmani Grandal with the passed ball on the J.P. Howell pitch that moves the runner into scoring position. Mattingly now goes five-man infield with Puig at third base.

Update: Game over. Ender Inciarte with the game-winning hit passed Adrian Gonzalez.

[Quake Griffin]

I'll just hope these passed balls are due to unfamiliarity and needing more work with the pitchers.

that was crucial last night.
well, so was the walk.

[Ranma]

Per the article cited below, Grandal tied for the most amount of passed balls last year, however, he also did it in the least amount of games/innings. While I understand part of that has to do with his pitch-framing skills, he has to do a better job of stopping the balls in the dirt even as those are admittedly difficult to do.

Mike Petriello, DodgersDigest.com (3/10/15)

The problem with that latter part is that while he’s a very good framer, he also tied for the MLB lead with 12 passed balls in 2014. One of the two catchers he tied with, Travis d’Arnaud, caught 300 more innings. The other, Wilin Rosario, caught over 200 more, and was considered so unacceptable by the Rockies that they went out and got Nick Hundley to team with Michael McKenry and are now trying to convert Rosario to another position. If you use Baseball Prospectus’ catcher PB/WP numbers, he came in 103 of 105, ahead of only Tyler Flowers and d’Arnaud.

Intuitively, that makes sense, to a certain degree. Framing is all about catching the ball smoothly without excess movement and making it look like a strike. Sometimes, that means catching the ball with the edge of your glove, and that’s harder. After all, any catcher could make a big exaggerated move to receive the ball in the sweet spot, but then you’ve lost all hope of it being a strike. The trick is to catch it smoothly, but, of course, still catch it. It’s not something the team doesn’t know about; we know that Steve Yeager is working with Grandal on improvements.

Yasmani Grandal May Want to Put the ‘Catch’ in Catcher

[Ranma]

The Dodgers telecast shows video of Kershaw sitting on a fold-up chair and no other Dodger sitting on the bench. Apparently, the way the bench is built is uncomfortable for players to sit on hurting their hamstrings due to the feet not being able to reach the floor when sitting back. Supposedly, it was built that way for both dugouts but eventually fixed for the home team and left as is for the visiting team. Orel or Nomar points out that it could be a MLPA issue. Next time, the team should just station itself in the pool area until the dugout is fixed accordingly. Talk about snakes in the grass those effing D-bags.

[Quake Griffin]

That's ridiculous.
At least when our clubhouse stuff was below average, it was for both.


Hey Kershaw.
I know a [couple] good place(s) where you could get that root canal done.

[Neddy]

three days of Oregon Dental Convention is now over, and i can return to my simple, small town life... Im from LA and went to school in SF but now after all these years living here, i can't stand traffic now.

and yeah, damn it Clay, at least finish this 7th without giving up any runs so we can rest our pen a little.

[Quake Griffin]

glad to have you back.

where is the Wieland guy?
Scott Baker getting the start on Monday?

what is this ****?

[Neddy]

glad to have you back.

where is the Wieland guy?
Scott Baker getting the start on Monday?

what is this ****?

well first of all, I want to point out the blunder yet again committed by our resident idiot Don Mattingly.

he gives a day off to a 35 year old Uribe, and as an aged player who was given a day off, he didn't stretch or warm up prior to the game. now turner gets hurt at 3rd, and there is already stretched and ready to go 3rd base option on the bench in Alex Guerrero, but no... he had to call up Uribe off the bench absolutely cold. guess what happens? he pulls his hammy. the last time he pulled his hammy last season, he was on the shelf for 6 weeks.

**** Don Mattingly.

anywho, i don't get why they would sign Scott Baker at the last minute, as he is a proven "has-been" in my eyes. Joe Wieland should be given the start here, but I guess our front office would rather let him get his confidence in AAA and let a has been take over the spot starting duty. I will tell you this tho, unless Scott has a strong first two starts of the season, he will be cut by may. I really don't get the logic of starting a guy who may or may not have anything left in his tank over a kid who has proven that he could be a front of the rotation kind of a talent when healthy.

[Quake Griffin]

I was thinking Guerrero the whole way. Wasn't even thinking about Juan not being warm. Was just thinking in the spirit of allowing him his day off.

that move was stupid when you put it that way.


need a bounce back game today.
Come on Greinke.

[Quake Griffin]

btw.

ESPN says Baker.
telecast says McCarthy tomorrow and that we haven't announced Tuesday's starter.

[Ranma]

Rollins with another 2-error game and it's only the 5th inning with no outs...in the 6th game of the season.

[Ranma]

Not only did Yasiel Puig get his first homerun of the season today, but Joc Pederson also went yard after getting his first hit earlier in the game. Alex Guerrero also got his first hit and RBI as well.

[Quake Griffin]

to one of the deepest parts of that park.

I get that it flies out easy to left for righties (not sure how easy it flies out to right for lefties there) but that was impressive for Arizona.

[Neddy]

to one of the deepest parts of that park.

I get that it flies out easy to left for righties (not sure how easy it flies out to right for lefties there) but that was impressive for Arizona.

I dunno which broadcasting you are listening to, but for me in Oregon it's directv and only the dietbag's TV on.

whoever the moron that was doing the color commentary just said on Greinke's last strike out that "Grandal doesn't always finish his catches where you would like, but Angel Hernandez still called it a strike" these idiots of so called "old players" doing the calls have no idea what they are talking about. clearly Grandal induced that call. if you got DVR, rewind it and watch it again.

all hail to framing.

[Neddy]

Not only did Yasiel Puig get his first homerun of the season today, but Joc Pederson also went yard after getting his first hit earlier in the game. Alex Guerrero also got his first hit and RBI as well.

I've been saying it since coming back from the spring straining, but i really do believe Joc will be a star in this league and before the season is over, he will hit much earlier in the lineup, possibly in the 2/3/4/5 area. knowing who we have for 2-3-4, it is probably the 5 hole.

[Quake Griffin]

i'm on MLBtv, I can peep both and all the games are DVR'd

I'll double back at the break or something.
LOL. YG is pretty good at that framing thing man.

let's hope he keeps working with the pitchers and Yeager and gets rid of those passed balls because he's a pretty good player.
I was very impressed with him going 1st to 3rd on Andre's single to right.