2017 REGULAR SEASON LA Dodgers & international

Let me get this straight. P.O.S. AJ Ramos hits Brett Eibner in the ribs with a 95-mph heater immediately after Cody Bellinger's homerun. The umpire does nothing. Ross Stripling throws behind Giancarlo Stanton, so ump ejects Stripling and issues warning to both benches. Dodgers bench coach Bob Geren and Marlins manager Don Mattingly also ejected from the game given their involvement in the resulting scrum.

Chris Hatcher proceeds to strike out Stanton once play is resumed. Mad props to Geren for vociferously voicing his displeasure at the Marlins' poor sportsmanship.

Update: It turns out that Mattingly said he took issue with Corey Seager swinging on a 3-0 count in the 7th inning of a 5-0 game. Seriously, Donnie Baseball and his band of misfits in Miami deserve each other.

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Quake Griffin · Post #208 » by **Quake Griffin** » Sat May 20, 2017 3:31 pm

If Taylor keeps this up, package Forsythe at the deadline?

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Ranma · Post #209 » by **Ranma** » Sat May 20, 2017 4:24 pm

Quake Griffin wrote:If Taylor keeps this up, package Forsythe at the deadline?

We're not going to get the same value trading him as we did trading for him. Plus, he's our best option at 3B should Turner get hurt again. Not to mention his clubhouse presence is supposedly a positive for this team on top with being a Friedman favorite. We still haven't seen what he can do for this ballclub given his early injury.

Ranma · Post #210 » by **Ranma** » Sat May 20, 2017 4:25 pm

If Mattingly has issues with opponents swinging on 3-0 counts in 5-0 games, then maybe he and the Marlins should take their ball and go home.

Quake Griffin · Post #211 » by **Quake Griffin** » Sat May 20, 2017 5:13 pm

He pops off at the mouth about that dumb rule (I never even heard of it) as if he'd call the dogs off late in the game if the Marlins feasted on our pen for a come back.

"Dont finish the come back. They were up 5-0 earlier."

**** him.
**** his team.
Score all you want and put the game further out of reach.

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TKainZero · Post #212 » by **TKainZero** » Sun May 21, 2017 2:20 am

Urias looking bad again

Ranma · Post #213 » by **Ranma** » Sun May 21, 2017 4:38 am

Dave Roberts hasn't exactly handled Urias well with regards to giving him a regular routine in the starting rotation, but yeah, the kid needs to pitch better. He's already gotten the nod that he'll be in the rotation for now, so Julio needs to make the most of it. Otherwise, sending him back down to the minors will have to be seriously considered.

Quake Griffin · Post #214 » by **Quake Griffin** » Sun May 21, 2017 5:54 am

Dodger fans all over the internet panicking.

He's 20 years old in the MLB - a rarity.
Let him figure it out and we shouldnt punish him for taking his lumps like he did tonight.

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Neddy · Post #215 » by **Neddy** » Sun May 21, 2017 4:45 pm

i guess some of the younger fans dont remember that the dodgers play the game of baseball. stuff like this happens. even the great Sandy Koufax took 5 years in the majors before he became average and 7 years before dominant hall of famer. Julio hasn't even spent a sinlge full season yet. i wasn't worried when Ryu gave up all those runs in Denver either( i was pissed that he may lose his spot in the rotation as we will need him badly come playoffs to be our #3 starter, but never worried he is suddenly a bad pitcher). this is just all part of the game. panick after one bad game is for the college football fans.

Ranma · Post #216 » by **Ranma** » Sun May 21, 2017 4:47 pm

I'm already perturbed that we won't sweep the Marlins, but at least we showed them how professional ballplayers deal with being down a big deficit. We better get the series win tonight.

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Neddy · Post #217 » by **Neddy** » Sun May 21, 2017 4:51 pm

Julio is better off in AAA pitching with exreme care with his pitch counts and innings limits for at least 10 more starts this year. we donr want another Fernando or Kerry Wood type of career with this young gem.

Ranma · Post #218 » by **Ranma** » Sun May 21, 2017 5:00 pm

Quake Griffin wrote:Dodger fans all over the internet panicking.

He's 20 years old in the MLB - a rarity.
Let him figure it out and we shouldnt punish him for taking his lumps like he did tonight.

Neddy wrote:i guess some of the younger fans dont remember that the dodgers play the game of baseball. stuff like this happens. even the great Sandy Koufax took 5 years in the majors before he became average and 7 years before dominant hall of famer. Julio hasn't even spent a sinlge full season yet. i wasn't worried when Ryu gave up all those runs in Denver either( i was pissed that he may lose his spot in the rotation as we will need him badly come playoffs to be our #3 starter, but never worried he is suddenly a bad pitcher). this is just all part of the game. panick after one bad game is for the college football fans.

I mentioned before that I didn't like how Roberts has been handling Urias, but I am concerned when in the postgame press conference, he mentioned that Julio's problem is not physical but hoping it's not mental. As Roberts pointed out in the tweet above, Urias has struggled with his normal command. One of the great things I like about Urias is his advanced poised and maturity, which is why I'm particularly concerned how to handle him with his current struggles.

I also mentioned before how I liked Roberts handling Wood with kid gloves a bit given his previous struggles with going through the lineup beyond twice. This seemed to have paid off as he just elevated his innings total to 7 and 1/3 in his last outing. The mental part should not be underestimated at all.

It's why I have little concern with Corey Seager when he's struggling because he's showed that he eventually makes such adjustments at every level of pro ball in the minors. Cody Bellinger has really advanced faster than I could have expected given how much adjustment he's made to his swing and even body. Urias, on the other hand, I don't know how he deals with struggling as I don't recall him doing so for extended periods in the minors with regularity. I'd like to have him work it out in the majors but if it's a mental issue, it may be better to send him back to the minors for a while to work things out before calling him back up later in the season.

Hyun-Jin Ryu, on the other hand, I'm just about to write off as a lost cause. I'm still open to giving him the opportunity to prove me wrong given his 2-year layoff, but we have plenty of other internal options I'd much prefer to go with at this point.

Neddy · Post #219 » by **Neddy** » Sun May 21, 2017 5:28 pm

Ranma wrote:
Quake Griffin wrote:Dodger fans all over the internet panicking.

He's 20 years old in the MLB - a rarity.
Let him figure it out and we shouldnt punish him for taking his lumps like he did tonight.

Neddy wrote:i guess some of the younger fans dont remember that the dodgers play the game of baseball. stuff like this happens. even the great Sandy Koufax took 5 years in the majors before he became average and 7 years before dominant hall of famer. Julio hasn't even spent a sinlge full season yet. i wasn't worried when Ryu gave up all those runs in Denver either( i was pissed that he may lose his spot in the rotation as we will need him badly come playoffs to be our #3 starter, but never worried he is suddenly a bad pitcher). this is just all part of the game. panick after one bad game is for the college football fans.

I mentioned before that I didn't like how Roberts has been handling Urias, but I am concerned when in the postgame press conference, he mentioned that Julio's problem is not physical but hoping it's not mental. As Roberts pointed out in the tweet above, Urias has struggled with his normal command. One of the great things I like about Urias is his advanced poised and maturity, which is why I'm particularly concerned how to handle him with his current struggles.

I also mentioned before how I liked Roberts handling Wood with kid gloves a bit given his previous struggles with going through the lineup beyond twice. This seemed to have paid off as he just elevated his innings total to 7 and 1/3 in his last outing. The mental part should not be underestimated at all.

It's why I have little concern with Corey Seager when he's struggling because he's showed that he eventually makes such adjustments at every level of pro ball in the minors. Cody Bellinger has really advanced faster than I could have expected given how much adjustment he's made to his swing and even body. Urias, on the other hand, I don't know how he deals with struggling as I don't recall him doing so for extended periods in the minors with regularity. I'd like to have him work it out in the majors but if it's a mental issue, it may be better to send him back to the minors for a while to work things out before calling him back up later in the season.

Hyun-Jin Ryu, on the other hand, I'm just about to write off as a lost cause. I'm still open to giving him the opportunity to prove me wrong given his 2-year layoff, but we have plenty of other internal options I'd much prefer to go with at this point.

Uria and Ryu have the exaxt opposite but both very correctable problems.

Ryu can spot his pitches like a left handed Greg Maddux, but his arm strength isn't quite there after 2 years of not pitching. remember, his throwing arm is not his dominant arm. the dominant arm would recover faster after injury related atrophy as you use that arm for everything you do.this is not the case here. Ryu is a right handed person who only throws the baseball with left. it will be just a matter of time as he develops his smaller, supporting muscles around his shoulder to get back to his old self. he surely isn't lacking confidence and knows when he made a mistake pitches as he states in his post game interviews. Ryu pitched in big time, single game elimination international tornaments in front his his nation's eyes that I am not worried about mental part of the game at all. it is just the case of physical strength that needs more games to get back. his best pitch is the changeup. it needs his fastball to be a tick or two faster. its not like Ryu is throwing 86 mph fastballs as we speak, he is getting up in 89. it just needs to get back to 91, then his changeup and his sliders will look much more dramatic. that is really all there is to it.

Urias, like most 20/21 year olds, is still a kid who has little to no experience of having subjected to the enormous pressure. his stuff is still there but his fastballs are missing up(at 96 mph on one incident that I can remember watching), his breaking balls missing wide. it is a classic case of a kid overthrowing and getting his pitching mechanism out of control. his landing foot was all over the place yesterday, and his balance was not the same when finishing off his pitches. it is the wall all young pitchers go through at one point or another, and in some cases, through out there entire career ( Orel comes to mind) there are very few pitchers who are consitent with his command with great stuff(Randy Johnson) as there are very few pitchers who are consistently dominant with weak stuff ( Greg Maddux) but those type of guys are already in the HOF. there have been guys with great stuff who never broke out of that mental barrior as we have seen with Rick Ankiel. Julio will come around. but Julio needs some AAA time to save his arm and his confidence.

ps- I was responding to Quakes notion about dodger fans panicking all over the internet, not your previous post. but I hope you are not panicking. baseball performance is always about the sample size and consistent opportunities given to the player. Eric Thames makes a great case, I think.

Ranma · Post #220 » by **Ranma** » Sun May 21, 2017 6:54 pm

Neddy wrote:ps- I was responding to Quakes notion about dodger fans panicking all over the internet, not your previous post. but I hope you are not panicking. baseball performance is always about the sample size and consistent opportunities given to the player. Eric Thames makes a great case, I think.

As always, thanks for providing such in-depth insight into pitching with regards to Urias and Ryu's respective struggles.
However, even if Ryu eventually works things out, I just don't see him as a long-term solution for the rotation given our other options. Even if you take Hill out of the rotation, we have Kershaw, Wood, and Urias atop the order with McCarthy and Maeda currently in competition for the bottom of the rotation along with Ryu. Kazmir is currently on the DL but there's a remote possibility that he can contribute, though, more likely in the bullpen. Stewart should be making his way back from injury soon. Buehler and White--particularly Buehler--are coming on strong with accelerated progress. And all that doesn't even include how heavily left-handed we currently are or Yadier Alvarez projected to eventually making the rotation in a few years. Or even our dream get of Otani. There just doesn't seem to be a place for Ryu in either the short or long term IMO unless heaven forbid our rotation collapses.

Oh, I know you and Quake weren't referring to me with regards to panicking about Urias, though, I am definitely concerned at this point. Thanks for caring enough to clarify.