2017 REGULAR SEASON LA Dodgers & international

Quake Griffin · Post #1281 » by **Quake Griffin** » Wed Sep 20, 2017 4:56 am

I do remember Friedman saying he has belief in Baez (among others) but IIRC that was after the 2015 season.

Yes, I did lay this at the feet of the FO for not dealing him.

But I'm not easily moved at the thought of this being Dave Roberts' protest where he's proving a point to them. Nah. You like him bro and he's failing.

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Ranma · Post #1282 » by **Ranma** » Wed Sep 20, 2017 5:13 am

McCullough and Moriyama make a good point. Is it the front office or manager that is pushing for Baez to prove himself with these extended opportunities? Friedman has stated multiple times that he's always worried about the bullpen. He's been known to like Chris Hatcher and Pedro Baez has a similar profile, to be honest.

Could it be that Dave is being the good soldier by playing the front office's favorite while supporting him? I'm starting to believe that to be the case. At the same time, Dave has acknowledged that while he welcomes input from the front office, the lineup card is his responsibility. Maybe Dave is proving a point to Friedman and leaving no doubt that Baez is just not a viable option in the postseason.

As I've said before, I understood why Granderson was given all these chances despite me not liking it personally. It's clear that someone within the Dodgers' brain trust wants Granderson to win the job in LF in hoping he gets his groove back. Maybe it's Dave Roberts instead of Andrew Friedman. Maybe it's both of them.

I certainly think there is back-and-forth discussions between the manager and front office where one supports the other reciprocally based on each other's input. Roberts could have expressed a need for a left fielder and frontline starting pitcher, so Friedman & Co. got him Granderson and Darvish.

Likewise, Friedman could have expressed his interest in seeing Baez fulfill his full potential. After all, Friedman has been known to take flyers on reclamation projects in live-arm pitchers in the past whether it was with the Dodgers or Tampa Bay Rays. Hatcher was already cited but Chris Archer would also qualify as such an example as well.

What frustrates me about the front office is that they don't fast-track the pitching prospects that should be relievers, but will spend draft capital on dedicated relievers when talented starting pitching talent is available. Josh Sborz, Frankie Montas, Jharel Cotton, Yaisel Sierra, and Jordan Sheffield qualify for the former category as did both Chris Reed and Grant Holmes, to some extent, but Reed and Holmes were a little too far before Friedman's time for him to do anything about it. Passing on Alex Scherff in the most recent draft in favor of Riley Ottesen qualifies for the latter category.

Quake Griffin · Post #1283 » by **Quake Griffin** » Wed Sep 20, 2017 5:32 am

If he's filing his protest with the front office at this point of the year, we have an even bigger problem than just getting rid of a crappy reliever. I don't think we are at that "bigger problem."

Dave likes Baez. The way he discusses him in post games indicates that unless Dave's a literal puppet saying Friedman's words.

I don't respect sticking with losers after they've proven to be losers.

I don't respect throwing games away to prove points.

I don't respect this last month of Dodger baseball.

This front office needs to realize that we have deep pockets and we are the Los Angeles Freakin Dodgers. We are a better organization than having a conflict about a crappy reliever 2 weeks before October. We should act like it. I say this a lot but there's a time where we weren't a better organization than this and this is the type of fukcery a team like us would and should deal with.

What's do I mean? Big picture....If Baez fell off the face of the earth tonight, I don't feel any different about our postseason chances, so why is this even a thing?

GET RID OF HIM or the problem or whatever.

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Ranma · Post #1284 » by **Ranma** » Wed Sep 20, 2017 5:43 am

The thing I don't get about this whole Baez ordeal is that we already have Morrow. I've already mentioned Sierra and I have more faith in Buehler as a relief option right now than I do in Baez. Fields presents a similar proposition to Baez and we have increasingly reliable left-handed options in Watson, Cingrani, and Avilan. This also doesn't even factor in Maeda, Ryu, Stripling, Stewart, or possbily even McCarthy.

Yeah, we may be looking for more consistency, but we're not exactly hurting for bullpen options right now. Baez is a lost cause for the season, so I don't get why there would even be a debate--hypothetically or otherwise--with the front office. With all the question marks that still have to be answered for the postseason roster spots up for grabs, Baez answered his a long time ago.

Neddy · Post #1285 » by **Neddy** » Wed Sep 20, 2017 6:02 am

Ranma wrote:The thing I don't get about this whole Baez ordeal is that we already have Morrow. I've already mentioned Sierra and I have more faith in Buehler as a relief option right now than I do in Baez. Fields presents a similar proposition to Baez and we have increasingly reliable left-handed options in Watson, Cingrani, and Avilan. This also doesn't even factor in Maeda, Ryu, Stripling, Stewart, or possbily even McCarthy.

Yeah, we may be looking for more consistency, but we're not exactly hurting for bullpen options right now. Baez is a lost cause for the season, so I don't get why there would even be a debate--hypothetically or otherwise--with the front office. With all the question marks that still have to be answered for the postseason roster spots up for grabs, Baez answered his a long time ago.

to the detriment of Quake, if the last bullpen spot is between Baez and Walker, I want Pedro. his WHIP this season is a league average 1.3. Walker is past 2.0. I don't think think this trend will suddenly fix itself in the post season. of course I only want Pedro in a very low leverage situation, but as of right now he is the better reliever than walker despite what I posted before about whom I think the Dodgers' front office will choose.

Ranma · Post #1286 » by **Ranma** » Wed Sep 20, 2017 6:11 am

Neddy wrote:to the detriment of Quake, if the last bullpen spot is between Baez and Walker, I want Pedro. his WHIP this season is a league average 1.3. Walker is past 2.0. I don't think think this trend will suddenly fix itself in the post season. of course I only want Pedro in a very low leverage situation, but as of right now he is the better reliever than walker despite what I posted before about whom I think the Dodgers' front office will choose.

Walker has actually pitched better than his numbers suggest. He's had a very limited sample size and even gave up an earned run, which would have been prevented if he had shown any inclination to keep a base-runner from advancing.

At the same time, his inexperience is obviously a negative not in Buehler's favor, but at least he has the promise of improvement while Baez is who he is at this point. Maybe Stewart's experience and aggressive approach is a better option than either of them for a postseason roster spot.

I want to see Walker show us what he's capable of, which is the problem with giving Baez all these opportunities. He's answering a question we already knew the answer to while there are still unknowns in Buehler's ability to handle MLB batters.

Buehler has only pitched 4.1 innings over 4 games with a 12.46 ERA but he's also struck out 6 batters. If you take out his worst outing against the Rockies on 9/10 from the calculations where he gave up 4 earned runs, 2 walks, and 2 hits in 1/3 of an inning, his WHIP would go from 2.08 to 1.67 while his ERA would be 4.50 instead of 12.46 while still striking out 5 batters over 4 innings and that includes the run scored with his nonchalant approach to holding runners on, otherwise, his ERA would be 2.25. Obviously, that involves mathematical gymnastics, but the point is that Buehler wasn't that far removed from the adjusted numbers. The kid certainly has room for improvement and seems to be getting better.

Post #1287 » by **Kilroy** » Wed Sep 20, 2017 6:14 am

Maybe this is all a smoke screen to keep opposing teams guessing...

Takes5 · Post #1288 » by **Takes5** » Wed Sep 20, 2017 3:43 pm

After last night and a few other disappointing Sept outings, I hope they pull the plug on Baez for the post season. Rather have Fields at this point and I cannot believe I'm saying that.

Quake Griffin · Post #1289 » by **Quake Griffin** » Wed Sep 20, 2017 11:54 pm

Orel Hershiser seemed like he had a problem with the pitch calling in the bottom of the 2nd for Alex Wood.

I will watch when I get back but I think the complaint was the use of a change up improperly where it didn't function as a change of speed based on the previous pitch.

Not gonna go on too long but Grandal is my catcher for October.

Yeah, I trust Grandal to call Kershaw through that 6th inning in a way I don't trust Barnes to....brb Grand Slam.

If you want Austin's bat, dip into Forsythe and Utley's time at 2B.

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Ranma · Post #1290 » by **Ranma** » Thu Sep 21, 2017 12:02 am

We're all well aware of Darvish's susceptibility to giving up runs in the 1st inning. Well, Wood is susceptible to doing so in the 2nd inning.

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Ranma · Post #1291 » by **Ranma** » Thu Sep 21, 2017 12:10 am

Quake Griffin wrote:Orel Hershiser seemed like he had a problem with the pitch calling in the bottom of the 2nd for Alex Wood.

I will watch when I get back but I think the complaint was the use of a change up improperly where it didn't function as a change of speed based on the previous pitch.

Not gonna go on too long but Grandal is my catcher for October.

Yeah, I trust Grandal to call Kershaw through that 6th inning in a way I don't trust Barnes to....brb Grand Slam.

If you want Austin's bat, dip into Forsythe and Utley's time at 2B.

Barnes has been praised for his pitch-calling and handling of pitchers throughout his time in the minors and he's exhibited a pretty good handle on that in the majors. In fact, I read that Rich Hill praises his pitch-calling. While both are relatively comparable defensively overall and with regards to pitch-framing, Barnes doesn't have as strong an arm in throwing out runners as Grandal's but Grandal leads the league in passed balls.

I've only seen issues with Kershaw not trusting Barnes based on his stubborn routine as a creature of habit. There was even one game I recall where Kershaw was struggling because he wouldn't go with Barnes' calls, but the rest of the game went fine with the other pitchers after he left.

If Grandal is batting well, I have no problems with him starting behind the plate, but if he's cold, Barnes should get the nod behind the plate. He's already arguably the best catcher on the roster and, outside of power, Barnes is the more reliable bat.

Wood's velocity continues to max out in the 90-mph range.

Ranma · Post #1292 » by **Ranma** » Thu Sep 21, 2017 1:03 am

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Ranma · Post #1293 » by **Ranma** » Thu Sep 21, 2017 1:08 am

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Ranma · Post #1294 » by **Ranma** » Thu Sep 21, 2017 1:28 am

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Ranma · Post #1295 » by **Ranma** » Thu Sep 21, 2017 1:33 am

Stripling gives up a 2-run home run to tie up the game with nobody out. There goes Wood's 16th win of the season for now. He ends up giving up the lead before Watson came in to save his bacon.

Ranma · Post #1296 » by **Ranma** » Thu Sep 21, 2017 1:48 am

Hershiser called Barnes' read and steal of 2B in the 8th inning "championship baseball right there" and now he advances to 3B on the passed ball with nobody out and Grandal pinch-hitting at the plate. Good to know that Orel agrees with my assessment of Barnes' value to the team.

Grandal then strikes out on the full count. Barnes then scores on a bang-bang play at the plate by making the second effort to reach for the dish to record the game-tying run.

Hershiser then questions why Pederson was not going full bore to 1B on the ground ball. If Joc is not motivated to play in a tie game, he doesn't deserve a spot on the team nevermind the postseason roster.

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Ranma · Post #1297 » by **Ranma** » Thu Sep 21, 2017 2:08 am

Avilan induces a possible double-play ball only to throw the ball away past 2B, which led to another errant throw past 3B. Both runners in scoring position with nobody out.

Avilan gets a strikeout but intentionally walks the bases loaded only to hand off to Morrow to bail him out. Morrow then gives up a 2-run double.

Quake Griffin · Post #1298 » by **Quake Griffin** » Thu Sep 21, 2017 2:15 am

Yeah.

I'll pass on Barnes calling pitches for 2017.

Grandal is my catcher.
You want his bat, tell Forsythe n Utley to take a hike.

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Ranma · Post #1299 » by **Ranma** » Thu Sep 21, 2017 2:22 am

Barnes was far from the problem tonight. Wood gave up runs in the 2nd inning like he normally does regardless of who his catcher is. Stripling served a hanging slider curve ball that lost us the lead and Avilan's errant throw gave the Phillies the lead.

Barnes, on the other hand, got a hit, walked, stole a base, and even scored a game-tying run with his second effort on a blocked plate. Grandal struck out with Barnes watching from 3B.

Quake Griffin · Post #1300 » by **Quake Griffin** » Thu Sep 21, 2017 2:25 am

LOL at Ross Stripling.

Who cares about our dream season?
Who cares about 100 or more wins?
Who cares about facing the WC? Let's play the **** Cubs.

Just LOL at how this guy ruined the worst season any of us have ever seen by playing plum dumb at the end like he doesn't have 130 games of info on who our best players are and needs these last 30 to figure it out.

And with this sweep, we ARE NOT past our 1-15 struggle. We are still in it.

GTFO!

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