The Dodgers have returned to Los Angeles after an eight game, East Coast-ish road trip where they went 6-2, concluding with a sweep in Pittsburgh.
While on the road trip, the Dodgers learned of some issues with some of their players. Relief pitcher Tony Cingrani appears to have suffered a setback in his rehab assignment. Currently with AAA Oklahoma City, Cingrani felt some more shoulder pain, and will be undergoing an MRI.
Word also came that Andrew Toles has left the Dodgers practice facility in Arizona to be with his family. Toles missed Spring Training dealing with some undisclosed issues, and it appears those are still ongoing. We wish Andrew and his family all the best at this time.
Austin Barnes suffered a groin injury in Sunday’s game against the Pirates. It is not yet known how serious that injury is, and how long Barnes will be out. The Dodgers will need to call up either Rocky Gale or possibly start Will Smith‘s major league career. Signs are pointing to Smith getting his call-up, we will keep you updated.
The Boys in Blue will continue to play East Coast teams at Dodger Stadium, where they will start a seven game home stand against the New York Mets and the Philadelphia Phillies.
The Mets come in to town to start a four game set against the Dodgers. Currently they sit at 26-26, 4.5 games out of first place and squarely in the middle of the NL East. They are coming off a 6-1 home stand where they swept the Washington Nationals in a four game series, and took two-of-three from the Detroit Tigers.
New York has been hit with a little bit of the injury bug lately, with second baseman Jeff McNeil, Robinson Cano and Brandon Nimmo all out for this series and beyond. Rookie first baseman Peter Alonso is tearing it up, smashing 17 home runs so far, just one behind Cody Bellinger.
Kicking off the series will be the premiere pitching matchup of Jacob deGrom and Clayton Kershaw. deGrom is not having the stellar year he did last season, however. He currently has a 3-5 record with a 3.72 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP. He does however have 75 strikeouts over 58 innings of work. He allowed six earned runs to the Miami Marlins on May 17.
Tuesday’s game will see Steven Matz and Rich Hill. The left-hander for the Mets is 3-3 on the season with a 3.63 ERA, 1.45 WHIP and only 45 strikeouts over 44.2 innings. The patient Dodger bats should be sure to make him work.
On Wednesday, Walker Buehler returns to the mound at Dodgers Stadium to face off against Noah Syndergaard. Thor also isn’t quite what he once was, having a 3-4 record with a 4.93 ERA, 72 strikeouts and 1.25 WHIP.
Thursday’s finale with see lefty Jason Vargas and Hyun-Jin Ryu. Vargas is 1-2 on the season, with a 5.22 ERA and 1.57 WHIP. All games are 7:10 PST with the exception of Monday’s game, which is slated to begin at 5:10 PST.
Think Blue Planning Committee 
What better way to say welcome to the show than to catcch Kershaw your first day up again st DeGrom. I love it! Doc you better have him starting tonight.
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Andy, you might want to correct the starting time on the Tues-Thurs games. Should read 7:10 PST.
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Oops! Thanks
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Kershaw doesn’t look sharp yet. Bellinger in right field does.
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Nice tag by Martin also, the kind that Grandal never seemed to be able to hang on to.
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Belly may be the best offensive player in MLB as well as the best defensive player! What a season!
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He’s already got 4.9 WAR. Before June. That’s insane. And, he’s got 1.1 dWAR already. That’s over 5 times what he had in the last 2 years combined at first base. SO glad he’s out there.
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How good will this team be if Kiki and Taylor start to produce! Getting scary!
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It would be VERY scary if they played 7 inning games. Not so impressive when they go to the pen.
Kelly could use a change up. I’m surprised he hasn’t developed one by now. His fastball looks most hittable.
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AND HOW bad if they keep running Kelly out there. It’s sad!
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Kelly and Ferguson need to go to the Baez school of change ups!
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Yasiel who?
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Info on upcoming draft.
Espino, 6’2” 200 pounds is considered “smallish”. While it’s probably true, that sure seems big to me. Different game.
25: Los Angeles Dodgers: SS Gunnar Henderson, John T. Morgan Academy (Ala.)
Henderson has closed the gap between Bobby Witt Jr. and CJ Abrams at the top of the prep shortstop rankings, and he could wind up going much higher than this. As his 6’3″, 195-pound frame fills out, a move to third base could become necessary. With a 55-grade hit tool and intriguing power potential, that shouldn’t be a problem in terms of offensive profile. The Dodgers could also go with a prep arm here if someone like JJ Goss or Daniel Espino is high on their board.
26. Arizona Diamondbacks: RHP Daniel Espino, Georgia Premier Academy (Ga.)
Espino is one of the more polarizing prospects in the 2019 class. He has a big 70-grade fastball that has touched triple digits and a wipeout slider. But his command is inconsistent, there is some effort in his delivery and he’s undersized (6’2″, 200 lbs). The same things were said about Marcus Stroman when he came out of Duke and countless other smallish right-handed pitchers. Someone will take a chance. Why not the team with the most bonus money?
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They do like to make it interesting and gut wrenching. But they got the win and now are 8 games up on SD and the Dirtbags. I told you no way the kid caught Kershaw. He is starting tonight though according to Roberts vs the lefty Matz. Kike finally quit trying to pull the ball and went with the pitch and damn if he did not hit the ball out….should have been doing that the last frippen month. Some players are so hard headed. I still dislike Muncy as a 1st baseman. That was a bone headed play. But without Belli in right they probably lose that game. Pederson is making people believe he is a pretty good LF. No doubt he will be on the bench vs Matz. Gas Can Kelly did it again. He has been abysmal, and I called them sending Ferguson down. Cingrani had a set back so he is no where close.
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And the OKC bullpen is even worse than the Dodger pen! Hard to see where any internal help comes from this year.
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I truly hate to see what is happening with Andrew Toles. I’m not sure if it’s anxiety or other demons plaguing him but it’s such a shame because he has all the talent in the world. He could be an all star in the big leagues if he ever shakes off what is bothering him. Sadly, I don’t think he will.
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First base is the only position for Muncy as far as I’m concerned. As for that play, I’d like to see the video again. It was an awkward angle for sure, but it appeared initially that Seager wasn’t on the bag and Muncy just flipped the ball that general direction because. Orel had it right when he said Geren will go over it, but it’s not that difficult. The general rule of defensive strategy is every base is covered and every base is backed up. That’s true with shift too. Figure it out guys. With a runner on first the shortstop covers second on anything hit to the right side.
It’s my opinion that Muncy should focus on first base and the Dodgers should stop moving him around. We have other utility players, 3 of them actually, so we don’t need another just because he hits left handed.
This team looks good to me. The one issue remains and that’s the bridge to Jansen. The main guy who is paid to do that is Joe Kelly. He needs to get his collective sh*t together and soon. From what I’ve seen, which is limited to Gameday pitchcast and a few games on tv can be distilled to one thing – command. His curve spins well, but hitters lay off it because it misses most of the time. Fangraphs tells me he throws a change up 20% of the time but the value of it is in negative numbers. He needs to find the edges with everything he throws and until he does it’s going to continue to look as bad as it has. The only remedy I can see is to keep putting him out there until he figures it out. He’s been around a long time and he has only shown abilities to command in spurts. When he’s on he’s unhittable. But he’s not on that often. Honeycutt has his work cut out for him with this guy.
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I’ll sacrifice a little defense to keep Max’s bat in the lineup. He’s very quietly had a solid season and proved last year wasn’t a fluke. He may not hit 35 dingers again this year but if he can stay around .260 with 25 HR I’d call that a huge success for a guy making pennies on the dollar.
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I agree with that Alex. He will likely OPS well over .800 again and that is a bat you keep in the lineup. His OPS is actually higher against LHP so there is no need to platoon him, just give him a day off now and then.
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Muncy has a mproved his defense this especially at 2nd and third. He’s no gold glover but I agree Alex, I want his bat in the lineup. I think he’s good for 30 fingers this year. Especially when Pollock comes back guys are going to have to move around to get their ab’s. I know JOC was taking some practice reps at first last year. I wonder if that’s a possibility
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Freese can sub for Turner and Taylor, a shortstop can play anywhere, as can Hernandez. I don’t use Muncy as a utility man. I don’t want him working on 3 different positions. I want him to play first base and hit. That’s it. Focus only on those two things. KISS principle boys and girls. Keep It Simple Scoop. But…. that’s me. Roberts and the Dodgers have their own unique way of doing things.
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I will always prefer a good fielder at the first base position. I think it helps the other infielders and I think it strengthens the defense. It is not that Muncy makes a lot of errors. it is the fact that his range over there is no where near Belli’s. But the way Roberts has sounded, Belli is a RF for life. That’s cool. He can probably win a gold glove out there, but playing first he would be a gold glover almost all the time. That’s just me. The Dodgers have had some very good first sackers over the years.
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Today’s game is about wins above replacement Bear. That’s just what is. Bellinger would not be on pace for 15 WAR if he played first base. Take a look at the best defensive first baseman of all time and the dWAR they have put up. It’s an eye opener to do so. We are lucky to have him in our outfield.
“It’s impossible to to estimate the time and energy we waste denying what is”. Scoop 2019.
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Hey old buddy, I get it, and I still do not care. Not the way I played the game. Still the same old argument with me, I liked my game better. Cody is going to be great no matter where he plays. And he is probably right now the best RF in the game. I get it. Hodges career WAR was 44.8. Gehrig’s is 112.4. Bagwell 77.9, Cepeda 50.2, Tony Perez 50.4, Frank Thomas 73.9, Eddie Murray 68.7, Jim Thome 72.9, Joey Votto, 58.7, and Steve Garvey, 38.1 So Cody could easily accrue numbers that would put him well above the pack as a 1st baseman. He is ahead of his contemporary’s as a RF, but as far as all time, he has a long way to go to catch guys like Aaron and Ruth and many others who played out there. By todays standards he is pretty much the best at both positions right now. He affects the game more as a 1st baseman and that’s why I like him over there.
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Look at the dWAR numbers for all those first basemen you mentioned Bear. MLB players are paid by their Wins number. Playing first base would cost him millions.
I agree that a slick fielding first baseman IS important. I was a shortstop most of my 50 years playing this game. I know how much better I was when I was bailed out by a great play at first. That’s not what I’m debating. It’s a questions of WINS. RF is just valued higher by the geeks. You’re not a geek. You’re a guitar playing fan. I’ll give you 5 WAR as that.
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