Wednesday is thankfully an off day for the Los Angeles Dodgers, as the fans and team alike deal with two bad losses against the Angels, and absorbing the blow that Corey Seager will once again be sidelined for an extended period of time.
Seager pulled up and grabbed his left hamstring in the ninth inning of Tuesday night’s game, and has initially been diagnosed with a Grade 2 plus strain. He will undergo an MRI today, and is expected to be out at least four to six weeks. Not that an injury ever comes at a good time, but it’s especially unfortunate as Seager was just really starting to hit his stride at the plate. Chris Taylor will most likely see the majority of the time at shortstop in his absence.
After many of the Dodgers attend the Dodgers Foundation Gala this evening, they will turn their attention to the Chicago Cubs, with whom they begin a four game series with on Thursday. The Cubs are expected to be the biggest block in the road that would lead Los Angeles back to the World Series. The Dodgers are looking to do better against them at home than they did when they last met in Chicago in April, with the Cubs taking two of three.
The Cubs currently sit at 38-29, tied for first place in the NL Central with the Milwaukee Brewers. In their last nine games, they have split two series with the Colorado Rockies, and swept the St Louis Cardinals. Their offense seems to have the same problem that the Dodgers offense does, in that they both like being streaky.
That offense is lead by Joe Buck’s favorite player Javier Baez, who’s batting .297 with 17 homers and sporting a .907 OPS. He’s tied with Anthony Rizzo for most homers on the team.
The series kicks off with the pitching matchup of Jon Lester and Clayton Kershaw. The one game the Dodgers won in Chicago came at the expense of Lester, although they only managed to score one run off of him. The big lefty now sits with a record of 5-4, a 3.56 ERA and 62 strikeouts in 65.2 innings of work. He allowed four earned runs in six innings of work Saturday in St Louis and gathered his fifth win.
Friday will see Kyle Hendricks take the mound for the Cubs, while the Dodgers starter has not been announced but would figure to be Rich Hill. Hendricks has a record of 7-4 with a 3.00 ERA and 74 strikeouts. The righty last went 8.0 innings of one run ball against the Cardinals last Sunday.
On Saturday, it should be Walker Buehler going up against Yu Darvish. The former Dodger is not having a great season, although he has been better as of late. He currently has a record of 2-3 with a 4.98 ERA with 81 strikeouts. The right handler has given up seven earned runs in his last three games against the Rockies and the Cardinals.
And for Sunday’s finale, the ESPN Sunday Night Game, Hyun-Jin Ryu will take on Jose Quintana. The Dodgers could not do much against the righty in April. He since has compiled a record of 4-6 with a 3.89 ERA and 69 strikeouts. Quintana lasted only 4.2 innings yesterday against the Rockies in Colorado.
The Dodgers will be looking to have an angry win Thursday, after losing two games they could have won against the Angels. Let’s hope the offense comes out firing, otherwise it could be a long series.
Dodgers signed 19 of their draft pics including the #1 Cody Hoese. Big Gala tonight. Corey having his MRI today
Pads send prize rookie pitcher Paddock down to High A ball. Supposedly to monitor his innings. Cubs beat Rocks. Lead now 9.5.
If Seager is down more than 6 weeks, this team has a serious problem because last year, no one stepped up and did the job and they ended up trading for Machado, who over all was a disappointment. Now the worry has to be to wonder if Corey is going to be one of those injury prone players who’s careers are marred by setbacks. Especially since he is reaching arbitration time soon. Kemp back to the IL, only this time at AAA. Still suffering the after affects of his broken ribs from crashing into a wall chasing a fly ball.
It’s Taylor. Maybe he gets hot and with him covering we maintain a lead until Corey’s return. I don’t see the need for a SS move Yet. Last June Taylor OPS’d .849. Last September he OPS’d 1.019. So we know he’s capable of it. On Seager – I’m more concerned about the return than I am about the time he will miss. Leg injuries can remain tender for months at a time. I’d rather he be off June and July than later in the year. I’m also still wondering if it’s just bad luck or is this guy is injury prone… like our center fielder appears to be.
I get it Scoop. And I know CT3 is going to get the bulk of the time at SS. But, he still strikes out too damn much, and so far this year, he has showed zero signs that he is that guy he was. He, Kike have both stunk up the place, and I for one am getting pretty fed up with their frippen mediocrity on a team that has championship asperations. Yes, it is only June, but a game lost in June can end up costing you the race.
Kershaw-Lester tonight. No word yet on Corey’s condition nor who will take his place on the roster. Earliest possible time for the return of Pollock will be late July. Rumor mill in high gear.
Just announced that Beaty will take Seager’s place on the roster.
Wow I’ve been out of touch for a few days for work and I come back to the sky falling in. Swept by the Angels, Seager on the shelf, bullpen falling apart yet again…… it’s all going to be just fine though people. There’s a reason we are the best team in baseball, our depth. We can roll without Seager for the summer and maybe we get to see a bit of Gavin Lux sooner than we thought. The only thing Friedman needs to be thinking about is how to get Will Smith from the Giants without paying a ridiculous sum. There are no internal fixes for the pen, that has to come from outside. Will Smith, Tony Watson, Doolittle, Diekman, Hand, Velasquez, Liriano, Oscar Perez, etc. I don’t care who it is but we need a lefty bullpen arm.
Taylor is no favorite of mine Bear. And frankly the offense from our 2B position, something like 27th in the league, leaves a lot to be desired. At the moment we look sub average up the middle, offensively and defensively. It’s just a hunch but I don’t think we go outside the organization to replace Seager. One of the things we hear so much about with this club is it’s depth. We go with Taylor and hope for the best.
And there in my friend lies the problem. I know Friedman values versatility. My question is what it his problem with players who actually have the ability to go out to a position everyday and produce? They have very few of those types on this team. Belli is one, Seager was the other. Turner would be that guy, but age and injuries are starting to catch up with him. Perfect DH candidate soon. Pollock if healthy will be the primary CF. The big word is IF. But other than those guys there is a platoon in place everywhere else. Good players, not great. Adequate, not consistent. With Cody mired in a 3 week slump, they just cannot afford to lose a bat like Seager’s but they have. That and the fact that the bullpen is also in flux and struggling is in reality a cause for concern. At least from my point of view. They are extremely lucky they have a big lead. But as we have seen them do to Az and other teams in their division, those leads can melt away. They lost 12 games off the lead they had going into September in 2017. One huge hit away from real problems. Olney said today on ESPN.com that they need to address their biggest hole before the deadline and he was talking about the bullpen. You pitch well, your offense can be a little less. There is no magic fix out there, but there definitely are better players. Maybe it is time for them to trade a couple of their so called favorites and get some consistency. By the way, Hernandez, who’s OBP from the lead off spot is under .300 is leading off tonight. He is obviously, and his stats back this up, not that good there. I see an ofer coming.
It’s what you get with all or nothing Bear. We’ve seen it for a few years now. And every team suffers injuries.
We are lucky to be in the West at this point. The lead would be considerably less in either of the other Divisions. Heck we could play .500 ball the rest of the way and still win 92. I think that would win the West Even with Seager down we are better than .500. I think we’ll be ok.
You have a hell of a lot more faith than I do.