So far so good for the Dodgers as the last third of the 2020 season nears. They still are the only team yet to lose a series in all of MLB, their run differential is 50 more than any other team, and they have the best record in the land by two games over the Tampa Bay Rays.
We all know that the best regular-season record means nothing come playoff time, especially in a season where there’s a best of three play-in round where one team can get hot for two games and take out the best team, and especially in the case of the Dodgers, that team has a left-handed arm with a great curve ball.
And we all know the Dodgers’ issues with getting their offense going in the playoffs. But maybe this shortened season will have their bats hot at the right time and not petering out. And even more hopefully, their bullpen will hold up.
The Dodgers bullpen has been legit this season. The addition of Blake Treinen to the bullpen arsenal has been an impressive one. Through 16 appearances, he has 14 strikeouts and a 0.98 WHIP. I also have a hunch that the addition of Alex Wood to the bullpen will reap benefits. “I’m good with whatever they need me to do. I feel good, my stuff feels good right now, so I’m excited,” Wood told reporters upon his return from an IL stint. “I’m just ready to contribute with whatever they need me to do. I’m just glad to be healthy and throwing the ball well.”
In addition to the stellar bullpen, the Dodgers have been winning as of late while missing at least one key bat in the lineup. Mookie Betts was out for a game, and then both Justin Turner and Cody Bellinger have been out for the past two games. Bellinger was dealing with a sore right lat after some cage work. He returns to the lineup for Thursday’s game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, playing first base and batting in his normal cleanup spot.
Turner, for his part, remains out of the lineup, as he was placed on the IL Wednesday with a hamstring injury he sustained during last Friday’s game. He will be eligible to return next Wednesday.
On Thursday, JT was named the Dodgers’ nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award. Justin, with his wife Kourtney, are very active in the Los Angeles community. They are both very involved with the L.A. Dream Center, where they have assisted in serving hundreds of thousands of meals throughout the pandemic. They have also donated meals to doctors, nurses and staff at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. The Turners have also served as honorary hosts for CHLA’s Walk and Play L.A. event the past two years, helping raise funds for the hospital and hosted CHLA’s Winter Wonderland during the holidays.
The Turners are also very active with military members and their families through the Justin Turner Foundation. Among other things, JT has instituted a Military Monday, a program soliciting nominations through social media and selecting a military family to receive an all-inclusive gameday experience at Monday home games.
“Being nominated for the Roberto Clemente Award by this great organization is something that my wife Kourtney and I are so proud of, and it’s truly an honor to be recognized,” Turner said. “We feel so fortunate to be able to give back — especially during these hard times due to the coronavirus — and support our homeless veterans, hospitals, schools and youth sport. We have the greatest fans in all of baseball who support us year-round, and we have a duty, a responsibility to give back to the community above and beyond.”
Fans can vote for the Roberto Clemente Award nominees beginning today at mlb.com/clemente21. The site features bios of each nominee and the voting will continue until the end of the regular season on Sept. 27.
Think Blue Planning Committee 
Good to see Belli back.
Good to see Wood OK with his roll in the bullpen.
Now, we just need to get JT returning in time for him to get his batting eye back before the playoffs.
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Buehler looked good last night, hope he and the trainers can keep the blister from coming back.
I think Rios is going to be one of those guys that has a check swing homer, man is he strong.
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Rios just needs to cut down on his strikeouts. I’d like to see him playing almost every day this month. Let him know he’s going to be out there no matter what so he doesn’t think that a bad day will get him benched. I really think we need to see what we have with him because he could very well be our primary third baseman next year if JT re-signs and DH’s a lot. He’s worked really hard to improve his fielding and I think that work has had some good results.
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Lux might have a lot on his mind right now. He is from Kenosha.
Rios is probably getting a book on him. Long swings typically have holes. I would tell him to just make contact with two strikes. The best advice I ever got on that subject was to just barrel it back through middle on those two strike edge pitches. Amazingly the ball seldom goes exactly where you aim it, but the focus on protecting and just making solid contact produced a lot of line drives for me.
I thought Beaty could hack? He’s not looking so good.
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Nice to see you back Scoop. I enjoy conversing with you on three different blogs. 🙂
Lux certainly does have a lot on his mind, being from Kenosha. Unfortunately his performance was sub-par even before the problems there.
I’d hate to get rid of Rios before giving him a chance to improve, but yes his long swing might prove to be his undoing. Isn’t Bellinger’s swing considered a long swing as well, or am I mistaken about that?
Looks like Beaty can’t hit the slow stuff, just like all of his teammates. I don’t understand why any pitcher would ever throw a fastball strike to anybody in our lineup.
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I think both Beaty and Rios are suffering from not getting enough reps. Doc keeps running Kike out there,and he has been worse than abysmal. Put Rios at first, move Muncy to 2nd, and DH Beaty against RHP. Joc has sucked, so either CT 3 or Pollock can play left on those days. The box score showed Kike getting 2 hits last night, but the first was obviously an error.
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Hey scoop I’m really glad to see your little squirrel icon again, I’ve missed reading your comments here, and I’d like to apologize for anything I may have written, that upset you, I know politics came up, but I felt real bad that you left. Hope you stick around.
Jeff, I think JT will be back next year, but in a bit more diminished role, maybe he plays in a 100 to 120 games, if he doesn’t come back I could see the team bringing someone to share the spot with Rios. I don’t think Rios will be the everyday, all year long third baseman next season. But I’ve been wrong many times before.
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Politics has divided this country. I’m doing my best to aikido all the bullsh*t. Hopefully the nonsense ends soon.
I still want to see a better fielding shortstop. But Seager is likely to be there for a while. If Rios continues to hit, he has to play. Ideally I’d like he and Lux together on the infield. I’m high on both of them. Rios, Seager, Lux and Muncy. Pollock, Bellinger and Betts. Smith/Ruiz. Turner DH
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I agree with you bear, but I would like to see pollock keep getting significant playing time, I think he has earned it this season so far.
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