No question, the opening game of the San Diego series on Friday evening was perhaps the most exciting contest of the year so far for the Los Angeles Dodgers, living up to the hype that was thrown upon these two teams by most of the national media.
In case you missed some of the conversations leading up to the final out, there was some news that broke which had impacts on several of the Dodgers’ current injuries.
The biggest news of the day surrounded Cody Bellinger when skipper Dave Roberts told reporters that scans indicated a break in his left fibula—not a bruise that was initially diagnosed.
Roberts explained that there is no exact timetable for a return, but he’s hoping to have Bellinger available within a week or two.
“I can say comfortably that it’s not a day-to-day thing,” Roberts said on Friday. “We can kind of just put it on the backburner, let Cody do his rehab and join us hopefully soon.”
Bellinger suffered the injury when former Los Angeles farmhand Reymin Guduan stepped on his leg at first base in an interleague matchup early last week.
Since Bellinger’s injury, the Dodgers have used all three of Chris Taylor, AJ Pollock, and Mookie Betts in center field. For the season, Taylor has already logged nine appearances in center.
Another development on Friday saw reliever Brusdar Graterol joining the team’s taxi squad, but the good news for the righty flamethrower is that he might be activated to the 26-man roster as early as the middle game of the series on Saturday.
Before Friday’s contest, Roberts told the media that Graterol’s activation would depend on how many pitchers the Dodgers used in the opener. As it turned out, Los Angeles sent seven pitchers to the mound in the 12-inning victory, including one-plus innings from both Kenley Jansen and the eventual winner, David Price.
To the contrary, there have been rumblings the Dodgers may activate lefty reliever Alex Vesia ahead of Saturday’s middle game.
TBPC profiled Vesia in late February.
In other news, infielder Gavin Lux has been dealing with a wrist injury and is listed as day to day for the San Diego series. Roberts said that he believes Lux was improving and that he was available to run or play defense in the opener, but not available to hit.
Pollock is also still listed as day to day after dealing with some minor groin issues when running the bases against the Rockies in the series finale on Thursday.
“AJ went down the line early in the game to leg out a single and his left groin tightened up a little bit,” Roberts said after Thursday’s contest.
Zach McKinstry started at second base for the Dodgers on Friday. Raley garnered another start in left field.
There are still no new developments regarding any progress on either Joe Kelly or Tony Gonsolin.
In Saturday’s middle game, Los Angeles ace Clayton Kershaw will be opposed by San Diego righty Yu Darvish. First pitch is scheduled for 5:40 p.m. Pacific time.
Jansen blew another save. His control or lack thereof is the continuing issue. A Reliever that isn’t able;e to control his pitches and walks batters cannot be depended on as Roberts does with Jansen. I wonder if Jansen has pictures of Roberts with Farm ANimals or if Roberts is just that stubborn stupid.
Give him a break # 1 he did not blow the save. Knebel did, he blew his chance for a win. Also, Machado could have been thrown out at second if Jansen payed any attention to runners. Then he threw a pitch in the dirt that Smith could not handle allowing Machado to reach third. Now Kenley had him right where he wanted him and overthrew his last two pitches. The blown lead is on Knebel. Did you watch the same game I did. Jansen is not really the bad guy here. How about all of the runners they left in scoring position, 3 errors and a couple of great defensive plays the Padres made. They were 6 for 20 with men in scoring position. And most of those came late. Jansen threw 17 of his 26 pitches for strikes. That is not having bad control. By comparison, Kela had 18-28, and Melancon 16-23, so Kenley was better than both of them.
I agree. I think it’s safe to say that Knebel was the most ineffective of all the Dodgers’ pitchers on Friday. He gets a mulligan from me, though, because it was the first time he threw poorly all year. 🙂
Knebel was not throwing strikes this game. It does happen. However, as Dennis mentioned this is the first outing where he had issues finding the zone. Everyone understands that on some outings a player is off. My complaint with Jansen is he is “OFF” more than he is on with his control and it will continue to lose games for the Dodgers. They were fortunate to win the game. Roberts continues to ignore Jansen’s performance and use him as the “Closer”. I think many of us believe there shouldn’t be a designated closer in today’s game. Use the pitcher that has the best chance statistically and who is Hot.
Knebel had been dead on. He blew this one. That’s Ok as he has been perfect. He gets a mulligan from me also.
If we look at all of Kenley’s outings this year, I think it’s safe to say that he’s been somewhere around 50/50 effective. I’m all for giving Kenley opportunities, but I get tired of Roberts praising Kenley and assuming that Kenley has reinvented himself after every single good outing. I think it’s time that everyone accepts that Kenley’s gonna be inconsistent and stop using him in save situations every single night he’s available.
Bear I agree Knebel blew the initial save. But as you say Jansen overthrew the last two pitches and threw one in the dirt so you are making my point for me….
It’s all about control and Jansen’s loss of velocity Jansen attempts to overthrow because of his loss of velocity he gets wild and his cutter tends to flatten out.
Runners left in scoring position happens. The team scored 6 runs in 9 innings so the offense was good. Regardless of your love for Jansen, the point is he went into the 9th inning ahead by a run for the win and blew it again because of his inability to hold runners and control his pitches.
When Jansen gets wild he should be pulled as soon as possible. Roberts wants to use Jansen he is too stubborn to not continue to push him as “Closer”.
Gonzalez should get more innings and chances, Roberts has used him several times to get one batter. Really dumb when the young man is pitching well.
Loss of velocity? He was throwing 94-95. Leave the brainstorming to the manager. We have no clue how a pitcher is feeling when he comes into the game, and he took Gonzalez out because he needed a pinch hitter. And Jansen was not wild T. He was throwing strikes. He made 2 bad pitches. Even the hit he gave up to Hosmer to tie the game was on a very good pitch. And again, he was not out there as the closer. He came in to save Knebel’s ass in the 8th. The man did a good job, if you cannot see that, you have tunnel vision my friend. If he would have been awful, I would have called him out. And no, the offense missed too many chances to put the game away. It is not good if you are 3 for 17 up to that point which they were.
Oh yeah, Knebel threw one more pitch than Jansen, 27, but only put 15 in the strike zone. I think your dissing of Kenley is misdirected. Buehler, who is usually a strike out machine, only K’d 4. Treinen had more trouble finding the zone than Kenley, 10-18.
Exactly Dennis he is now a 50/50 performance pitcher so bring him in at different times not with a game on the line and ahead by a run. Quit treating him like he is the Closer of 4 years ago. Stop praising him with one good outing and then saying NOTHING when he blows it that is incredibly dishonest.
As far as his velocity yes he is throwing 94 but he is WILD. A true velocity for a pitcher is the velocity that can be thrown with Control. It is all about repeatability and Jansen has lost that.
He was NOT WILD…sheesh, he threw 17 of 26 pitches for strikes. You subtract the 4 balls he threw to Machado, his strike to ball ratio was excellent. Yeah, he gave up a 1 run lead. So what? Knebel blew a 2 run lead. Had he done his job, Kenley would have only pitched the 9th. And he would have had a 2 run lead, not having to face the middle of the Padres lineup. Knebel blew it against the second tier. Yet he gets a mulligan and Kenley does not? Ludicrous. I totally disagree with you and Dennis. Maybe if the team had played cleaner defense they might not have given up 6 runs either. There is plenty of blame to go around. Putting it all on Jansen is excuse my French, pure bull puckey.
Oh yeah, Beaty sent down, Vesia activated.
Bear we can agree to disagree. But if you are “the Closer” and ahead by one run you can’t walk a batter that is loss of control. You are better off letting them make contact as you have guys with gloves in the field to help you get an out. Walking a batter in the 9th ahead by one run is not OK. you negate the rest of your team’s ability to assist with getting out of the inning. Walking batters is almost never OK especially in the 9th ahead by one.
Here’s a stat for you. In 2017, Kenley issued just seven walks all regular season. That’s seven walks in 65 games and 68-1/3 innings of work. This year, he already has allowed six walks. Definitely not the same command.
Dennis great stat thanks for the information. Walking hitters is not Ok anytime but if you are a relief pitcher it is absolutely devastating. He is not the same pitcher and not consistently accurate enough to be an end-of-game reliever.
Again, he was not out there as the closer. He was out there for the win. And he made good pitches. With 2 outs and a man on first, 99 percent of the time, you get the win. The stolen base and the passed ball cost him the win. The walk was only part of it. Yes, Kenley walks more batters than he used to. He does not have the devastating cutter he once had. But you guys are way to judgemental. That blown save was all on Knebel. And it was also on the offense for not being more efficient. I have seen plenty of closers walk a guy and still get out of the inning.
I like Kenley. I actually think he has a lot of positive value for this team. But every time he seems to straighten out his mechanics or rediscover himself, Roberts pushes his buttons even harder. Whatever happened to using him for just three outs? He looked sharp in the eighth on Friday, but he didn’t look so sharp after he cooled off on the bench for 10 minutes. Ever time Kenley gets on a roll, Roberts seems to spoil it. Fortunately, there’s a lot of cushion over the course of the regular season. I’m just happy that Skip finally made the right decisions when everything was on the line in Game 5 last October.
Hey, I get it I really do. And yes, Roberts tends to play favorites. But also when he is not doing that he tends to play the hot hand, which can also lead to meltdowns. But you are not going to under use a guy who is being paid 20 mil in the last season of his deal to pitch.
Glad Beaty was sent down he has not been able to get good contact this year. He needs to get with some coaches and figure out why.
He needs a change of scenery. He is not going to get the opportunities he got before.
We agree Knebel lost the save but Kenley should have closed out the win. He doesn’t hold runners ( the guy he walked) and he is erratic. I think if Roberts continues to use him in critical situations in the playoffs we lose again because Roberts is too loyal to be smart and see Jansen is mediocre at best.
You think Jansen is still to be trusted with the game on the line. Many fans disagree. That’s oK we get to agree to disagree… Thankfully they used Gonzalez to finish it up tonight for a win..
I think we can all agree that Mookie earned the save tonight. 😉
Yes, Mookie earned the save for sure. I don’t believe a team can be run worrying about having to play someone because he makes $20 Million in his last year of a contract. I too like Kenley and think he is a good guy and has been a great player for the Dodgers. But Father Time is undefeated some of us are getting up there I turn 70 in two months. Roberts plays favorites. I have wondered the last few years if Roberts talks to his coaches and takes their advice. You would think the Pitching Coach should have a lot of input on who comes into the game. I had always hoped that Honey had that input but because of some of the remarkably bad in-game pitching decisions Roberts made and makes I have come to doubt that.
The only important thing about the regular season is to figure out who you can play and trust in tight game situations once you are in the playoffs. It is a 162 game dress rehearsal!
Note to Dodgers players…. with 2 strikes just swing at the catchers glove. This could work on Strike 1 with the entire pitching staff.
I had this call in a high school game back in the late 70s. I’d never seen it before, and my gut reaction was immediate. This is wrong. So I ruled strike three had already happened when that contact was made. Both managers accepted my ruling. That play last night, and that ruling could set a bad precedent. This rule needs to be addressed.
I agree that it needs to be addressed. I’m just wondering if Profar’s instincts are that quick and if he’s smart enough to do it intentionally. Either way, he should have been out.