Only one Spring Training game remains for the Dodgers before Opening Day. The team will conclude Spring Training Tuesday evening, wrapping up a three-game series against their crosstown rival Angels.
It hasn’t necessarily been the best spring showing in recent memory for the Dodgers, but the whole purpose of Spring Training is to ramp up for the regular season.
So far this spring, the Dodgers have posted a 4-9 record.
23-year-old right hander Bobby Miller will get his first spring start to close out the exhibition series. Miller was a first round pick by the Dodgers in 2020 out of the University of Louisville, and is one of the more highly-touted prospects in the Dodger farm system.
Miller was most recently with the Dodgers’ Double-A affiliate Tulsa, where he posted a 4.83 ERA in three starts. The right hander appeared in limited action in last year’s Spring Training where he only allowed one hit through 5 ⅓ innings in four games.
Many Dodger fans will be tuning in to Miller’s start, as some have called him a candidate to make his Major League debut in 2022. He still hasn’t pitched past Double A, but he has progressed quite nicely. We could see Miller in the big leagues sometime in 2022, but other factors surrounding the roster and player availability will determine when we see him for sure.
The Dodgers will face Angels right hander Michael Lorenzen in the finale.
Even though we’re just a few days away from Opening Day, the Dodgers still are making moves. This morning the team announced they agreed to a Minor League deal with former four-time All-Star reliever Dellin Betances. He can make a $2.75 million base salary by making the major league roster.
Over the last couple seasons, Betances has had a rough stretch with injuries, but he was an All-Star from 2014 to 2017. Betances was most recently with the New York Mets, but only worked one inning in 2021 due to a right shoulder injury that required season-ending surgery. Betances has been limited to 17 appearances through the last three seasons due to injuries, but the 24 year old will look to pitch his way back to the majors with the Dodgers.
The Dodgers have taken chances on several players in similar situations to Betances, so both sides clearly hope this signing comes out with a high reward.
The Dodgers will try to avoid a sweep Tuesday in the Freeway Series finale. First pitch is scheduled for 6:10 p.m. at Dodger Stadium.
Next time out, which will be Opening Day on Friday in Colorado against the Rockies, wins and losses will finally count.
Think Blue Planning Committee 
Spring training games mean nothing, a bunch of career minor leaguers , over the hill former big leaguers and little hope prospects hoping to grab the one or 2 spots on the roster. ( well isn’t that a perfect discription of the dodgers spring training? )I pay little attention and certainly wouldn’t pay to watch. But something doesn’t seem right this year. We know their rotation is a disaster, and the bullpen could also be a disaster but the whole roster is playing at a subpar level with 2 exception plus Rios. Don’t ever remember that happening.
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I think I get what you’re talking about Gordon. It just doesn’t look like these guys are ready.
O/U is 97.7 wins. I’ll take the over but I’m not betting money on it.
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Boy, the two of you are incredibly negative.
Give it a little time. If they still look lethargic and not ready in the third inning on Friday, THEN you can complain. I figure by that time we’ll have 3-4 runs on the board. I just hope the Rox don’t have 5. Darn, now you have me doing it.
Jose, one minor correction. You’re showing Betances as being 24 and, unfortunately, he’s 34.
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Incredibly negative? Complaining? So you think they’ve been playing well the last few days? I think they can and will do a lot better, it’s just a matter of when.
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Not negative. Just pointing out that our pitching staff leaves a lot to be desired, which is pretty obvious and I look at the collection of reclamation projects jn ghe bullpen and shake my head. I also wondered what was happening with the position players. 6 of our starting lineup are hitting well under the mendoza line. Normally I’d expect 2 or 3 to hit that bad and 2 or 3 to be hitting 400 in spring . But 6 of them?
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They’re all hitting .000 Gordon. Did you see the game tonight? Miller looked really good (that’s the future). Then we trotted out all of our better relievers and they gave up nothing.
For all we know they could start out 0-10, but they could also start out 10-0. They had a worse-than-usual spring, results wise, but part of that may have been due to the late (and sudden) start. You’re absolutely right that normally some guys have good springs and some bad and this year it seemed like everyone was bad. So be it.
The odometer is set to 0 again. Let’s see what happens over the first month. I’m not overly confident in our rotation either. I have more confidence in the bullpen and the lineup but the good news is that by playoff time, we’ll have reinforcements. Probably even by the trade deadline if we need them. And of course, there’s always the chance we add Bauer sooner than later.
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0-10? No way.
Well, they looked more seriouser last night. Bellinger, Lux and Muncy don’t look ready, but maybe a few days in Colorado can fix that. Muncy did hit one on the screws but didn’t lift it. Betts with a couple of singles, raising his Spring OPS to .384. Yoiks.
Over 44,000 showed up in Anaheim. Only 27,000 both nights in LA. Probably doesn’t mean anything. Probably.
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RF Mookie Betts R
1B F. Freeman L
SS Trea Turner R
3B Max Muncy L
DH J. Turner R
C Will Smith R
CF C. Bellinger L
LF Chris Taylor R
2B Gavin Lux L
And there’s your Opening Day starting lineup. I think Muncy will DH, but, I believe that’s it.
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Miller is one of the reasons I was hoping the Dodgers would not sign any rotation starters. The budget the Dodgers are running is not sustainable quoting Friedman. They can let Kershaw, Price, and Kimbrel walk. They have guys like Knack, Beeter, Miller, White, Jackson, Pepiot, and others that are cost-conscious controllable replacements. Why draft and have one of the top-rated minor league organizations if you aren’t going to use it? Freeman unexpectedly was available because of the fumbling of the Braves. So I believe he was a great pick-up. Do the Dodgers wait this year to see how Lux progresses before they extend T Turner? I respect J Turner but a Rios, Vargas platoon with one playing other spots and Dh would be dynamic for 2023 and beyond.
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Miller looks like a stud. He’s got 3 swing and miss pitches, he just needs to locate them. He will be up this year.
I agree with your take on drafting and keeping pitchers, but I’ve never seen the Dodgers keep them all. One a year is rather unheard of but we could have it happen with this group. With Buehler, Urias and May already here, Pepiot and Miler are 5. Jackson, Beeter, Knack, Choi, Bruns, plus new guys being drafted every year…. somebody will likely be moved for positions of need.
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I agree. The Dodgers will need to pick the best and trade the rest. In a couple of years Bruns will be knocking on the door. All the reports on him say he will be exceptional. Plus Fulmer might find his groove along with Grove.LOL On position players I can’t wait to see Vargas play in the MLB. He and Cartaya should be up next year maybe 2024 for Cartaya although I think Barnes contract is up next year.
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I’d be shocked to see Cartaya here next year. There are millions of defense-first catchers out there who could be signed for a year or two while waiting for Cartaya to be ready. Not likely that Barnes would re-sign on a one or two year contract but they wouldn’t have a problem finding someone.
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That’s why I guessed 2024 for Cartaya. I think Vargas despite his age is up by next year.
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Vargas is definitely ahead of Cartaya on the path to DS. He might even see some at bats here this year.
Boy, if he doesn’t turn into an All Star, he’s going to have some “splainin” to do to the two of us, TMax. As founding members of the Miggy Vargas Fan Club we’re holding him to the highest of standards.
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I don’t think any system is going to be lucky enough to have all of their “can’t miss” guys actually make it. There’s always some who drop off as each level is reached.
As I’m watching Miller tonight, I’m thinking to myself that a lot of those fouls would have just blown by AAA hitters. That said, he looks like the real thing and I expect him to be right at the top of the rotation with Buehler in the next year or two.
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Buehler, Urias, May and Miller. All of them ours. That’s impressive.
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If any one of Pepiot, Knack or Bruns makes it, we’ll have a totally home grown rotation and I would guess it would be rated one of the top 5 in baseball.
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Cartaya is not even close. He’s very young and hasn’t even got out of double a baseball. Catcher position is very difficult position for young players and we don’t know if he can even hit. The sucess rate of highly rated catching prospects is very very low. Let’s not rush him . He’s 3 years away. Maybe.
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Miller looked good tonight. His strikeout of Ohtani in the first was impressive. But watching his parents up in the stands was cool. Dino Ebel has the mic on tonight. Pretty cool insight from the coach. Two players retired today, Drew Butera, who moves to the position of bullpen catcher for the Angels and Jody Mercer. Todd Frazier and Andrew Miller both retired this week also.
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Good point Jefe. That’s why I think someone has to go.
Dino is pretty not too bad with a mic. Interesting guy.
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Got quiet in here.
“but it’s the back end that has Roberts worried”
Yep, it’s the back end of that rotation that concerns the manager. And if it concerns him, it should concern us. The prospects will one day step in and step up, but not the first half of this season. I thought we would be players for Manaea. We may still be players for Montas, but I think we will be looking for an inning eating starter and soon.
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Why bother with an innings eater? We have 16 guys. Nine guys each pitch one inning tomorrow and we still have seven more left for game 2. So, we don’t have to trade for Montas until game 3.
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Sound logic.
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Exactly why I hold you in such high regard, my friend. You appreciate clear thinking when you see it.
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The opening day lineup is in the refrigerator, the door’s closed, the light’s out, the eggs are cooling, the butter’s getting hard and the Jell-O’s jiggling. Lux, contrary to a few saying there was zero chance, will be at 2nd base.
What would Chick say about this year’s Lakers?
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Their jello ain’t jiggling.
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Jello has no backbone. Neither does this year’s Laker team.
It needs to be totally dismantled, starting with the GM (who apparently was unwilling to stand up to LeBron’s very unwise roster manipulating).
The roster is way too old. None of them want to play defense. AD never gives you a full season without major injury. Out with them all!
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Jefe’s jello IS jigglin
I think I heard Kornheiser say something about LeBron being “outta here”. Fine with me. I’m ok with Davis, but he sure appears fragile. Guess he will need to manage his minutes. He was pretty ok with a 60 game schedule.
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I’ve heard supposedly in-the-know people say that AD doesn’t do the hard work necessary to be a real super star asset in the NBA, both in training and in taking care of himself. Not the kind of guy I would want as the lead honcho after LBJ leaves (whether that be this off season or next).
Jeannie needs to find a really good GM and rebuild from the ground up.
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Well, they committed to him, so, if he ain’t the guy it’s a multiple year mistake in judgment.
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Laker fans endured a string of years of weak play but got some great draft picks. They blew those picks on James and Davis for a short season championship. Jennie busted a young team up, see what I did there and ignored the her coach. Walton pleaded to keep his Center and instead was held responsible for the players Jeannie gave him.
Just think how good the Lakers would have been for the past 10 years if Jeannie had kept West and had given West the reins and not Jackson or Kobe’s agent.
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Jeannie seems like a really nice person, but she sometimes tends to make decisions with her heart and not her head. She was in love with Phil, so there was no room for West.
Love conquers all……………………………….except the NBA.
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Muncy, maybe more than any other player, is graciously stepping aside to give Vargas opportunities this year to be a Dodger.
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It’s my observation that Muncy isn’t 100%. Roberts is pretty good at getting everybody at bats. Hopefully a few will start off hot.
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Pads traded Paddack and Pagan to the Twins for Rogers. His brother is the kid with the Giants. So they have another closer. Lefty, but has had arm troubles in the past. Let the games begin.
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Bear, do you think the Pads will push the Dodgers this year? I dont.
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I think their pitching will make them tough, but until Tatis returns, the offense has some holes. For two months they will be without their best hitter. That has to effect them some. And for that period of time we won’t be subjected to his hot dog antics on the field. Still have to deal with Machado though.
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Let’s hope Bellinger’s bat returns to the lineup before Tatis’ bat does.
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