The Los Angeles Dodgers have finally seemed to put it all together. They have won six of their last seven and now have a 5.5 game lead in the NL West over the San Diego Padres.
Unfortunately, though, it seems as if the Dodgers will be without their All-Star Utility man Chris Taylor for at least the next several weeks.
Taylor fouled a ball off his left foot during Saturday night’s game against the Padres. He sat out of Sunday’s contest, and was removed in the sixth inning of Monday night’s game with what was initially thought to be ankle swelling. He underwent a CT scan on Tuesday which revealed a small fracture in his left foot.
“Not what I was hoping for, obviously”, Taylor told Sportsnet LA. “Definitely was a surprise to me”. Taylor was surprised by the result as he hasn’t felt a lot of pain. He stated that it was a small fracture, “but it’s going to be a little longer than initially expected”.
“Once we get the swelling out, I think it going to be ‘per his tolerance’, so, hopefully it won’t be more than a few weeks” manager Dave Roberts also said to SNLA.
The Dodgers are lucky to already have Trayce Thompson on the team, whom they acquired when Mookie Betts was out with his injury. Thompson has been playing well since his return to the Dodgers, and should be seeing more playing time in place of CT3.
Closer Craig Kimbrel should be available to pitch on Wednesday. Kimbrel was hit in the back by a come-backer on Sunday.
“Everything came back clean with Kimbrel”, Roberts also told reporters. He will avoid in the injured list and should be ready next time he is called upon.
Blake Treinen has started throwing off a mound. His first bullpen session was July 4th. Roberts quipped that he looked “pretty dang good”. The earliest Treinen would return would be August, but there is no set timetable as of yet.
Andrew Heaney has also started throwing off the mound. He threw a bullpen session before Tuesday’s game, his first since retuning to the IL with some renewed shoulder discomfort after his start on June 19.
“I saw it. The ball was coming out well,” Roberts told Bill Plunkett of the OC Register. “It was fastball, slider. I think it was right around 30 pitches. As far as the next progression, certainly there’s another bullpen. There’s facing hitters and then we’ll talk about potential starting. So I think he’s still a ways down the road.”
It was originally thought that Heaney would only miss a few starts, but now the general consensus is to slow play him and make sure he is fully healed before returning to the team.
Walker Buehler still is not doing anything with his throwing arm yet. He had surgery three weeks ago to remove a bone spur from his right elbow, and has been working to regain his range of motion.
He is not expected to do any throwing for the next three weeks. Buehler will likely have an MRI on that elbow before he is able to start throwing.
Time to bring up Vargas. The right handed bat to replace Taylor. Vargas has hit everywhere with a lower than average strikeout rate.
Plus he can play 1st, 2nd, 3rd and corner outfield. The young man makes contact. Thompson has been outstanding. So maybe they keep the kid down to save a year on control. This team could use a guy that has a power and good OBP.
The bullpen should get Ferguson, Treinen and Kahnle back before the playoffs. As his record last year and this are the same I have no faith in Kimbrel. I have been following Pepiot, Grove, Stone, Miller, Beeter and Knack closely watching their games on MiLB. Pepiot has swing and miss talent with his devastating change. He like many needs to maintain control. Grove and the rest I mentioned all have very good SO to BB with reasonable WHIP. If the Dodgers need a guy to dominate for an inning Miller might fill that slot. May will help and it sounds as if he is close. The talent at the Farm would preclude the Dodgers from trading at the deadline in my opinion. Pepiot and the rest can highlight why they are rated so high by scouts. Miller has been very good recently. As stated despite the injuries the Dodgers have the best ERA in the NL. I believe Pepiot and Grove have more potential than White.
It seems as though we’ll have plenty of options to replace Kimbrel if that’s necessary, but those options probably won’t be available until Aug-Sept. In the meanwhile, Evan Phillips seems as though he wants to step up and fill the void.
I was very happy with what I saw from Pepiot last night. Showed a lot of confidence, which is something I thought he lacked in his past starts. Really challenged the hitters. Put his foot in the door to become a viable candidate for the 2023 rotation.
I’m really torn with Vargas – not the talent part of it, I’m a huge fan, but I just don’t know if I want him here if he isn’t going to play on a regular basis. If Dodger management intends to play him as a regular infielder, outfielder, DH, whatever, then OK, let’s do it. If, on the other hand, they want to make him a McKinstry clone and make him ride the bench for a week then give him a couple at bats, I say a big NO THANK YOU.
I have been impressed with this crop of young arms. I believe Dodger management and Gomes are also. These young guys are flourishing at Tulsa and OKC. The future is bright and a few of them should bring back terrific talent in trade and bolster Dodger pitching for years to come. I agree that if they bring up Vargas they must play him. Management will need to grab that idiot Roberts by the throat and explain that to him.
“Management will need to grab that idiot Roberts by the throat”
Your continual rage about Roberts is getting out of hand. It’s every day and has been so for over a year. After that long, we’re not sure if it is even about baseball.
You are absolutely right and I need to knock it off. Thanks for smacking me on the nose. I appreciate it.
I agree about Vargas. He’s almost 23. Why are we playing around with a bunch of no future guys ( alberto, thompson, lamb, mckinstry, Alvarez) instead of giving him real playing time. If he’s part of our future go with it. Better to have a real prospect, who has a huge ceiling, perhaps fail and move on from him , than a bunch of 30 somethings who have already failed. But don’t sit him on the bench.
I agree although so far Thompson has had very professional at bats. Maybe he has had an epiphany. He was hitting well this year in AAA. He has hit for power but has gone with the pitch with RISP plus he is a solid defender.
I like Thompson, he’s a decent replacement player, not sure he’s any more than that but hopefully the TMB trio is snapping out of it. If they hit, we should be ok. Not excited about Lamb but heard last night Van Skyhack likes him.
There’s a piece in The Athletic this morning that addresses our needs. Friedman gives lip service to keeping moves in house, said we’ve already moved a lot of our best talent in recent years, and there comes a time when you need to hang on to it. Sounds good, but I don’t know I buy it. I’d still like to an innings eater so we can give Urias, Gonsolin and Anderson some down time. Their pace is not sustainable.
Innings eater – IF he is willing to leave KC, and IF he is willing to come back to LA, get me Greinke.
He’s a pro’s pro and although he isn’t close to the pitcher he was when he was last here, he’d give us innings and guys like Catman, White and Pepiot could learn a lot from him.
BRING BACK ZACK!
And when he retires, give him whatever he asks for to join the front office and that would include working remotely.
I agree Greinke would be a great front office guy especially in talent evaluation. He really understands the game, can’t have enough of those guys if management will listen to them. Dodgers are a very intelligent organization. So far they appear to hire knowledgeable people and listen to them! A rare trait in many organizations, my example being Moreno with the Angels, a shoot the messenger philosophy is not a positive trait for any organization. And certainly not a winning strategy.
That is what I have been hearing in the background of their comments. This is a Kasten run team. And Kasten is always talking about the Farm and promoting from within. I would use this time. They are 6 up to give guys like Pepiot time to get acclimated. The first few appearances no matter how talented you are the adrenaline is flowing and hard to get control, rookie hitters over swing and pitchers over throw. Its normal. Pepiot mentioned that after his last game. He said he was able to get the adrenaline down and stop overthrowing his fastball. This outing he was throwing the fastball for strikes and that makes the change up devastating. White also if you look at White’s last couple of outings he has been good. Even if you decide players cannot make the full time roster you can show case them to trade. A couple of more good starts and White will be very tradable.
Not sure who Friedman is referring to, but they’ve traded a catcher and outfielder to secure good players. And they certainly haven’t promoted from within. A catcher. Good. That’s it. And they keep using their pitching prospects sporadically instead of giving one of them (or 2) some continuity and regular reps. They’ve all come up and performed well, it’s not like they have to hope back down and get fixed. I may have to apologize to white for my comments about him the last few years. But nit yet.
Mitch White is 27, Gordon, thereby eliminating any need for you to apologize.
He’s officially over the hill and ready to be put out to pasture.
All kidding aside, I know that Dodger management has always had high hopes for him but they were curtailed by injury and inconsistency (possibly due to the injuries). Really great to see him fulfilling his promise. Hopefully it continues.
If, utlitmately, they decide guys like Stone, Pepiot and Miller have even more potential, White becomes an ever-more-viable trade chip this winter or next year.
White and perhaps another pitcher could be used this winter for a great potential outfielder or second baseman depending what they plan for Amaya, Leonard etc. How do they rate Outman and Pagers internally? If they limit the shift does Bellinger become more successful?
For people that watch MiLB Gavin Stone is pitching tonight for Tulsa 5:05 PST start, He looks like a starter in the making. great control and high strikeout rate, low WHIP. Was promoted to AA this year and has not missed a beat continues to excel.
I have promoted a 6 man rotation in the past and I could see this team doing it again if no starter from outside the organization is added. White and Pepiot are both pitching well enough to keep going out there. Stone and Miller might be decent bullpen guys, if they aren’t added to the rotation.
I think Greinke would work. So would Bumgarner. He leads the league in starts and his ERA is under 4.
No thanks to MadBum. I haven’t looked lately, but when I checked a while ago, it seemed to me that his peripherals indicated he was getting pretty lucky with his results.
On top of that, since he certainly does pile up innings and could be useful from that point of view, is his remaining contract which, including what’s left of this year adds up to about 48 mil.
There is no scenario that I can think of that makes him worth anywhere near that amount of money over the next 2.5 years.
At least Greinke is funny. Bumgarner is a surly SOB.
I think Greinke is toast at this point. He was great when he was here but he bailed. Did he not like playing second fiddle to Kershaw? Anyway I prefer to give the innings to White or Pepiot.
Greinke isn’t totally finished.
His last start was horrific (6 runs, 5 innings), but the two before that were excellent (1 run, 6 innings in each of those two starts).
And i don’t think he left here because he didn’t like being second fiddle. He left for one reason and one reason only…………………….$$$$$$$$$
But why trade White. With Anderson, Heaney and Kershaw possibly gone after this season, White can start or be the long guy in the bullpen and he doesn’t cost 💲 much.