If you would have asked most fans of the Los Angeles Dodgers if they would have been happy with a 6-3 record before the last road trip began, the answer would have probably been a resounding “yes.” And, although there are still some apparent weaknesses the club might address at the upcoming trade deadline, it’s certainly a good sign that Los Angeles was able to flex its muscles against a few of the league’s best squads, like the Orioles and the Rangers.
The Dodgers won the first two contests against Texas in this weekend’s series, but they couldn’t quite seal the sweep in the finale after falling 8-4. Starting pitching was the biggest part of the problem in Sunday’s defeat, as rookie righty Emmet Sheehan couldn’t survive four full innings after surrendering eight earned runs on eight hits and five walks.
Sheehan’s rookie teammate, righty Bobby Miller, was decent in Saturday’s middle game, notching his sixth win of the year while completing six innings and scattering three earned runs on seven hits with six punchouts. Righty starter Tony Gonsolin got a no-decision in the opener on Friday, throwing a not-so-impressive five innings and surrendering four runs.
The biggest highlight of the weekend, obviously, was the Los Angeles offense. First baseman Freddie Freeman was an absolute monster in the series, going a combined 8-for-12 with three homers, a double and six RBI, an effort that will undoubtedly put him in the running for National League Player of the Week honors.
The 33-year-old Freeman leads the team with a .993 OPS and is among the early candidates for NL MVP honors. Teammate Mookie Betts is also in the conversation with 27 long balls and a .949 OPS.
Another bright spot was a flash of pop from the struggling Max Muncy. After his average dropped below the .190 mark earlier this week and a demotion to a lower spot in the batting order, Muncy had one of his best games of the year on Saturday, going 3-for-5 with a double, a homer and two RBI. In addition, the 32-year-old lefty slugger was one of the team’s few bright spots in Sunday’s finale after hitting a grand slam in the first inning, his third four-banger and 24th long ball of the year.
Despite Muncy’s solid performance, it still doesn’t answer many of the questions about his reliability during the stretch run of the season. He remains one of the team’s streakiest hitters and sometimes goes weeks before showing any kind of life. However, when he’s seeing the ball well, he’s still among the MLB’s most productive hitters.
Regardless, the team now heads home for a three-game series against the Blue Jays beginning Monday, who currently sit in the middle of the pack in the American League East with a 54-45 record. After an off day on Thursday, the club will prepare for another three games against the surprising Cincinnati Reds.
Tentatively lining up to start against the Blue Jays are Michael Grove, Julio Urias and Gonsolin, respectively.
The 2023 MLB trade deadline is Tuesday, August 1, at 6:00 p.m. Eastern time.
Think Blue Planning Committee 
Sheehan has shown his inability to throw strikes. He was given a 4 run lead and couldn’t throw strikes.He has done this in several games. I would send him down for more help with his mechanics and bring up Knack who can throw strikes or Hurt as he is due for rule 5 draft and they need to see if they should keep him. They still have 7-8 days left before the trade deadline. There has been talk about getting an infielder but if Mookie wants to play at midfield they could use a right handed outfielder or simply play DeLuca who is great defensively and has shown he can make contact.
It will be fascinating to see what AF does at the deadline.
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Hurt, Knack and Frasso will all be Rule 5 eligible this winter. Knack is probably the most MLB ready so maybe he’s the one to take a look at. He’s also probably the most stretched out if they intend to bring up someone to start. That decision may all depend upon when CK will be ready.
I’m a big fan of DeLuca’s and would love to see him get an opportunity to show what he’s got. By that I mean an extended chance for some at bats. He’s obviously just fine defensively and I’m all in favor of keeping Mookie at shortstop or 2nd base, at least for next year. I’m guessing they won’t go into the next two months with the idea of depending on DeLuca’s production so I expect to see another righty bat by next Tuesday.
It’s definitely going to be a seller’s market at the deadline so no matter what AF might have planned, he still needs to have cooperation from the selling team and the other buying teams (not to outbid him). Fun times!
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It’s fascinating that a team with this many key injuries including Lux and Buehler is in first place in the West and second in wins in the NL. I would not make many deals if they think Kersh is coming back. They have enough young arms to sustain staying in playoff contention. I would try out the future Rule 5 pitchers you mentioned.. I still see this as a waiting for Ohtani and a rookie testing year. Hopefully Stone gets his problems resolved and can help.
I am a big DeLuca fan. I am also a Ohtman fan. And I have read Vargas is starting to hit at OKC so he should be back for the playoffs. I still am not a Muncy fan. I do not like players that strike out or have weak pop ups constantly with RISP. I believe in defense. and Muncy is below average as is his batting average.
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TMax, I am also not a big Muncy fan. I don’t get why Doc keeps him batting 3rd and 4th in the lineup. He has on average one good game a week. I would be OK if the Dodgers could trade him at the deadline to get under the CBT.
Dodgers need to give Deluca a real shot. Thompson and Marisnick are not the answer now or in the future.
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I don’t have current payroll numbers in front of me so I could be totally wrong here, but I think that if they elimated Muncy today, it wouldn’t get them even close to getting under the CBT.
On top of that, I would be astonished if Andrew doesn’t bring in one or two starters and a reliever at the deadline and that will blow us right past any line anyway. We’ve somehow managed to build a 4 game lead when our starting rotation has been a mess all year.
If you consider our current starters, every one of them has question marks:
Kershaw – health
Urias – sub-par season
Gonsolin – nowhere near as dominant as last year and can’t seem to get past the 4th inning
Thor – a dismal failure so far (although I have this weird feeling he’ll contribute before it’s over)
Grove/Sheehan – both have built up just about enough innings so far to reach their previous one season max already
Pepiot – hasn’t pitched all year so even if he returns we have no idea how well he’ll pitch
Miller – if he pitches every fifth day through September, he’ll have long surpassed his max innings for a season and be questionable for the playoffs as far as what he might contribute.
I don’t see any way that Andrew would attempt to go through the remainder of the season, not to mention the post-season with that many question marks and that leads me to my conclusion. He’ll be adding a couple of arms, just to give himself more options.
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They’re flying in Rick Honeycutt today to watch Brandon League, Ronald Belisario and Ramon Troncoso throw at Camelback Ranch. Just to see if he feels whether they have the ability to contribute anything during the stretch run.
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Belisario has been delayed due to visa problems. 🙂
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Figures.
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Good article in the LA Times today on the Tulsa pitchers including Hurt, River Knack, Sheehan, etc. The Dodgers as Jeff lists have too many holes to patch I doubt they will be getting a lot of effective arms in a pitching poor trade market. The arms they have at the Farm are not quite ready as we see the inconsistency of Sheehan and Miller but you still get as good of performance as a low tier pitcher you can pick up in trade. I still say give the kids a shot. Play Knack and give Hurt or ? a chance.
Play DeLuca and quit putting Muncy at clean up as he is a rally killer. I would sit Muncy down as his defense is poor as I have stated. Use DeLuca as your right handed bat. Put Mookie at middle infield. Put somebody that can make contact at 3rd and bring up the kids.
This is not the Dodgers year. It’s the Rays and Braves. Hey it rhymes lol
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Nobody seems to have noticed that these overage double A pitchers haven’t been promoted to a triple A team which basically has no starting pitchers on the roster. If they can’t make that team, why in the world would you promote them to the bigs. Remember Stone and Sheehan ?
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As an old person, I resent your constant discrimination based on age.
On the other hand, you may have a point.
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Please don’t start agreeing with me. Then I would have to reassess my thinking.
But it is pretty simple. When a prospect is a real prospect ( ie May, Urias, Buehler) , they are 23 and pitching in the bigs. When they are not really major league prospects, they are 25 and pitching Double A (ie stone, Sheehan, Millar, hurt, river knack) . Simple. That’s not to say one or two won’t eventually be major leaguers, but there is no may or Buehler in the bunch. So I agree pitching will be a priority, except our trade chips have all been exposed. Can hardly wait to see what happens this next week.
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Millar? Do you mean Bobby Miller?
He could actually turn into Buehler, in my opinion.
He could, of course, be out of baseball in two years also.
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Gordon I know you do not like it but this current generation lost 2 years due to Covid. That is a fact not a gloss over. So do a -2 and they are 23! Miller has big league stuff.
All of the MLB knows they lost 2 years of growth and experience and this group is set back.
Everything I read states & MLB scouts agree the young arms that were or still are at Tulsa are probable MLB talent.
In my opinion and I am wrong a lot. The Dodgers have too many wholes to fill and too many unknowns as far as rehab to do much at the deadline. If they feel they need to dump some guys that will draft 5 legible like Knack Hurt etc it would be great to get Arenado. But I doubt that happens. Dodgers need a good defender at 3rd base and a contact hitting right handed bat. I am incredibly frustrated with Muncy and batting hm 4 or 5 is a another good reason to fire Roberts.
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Miller couldn’t get out of double A for two years because he was getting bombed, then finally made it to tripleA and still got bombed. Now he’s in the bigs and looks ok, kind of. I’ve been wrong before ( you wouldn’t remember Jeff ) so maybe he will be another Buehler. You’ve been right before ( but I don’t remember ). Lol
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My spelling is much better than my memory. 🙂
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