The Dodgers are now just skipping a step and drafting pitchers who are already injured.
2nd round pick Cam Leiter (yes, from the family of pitchers) missed all season at college with shoulder problems.
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The Dodgers are now just skipping a step and drafting pitchers who are already injured.
2nd round pick Cam Leiter (yes, from the family of pitchers) missed all season at college with shoulder problems.
Don’t be (Dodger) blue Druff. $40-50 million more at the trade deadline and you’ll be fine
Bettors (Dodger poppies) are so upset tonight. The memes are endless.
Meanwhile, I’m gonna need a bigger mantle for my trophies. I think I’ll prolly be a top winner nationally again. We will see
Betts is only 32, turning 33 in October. A decline in defense can be expected at that age, but not the hitting. He should still be the Betts of old, and he's simply not. This was a precipitous fall, which coincided with the spring training Influenza A SuperAIDS. Unless you're already overweight to begin with, you can't lose 30 pounds from an illness as a pro athlete and expect to exit unscathed. He didn't just lose weight in the manner I did when I had my anxiety in 2018. In that case, I was mostly eating normally, but my metabolism was just crazy high and burning off the fat. Mookie couldn't keep solid foods down, and I have to imagine the lack of protein caused muscle atrophy. He didn't have 30 pounds of excess fat to drop. This was muscle loss, and it's also possible that medium-term after-effects of the illness are also holding him back.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sanlmar
We wrote last year about Dodgers finally cashing a World Series before the window closed. The big spends on Snell and Glasnow saved lives and careers. Unless MLB has a senior event Friedman knew that was it for this iteration. Betts is just getting old.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dan Druff
The debate about keeping the Golden Glove in right field vs shortstop is/was nonsense. Betts at this point in his career would no longer be the Golden Glove outfielder. There was even talk last year from Dave Roberts about the extra steps each inning it took to walk out to right filedfrom the dugout. Too taxing for an aging Betts. The fabled Dodgers analytics staff had actually considered this.
There will always be flashes of the former great athlete but time is undefeated.
Meanwhile, your predilection for nostalgia is evident once again. The Miz and Kershaw in the All Star Game is further proof the ASB is just the Savannah Bananas for 8 year olds and you.
Aspire to be a more serious baseball fan. Do it for all of us.
Congrats on Dodgers stealing one from their big brother last night. You must be relieved.
A lot of the chickens are unfortunately coming home to roost for the Dodgers.
The injury-riddled pitching staff is forcing them to trot out minimum wage failpitchers on a regular basis. Betts has never been himself. Muncy is out. Teoscar Hernandez is playing hurt, and has morphed into a .230 singles hitter.
They'll still put up runs, but the pitching staff coughs them right back up.
If they're serious about a 2025 World Series title, they need to put Teoscar back on the DL and let him fully recover, acquire an impact pitcher or two, and pray.
One fun fact is that the bullpen largely won them the 2024 World Series. They had two real starting pitchers in Yamamoto and Flaherty, and the rest of the time the bullpen did the work. That won't work this year. This bullpen isn't performing like last year's.
Keep an eye out for Erick Fedde, the guy the Cardinals thought was worth giving up Tommy Edman under team control.
I smacked myself for missing the +170 line against him, because it was the Rockies. Bur it was in Denver, the enemy of bad pitchers.
Not only are his overall numbers ugly, but recently he's on an astoundingly bad run:
6/25 7 ER in 3 2/3 IP at home vs Cubs
6/30 7 ER in 5 IP on the road vs Pirates
7/06 3 ER in 1 1/3 IP on road vs Cubs
7/12 3 ER in 4 2/3 IP at home vs Braves
7/22 6 ER in 3 IP on the road vs Rockies
That's 26 ER in 17 2/3 IP over 5 starts.
If they start him again, fade.
Let's talk more about the Dodgers.
3-7 last 10
26-28 against teams > .500
Have a few injuries, but once again they're going to add another NL West banner but (Druff remind me of this later if I'm wrong) they are not going to repeat as WS Champions.
Are they going to bring in 2 pitchers and 2 batters at the deadline?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sanlmar
Add to the list of grievances:
Dodgers cannot and will not play small ball. They won’t play baseball. Spin the HR wheel each night in the regular season.
Fundamentally they are awful.
33 is not young in the MLB.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dan Druff
More to the point …. other than Jose Altuve and Ozzie Smith give me a handful of examples of little highly productive 33 year olds
There is a huge difference between 5’8”/generous 5’9” and 5’11” so save us with that.
You have to be extraordinary just to play when that small at any age. Mookie was a freak for a long while. One of the greats.
Dodgers (Kershaw) are +142 right now.
Wow.
Aaaaaaand Ohtani and Teoscar lead off with 2 HR
vs Crochet, one the top five pitchers in MLB and that’s being modestQuote:
Originally Posted by Dan Druff
No wow.
Betts pinch hitting for Kim will get the fire Roberts birds singing again. Idiotic
Crochet got into trouble a lot and coughed up 8 hits, yet gave up zero runs after those two leadoff HR.
Anyway, weird trade went down tongiht.
Randal Grichuk was playing as usual for the Diamondbacks, but suddenly was pulled from the game after 2 AB. He was told he was being traded to KC. He hugged his teammates goodbye, and left.
Weird. Usually they hold a player out of the game if he's possibly being traded. Here they started Grichuk and traded him mid-game.
Nick Kurtz's stat line on July 25 against the Astros:
6-for-6, 4 HR, 1 double, 8 RBI
That's 19 total bases.
Somehow the Braves have decided to bench Marcell Ozuna despite his 40 HR in 2023 and 39 HR (plus .302 average) in 2024.
Ozuna is hitting .232 with 13 HR, with an OPS of .737, so I guess that's not cutting it as a DH.
The Braves have two strong hitting catchers in Sean Murphy and rookie Drake Baldwin, though Murphy has similar numbers to Ozuna, with a lower ceiling. But I guess they want both catchers in the lineup every day now.
One more Braves post.
Today Michael Harris had an interesting spot come up.
He was 3-for-3 with a HR, triple, and double, and was back up to bat in the 9th. He hit a fly ball to left which was misplayed, and fell behind the outfielder. Harris could have stopped at first and made it a cycle, but instead he continued onto 3rd, as it was a tie game at the time. Had it been a blowout, he might have stopped at 1st.
The Braves took the lead, but Iglesias blew the save, and then the Rangers won it in the 10th.
LOL Atlanta
I was just explaining how lines worked in the Sawks Dodgers +142 game.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dan Druff
Kurtz 1+ walk +120
Dodgers couldn't even beat a much-diminished Walker Buehler today. Sad!
They're 5-13 in their last 18. Doesn't feel like a championship team.
Padres and Giants have regressed to mediocrity, so the Dodgers will probably still win the division, but if they don't get things in order soon, I see another disappointing postseason exit, possibly an NLDS loss against the Phillies.
Sawks fans were booing Ohtani today at Fenway.
Now I must say I have heard the Dodgers hometown fans regularly booing their Blue during their recent ignominious run. Dodger fans are not very knowledgeable as a group so it doesn’t mean anything.
The Dodgers will never fill the emptiness in our black hearts that the Yankees have left but the Boston fans are actively searching for targets and that’s a reason to feel hometown pride.
Walker Buehler is a genuine bum at this point. 5 walks. Didn’t matter
country978: Boston fans can be like that
The fewer the miles a given team is from ground zero & English soccer the more passionate and knowledgeable the fan base.
Bad news for Man Utd as top 10 'worst behaved' fanbases in English football revealed, Millwall are only fifth
https://www.sportbible.com/football/...19953-20231025
If folks only knew what Boston once was before we won the World Series. Wipes away tear.
If you're the Braves, and you make a trade right now, what do you do?
Salary dump?
Acquire prospects?
How about acquire one of MLB's worst 2025 starting pitchers, who is in his 30s?
They chose the third option: https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/...edde-cardinals
What is this team doing?
Buckner came back to Boston for a stint after '86. Maybe it was '90-"91? I sat along the 1st base line at Fenway one game that year and witnessed a display of fan behavior unthinkable in today's world. People despised that guy and let it be known for hours non-stop. Fenway security would never tolerate these things now.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sanlmar
Here's a funny video"
https://x.com/awfulannouncing/status...90782621638780
This is an incredibly plush HR situation with the steamy weather in the small park. Dodgers (Ohtani) will sit on Chase’s fastball - not that this iteration of the Dodgers is a great fastball hitting team but still. How many times have we seen Ohtani ambush a pitcher first at bat this year?
Yoshi is gonna wilt as is his reputation in these conditions. I’m not a Yoshi fanboy anyway.
Runs, runs, runs and homeruns.
winning money isn’t everything to some people. you be you
Which site is that?
Ball Park PalQuote:
Originally Posted by Dan Druff
BPP - yeah, you know me
Doyers 7th highest K% vs RHP last 3 weeks
Red’s Burns K% 39% @home.
Oh, the agony Druff
Daly, what have you learned about weather and wagering?
The Braves season has been an unmitigated disaster by any objective measure. There is zero question they are sellers at the deadline. Well, if they can fine anyone to take Iglesias and if Ozuna is willing to be traded (he has 10-5 rights and thus a no-trade). Pierce Johnson who has a team option for next year is the only player they have that might net a fringe prospect. The other two are pure salary dumps at this point. Maybe if you eat enough Ozuna money you can net a lotto ticket prospect.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dan Druff
The move to pick of Fedde totally makes sense. They gave up nothing. Their entire 5 man starting rotation coming into the season is on the 60 day DL. Their current #2 starter is Bryce Elder, he of a 6.29 ERA. They brought up their closest to being ready 20 year old pitching prospect and he got shelled in 4 starts to the tune of a 13.85 ERA. They are trotting out bullpen games 3 out of every 5 days now. They just need warm bodies to eat innings. They have no other options.
Ozuna getting benched makes sense. His trade value was already low. Sean Murphy has arguably been the 3rd best Catcher in MLB this season and his OPS is 100 points higher than Ozuna. But the benching is about making sure Drake Baldwin gets to play everyday. One, so he can get the reps and experience particularly against lefties. Secondly, if he can prove that the Murphy/Baldwin tandem is good enough to both play every day alternating C/DH that saves a chunk of money next season in not needing to replace Ozuna. And third, it gives Baldwin the best chance to win ROY this year where he's currently in a close race with Misiorowski. Given he was a top 100 prospect him winning ROY would net the Braves an extra draft pick after the first round.
So both the move of benching Ozuna and grabbing Fedde to eat innings makes sense. They will likely acquire another washed SP soon too if one becomes available for free; as they just need bodies at this point.
I guess this all makes sense. I just haven't seen it before where a team presumably out of the race acquires a washed up 30s arm. I realized that Fedde was basically free, but wouldn't they be better off promoting an arm from AAA and seeing how things go? Once in awhile you'll get a guy who surprises you, despite unimpressive minor league numbers. I would have expected Fedde to be acquired by a wildcard-chasing team with pitching issues, to where they feel they can tweak him enough to where he will at least eat innings.Quote:
Originally Posted by SheesfacedThe Braves season has been an unmitigated disaster by any objective measure. There is zero question they are sellers at the deadline. Well, if they can fine anyone to take Iglesias and if Ozuna is willing to be traded (he has 10-5 rights and thus a no-trade). Pierce Johnson who has a team option for next year is the only player they have that might net a fringe prospect. The other two are pure salary dumps at this point. Maybe if you eat enough Ozuna money you can net a lotto ticket prospect.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dan Druff
The move to pick of Fedde totally makes sense. They gave up nothing. Their entire 5 man starting rotation coming into the season is on the 60 day DL. Their current #2 starter is Bryce Elder, he of a 6.29 ERA. They brought up their closest to being ready 20 year old pitching prospect and he got shelled in 4 starts to the tune of a 13.85 ERA. They are trotting out bullpen games 3 out of every 5 days now. They just need warm bodies to eat innings. They have no other options.
Ozuna getting benched makes sense. His trade value was already low. Sean Murphy has arguably been the 3rd best Catcher in MLB this season and his OPS is 100 points higher than Ozuna. But the benching is about making sure Drake Baldwin gets to play everyday. One, so he can get the reps and experience particularly against lefties. Secondly, if he can prove that the Murphy/Baldwin tandem is good enough to both play every day alternating C/DH that saves a chunk of money next season in not needing to replace Ozuna. And third, it gives Baldwin the best chance to win ROY this year where he's currently in a close race with Misiorowski. Given he was a top 100 prospect him winning ROY would net the Braves an extra draft pick after the first round.
So both the move of benching Ozuna and grabbing Fedde to eat innings makes sense. They will likely acquire another washed SP soon too if one becomes available for free; as they just need bodies at this point.
The Ozuna thing is more understandable, but it's just weird. You watch the Braves far more than I do, so what do you think is wrong? He was a fearsome hitter in 2023 and 2024, especially last year. Now he's fallen off a cliff. I realize he's had some variance. 2015 was an off year for him, he was lousy in 2021 for the limited games he did play, and in 2022 he was mediocre. Yet some other years he raked. I expected some regression in 2025 (some even believed 2024 was roid-aided), but not like this.
I think Misiorowski wins ROY, as long as he keeps going well. Baldwin has been good, but his numbers aren't eye-popping (.820 OPS). Misiorowski is the Skenes of 2025, though he might be on an inning count, so they could shut him down early or severely limit his action, this hurting his chances. Baldwin also has the problem in that he's competing with Miami catcher Agustin Ramirez. Baldwin has been better, and Ramirez has had some defensive issues, but Ramirez is also the more explosive hitter, and a hot streak in the final 2 months could end up causing him to steal some votes from Baldwin.
I do have to wonder why so many formerly fearsome Braves hitters have struggled all at once. You look at that lineup and it looks incredible on paper, but so many guys are performing under expectation. Michael Harris is a good example. Sometimes he looks like a breakout star, and other times he's an automatic out.
Imagine if someone told you at the beginning of the season that, on July 27, the Braves would be 6 games behind the Marlins, and 17.5 games worse than the Brewers.
Emmanuel Clase is on leave due to gambling probe related to Luis Ortiz: https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/...gambling-probe
Quote:
His ties to the investigation that started following a June 27 alert from IC360, a firm that monitors betting markets for abnormalities, are unclear. Sportsbooks and gambling operators were alerted after a spike in action on Ortiz's first pitch in the bottom of the second inning against the Seattle Mariners on June 15 and in the top of the third inning against the St. Louis Cardinals on June 27, according to sources. In both cases, unusual amounts of money were wagered on the pitches being a ball or hit batsman from betting accounts in New York, New Jersey and Ohio, according to a copy of the IC360 alert obtained by ESPN. Both pitches wound up well outside the strike zone.
Why are guys who are making so much money getting involved in rigging props? And why do these sportsbettors think they can bet abnormally large amounts on these weird props and get away with it?
At least Ortiz is making under $800k per year. Clase is on a 5-year, $20m deal which will later result in much more money if he stays healthy and pitches at least fairly well, even if he doesn't duplicate his 2024 campaign.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dan Druff
Being that they are both Dominican, slight chance they have been compromised by family/people threatening family.
Otherwise, who knows. In a way, the ability to bet all these crazy props is temporarily making the sports more legit, which is kind of the opposite of most of what the pearl-clutching sportswriters like to say. All these idiots thinking they can hammer "unders" on some scrubs stats or first pitch.
If the family is being threatened in the Dominican, you'd think Clase would just pay these people off and be done with it, rather than risk his career on rigging sports props. But maybe he was dumb enough to think he won't get caught, because it's just a few pitches.Quote:
Originally Posted by gutQuote:
Originally Posted by Dan Druff
Being that they are both Dominican, slight chance they have been compromised by family/people threatening family.
Otherwise, who knows. In a way, the ability to bet all these crazy props is temporarily making the sports more legit, which is kind of the opposite of most of what the pearl-clutching sportswriters like to say. All these idiots thinking they can hammer "unders" on some scrubs stats or first pitch.
Pray for Ohtani.
Did you hear the Reds play "You Had a Bad Day" from American Idol when Ohtani walked off?
Bad form.
As you would expect, I was watching the Cincinnati broadcast. You’d think Shoehei was not likely to play baseball the rest of the year if you were only listening.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dan Druff
Sawks fans boo’d Ohtani 4 days ago. As a bushido warrior Ohtani has been known to boo himself in these situations. Instantly, wins over the crowd.
Your SoCal upbringing and sensitivity are showing. I accept your differences.
Andy Pages will cost Druff a playoff game in the first round of playoffs. Probability says a goofy base running error but his low IQ leaves the field open to almost anything.
Dropped foul tonight was not scored an error but we know the truth. Cost Dodgers the game.
We will revisit this post in October.
He's already playing over his head, hitting-wise.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sanlmar
After a decent year last year, he was off to a horrid start in 2025, and was a hair away from being demoted and never being heard from again. Then he caught fire, and now he sits with a .281 average, 19 HR, and an OPS near .800. I don't think he will keep it up, as he was only a semi-fringe prospect -- not a total nobody, but not expected to be a starter on a team like the Dodgers.
But yes, the Puig-like defensive/baserunning fails can be aggravating.
Shohei finished off the game as DH, so he couldn't be that injured.
So much for the motley crew of Matt Strahm and Orion Kerkering saving games for the Phillies. They've acquired Jhoan Duran from the Twins, giving up prospects Mick Abel and Eduardo Tait. Abel has struggled in his first season in MLB, though he's only been in 8 games.
Much more bizarre is the Cardinals shipping off closer Ryan Helsley to the Mets, who already have Edwin Diaz. Helsley will be the Mets' setup man. Mets also grabbed Tyler Rogers from the Giants.
Ke'Bryan Hayes went from the Pirates to the Reds, and the other Rogers brother -- Taylor -- was the one who went to Pittsburgh in return.
The Cardinals are 55-55 and I guess decided they're sellers. They're presently 5.5 games behind the Padres for the 3rd wildcard spot.
Trades coming fast and furious.
Great site to keep up on them.
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/
So far no major, game-changing deals.
Duran and Eugenio Suarez remain the biggest names to move thus far.
The Padres acquired Mason Miller from the A's, though Robert Suarez has better numbers than him. Suarez also has 30 saves! The guess right now is that Miller will go to setup.
Seems like it's mostly been relievers moving this year. Kyle Finnegan was shipped to Detroit, and David Bednar is probably going to the Yankees.
Brock Stewart, originally with the Dodgers, is BACK with the team now, as the team has finally given up on James Outman and sent him in return. But that's not a high impact move. The Dodgers acquired 3 young players earlier in a 3-way trade with the Reds and Rays, in exchange for catcher Hunter Feduccia. None of these moves are likely to make a major impact on the team, though it might improve the bullpen enough to where a closer can emerge, and maybe prevent some of these late inning fails.
If Bednar moves, that means the NL will see different closers on the Phillies, Nationals, Pirates, Cardinals, and Padres, compared to just 48 hours ago.
Cedric Mullins joins the Mets from Baltimore, sending Jeff McNeil to play 2B, and Brett Baty to the bench. Harrison Bader is now a starting outfielder on the Phillies, and is having his best year since 2021, though still has an OPS of only .778.