Pitching / Pitching / Pitching
The Dodger rotation at the end of the 2023 season was basically Kershaw / Miller / Lynn and possibly Pepiot if they needed that fourth starter. Which was one broken pitcher, a rookie, a home run prone fill in, and another rookie. Now, that wasn’t how they started 2023, the expectation for the 2023 rotation was Urias / Kershaw / May / Gonsolin / Thor. Only Kershaw was still standing in October but it was not the Kershaw who pitched great during the summer but a broken Kershaw who immediately had surgery on his shoulder after the season ended. Urias was in his walk year but was never they guy who was one of the best pitchers from 2021 – 2023. Instead he was average, and eventually his time with the Dodgers came to a thudding end with the news of his domestic abuse charges. Both May and Gonsolin succumbed to arm injuries, while Thor was about as bad as any Dodger rotation pitcher has ever been.
Yet, the 2023 team survived all of that rotation turmoil to win 100 games again. With the signing of James Paxton (Big Maple) the 2024 rotation looks to be in its final shape with only one big name still missing. Clayton Kershaw has yet to sign a deal for 2024, but I and most people expect Kershaw to sign with the Dodgers once they can put players on the 60 man IL so that they Dodgers don’t have give up a spot on the 40 man roster. That would look like this, May and Gonsolin go on the 60 Man IL, thus freeing up two spots on the 40 man roster. The Dodgers sign Kershaw and immediately he goes on the 60 Man IL, thus still leaving two 40 man roster spots available.
Thus, the Dodgers 2024 is looking like this as we get ready for the kick off of the 2024 season.
Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Bobby Miller, James Paxton, and Emmet Sheehan. Walker Buehler is expected to be ready for the rotation in May. You can see spots starts being doled out to Gavin Stone or Landon Knack if anyone comes out of spring training ailing. Dustin May is expected back around Aug 1st, and we don’t really know when Kershaw might be ready if at all in 2024. Gonsolin and Ohtani are expected to miss the whole season.
If and when Glasnow / Yamamoto / Buehler are all in the rotation together, you will be hard pressed to find a more talented threesome in any rotation. If they can make it to October, the sky is the limit for the Dodgers 2024 season.
But, it gets better. 2024 is just the prelude to what could be an amazing rotation in 2025 even if Walker Buehler walks. Both Bobby Miller and Emmet Sheehan will be ready for big roles in 2025, and who isn’t excited about seeing Shohei Ohtani make his rotational debut? You bring back the big arms of Tyler Glasnow and Yoshinobu Yamamoto you already have a formidable rotation. Yet, it could be even better if the reports are true that Japanese super star Rōki Sasaki wants to join Yamamoto and Ohtani in Los Angeles. Plus, you still have Dustin May and Tony Gonsolin in your hip pocket as they come back from their surgeries, and of course you still have the bevy of kids who will all be knocking hard at the door by the spring of 2025. Look at the possible choices for the 2025 rotation if they let Walker go but sign Sasaki.
Shohei Ohtani, Rōki Sasaki, Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Bobby Miller, Emmet Sheehan
Dustin May, Tony Gonsolin, Gavin Stone, Nick Frasso, Kyle Hurt, River Ryan, and Landon Knack
Along with the wild card that is Clayton Kershaw if he signs up for 2025
Or they don’t sign Sasaki but do extend Walker Buehler
Shohei Ohtani, Walker Buehler, Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Bobby Miller, Emmet Sheehan
Dustin May, Tony Gonsolin, Gavin Stone, Nick Frasso, Kyle Hurt, River Ryan, and Landon Knack
Along with the wild card that is Clayton Kershaw if he signs up for 2025
Or they don’t extend Buehler or sign Sasaki. Not as sexy but still plenty of potential, and more realistic room for Kershaw if wants to pitch for the Dodgers in 2025.
Shohei Ohtani, Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Bobby Miller, Emmet Sheehan, Clayton Kershaw
Dustin May, Tony Gonsolin, Gavin Stone, Nick Frasso, Kyle Hurt, River Ryan, and Landon Knack
I’m a huge fan of Emmet Sheehan, and expect him to be a force for the Dodger rotation as he battles Bobby Miller for the title of best young Dodger pitcher. If health permits, those two should hold down two rotation spots, leaving little room for any of the other prospects outside of some spot starts when needed.
Thus, I fully expect that Stone/Knack to be traded sometime between 2/2024 and 8/2025 while hoping that Ryan and Hurt become part of a very formidable Dodger bullpen. Hurt as soon as 2024, and Ryan in 2025. Frasso is still a depth piece but as we head into 2026 more pieces should be coming into play.
In 2026, Jackson Ferris the key piece of the Michael Busch trade should be ready to tip his toes into the show. Justin Wrobleski and Maddux Bruns should also be where Frasso/Knack/Hurt are right now. It is possible that all three of the talented lefties flame out, but I’d expect at least two of those three to start knocking on the door. Ferris is the most talented, and Bruns the least likely but I do like Wrobleski a lot. Ronan Kopp is another big arm pitcher, but most see him as a bullpen piece so for now, I’ll just expect him to join Hurt/Ryan in the bullpen by 2026, if not sooner.
The Dodgers pipeline isn’t done yet. By 2027 Payton Martin and Hyun-Seok Jang could be the next big things in Dodger blue.
Other pitchers of note in the pipeline are tean-agers Jesus Tillero, Brady Smith and some other system arms such as Peter Huebeck, Hyun-il Choi, Jermino Rosario, Ben Casparius, Jared Karros, and just returning from TJ surgery Edgardo Henriquez.
Outside of 4th round pick Brady Smith we have yet to get a look at what they drafted in 2023, and in the last few years, they always have a nice surprise from their domestic drafts. Justin Chambers was acquired for Bryan Hudson winter when the Dodgers needed to clear a space on the 40 man roster. The last two times the Dodgers made a deal like that they traded Mitch White for Nick Frasso and Matt Beatty for River Ryan. Both of those pitchers were much older than Chambers, but they are now both top ten Dodger pitching prospects, so I wouldn’t discount what they might have picked up in Justin Chambers.
Anyway you cut it, unless the Dodgers incur multiple catastrophic injuries, the pitching should be in good hands for the next few years.
Braves / Dodgers double down on Boston Lefties
This is just fascinating to me. The top two organizations in major league baseball did the following this winter. They both acquired a 34 year old very talented when healthy hard throwing oft injured lefty who were both featured in the Red Sox rotation last year.
Braves trade a highly regarded 40 man player who was expected to be their starting SS in 2023 but lost the job to to Arcia. He will now be the starting 2nd baseman for the Red Sox.The Red Sox included 17MM in the deal to get that caliber of player, and the Braves then signed Sales to a two year deal worth 38MM over the next two years negating the current deal he had in place before the trade.. Chris Sale has pitched about 150 innings over the last three years with 105 of those coming in 2023.
The Dodgers simply sign James Paxton to what looks like a 11 – 12MM one year deal. Paxton has thrown 97 innings over the last three years with 96 of those coming in 2023.
It might be a 50 / 50 bet on which pitcher is the most effective in 2024. Sale was once one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball but the last time he was great and pitched over 100 innings was 2018. Paxton has had only one great season and that was in 2017. Neither team though is looking for great, I think both teams would be happy with 100 innings and an ERA Plus of about 100 – 115.
Kind of what the Dodgers were hoping to get from Thor as this time last year.
A Triple A bonanza of riches
Having followed the Dodgers for 55 plus years now, the winter of 2023 is unique to me in that the Dodgers have a plethora of actual pitching prospects who are banging on the major league door. By plethora I mean TEN, we are lucky to usually have one or two. Several of these pitchers have already shed their rookie status, and several others did spend some time with the Dodgers in 2023, but they all have one thing in common. Every single one of them spent some time in AAA this year and every single one of them is a viable future major league pitcher.
Of course, the Dodgers won’t have room for all of them, either this year or future years. It is possible that only three of these nine pitchers will ever see significant time in the Dodger rotation either due to opportunity, production, injury, or having been traded outside the organization. Which is why I want to write about them today, because any day now, several of them may no longer be in the Dodger organization. Even if they aren’t future rotation pieces, you could make a case that Grove / Hurt / Frasso / Vanasco could up being valuable bullpen pieces.
Who are these guys?
We will start with the one pitcher everyone already knows. Bobby Miller. Coming into 2023, Bobby Miller was the consensus top pitching prospect for the Dodgers but he wasn’t number one in the rotational depth chart. That belonged to Ryan Pepiot, Michael Grove, and Gavin Stone. Unlucky for the Dodgers, but lucky for Bobby Miller, Pepiot got hurt, Grove and Stone struggled, and so the Dodgers turned to Bobby Miller who was himself struggling in AAA. Miller made four starts for OKC and had a 5.65 ERA in just 14 innings when the Dodgers brought him up. Miller would show why he was the Dodgers top pitching prospect and would stay in the Dodgers rotation from May 23rd until the end of the year, and would even pitch the 2nd game in the NLDS. At this point Bobby Miller is expected to be in the Dodger rotation on opening day, and based on pitchers currently in the system, he has the 2nd most experience in the major leagues. It is safe to say, that Bobby Miller will be a Dodger for a while. What isn’t safe to say is that Bobby Miller is the best of the bunch. Right now he looks that way, but Emmet Sheehan or Nick Frasso or even River Ryan might have something to say about it.
Twenty-Six year-old Ryan Pepiot has now made thirty two AAA starts and he likely will not make any more outside of some rehab starts if he gets hurt in 2024. Pepiot was having a dominant AAA in 2022 so he made his major league in 2022 but he failed to build upon that AAA success and had some question marks coming into the 2023 season. He was expected to compete in the spring for one open rotation spot and he did more than that, winning the rotation spot with an impressive spring. Sadly, however, Pepiot suffered an oblique injury at the end of spring training. This injury lingered much longer than expected and Pepiot wasn’t able to take the mound until mid July, making his first appearance of 2023 on July 15th with AAA OKC. Pepiot would make 6 starts for OKC and with his final start on August 13th Pepiot showed he was ready for his major league 2023 debut by striking out 11 with zero walks during his 20 out start. Ready he was, Ryan Pepiot flourished in the Dodger rotation, giving them six games as either the starter or the bulk inning pitcher. Pepiot also made two appearances as a multi-inning mid game relief pitcher. In only one of these eight games did Pepiot struggle, he was mostly dominant, and it was a far cry from what he showed in his 2022 debut season. In 2022, Pepiot dominated AAA, but in his seven starts for the Dodgers his control completely left him as his walk rate was 6.7 per nine innings. In 2023, that walk rate in 42 innings was a miniscule 1.1. Due to his impressive 2023 season, albeit in a small sample size, Ryan Pepiot is currently ranked 3rd in the Dodgers rotation behind Walker Buehler, and Bobby Miller.
Now it gets murkier. Right now if you look at the Dodger rotation, you see Walker Buehler, Bobby Miller, and Ryan Pepiot. That is all you have that you can legitimately pencil in. Dustin May is out for the year. Tony Gonsolin is out for the year. Clayton Kershaw is out until at least mid-summer, and he may not even be a Dodger in 2023. It is expected that the Dodgers will acquire at least two more starters via free agency or a trade between now and opening day. Yet, the Dodgers have plenty of talent that could conceivably be used in the 2024 rotation. It is going to be a fine line that the Dodger front office is going to have to walk to fill the rotation while at the same time, not blocking their young pitching prospects. I’m expecting at least one or even two of the names below to get traded for that veteran pitching. A younger team could take a chance and let the multiple young arms listed below battle it out for the final two open rotation spots, but not a team with World Series aspirations. They will want some certainty, even though, you rarely get any kind of certainty with pitching.
One little caveat before I continue. In the past, you would see scouting reports that so and so doesn’t have the stamina or the stuff to go through a lineup three times. Is that still relevant? The guy who just won the NL CYA only averaged 17 outs a start. The minimum bar for outs per start is so low now that you are only hoping for fifteen outs, even though you’d take 12 – 14, and hell, eighteen outs would be fantastic.
In 2022, Emmet Sheehan never got past High A ball but the Dodgers did ask him to pitch in the Arizona Fall League where he excelled. Sheehan had shown good stuff as a 22-year-old in 2022, but no one was prepared for the step up he would take in 2023. He dominated AA so much that the Dodgers skipped him from AA right to the major leagues. In his major league debut, Sheehan threw six no – hit innings but he struggled with his control throughout his seven major leagues starts. As the Dodgers added some rotation help at the trading deadline they moved Sheehan down to AAA where he made three starts, and like Bobby Miller, didn’t exactly wow anyone. Yet, the Dodgers brought him back to big club in Sept, where he made four more starts. In his last three appearances in 2023, Emmet pitched 17 2/3 innings, gave up only three runs, while walking only 4, and striking out an amazing twenty three hitters. Before Emmet exhausted his rookie status, he was being ranked as one of the top pitching prospects in baseball, and those last three games, showed why. It would not be unreasonable to see Emmet be successful in 2024 if the Dodgers simply penciled him into the rotation. He might have the highest ceiling of any one in the system including Bobby Miller and Ryan Pepiot. I’m positive that Dodgers will not trade Emmet Sheehan, his ceiling is simply to high.
Gavin Stone had the season in 2022 that Emmet Sheehan had in 2023. He came out of nowhere in 2022 jumping three levels to rival Bobby Miller as the top pitching prospect in the system. Yet, in 2023, Gavin Stone struggled not only at the major league level but at AAA, the level he dominated in 2023. He simply wasn’t ready. He just turned 25, and he looks ticketed for another season in AAA.
MLB Pipeline has ranked Stone as the Dodgers 5th best prospect and 2nd best pitching prospect.
Scouting grades: Fastball: 55 | Slider: 55 | Changeup: 70 | Control: 50 | Overall: 55
With his twenty five AAA starts over the last two years he has the most experience at AAA of any of the pitchers being mentioned today outside of Ryan Pepiot. Stone looks like a starter to me, so unlike Pepiot or Grove or Hurt or Frasso I can’t really see him helping the Dodgers in the bullpen.
Michael Grove is being listed here because he has made seventy seven starts in his professional career including twelve with the Dodgers and two in AAA in 2023, but I only view him as multi-inning relief pitcher or opener going forward. Grove might have a future on another team as a rotation piece, but for the 2024 Dodgers I think his value lies in the bullpen. As a starter, Grove simply struggled, but as a relief pitcher he ended the season on a high note with five scoreless appearances, twenty two outs, one hit, one walk, and eleven strikeouts. I have high hopes for Grove in the Dodger bullpen in 2024.
Nick Frasso is the Dodgers 4th best prospect according to MLB Pipeline.
Scouting grades: Fastball: 75 | Slider: 50 | Changeup: 55 | Control: 50 | Overall: 55
He was just added to the Dodgers 40-man roster, and he only has four AAA starts under his belt. Just like Sheehan, Kyle Hurt, Landon Knack, River Ryan, and the now traded Nick Nastrini, Frasso was part of the unheard of Tulsa rotation that started the year in 2023. All of them had some level of domination in 2023, and thus all of them ended up in AAA with Sheehan and Hurt even seeing time with the Dodgers. Frasso just turned twenty-five this past October, and has made only forty-three professional starts. He is clearly looked upon as a starter as every professional game he has been in, has been as a starter. Yet, many see his floor as a high leverage back of the game bullpen piece. Given the Dodger options in the rotation, maybe that is where he makes sense for the Dodgers. The Dodgers acquired him in 2022 for Mitch White, at the moment it looks like a great deal, but only time will tell. Mitch White seemed to find something at the end of this year, enough so that Toronto added him back to their own 40-man roster after dropping him off of it during the season.
Kyle Hurt might have had the most impressive minor league season among all the impressive pitchers in 2023 in the Dodger organization. The Trojan struck out one hundred fifty two hitters in just ninety two innings which I believe was the best in professional baseball for over 75 innings pitched. Hurt made fifteen starts for AA Tulsa but once he was promoted to AAA OKC, he only made one start in seven appearances. His lone dynamite appearance for the Dodgers was in relief where he looked like vintage Jonathan Broxton, striking out three of his six outs. I don’t know if Hurt can be a rotation piece, the Dodgers don’t seem to know either, but man, his floor looks like a heck of a bullpen piece. Maybe as soon as the summer of 2024.
At twenty -six Landon Knack is the oldest of the pitchers mentioned today and was just added to the 40-man roster last week. Knack was named the Dodgers minor league pitcher of the year which I thought was odd given the seasons that Sheehan and Hurt had. Maybe it was a trading ploy? Knack had a good season and he is a solid depth piece headed into 2024, but I’d think that Sheehan / Stone / Frasso / Hurt are above him in the rotational pecking order. MLB Pipeline likes him more than Kyle Hurt, but I think they are the only publication that thinks so. He seems like a likely candidate to be traded
Rickey Vanasco is a wild card. The Dodgers got Vanasco last summer when he moved off the Rangers 40 man roster. Even though Vanasco had a solid season the Dodgers moved him off the 40-man roster. This move surprised most of us who follow the prospects because Vanasco had a solid end to his 2023 minor league season. Then, the Dodgers surprised us again by signing Vanasco to a major league contract and bringing him back onto the 40-man roster. Vanasco was a starter for the Rangers but he excelled this summer after moving to the bullpen. Just wanted to get his name in here as he did pitch in AAA for OKC this summer, albeit as a relief pitcher.
All of the above pitchers are on the Dodgers 40 man roster, but the next name is not, even though he has also already pitched in AAA. Luckily the Dodgers didn’t have to protect River Ryan, and because of that, it is unlikely the Dodgers will need him in 2024. That said, there is one guy who I respect who thinks that River Ryan might be the most talented pitcher in the Dodger system. That person is Keith Law of the Athletic who listed River Ryan as the 41st top prospect in baseball during his mid-summer update.
The Dodgers made him a full-time pitcher and he’s taken off, working at 95-99 with a four-pitch mix highlighted by a hammer curveball. I saw a plus changeup from him in spring training but he’s barely used it this year, and he’s shown some platoon split as a result, allowing a .385 OBP to lefties. He’s used each of the curve and the slider more than the changeup to left-handed batters, which doesn’t make much sense given how those pitches typically work and the results he’s having. He’s very athletic with an excellent delivery, while his command and control remain below average, especially to left-handed batters. There’s No. 2 starter upside here with improved command and a different pitching plan.
River was traded to the Dodgers from the Padres in 2022 as an infielder. The Dodgers immediately converted him to a pitcher so he has only pitched two professional seasons. It is highly unusual for an 11th round draft pick, to make it to AAA with only 39 professional games under their belt, but that is what River Ryan has done so far. He only made two starts in AAA but those two starts were enough to get him into this article.
So, as you can see if you got this far, the Dodgers have many young pitchers who are already either pitching for the Dodgers like Miller / Pepiot / Sheehan / Stone / Grove or or just about ready to in Frasso / Hurt / Knack / Vanasco. Which one’s will be with by this time next year?
60 years later, Don Drysdale still tops Los Angeles Dodger Postseason Game Scores
As we look to the 2023 LAD postseason, let's take a look at the top LAD postseason game scores again. I did this back in 2014 right after the Dodgers had lost to the Cardinals in the NLDS and the best pitcher in baseball at the time did not make the list.
Nine years later, Clayton Kershaw not only made the list, but he came within one game score point of knocking the leader Don Drysdale off the top of the LAD postseason game score leaderboard. In 2014 only nine games were on this leaderboard, but as we head into the 2023 postseason there are now twelve, with Clayton making the list twice and his teammate Walker Buehler joins him.
Before we show you the leaderboard here is how a game score is calculated.
Start with 50 points.
Add one point for each out recorded, so three points for every complete inning pitched.
Add two points for each inning completed after the fourth.
Add one point for each strikeout.
Subtract two points for each hit allowed.
Subtract four points for each earned run allowed.
Subtract two points for each unearned run allowed.
Subtract one point for each walk.
In Clayton Kershaws first start of the 2014 postseason he entered the 7th inning with a game score of:
50 + 18 + 6 + 8 – 4 – 8= 70
Three more outs in modest fashion and who knows what Oct 2014 would have brought Dodger fans, but as Dodger fans learned the hard way, post season baseball is not six innings.
You can also bet, that no starting pitcher for the Dodgers in 2023 will crack this list, as we will be lucky to see any of them, even go six innings.
Player GmScV Rd. Gm Date Opp Result IP H ER BB SO
Don Drysdale 89.0 WS 3 1963-10-05 NYY W 1-0 9.0 3 0 1 9
Clayton Kershaw 88.0 NLWC 2 2020-10-01 MIL W 3-0 8.0 3 0 1 13
Sandy Koufax 88.0 WS 7 1965-10-14 MIN W 2-0 9.0 3 0 3 10
Sandy Koufax 88.0 WS 5 1965-10-11 MIN W 7-0 9.0 4 0 1 10
Orel Hershiser 87.0 WS 2 1988-10-16 OAK W 6-0 9.0 3 0 2 8
Don Sutton 84.0 NLCS 1 1974-10-05 PIT W 3-0 9.0 4 0 1 6
Clayton Kershaw 81.0 NLDS 2 2018-10-05 ATL W 3-0 8.0 2 0 0 3
Tommy John 81.0 NLCS 2 1978-10-05 PHI W 4-0 9.0 4 0 2 4
Walker Buehler 80.0 WS 3 2018-10-26 BOS W 3-2 (18) 7.0 2 0 0 7
Jose Lima 80.0 NLDS 3 2004-10-09 STL W 4-0 9.0 5 0 1 4
Orel Hershiser 80.0 NLCS 7 1988-10-12 NYM W 6-0 9.0 5 0 2 5
Burt Hooton 80.0 WS 2 1977-10-12 NYY W 6-1 9.0 5 1 1 8
Provided by Stathead.com: View Stathead Tool Used
Generated 10/4/2023.
Have to admit, this list surprised me just a tad. I fully expected Sandy Koufax to top the list with either his legendary game seven victory over the Twins in 1965, or his very first World Series start against the Yankees in 1963 when he struck out 15.
Yet it is a different HOF who tops the list. Don Drysdale by the skin of his teeth takes the top honors with his 1 - 0 whitewashing of the Yankees in game three of the 1963 Yankees.
Game score tells you who statistically pitched the best game but it does not have any idea of context. When Don Drysdale whitewashed the Yankees in 1963 the Dodgers already had a 2 - 0 World Series lead, and the game was hardly a must win. What was significant, is that the game was the first World Series game ever played at Dodger Stadium, and what a way to break in a stadium that would eventually host a number of World Series games in the latter part of the 20th century. Sandy Koufax and Johnny Podres had already dominated the 1962 World Champions, as they had only given up a combined three runs in the first two games. Don would take that a step further and win 1 - 0. Sandy would finish up by beating Whitey Ford a second time 2 - 1 in game four. The other point of interest in Don's game was that his opponent was Ball Four author Jim Bouton. Bouton only gave up one run, and that came in the first inning on a single by Tommy Davis, who drove in Jim Gilliam who had reached second on a walk and wild pitch. That would be the last mistake Jim Bouton would make but it would be all Don Drysdale would need.
If you want a more detailed look at the game, this is a great read
In the 1963 World Series the Dodgers made four starts, and only one relief pitcher saw any action. Only four pitchers pitched in the 1963 World Series. Four. Three of those games are on this list of all time postseason games. It would probably be understating the obvious to say the Dodger rotation of Koufax/Podres/Drysdale owned the Yankees. The Dodgers did to the Yankees what the Orioles rotation would do to the Dodgers in the 1966 World Series. If you want more info on the 1963 season, Eric Stephen has been doing a running series on the 1963 season, and today he wrote about this particular game.
Eventually I will get to my point, while Don Drysdale is on the top of this list, I don't think anyone would argue that Sandy Koufax in game seven of 1965 actually pitched the greatest game in LAD history. He not only shutout the vaunted offensive Twins in game seven. He not only shutout them out in Minneapolis . He did it on three days rest, after shutting out the Twins in game five. Sandy pitched three games in eight days, two of them shutouts, and saved his best for last, winning the World Championship game with the second highest game score ever recorded by a LA Dodger in the postseason.
There is a reason Sandy Koufax is a legend. He earned it from April - October.
While very few can say they saw Sandy and Don do their magic, the majority of us can point to 1988 and remember Orel shutting down the bash brother Oakland A's. The A's were still a potent team, when Orel carved out their heart in game two. He would later finish the job in game five, earning World Series MVP honors.
HOF Don Sutton had a reputation as big game pitcher. He started that reputation with his shutout of the Pirates in the 1974 NLCS. Don would also win the close out game four. Note of interest, future Dodger Jerry Reuss was Don's opponent in the first and fourth game. In game one Reuss did well only giving up one run while losing 3 -0. Game four was a different story as the Dodgers pounded a multitude of Pirate pitchers for a 12 - 1 victory.
The Jose Lima game has been covered many times.
Leaving Burt Hooton, who always seems to be forgotten when discussing significant Dodger starters. I'll be honest, I remember Burt being chased by the Phillie fans in game four of NLCS more than I remember this gem he pitched against the Yankees in 1977. Probably because the Dodgers would eventually lose the 1977 World Series and Hooton would be a big reason why when he was hammered in the game six elimination game. If fans of Burt Hooton would like Burt remembered more fondly, Burt probably should have pitched better in that game six. The Dodgers were able to bail him out in the NLCS game when his nerves abandoned him, but they could not do it a second time.
Walker Buehler was the 2nd LAD to crack this list since 2014 with his brilliant game three in the 2018 World Series. It would be the only game the Dodgers won in 2018.
So many other LAD have had great postseason games, so here is the extended list using a game score of 75 as the criteria.
It is nice to see that Kershaw is on the list two more times after being on it only once when I first ran the numbers in 2014. Other newcomers to the list since 2014 are old fan favorite Hyun Jin Ryu, not so much a fan favorite Max Scherzer, and Walker Buehler.
Rk Player GmScV Rd. Gm Date Opp Result IP H ER BB SO
13 Sandy Koufax 79.0 WS 1 1963-10-02 NYY W 5-2 9.0 6 2 3 15
14 Sandy Koufax 79.0 WS 4 1963-10-06 NYY W 2-1 9.0 6 1 0 8
15 Don Drysdale 78.0 WS 4 1965-10-10 MIN W 7-2 9.0 5 2 2 11
16 Clayton Kershaw 78.0 WS 1 2017-10-24 HOU W 3-1 7.0 3 1 0 11
17 Zack Greinke 78.0 NLDS 2 2014-10-04 STL W 3-2 7.0 2 0 2 7
18 Don Sutton 78.0 NLCS 4 1974-10-09 PIT W 12-1 8.0 3 1 1 7
19 Clayton Kershaw 78.0 NLCS 2 2016-10-16 CHC W 1-0 7.0 2 0 1 6
20 Jerry Reuss 78.0 NLDS 5 1981-10-11 HOU W 4-0 9.0 5 0 3 4
21 Fernando Valenzuela 78.0 NLDS 4 1981-10-10 HOU W 2-1 9.0 4 1 1 4
22 Jerry Reuss 78.0 NLDS 2 1981-10-07 HOU L 0-1 (11) 9.0 5 0 2 3
23 Hyun Jin Ryu 77.0 NLDS 1 2018-10-04 ATL W 6-0 7.0 4 0 0 8
24 Fernando Valenzuela 77.0 NLCS 5 1981-10-19 MON W 2-1 8.2 3 1 3 6
25 Claude Osteen 77.0 WS 3 1965-10-09 MIN W 4-0 9.0 5 0 2 2
26 Clayton Kershaw 76.0 NLDS 1 2013-10-03 ATL W 6-1 7.0 3 1 3 12
27 Max Scherzer 76.0 NLDS 3 2021-10-11 SFG L 0-1 7.0 3 1 1 10
28 Orel Hershiser 76.0 WS 5 1988-10-20 OAK W 5-2 9.0 4 2 4 9
29 Jerry Reuss 76.0 WS 5 1981-10-25 NYY W 2-1 9.0 5 1 3 6
30 Zack Greinke 75.0 NLCS 1 2013-10-11 STL L 2-3 (13) 8.0 4 2 1 10
31 Walker Buehler 75.0 NLDS 1 2019-10-03 WSN W 6-0 6.0 1 0 3 8
32 Tommy John 75.0 NLCS 4 1977-10-08 PHI W 4-1 9.0 7 1 2 8
33 Ramon Martinez 75.0 NLDS 1 1996-10-02 ATL L 1-2 (10) 8.0 3 1 3 6
Provided by Stathead.com: View Stathead Tool Used
Generated 10/4/2023.
Dodgers Bautista win 2023 Dominican Summer League Championship
by beating the Pirates two games to one in the three game Championship series. The Dodgers lost the first game of the series 7 – 5, but won the 2nd game 7 – 5 by scoring 3 runs in the bottom of the 8th. In the final game, they scored 4 quick runs, and broke it open with four more runs in the 6th to win handily 9 – 5. In this case, the best team won the championship as the LAD Bautista team had 42 wins and a .792 winning % for the season. The closest team in winning % to them was the DSL Padres Gold team that they beat in the semifinals.
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsJoendry Vargas, my No. 10 #Dodgers prospect, hit an absolutely electric homer in yesterday’s DSL championship clincher
— Bruce Kuntz (@Bnicklaus7) September 2, 2023
Vargas, still just 17, posted a .952 OPS and 0.97 BB/K ratio in an impressive first pro season pic.twitter.com/8SBWPr05VE
Angel Diaz was the hitting star of the postseason, but it was top shortstop prospect Joendry Vargas who slugged the team to victory in the final match with a single, double, and homerun. Eduardo Quintero also chipped in three hits as the dynamic top of the lineup picked up six hits between them. The pitching stars were Jholbran Herder and Angel Cruz who combined to pitch seven innings of one run ball, with ten strikeouts.
But does it matter? Back in 2017, the Dodgers not only won the Championship Series, they had the last two teams standing. When you read the highlights of the that series you won’t recognize one single name. Will that be the same fate of the 2023 Dodger Champions? If you were to stumble across this little story in 2029 would you know who Joendry Vargas, Eduardo Quintero, or Angel Diaz are? Probably not, but the odds got a little higher yesterday that you might.
The star of game three, Joendry Vargas is already the highest rated SS in the Dodger system even though he hasn’t played one professional game on the mainland so you would think he has a good shot at having a major league career, however, Wilman Diaz was that guy two years ago, and Wilman is now facing very long odds about being a major league baseball player.
Scott Boras and his people are considered very smart when it comes to the business of deciding who they will represent and yesterday, they announced that one of their two new Dodger clients is Eduardo Quintero whose season I wrote about last week. If Scott Boras and company want to represent you, they expect you to earn them some money.
Those would be the two Dodgers from the Dominican Summer League I’d be betting on to have major league careers but it could be series hitting star Angel Diaz or infielder Elias Medina, 1st/OF Yofran Medina, 16-year-old infielder Harold Gonzalez, or pitcher Jesus Tilero. Or none of them, there is no bigger step then the step from the Dominican Summer League to Mainland baseball, but it does seem that the Dodgers have a bigger crop than usual who might make a Mainland impact.
Last year Josue De Paula was the hitting star of the 2022 DSL teams and in 2023 he already made an impact in A ball, and is now considered the Dodgers top outfield prospect. If you compare what De Paula did in 2022 at the same age as Eduardo Quintero did this year, you have to think that Quintero just might be the Dodger outfielder who might give De Paula a run for his money as the Dodgers best outfield prospect. Scott Boras hedged his bets and signed both of them yesterday.
Other players from that 2022 DSL team that have made an impact in 2023 on the mainland are Jeral Perez and Alexander Albertus. Derlin Figueroa was one of the players traded for Ryan Yarbrough so he certainly has already had an impact on the Dodgers major league club.
This closes the chapter on the DSL 2023 season, and hopefully some of the names mentioned above, come over to the mainland and have exploits that other writers will write about.
Eduardo Quintero Dominican Summer League MVP?
The Rookie leagues for 2023 are done, and since the Dodgers had so many interesting players on their two Dominican League teams along with the Arizona Complex League, I thought I’d take a stroll through the stats and see what stood out.
Nobody stood out more than 17-year-old Eduardo Quintero who dominated the Dominican Summer League. Using the bREF stats we can see that Quintero was in the top 10 of everything good.
Using 100 Plate Appearances for these tables:
Number 2 in OPS but with a huge qualifier. Number one is a 21-year-old player named Oliver Carrillo who you will see on a number of these lists, and frankly, at 21 he should dominate a league populated by teen-agers.
As I was creating these tables it was apparent that this kid Braylin Morel would give Quintero a run for his money for the MVP, but Quintero is at least in the conversation.
Quintero was signed on January 15th out of Venezuela as a catcher. That catcher must have had plus speed as he has played mostly CF this summer. When it comes to prospect rankings, Quintero is still being ignored since he wasn’t high on the IFA 2023 list, even though stat wise he was better than Joendry Vargas who was the big international signing in 2023. Vargas will be found on Major League Pipeline as the Dodgers 14th pick. It is understandable to a point not to read to much into DSL stats, but Quintero’s stats are so eye popping for a 17-year-old you’d expect that to create some waves. Gap power/Speed/Patience/Defense. Two sites that did notice were Rotowire and Dodger Digest. Rotowire has him as their 201st top prospect and number six for the Dodgers. Dodger Digest has him as their 18th top prospect.
Other Dodgers of note on the OPS list below are Angel Diaz, Roger Lasso, Joendry Vargas and Alexander Albertus
| Name | Age | OPS ▼ | Aff |
| Oliver Carrillo | 21 | 1.128 | SDP |
| Eduardo Quintero | 17 | 1.089 | LAD |
| Franklin Lopez | 18 | 1.08 | COL |
| Braylin Morel | 17 | 1.061 | TEX |
| Ramon Ramirez | 18 | 1.055 | KCR |
| Josue Gonzalez | 19 | 1.046 | NYY |
| Angel Diaz | 19 | 1.044 | LAD |
| Kevyn Castillo* | 18 | 1.027 | LAA |
| Yeremi Cabrera* | 17 | 1.004 | TEX |
| Demetrio Nadal | 18 | 1.003 | MIL |
| Javier Mogollon | 17 | 0.999 | CHW |
| Adrian Gil | 17 | 0.998 | CHW |
| Luis Ogando | 19 | 0.987 | NYY |
| Robert Calaz | 17 | 0.984 | COL |
| Kelvin HIdalgo | 18 | 0.98 | COL |
| Derek Bernard | 17 | 0.974 | COL |
| Carlos Cauro | 18 | 0.965 | HOU |
| Darwin De Leon | 19 | 0.961 | HOU |
| Roger Lasso | 19 | 0.96 | LAD |
| Yoeilin Cespedes | 17 | 0.953 | BOS |
| Joendry Vargas | 17 | 0.952 | LAD |
| Jostyn Almonte | 20 | 0.95 | NYM |
| Dameury Pena | 17 | 0.949 | MIN |
| Alfredo Duno | 17 | 0.945 | CIN |
| Carlos Caro | 18 | 0.944 | PIT |
| Elias Medina | 17 | 0.934 | LAD |
| Yosander Asencio | 18 | 0.933 | BOS |
| Stiven Flores | 17 | 0.932 | CHW |
| Alexander Albertus | 18 | 0.926 | LAD |
3rd in Slugging Percentage. Granted a lot of that slugging was via his speed, with his seven triples.
Other Dodgers of note on the Slugging Percentage list below are Angel Diaz, Elias Medina, and Joendry Vargas
| Name | Age | Aff | SLG |
| Braylin Morel | 17 | TEX | 0.644 |
| Franklin Lopez | 18 | COL | 0.629 |
| Eduardo Quintero | 17 | LAD | 0.618 |
| Ramon Ramirez | 18 | KCR | 0.615 |
| Angel Diaz | 19 | LAD | 0.587 |
| Oliver Carrillo | 21 | SDP | 0.586 |
| Javier Mogollon | 17 | CHW | 0.582 |
| Kelvin HIdalgo | 18 | COL | 0.574 |
| Derek Bernard | 17 | COL | 0.563 |
| Robert Calaz | 17 | COL | 0.561 |
| Yoeilin Cespedes | 17 | BOS | 0.56 |
| Yeremi Cabrera* | 17 | TEX | 0.559 |
| Elias Medina | 17 | LAD | 0.553 |
| Kevyn Castillo* | 18 | LAA | 0.548 |
| Luis Ogando | 19 | NYY | 0.541 |
| Josue Gonzalez | 19 | NYY | 0.529 |
| Joendry Vargas | 17 | LAD | 0.529 |
| Demetrio Nadal | 18 | MIL | 0.525 |
| Carlos Cauro | 18 | HOU | 0.521 |
9th in On Base Percentage. 3rd among 17-year-olds. Noticing something here, the DSL must be a wild league because there are numerous players at the top of the OBP leaderboard where they have more walks than strikeouts. When I first started tracking Quintero I thought he was having a unique year in that regard, but it isn’t as special as I thought.
Other Dodgers of note on the Slugging Percentage list below are Roger Lasso and Angel Diaz
| Name | Age | Aff | OBP | BB | SO |
| Oliver Carrillo | 21 | SDP | 0.542 | 66 | 45 |
| Josue Gonzalez | 19 | NYY | 0.517 | 38 | 21 |
| Roger Lasso | 19 | LAD | 0.514 | 32 | 25 |
| Miguel Rodriguez | 17 | BAL | 0.489 | 24 | 13 |
| Adrian Gil | 17 | CHW | 0.481 | 25 | 21 |
| Kevyn Castillo* | 18 | LAA | 0.478 | 40 | 36 |
| Demetrio Nadal | 18 | MIL | 0.478 | 24 | 19 |
| Eduardo Quintero | 17 | LAD | 0.472 | 32 | 34 |
| Abrahan Ramirez | 18 | NYY | 0.471 | 31 | 19 |
| Darwin De Leon | 19 | HOU | 0.47 | 23 | 21 |
| Ariel Lebron | 18 | HOU | 0.469 | 13 | 21 |
| Andry Javier | 19 | NYY | 0.465 | 23 | 11 |
| Carlos Gutiérrez* | 19 | CLE | 0.46 | 14 | 17 |
| Angel Diaz | 19 | LAD | 0.457 | 23 | 21 |
How about speed? 5th
Other Dodgers of note on the Stolen Base list below are Elio Campos, Elias Medina, and Joendry Vargas
| Name | Age | Aff | SB | CS |
| Demetrio Nadal | 18 | MIL | 33 | 10 |
| Yeiker Reyes | 17 | COL | 33 | 2 |
| Mario Baez | 16 | ATL | 24 | 5 |
| Kevyn Castillo* | 18 | LAA | 23 | 9 |
| Eduardo Quintero | 17 | LAD | 22 | 4 |
| Nomar Velasquez | 18 | CLE | 21 | 3 |
| Fernando Peguero | 18 | BAL | 20 | 11 |
| Elio Campos | 19 | LAD | 19 | 3 |
| Joendry Vargas | 17 | LAD | 19 | 5 |
| Bairon Ledesma | 18 | COL | 19 | 8 |
| Cherif Neymour | 18 | MIA | 18 | 1 |
| Luis Frias | 18 | SFG | 18 | 5 |
| Derek Bernard | 17 | COL | 17 | 3 |
| Elis Cuevas | 18 | BAL | 17 | 5 |
| Heriberto Rincon | 17 | NYM | 17 | 3 |
| Luis Guevara | 17 | BAL | 16 | 5 |
| Starlyn Caba | 17 | PHI | 16 | 6 |
| Elias Medina | 17 | LAD | 16 | 5 |
More speed? 2nd in triples
| Name | Age | Aff | 3B |
| Braylin Morel | 17 | TEX | 8 |
| Kevyn Castillo* | 18 | LAA | 7 |
| Eduardo Quintero | 17 | LAD | 7 |
| Welbyn Francisca | 17 | CLE | 6 |
| Yeremi Cabrera* | 17 | TEX | 6 |
Extra Base Hits? 2nd with 27
Other Dodger of note on the extra base hit list below was Joendry Vargas
| Name | Age | Aff | 2B | 3B | HR | XBH |
| Braylin Morel | 17 | TEX | 17 | 8 | 7 | 32 |
| Eduardo Quintero | 17 | LAD | 15 | 7 | 5 | 27 |
| Yoeilin Cespedes | 17 | BOS | 15 | 4 | 6 | 25 |
| Kelvin HIdalgo | 18 | COL | 8 | 4 | 12 | 24 |
| Javier Mogollon | 17 | CHW | 10 | 2 | 10 | 22 |
| Julio Zayas | 17 | NYM | 14 | 1 | 7 | 22 |
| Derek Bernard | 17 | COL | 11 | 3 | 7 | 21 |
| Robert Calaz | 17 | COL | 12 | 2 | 7 | 21 |
| Kevyn Castillo* | 18 | LAA | 10 | 7 | 3 | 20 |
| Elis Cuevas | 18 | BAL | 14 | 4 | 2 | 20 |
| Joendry Vargas | 17 | LAD | 12 | 1 | 7 | 20 |
Total bases? 5th
Other Dodger of note on the total base list below was Joendry Vargas
| Name | Age | Aff | TB |
| Braylin Morel | 17 | TEX | 116 |
| Kelvin HIdalgo | 18 | COL | 113 |
| Yoeilin Cespedes | 17 | BOS | 107 |
| Eduardo Quintero | 17 | LAD | 105 |
| Kevyn Castillo* | 18 | LAA | 102 |
| Javier Mogollon | 17 | CHW | 96 |
| Yeremi Cabrera* | 17 | TEX | 95 |
| Starlyn Nunez | 17 | BOS | 93 |
| Joendry Vargas | 17 | LAD | 92 |
Down Season!!!! Not so fast
The Dodgers won 111 games in 2022, yet most folks had the Dodgers between 88 – 94 wins headed into the 2023 season. As recently as last week Fangraphs pegged the Dodgers with 84 wins just one month into the season. At that point the Dodgers were 13 – 13 and had just been embarrassed by the Pirates. The lineup the Dodgers put up on April 26th did look embarrassing.
| BettsRF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .241 |
| Freeman, F1B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .289 |
| HeywardCF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | .159 |
| OutmanLF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | .301 |
| Vargas, M2B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .221 |
| Busch3B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | .143 |
| Taylor, ChSS | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | .173 |
| PeraltaDH | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .179 |
| WynnsC | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .154 |
| Totals | 31 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 10 |
Heyward was batting 3rd with a .159 average, the 6 – 9 hitters couldn’t break the .200 average mark, and Miguel Vargas batting 5th had yet to hit a home run. The team was without Max Muncy on paternity leave, Will Smith recovering from a concussion, and JD Martinez was about to hit the injured list. Mookie wasn’t doing much, Freddie had yet to hit his stride. The only player who was really holding his weight in that lineup was James Outman who was having his first struggles of his major league career. Things were looking bleak, and entitled Dodger fans were outraged that the front office had failed miserably to keep up with the Padres.
Justin Heyward was considered a joke signing to appease his best friend Freddie Freeman, Vargas wasn’t ready. Peralta was done, Chris Taylor was done, Syndergaard was done, Urias was feeling the heat of pitching for a contract for the first time in his career, and oh my, the bullpen was a disaster.
The only good news was Clayton Kershaw, Max Muncy, and James Outman
Fast forward one week and six games you have a completely different outlook as evidenced by the box score from 5/3/23 which showed a remarkable improvement from the game just one week before. Mookie got hot, Freeman got hot, Will Smith returned, Max Muncy returned, Justin Heyward stopped being a joke and has pushed himself into the most improved player of 2023, Outman made a mechanical tweek and ended his first slump, Miguel Vargas found his power stroke, Peralta and Taylor climbed above .200.
| Batters – LAD | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BettsRF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | .270 |
| Freeman, F1B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | .310 |
| Smith, W.D.C | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | .297 |
| Muncy3B | 5 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 3 | .239 |
| HeywardDH | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .246 |
| a-Rojas, MPH-SS | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .184 |
| OutmanCF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .290 |
| Vargas, M2B | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .237 |
| PeraltaLF | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .205 |
| b-Barnes, APH | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .104 |
| FergusonP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| GraterolP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Taylor, ChSS-LF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .205 |
The game on Wednesday culminated a dominant stretch of six games in which the Dodgers swept the Cardinals and Phillies. With that six game winning streak the Dodgers turned a 13 – 13 record and a projected 81 – 81 season into 19 – 13 and 95 – 67 projected season. While a far cry from 111 wins it is more in line with what a Dodger team with Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Will Smith, Max Muncy, Clayton Kershaw, Julio Urias, Dustin May, Tony Gonsolin should be expected to accomplish.
A healthy Dodger team can still be a dominant force in 2023. The Lux injury was a hearty blow but as I look at the team headed into an epic weekend series with the Padres, you can’t help but see so many positive signs.
Clayton Kershaw won Pitcher of the Month in April
James Outman won Rookie of the Month in April beating out the favorite Corbin Carroll. More importantly, Outman had a late slump in April but they said he made a tweek and has bounced back nicely in early May
Mookie and Freddie are both healthy
Mookie showed he can play a quality major league shortstop if the Dodgers need to go that way which they might do more of against right hand pitching with Peralta/Outman/Heyward handling the outfield.
Miguel Vargas played a respectable 2nd base, and as April turned to May, he started hitting like the Dodgers expect him to. He hit his first home run on Monday, and followed that up with three doubles on Tuesday, and another home run on Wednesday.
MAX FRIGGING MUNCY – wow, I expected a bounce back and predicted he’d lead the Dodgers with 35 home runs this year but I certainly didn’t expect this. I have to look harder but I think Max Muncy may have had the greatest offensive month of any Dodger 3rd baseman ever.
Will Smith before going on concussion watch, was once again establishing himself as one of the best hitting catchers in the game
Is Chris Taylor finding his stroke? The last 14 days, he has an .914 OPS. The strikeouts are still an issue but when he makes contact, he’s making hard contact.
Even though Thor has yet to establish any consistency, the original rotation is actually healthy and with four of the five expected to give a quality start 90% of the time, you have a rotation that is hard to match.
Gavin Stone started off slow in AAA but righted himself and pitched decently in his major league debut. Bobby Miller is back in the OKC rotation, Pepiot is throwing again, so it won’t be long before the Dodgers have three prospect options should any injuries hit the rotation.
The beleaguered bullpen in most of April, seems to have turned a corner with the return of Victor Gonzalez. Everyone who was struggling is all of the sudden pitching like 2022.
The minor leagues have the best winning percentage in baseball, but that is another story.
Not everything is rosy
Trayce Thompson hit three home runs in one game and that has been about his only contribution so far in 2022. With Outman able to hit left hand pitching, Trayce has found little runway in 2023. The worried fanbase feel that the Dodgers need another right handed hitting outfielder to replace Trayce but really, he’s kind of the perfect complement if Chris Taylor is back. Against RHP, you have Outman, Heyward, Peralta with Mookie playing SS, and against LHP, you have Mookie/Outman/Taylor with Rojas handling SS. Not ideal, and it would be great if Trayce could start helping the team, but it isn’t a cataosphic problem given the few at – bats that Trayce would be handling. All of this could change, if injuries hit and change the landscape.
Thor has been awful. Can’t sugarcoat his starts so far. He looks as hittable as any pitcher the Dodgers have put on the bump in recent memory. They are going to work on some things and Thor will be skipped in the Padre series, but it is possible this signing does not pan out. If it doesn’t the Dodgers do have Stone, Miller, and Pepiot in their hip pocket.
Not having a real closer may end up being problematic. I just don’t think Grateral is up for the gig. Evan Philips might be, but Dave seems to need him before the 9th. This isn’t the Kimbrel issue of 2022, but it is something to keep an eye on.
The complete bullpen has had one great week, but for the most part has been shaky. Going forward, is the bullpen finding their legs, or did they just have nice stretch. I prefer to think they are finding their legs, but time will tell.
Headed into this season before Lux went down I pegged the team for 102 wins. Based on what I’ve seen so far it still looks like a 98 – 102 win team as long as Mookie/Freddie stay healthy and the rotation stays moderately healthy. That win total is not exactly based on what we have right now on the 25 man roster but on the fact that this organization is in better shape than any organization to make a deal this summer to strengthen the team as they see fit. They simply have to many prospects to hoard and while they won’t be bringing in superstars like Darvish/Machado/Scherzer/Turner they can bring back complementary pieces. They don’t even need to be free agents, they can be young players who match up better with our organization then the current organization they are on. Teams that fit those needs would be the Orioles or Indians.
Anyway, those who counted the Dodgers out in 2023, are probably rewriting their columns as I write this.
No one had a better run, than Vin Scully
You don’t mourn a person who lived the life of Vin Scully, you celebrate it. Vin was 94 when he passed away last night, his beloved wife had left him a few years before and he was ready to join her. He had one of the great categorical runs of all time. He had nothing left for this plane, and being that he was a man of God, I hope he found peace when he left us.
I’m not a man of God, but I count my blessings that Vin Scully was not only a large part of the fabric of my life, but that he was a large part of the fabric of so many lives. My life, and many of our lives would be so much poorer if Vin Scully had not come West with the Dodgers.
In the mid 1960’s my maternal Grandparents came to visit us when we lived in Germany, and with them came the knowledge that something was awaiting me when our family would come back to Glendale, Ca. That something was Vin Scully and the Dodgers. They were about 65 at the time and she couldn’t stop talking about Vin and the Dodgers. As someone who had never lived in California even though I’d been born in Pasadena her stories about Vin captivated this young boy, and probably was the basis for my becoming a Dodger fan long before I’d ever seen a baseball game or even know what a Los Angeles Dodger was. When they left I started listening to Armed Forces Radio major league baseball games and though I don’t remember Vinny ever doing one of the broadcasts my love for baseball grew from that experience.
Our family moved from Germany to Alexandria, VA in 1968 and I instantly became a huge Washington Senator fan, listening to Warner Wolf do the radio broadcasts with the transistor tucked under my pillow late at night when they made their West Coast trips. Warner was adequate, He was all I knew. Little did I know that my future would involve listening to the very best.
In the spring of 1970 we moved West, to Glendale, Ca where we initially settled in to live with my maternal grandparents. At the time it was just my Mom and one brother. My Dad, and my other two brothers were finishing up work and school before joining us. My grandparents had moved from Wisconsin in the 1950’s and settled in Glendale on a street called Carlton, just a block from Glendale High School in a two story Duplex and they had the bottom unit. It was cramped with three bodies being shoved into the small space but that worked out well in one respect. My grandmother had Dodger baseball on all the time. Dodger Talk, Dodger PreGame, Dodger Game, Dodger Postgame, More Dodger Talk, With the close quarters you could hear the beat of the Dodgers anywhere in the house. When the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles in 1958 they were excited that the Dodgers were coming to Los Angeles, but Vin Scully made them love the Dodgers. I feel very confident in saying that if Vin Scully had not come West with the Dodgers, my grandmother never would have fallen in love with her Dodgers they way she did. It was Vin Scully and the Dodgers, not The Dodgers and Vin Scully.
I gobbled it all up and Vin Scully was the main meal while Jerry Doggett was the solid side of mashed potatoes.. Later in life you would hear stories that if you walked a block in Los Angeles you’d never miss the game because Vin was on in all the houses and you could hear him narrating the game as you took your walk. That was all true in 1970. So true.
That spring went fast with Vin on the dial and Billy Grabarkewitz turning heads with his All-Star season. My Dad showed up, and took me to my first Dodger Game. Just as you have heard, in 1970 everyone had a transistor radio on, and Vin could be heard everywhere. It was the best way to learn the game of baseball, watching it unfold before your eyes, and having Vin letting you know what was happening if something wasn’t apparent. Fans didn’t jump out of their seats on long fly balls now as they did then, because Vin let you know very quickly if a ball had a shot or not. Vin had a secret that he told us all. Watch the outfielders, they will let you know. We didn’t need a smart phone to let us know what was going on while at the game, that was Vin’s job, and he did it better then anyone before or since.
Much of what I’ve heard last night and today was about Vin Scully the storyteller, but I think many are missing the mark. Vin was a brilliant storyteller but you know what Vin was best at? Painting the picture of the game. When Vin did radio or simulcast he was at his best. He knew he had an audience who couldn’t see what was happening and he made sure you did. He was never confused, you always knew he was focused on the action and while he was interweaving some detail about the player, he didn’t sacrifice the story for the play by play. It would all end up fitting perfectly.
Later in my life, one of my great moments was being able to enter the Vin Scully Press Box via the Blog seat provided by the Dodgers to one blogger per game. I did about ten of these total between 2009 – 2012 and I’d get to the stadium as early as I could. Several times I was one of the first people in the press box but Vin Scully was always there first. I never had the courage to introduce myself as he did his pre-game humming in his deep baritone. It was enough just to watch him prepare. The closest I would end up to Vin was opening the door for him after he and Mo had gotten their ice cream. He of course thanked me. Of course he did.
Deuces Wild, Perfect Games, No-hitters, Gibby greatness, so much more, but for me, I can remember three things that really stand out.
Fernandomania – we were so lucky to have Vinny be our narrator through what I still think was the most exciting regular season experience of my life. Later in Fernando’s career, Vinny capped it off when Fernando threw his no-hitter with “throw your sombrero to the sky”
Puig – I have to honest, this shocked me. Vinny was pretty old by 2014, and Puig was something he’d never seen before. I kind of expected Vin to do a bit of old guy syndrome but instead Vinny fooled me ( I should have known better) and helped turn Puig into the momentary folk hero he would be become with his “Wild Horse on the Loose” commentary of Puig’s exploits.
Charlie Culberson – I don’t think I was ever more emotionally attached to a regular season game as I was for this one. We all know how it turned out, it really was a Hollywood ending to the greatest sportscaster in history.
We all will have specific moments that tie us to Vin, savor them, we were lucky to have them.
Will Smith Appreciation Page
As Will Smith continues to hit home runs every game we thought it might be a good time to show some love for the underrated slugging catcher.
The first table compares Will Smith against other Dodger catchers at a similar age which is 26.
Player HR PA OPS+V From To Age 2B BA OBP SLG OPS Mike Piazza 92 1592 151 1992 1995 23-26 62 .322 .375 .557 .932 Will Smith 44 735 143 2019 2021 24-26 33 .267 .369 .540 .908 Joe Ferguson 28 734 127 1970 1973 23-26 32 .256 .359 .444 .803 Yasmani Grandal 16 426 112 2015 2015 26-26 12 .234 .353 .403 .756 Mike Scioscia 21 1871 104 1980 1985 21-26 73 .267 .357 .358 .716 Russell Martin 49 2326 103 2006 2009 23-26 102 .276 .368 .407 .775 Roy Campanella 9 321 102 1948 1948 26-26 11 .258 .345 .416 .761 Steve Yeager 30 1147 100 1972 1975 23-26 37 .248 .323 .380 .703
Provided by Stathead.com: View Stathead Tool Used
Generated 8/28/2021.
You can’t do a Will Smith appreciation page without realizing how great HOF Mike Piazza was. Mike had already blasted 92 home runs and his .932 OPS is still tops. Russell Martin had already amassed 2326 plate appearances while Will Smith has only 735 but even with that huge plate appearance advantage, Will Smith is only five home runs behind Russell Martin. Will Smith has an OPS of .908 which is over 100 points higher than the next catcher on the OPS list Joe Ferguson. Using OPS+ you realize just how good an offensive catcher that Joe Ferguson was and right now he is the best comp for Will Smith. Ferguson would put together two great offensive season back to back at age 26 and 27 and while he was the primary catcher at age 26 in 1973, in 1974 he would only catch 82 games while playing 32 in the outfield.
At this stage in his career, it seems clear that Will Smith is the second best hitting catcher in Dodger history. Keep in mind this is only because HOF Roy Campanella didn’t start playing with the Dodgers until his age 26 season, while this is the third season for Will Smith.
Are you curious how Will Smith stands up to all major league catchers at this stage in his career. Considering he’s right on Piazz’a butt in OPS+ and that Piazza is generally considered the greatest hitting catcher of all-time I expect he’ll fair favorably. Let’s find out:
Oh my, using age 26 as the maximum age, seasons after 1900, catching at least 50% of the time, National League only, and at least 500 plate appearances you can see that Will Smith is doing quite well against all the catchers in this group.
Player HR OPS+V PA From To Age 2B BA OBP SLG OPS Pos Tm Mike Piazza 92 151 1592 1992 1995 23-26 62 .322 .375 .557 .932 *2/H3 LAD Will Smith 44 143 735 2019 2021 24-26 33 .267 .369 .540 .908 *2/HD5 LAD Buster Posey 61 142 1850 2009 2013 22-26 101 .308 .377 .486 .864 *2/3HD SFG Joe Torre 132 132 3635 1960 1967 19-26 143 .297 .359 .473 .832 *23/H7 MLN-ATL Johnny Bench 212 130 4588 1967 1974 19-26 197 .270 .340 .483 .823 *2/953H78 CIN Joe Ferguson 28 127 734 1970 1973 23-26 32 .256 .359 .444 .803 *2/9H7 LAD Rick Wilkins 44 125 1009 1991 1993 24-26 41 .276 .352 .474 .825 *2/H CHC Bill DeLancey 19 125 668 1932 1935 20-23 32 .291 .384 .479 .863 *2/H STL Brian McCann 112 122 2938 2005 2010 21-26 181 .289 .360 .489 .849 *2/HD ATL Jim Pagliaroni 21 122 640 1963 1964 25-26 17 .265 .359 .421 .779 *2/H PIT Ed Bailey 58 121 1198 1953 1957 22-26 27 .263 .369 .479 .848 *2/H CIN Jason Kendall 45 121 2682 1996 2000 22-26 148 .314 .402 .456 .858 *2/H PIT Tom Haller 34 121 745 1961 1963 24-26 22 .247 .348 .449 .798 *2/H97 SFG
Provided by Stathead.com: View Stathead Tool Used
Generated 8/28/2021.
With his 21st home run last night, Will Smith joined the Los Angeles catchers below who have hit at least 20 home runs in a single season. Some guy named Piazza has the top four home runs seasons in LAD history.
Player HR Year Age Tm PA BA OBP SLG OPS Pos Mike Piazza 40 1997 28 LAD 633 .362 .431 .639 1.070 *2/DH Mike Piazza 36 1996 27 LAD 631 .336 .422 .563 .985 *2/H Mike Piazza 35 1993 24 LAD 602 .318 .370 .561 .932 *2/H3 Mike Piazza 32 1995 26 LAD 475 .346 .400 .606 1.006 *2/H Yasmani Grandal 27 2016 27 LAD 457 .228 .339 .477 .816 *2H/3 Paul Lo Duca 25 2001 29 LAD 519 .320 .374 .544 .917 *23/H79D Joe Ferguson 25 1973 26 LAD 585 .263 .369 .470 .839 *29/7H Yasmani Grandal 24 2018 29 LAD 518 .241 .349 .466 .815 *2H/3 Todd Hundley 24 2000 31 LAD 353 .284 .375 .579 .954 *2/HD Todd Hundley 24 1999 30 LAD 428 .207 .295 .436 .731 *2H Mike Piazza 24 1994 25 LAD 441 .319 .370 .541 .910 *2/H Yasmani Grandal 22 2017 28 LAD 482 .247 .308 .459 .767 *2H Will Smith 21 2021 26 LAD 402 .266 .373 .510 .884 *2H/D5 Joe Ferguson 20 1979 32 LAD 442 .262 .380 .466 .845 29H/7
Provided by Stathead.com: View Stathead Tool Used
Generated 8/28/2021.
One final Will Smith note for now. Will has hit seven home runs so far this August. Will hit eight home runs in August in 2019, and he has a total of eighteen home run in August out of his forty four home runs.
Split PA HR BA OBP SLG OPS TB GDP April/March 79 3 .226 .380 .452 .831 28 5 May 100 2 .303 .360 .449 .809 40 2 June 94 8 .247 .351 .580 .931 47 3 July 115 7 .266 .365 .564 .929 53 1 August 205 18 .271 .385 .635 1.021 108 1 Sept/Oct 142 6 .268 .359 .472 .831 58 3
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 8/28/2021.
Field of Dreams
The Field of Dreams game and this Calvin and Hobbs timely comic strip made me write what I’ve dreaded writing about for almost a year. Many people like to rank this movie compared to other baseball movies but I think those folk have always missed the boat. For me, this movie was always about a father and his son, and they used baseball as the connection device. This column is about my Dad and the connection of baseball with his youngest son.
The Dodgers were one win away from winning their first World Championship since 1988 when my oldest brother called and told me that our Dad had fallen into a coma and was now in hospice care. I knew what that meant because my father had suffered from Dementia ever since our mother had died four years prior. He had a DNR (do not resuscitate) and there would be no trip to the hospital. There was nothing I could do, we were in the middle of Covid, my father was 650 Miles away, and so I talked to my brother a bit and then sat down and watched the Dodgers win the 2020 World Championship. I didn’t cry for my father, but I also didn’t celebrate the Dodger championship. I was happy for Kershaw and company along with all the Dodger fans I knew who finally got to feel the joy of their own Dodger championship, but I felt no joy myself.
My Dad died a few hours after the last out. I’ll honestly admit, I was relieved he had passed away. Only those of us who have had to spend time with our parents and watch their once brilliant brains turn into Dementia mush could possibly understand this sentiment. He tried so hard to communicate and once in a while he succeeded but it was a rare win for a man who was one of the smartest men I’d ever know. In a life that is rarely fair, taking the mind away from those before the body is ready is one of the cruelest tricks that life will throw at us.
Captain Gurnee was stationed in Taiwan with his family in 1958 when things got dicey and all military families were evacuated. My mom had four sons, and was pregnant with me when we boarded a transport plane that would take us first to Guam, and eventually to Glendale, California. I was born on 11/24/1958, the first year the Dodgers played in Los Angeles. My Dad was sent to Korea, and would not meet his youngest son until he was two years old.
I have no idea if that impacted our relationship, but being the son of a career West Pointer wasn’t easy. I was scared to death of my Dad, but also hated to be told what to do and that didn’t make for a good combination. Our relationship was tenuous but we did have one thing in common. I don’t know what came first, his love for baseball which made me love baseball, or did I fall in love with it on my own. What I do know is that our household was a baseball family and never stopped being one. My Dad created his own baseball dice game that we played every night. He taught me how to use a slide rule at the age of 8 to help create the numbers we’d use in the dice game. From the time I became sentient and could remember, baseball would forever be the most common thread in our family of seven.
As a military family we moved every year. From the time he came back from Korea we lived in El Paso, Boston (he taught ROTC at MIT) 3 moves in 3 years, Kansas, Heidelberg/Germany and finally Frankfurt Germany where we had our own field of dreams. I was 9 when we got to Frankfurt and we lived in a Duplex with a small backyard, but right behind our backyard was a baseball field and it was the most glorious thing I’d ever seen.
At that point I could barely catch a baseball, but every night my Dad would come home from work and he’d play catch with me until I got good enough that we didn’t have to worry about the ball hitting me anymore because my glove hand finally got coordinated enough to actually catch the ball. Then four of his sons would go down to the field and he’d hit us fly balls until it got dark. Once a week I’d listen to the Armed Forces Baseball Game of the Week and I’d tell him everything that was happening. I doubt if he cared, but he acted like he did and when he smiled at me after I told him that Frank Howard had hit another home run, it meant the world to me.
He retired from the Army in 1970 and moved his family to Glendale, CA, and that once tenuous relationship had bloomed as he moved into the civilian sector and was able shed all of his military officer attitude that had bled into his parenting style. Over the next 50 years I couldn’t have asked for a better father.
As I started playing organized baseball, whenever I did something good I would look to him and he was always there. Always there. Always there. When I needed him most he was there, because I wasn’t always very good. At 13 no matter how much I practiced I was just good enough to be on the team. In my first game in Babe Ruth I dropped a fly ball and watched in horror as the winning run crossed the plate that cost us the game. I did it in front of all my friends and walked off the field with my Dad, hiding from everyone. I don’t know what he said but he said enough that I was able to sleep that night. Later I got good, and gave him plenty of reasons to watch me, but it is easy to cheer when things are good, but what I’ll always remember is the calm way he handled my worst moment.
Our Dodger baseball connection involved the following:
First Dodger game in 1970 we watched Don Sutton shut out the Pirates 1 – 0 on a Billy Grabarkewitz home run
Still in 1970 we sat in the bleachers and watched the Dodger played the Big Red Machine in a double header and when we got home, he was as red as a white boy from Wisconsin could possibly be.
In 1974, 1977, and 1978 we watched the Dodgers lose three world series
In 1980 he got us tickets to see the Dodgers lose the playoff game against the Astros, or we commonly called the Dave Goltz game.
Finally in 1981 we watched Fernando give us our elusive World Championship.
In 2004 I got my first season tickets and with my Dad retired we took in many games from 2004 – 2006.
In 2006 he moved to Ferndale, Ca, 650 miles away. For the first time in my life my Dad was not within a few miles of me. Over the next ten years I’d make that trip 3 – 4 times a year, using all of my vacation time to spend time with my parents. Finally in 2016 I retired myself and could see him anytime I wanted but because life is cruel that was when my Mom died, and his mind went with her. Nothing in your life will prepare you for the frustration of trying to communicate with someone who wants to but can’t communicate. You will spend countless hours wondering if there is something there and they just can’t express themselves or if they can’t express themselves because there is nothing there. I don’t regret thinking it would be a blessing for him if he would simply die, but he was as healthy as a horse and never got sick again until his body finally gave up.
I left a week after my dad died to help my brothers with his house and during the 650 mile trip I had a lot to dwell on. My father was a good man, easily a better man than myself, the kind of man we could use more of today. I could tell you many stories but I’ll end with this one. My Dad had become a Banker, specializing in Trusts and in 1988 one of his co-workers opened the first Black owned bank in Los Angeles and asked my Dad to help him start the bank. I believe the bank was called Founders Bank but I’m not positive. My Dad would be the only White officer at the bank and was working there when the Rodney King riots broke out. His bank was right in the middle of it, but from what I understand the neighborhood made sure the bank was spared and also made sure my Dad got home safely. My Dad was 63 at the time this would be his last banking gig.
I won’t say I’m all the things my father stood for but I can tell you that having watched him in action and heard stories that he wouldn’t tell but others would he was this kind of man.
Treated everyone fairly
Respected woman as equals
Had so much integrity that it cost him his military career because he didn’t play the game
Had so much integrity that when he retired he didn’t use his connection from his Pentagon days to become a well paid lobbyist but instead took his family to Glendale, and started a new career as a bank trainee.
Raised five sons who never needed a gun to feel good about themselves
Raised five sons who never needed to kill animals to feel good about themselves
Raised five sons who have treated all the women in their life with respect, and let me tell you based on what I’ve seen, that is a big one.
None of this is adequate but I’ll just close with this. Whenever I asked my Dad for a game of catch he always said yes and for that reason alone, Field of Dreams will make me weep for the rest of my life.
Dodgers, Yesterday and Today 