Why is anyone surprised?

Phil Gurnee ♦ April 8, 2019 ♦ Leave a comment

With ten games in the book, the Dodgers are tied with the Brewers for the best record in the NL and everyone in baseball is like “who are these guys” as though they hadn’t been to the World Series two years in a row.

The Dodgers are 8 – 2 and if they had signed Adam Ottavino instead of Joe Kelly they might be 10 – 0.   In five of their eight wins, the Dodgers have outscored their opponents by 40 runs.

Even at 8 – 2 there is room for improvement. Outside of Ryu, the rotation hasn’t been great, the bullpen has blown two wins, and hasn’t looked steady with Kelly, Garcia, and Stewart all being ineffective. On the hitting side, Seager is still getting untracked, JT has yet to hit a home run, and Chris Taylor is not thriving in his utility role. A.J. Pollock hasn’t exactly set the world on fire either but he has looked great in CF, and had some key hits.

With four against the Cardinals and three against the Brewers, we shall see if the Dodgers can keep the hot start going as they take on two of the tougher teams in the NL Central.

The Dodgers called up Dennis Santana yesterday to help the bullpen but since he threw almost three innings I wonder if he’ll get sent back to AAA for a fresh arm for this week.

Looking forward, Clayton Kershaw makes a rehab start on Tuesday and should be in line to make the Sunday start against the Brewers which would put Urias back in the bullpen.  Eventually, Rich Hill will show up and move Ross into the bullpen at which point Yimi and Santana should be back in AAA with Brock Stewart.  That is when the Dodger bullpen should be formidable. Joe Kelly looked better yesterday, and should only get better.