First impressions were positive. He's healthy, has all his pitches and....Donnie Baseball didn't know how to pronounce his name. Alex Wood goes today in Philliy and general mood is good in Dodger Town. Now if Joc Pederson could find his stroke: hitting .141 with 1 HR since All Star game. Throw in Rollins at .200 and the pitcher, that's 3 big holes in this lineup. http://www.latimes.com/sports/dodgers/dodgersnow/la-sp-dn-latos-big-two-months-20150802-story.html
New guy Alex Wood goes well for six and then comes undone. Encouraged by his 8 strikeouts. Dodger bats not doing anyone favors tonite - the clutch hitting was awful. Oh well, the Phillies came and balled, these things happen. Wood has a very freaky delivery. Lots to say about that but, here's Daniel Brim (Dodger Digest) doing the honors: "It’s a pretty good sign that it took this much digging to find a concrete change for Wood. If it’s just mechanical, it could be correctable. Remember, the Dodgers saw Wood twice this season, so it’s very possible that Rick Honeycutt or somebody beyond the scouting staff picked up on a way to fix the problems. It’s refreshing to see a buy low move with upside, which is the smart thing to do. If Wood’s strikeout trend can be reversed, he’ll be a very valuable addition to the Dodgers’ staff.' http://fat.gfycat.com/RespectfulMagnificentGalapagosalbatross.mp4
$$$$.....and just wow on some of these guys making $15m +. Brandon McCarthy?? http://www.truebluela.com/2013/10/21/4861112/los-angeles-dodgers-payroll
It's actually kind of funny watching pros running bases like Little Leaguers: http://dodgersdigest.com/2015/08/06...ust-6-2015-yay-zack-greinke-boo-base-running/
Home Run Derby for pitchers? Greinke v MadBum would be marquee. Note improved bat flip on #5. Been taking lesson from Yahseal P. ='http://m.mlb.com/shared/video/embed...id=20153070&width=400&height=224&property=mlb'
Good bashup with two playoff teams. Nobody leaving early for these games with the way the pitching is going so far. Yahseal's grab and throw video at the end of this Dodger Digest game article is worth a look. Not quite on the same level as Keirmaier's 96 MPH laser the other nite - this was some ballsy buckaneering. http://dodgersdigest.com/2015/08/08/pirates-6-dodgers-5-replay-review-sucks/
Pirate series is quite the topic on talk radio around here. Some big impressions: 1. Pirates do have a poor defense. Ranked 27th in MLB & next to last in NL. 2. Dodgers do have a strong defense. First in NL and second in MLB. 3. J Roll is playing like Rollins Baseball circa '07/'08. Stud, leader, big hits, defense. 4. Andrew McCutcheon is Stud/MVP material. Without him the Pirates are a very ordinary team. 5. Pirate's baserunning is really poor. Kevin Kennedy and Rick Monday (Dodger radio guys on this series) are having a field day with what they're seeing.. Blanco is notably crazy and not able to make quick decisions. 6. Dodgers Pederson and Puig continue to blow it on the bases too. Real amateur stuff from these two. 7. Both teams pitching is sketchy at best. Starters and bullpens getting banged around. Dodger noise about the big two and the new guys has fallen down hard. Buc fans having a field day with Dodger hype machine. Haven't seen so many banners in a series since Met's hey day. 8. Jim Johnson, the new Dodger setup guy, is going through a stretch that may be historic if this continues. Rick Monday saying scouts had mentioned 'dead arm' issues and Dodgers FO traded for him anyway. Dog Days are here.
Painful to watch. What gives with Mattingly keeping him in the mix? "Jim Johnson (3-4), who was charged with eight runs in two-thirds of an inning... Dodgers manager Don Mattingly left Johnson in the game to face 10 batters. "It was just one of those fluky things," Johnson said. "I felt like I made a lot of quality pitches, a lot of weak contact. I'd honestly say it's one of the worst professional outings I've had, so it can only go better from there."
House cleaning: "This will be the 17th straight game Cincinnati has started a rookie, the longest such streak since the first year of the rookie designation in 1958." - ESPN
Not so many: "Anderson only allowed two other balls hit in the air (line drives or fly balls) during the entire start. One went for a double and one went for an out, so Anderson recorded 14 of 18 of his outs on the ground. After tonight, Anderson has a 66.8% ground ball rate this year. The record for a qualified starter (since tracking began in 2002) is 67.0%, set by Derek Lowe in 2006. Anderson has a chance of equaling that mark, which is pretty incredible." - Dodger Digest
Wally Moon, Rondell White and "The Mayor: Sean Casey: http://dodgersdigest.com/2015/08/17/dodgers-on-verge-of-setting-home-run-records/
More blame game on the broadcast blackout in LA: http://www.latimes.com/sports/dodgers/dodgersnow/la-sp-dn-dodgers-tv-20150831-htmlstory.html Local ESPN AM station on this everyday. Dodger station avoids like plague. Early results showed about 50% blame Dodgers. . Somehow the Vin interview Saturday, where he announced that he's done next season, has been propped up by KSPN as a challenge to the Dodger organization to end the impasse between TimeWarner and Direct TV. Not sure too many people needed to get amped up anymore what with the Giants in town and a pennant race hanging in the balance and.....70% of us AIN'T GOT NO STINKIN' DODGER TV!
Truth: "The reason your ESPNs and FoxSports West models WORK is because they carry a multitude of sports, spreading the costs across the table with more often relevant (and diverse) coverage. But really--what does SportsNetLA show for the remaining 20 hours a day (and 24 hours a day October-February)? Garbage. Nothing. Complete waste. Still have no idea why they could not simply have put the Dodgers on the Lakers network (and conflicting games sold to another network). Oh right--that would not have gouged us enough" - comments pulled off LA Times article TWC and the Dodgers blew Sportsnet LA out the door and into a market not quite dumb enough to swallow a shaky content channel at a premium price (generally around $5/mos). These days, particularly around here, who wants to watch garbage all day in the offseason? Silly move on their part. Last I heard the TWC loss on this mess is northwards of $150 mil/month. SN/LA (which TWC paid $8 billion for broadcast rights) is the loss leader amongst all the TWC properties.
Ho-hum nite @ Angels stadium, hard on the beautiful concrete jungle. 44k in the stands as Angel freefall to .500 continues. Sciosia immune to it all...."we just need to execute Angel baseball"....whatever that means nowadays. Grandal continues to slide, may go on DL. Ouch. Still missing is Kendrick. Saved by call-up of Seager who continues to shine. Flat-out baller penciled in for SS next season no doubt. Puig out till October. More ouch. Bullpen still Pandora's Box - lordy knows where this will all end with that crew. Praying for help soon. http://dodgersdigest.com/2015/09/07/dodgers-angels-sept-7-2015-happy-laborgreinke-day/
http://dodgersdigest.com/2015/09/09/looking-into-dodgers-recent-hot-streak-chase-utley-corey-seager/ "The Dodgers did start running more of late. In the last two weeks, they lead MLB in stolen bases with 19." Never thought I'd see that happen. Carl Crawford does seem a tad agitated when he gets on now. Must be catching. Consensus at the gym is Utley making things happen, that's the diff lately. Freaky looking golf swing gets it done.
Sox fan looking for whuuping: http://dodgersdigest.com/2015/09/14/dodgers-4-rockies-1-bad-kershaw-still-awful-good/