Category Archives: MLB

La Dodgers, MLB, nlds playoffs, Uncategorized

Tonight The Dodgers Begin Their Post Season Journey to The World Series

The Los Angeles Dodgers start their postseason journey with a stop in Washington to take on the NL Eastern Division champions, the Nationals.  Here they hope to put an end to their past postseason failures while also, hoping to put an end to his own postseason failures, their starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw who has a 2-6 post season record.

The Dodgers have made it past the NL divisional series since 1988 that ended with a victory over the Oakland A’s in the World Series.  Their several postseasons since have ended in early failures and some of those failures came while Kershaw had stood on the mound for them.

He has faced this team once this year which ended in a victory for him. Let’s hope for another one tonight.

Tonight’s game will pose a challenge for this team because the last time these two teams met that ended with dire results for the Dodger.  They could only squeak two wins from the six times that these two teams met.  One of those two victories came by way of Kershaw’s arm, so let us hope he can do it again tonight.

Tonight, the Dodgers will be facing Max Scherzer has gone 4-3 in the post season with a 3.73 era.  But the last time these two teams met last year that meeting ended in a loss for Scherzer. Though his loss happened last year and since he has not pitched against the Dodgers this year, no one will ever know if tonight’s meeting will be the same.

The Dodgers will be bringing four starting pitchers into tonight’s game which will obviously include Clayton Kershaw, but also include Rich Hill, Kenta Maeda, and Julio Urias.  Out all of the starting pitchers, I most happy to see Urias on this list. Closer Kenley Jensen and Ross Stripling will be part of the bullpen.  Some of the others on the list: Andre Either, Yasiel Puig, Corey Seager, Yasmani Grandel, and Howie Kendrick.

You can look over the entire roster by going to this link.

As I wrote in the beginning, this game begins the long journey and I hope that this game will be the first of many for the Dodgers during this long journey which hopefully ends with a World Series with a victory.  But as wrote before, in the past they have failed to reach that final victory.  But this year has shown us that even with the struggles that they went through, they still won the division.  So, let their journey begin and my end victorious.

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La Dodgers, MLB, Uncategorized

The Dodgers Have Place Hyun-Jin Ryu Back On The DL

Espn’s Doug Padilla has reported that the Dodgers have placed left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu  back on the DL. He went back on DL because of elbow tendinitis.  He has played in only one game so far this season against the Padres about two weeks ago.

Ryu has a had a rough going this year.  He struggled through spring training and most of the season to make a comeback from elbow surgery. The surgery  has kept from the mound for two years.

Since putting Ryu on the DL  again, the Dodgers have activated Joc Pederson who played against the Washington Nationals.

No one has been named to replace him on the mound.

Click here to read Doug Padilla’s whole story.

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La Dodgers, MLB

Are The Dodgers and Rays Looking to Make Some Deals?

Espn’s Doug Mittler has posted that Tampa Bay’s 2nd baseman Logan Forsythe could be part of a major deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Tampa Bays Logan

Forsythe Picture by

m.mlb.com

While Forsythe has been playing exceptionally well for Tampa Bay, they may be looking to unload his $7 million salary for next year, according to Jon Morosi of mlb.com.  Morosi originally broke this story as written by Mittler.

Mittler also reported that according to Morosi there could also be a deal between the Rays and the Dodgers for the Rays’ All-Star third baseman Evan Longoria. I will be have more about the Longoria deal further down in this post.

You can read more about this story by clicking here. 

Evan Longoria by sports yahoo

.com

NJ Advance Media for NJ.com’s Randy Miller posted that Jon Morosi of mlb.com reported that there could be a deal  between the Rays and the Dodgers for the Rays’ Longoria.  According to Miller, Longoria has a 6 year $100 million contract  extension that kicks in next year.

According to Miller, Morosi believes that the deal could be complete, but there would be a low probability that the deal would be complete by the Aug-1 nonwaiver trade deadline.

You can read more about this story by clicking here.

 

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La Dodgers, MLB, Uncategorized

Will the Dodgers’ Rotation Get Lucky Against the Giants too?

Do not use the Padres’ series as a standard to judge how well the Dodgers starting rotation will do against the Giants their next opponent.  Rather think of it as an anomaly.  An anomaly that may not repeat itself.

R.J, Anderson of CBS Sports posted a very interesting article (link to article) regarding the Dodgers’ rotation after their surprising performance against Padres which puts everything into the proper perspective,  In the article he points to the Padres’ hitting debacle for the reason their rotation success.  You see during the series, the Padres did not change their lineup even though  it did not produce any runs. A change in the lineup could have a least produce some runs if not a win.

This Lineup debacle could  be the reason that Kazmir won on Tuesday as Aderson put it, We will see how really good he pitches when he faces the Giants on Sunday. So far after their first three games, the Giants rank fourth and have combined total of 17 runs and 28 hits after 103 at bats they have an average of .272.  This is far better than the Padres who are ranked at 15 with 0 runs 11 hits and batting average of .120 and he faced on Tuesday.

The Dodgers have another suspect pitcher Alex Wood  who will be tonight’s starter. He still has to prove that he can win a game. He lost three of his five starts while not garnering a win during spring training.

Their fifth starter Ross Stripling will start against the Giants on Friday which will be his first pro start.  While I would not consider suspect, it would be because I do not have enough information about him to consider him suspect.

So let me break it down this way.  The Dodgers are going into San Fransico with a suspect rotation that got lucky in San Diago,  This rotation who has one known dependable pitcher, Kershaw.  While I like Maeda and I know more about what Kershaw could do. Kazmir and Woods, you know what they can do thus leaving you with an unfavorable impression. Stripling has shown some promise, but there is not enough to be comfortable with him.

Will this be enough to pull off victories?  I only know that the Kershaw pitches will be a winner.

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La Dodgers, MLB, Uncategorized

Meet the Three Starting Pitchers for the Dodgers Opening Series with the Padres

The Dodgers open up their season with a three series in sunny and warm San Diego and I would like to introduce you the Dodgers’ starting pitchers for the three-game series.  The dependable Clayton Kershaw will  be starting  in today’s game.  He will be followed by new acquired Scott Kazmir tomorrow, and also, newly acquired Kenta Maeda on Tuesday.

Kershaw finished spring training 2 wins  and 0 losses in six games. He allowed 23 hits in the 23 innings that he pitched.  He allowed just 5 runs.  He finished with 1.96 ERA.  Yes, he looks ready for today’s game.

While I have no concerns about Kershaw in today’s game, I do worry about tomorrow’s starting pitcher, Scott Kazmir.  Maybe that is because I had grown accustomed to having the other reliable pitcher Zach Greinke in the number two spot in the rotation.  But alas, the Dodgers foolishly let him go to their Western Division rivals the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Don’t think of  me as to being too hard on Kazmir and that maybe I should give a chance.  But then I look at his performance during spring training, I think otherwise. In the 5 games that he started, he gave up 12 runs and 25 hits. He has an ERA of 5.51.  His ERA alone makes you miss Greinke’s under 2.00 ERA one of the lowest in the league last year.  His pitching velocity has dropped below 90.  He has been clocked somewhere between 85 to 89.  Can you imagine his fastball being clocked at 85? All this makes me a little weary  having him pitch in the number two spot.

But in game three, I am very happy with newly acquired Kenta Maeda starting in the third game of the series. Maeda was acquired before spring Training.  He formerly played in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball for the Hiroshima Yoyo Carp.   He finished this spring with 1 win and 2 losses in six starts. He gave 18 hits and 9 runs with a 2.35 ERA. This is a lot better Kazmir’s final totals.

As I written above I have no problems with Kershaw and Maeda, but I am not comfortable with  Kazmir starting.  I just hope that Kazmir proves my concerns wrong.

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La Dodgers, MLB, sports, Uncategorized

The LA Dodgers Have A New Skipper: Dave Roberts

ESPN is reporting that the LA Dodgers announced they hired Dave Roberts as Don Mattingly’s replacement on Monday.  He will become the teams’ first minority for their manager. Roberts’s father is African-American while his mother is Japanese.

Dave Robers had this to say about his hiring.

 “It’s hard for me to put into words what it means to be named manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers,” Roberts said in a statement. “This is truly the opportunity of a lifetime. The Dodgers are the ground-breaking franchise of Jackie Robinson, Roy Campanella, Sandy Koufax, Maury Wills, Fernando Valenzuela and Hideo Nomo. When I put on this uniform as a player, I understood the special responsibility to honor those that played before me as well as the amazing bond between the Dodgers and their fans. I feel that I have now come full circle in my career and there is plenty of unfinished business left in L.A.”

The Dodgers will introduce Dave Roberts to the press on Dec 1st.

Click here for the whole story.

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La Dodgers, MLB, NFL, sports, st louis rams

Monday’s Morning Call For 10/05/15

NFC’s Western Division Scores

St Louis: 24                                  San Francisco: 3                                        Seattle:

Arizona:  22                                  Green Bay:    17                                        Detroit:

NFC’s Western Standings        W    L   T     Prec.     Streak

Arizona Cardinals                        3      1    0      .750      1L

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St Louis Rams                             2      2    0      .500      1W

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Seattle Seahawks                         1       2    0      .333      1W

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San Francisco 49ers                     1       3    0      .250      3L

The Rams’ Defence Stimies The Cardinals 

Rams Corner E.J. Gaines
breaks up pass intended
for Cardinals John Brown.

The Rams ended the Cardinals’ undefeated streak in Arizona, yesterday with 24-22 victory.  While the the Rams offense showed flashes of brilliance behind rookie running back Todd Gurley and receiver Tevon Austin, it was the defense that commanded the day by shutting down the Cardinals red zone offense.

The Rams defense forced the Cardinals to settle for five field goals while in the red zone.  The Cardinals only touchdown came late in the fourth quarter. It was 23 yard pass from Palmer to Johnson.  This pass would be the one and only the ball would cross the goal line for the Cardinals other than by way kicking.

The Rams’s defense held the Cardinals to 113 yards rushing, but allowed 334 yards passing. They sacked Palmer 4 times for a loss of  18 yards.  The defense also forced 2 fumbles and recovered one.

Jenkins also intercepted one of Palmer’s’ passes.

On the other side of the ball, Foles completed 16 of his 24 passes for 171 yards and threw 3 touchdown passes.  He had no interceptions, but was sacked once for a seven yard loss.

Gurley rushed for 146 yards the longest run was 52 yards, and Austin rushed for 20 yards and his longest was 12.

Austin had 6 receptions for 96 yards and 2 touchdowns.  His longest was 47 yards.

While the Rams showed some life yesterday, the big question, will they show that same life or more life next Sunday against the Packers?  We must keep in mind that the Rams’ two wins have been against division opponents while their two losses have been to teams outside their division.  So next week’s game against the Packers will be very important one in order to see if they have really turned the corner because this one will be against a team outside of the division.

NL Western Division Scores 

LA Dodgers: 6                          Arizona Diamondbacks: 5                  Colorado Rockies: 7

SD Padres:    3                          Houston Astros;              3                  SF Giants:              3

NL Western Division Standings     W     L     PCT    GB

Los Angeles Dodgers                         92    70   .568       0

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San Francisco Giants                          84    78    .519       8

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Arizona Diamondbacks                      79    83    .488      13

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San Diego Padres                                68    48    .420      24

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The Dodgers Finished Their Season With A 6-3 Win Over The Padres 

Attribute To Dodgers’ pitcher Clayton Kershaw. He threw 300
strikeouts this season.

The Dodgers ended their season on high note with a victory over the Padres. So they go into the postseason, feeling good about themselves.   They swept their final series from the Padres with three wins. They open up their post season with home field advantage in their series against the Mets. Yes life looks good for the Dodgers.

You know a couple of weeks ago it looked like they would have a melt down, and I was really worried going into their series with the Giants.  But you know now that is all in past. We must now look to the playoffs and hopefully a deep run in the playoffs.

I know that this postseason could bring a lot painful changes, but for now lets not be concerned about those changes and enjoy the Dodgers’ run in the playoffs.

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