Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
On this episode of Dugout Blues, Jared and I talk about a down week for the Dodgers. And we recorded on a Saturday instead of Sunday, so we don’t even touch on the disastrous Saturday game.
Friday’s game was even worse, as they allowed eight runs in the eighth inning of a game they led. The bullpen got touched up by the D’backs offense on consecutive nights. Get well soon, Grant Dayton.
But it wasn’t all bad. Joc Pederson (before he got hurt Sunday) and Corey Seager might be snapping out of their respective slumps. Pederson hit leadoff on Friday and Seager got right in Arizona.
Alex Wood has also been better than his numbers — on the whole — would indicate. Getting some consistent rotation time could do him well.
That leads us to Hyun-Jin Ryu. He is struggling. It’s not all bad, but he definitely isn’t the guy he was before and may not ever be. It might be Julio Urias time sooner rather than later. And the news of him potentially starting in ‘Frisco this week broke literally minutes after we finished recording.
Chris Taylor and Enrique Hernandez have been hitting and defending well. Both might see some more playing time in the coming weeks, especially if Chase Utley continues to struggle and Pederson is actually going on the disabled list. They’re getting a chance to play a little more because Logan Forsythe fractured his toe on a hit-by-pitch against the Rockies on Wednesday. Word is he might be out only a couple weeks, but I’m expecting a month because we know how reliable this Dodger training staff has been in years past.
This was recorded before Kenta Maeda‘s 5-inning, 4-homer start. I noticed he had been throwing his fastball a lot more and his slider a lot less. Naturally, he was almost 1:1 in fastball/slider usage on Saturday, but there is something going on with him. His command is bad and his fastballs are getting destroyed.
Also, Yasiel Puig is still hitting well. I’m hoping it continues throughout the season, and that’s going to be on him being focused and doing what he needs outside of games (prep, video, batting cage work, etc.) to be successful.
The reason we recorded on Saturday because Jared went to see Mitchell White and the Quakes on Sunday afternoon. I’m sure he’ll have something written up at some point at his site. He struggled in his previous outing in Lancaster, as did Yadier Alvarez. That isn’t surprising, as Lancaster is the Coors Field of the California League. Walker Buehler avoided Lancaster and threw another three scoreless innings and touched 99 MPH. Hyyyype.
Offensively, Cody Bellinger, Carlos Rincon, Edwin Rios, Alex Verdugo and others all had strong weeks, while Gavin Lux made his 2017 debut with the Loons.
We finish with a good Q&A session. Please keep the questions coming.
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