Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
On this episode of Dugout Blues, Jared and I recap the week, and an historic week it was.
The Dodgers won their 43rd game in their last 50 to eclipse the 2013 team’s 42-8 stretch. For good measure, they added one more win to the tally on Sunday night (but we recorded before the game). We’re running out of good things to say about this team. At this point, it’s almost unbelievable and expected at this rate.
Corey Seager is quietly having an MVP-caliber season. He’s actually performing better than he did in 2016 and I throw a Derek Jeter comp on him (have a listen to see if I’m crazy).
Dongs are plentiful for the Dodgers this day, led by Cody Bellinger and Yasiel Puig. Oh, and Chris Taylor is still really good.
Justin Turner was slumping a bit before Sunday night. He did have a home run on Saturday and added another (and a double) on Sunday. He seems to be breaking out of it.
Alex Wood had a 6-inning, 1-run outing last time out, but he struggled in doing so. His velocity was down, as were his strikeouts. It could be fatigue, but it may have been mechanical. He had a bullpen session on Sunday and it seems he made an adjustment and the life on his fastball returned. Hopefully he’s straightened everything out.
Yu Darvish made his Dodger debut, and it was incredible. Seven scoreless innings and 10 strikeouts. He was a little wild at first, but he calmed down and showed exactly why the Dodgers pulled the trigger on the deal at the trade deadline. His pure stuff is second to none on the Dodgers and perhaps anyone in the majors.
Tony Watson looks good so far. His slider, which might be his best pitch, is something the Dodgers identified as something they could get him to incorporate more. So far, so good. Tony Cingrani, on the other hand, throws hard. His Dodger debut wasn’t great, but he’s been a little better since then. Still, don’t expect him to be on the playoff roster.
Brandon Morrow is crazy good. His stuff is filthy and he profiles great as a late-inning setup guy for Kenley Jansen.
Adrian Gonzalez is rehabbing and should be back in the next couple weeks. That’s going to be an interesting roster crunch and playing time allotments for the Dodgers. Logan Forsythe could be the big loser in all this if he doesn’t start to hit better against right-handed pitching.
In the minors, Walker Buehler had a great start for OKC and then came out of the bullpen a handful of days later. It seems the Dodgers are prepping him to be a bullpen arm in September. I’m against it, but it doesn’t really matter what I think. Cody Thomas hit three home runs. He and Carlos Rincon hit back-to-back home runs in the same inning on Thursday night. Jared Walker (5th-rounder in 2014) has hit well with Great Lakes, including for some power. He’s a guy to consider putting on the watchlist for now. Yadier Alvarez had a decent start with Tulsa. He struck out eight in four innings, but also threw 79 pitches. His command still needs work, but the pure stuff is still there. Yusniel Diaz and Drew Jackson got promoted to Double-A, while Jordan Sheffield got promoted from Great Lakes to Rancho. I’m still a believer in Sheffield as a starting pitcher. The Cal League will be a good test for him.
To close, a strong Q&A session. Please keep the questions coming.
Libsyn Link
Direct Link
iTunes Link
Look for new episodes of “Dugout Blues” every Monday. Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast and review us on iTunes. We want to make this the best podcast we can so we’re always looking for suggestions and ways to improve.
If you have questions you’d like us to answer or certain topics/players you want to hear more about, feel free to email us ([email protected]) or send us messages on Twitter (@JaredJMassey or @DustinNosler). You can also “Like” the podcast on Facebook. We always welcome audience participation.
