Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
On this episode of Dugout Blues, Jared and I are a bit concerned about the Dodgers.
The Dodgers split with the A’s (and could have won both). The lost 3-of-4 to the Rockies (and coulda won all of them). And now, they’re sitting in second place and out of a playoff spot as it stands. They might, you know, want to start playing well again so they actually make the postseason.
Kenley Jansen is on the DL with his heart issue. We’re hoping for nothing but the best for him and his health is the only priority. The team has already felt the impact of not having him. The bullpen is going to be an issue, but it’s getting reinforcements in the form of Ross Stripling and Kenta Maeda. It sucks for both of them because they’ve been two of the best starters on the club this season, but it sucks even more for Maeda because he’s probably going to lose $2 million because of this. We both agree that something should be done by the Dodgers to make up that money, and Jared has an interesting idea.
The Dodgers can afford to move them to the ‘pen because Alex Wood is coming back Tuesday and Hyun-Jin Ryu is coming back Wednesday. Here’s hoping both are over their respective ailments and can be key contributors down the stretch — especially Ryu, since he was pitching so well before he got hurt.
Based on a question from the previous episode, we compare the Dodgers’ draft classes from 2012 through 2016. While there have been some nice hits on picks from 2013-16, the 2012 class remains the gold standard for recent Dodger drafts.
On the farm, Connor Wong is hitting well and has reduced his strikeouts a lot recently. Gavin Lux is still hitting after his promotion to Double-A. I’m just about ready to hop on the bandwagon, while Jared is still a little cautious. Cristian Santana has been somewhat disappointing for Rancho Cucamonga this season, but he has 20 home runs and there’s still a chance for him to re-establish himself as a legitimate prospect. Jordan Sheffield is rehabbing in the Arizona Rookie League, while Mitchell White had a decent outing this week. Tony Gonsolin has still been good since getting to Tulsa, but the Dodgers are definitely limiting his workload late in the season (which is fine). Some guys are struggling in the form of Drew Jackson, Jeren Kendall, DJ Peters, Will Smith and Dustin May.
To end, we have a good Q&A session. We appreciate the questions and welcome them anytime you want to send them.
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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.
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