Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
On this episode of Dugout Blues, Jared and I review the first 10 or so days of Dodger baseball. It has been, on the whole, quite bad.
Clayton Kershaw‘s velocity is down, but he’s still pitching well. Perhaps he’s not ded after all? And the rest of the pitching staff is doing well, collectively. Aside from Kenley Jansen, who has struggled out of the gate. He looked good on Sunday (after we recorded), but his velo has been down and he has basically cost the Dodgers two games early this season. Maybe it’s the lack of a full spring training, maybe it’s mechanical, maybe he’s hurt. It’s just something we’ll have to watch as the season progresses.
No matter how well you pitch, you still have to score, and the Dodgers are having an incredibly tough time doing so. Outside of Yasmani Grandal, all the regulars are struggling. Chase Utley is hitting well, but he shouldn’t be tied for the team lead in home runs after 10 days. The biggest culprits of the struggle: Cody Bellinger, Yasiel Puig, Corey Seager. When three of your top hitters are flat-out sucking, it’s going to be tough to score. Also, get well soon, Justin Turner.
The Minor League season has begun, and some guys are off to a good start. Walker Buehler, Dennis Santana, Keibert Ruiz and Alex Verdugo have all performed early on. DJ Peters hit a couple home runs and Connor Wong is opening some eyes. Also, I’m going to see the Quakes tonight and maybe Wednesday night, so check back for an update on the prospects.
We also discuss my Top 10 prospects for 2018. Of course, I didn’t remember this until after the Q&A, so it’s tacked on at the end of the episode.
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