Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
On this episode of Dugout Blues, Jared and I return to talk about the Dodgers. Everything is going well and nothing is catastrophically wrong. Sigh.
Corey Seager‘s elbow is destroyed. He needs Tommy John surgery and will miss the remainder of the 2018 season. This really hurts because he’s the best all-around player on the team and a huge cog in the lineup. He hadn’t been hitting that well this season (and ever since September, really), but the Dodgers will miss him greatly. Maybe Manny Machado is the answer in July, but until then, Chris Taylor and Enrique Hernandez will be the Dodgers’ shortstops.
Yasiel Puig is also hurt. His injuries aren’t as serious, as he has a hip pointer/contusion and a sore foot. He should be back in the next 10 days or so. Until then, Alex Verdugo should get a good look in the outfield (with the help of the Seager injury).
Walker Buehler made his starting debut in the majors last Monday. He also pitched in the first game of a doubleheader. Oddly enough, the Dodgers won both of those games — the only games they won in the last eight days. His command needs work, but there’s no doubting the talent. He’s going to be a fun one to watch.
Clayton Kershaw is broken. Maybe. Who knows. But he walked six in his last outing (against the tanking Marlins!) and is suddenly an 89-91 MPH guy rather than the 92-94 MPH guy he has been since he debuted in 2008. Him rediscovering his velocity would go a long way to making things feel better.
The bullpen has been a complete dumpster fire. Kenley Jansen isn’t right. Pedro Baez may never be right again. Scott Alexander has been demoted. Daniel Hudson is, in fact, not Brandon Morrow. And that’s just to name a few.
Some minor-leaguers have been performing well so far. Luke Raley is a Matt Beaty-like prospect who’s hitting well in Double-A. Also hitting well in Double-A is DJ Peters, Yusniel Diaz and, to a lesser extent, Will Smith and Keibert Ruiz. Yadier Alvarez is still struggling with his command, which might lead to him going to the bullpen sooner rather than later. Gavin Lux is performing well in High-A … kinda. He’s hitting .330, but he’s been a bit streaky. One thing that is real is his plate discipline. He’s good at judging the strike zone, which bodes well for his future. But he needs to show he can hit advanced pitching.
We finish with a Q&A, answered by Jared because I had to scoot. Please keep the questions-a-comin’.
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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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