1-Man’s Opinion on Sports-Thursday “Dodgers Blue”
“Dodgers Blue”
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They are no longer in first place, neither are the Padres.
Of all the weird things you could imagine, the Arizona Diamondbacks sit atop the standings in the NL West.
But the Dodgers have real issues and they don’t look like they can be fixed from within..
The starting pitching is wafer thin. The bullpen has collapsed like a house of cards.
They have injuries to the mound corps and the bulk of the hot young rookie pitchers seem overwhelmed.
The 1-year- 13M deal given to Noah Syndegaard has not worked out. His ERA is now over 7.00 and his innings per outing seem to be growing shorter.
Walker Beuhler’s rehab is going very slow coming back from elbow surgery.
Dustin May is gone for the year.
Julio Urias hopes to come off the DL this weekend
Tony Gonsolin cannot get beyond 5-innings and is slow to come back from that ankle injury
Then there is the bullpen. There is no Kenley Jansen any longer. Last seen he was getting guys out this year in a Red Sox jersey.
There is an Evan Phillips,probably the most trustworthy one they can call on, but he is not bullet proof.
Pick any other name, and you never know what you get, from Caleb Ferguson to Phil Bickford and anyone in between.
In the Dodgers last 11-losses, the LA bullpens staggered, has been leaky, has been catastrophic.
11-losses, a bullpen that has a composite ERA of (9.23). We’re talking Dodgers baseball here.
In 38-innings this group has given up 39runs…49 hits and added on 19-walks.
That’s 68-base runners in 38-innings.
Holy Eric Gagne and Steve Howe. Can you imaging that from a lst place team, no longer in lst place.
President Andrew Friedman needs to go find someone to get people out. Best bet might be Aroldis Chapman, the once legendary closer with the Yankees, laboring for the awful Kansas City Royals on a 1-year deal. Yes his ERA is over (4.00) and he’s not what he once was, but he’s better than they have right now with just one 50% of the season to go.
The Dodgers farm system is rich so maybe they can afford to overpay a bit to get a once famous Chapman. Maybe there is a phone call to Washington, or Detroit, or the Cubs, to a team already out of the playoffs.
Hard to believe with a payroll at (226M )the Dodgers are so deficient in that area. They’ve lost 5-of-6 and 8-of-12 and virtually all of it is because of guys like Brusdar Graterol and Alex Vesia and others.
Dodger Blue is the color, and that’s the color in the heart of Dodgers fans when there is a call to the bullpen.
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