As they seek to correct a skid, the Dodgers have also dealt with some fairly worrisome health situations. Here’s the latest:
- Sorely-missed closer Kenley Jansen said yesterday that he expects to be able to return sooner than had been feared, as Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times was among those to report (links to Twitter). It seems he won’t require treatment that would have kept him on the shelf for an estimated four to six weeks. Though Jansen may well require an ablation procedure over the winter, as he has undergone before, he will evidently aim to make it back with a good chunk of the 2018 regular season still remaining. Skipper Dave Roberts said he’s “encouraged” by that possibility.
- New teammate Brian Dozier, meanwhile, is himself being monitored after being pulled from last night’s game. As Alanna Rizzo of Sportsnet LA tweets, Roberts says that initial EKG results showed some kind of abnormality in Dozier’s heartbeat. Just what that means isn’t yet known, though obviously it is a generally concerning development for the 31-year-old, who has been in fine form on the field since being acquired in advance of the trade deadline. MLBTR certainly sends its best wishes to the Dozier family; we hope to see him back on the field in short order.
- With the Dodgers bullpen struggling to cope with the absence of Jansen, recent acquisition John Axford hasn’t presented much of a solution thus far. Axford has given up six earned runs in just three appearances with Los Angeles. Now, per the above-cited Roberts/Rizzo update, the veteran reliever is headed for a DL stint after taking a comebacker off his leg. Indeed, Axford was diagnosed with a fractured fibula, though it’s only expected to keep him down for two to three weeks.
Every night is like watching a train wreck!
Only in the 9th inning…
Both LA teams are train wrecks.
There’s only 1 LA team, the other is an OC team.
True—and out of contention.
I think it’s time to switch from dark roast to decaf in the dodger clubhouse
This ^
Dark roast, from what I understand, actually has less caffeine than the lighter roasts.
Hmm, did not know that. Oh well, it wasn’t funny anyway
That is actually true – the longer the coffee bean is roasted, the more caffeine is extracted in the roasting process and dissapears into thin air. I work for a coffee roaster and just now learned this. A green bean has the most caffeine, but is unable to be brewed because of bitterness. Tea has much more caffeine than coffee, but usually isn’t brewed long enough or hot enough to extract the maximum amount of caffeine.
I don’t think any team could handle the amount of key injuries late in the season like this.
ummmm…see St. Louis Cardinals
Well they’ve got arguably the best depth for their rotation.
This is why the dodgers probably won’t finish in first!
Lucky the rest of that division is just..meh
Yeah I mean, the division could send 3 teams to the playoffs but is still just meh. LOL your world buddy…its your world…
are you saying the Padres are gonna make the playoffs?
(Rockies)
When your bullpen consists of Jansen and a bunch of claimed DFA players, you’re playing on borrowed time.
This Jansen health situation will be the thing that buries the Dodgers.
Yup. This bullpen was built to fail, and they’ve passed on every opportunity to fix it.
But just you wait, somebody will blame the entire mess on Dave Roberts. Only a matter of time.
Roberts is playing the hand he was dealt. I don’t blame him, although I do think he tends to leave struggling relievers in too long.
And without Jansen it’s a very weak hand. He leaves those struggling relievers in too long because half of his bullpen is total garbage and the other half isn’t much better.
Agreed
I mean, when you’ve had success with Chris Taylor, Justin Turner, Max Muncy, and others, I can’t blame the Dodgers’ front office for taking more chances. But relying on that is plain stupid.
The trick is knowing when your gambles are paying off and when they are not. Something is clearly lacking in that department. Mistakes are never admitted or corrected.
The other issue for this FO is the philosophy they’ve consistently shown in constructing a bullpen. They made that big commitment to Jansen but then refused to spend a hardly a nickel on middle relievers to support him. The parade of worthless relievers they’ve picked up over the last few years is absolutely mind boggling.
While I wouldn’t blame the Bullpen this year on Roberts because the GM Buys the Groceries,however he did make some bad decisions last Post Season that,I believe ,Cost them at the end when they ran out of Gas.Maybe they will need to hug each other more this year? Lol
Its a simple fix. Move Stripling to the set up role and Maeda to close out games. No idea what’s taking Roberts so long to figure this out. Possibly the most overrated manager in baseball, especially when it comes to bullpens.
Agreed.
Really? left-handers have a .777 OPS against Maeda this year — is that what you want in a closer?
Raising my hand to apportion a chunk of the blame to Dave Roberts.
Two points:
1. Roberts bizarre obsession with batting cleanup, over and over and over again. Would feel better, if Kiki was at least over the Mendoza Line.
2. Kershaw pitched another gem last night. It is not against the law to pitch a complete game, with the exception made for the Gospel of St. Dave.
“With Henandez batting cleanup.”
So here it goes, right on cue. The bullpen loses five out of the last seven games and it’s because Hernandez batted cleanup in one of them. Sheesh. So another thing, do you honestly believe that Roberts is formulating lineups completely on his own? Or do you suppose maybe that massive analytics department created by Friedman has just a bit to do with how the lineup card looks on any given day? I guess because Friedman can hide in his office at times like this and Roberts has to wear the uniform and appear out front and take the heat that it really must be all his fault.
Sorry, but your analysis,which is usually spot on, is faulty. Roberts makes out the lineup every night! If the FO is making out the lineup, then what is the purpose of Roberts?
Again, it was never stated that it was all Roberts fault. However, constantly excoriating the FO for poor decision making, while absolving the manager of blame is counter intuitive.
The card may be in his handwriting, but it is not his lineup. Those matchups come from the analytics geeks they’ve hired to crunch those numbers. You ask what is the purpose of a manager in the era of analytics. A good question. For sure it is not what it used to be. In the case of Roberts, it’s clear to me that one of those purposes is playing the good solider for the FO and taking the heat and the blame so they will not have to take it themselves. That trick ain’t working for me.
I understand your reasoning but, in my opinion, Mr. Roberts does not seem up to the challenge. In addition, it is not just managing the bullpen where he fails. Pulling arguably the best pitcher in baseball every game he pitches is ridiculous. He knows his bullpen sucks but Roberts does not have confidence that Kershaw can get three more outs? Come on! I know it is a different game for a different century but, and I am just spitballing here, I would put my money on Kershaw every single time.
Have you ever seen Kiké Hernandez bat against Madison Bumgarner?
Kershaw has been a bundle of injuries again this season and this is the first time in a long time he went eight. So Roberts should never go to his bullpen at all now? Wow, it sure is easy to be a manager, when you only have to do it on the internet.
Yes, as I am sure you have amply proved every day, hindsight is a wonderful thing. However, whatever way we come to our conclusion, the results speak for themselves. If Roberts was managing the Padres (no offense Padre fans), he would deserve our patience. While his time as a manager in training has been interesting, it has not served our long suffering fans all that well.
I am not speaking in hindsight, not at all. In fact I’ve been sounding the alarm over the poorly constructed bullpen since May at least. I took a lot of guff for it then, just as I am now. I didn’t want to be right, but there it is, for all to see. If they chose to see it.
So, sure, fire the manager, and see if that makes the bullpen not stink. It won’t of course because it will still be the same assortment of castoffs. But somebody’s head will be on a stake, and that’s all that really matters, right?
BTW, who speaks for the long suffering fans, Andrew Friedman? What’s he got to say about any of this? Anything at all?
I am not much for “heads on stakes,” however, one would like to see Dave Roberts use a little more restraint in handling his pitching staff. Perhaps, he could take a walk into the clubhouse the next time his intuition tells him to pull a seasoned starter after five innings or so. I do not expect starters to go both ends of a doubleheader but do not tell the fans that we have a problem with too many starting pitchers, then leave a reliever in to be rocked as he did last night. As far as injuries, I wonder how many complete games Dodger pitchers have during Mr. Roberts tenure?
If he leaves his starter in for one too many outs, Roberts to blame. If he pulls the starter and the reliever gives it up, Roberts is to blame. When is Roberts not to blame? Sure sounds like head on stake time to me.
While we are at it, why do you not want to even point a pinkie at Friedman for creating this colossally bad bullpen and doing nothing to fix it? Also the FO is feeding the stats to the dugout on matchups and following that book is what a new-age manager like Roberts is doing and exactly what the stat freaks who run baseball today expect him to do. So why no blame in that direction? None? Zero? Really?
There does not seem to be a reason to blame Friedman, you have pretty much covered your dislike for his methods ad nauseam. I guess my question back to you is why the constant defense of Mr. Roberts? I realize it is easy to blame the manager, but surely you must admit he makes an extraordinary amount of mistakes. Yes, he has a weak bullpen but look at the rest of the team. Good lord!
My only “defense” of Roberts is that he is playing the hand he was dealt by Friedman, which is obviously true. Of the things that we should completely understand, number one among them is that if Roberts wasn’t managing this team according to the Friedman playbook, he’d be long gone. And your evidence to the contrary is? None, so far as I can see.
My “dislike” of Friedman is limited to his construction of a bullpen that by completely objective measurements, stinks. If you have any evidence to the contrary, why don’t you supply it? Maybe you should do that instead of trying to characterize my views. Go ahead back up yours. It’s harder.
So the last time you sat in at the Executive Offices at Dodger Stadium you heard Friedman tell Roberts to do it his way or he would be gone? And you are asking me to supply evidence to the contrary? Rather difficult to prove a negative.
In addition, I was not attempting to characterize your views. Day after day, you or someone that uses
Blue Sky LA whines about Friedman. The same guy that went out and traded for Machado and Dozier. Terrible GM. In addition to that, you may not have noticed that many teams have stopped paying big bucks for middle relievers and set up men. This does not make Friedman an outlier and poor GM, it makes him smart. The Dodgers have plenty of pitchers. They just need to be utilized better
Its both. When you have half your bullpen hurt and a manager that cant manage its a perfect storm. Last night Alexander cant be plunking guys 0-2 but you also cant let him face Hundley. He had absolutely nothing left in the tank. Floro should have been at least getting loose. Even if it means Panik pinch hits. This BS ends tonight with Stripling closing
The Dodgers lack of urgency and concern for their bullpen after it fails them year after year is rather curious. Especially given the overwhelming amount of resources they deploy to improve in every other area.
It’s a blindspot for this FO. They have a certain theory of how to construct a bullpen (essentially, a bunch of interchangeable throw-away parts), and they are sticking by that theory even when it fails miserably.
Dodgers dropped the ball… Could have had Rodney dirt cheap to add bullpen depth and sat on their hands. Instead of upgrading the bullpen, the front office decided to add Dozier so Muncy and his 26 HR can sit on the bench.
You are making one excuse after another for Roberts, but the reality is this guy can not manage a pitching staff, as well as a bullpen. Whole world saw that in the WS and have watched it again this year. Hopefully, thr Dodgers can still win in spite of their manager.
Point and counterpoint.
You are contradicting yourself. Roberts could not have have made any of these moves, only the FO can do that. Only they can give him the staff to manage. If the Dodgers win, it will be in spite of Friedman and his merry band.
I actually agree with their philosophy.
With the amount of successful buy low names in the bullpen (Yates, Hand, Parker, Jennings, Hughes, Brach, Norris, Romo, Peralta……)
Why pay $5-$10m for a middle reliever when the volatility of relievers has usually proven that those deals rarely work out.
They came into the season with an insane amount of pitching depth, but almost all of them got hurt.
So you agree with their philosophy, even when it has clearly failed? Not for the first time, either.
X2
And banking on Tom Koehler to be the next Brandon Morrow…
All the Dodger fans on this site were saying it and it made me laugh still my stomach hurt.
Best wishes and speedy recovery to Brian Dozier.
If he can get thru waivers, Padres will trade you Yates for your top 5 prospects 😛
Padres will keep Yates
I agree with a lot of the comments so far but the problem, yes, it’s mostly the bullpen not doing their job. However, they also don’t bat–the Bats in the lineup should not be let off the hook. The Dodgers have an incredible hitting lineup that is not giving enough support. They are very hot and cold and until they get consistent hitting and the bullpen can hold a lead, they may not even make the playoffs. The NL West is too tight to make anymore mistakes.
Personal opinion: while they wait for Jansen to get back, they need to do a 5/4, 6/3, or heck, even 7/2 starting pitching combo. (Example: Tonight, pitch Wood 6 innings and let Maeda close the door with the final 3). Since the starters are strong, it’s time to think outside the box.
Maeda and Stripling have already been moved to the pen. While it would be great if the lineup scored more runs, that doesn’t account for the bullpen losing five games out of the last seven. In the end, no team can complete against half-decent teams in the regular season let alone in the postseason with a lousy bullpen, no matter how good the lineup may be. The FO has simply failed to construct a fully competitive team and it has come back to haunt in ways that were totally predictable.
bullpen
It’s not about Jansen’s acute heart ailment, it’s about Friedman’s arrogance. He failed to give up a couple of prospects to fill in the ongoing glaring weakness in the pen instead believing acquiring second – rate pitchers could perform well in high leverage situations. Once he lost Morrow he should have traded for a proven pitcher. Instead he made a splashy move with Machado. Now we all must suffer his arrogance. There’s a reason Chargrois, Goeddel, et al were cheap acquisitions. Not the mention the horror that is Baez.
And Rosscup, who wasn’t good enough to stick with the Rockies.
Wasn’t that game great to watch last night?!! One worse injury riddled team(Giants) against another! With the better team winning last night! Bahahaha
Maybe the team with the better management won last night.
If you put the position players up against each other Giants/Dodgers, Belt/Bellinger, belt has been injured but if you put him in another park he would have as many homers as Bellinger, probably a better average too. Posey is better then any Dodgers catcher. Longo and Turner is a toss up, but I think that’s about even, slight edge to Longo. Crawford over Taylor, Dozier over panik, McCutchen/ Puig, you take his career numbers And match them to cutch, Cutch is better, arm to Puig. Just sayin
Longo over Turner lay off the acid. Machado/Seager next year > Crawford. Puig > McCutchen. And the Dodgers have extremely good depth while SF has none
Non of what you said had any sense to it! Machado isn’t even on your team next year! And Yes, Longo is better then Turner, check your career stat sheet bro. He was the Face of the Rays, what is Turner? Puig is garbage, he continues to show no respect for the game, and Cutch is flat out better, read my post next time. Actually the Dodgers are garbage, terrible year after year dealings, just keep praying for that miracle year again like 88. Bahahahaha
Too bad that game means nothing! Bahahaha
Every game means something!
The standings state otherwise, Troll.
I don’t know who you’re referring to as a troll, but for me I love the game! Sure I hate seeing my team lose but I love watching greatness! And right now and for all year really, the Giants and Dodgers have sucked! Barely hanging on! Injury riddled season!
Balk: Nice overuse of the exclamation point for people to take you more seriously…classic. SMH
What, are you a kindergarten teacher or something? I don’t even understand your point. I think you must be an idiot! Bahahaha
Chris Hatcher just got released by the A’s. Maybe he can come back and rescue the Dodgers bullpen, lol…
In LA that would constitute an under the radar brilliant move by Friedman bc any move or non – move Friedman makes is utter genius and often beyond the grasp of the average fan.
While I’m not denying the brilliance of Friedman, he’s simply the leader of a star-studded Los Angeles front office.
You bring that many geniuses together and you get an outstanding product.
I’m not even a Dodger’s fan, but if the FO fires Roberts this offseason, I might have heart problem too.
If there’s a god, it looks as though he placed a bet on the Diamondbacks to win the NL-West division with all of the injuries that the Dodgers have endured this season: Seager, Jansen, Turner, Dozier, Kershaw, Ryu etc.
I think a lifetime ban could be in order
Well thought out risky subject matter. Norm MacDonald would be proud anyway.
RE: Dozier, Short order fulfilled. Batting leadoff..