Mookie Betts was a late scratch from today’s game due to a sore left shoulder, per the Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya (via Twitter). It makes sense for the Dodgers to be cautious with Betts, given that he has dealt with a number of smaller injuries so far this season. He has played in 38 of their 46 games so far this season. When in the lineup, he hasn’t been his usual MVP-level self, though he’s still managed to produce 29 percent better than average with a .258/.366/.452 line at the plate. While we’re here, let’s get some other health updates from Los Angeles…
- The Dodgers may soon see their other MVP outfielder return to the lineup. Cody Bellinger could be “seven or eight” days from returning, per Jorge Castillo of the LA Times (via Twitter). Bellinger played in just four games before a lower leg stress fracture sent him to the shelf. Centerfield has been a patchwork effort without Bellinger, mostly handled by the ever-useful Chris Taylor. Taylor has been excellent in Bellinger’s place, and he’ll be put to use elsewhere around the diamond when Bellinger returns.
- Tony Gonsolin looked great in his first rehab assignment today, tossing three scoreless innings while allowing just one hit, per Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register (via Twitter). He’ll start again in another five days in the hopes of soon joining the Dodgers’ rotation. Though Gonsolin started the season in the bullpen, Dustin May’s injury has opened up a rotation spot.
- Brusdar Graterol is also nearing a return. Per Plunkett, Graterol threw a 30-pitch bullpen session on Friday, and if he throws another successful one on Tuesday, he could begin a rehab assignment soon after. Graterol made just three appearances after getting a late start to the season.
Mookie goes through this all the time, mostly every yr, cept 2018., Good luck with his looooong contract.
Every player does. No problem with the long contract. These deals pay for themselves in the first few years, and the Dodgers have a wide window for contending. They’re a pretty young team and are really just getting started.
Every player doesn’t this early on.
Truth is Mookie goes all out all the time, which does make him more injury prone. That’s why the only concern Boston had with giving him a massive contract was not whether his skills would decline, but whether he’d stay healthy. If he stays healthy he will be a HOF’er. If not he could become another Carl Crawford or Freddie Lynn.
He is the best all-around player the Red Sox ever had. Comparing him to Crawford and Lynn is asinine. Lynn’s career WAR is 50.2. Betts is already at 47.5. Hall of Famer Jim Rice finished at 47.7.
I meant in terms of his production fizzling out because of injuries, obviously. I never said a healthy Lynn or healthy Crawford was as good as a healthy Mookie.
There’s no evidence that his production is fizzling. Why invent a narrative that doesn’t exist? And where are these injuries you speak of?
@cey Mookie’s great but geez, best all-around Red Sox is up for interpretation. can he pitch? Babe Ruth could. I guess he’s a better defender than Ted Williams, but… Ted was perhaps best hitter ever what weight do you give that?
Yaz was a helluva defensive force, multi position, and his 22 years as a Red Sox makes Mookie’s tenure look brief by comparison. Best ever on a team should consider tenure.
YAZ WAR with Boston 96.5, 7 Gold Gloves, Ted Williams WAR 122, even though he missed years in thee war.
Babe Ruth WAR 182
When you have to pull 100+ year old hall of famers to prove a player isn’t great today, it’s a pretty dumb exercise
Silly comment here.
Carl Crawford is not Mookie Betts.
Cey Hey
He is the best all-around player the Red Sox ever had.
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Betts is HOF material, but not better than Yaz.
@ Before, you’re pathetic at transference. Mookie is great today and I didnt imply otherwise AT ALL. Do you ever read posts for context? But greatest all-around Red Sox ever, in history, is certainly a bold statement worthy of clarification.
The only one “inventing” is you. Re-read my post, everything I wrote is factual.
Here, I’ll help you:
1) Mookie goes all out all the time, which makes him more injury prone. If you’re too young to be familiar with Crawford, Lynn, Edmonds, etc then try reading more than just their WAR and other statistics.
2) If Mookie stays healthy he’s a HOF’er. Do you disagree?
3) If he doesn’t stay healthy, his career will decline prematurely like Lynn and Crawford. Again, nothing inaccurate with that statement.
Freddie’s last GG was at age 28, and his last +.800 OPS was at age 35
Crawford’s last GG was also at age 28, he was toast by age 33.
In terms of skill set, they are most definitely similar.
Both GG outfielders.
Both top of the lineup hitters, primarily batting 1st or 2nd.
Both blessed with tremendous speed, which their game revolves around.
I’m not at all comparing them talent-wise, but certainly Mookie’s career could end the same as Crawford’s did. If the legs go, so does most of his game.
He’s had 614 or more PA from 2015 through 2019. Criticizing his health makes it look like you are trying to make this an issue.
Given that the Dodgers already got a WS win out of it I’d say it already worked out well.
He is injury prone because he’s so little.
Same reason Stanton & Judge get hurt.
Wait…now I’m in some kind or Goldilocks thing. Ya know; “this one is too small & this one is too big but this one is juuuust right”.
Yep. ‘Nuff said.
I find a lot of sports narratives to be pretty interesting in that they are oftentimes at odds with one another.
This one is a good example.
When Betts was heading towards free agency one of the knocks on him was that being a smaller player he would be injury prone.
Interestingly, there is a rather large contingent of Yankee fans who don’t want Judge signed to an extension. The reason? Well, he’s *so big* he’s going to break down.
Well…which the hell is it then, uh?
Go all out on the field or do too much body building, you’ll be injury prone no matter what your height. How your body is built, that’s the key factor. If you’re built like a horse, such as Nolan Ryan, you’ll likely stay healthy and strong for a long time. If you’re built like a stick, like Chris Sale, well …. we all know how that’s gone the past few years.
Hank Aaron, Roberto Clemente, Joe DiMaggio, Ernie Banks, and the Splendid Splinter would disagree with your “stick” theory. Athletes know more now and take better care of their bodies. No more junk food on the post-game buffet table like in the 80s.
Or beer and bennies in the clubhouse between innings.
Of all the weird sports medicine theories I’ve ever heard, “size matters” has to be the weirdest. Why not say “dude can’t stay healthy” like everybody else does, and we’ll know you don’t have a clue about why anybody gets hurt playing this game?
I’m not sure how good an example Sale is, @F.P.Guy.
Before his Tommy John surgery he was remarkably durable. & everyone gets TJS these days.
Ryan was a pretty big strong fella. But we’ve seen plenty of pitchers built like him that broke down early in their careers.
There are just a lot of different factors in play. How hard they play – as you point out – is one. Training…hell, luck is a factor.
I think one could assemble an entire roster of dudes built exactly like Ripken & not have one of them come close to matching his durability. We’ve seen every body type imaginable have success – or the opposite – in MLB.
The Dodgers thought Pedro Martinez was too small to last, so they traded him. Oops.
I’ll never understand why everything I post comes up twice.
*
those are fight words
Sure sweetie-we all can see you’re deeply concerned
Yeah in my books he is great but he isn’t amazing.
Yeah, sure, ok
I’m a Padres fan and think Mookie is great. Probably best position player on the team.
Mookie can ball.
So glad he is out of the AL East.
He’s the second-best position player in the game after Trout. No one else is in the conversation.
I think Acuna Tatis and Soto have entered the room at least but agree id go Mookie as well right now based on his proven leadership ability that is still an unknown with the above 3
In your book he’s not amazing, eh? I take it you write fiction?
You read too many harry potter books. Troll la la
This team is winning without Bellinger, May, Seager,and pollock. McKinstry too. Not to mention the bullpen pieces. Great depth.
Actually the Dodgers are NOT currently winning with their backup pieces, they are losing. That is why they have dropped out of first place.
The Dodgers have won eleven of their last twelve and seven straight… I’m sure a lot of teams would be happy to be losing like that.
Pretty sure the dodgers just swept SF and have won 12 of their last 13
But hey live in the past to feel good Hudson
So the Dodgers are in first now BeforeMcCourt? When did that happen? Because the standings are telling me something different.
You mentioned the standings: those standings should tell you that the Dodgers have the second-best record in baseball. San Diego, the team that is ahead of them by one game for the best record in baseball, just happens to be in their division.
Your analysis is, perhaps, a bit too narrow?
Did I ever say they are in first, Hudson?
And, just checking, did you originally say “the dodgers “the dodgers aren’t winning with their backup pieces”?
Pretty sure Bellinger+Seager are still out and they’re 1 game back of first. So, they’re in the exact spot San Diego was in… yesterday? Using multiple backups, as you claimed they weren’t?
Seems like you’re a little worried all of a sudden and are lashing out buddy
LOL! Dodgers just sent SF from first to third faster than Mookie
https://www.mlb.com/news/most-indispensable-player-for-every-mlb-team-in-2021
Perhaps you should check to see which team is ACTUALLY winning using backup pieces. It’s right here in this article by MLB! The team that has the best record in baseball. Using backups. Checkmate.
OVERRATED!!
Im genuinely curious as how you think he is overrated? Also as to why you feel the need to all caps shout it?
If mookie goes to the IL I hop they bring up zach reks instead of luke.
Mookie’s definitely playing through something. It may be wise to give him some extended time off when both Belli and McKinstry are back.
Great news –
Gonsolin is really going to be key the last 4 months- A steady 80+inns goes a long long way for the entire pitching staff
The top 4 will have to be backed off some starts/inns later as well, I just don’t think Santana Price or Nelson will be stretched out enough, someone of the Ivan Nova/Rick Porcello molds from the past would be nice before the deadline and should be available once some teams hopes have died down….Marlins…..??…
Alright, @Cap.
I can’t figure it out so I just gotta ask.
Who is your favorite team?
You are really knowledgeable about several ballclubs. Including the Yanks whom I’ve assumed at times in the past were your squad. Now I think it’s the Dodgers which I’ve thought before too.
Dodgers indeed Duck, tho I try and take an agnostic view when weighing in on all teams –
I basically take the threads as some make believe nerd game of “What would you Do if Gm for a day” of that particular club.
Best part of this website is learning more about other orgs inside the threads from the home fans , it takes some sifting but there’s still a ton of valuable info from not only the articles alone , but the community down below as well
Thanks.
For the last month or so, I really started trying to figure it out. I had it narrowed down to the Yanks or Dodgers.
Absolutely.
I love my Yankee guys. Even when it’s not easy, uh? But I also have a poster, or two,from probably close to half the league, that when a story comes up I just scroll to find their particular take(s). That’s in less than a year here.
I think by this time next season I’ll probably have most of MLB covered. Which is really pretty cool. Obviously, being a Yankee fan kind of stamps you out & will just automatically close sone doors. But there are a whole lot of interesting guys on the board who know a helluva lot more about their teams than I do & just wanna talk some ball.
All told, I’ve become a much more aware & educated fan.
I think the Marlins will be buyers that whole division has a shot at winning it. Your sellers will come from the AL Central the White Sox gonna run away with that division and leave Cleveland in the dust.
Minnesota still has a chance. Their next 13 games are against the Orioles and Royals. At the very least, they can get back to within wildcard contention. The question is whether teams like the Twins and Marlins try to eke out a WC spot when selling might be wiser in the long term.
The biggest deadline question is Luis Castillo. He was hit hard again today and has dropped to 1-7 for a team that scores a lot of runs.
ERA: 7.61
WHIP: 1.80
66 hits in 47.1 innings
I keep expecting him to be shut down. Tough blow for the Reds as his trade value is taking quite a hit.
They can win the division without Gonsolin. He pitched three innings today and will slot into the fifth slot in the rotation, then move to the bullpen in October. The front four is as good as it gets. It’s reasonable to think all four will get Cy Young votes. People need to stop sleeping on Julio Urias. Ace-caliber pitcher who will continue to improve as the season wears on. He certainly has the ability to hang with the other three.
The Dodgers roster is fine for now. When all is said and done, they will challenge or perhaps break the franchise record of 106 wins. No other team in baseball will win that many games. I expect them to win the division by 8-10 games. The Padres are good but haven’t proven they can maintain that type of pace. Over the last four seasons, the Dodgers have averaged 102-60 per 162 games. That’s crazy good and the current roster will be their best once healthy.
Maybe we see Michael Busch in September?
Im hoping, maybe, Bobby Miller ….. *fingers crossed *….All would have to break right for that tho
I Do have a lot of confidence in Busch tho for the future, seems to have that workable (yet) solid swing path they love to start/tinker with at the next level. I think Muncy could have a big impact on that kid in particular, I hope they gravitate towards each other and Muncy shares some of that insane preparation/work ethic too him in a mentoring role
You’re both right. In Gonsolin we’re talking the #5 starter, not a place in the rotation where divisions are won or lost, and certainly not postseason games. And for around 20 games, the Dodgers really did suck, and the reason was the bullpen, mostly.
Urias would be a 1 or 2 starter on many teams. He’s way underrated by fans outside of this time zone. The only reason he pitches behind Kershaw, Bauer, and Buehler, is Kershaw, Bauer, and Buehler.
Dodgers sucked in that span for more reasons than bullpen, or even injuries. Combo of bad defense, bullpen meltdowns, backups and starters not hitting. It was a team effort. The one constant for the most part has been the starting pitching. Solid the entire season. Getting Bellinger and McKinstry back is huge. The less ABs Raley (already gone), Peters and Neuse get the better. Seems like Dodgers will be lefty heavy though. I’d think they will search for a right-handed bat at the trade deadline.
Saying what I actually meant, I used of the word “mostly,” an adverb meaning more than others, not only.
No, it was not mostly the bullpen.
He said, without evidence. So here’s some evidence. Nine of 14 losses between April 18 and May 9 were credited to the bullpen. That’s mostly, working definition.
The bullpen certainly had their issues, but the offense was worse in my opinion. They averaged over 4 runs in that 20 game span, but skewed by a few games of abnormal offensive production and runs scored in extra innings, which is a lot easier when you have a runner starting at second base. In 6 of those 20 games they scored 1 run or less. In 9 of 20 games they scored 2 runs or less. In 12 of 20 games they scored 3 runs or less. You’re not going to win too many of those games. Let’s not even start with the poor defense, which extended innings, and also includes all the stolen bases allowed. It is ridiculous to merely point out the bullpen when most of the team was equally bad if not worse. The only group that didn’t deserve blame in my opinion was the starting pitching.
No merely about it, so nothing ridiculous about it either. My simple point is when the bullpen loses nine games in a little more than two-weeks then it’s the team’s biggest problem during that stretch. Not the only one, the biggest one. This is true because no matter how poorly the offense is performing, the bullpen can only lose a game if it is handed a tie game or a lead and gives it up. When that happens the bullpen is main factor in the loss. This does not even count the games where the bullpen gave back most of a huge lead and only managed to not give up all of it.
Actually if we’re being honest at some point they will definitely need Gonsolin, and spot starts from Price etc… along with a trade acquisition. I feel like that party pooper raining on the parade. As good as Urias has and will be, it’ll be no surprise when he’s bumped back to the pen come the stretch run, because he’s not going to be extended that far. It’ll be the big three + a trade acquisition, Urias being a backend option. Which quite honestly makes the pen even deeper. It becomes the result of injury +shortened season.
They are def over inns projections right now – I think Urias will start in the postseason but there will def be massaging along the way
I think they need a guy as well Blue…Maybe Wade Miley altho I think they’d like him to be a little cheaper
Santana could have been a savior but he’s just not right at the moment imo
They need Gonsolin now, because they have only four starters and are playing bullpen games to cover. That was an easy call.
I’d be happy to wager good money that Urias is far more likely to be in the rotation in September than Price will be making spot starts. Today would have been an ideal situation to use Price for more than one inning yet he pitched one, quick inning and was done. He hasn’t pitched more than two innings in any game yet and only that much a couple of times.
I think you’re confusing Urias recovering from shoulder surgery with Urias several years later. I don’t see any evidence that they are limiting him in any way or any reason why they should. He’d have gotten through seven today easily if he hadn’t caught some bad breaks in the sixth.
I’m not really confusing Urias recovering from shoulder surgery though. I think it’s the end result of the shoulder injury and the subsequent shortened season. Without them he’d probably have been a 160+ inn guy. It’d be nice to simply believe he’d be a 160 IP guy with no effects posting up come playoffs and dominating. The reality though is he’s never thrown more than 80 mlb in during the regular season so to believe he’s going to be extended so far out seems to be naive, but that’s just me, especially knowing they’ll need playoff innings. It’s just the development of young SPs especially when you see them hit that innings threshold they never reached before. You can definitely see the effects. It’s one of the tricky aspect a lot teams will have to deal with this year. That’s just me, but I think we see him get to 120-130 innings and then you see them feature Urias and Gonzalez as the backend LH options out of the pen come post season.
Everybody’s season was shortened last year, so that’s not a reason unique to Urias. The only reason unique to him is the shoulder surgery. He was definitely babied for quite awhile after he came back from it, but from everything I heard before most of last season went down the tubes is they fully intended for him to be in the rotation. I also don’t see Urias as a young pitcher. He may be only 24 but even factoring out 2018 he’s in his 5th season. That makes him a veteran by the usual definition and he’s certainly filled out a lot since then. (I have a picture I took of him warming for his first home game. He was was rail skinny back then.) The other bottom line is they can’t really run him into the bullpen after 120-130 innings this year if only because they don’t have the starting pitching to cover, and if you’re looking to Price for that duty, I suggest you look again. He didn’t throw a pitch last year and they are definitely not taxing him now. As for the postseason, I think we both know how 4th starters are used in that situation. So again not a reason unique to Urias.
Cap & Crunch
A steady 80+inns goes a long long way for the entire pitching staff
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I appreciate this remark. Too many folks think in terms of total contribution, and don’t think of marginal contribution. You only have to fill 1,400+ IPs, and of those 1,400, maybe only 1,200 really count. 80+ good innings is a solid contribution.
Young starters will get some innings, like Julio got a few years ago. Building for the future while winning now has been the recipe for almost a decade.
Good, now they need to demote Dennis Santana and Edwin Uceta to the OKC. And peobably find some good LHP for their Bullpen since Alex Vesia and Cleavinger is so so. Cant rely on Gonzalez all the time since Scott Alexander and David Price is injury prone
Santana has been up with the blue since 2018, you would have thought he would have turned a corner with his command, strikes, and ending innings by now. But not so. Uceta is up because it’s his ETA year, but he ain’t ready for full innings work versus MLB batters. Vesia has been getting better though, he’s actually capable now of ending innings. I think Cleavinger is on the IL. And you’re right about Gonzo.
I still think Betts is suffering from the earlier HBP, and I’d bet that, had Bellinger not been on the IL, Betts would’ve gotten a couple of weeks off.
Agree
I have always had respect for Mookie. He will be back and shine. Hopefully his great abilities don’t hinder the brewers playoff run. Ouch too soon, it hurts as a life long brewers fan. Born in 82 btw.
Also worth noting, I’ve seen a ton of comments regarding injuries… not just on this thread. Last yr was a cobbled together, hodgepodge of a season. Minors were shut down. It will take time to figure everything out. Some managers haven’t even been filled in on all the specifics of some of the new rules. Give the players a break and let the injuries heal. Obviously from the brewers standpoint it has been difficult. Dodgers have a similar situation. Both have been in playoff contention for several yrs now. And have had do deal with many injuries. Both teams are above .500 after nearly 1/3 or the season. By allstar break the test run on this season will be done, and we can get back to normal baseball. Then we can give harsh criticism. A’s have played 49 games and lead their division. They would have home field on lock right now and be in good shape for the World Series win… if this was a 60 game season. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride.