Tag Archives: The Los Angeles Dodgers

Nathan Eovaldi Should Be Top Priority

2018 was a fun ride for fans and players, now it’s time to get down to business. For the Red Sox, I think they need to find a way to keep Eovaldi in Boston. Reports on the situation are that Boston does indeed want to re-sign him. If they are unable to make that happen, they want to sign another proven Major League starter to replace him. I think that it is imperative to keep him.

Here’s Why Eovaldi Needs To Stay

With Nathan Eovaldi re-signed Boston’s starting rotation would be unreal with Sale, Price, Porcello, and Rodriguez all staying put. Suring up that rotation with Nathan would be smart. Boston has their key offensive pieces in place. Boston doesn’t have to worry about Mookie Betts or JD Martinez this year, so instead of signing another veteran pitcher, this is why Eovaldi is the answer.

Game 4 of the ALDS against the rival Yankees, Eovaldi dominated, pitching 7 plus innings with 1 run allowed. New York is also one of the teams that could be in on him. As the Red Sox continued into the ALCS, Eovaldi was great again. 6 plus innings with just 2 runs as the Sox won Game 3 using his arm again. As we all know by now the Red Sox beat the Houston Astros, and we were introduced to the rover. Alex Cora used Eovaldi as his rover in game 5 of the ALCS and in Games 1 and 2 of the World Series. In those 3 games, he came into each game and threw fire allowing 0 runs, while making it look easy. Even with short rest, Boston was going to have him start Game 4 of the World Series, but Game 3 changed that plan.

Eovaldi Turns in Heroic Performance Showing His Selflessness

Eovaldi was perfect for the Red Sox and should stay in Boston

Once again, Eovaldi was called on as Game 3 of the World Series turned into a marathon of a game. Still tied in the 12th inning, Nathan Eovaldi came out of the pen. In one of the greatest performances I’ve ever witnessed, he turned in a heroic 6 inning relief appearance. He knew that he was putting his future in jeopardy, by pitching so often. Anything could have happened and he could’ve lost a lot of money. As a free-agent-to-be, he risked his health along with future contracts, but he just wanted to help his team. Putting all of that aside, he went deep into the 18th inning, hitting triple digits on the radar gun like it was nothing.

Eovaldi pitched a gem and kept the Sox in the game as long as he could. In the bottom of the 18th, he gave up a solo shot to end the longest game in history. His teammates were all amazed at what he just did, some brought to tears as they realized how much Nathan just gave for his team. I believe it galvanized an already very close clubhouse. Eovaldi was a huge reason for Boston’s Championship.

Closing Thoughts on Nathan Eovaldi

Boston should do what they can to keep Eovaldi. He’s 28 years old, extremely dominant and the way he pitched since arriving in Boston is all I need to know about him. For what it’s worth he threw 16 scoreless innings against the Yankees in the regular season. Also, his 1.35 ERA in September combined with what he did in the postseason, I believe he’s worth the $15 million range. He himself said he’d love to stay in Boston. While many teams will be fighting for him, I believe he wants to be here enough that he and Boston will work something out.

Support Rob Manfred: Contact The MLBPA About Pace Of Play

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Rob Manfred has gotten a contract extension to remain The Commissioner of Major League Baseball for another 5 years. That is outstanding news for all baseball fans because Mr. Manfred is a man on a mission to save our beautiful game.

Declining Ratings

And why does our game need saving? Because ratings and attendance are down, more every year. How is it that the World Series between Boston and LA, two historical franchises, had reduced ratings of 20% over the prior year? Because people hate the Red Sox. Oh, and it takes too long. The game simply takes too long.

Rob Manfred, a hero of busy people with only so much time, has taken on Titans and Legends alike in his time as Commissioner, all in the name of reducing Pace of Play. Let’s take a brief walk down his warpath.

Rob Manfred Pace Of Play Initiatives

In 2015, Big Time Rob got the MLB Players Union to agree to several Pace of Play initiatives:

Managers have to stay in the dugout during replay challenges. I have to admit, I kind of miss Lou Piniella. But it saves time!
Hitter have to keep one foot in the batter’s box at all times. No more afternoon strolls or other shenanigans.
The game must start promptly after commercial breaks.
Relievers have 2 minutes 30 seconds to come in from the bullpen and warm up.

It’s debatable how often Thor, I mean Rob Manfred, threw the hammer and fined players for their violations. But clearly, the battle lines were drawn.

The Owners Pony Up

In 2018 Jon Snow, I mean Ron Manfred, pulled out his long sword and did the unthinkable: He got the MLB owners to agree to reduce commercial time. This is money directly out of their pockets. 20 seconds less per break during the regular season. That’s almost a 10% reduction on 2:25 of ad time.

That hurts. It’s estimated that on national MLB games in 2017 the total cost of advertising was $313 million. That was just network games like Fox and TBS. Imagine all the team networks out there, charging for ads in all the MLB games every day.

Now imagine bigger. In 2017, the Phillies signed a deal with Comcast for $5 Billion over 25 years to televise the games.

The Players Need To Get Behind This

It’s high time the Major League Players Association started getting truly serious about reducing the time it takes to watch the games. I won’t say this is a crisis, but I don’t think I have to go chapter and verse of why a faster game would benefit all.

In 2018, when Jesse Owens, I mean Rob Manfred, negotiated the reduction in ad time, as well as limiting mound visits, he wanted to introduce the play clock. But he could not come to an agreement with the Players Association.

I’m no expert, but Paul Bunyan, I mean Rob Manfred, and his team are experts. And they say increasing the pace of play is vital for the game. The Commish could implement things like the pitch clock and between-batter timer unilaterally if he wanted to. But he has been exercising caution in the name of labor peace and cooperation thus far.

A Travesty In The World Series

I mean honestly, they were playing ads between pitches during the World Series. Between pitches in the ninth inning of a close game in the World Series. I watched this happen and was enraged.

The history and honor and glory of our great game is made and lost in the 9th inning of World Series games. How is it possible ads are playing between pitches?

Because too much time is taken between each and every pitch! It’s on the teams, the players, the managers, and the league, to make it inconceivable a real ad could be placed between pitches in the 9th inning of a World Series Game.

A Call To Action

I propose a grassroots campaign to flood the Major League Players association with calls and emails and letters urging them to agree with Commissioner Manfred to do anything possible to speed up the game. Here is the MLBPA contact information:

Website: www.mlbplayers.org
Phone number: (212) 826 – 0808
Email address: feedback@mlbpa.org
Address: 12 East 49th St, 24th Floor, New York, NY 10017

The owners have given up millions of dollars. They, in turn, have endorsed General George S. Patton, I mean Commissioner Manfred, to go on a long campaign of reducing the pace of play.

This is the players’ game. They need to get behind these efforts instead of fighting them. We cheer them, boo them, love them, hate them, and ultimately support all of them by attending and watching.

Now let them hear your voices like never before. Tell them to get behind the efforts, like the pitch clock, to speed up the game and not make it a point of contention or call for labor strife within the Players Union. Make it part of our great game going forward instead of a stagnant game going backward.

For the love of the game.

World Series Game 3, A Heart Breaker

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It took 18 innings, but the Red Sox lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-2 in World Series Game 3. A heart breaker for the Red Sox. This puts the Sox up 2-1 in the series and still in the cat birds seat for a World Series Championship.

Eduardo Nunez’s Wild Ride

It’s Eduardo Nunez’s world and we’re all just living in it. It was the top of the 13th inning. The score was 1-1. On a bad ankle and knee he was beat up and pushed around in the batter’s box. He had Brock Holt, who had walked after an 0-2 count, standing at first. During the wild pitch that lead to Nunez’s adventure, Holt scampered to second.

The Red Sox Break Through

After a visit from the trainers and Alex Cora he settled in and waited for a pitch from lefty Scott Alexander. The pitch came in and he swung, a little nubber into no man’s land in front of the mound. The first baseman, Max Muncy, broke for the ball, but the pitcher got there first.

Even gimpy, Nunez got down the line and did what you are never supposed to do. He slid. Amazingly, wonderfully, Alexander’s throw went beyond the grasp of second baseman Kiki Hernandez, who was covering first. While all that was going on Brock Holt went from second to home to take the lead 2-1.

The Dodgers Come Back

By this time the lineup Alex Cora had was make shift at best. Christian Vazquez, catcher, was at first and Eduardo Nunez, pulling a Willis Reed, was at third. Nathan Eovaldi, the supposed Game 4 starter was pitching. Max Muncy walked on a questionable check swing call ball four.

The next batter, Cody Bellinger, skied a foul ball towards the stands on the third base side. Nunez sprinted over and caught the ball, barreling into the stands.

With 2 outs, however, Yasiel Puig hit his own ball into no man’s land. Ian Kinsler was in the game to run for JD Martinez earlier in this game. A bad decision by Cora, one of his very few. Kinsler barely got to it at second base and threw wildly to first. Vazquez didn’t have a chance.

Muncy scored to make the game 2-2.

Jackie Bradley Jr.

A brief timeout to raise up Jackie Bradley Jr. The whole reason the Red Sox were in that position in the first place was because of him. There were two outs in the top of the 8th and the Dodgers closer, Kenley Jansen, was on the mound.

The score was 1-0 Dodgers after an outstanding outing from rookie Walker Buehler. No matter, JBJ knew what to do.

Many questioned his spot in the lineup. Not Boston Sports Extra. His solo Home Run set up the extra inning theatrics.

Nathan Eovaldi

With Nathan Eovaldi doing yeoman’s work the score remained 2-2 into the 18th inning. Yeoman’s work doesn’t cover it.

Eovaldi pitched the most pitches in relief in world series history. He pitched 6 plus innings of 1 run ball on short rest, along with the unearned run from the Kinsler error.

Max Muncy took him deep for a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 18th.

This game pushed well into October 27th. If that date is familiar to you as a Red Sox fan, it should be. That was the date in 2004 The Curse was destroyed. So today isn’t all bad.

David Price, Red Sox Win, Game 2 Recap

David Price

Once again, @DAVIDprice24 had complete control on the mound tonight.

Controlling his adorable son? Not as easy.😂 pic.twitter.com/7XNd9PafEm

— Cut4 (@Cut4) October 25, 2018

Live it up David. Any man who goes six innings with three hits allowed and two earned runs in the World Series gets to have his kid up there bring some levity.

While Price was busy rewriting his post season narrative, the offense continued to do things we have never seen. The mantra for offense in baseball is batting with runners in scoring position. For premium offense it’s all that plus doing it with two outs.

There is David Ortiz clutch, in which a singular individual gets hit after hit to win games in the post season. Then there is this team’s version.

In the top of the 5th inning, Hyun-Jin Ryu was steamrolling the Red Sox lineup. He got Ian Kinsler to ground out and JBJ to hit a weak infield fly. He got Christian Vazquez to an 0-2 count. Then it began.

Vasqy keeps his swing short and hits a single. Betts singled. The anticipation and trust and faith in this team begins to ripple through Fenway. Benny walks and the bases are loaded.

The Turning Point

Dave Roberts is getting killed for over managing his Dodgers, but what would you do? Let Ryu face lefty killer Steve Pearce with the bases loaded, or bring in a normally trustworthy strikeout reliever? Roberts goes with door number 2 and brings in Ryan Madson.

The moment proved too big for Madson. He walks Pearce. Almost every pitch looked like Mariano Rivera’s last pitch to Kevin Millar in game 4 of the 2004 ALCS to set up Roberts famous steal. The score is now 2-2. All of this with two outs.

So Madson, who had blown away JD Martinez in Game 1 with the bases loaded, gets to face him in the same situation. You can’t stop JD Martinez, you can only hope to contain him. Because JD is so obsessed about hitting, he look locked in, laser focused. Staying inside the ball, he rockets the second pitch to right and two more runs score. It’s 4-2 and the Dodgers are shook.

The Dodgers were one strike away from getting out of that inning. Who knows how long Ryu could’ve pitched. But The Red Sox relentlessness is a wonder to behold. Putting the ball in play. The Red Sox are making this look easy. Despite what we are witnessing it is not.

Historical Perspective

With runners in scoring position in the postseason the Red Sox are hitting 17-40. That’s a .425 average. .425 is beyond comprehension. They’ve turned into peak Ty Cobb, Ted Williams, Tony Gwynn, at the most critical times of the game.

The only other team in the same stratosphere is another old timey Titan. That’s the 1910 Philadelphia A’s. You remember them. Lead by a young Eddy Collins, they hit .394 in those situations.

The Bullpen

Tip of the cap. High Five. Way to go! The Red Sox bullpen, so maligned and beleaguered during the year, continued to dominate. Of note, Nathan Eovaldi, building an MVP case, pitched a clean 8th inning for the second game in a row. Along with Price, they set down the final 16 Dodgers hitters in a row.

Outfield Defense

Another day, another outstanding outfield catch. This was in the top of the 5th with the Dodgers trying to to increase their 2-1 lead. Brian Dozier thought he had a lead-off hit, but yet again there was Andrew Benintendi. Consequently, it was just another out.

Viewing Note

Commissioner Rob Manfred did an interview with Felger and Mazz on 98.5 The Sports Hub yesterday. You can find it here in the second half of the run-time. The interview starts off contentious. No surprise there. Up for debate: pace of play.

The incorrigible Felger hammers Manfred on pace of play in the postseason and Manfred takes exception. More or less Manfred downplays it and says pace of play is not as big of a deal as Felger is saying it is.

When it’s the 9th inning of Game 2 of the World Series, the score is 4-2, and the closer is on the mound? That is what drama and tension and watch-ability is all about. Most importantly Legends are made and Goats are birthed in these situations.

What do I see on my screen between batters coming to the plate? A split screen ad. Because Fox knows there’s all kinds of time between batters coming up and between pitches. They used it in Game 2 to throw ads at us, not between innings, but between pitches.

If that’s not a mic drop argument that there is way too much time wasted in the game of baseball, I don’t know what is. Commissioner Manfred, it is appalling you are allowing this to happen.

On To LA

The 2018 Sox are making themselves into an all time juggernaut. They’re up 2-0 in the World Series and headed to LA, the land of swimming pools and movie stars. Get ready for your glamour shot boys!

Alex Cora, Right Again

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It’s Alex Cora’s world. We’re all just living in it.

Cora continues to absolutely dunk on his managerial opponents, including in the 2018 World Series.

This game is a prime example of his managerial domination. By the time the 7th inning was over, Dave Roberts had used all of his bench players and the game was effectively over.

Dave Roberts Makes Mistakes

Let’s get one thing straight. I love Dave Roberts. I was part of the Fenway crowd giving him all kinds of love last night during introductions.

But he seemed befuddled when his team couldn’t quite take the lead. This caused him to completely empty his bench in the top of the 7th to try and score some runs.

Greg Amsinger of the MLB Network did a piece on how Roberts was too humanized to manage well. Nonsense arguments like this happen when things don’t work for a team. Things that used to work just last week in the NLCS.

Those things don’t work anymore because you are facing Alex Cora’s Red Sox.

Alex Cora Is A Clairvoyant Genius

In this game, he started little brother Rafael Devers at third base over Eduardo Nunez. That’s interesting because Nunez has started all year when the Red Sox face a left handed pitcher like Clayton Kershaw. It’s match-up based.

But Cora decided to buck the match-up, and Devers rewarded him. Of course, he did. He went 1-2 with a walk and RBI.

But then something happened.

Roberts brought in a lefty, Alex Woods, to face Devers. Instead of going with Devers, Cora brought in Eduardo Nunez.

What? Devers had already faced on of the most dangerous lefties in the game and done well in that game. Why Nunez now? Let’s let Nunez tell us:

At the 1:30 mark tells Big Papi that Alex Cora prepped him the night before. He told him to be ready in the 7th or 8th when a lefty would be in to face Devers. (By the way, how great is it to see Big Papi living it up in the media this postseason?)

That means Alex Cora foresaw what would happen and then made it happen. That’s like being Yoda, but only on Yoda’s best day. No mistake Yoda. He puts his players in a position to be successful. Every day. All the time.

Alex Cora is calm. Alex Cora is in control. And Alex Cora will destroy you, inning by inning until he is the winner and you are the loser.

Jackie Bradley Jr. A Better Option

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(AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

The Mookie debate about where he should play in Dodger stadium is so obviously over. But that means someone else in the outfield has to sit. It’s a grudge match between Jackie Bradley Jr. and Andrew Benintendi. Let’s get ready to rumble!

By The Stats

I’m not going to flood you with statistics. Suffice to say, JBJ was close to 20% better than Benny in September against left handed pitching. That’s important, because the bulk of the best pitching on the Dodgers is left handed.

In the playoffs against all pitching, JBJ is a full 50% better than Benny. I’ve made light of Jackie’s three swings bringing him the MVP of the ALCS, but they were pretty big swings. Remember Papi in 2013 off Tigers closer Joaquin Benoit?

https://youtu.be/CYosReytpcM

Papi only hit .248 in that ALCS. But that one swing in game 2 changed everything.

Now from Jackie we have this in the 2018 ALCS:

https://youtu.be/NH18WpVfCgE

Sure, Jackie hit just .200, but that was no slap hitter .200. That was a Herculean .200. Can you remember any Benintendi at bats like that in the past month? Much fewer and farther between than from JBJ.

Almost Clear Cut

The fact remains these are small sample sizes we’re talking about. Jackie’s streaky hitting is legendary around here. How many times have we seen him hot as a pistol for a few weeks, only to fall back to mediocrity? Benny is steadier metronome of productivity.

It might come down to how these two perform in the first two games of the World Series against The Dodgers dual lefties of Clayton Kershaw and Hyun-Jin Ryu. Cora’s lineups might even give us a clue in these two games. If Benny or JBJ sits it will be a telltale of what’s to come.

Let’s Go Boys!

Meantime let’s treat The Dodgers like the Boltons treated the Kingslayer and sever their best weapon tonight. If the Sox can conquer Kershaw in Game One it will shatter their confidence and lay a clear path to another World Series Title.

The Red Sox Dodgers Preview Extravaganza

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The Dodgers just dispatched the upstart Brewers and move on to face the Red Sox in the 2018 World Series. Cue the grainy black and white photos of The Babe in a Red Sox uniform. Let us see the Dropkick Murphy’s grinding rendition of Tessie.

Cue fans using the Brooklyn Robins in barroom and water cooler talk, and a million google searches for ‘Red Sox-Dodgers world series history’ hitting the 1916 World Series page on Wikipedia. Cue every old Brooklyn Dodger fan coming out of the woodwork, and the slightly less grainy photos and videos of Roy Campanella, Jackie Robinson, and Pee Wee Reese. A mountain of content on the 1988 LA Dodgers World Series winners will come out.

Cue Fever Pitch where the old guy counts off the string of Red Sox world series wins in 1912, 1915, 1916, 1918. Prompt Dave Roberts making his fateful steal in the bottom of the 9th in game 4 against Mariano Rivera. Cue pictures of Alex Cora in an LA Dodgers uniform. The rating of this series is through the roof!

It’s an old-school, original 6 type of World Series that will be chock full of intrigue and potential controversy.

Detroit Public Library

THE RED SOX

With a resounding thud, all the doubting and putting down of the 2018 Red Sox has been pushed off the desks of commentators nationwide. This team is an absolute wagon with a horseshoe, four-leafed clover, and all the baseball gods in their back pocket.

All the beautiful poignant vignettes of warm feelings are still cascading around the Red Sox: The Alex Cora birthday serenade in the clubhouse after beating the Houston Astros in 5 games. David Price’s moment with friends and family that choked everyone up. Alex Cora talking about the Red Sox sending supplies to his storm-ravaged homeland. Alex Cora is the first manager from Puerto Rico to take his team to the World Series.

Yes, changing managers can make a world of difference in the day to day operations clubhouse and team. It doesn’t hurt that Cora is batting, oh, around .800 with his in-game and lineup decisions so far in the playoffs.

There’s every reason in our provincial New England bubble to expect a romp over the Dodgers in the World Series. The bats are batting: JBJ! JD! PEARCY! MITCHY! The gloves are catching: BENNY! MOOKIE! The pitchers pitching: PRICE! BRASIER! KELLY! BARNES! PORCELLO! Even maybe SALE! Possibly KIMBREL!

THE DODGERS

PITCHING

And yet, there is a reason to pause.

When it comes to the match-ups there’s not much, but what there is tends to favor the Dodgers. Of the four starting pitchers on LA (Clayton Kershaw, Hyun-Jin Ryu, local boy made good Rich Hill, Walker Buehler), there’s only one player on the Red Sox who have any history. That’s JD Martinez against Kershaw. It’s a minuscule 8 at-bats, but JD has managed a home run, double and .375 average against the talented lefty.

HITTING

On the other side are two individuals that show up again and again.

We’ll start with Brian Dozier. He may not be what he once was, but he has a boatload of experience against the suddenly vaunted Red Sox staff. Dozier’s batting average doesn’t jump off the page, but the power does: Against Chris Sale, David Price, Nathan Eovaldi, and Rick Porcello, Dozier has 9 doubles and 9 home runs in 146 at-bats. If we push those to a full season that’s a 36 double and 36 homer pace.

And he’s the appetizer.

The main man, the designated villain of Red Sox fans and now most of Baseball, is none other than Manny Machado. The side stepper, the slide stabber, the very very bad man.

https://twitter.com/tosa_tina_/status/1052522276766273536

And he’s a force against the Red Sox pitchers: 4 doubles, 9 homers, 108 at-bats. That’s a projected 18 doubles and, gulp, 41 home runs, and also hits a combined .298 against the Boston starters.

Throw in the fact that the Sox batters haven’t seen the Dodgers pitchers and it could be an edge for the boys in blue.

We finish with one more subtle note on Alex Cora’s staff. The hitting coach of the Red Sox is Tim Hyers. If that name doesn’t leap off the page, it’s not your fault. Hyers does what the best coaches do, he lets the players shine and stays in the shadows.

It turns out Mr. Hyers was the Dodgers assistant hitting coach last year. That means he has the inside track on the Dodgers best hitters, including Justin Turner, Cody Bellinger, and Yasiel Puig among others.

It’s going to be a fun series, why do we have to wait until Tuesday?