Dodgers Are As Ready For The Playoffs As They'll Ever Be
Plus The Minor League Report.
In the final full week of the 2022 season, the Dodgers won two series, as they usually do, and won games 107, 108, 109 and 110, which they have never done before. And actually saw their winning percent fall, to .692.
While it’s almost all good — and I mean really, very good — let’s get the bad and ugly part out of the way first. With Max Muncy, Gavin Lux and Joey Gallo. That trio of left-hand hitters combined to go 2-41 (.049) with 18 strikeouts and four RBIs from Monday to Sunday, and though I could break the week down individually, I’d rather provide the 14-day batting averages instead. Muncy and Lux .162 each and Gallo .143. And none one of the three is distinguishing himself particularly in the field either. Lux is returning from a neck injury and gets a bit of a pass, Muncy is a World Series hero and deserves our praise where possible and Gallo should be dropped off the Santa Monica Pier at the earliest opportunity. With a dingy below, of course. Capital punishment seems a bit harsh.
Lefty swinger Cody Bellinger, on the other hand, has been putting together some fine at bats of late, with four doubles, a home run, eight RBIs and a .306 average in the last two weeks. And you’ll recall that the former MVP hit .353/.436/.471 in last year’s playoffs after a mess of regular season (.165/.240/.302).
Freddie Freeman “slumped” to a .796 OPS last week (the slacker), but leads baseball in hits (196), doubles (46) and batting average (.327) and leads the National League in runs (116) and on base percentage (.409).
Mookie Betts hit .364/.440/.591 during the week, Chris Taylor .294, Trayce Thompson .333, Hanser Alberto .667 (2-3) and Miguel Vargas won a game in San Diego with a sac fly and a two-run single.
Where the Dodgers are especially well-prepared is in the bullpen, and with the pitching staff in general. Julio Urias is either the 2022 Cy Young Award or the runner-up, Clayton Kershaw is enjoying his best season of 20 starts or more since 2017, Tyler Anderson is the staff’s unsung hero (well, perhaps he’s somewhat sung) and Tony Gonsolin is on the precipice of an extremely timely comeback.
Gonsolin, out since August 23 with a forearm strain, tossed two scoreless innings for the Oklahoma City Dodgers last Tuesday and is scheduled to pitch three innings in a start versus Colorado tonight at Chavez Ravine. An intra-squad outing over the weekend would follow, and if all goes well, the All-Star right-hander could start a potential NLDS Game 4, perhaps with Andrew Heaney caddying.
I’ll have a second look at the postseason roster Thursday, but as it stands now, I see the pen shaking out this way: Evan Phillips, Brusdar Graterol, Chris Martin, Tommy Kahnle, Alex Vesia, Yency Almonte, Caleb Ferguson, Craig Kimbrel and Heaney. If Kimbrel is used properly, and I think he will be, that’s as good an October relief corps as L.A. has had in years. Or better.
With the exception of Chris Taylor (sore neck), the club is healthy, and CT3 will play when the bell rings.
The Dodgers, with what will be a record 110 to 113 victories on the season, are ready for the post. As ready as they can possibly be.
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The Minor League Report:
This marks the sixth and final Minor League Report of the 2022 season. I’ll include some prospect info from the Arizona Fall League and whatever 40-man roster changes occur prior to the Rule 5 Draft, for example, in the body of columns as the winter unfolds.
Triple-A Oklahoma City Dodgers: 84-66, second place in Pacific Coast League East, one game behind the El Paso Chihuahuas (Padres affiliate).
With Michael Grove (25) getting the lion’s share of the attention, and the major-league starts recently, it’s easy to forget about Ryan Pepiot (24). But the rookie right-hander has progressed appropriately since the 2021 season, when he couldn’t match his success at the Triple-A level (4.62 ERA, 1.29 WHIP) after a fine start at Double-A (2.87, 0.94). Recalled and optioned as the big club needed a spot start, Pepiot dominated Pacific Coast League throughout, with a 9-1 record, a 2.56 ERA, 1.076 WHIP and 114 strikeouts in 91 1/3 innings. He held his own in the bigs too, with a 3-0, 3.47 and 42 Ks in 36 1/3.
Bobby Miller (23) had an up-and-down 2022 campaign at Tulsa and Oklahoma City, pitching to a 7-7 won/loss, 4.25 ERA and 1.175 WHIP, with 145 strikeouts in 112 1/3.
Gavin Stone (23) impressed at three minor-league levels this year, with a 9-6, a 1.48, 1.118 and 168 in 121 2/3.
I expect Pepiot, Miller and Stone to contribute to the Dodgers 2023 cause, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see any or all of the hold down a rotation spot for a stretch of time. With those three young pitchers, Grove and presumably a healthy Dustin May and Tony Gonsolin, to go along with Julio Urias, Clayton Kershaw (perhaps) and Tyler Anderson (perhaps), L.A. won’t have to worry about the likes of Danny Duffy and Jimmy Nelson being upright enough to walk to mound come spring.
I think I’ve been clear about my admiration for outfielder James Outman (25), but if not, I see no way to keep him off the 2023 Dodgers roster, much less in a key role. The numbers at Tulsa and OKC combined are these: .294/.392/.586, with 31 home runs and 106 RBIs in 473 at bats. At Los Angeles, .462/.563/.846 with a homer and three ribbies in six games.
Second baseman Michael Busch (24) might be a better player than Gavin Lux before long, and if you can read my mind, well that’s just great! The statistics at AA and AAA in 2022: .274/.365/.516, 32 HR, 108 RBIs.
Jacob Amaya (24) is not prepared to replace Trea Turner at shortstop, so you can forget about that right now: .261/.369/.427, 17 HR, 71 RBIs.
Jason Martin (27) is the ever-disrespected corner outfielder who couldn’t buy a callup to save his life. But maybe next year: .283/.374/.564, 32 HR, 107 RBIs.
Double-A Tulsa Drillers: 69-67, third place in Texas League North, 8 1/2 games back of first-place Wichita Wind Surge (Twins).
The Dodgers fourth-round draft pick out of UCLA last year, right-hander Nick Nastrini (22) completed his first full season of professional ball with a combined Double-A and Advanced-A ERA of 3.93 and a 1.114 WHIP, with a convincing 169 strikeouts in 116 2/3 innings. Watch out for him in 2023.
Second-round pick from East Tennessee State in 2020, lefty Landon Knack (25) pitched well at Great Lakes (5-0, 2.50, 0.908, 55 Ks in 39 2/3) this season, but not so much at Tulsa (2-10, 5.10, 1.407, 80, 64 2/3). The same is true for Kyle Hurt (24) via USC in 2020 (4-2, 2.21, 1.057, 64, 40 at Great Lakes; 1-5, 9.29, 2.323, 45, 31 at Tulsa), which happens.
Northpaw Nick Frasso (23), acquired from Toronto in the July Mitch White trade, pitched to a 1.83, 0.926, 76, 54 mark at three levels for two organizations.
Outfielder Andy Pages (21) spent the entire 2022 campaign at Tulsa, hitting .236/.336/.468, with 26 homers and 80 RBIs in 487 at bats. We’ll see if he returns to the Texas League at the start of next season, or advances to the Pacific Coast League.
Outfielder Jonny DeLuca (23) hit .260/.347/.541, with 25 HR and 71 RBIs at Tulsa and Great Lakes.
Advanced-A Great Lake Loons: 76-55, second place in Midwest League East, one game behind Lake County Captains (Guardians).
L.A.’s sixth-round selection in the 2021 MLB June Amateur Draft, right-hander Emmet Sheehan (22), appeared in 18 Loons games this year, 12 of them as a starter, and posted a 7-2 record, a 2.83 ERA, 1.084 WHIP, with 101 Ks in 63 2/3 IP before being promoted to Tulsa at season’s end (4.15, 1.800, 5 K, 4 1/3 IP).
Ronan Kopp (20) is a 6’ 7” lefty RP and 12th-round 2021 pick out South Mountain Community College, and an interesting one at that, with a 2.74, 1.315, 108 in 62 1/3 combined mark at Advanced-A and Single-A in 2022.
Reliever Ben Harris (22) struck out a whopping 107 batters in 55 2/3 at Great Lakes and Rancho Cucamonga, with a 3.72 and 1.240.
Since I’ve been writing about him regularly for two years, I trust you know L.A.’s top prospect, catcher Diego Cartaya (21). Coming into the season with only 49 games of professional experience, the 6’ 3”, 215-pounder played in 95 contests in 2022, with 64 behind the plate and 31 at DH, producing 22 homers and 72 RBIs, to go along with a .254/.389/.502 slash line at Rancho and Great Lakes.
Forty-man roster men infielders Eddys Leonard (21) and Jorbit Vivas (21) hit .264/.348/.436, 15 HR, 61 RBIs and .263/.374/.401, 10 and 66, respectively, at Great Lakes.
Single-A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes: 68-64, third place in California League South, nine games back of Lake Elsinore Storm (Padres).
Southpaw Maddux Bruns (20) was the club’s first-round pick in the 2021 draft who has struggled as a professional to date: 0-2, 16.20, 3.000, five strikeouts in five innings last year; 0-3, 5.68, 1.827, 67 in 44 1/3 this.
It wasn’t a good year for hurlers who finished the season as Quakes, so I’ll skip their numbers and report that the ones who stood out graduated to Great Lakes during the year and were mentioned above.
The batsmen fared much better. They include but are not limited to the following:
Second-round 2022 draft pick catcher first/baseman Dalton Rushing (21), who hit .424/.539/.778, with eight homers and 30 RBIs in 99 ABs straight out of the University of Louisville; outfielder Damon Keith (22) (.299/.435/.500, 12 HR and 65 RBIs at Rancho; .204/.339/.408, five and 14 at Great Lakes); catcher, second baseman Yeiner Fernandez (20) (.293/.383/.430, 10 and 68) and outfielder Yunior Garcia (21) (.305/.383/.512, 13 and 74).
Media Savvy:
Like Roger Maris before him, Aaron Judge must be feeling the weight of world on his ever-broad shoulders. With the media exponentially more massed now than it was in 1961, Judge has what amounts to two jobs now: homer while playing nine or more innings every day when what he needs most is rest, and conduct countless interviews before and after every game.
Jeff Pearlman has some thoughts about the media circus surrounding the Yankees outfielder, and Major League Baseball’s creation of a home run record controversy when need not ever have existed. At CNN.com.
Roger Maris, Jr. thinks a prospective home run number 62 should make Judge real record-holder. And I can’t say I blame him. See Mike Axisa’s story at CBS.com.
What do I think?
Yes, grand balls would be required, but Manfred ought to do it.
Lastly on this topic, here is “You will not hear a better Roger Maris story the one Arnold Palmer used to tell,” by Alex Myers at Golf Digest.
And three from baseball historian Bill Arnold:
1. Wednesday marked the 84th anniversary of the "Homer in the Gloamin'," Gabby Hartnett's famous long ball that helped propel the Chicago Cubs to the 1938 N.L. pennant. On Sept. 28, with just six games left in the 1938 season, the Pittsburgh Pirates led the Cubs by a half-game when the two met for a 3 p.m. face-off at Wrigley Field. After eight innings, with the score tied 5-5 and daylight fading fast - no night lights in the stadium in those days - umpires told both clubs that if neither scored in the ninth, the game would be suspended and completed the next day. The Bucs failed to plate a run in their half of the frame. Pirates reliever Mace Brown got two quick outs on the first two Cubs batters, and then Harnett came to the plate. After taking two strikes, Chicago's player-manager sent the next pitch, a hanging curve, deep over the left field wall to win the game. Later, Hartnett claimed he could barely see the ball. The next day, the Cubs walloped the Bucs 10-1, and went on to win the pennant.
2. Dodger Will Smith has joined Salvador Perez (2017), Gary Sanchez (2007), Brian McCann (2015) and Buster Posey (2014) as the fifth catcher over the past 10 years to register at least 85 RBIs in a season.
3. On Monday, the Nats lost their 100th game of the season. It's the 12th time one of the three teams calling our nation's capital home has posted at least 100 losses. One for each senator.
Baseball Photos of the Week:
Don Buford and Lee May, 1970 World Series.
John McGraw and Willie Keeler.
Davey Lopes, 1978.
Joe Louis and Satchel Paige, 1948.
Carlton Fisk, Waterloo Hawks, 1968.
Roger Maris.
And remember, glove conquers all.
Howard Cole has been writing about baseball on the Internet since Y2K. Follow him on Twitter. Follow OBHC on Twitter here. Be friends with Howard on Facebook.
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